Chapter 12: The Heiress and the Illegitimate School Tyrant

Song Qian stared at her phone screen and suddenly realized that she did not even have Xiao Yi’s contact information. A wave of despair surged through her. She paced anxiously around the dormitory, desperately trying to recall every moment she had spent with Xiao Yi, searching for some clue that might help her obtain his contact details.

“How could I have let this happen? How could I have been so careless?” she muttered remorsefully, tugging at her hair.

The system’s voice rang out sternly in Song Qian’s mind. “Stop hesitating. We still have an unfinished mission to win Xiao Yi’s affection. The library was the last place you saw him. He may still be lingering nearby. This is your best chance to turn things around. Go bravely, and use your sincerity to resolve the awkwardness and misunderstandings from before.”

Song Qian’s heart tightened. Though the system’s instructions were sometimes cold and mechanical, at this moment they had shown her the way forward.

She drew a deep breath, quickly straightened her clothes, and rushed toward the library with a determined expression. Along the way, she repeatedly rehearsed what she would say when she saw Xiao Yi, her footsteps growing faster and faster.

When she entered the library once more, her anxious gaze searched every corner. Her hands clenched unconsciously as she prayed silently that Xiao Yi would still be there.

Filled with anticipation, Song Qian raced into the library and swept her sharp gaze across every corner, every row of bookshelves, and every table and chair. Yet that familiar figure was nowhere to be seen. The library was so quiet that she could hear only her own faint breathing and footsteps. The reading area, once bustling with activity, now seemed especially vast and desolate.

The anticipation in her eyes gradually faded into disappointment, and her shoulders drooped slightly. Her bright eyes resembled stars that had lost their light. Her lips pressed gently together, her face filled with frustration and regret.

She wandered slowly through the library, her fingers unconsciously trailing along the edges of the bookshelves as she kept thinking, “He isn’t here. Where am I supposed to find him? Could I really have missed him just like that?”

Disheartened, Song Qian left the library and stood on the steps outside, staring blankly at the paths winding through the campus.

Suddenly, she remembered that Xiao Yi had once mentioned the benches beside the campus’s artificial lake were where he often went to sit and lose himself in thought. A glimmer of hope rekindled in her heart, and she quickened her pace toward the lake.

Along the way, Xiao Yi’s face and the memories of their time together kept surfacing in her mind. She worried that she would not know what to say when she saw him.

A gentle breeze drifted across the lakeside, tousling her hair but doing nothing to dispel the anxiety and anticipation filling her heart. When she finally reached the lake, she spotted that familiar figure at once, seated on a bench with his back to her.

Her steps faltered, and her heart began to pound uncontrollably.

Song Qian’s cheerful voice rang out across the lakeside. She ran forward, calling Xiao Yi’s name, her face alight with anticipation and joy.

But when the person sitting on the bench turned around, Song Qian stopped dead in her tracks, and her smile froze on her face.

“Why are you here? What are you doing here?” Song Qian asked in astonishment.

Her body tensed instantly. Her brows drew tightly together, and her eyes filled with disgust and fury. She violently twisted her wrist, trying to wrench herself free from the scumbag’s cold, revolting touch. Her voice trembled slightly, yet remained utterly resolute.

“What are you doing? Let go of me!”

Every attempt to break free was filled with determination, as though she were willing to pay any price to escape that nauseating contact. Her gaze burned as she stared straight at the scumbag, the disgust in her eyes seeming to sear him where he stood.