Read Novel Full Chapter 137 Part 1 – Love is Mutual (I)
Chapter 137 Part 1 – Love is Mutual (I)
Ning Shaobai’s birthday this year happened to be a weekday. Xia Mian didn’t have class for the first period that morning, so she took a taxi to his lab early with the birthday cake she had ordered in advance.
She arrived a bit too early, so she hid behind a nearby tree to wait in ambush. When Ning Shaobai’s car pulled in and he stepped out, she dashed out, shouting, “Freeze! You’re under arrest!”
Ning Shaobai turned around at the voice and caught her precisely, his eyes full of surprise and delight. “Mianmian, what are you doing here? Didn’t you say the student union had an event?”
Xia Mian grinned as she hugged his waist. “Of course, my boyfriend is more important!”
She quickly stood on tiptoe and kissed his chin. “Happy birthday, Dr. Ning!”
Ning Shaobai smiled, gently patting the top of her head. “Thank you.”
Some coworkers arriving at work saw them and teased, “Xiao Xia, what are you doing looking for Dr. Ning so early?”
By now, practically everyone at the hospital knew that the aloof and unattainable Dr. Ning had been won over by Xia Mian. The lab staff especially saw her around often enough with Ning Shaobai.
Xia Mian let go of Ning Shaobai and brought out the cake she’d stashed nearby, speaking openly, “Today is Dr. Ning’s birthday—please be nice to him, everyone!”
“Oh, it’s Dr. Ning’s birthday?”
“Never knew that.”
“Having a girlfriend really changes things! It’s nice to have someone celebrate your birthday for you.”
Amidst all the chatter and playful teasing, Ning Shaobai turned to look at Xia Mian, laughter shining in his eyes.
Xia Mian checked the time and handed him the cake. “Dr. Ning, I’ve got to go. Don’t forget to share the cake!”
“Oh, and give me the car keys.”
Ning Shaobai didn’t ask anything and simply handed them over.
Xia Mian took the keys. Since his colleagues were watching, she refrained from being overly affectionate and just gave his hand a little shake. “Dr. Ning, I’ll come pick you up after work.”
Then she added with a low laugh, “Look forward to your gift tonight!”
Ning Shaobai chuckled. “What, are you planning to skip a grade?”
Xia Mian shot him a glare. “I said, look forward to it, not start fantasizing!” Skip a grade in college? I ain’t a genius!
Ning Shaobai couldn’t help but laugh. He took her hand and kissed it gently. “Be careful on the road.”
The colleagues watching nearby couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by the display.
As they watched Xia Mian drive off, one colleague remarked, “Dr. Ning, you really trust her, huh? When did Xiao Xia get her driver’s license?”
Ning Shaobai smiled. “She just got it. It’s fine—my car has excellent safety features.”
The colleague: “…”
So what if the car came loaded with premium safety features? At that price, that is a given. But imagine a brand-new driver putting even the slightest scratch on it. Wouldn’t that just crush you?
But seeing the usually cold and aloof man now smiling like that, the colleague eventually swallowed the rest of his words.
He’d heard before that Dr. Ning doted on his girlfriend. Now he was witnessing it firsthand.
…
Xia Mian drove straight back to campus and parked at the gate, then ran to her next class. Her dorm leader, Ma Yingying, had already saved her a seat and brought her textbooks.
Not long after she sat down, their third roommate, Huang Yanhong, whispered, “Xia Mian, after you left today, Zhu Yiqing was talking about you again.”
Xia Mian didn’t care. “When doesn’t she?”
“She said you shouldn’t date a good-looking guy. Said handsome guys are all players. Even bet on when you’ll get dumped.”
Their second roommate, Sun Xiaoxue, chimed in, “She’s just bitter. Can’t get someone as hot as Dr. Ning, so she’s pretending she doesn’t care.”
“She used to say she only wanted someone highly educated and scholarly. So why’d she dump that brilliant PhD guy?”
The girls burst into laughter at the mention, and even Xia Mian couldn’t hold back a smile.
College dorms nowadays typically house eight students per room. With that many roommates, how could everyone get along perfectly? The girls’ dorms, especially, were a hotbed of drama.
