After the Online Romance with the Campus Beauty Roommate Went Wrong - Chapter 49

The Laboratory Building was quiet during the final exam period, with most students busy preparing for their exams. Sang Shi’an entered the building but didn’t immediately call Jian Chenyu. Instead, she paced back and forth between the four potted evergreen plants near the entrance, clutching her phone.

On her sixth circuit, footsteps echoed from around the corner.

It was Jian Chenyu.

Having removed her coat indoors, Jian Chenyu’s high-waisted, wide-leg black pants accentuated her long legs. A smile lit up her face as she saw Sang Shi’an, and she pointed to the call screen on her phone before pushing open the door to step outside.

A delivery driver handed Jian Chenyu a large bag of takeout. Sang Shi’an glanced at it—it was from a private dessert shop she had just seen advertised online the night before.

Sang Shi’an averted her gaze from the takeout bag and asked with feigned indifference, “Why did you call me here?”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Jian Chenyu seemed to have forgotten her reason for calling Sang Shi’an. After a brief pause, the smile in her eyes deepened as she looked at Sang Shi’an.

Sang Shi’an immediately understood.

Of course, she had rushed over at Jian Chenyu’s mere suggestion.

Feeling deeply embarrassed, Sang Shi’an turned to leave.

Jian Chenyu wrapped her arms around Sang Shi’an from behind, her warm palms pressing against her waist. Leaning close to her ear, she whispered, “I didn’t get enough of you at lunch and wanted to see you again, so I called you here.”

Sang Shi’an suddenly found herself unable to scold him. The dessert in the takeout bag seemed to have spilled, or else why did the air feel so sweet?

Awkwardly, she asked, “Why are you ordering takeout at this hour? Didn’t you eat lunch?”

Jian Chenyu pulled Sang Shi’an inside. “Eating with a bunch of professors is so boring. I made up an excuse about needing to study for an exam and came back early.”

As they passed the laboratory Sang Shi’an had visited earlier, Jian Chenyu didn’t stop. “Where are we going?” Sang Shi’an asked.

“To the small lab inside,” Jian Chenyu explained. “It’s my aunt’s private lab, so we won’t be disturbed. It’s perfect for…”

Perfect for romance, Sang Shi’an silently finished the sentence in her mind.

“…perfect for studying,” Jian Chenyu said. “You can bring your books too. Memorizing won’t bother anyone else.”

“Wouldn’t it bother you?” Sang Shi’an asked.

Jian Chenyu paused, then reluctantly replied, “For you, I can endure it.”

The words “endure it” lingered on her tongue, her voice inexplicably low.

In an instant, Sang Shi’an’s mind raced to other possibilities, nearly dying of embarrassment.

The moment the laboratory door opened, she swiftly pushed Jian Chenyu inside, desperate to conceal the School Belle’s hidden, less-than-pristine side from prying eyes.

The laboratory was impeccably clean. Every test tube and instrument on the table was arranged with meticulous precision, leaving no trace of clutter.

Jian Chenyu leisurely unpacked the takeout bag, revealing over a dozen small containers. As she arranged them on the table, Sang Shi’an felt a pang of guilt toward the delicate instruments sharing the space.

“Don’t bother taking them out. I don’t like this stuff,” Sang Shi’an said.

“Then why were you glued to that coconut chicken livestream last night?” Jian Chenyu countered.

Sang Shi’an turned her head away.

Jian Chenyu chuckled softly. “Such a stubborn mouth, just like a kid.”

“I only eat freshly made food,” Sang Shi’an blurted out, making up an excuse on the spot.

Jian Chenyu’s lips curved into a smile. She reached out and ruffled Sang Shi’an’s hair, deciding not to call her bluff. Selecting a few of the less appealing containers for her own lunch, she said, “Then sit down and keep me company while I eat. Or would you rather just watch?”

