Heartbeat Engine

At night, Luo Ye tossed and turned in his bed, unable to fall asleep. The sound of Li Haoyang's loud snoring echoed through the dorm room. Although it was noisy, Luo Ye had been hearing it for half a month and had already gotten used to it.

Thinking about what had happened during the game earlier, he couldn't resist opening the chat and sending a message to "Loves Hotpot."

Luo Ye: Are you a senior?

In the faculty apartment, Su Baizhou heard the notification and saw the message. She replied:

Loves Hotpot: Yeah.

Seeing this, Luo Ye finally understood that the two girls Gu Mingxuan had invited to play games before were probably his students.

This guy actually drags his own students into games? Doesn't that bother his conscience as a teacher? Luo Ye thought.

But Gu Mingxuan taught computer science… Could this senior be in the same major?

Curious, Luo Ye sent another message.

Luo Ye: Do you know Senior Su Baizhou?

Upon reading this, Su Baizhou sat down on the sofa, a hint of mischief flashing through her mind.

Gu Professor's little brother, the boy who dominates in games, is actually this shy and innocent in real life.

Loves Hotpot: I know her. We're pretty close.

Luo Ye was slightly stunned. He had asked casually, not expecting that not only did she know Su Baizhou, but they were also close.

Now that he got an answer, Luo Ye didn't know what to say next. A strange sense of nervousness crept over him.

Seeing the delay in his reply, Su Baizhou crossed her legs and decided to take the initiative.

Loves Hotpot: Do you like her?

Even though Luo Ye was lying on his bed in the boys' dorm, his face turned bright red when he saw those words.

With his looks and grades, he had been liked by many girls growing up. But he'd always turned them down because he'd secretly liked the same girl for three years. Besides, his parents met in college, so Luo Ye had always planned to start dating in university.

At heart, he was still a pure, inexperienced boy—never having dated and completely clueless about handling girls.

After hesitating for a long time, Luo Ye finally replied with just one word:

Luo Ye: No.

Su Baizhou couldn't help but smirk. Just two simple letters, but he'd hesitated for three whole minutes before sending them.

She had seen all kinds of people chasing after her. But a pure-hearted junior like this? That was a first.

Luo Ye: Senior, what's your name?

Su Baizhou thought for a moment, then typed:

Loves Hotpot: Qin Yuwen.

After all, the two girls Gu Mingxuan had brought into the game before were her and Qin Yuwen, so using that name made perfect sense.

Luo Ye: What a coincidence?!

Luo Ye was very familiar with that name—that's Wang Dazui's dream girl!

Thinking of this, Luo Ye quickly sent another message:

Luo Ye: My roommate likes you.

(Wang Dazui: ???)

Su Baizhou couldn't hold back a soft laugh. What kind of way is that to chat with a girl?

Before they knew it, the two had been chatting late into the night.

Talking with Luo Ye felt like conversing with a child—his words carried a kind of innocent silliness that she found strangely endearing.

That night, Luo Ye kept asking questions about Su Baizhou. But when it came to asking for her WeChat, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

After all, they'd always used QQ to game together, and Su Baizhou's WeChat contacts were limited to family and a few close female friends.

With a faint smile, Su Baizhou typed under the name "Qin Yuwen":

Loves Hotpot: I'll give it to you. We're close.

She then sent him a [WeChat QR code].

But Luo Ye was so exhausted that he fell asleep before adding her.

The next morning, when Su Baizhou noticed no friend request had come through and her QQ message hadn't been read, she frowned slightly.

"Did this little stutter… fall asleep?"

She raised an eyebrow, glanced at the hundreds of chat messages with Luo Ye, and then looked around at her still-messy apartment, lost in thought.

What exactly was I doing all night…?

But then her frown relaxed, and she muttered to herself:

"Just helping Professor Gu look after his little brother. Adding him on WeChat isn't a big deal."

When Luo Ye woke up, he casually picked up his phone and saw the last two messages from "Qin Yuwen" sent the night before.

Then he spotted the WeChat QR code.

"Qin Yuwen" said this was Su Baizhou's.

Luo Ye was instantly wide awake.

The WeChat of the goddess herself?

His heart racing, he tapped on it and saw her WeChat profile. Since they weren't friends yet, he couldn't view her Moments—only her nickname: Su Baizhou. Plain and simple, just her real name.

Come to think of it, Luo Ye's name was "Luo Ye," and his game ID was "Falling Leaves Returning to Roots." A pun on his name, but still straightforward.

What should I do? Add her or not?

But she probably doesn't even recognize me, right?

Should I say I'm the guy who sang with you at the freshman welcome party? Or the one who sheltered from the rain with you on the first day?

With her personality, there's no way she'd accept based on that.

And if she rejects me, I probably won't get a second chance.

Luo Ye sat on his bed, deep in thought.

His first class started at 8:30 AM. He woke up at 7:00 AM… and hesitated until 8:10.

"Luo Ye, bro, why are you just sitting there? You're gonna be late!" Li Haoyang reminded him.

"Huh? Oh, right. Coming!"

Luo Ye snapped out of it, quickly turned off his phone, and rushed to get dressed.

During class, Luo Ye stared at the WeChat QR code, completely distracted.

His three roommates leaned over to look at his screen.

"You've been staring at that for ages. Are you adding her or not?" Shen Qiao teased.

"I want to… but I'm scared," Luo Ye mumbled.

After all, this is the campus goddess's WeChat.

Who am I to deserve that?

And what if she rejects me? Then what?

Shen Qiao glanced at the QR code and froze slightly when he saw the name "Su Baizhou."

Then he grinned.

"Luo Ye, let me ask you—what's your relationship with her right now?"

"Strangers."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

Luo Ye had an epiphany.

Yeah… what am I afraid of?

It's not like I had any chance to meet the goddess before. The worst-case scenario is just staying the same.

With that realization, Luo Ye boldly typed his name in the friend request, without any extra explanation, and hit "Send."

Then he turned off his phone.

Shen Qiao was stunned. "Why'd you turn it off?"

Luo Ye turned to him slowly, his nervousness making even simple movements feel stiff.

"I'm too scared to look… What if she rejects me?"

Shen Qiao: …

How is it possible for a college student to be this pure?

Oh, wait—this guy isn't a man. He's still a boy.