Chapter 1

“Don’t drag me out for drinks again.”

“Yeah, there’s a curfew. I have to be home before ten…”

Under someone’s watchful gaze.

Reluctantly, I called my “bad friends” one by one to explain the situation.

“Babe, is this Gu Xuchen’s rule?”

My friend burst out laughing on the other end of the line.

My face flushed red. I glanced at Gu Xuchen, who was sitting calmly beside me, and added weakly, “I set it for myself.”

Friend: “Geez, I’ve seen henpecked husbands, but never a wife so strictly managed by her husband.”

Me: …

Annoyed, I hung up the phone.

Gu Xuchen glanced at me, his voice cool: “Don’t let it happen again.”

Me: …

Watching his departing figure, I really felt like I’d boarded a pirate ship I couldn’t-or rather, didn’t want to-get off.

It’s kind of funny, actually.

I’m Gu Xuchen’s senior.

When I first met him, he was just a sophomore in college.

A simple white shirt, pure eyes, completely innocent and inexperienced, holding a book and chatting and laughing with his classmates-he was bursting with youthful energy.

Being such a decisive person, of course I went after him directly.

“I don’t want to have any regrets. I just want to tell you that I like you. Will you be my boyfriend?”

I blocked his way back to the dorm, bold as could be.

Gu Xuchen glanced at me indifferently: “You’re allowed to have regrets.”

Me: …

As soon as he finished speaking,

I felt the temperature around me drop.

If I couldn’t win him over, I’d just pursue someone else. There were plenty of handsome guys out there. I just didn’t expect that this round of dating would ruin my reputation.

When I broke up with my ex, he spread rumors about me everywhere, even mocking me for always chasing after Gu Xuchen like a lovesick puppy.

“Gu Xuchen, tell me, wasn’t she shamelessly chasing after you?”

Someone actually went up to Gu Xuchen to ask.

Gu Xuchen pushed up his glasses and replied nonchalantly, “Chasing me isn’t shameful. What’s shameful is her taste getting worse and worse.”

Me: …

The deeper meaning of this sentence was quickly translated by our classmates: Ye Min’s ex isn’t even worthy of carrying Gu Xuchen’s shoes; Ye Min’s taste has really gone downhill.

For some reason,

the discussion later shifted to comparing Gu Xuchen and my ex-family background, looks, even finger length…

After all the comparisons,

my ex was left utterly humiliated, but didn’t dare actually provoke Gu Xuchen. Even if he grumbled about him, to him, Gu Xuchen was just a little underclassman who hadn’t even grown up yet.