Sang Shi’an completely ignored the option of playing on her phone and grabbed a container of Mango Pomelo Sago. “Who wants to watch you?”

The mango puree in the Mango Pomelo Sago was freshly squeezed. Sang Shi’an had always disliked the pomelo bits inside, but when ordering in public, she feared being mocked by the staff for not being able to handle authentic Mango Pomelo Sago, making her seem like a country bumpkin. So she always forced herself to eat it.

To her surprise, this box contained no pomelo bits. Her eyes narrowed with delight. “Not bad,” she said.

Jian Chenyu pushed another mango soufflé toward her. “Try this too. The strawberry ones are really fluffy, so the mango ones should be good as well.”

Having just finished her meal, Sang Shi’an happily accepted.

They opened five boxes in succession. Jian Chenyu barely took a few bites, while Sang Shi’an devoured everything, like feeding a pet that obediently eats whatever’s offered.

When Sang Shi’an finally couldn’t eat any more, she felt a little embarrassed and proactively helped Jian Chenyu open a few dessert boxes, then changed the subject. “Were those professors from other universities at lunch today?”

“Yeah, they’re here for a teaching and research exchange conference at Yanjing University. There are a few more lectures by the Department of Chemistry this afternoon.”

“Ugh, even during finals week, the chemistry students have to attend these lectures? They have it so rough.”

Jian Chenyu explained, “Two of the professors are about to start preparing questions for the chemistry competition. This is their last lecture before they go into seclusion to write the exam. How could anyone miss it?”

“Wow,” Sang Shi’an blinked twice. “Will they leak any questions?”

“Of course not, but we can analyze their lectures to understand their preferred question types.”

Sang Shi’an nodded, finding the logic sound. She recalled her own experience at the competition training camp before high school, where three of the instructors were among the final exam writers.

She had relentlessly practiced the question types those three teachers emphasized, even tackling problems beyond the syllabus.

In the end, almost none of those topics appeared on the exam. If she hadn’t prepared so thoroughly, she might not have gotten into a top-tier high school and would have been sent abroad by her parents.

That secluded training camp had also caused her to miss learning about Jian Chenyu’s plans to study abroad, a fact that had haunted her for years.

Noticing Sang Shi’an’s silence, Jian Chenyu asked, “What’s wrong?”

Seeing Jian Chenyu’s calm expression, Sang Shi’an guessed he had long since moved past their past. If it were anyone else, she might have smiled and changed the subject, but she couldn’t hold back.

She pulled the Mango Pomelo Sago closer, stirred it with a spoon, and asked casually, “If I had been able to use my phone at the training camp back then and known you were leaving the country, would you have stayed if I’d asked you to?”

Jian Chenyu replied, “No.”

Sang Shi’an understood the reasons perfectly well. First, Oxford’s QS rankings in her field were among the highest in the world, an opportunity too good to pass up. Second, there were Jian Chenyu’s swarm-like relatives.

Jian Chenyu had only been at Yanjing University for less than three months when Jian Zhenyang managed to orchestrate the laboratory explosion. Had she stayed in China for those four years, she likely wouldn’t have achieved her current research success.

Sang Shi’an teased, “Is this how you flirt? Shouldn’t you be saying you would have stayed?”

She nudged Jian Chenyu with her elbow. “I’ll give you another chance.”

Jian Chenyu shook her head. “Even the me of today would still choose to leave back then.”

Sang Shi’an’s face immediately fell, as if she’d just bitten into a whole lemon.

Jian Chenyu took her hand and leaned close to her ear. “If I had stayed, what if I’d gotten you into early romance?”

The laboratory fell silent for a moment. Sang Shi’an stared in disbelief. “You—you—you…”

Jian Chenyu remained completely composed. “An’an is so pretty. Wouldn’t it have been easy to fall for you once you blossomed in high school?”

Sang Shi’an: ……

That’s what she said, but… but how could Jian Chenyu, the model student, speak so confidently about early romance?

