Chapter 1 — The Day I Left University A

The day the college entrance examination scores were announced, I knew for certain that I had been accepted into University A. After a gruelling gap year of retaking the exams, I could finally become campus peers with my boyfriend, Diep Thua Huan, and my best friend, Ha Linh. Keeping it a secret from everyone, I stealthily made my way to University A, intending to surprise them. Instead, I stumbled upon Ha Linh nestled in Diep Thua Huan’s embrace, weeping softly beneath the dormitory building.

"Thua Huan, after Tri Vu arrives, will we no longer be able to be as intimate as we are now?"

"If only she had never passed the exams for University A."

Diep Thua Huan pressed a tender kiss to her lips, his voice soothing and gentle.

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Last year, to fulfill your birthday wish of dating me, we secretly altered Tri Vu's college application choices, causing her to fail her admissions."

"During her year of retaking the exams, we hid our relationship and dated at university for a full year. We've already wronged her enough."

"When she gets here, naturally, I will still be her boyfriend."

Ha Linh raised her tear-filled eyes to look at him.

"Then can we still continue to see each other after this?"

Diep Thua Huan pondered for a long moment before finally speaking.

"If Tri Vu doesn't find out, then we can."

01

At that exact second, my left hand was gripping the cake I had bought specifically for Ha Linh, while my right arm cradled a bouquet of roses meant for Diep Thua Huan. I must have looked like an absolute, pathetic joke. Over there, Diep Thua Huan was still murmuring words of comfort to Ha Linh.

"Besides, I promised to be your secret boyfriend for a full year, and not a single day will be short."

"Your birthday wish took effect on July 25th of last year, and it only ends on July 25th of this year. I'm even gifting you an extra month—until the start of next semester, I am still your boyfriend."

"I already told Tri Vu this summer that the school arranged an internship for me, so I won't be returning home."

"We'll stay here in the campus district together, and whatever you want to do, I will indulge you."

I could not help but tighten my grip into a white-knuckled fist, my mind flashing back to July 25th of the previous year. It had been Ha Linh's birthday. It was also the exact day I discovered my college entrance exam application had come up completely blank. Staring at the empty acceptance inquiry page, utter disbelief had washed over me. My exam score was the highest among the three of us—myself, Diep Thua Huan, and Ha Linh. Yet both of them had been safely admitted into University A, while I alone had failed to secure a single choice. My panicked parents had immediately called the admissions office to inquire about the situation, and that was when we learned the truth: I had never submitted any college application choices at all.

"How could something like this possibly happen?"

The admissions officer on the phone had sounded deeply regretful.

"With a score that high, if you had applied to our university, you undoubtedly would have been accepted."

"But the current situation stands as it is, and we cannot change it. Did she perhaps forget to click the final confirmation button when submitting her choices?"

My soul felt as though it had detached from my body; I simply could not accept it. Right at that moment, Ha Linh's call had come through.

"Babe! Your birthday cake has arrived, hurry up and come over to my place to eat cake!"

"Thua Huan is already here, we're just waiting for you!"

Weeping bitterly, I had recounted the entire ordeal of my failed admissions to them. On the other end of the line, Ha Linh had offered eager, enthusiastic comfort.

"It's fine, it's really okay! Anyone can be careless sometimes."

"So what are you planning to do now? Wait, isn't the application period for vocational colleges starting right after the regular admissions close? If it really comes down to it, why don't you just apply for a vocational college?"

I had turned my head to look at my parents' worried gazes, then remembered all my relentless efforts over the past three years, and slowly shook my head.

"No, I want to retake the exams."

There had been a brief pause on the other end before Diep Thua Huan's voice came through.

"With your scores, settling for a vocational college truly wouldn't be worth it."

"Just rest assured and study for the retake; Ha Linh and I will be waiting for you at University A!"

Ha Linh had chimed in immediately afterward.

"Thua Huan is right! So my birthday wish this year is for our Tri Vu to spend a year retaking her exams and smoothly, successfully pass into University A!"