Xia Mian’s dorm was no exception, and the core conflict was between her and Zhu Yiqing.
Zhu Yiqing had a fierce competitive streak. Stunning in appearance and the top scorer on her city’s college entrance exam, she had always stood out in her small third-tier city. But things were different in Yan City. At university, she found it hard to accept being overshadowed. She began picking on others, desperate to hold on to her sense of superiority.
And Xia Mian was the first major hurdle she ran into.
From day one, sparks flew between them. Zhu Yiqing was indeed very pretty, but a completely different type from Xia Mian.
While Xia Mian was obsessed with her little angel persona, she had the appearance to support it. When she wasn’t being angry or mischievous, for example, she had this sweet, innocent, and refined kind of beauty.
Zhu Yiqing, on the other hand, had strong features and deep-set eyes, with a mysterious and striking allure.
Xia Mian had been briefly stunned by her beauty when they first met, but it didn’t take long to notice the other girl’s dislike for her.
Xia Mian didn’t take it to heart. Some people just didn’t mean to get along. Who hasn’t run into someone they can’t stand at first sight? As long as they stayed out of each other’s way, it was fine.
But Zhu Yiqing quickly found an opportunity to take a jab at her.
The spark? Ning Shaobai.
When Xia Mian first arrived at campus for registration, Ning Shaobai had also tagged along, of course. A man of his looks and stature naturally drew attention wherever he went, and as the parents who were dropping off their children made small talk, they couldn’t help but strike up a conversation with him.
Xia Mian cheerfully introduced him as her boyfriend. Though her new roommates and their parents were a bit surprised, most of the reactions were compliments about how well-matched they looked.
Then Zhu Yiqing suddenly interjected, “Uni just started, and you already have a boyfriend? Did you start dating in high school?”
“My family’s really strict. I hardly ever even talk to boys.”
The implication behind that was hard to miss…
Quick-thinking and tactful, Ma Yingying immediately smoothed things over with a laugh, “So what if she did? Dating early did not affect her studies! Look, Xia Mian still got into our university even with a boyfriend. That’s impressive!”
Zhu Yiqing disagreed, “Well, if she hadn’t been dating early, maybe she would’ve gotten into Yan or Hua University.”
The implication was even more obvious now: Xia Mian had let herself down by indulging herself in romance when she should’ve been focused on her studies.
In response, Xia Mian let out a soft laugh and replied lightly, “Hate to break it to you, but my score was more than enough for both. I’ve just always wanted to be a teacher, and those schools didn’t have the major I was looking for.”
Everyone paused, thinking she was joking, and laughed along.
Zhu Yiqing laughed too, then added mockingly, “I’ve heard people from Yan City love to brag… Seems it’s true.”
That left the group in awkward silence—two of the eight were from Yan City.
Xia Mian smiled. “What does our place of origin have to do with that? All that matters is one’s personality. Take you, for example: with your strict family upbringing, high moral values, and rigid and critical nature… well, I guess you can’t represent the entire Huan City, right?”
She kept the same light tone. “Well, that could be a family thing too. Are you, by any chance, descended from some imperial lines? You’ve got all the hallmarks. Could it be we’ve got a long-lost princess among us?”
Everyone burst into laughter, and Ma Yingying said, “Xia Mian, you are so funny.”
Zhu Yiqing’s face soured. She, however, couldn’t find a comeback, and what came next left her completely speechless.
“I scored 740 on the college entrance exam. How about you, my lady?”
The room went silent. Ma Yingying blinked. “You seriously scored that high?”
Xia Mian smiled. “Yup. Third highest in Yan City.” The first and second were a pair of geniuses from the Hua University Affiliated High School.
Ma Yingying sighed in admiration. “Did something go wrong with your application choices?”
“Nope. I just really want to be a teacher, so I didn’t apply to those schools. My homeroom teacher was furious.”
It was a classic humblebrag, and Zhu Yiqing couldn’t utter another word.
Rumor had it she even went to the academic counselor afterward to look up Xia Mian’s exam score. When the counselor casually mentioned it to Xia Mian, she was speechless—but it also revealed just how intensely competitive Zhu Yiqing was.
Sure enough, from that point on, Zhu Yiqing began to compete with her in everything.
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