Li Zijian, who was nursing a broken heart, couldn’t help but lean in when he heard there was gossip. "A proposal? We’re only juniors... How did he pull it off?"

Chen Hao shook his head. "I’m not sure either. I just saw he posted a status update on his QQ Space a minute ago. It had a picture of his and Lin Yue’s hands, both wearing rings. I’ll ask him."

As he spoke, Chen Hao typed out a message and sent it.

In response, Zhou Yang called him directly.

Chen Hao answered the call and put it on speaker.

"Hello? Haozi! Did you see my QQ Space update?"

"We saw! You’ve got some moves, our class monitor! Making such a big move so quietly. Hurry up and tell us, how’d you seal the deal? Pass on some wisdom to our recently heartbroken brother here in the dorm."

Li Zijian: "Yeah, yeah!"

Zhou Yang laughed on the other end of the line, saying proudly, "It was actually pretty simple. You guys all know that no matter what anyone says to Lin Yue, her favorite word to reply with is ’definitely,’ right?"

The guys in the dorm all nodded. "Definitely."

"Yesterday, my roommate Ruan Feng gave me an idea. He said since Lin Yue has this habit, I could totally use it to trick her. I’d ask her a series of obvious questions to get her to say ’definitely’ out of habit, and then hit her with a proposal at the end. She’d be caught completely off guard."

"Damn, that’s actually pretty clever," Wang Bo said, his eyes lighting up.

"And then what? How did you do it, exactly?" Chen Hao urged.

Zhou Yang began to recount the scene.

"Last night, I took her to the old street for some snacks. After we ate our fill and walked around, we got back to her dorm. I started by tentatively asking her, ’The wind is pretty strong tonight, huh?’"

"She nodded and said, ’Definitely.’"

"Then I asked, ’Exams are coming up, the pressure to study is pretty intense, right?’"

"Again, she said, ’Definitely.’"

"I saw the time was right, so I asked, ’You think I’m a pretty reliable guy, don’t you?’"

"She replied, ’Definitely.’"

At this point, Zhou Yang paused, as if reliving that tense moment.

"Then, I pulled the ring right out of my pocket and asked her, ’So you’ll definitely marry me?’"

"Without even thinking, she blurted out, ’Definitely!’"

Zhou Yang finally burst out laughing.

"You guys should have seen the look on her face. The moment that ’definitely’ left her lips, she just froze."

"Her eyes were wide as saucers. She stared at the ring in my hand, then back at me, just stunned for a full minute."

"It was so adorable!"

Chen Hao pressed, "And then? Did she take it back after she came to her senses?"

"Take what back? I’d already slipped the ring on her finger. She couldn’t get a word out for the longest time. In the end, she just quietly let me hold her hand and walk with her around downstairs for a bit."

"Incredible," Wang Bo said, giving a thumbs-up. "Fucking awesome. Congrats, man!"

"That’s so sweet..." Li Zijian murmured to himself. Having just been manipulated by Han Tiantian, hearing such a simple and beautiful love story filled him with both envy and a tinge of sadness.

"Alright, I gotta go. I need to go get hot water for her. I’ll treat you guys to a meal later!" With that, Zhou Yang hung up.

Back in the dorm, Chen Hao and Wang Bo were still savoring the story.

Jiang He had listened to the whole thing in silence.

He was secretly smiling to himself.

’I remember this story all too well.’

’In my past life, I was just like Chen Hao and Wang Bo are now. I congratulated Zhou Yang on his cleverness and thought his move was textbook-perfect.’

’But many years later, at a class reunion, the truth came out after a few drinks.’

’The whole thing, from start to finish, had been orchestrated by Lin Yue.’

’Lin Yue had seen what was on Zhou Yang’s mind long ago, but he could be indecisive and lacked the courage for that final push.’

’So, Lin Yue secretly found Zhou Yang’s roommate, Ruan Feng, and taught him the "consecutive questioning method."’

’Then she had him suggest the idea to Zhou Yang.’

’She calculated that Zhou Yang would think it was a brilliant idea, and she also calculated when and where he would use the trick.’

’Her blurting out ’definitely’ last night, followed by over a minute of being stunned, wide-eyed, and at a loss for words—it was all an act by Lin Yue.’

’The one who seemed to be the prey in the trap was actually the master hunter.’

’When it came to masterminding a plan, Lin Yue had it down to a science.’

’Poor, silly Zhou Yang still thinks he’s so clever, that he controlled the whole situation, when in reality, the girl had him figured out completely.’

Jiang He leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting out the window.

’Those two are really good together. Their married life in the future followed the same pattern.’

’Anyone who visited their home would assume that Zhou Yang’s word was law, that he made all the decisions, big and small.’

’Lin Yue would just be off to the side, peeling an apple, nodding along, and chiming in with one ’definitely’ after another.’

’But in reality, Lin Yue held Zhou Yang’s remote control.’

’With each ’definitely,’ she was subtly guiding Zhou Yang into the state she wanted.’

’This was by no means a bad thing, nor was it Lin Yue maliciously manipulating him.’

’On the contrary, Lin Yue was extremely frugal and a great homemaker.’

’Later on, during that era of rampant investment traps and collapsing P2P lending platforms...’

’Using her method of apparent submission but actual guidance, Lin Yue helped Zhou Yang avoid countless unnecessary investment risks.’

’She saved their little family a great deal of money, allowing them to weather one economic downturn after another.’

’She protected Zhou Yang’s pride while also guarding the family’s purse strings.’

’It was a very sophisticated way for a married couple to coexist.’

As his thoughts reached this point, Jiang He’s mind naturally drifted far away, to that figure in the distant Capital City.

’I miss my girl.’

’I remember her youthful appearance when we reunited at Cafeteria No. 2; I remember her soft, trembling breaths in the hotel room as I looked down to ice her ankle; I remember the meal she brought me, crossing half of the Capital City to deliver it; and the matching silver couple’s rings we had made together.’

’Counting the days, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Teacher Shen.’

’I miss her so much.’

The longing came without warning, but it was incredibly intense.

’I want to hold her, to feel the warmth of her body.’

’I want to sleep with her, just lying quietly in the same bed, falling asleep to the sound of her breathing.’

’I want to wake up in the morning and have the first thing I see be her long eyelashes, her sleeping face.’

’I even... want to make a baby with her.’

When that thought popped into his head, Jiang He finally realized he’d been suppressing quite a lot...

’A twenty-year-old’s body is young, after all. This is to be expected.’

He hadn’t felt it before, simply because he’d been too busy.

Signing up for the thinking competition, saving someone at the internet cafe, checking medical records, going to the Capital City to meet up, overturning a misdiagnosis at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, raising funds, planning his stock market moves, writing the LNR paper, and then rushing to Affiliated Hospital No. 1 last night to save the girl with severe pancreatitis.

He had packed his schedule so tightly that he’d naturally ignored his body’s basic instincts.

"This is tough to handle..."

Jiang He muttered under his breath, raising a hand to rub his throbbing temples.

’After living two lives, I never thought I’d see the day I’d be this desperate for my girl.’

Just then, BEEP BEEP.

A message came from Teacher Shen: [Dr. Jiang! The computer I won has arrived!]

It was immediately followed by another: [Are you in your dorm? Can we video chat?]

Jiang He sat up straight, ran to the balcony to check himself in the mirror, quickly washed his face, then ran back and typed on his keyboard:

[Yeah, let’s do it. Video chat.]