Jiang Zhiyu gazed at Li Yuan’s face, her vision blurry with emotion, her heart pounding uncontrollably. Every time she was with him, she lost all control.

There seemed to be some bewitching charm about Li Yuan, always drawing her in irresistibly.

"Xia Hua," Jiang Zhiyu murmured softly, looking at Li Yuan. The tears in her eyes had faded, leaving only deep affection.

Li Yuan smiled, unconsciously licking his lips, the unique taste of Little Fish still lingering on them.

He reached out and stroked Jiang Zhiyu’s head. Staring at the beautiful face before him, Li Yuan finally mustered the courage to voice the thought in his heart.

"Little Fish... what if you don’t go abroad?"

When Jiang Zhiyu heard Li Yuan’s plea, her heart fluttered like a startled fawn. Her large, expressive eyes blinked again and again as she stared at him, making Li Yuan feel a little self-conscious.

Li Yuan touched his cheek and asked, puzzled, "Little Fish, is there something on my face?"

Jiang Zhiyu giggled, her beautiful eyes fixed on Li Yuan as she said quietly, "Xia Hua, I thought you weren’t going to ask me to stay!"

Embarrassed, Li Yuan rubbed her head and sighed. "Little Fish, I don’t know what right I have to ask you to stay, nor can I bring myself to."

Jiang Zhiyu tilted her head up, looking at him earnestly, and asked shyly, "Xia Hua, have you ever loved me?"

"Yes," Li Yuan nodded without hesitation. "Always."

At Li Yuan’s definitive answer, joy flashed in Jiang Zhiyu’s beautiful eyes. She continued to gaze at him and gently asked, "Then, Xia Hua, when did you start to fall for me? I want to know."

Having spoken, she waited with a shy, expectant look for his reply.

Meeting Jiang Zhiyu’s gaze, Li Yuan thought carefully as scene after scene surfaced in his mind. Finally, the image settled on freshman orientation day.

Yes, it must have been that moment, when Jiang Zhiyu, dressed in Hanfu and looking like an ethereal sprite, presented me with a bouquet of flowers and affectionately called out Xia Hua... That’s when my heart began to pound, when I first fell in love with her. It was the first bouquet of flowers I’d received in my two lifetimes combined. And it was from one of my staunchest fans—a stunningly beautiful, sprite-like girl. Any guy’s heart would have pounded, and I was no exception. When I returned to the dorm that night, everything felt dreamlike, unreal. A super-rich girl who loved fantasy novels, who also possessed goddess-like beauty, calling me Xia Hua with every other word... Honestly, I wouldn’t have dared to dream up something so perfect. And yet, I was the scumbag who hurt such an exceptional girl...

Staring at Jiang Zhiyu’s face, Li Yuan began to speak slowly. "Little Fish, do you remember that day during freshman orientation, when you came looking for me?"

Jiang Zhiyu nodded. "I’ll remember it forever!"

Li Yuan spoke, his eyes filled with nostalgia. Though it was only a short time ago, it felt as if an eternity had passed.

"That day, you appeared before me in a horse-faced skirt, holding a bouquet of flowers and calling me Xia Hua. As we strolled through the Daxia Campus and you sang ’Blue and White Porcelain’... I fell for you in that very moment.

"Afterward, as we chatted and talked on the phone every day, as you taught me to play the guitar and we sang duets, that feeling deepened until it was etched into my mind, leaving an indelible mark... Little Fish, I’m sorry. I never should have hurt you."

Li Yuan let out a deep sigh. This was the third time he had apologized to Jiang Zhiyu that day.

Looking at Li Yuan, Jiang Zhiyu felt a flutter in her chest. The question that had been weighing on her mind for so long finally broke free.

"Xia Hua, can I ask you one more thing?"

Li Yuan froze. Meeting her gaze, he had a premonition. He could guess what she was about to ask.

"Ask away."

Jiang Zhiyu looked at Li Yuan, her heart suddenly racing. She asked in a small, weak voice, "Xia Hua, can... can you tell me about the other three?"

Li Yuan sighed inwardly. She really did ask about them. Different girls would have different thoughts on this. Xia Zhijin has a gentle and sweet-natured personality. She probably desperately wanted to know why I deceived her, but she kept it buried in her heart and never asked. Maybe she just cried alone when I wasn’t there... That’s just her personality. Bai Weixi’s nature is rational yet sensitive. She considered herself my childhood sweetheart, someone I’d pursued for three years in high school; we had a deep emotional foundation... So, she asked. And she got an answer she didn’t want to hear. As for Zhong Tingyue, she never asked. The foundation of our relationship was based on that story. She’s a proud yet insecure girl. Maybe she wanted to ask, or maybe she didn’t want to know at all, choosing to close herself off...

Now, Jiang Zhiyu had asked.

Li Yuan didn’t want to deceive this sprite-like girl any longer. He chose to answer truthfully.

He looked at Jiang Zhiyu, took her small hand in his, and began his story.

"Little Fish, let me tell you a story.

"I once had a dream that felt incredibly real. It was so vivid that I couldn’t tell if it was real or fake, as if I had lived a whole other life. In that dream, I was just a very ordinary boy. I couldn’t write novels or songs, and I wasn’t even a good singer. I was clumsy with words—the kind of person with very low emotional intelligence..."