Chapter 537: Confession

Teacher Sun, her counselor, had initially been a bit worried about Su Qing taking a long leave of absence. After all, being away from school for an extended period wasn’t good for a student’s academics. But during last semester’s final exams, Su Qing had placed first, putting Teacher Sun’s concerns to rest with her tangible results. So, when Su Qing requested a long leave this time, Teacher Sun didn’t say much, simply reminding her not to neglect her studies.

When classes ended for the day, Su Qing, having not seen her dorm mates in a long time, decided to go to a small restaurant off-campus for a big meal to catch up. The market was becoming more open, and many small stalls and eateries had sprung up near Beijing University, making the area quite lively.

"Su Qing, hurry and look downstairs! Someone’s confessing their feelings to you!" Su Qing and her friends had just returned to their dorm to drop off their textbooks and hadn’t left again when a girl from the neighboring dorm spoke to Su Qing, her voice filled with envy. "Oh my god, you have to see this! There are so many flowers."

"What?!" Chen Juan exclaimed in surprise after hearing the girl. "We didn’t see anything when we came upstairs just now. It’s only been a few minutes! Who’s confessing to Su Qing?"

As she spoke, Chen Juan moved to the window to look down. She saw a man holding a bouquet of flowers. Behind him, several other boys had arranged a few bicycles into a heart shape. The bicycles were laden with all sorts of fresh flowers—almost every kind available that season. Most notably, displayed on the bicycles was a message in large characters: "Su Qing, I love you."

Chen Juan’s eyes widened, and she said to Su Qing, "Oh my god, Su Qing, a guy is really confessing to you! And there are so many flowers."

"Who is it? Who is it?" All the girls, except for Su Qing, rushed to the window to look down. Li Huan recognized him at a glance. ’Isn’t that the scumbag who was pestering Qingqing in Xiangcheng? What was his name again?’ Li Huan thought for a moment. She vaguely remembered Cheng Beilin saying the man’s surname was Meng... Meng something, but she couldn’t recall his full name.

Li Huan quickly turned to Su Qing and said, "Qingqing, it’s that disgusting guy! The scumbag from Xiangcheng, the one named Meng something."

Without needing to look out the window, Su Qing already knew who was downstairs. She frowned slightly. "That guy actually followed me here."

"Who is he? Who is he? Li Huan, you know him?" Chen Meizhen asked Li Huan curiously. "What’s a ’scumbag’? Judging by the word, he doesn’t sound like a good person."

Because of Su Qing’s secret treatments, the conditions of both Qiao Wensong and Chen Sheng were now under control, and they had mostly recovered. As a result, Chen Meizhen’s mood had also improved.

"That guy is no good at all." Li Huan’s impression of Meng Chenghui couldn’t have been worse. "He’s from Xiangcheng and is supposedly a huge player. He goes through one girlfriend after another. The last time Qingqing and I went to Xiangcheng, he started pestering her the moment he saw her."

Li Huan filled her dorm mates in on everything she knew about Meng Chenghui, which left them furious. "How dare a man like that pursue Qingqing? He’s such a womanizer! No way, he’s not the one. Qingqing, even though he looks decent on the outside, you absolutely must not fall for him. There are plenty of good men out there; you can’t let a scumbag like that steal your heart."

Chen Juan and the others all chimed in to persuade Su Qing.

Su Qing smiled. "Of course not. I’m not interested in him."

"That’s a relief," Ye Qingqing said, sighing. "I can’t believe men that shameless exist. It’s disgusting."

"Tell me about it," the other girls chimed in.

"But what do we do now?" Sun Xiaowen asked with a frown. "That guy isn’t yelling or making a scene, he’s just standing downstairs holding flowers. The dorm manager has no reason to make him leave. If we go out, we’ll definitely run into him, and he’ll start pestering Su Qing for sure."

"Yeah, what should we do?" Chen Juan suggested. "How about we get together another day? Su Qing, you can just stay here. We’ll go to the cafeteria and bring food back for you."

"Right." Ye Qingqing nodded. "I think that’s a good idea."

Su Qing shook her head. "No need. I’ll go down and make things clear with him. If I don’t face him today, he’ll just come back. We’re bound to meet sooner or later, so I might as well clear things up now to save myself the trouble later."

’Truthfully, Su Qing didn’t feel any strong aversion to Meng Chenghui. He was from Xiangcheng, and people from Xiangcheng had different views on many things compared to people from the mainland. Meng Chenghui had his own lifestyle. His relationships with his girlfriends were consensual—they each got what they wanted, so no one was really getting hurt. However, all of that was predicated on him not bothering her. Forget the fact that she had no intention of dating right now; even if she did, a man like him would never catch her eye.’

"Ah," Sun Xiaowen said worriedly. "Is he going to keep pestering you? Judging by this whole setup, he doesn’t seem like the type to back down easily."

"I have to make things clear," Su Qing said. "You guys wait here. I’ll go down and talk to him."

"Well, Qingqing, if you can’t handle him," Li Huan said quickly, "just call for us! We’ll help you chew him out."

Su Qing smiled. "Okay. If I can’t handle him, I’ll call for you guys."

As Su Qing walked downstairs, girls crowded many of the windows in the dormitory, all peering down at the scene below. A confession with so many flowers was exceedingly rare in this day and age; Meng Chenghui was arguably the first to do something so grand. Many girls even envied Su Qing, thinking he was incredibly romantic. ’Look at all those flowers! They’re so vibrant and passionate!’

If a boy prepared so many flowers to confess to them, they would accept in a heartbeat. After all, what girl doesn’t like romance? Even the top students admitted to the prestigious Beijing University were no exception.

"Su Qing!" Meng Chenghui’s eyes lit up when he saw her coming downstairs. He had arrived in Beijing a few days ago and, after confirming Su Qing’s return, had eagerly come to express his ardent feelings for her. Unfortunately, Su Qing hadn’t been at school for the past few days, so he’d had no choice but to wait patiently. The moment he learned she was back on campus today, he had immediately prepared the flowers and come to make his confession.

He had spent the last few days familiarizing himself with some of Beijing University’s rules. That was why, when he came to confess, he didn’t dare go near the academic buildings or shout beneath the dorms, fearing the dorm manager would kick him out. So he simply waited quietly downstairs from Su Qing’s dormitory. He knew she would have to come down eventually.

’Sure enough! Look, the beautiful girl is walking right toward me!’

Watching Su Qing walk toward him, Meng Chenghui quickly adjusted the bouquet in his arms. He approached her with the air of a gentleman, stood before her, and said joyfully, "Su Qing, I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"