Back then, I had been deeply moved by their comforting words. Yet it turned out that this entire scenario had been meticulously orchestrated by the two of them. Their ultimate goal was to conceal the truth from me while fulfilling Ha Linh's true birthday wish: to date my boyfriend.

02

After Ha Linh went off to university, I knew she had a boyfriend. What I did not know was that our boyfriends happened to be the exact same person. After all, she would happily and tirelessly share the sweet, everyday anecdotes of life between her and her beau with me. I spent five days a week burying myself in books at school, and when I returned home on weekends, her message count would invariably exceed ninety-nine notifications.

"Today my boyfriend went to my specialized lecture with me. The professor randomly called on him to answer a question, and he blanked completely—it was hilarious to death!"

"My boyfriend hand-woven a scarf for me, ta-da!"

"Today my boyfriend and I did something terribly embarrassing. Oh right, Tri Vu, have you and Thua Huan gone all the way yet?"

My reply had been simple.

"No."

Diep Thua Huan and I had gotten together on our coming-of-age day. Immediately following the ceremony came the intense, high-stakes final sprint of senior year, leaving virtually no spare time for romance. Later on, when the college entrance exams had finally concluded, I found myself failing my admissions, leaving me with even less state of mind to ponder other matters. Hearing that Diep Thua Huan and I had never slept together, Ha Linh had responded with exaggerated disbelief on the other end.

"Not yet? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Tri Vu, haven't you ever heard the saying? If a man doesn't even possess physical desire for a woman, then I'm afraid he doesn't truly like her at all!"

"Oh dear, did I say something wrong? Absolutely no intention of driving a wedge between the two of you, though..."

Thinking back on it now, every single one of those words had been laced with subtle mockery. Yet back then, weighed down relentlessly by my studies, I was far too dull-witted to perceive her malice, simply deflecting the topic elsewhere.

"Let's not talk about this anymore."

"You move fast, don't you? You've barely been in school for a week and you're already dating?"

"What does your guy look like? Send a photo over, let me check him out for you!"

The other side had burst into laughter.

"Just one word: drop-dead gorgeous."

"How gorgeous?"

"Gorgeous to the point that the very second you lay eyes on his face, you'll pass out on the spot!"

"But he hates taking pictures, so there aren't any photos to show you!"

... And yet, looking at the two of them embracing beneath the dormitory building right now, I truly felt as though the ground was spinning beneath my feet. Pulling out my phone, I sent a text message to Diep Thua Huan.

"What are you doing?"

Across the courtyard, Diep Thua Huan's phone chimed. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and replied instantly.

"Interning at the hospital, extremely busy."

Swallowing back the tears burning at the back of my eyes, I typed back.

"Then take a picture of the hospital for me to see."

In less than two seconds, a photograph of a hospital corridor arrived in my inbox. Seeing Diep Thua Huan respond to the message, Ha Linh pouted and leaned over to peer at the screen.

"It's that Jiang Tri Vu again, why does she keep coming to bother you? She's taking up time that rightfully belongs to me!"

She spoke with a sense of utter self-righteousness, as if she were the legitimate girlfriend and I was the unreasonable third party. Diep Thua Huan pinched her cheek affectionately.

"Fortunately, I was thorough and preemptively asked a senior for some hospital internship photos, just to keep up appearances."

Dissatisfied, Ha Linh narrowed her eyes and probed further.

"Are you really that terrified of her finding out?"

"Or... why don't you just tell her about us! If she truly likes you and genuinely considers me her friend, how could she possibly blame the two of us?"

Hearing this, Diep Thua Huan furrowed his brows.

"Don't talk nonsense. Our relationship must not be dragged out into the open in front of her."

Noticing his shifting expression, Ha Linh hurriedly changed the subject, turning coquettish.

"Fine, let's drop it. Why don't you skip going back to the dorm tonight? Let's go out and do something a little more thrilling."

Her fingers trailed in a provocative, teasing manner across Diep Thua Huan's chest. He let out a low, gravelly chuckle.