Sang Shi’an’s face flushed crimson, rendering her speechless. She stammered, “Y-you… you…”

“You wouldn’t have liked me back then, would you?”

Jian Chenyu couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you think I’m some kind of beast?”

Sang Shi’an remained skeptical. “When I was little, everyone praised my looks.”

“Besides, my grades weren’t bad either, and I was always focused on you, smiling whenever I saw you.”

Jian Chenyu shattered her illusions with a single sentence: “But I could never like a little fairy who waved a magic wand and chanted ‘Balala’ spells at me all day.”

Sang Shi’an: ……

Mortified, Sang Shi’an turned her back and pretended to be replying to a message, completely ignoring Jian Chenyu.

Jian Chenyu had planned to coax her after finishing her meal, but Jian Zhiyan called her over. Sang Shi’an seized the opportunity to slip away quietly, like a thief in the night.

Jian Chenyu caught a glimpse of Sang Shi’an’s retreating figure from the corner of her eye. She paused briefly but made no move to stop her.

Imagining Sang Shi’an’s mortified retreat, Jian Chenyu’s mood brightened, and the corners of her lips curled upward.

Jian Zhiyan noticed and followed Jian Chenyu’s gaze. “Is that the Sang Family girl again? I heard from your father that the marriage alliance with the Sangs has been called off. Can you still interact with her normally?”

Jian Chenyu’s expression was strained. “Not really.”

Jian Zhiyan patted her niece’s shoulder reassuringly. “Then move in with me, Aunt. The Jian Family has plenty of room, and it’s awkward for you to feel like you’re living under someone else’s roof now that your relationship with her has changed.”

Jian Chenyu shook her head, revealing the truth without hesitation. “Aunt, I couldn’t marry Sang Shiyue because I’m pursuing his sister.”

Jian Zhiyan froze for several seconds, almost convinced she had misheard.

Showing no respect for age or seniority, Jian Chenyu repeated, “I’m pursuing Sang Shi’an.”

Having studied abroad and witnessed various same-s3x relationships, Jian Zhiyan recovered from her initial shock and regained her composure.

Her niece had never been materialistic, rarely showing interest in anything, and hadn’t dated in years. The moment Jian Chenyu spoke, only one thought flashed through Jian Zhiyan’s mind: It’s over, it’s really happening.

As her aunt, Jian Zhiyan suppressed her shock and offered a few more words of caution. “She’s a Sang Family daughter. Even if you like women, don’t mess with her. Look at the entertainment industry—there are plenty of gay people, but none of them dare touch someone from within the circle. She’s several years younger than you. Don’t take advantage of living together and do something reckless.”

Jian Chenyu thought to herself that she wouldn’t have dared either, but Cat Cat had left the window open for her. What choice did she have?

Jian Chenyu countered, “Aunt, do you think I’m forcing her into this?”

Jian Zhiyan recalled Sang Shi’an’s demeanor as she left just now. It didn’t seem forced at all. “Even if you’re both in love, this is still absurd. Your father will never approve.”

“The patent is mine. If necessary, I’ll just leave the Jian Clan and find investors to build my own team.”

“But you’d still be at the mercy of shareholders. How could that compare to the established system of the family company?”

Jian Chenyu replied calmly, “That doesn’t matter.”

Jian Zhiyan asked, “Then what does matter?”

After a moment’s thought, Jian Chenyu answered, “Her happiness.”

Jian Zhiyan was speechless.

She was completely convinced. When Jian Chenyu showed no interest in Sang Shiyue before, Jian Zhiyan had secretly inquired about him. He was exceptional in every way, and she had worried that Jian Chenyu’s time in the Laboratory Building had made her emotionally detached, even considering giving her some “guidance.”

Now it was clear that no guidance was needed. She hadn’t been “awakened” because she hadn’t met the right person. With the right person, she had instantly transformed into a hopeless romantic.

The incurable kind.