Chapter 7: Where Is Spring? Oh, Where Is Spring?

Jiang Wan stared at the four characters "Call me brother" and paused.

Then the corners of her mouth slowly curved upward.

His Highness the Crown Prince - his mouth said he wasn't curious, but his body was nothing if not honest.

Two years of gaming companion work. She'd said "bro" more times than she could count. She was long immune to it.

But a voice was a second face.

She didn't need to dazzle him - but she had to leave a good impression.

She cleared her throat, pressed the voice button, and leaned close to the mic.

"Brother~"

Two syllables, the tail end stretched out soft and gooey, like melted malt candy.

With a trace of playfulness and laziness.

Different from how she called clients in-game.

Her "service voice" was sweet but never carried a flirtatious edge.

Because she didn't need to seduce them.

But Shang Shixu was different.

She genuinely needed to seduce him.

Two seconds of audio. She hit send.

The other side went silent for a full thirty seconds.

Lie: [Mm.]

One character.

Jiang Wan stared at that "Mm," convinced there was something hidden inside it.

She waited. Nothing more came through.

Nice2MeetYou: [Goodnight, brother.]

Lie: [Night.]

Her roster of nicknames for him had now expanded from "Darling" and "Babe" to include a new addition: "Brother."

She tucked her phone into her pocket and looked down to bite into her sweet-and-sour pork.

Boston. A luxury apartment.

Shang Shixu leaned against the headboard, the glow of his phone screen casting light across the sharp angles of his face.

He opened the two-second voice message. Played it again.

"Brother~"

And then...

Again.

One more time.

If Pei Heyun could see him right now, his jaw would hit the floor.

The Crown Prince of Haicheng - hopelessly replaying a two-second voice message on a loop.

The reason Shang Shixu kept listening was twofold. One: it sounded good. Two: it sounded familiar.

The texture of the voice was remarkably similar to that gaming companion girl's.

Except sweeter. Softer.

More capable of plucking at his heartstrings.

12:30 PM. Jiang Wan pushed open the dorm room door.

Wang Yurong and Zhou Feiyan were both inside. Li Zhile was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Feiyan was scrolling Weibo when she shot up from her chair.

"Holy crap!"

"Shen Che is coming to our school to film a TV drama!"

Jiang Wan had been about to twist her water bottle open. Her hand stopped mid-motion.

Wang Yurong was browsing Taobao for her boyfriend's birthday gift. She looked up, startled. "Seriously?"

Zhou Feiyan raised an eyebrow. "His studio's official schedule just dropped. You think that's fake?"

"When?" Wang Yurong asked.

Zhou Feiyan: "Says next Friday."

Wang Yurong nodded. "Alright. We'll go take a look."

"Actually, I'm kind of curious what Shen Che looks like in real life."

Some stars looked great on camera but were underwhelming in person. Filters, angles, lighting - they could turn a six into a nine.

Zhou Feiyan caught the implication.

That was a direct challenge to her boy's looks.

As a diehard fan, she was absolutely certain Shen Che's face could withstand any test.

But Wang Yurong, as a casual fan, wouldn't know that. Fair enough.

Zhou Feiyan silently resolved: she'd mobilize the entire dorm to go see him.

She'd make them witness firsthand what it meant to be a "raw-photo killer"!

Then Zhou Feiyan remembered that Jiang Wan had also said she was a Shen Che fan. She turned to look.

"Wanwan, you'll come see Shen Che too, right?"

Jiang Wan blinked. "...I will. If nothing comes up."

Zhou Feiyan nodded understandingly.

She knew Jiang Wan was always juggling part-time jobs. Her schedule was unpredictable.

No matter - if she couldn't make it, Zhou Feiyan would take photos for her.

The dorm settled back into quiet.

Jiang Wan opened her laptop and went back to the writing contest draft.

2:30 PM. Jiang Wan shut her laptop and headed to class with Zhou Feiyan.

A full afternoon of lectures, finally ending under a sky painted in sunset colors.

Jiang Wan wolfed down a quick dinner, then dove into the library with her laptop to polish the contest piece.

