After finishing the last class of evening self-study, the students, who were previously tormented and on the brink of collapse, suddenly revived and rushed straight to the cafeteria.

The adolescent boy's stomach in its puberty stage seemed to contain a bottle of sulfuric acid, no matter how much he ate in the afternoon, he would still feel hungry at night.

In the blink of an eye, the classroom became deserted like the passing of a typhoon.

Shen Nan caught sight of Yu Shenglang and the other two rushing out and immediately shouted, "Hey! Wait for me!"

Is this still his damn good brother?!

Is food more important or are brothers more important in the end?!

Zou Liang squeezed through the crowd while turning around and shouted at him, "You have Shaobei bringing you a late-night snack! What's the rush!"

Shen Nan: "......"

He resisted the urge to hit the person with a book, and deftly squeezed into the crowded scene resembling a traffic jam. He grabbed Zou Liang by the collar and whispered in his ear through clenched teeth, "I've told you not to mention me and him together."

Zou Liang: "Heh."

Shen Nan's face was darkened with lines: "What are you laughing at?"

Zou Liang's eyes were filled with desolation and betrayal. "This has happened before too. You said that you would buy together with us, there's no need for Shao Bei to help you. Then we waited for you to leisurely finish and go to the canteen. But what happened?! Shao Bei had already bought you a fried chicken drumstick! You went straight to him! Yao Zhou and I lined up for a long time, but we only managed to buy instant noodles! We didn't even get a chance to grab the braised beef!"

Shen Nan: "......"

Zou Liang slammed the ground and self-reflected, "In a romantic relationship, a man's words are completely unreliable!"

Shen Nan: "..."

(Note: This translation follows the request to not include quotation marks in non-dialogue paragraphs.)

I couldn't believe I had done such a brainless thing.

I really wanted to beat Shaobei with a burlap sack.

He leaned on Zou Liang's shoulder, with a twisted smile on his face as he ground his teeth and said, "Don't worry, I will never deceive you, I really... you stay right there!"

After Shen Nan chased after them and they arrived at the canteen, they bought a huge amount of meat snacks and sat down. Only then did everyone finally relax and catch their breath.

Shen Nan rested his hand on the table, panting for breath. The feeling was akin to running a one-kilometer sprint, causing his face to flush. He looked at Zou Liang, who had a look of contentment on his face, and chuckled, "Impressive!"

Zou Liang quickly gathered all the things on the table and moved them towards himself, saying, "If you have prospects, then don't eat."

Shen Nan quickly snatched a duck neck.

After evening self-study, when the class ends, there is usually about an hour until the lights in the dormitory are turned off. Students are accustomed to spending the first half hour eating and drinking their fill before returning to wash up.

Shen Nan and his three roommates shared a dormitory—a decent living environment in Yizhong. They were assigned to a four-person room, which was only available for students in the honors class. Other classes had either six-person or eight-person rooms, with separate bathrooms and spacious accommodations. The overall rating for the dormitory was four stars.

Deducting one star because one cannot cook their own small stove.

The four of them ate for a while, packed up the leftovers, and took them away. Behind the cafeteria was the dormitory building. To get out from the front entrance of the cafeteria, they needed to take a half-circle detour. There was a section of road where the streetlight was broken, and the school hadn't repaired it. When Shen Nan walked there, he grabbed the person beside him with his right hand.

Yao Zhou: "?"

Yao Zhou was momentarily stunned. He turned his head and in the dim darkness, noticed that Shen Nan was squinting his eyes slightly.

"What's wrong?" He whispered into Shen Nan's ear.

Shen Nan tilted his head and smirked at him, saying, "It's a bit blurry."

Yao Zhou glanced at the hand clutching his sleeve. The young man's well-defined bones made his hand tremble slightly, causing his clothes to emit a small vibration. Shen Nan may not have even noticed it himself, and Yao Zhou didn't say much either. He reached out and hugged Shen Nan's arm like good friends.

The four of them chatted and laughed as they walked to the entrance of the boys' dormitory. Suddenly, they heard someone call out from behind, "Shen Nan!"

Shen Nan has already let go of Yao Zhou. The lights in the dormitory building are bright enough for him to see the person behind him. A girl with a high ponytail waves at him and smiles sweetly.