"Craving it that badly? I'll definitely satisfy you tonight."

Wrapping an arm around Ha Linh, he led her away in the exact opposite direction of where I stood. The very next second, a text message pinged on my phone from him.

"There's a surgery tonight; I'm scrubbing in with my supervising professor. If nothing's urgent, try not to disturb me. Love you."

After reading every single character of those fabricated lies, I opened my messaging app and sent a text to my parents.

"Mom, Dad, I won't be applying to University A anymore. I'm applying to University S."

03

My parents' phone call came through almost instantly.

"Darling, why the sudden change of heart?"

"Didn't you always want to go to University A, to be campus peers with Xiao Ling and Thua Huan?"

I forced a brittle, hollow smile onto my face.

"Ha Linh and Diep Thua Huan are together."

My mother's voice spiked sharply in pitch.

"What? But back at the coming-of-age ceremony last year, didn't Thua Huan confess to you..."

Before finishing her sentence, she seemed to realize something and abruptly cut herself off. Instead, it was I who ended up offering them reassurance.

"My score this year is even higher than last year's; it's more than enough to get into University S."

"The physics major I've always wanted to study is inherently a tier better at University S than at University A anyway."

"I initially considered University A simply because there were familiar faces there. But looking at it now, these people aren't worth me giving up a vastly superior university."

I desperately choked down the sob threatening to rupture my throat.

"I won't talk long, I'm getting ready to head home now. Make sure you cook my favorite sweet and sour pork ribs tonight, okay?"

My father's voice rumbled steadily from the other end of the line.

"Our entire family misjudged the characters of those people."

"Ha Linh's tuition fees were always covered by your mother and me. Since she's treated you this way, we won't be paying a single unearned cent starting next semester."

I let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh and answered.

"Okay."

Ha Linh had been my childhood friend, coming from a broken home. During our sophomore year of high school, her parents divorced, and neither of them wanted her, nor were they willing to fund her high school education. It was I who had begged my parents, pleading with them to take Ha Linh in as our adopted family member.

"Mom, Dad, let's help her out. She doesn't even have the money left to finish high school!"

"Just think of it as helping out my friend, and once we get into college, the two of us will pick up part-time jobs and pay you back!"

Without a second thought, my parents had agreed. Not only did they pay her high school tuition, but they provided her meals and rented an apartment for her. They even covered her university tuition in full. Back then, Ha Linh had nearly dropped to her knees to kowtow in gratitude toward us, though I had stopped her. She had sworn to me:

"Tri Vu, I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life! Once I start making money, I will definitely repay you a hundredfold!"

Yet this turned out to be the exact way she repaid that kindness. I tossed the cake and the bouquet of roses still clutched in my hands straight into the dormitory trash bin, then turned on my heel and headed for the high-speed rail station to go home. My social media feed displayed a small red notification dot. Tapping on it, I saw that Ha Linh had just posted a new update—a selfie taken inside the presidential suite of a five-star hotel.

"Hubby booked a room costing two thousand a night, telling me I need to perform exceptionally well tonight. How do you all think I should reward him?"

I suddenly recalled the period exactly one hundred days before the college entrance examinations. Under immense pressure, I had called Diep Thua Huan.

"Can you come back and stay with me for a little while, even if we just meet for a single moment?"

Yet he had rejected me without the slightest hesitation.

"Tri Vu, I don't have the money for a high-speed rail ticket back."

"You haven't entered university yet, so you don't understand how many places require money in college."

"Besides, I'm extremely busy and simply cannot carve out the time."

"Can't you be a little more understanding?"

It turned out that a train ticket costing a few hundred yuan was unaffordable, while a hotel room costing two thousand yuan could be booked without a second thought. It turned out that being "extremely busy" simply meant squeezing out every single second to romance Ha Linh. With a completely expressionless face, I tapped the "like" button. Perhaps noticing my acknowledgment, Ha Linh swiftly sent me a private message.