8 PM. She picked up her phone and opened Facebook.

Nice2MeetYou: [Good morning, darling~]

A long stretch. No response from the other side.

Jiang Wan followed up.

Nice2MeetYou: [I reply to you in seconds. You reply to me in reincarnations. That's okay, babe - get to my messages whenever you're free.]

This time, a reply came in about ten seconds.

Lie: [Was answering a professor's question.]

Nice2MeetYou: [Babe actually explains himself now?]

Nice2MeetYou: [Admit it. You're falling for me~]

Lie: [Scram.]

Nice2MeetYou: [Go to class. I'll leave you be.]

Jiang Wan knew all too well - flirting with this Crown Prince was a grueling mission.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

She dove back into her draft.

She wrote straight through until the library closed at ten. The piece was finally done.

She read it twice, confirmed no typos, and sent it to the submission email.

The moment she closed her laptop, she let out a long breath.

Now came the waiting.

Back at the dorm by 10:20 PM.

Zhou Feiyan and Wang Yurong were already in bed, scrolling their phones.

Li Zhile stood in front of the closet, holding two shirts up against herself, unable to decide which to wear tomorrow.

Jiang Wan didn't disturb them. She grabbed her towel and went to the bathroom.

11 PM. She finally collapsed into her bunk.

The moment the covers wrapped around her, the exhaustion of the day found somewhere to land.

A WeChat notification chimed.

She checked her phone. It was the gaming companion client she'd added that morning.

In the chat: the five hundred yuan session fee he'd transferred that afternoon.

Jiang Wan accepted it and sent back a "Thanks, boss" sticker.

Then a new message came through:

[Meatball, my name's Pei Heyun. Save it. Let's be friends from now on.]

Jiang Wan replied: [Sure. I'm Jiang Wan.]

Pei Heyun: [Nice! Which city are you in?]

Jiang Wan: [Haicheng.]

Pei Heyun: [No way! Hometown buddies! I'm from Haicheng too, but I'm studying abroad right now.]

Jiang Wan had zero interest in deepening this "hometown reunion" narrative.

She wanted to wrap things up fast.

[Yeah! Let's chat next time. I should get some rest.]

Pei Heyun: [Sure sure! Goodnight!]

Jiang Wan: [Goodnight.]

...

Boston. Harvard Business School.

The class bell had finished ringing, but Pei Heyun sat frozen in his seat, grinning at his phone like an idiot.

Shang Shixu turned from the seat in front of him, glanced at that lovesick expression, and parted his thin lips:

"Sexually frustrated?"

Pei Heyun choked. He looked up and glared. "With a mouth like that, if you weren't so powerful, someone would've killed you by now."

Shang Shixu twirled a pen between his fingers, his face radiating pure indifference.

Pei Heyun finished roasting him, then his eyes gleamed with excitement. He leaned in and dropped his voice.

"Xu-ge, serious talk. I think my spring has arrived."

"That Meatball from last night - she's actually from Haicheng. We're practically destined, right?"

Shang Shixu: "Oh."

Pei Heyun bristled. "That's all you have to say about your brother's happiness?"

Shang Shixu scoffed. "It's only March. You've already fallen for three girls since the year started. One per month, on average."

"Your spring comes a little too easily, doesn't it?"

Pei Heyun protested: "Those were just me appreciating beautiful things. Not real feelings."

"I'm telling you - this one is real!"

Shang Shixu was ice-cold. "Real or fake. Don't care."

He started to turn away. Pei Heyun's hand shot out, clamping onto his shoulder, desperate to win back some ground.

"You've got nerve talking. At least I'm not the one peacocking for Gu Manning with a selfie~"

Shang Shixu raised an eyebrow. "You want to fight?"

Pei Heyun pouted. "Just say you want to beat me up. Don't dress it up as 'fighting.' You always do this."

He wisely stood up and headed for the door.

"Come on, come on. Let's eat."

Shang Shixu tossed his pen down and was about to rise when a Facebook notification popped up on his phone.

He glanced down.

Nice2MeetYou: [So bored, babe. Let's go spend your money together.]