Shen Nan paused for a moment before finally calling out her name, "...... Shulan?"

Ning Shulan stared at Shao Bei in horror, her head turned to the side, and pointed at Shen Nan with fear, saying, "H-h-him, is he Shen Nan?"

Shao Bei: "......"

Shao Bei was speechless: "You're not blind."

Ning Shulan's face was filled with disbelief as she exclaimed, "But why is he calling me Shulan?"

Shen Nan, who could hear the conversation between the two clearly, remained silent.

Ning Shulan's gaze swept over Shen Nan, and after a moment, she reached out and solemnly patted Shao Bei's shoulder, saying, "I believe it. There's definitely something wrong with this Shen Nan!"

Shao Bei's eyes flickered, and a trace of confusion and grievance passed through the depths of his eyes. On his expressionless handsome face, a faint sense of urgency and anticipation emerged: "Right, he--"

Ning Shulan: "He must have been infuriated by you! I am being lumped together with him!"

Shao Bei: "......"

Shaobei Mu hesitated for two seconds, then turned around and walked away.

Ning Shulan: "Hey! Hey! Shao Bei!"

Shao Bei didn't want to even bother with her, a group of Shen Nan's friends and relatives! Absolutely impossible to communicate with!

When he passed by Shen Nan, a subtle glimmer of hope emerged in his heart. He anticipated that Shen Nan would call him from behind, embrace his waist, and say, "I was just teasing you!" He would absolutely not let Shen Nan confuse him with her coquettishness!

However--

There is nothing.

He walked into the bright light in the stairwell, where in the corner of his eye, Shen Nan's shadow was faintly outlined by the dim lighting.

Shao Bei: "......"

Shao Bei returned to the dormitory with a cold expression on his face.

Shen Nan did not glance sideways, as if Shaobei was transparent in his eyes.

He stared at the miniature version of Ning Shulan, a spirited and elegant girl. After watching Shao Bei leave, she walked up to Shen Nan and smiled, saying, "Hey, enough already. Today, the two of you broke the record for the longest cold war."

Shen Nan: "......"

If someone else came to persuade him about his relationship with Shao Beimo, Shen Nan would definitely become irritable and repeatedly assert that he and Shao Beimo have no connection. He might even become so angry that he would drag Shao Beimo out of the dormitory for a one-on-one fight. However, now that the person persuading him has become Ning Shulan, he is unable to speak.

Shen Nan looked at the girl with a helpless smile as her mother, with an expression that said, "I've really exhausted myself for you all," said, "Shu Lan..."

He had a lot to say. In Ning Shulan's eyes, they had only missed a few classes. But in Shen Nan's memory, it had been several years.

The words of longing circled between my teeth and swallowed silently on their own.

He said, "Stop joking around, this time I'm serious."

The girl froze and blinked her eyes, saying, "Huh?"

Shen Nan's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his eyelashes trembled faintly. He said, "Shaobei and I--" he changed his wording, "I just want to be strangers with Shaobei."

Not lovers, not classmates, not neighbors.

But rather, a stranger.

Ning Shulan frowned and asked, "Nannan, what's wrong with you?" She was a bit worried, "Did Shao Bei bully you? Did he cheat on you?" Shen Nan's silence was like a burning fire, making her feel anxious. "I'll call him out and teach him a lesson for you!"

Shen Nan chuckled and grabbed the girl who was trying to enter the boys' dormitory: "Don't get any ideas, there's nothing between us. It's just that he and I are not possible."

Ning Shulan looked at him fixedly. The young man's eyes were clear and bright, without any evasion or unease. They were calm, like the unruffled surface of a tranquil lake.

That was how Ning Shulan began to feel uneasy.

In a relationship, there is no fear of arguments, no fear of cold wars, and no fear of any obstacles.

The thing I fear the most is indifference in a person.

Only when you stop caring, can you truly let go.

Shen Nan couldn't explain his decision to Ning Shulan. Reincarnation was his biggest cheat code, something he couldn't tell anyone. All he could do was find the best solution.

To prevent the death of Shao's father and avoid the tragedy in the Shao family.

After that, they went their separate ways on their respective paths without owing each other anything, never to be connected again.