Chapter 98: A Campus Love Story (Part I)

The brick grazed my forehead as it flew past. Although I wasn't seriously hurt, it broke the skin, and blood immediately began to trickle down past my eye.

"Damn it!"

I cursed loudly, suppressing the pain. Blood seeped into my eye, but I didn't dare rub it; I had to close my left eye, looking like a pirate.

Focusing my gaze, I saw a lean man standing deep in the alley, shaking another brick in his hand, seemingly looking for an opening to take another shot at me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? What kind of grudge do you have against us?" Old Liao, also thoroughly incensed, roared at him.

The man with the brick slowly emerged from the depths of the alley, and we finally caught a clear look at his face.

It was the same college student who had been pestering Lisa at the bar!

He was still wearing the same thick-rimmed black glasses as before, dressed in an unremarkable plaid shirt. His hair was messy and greasy—the very image of a loser—and it looked as if he had been lying in wait here all night.

He stumbled toward us, cold sweat beading on his forehead. The hand holding the brick was trembling uncontrollably. He muttered, "Damn you scum, it's all because of you people that she’s become the way she is now. Her life has been ruined by you!"

As he spoke, his tone grew increasingly agitated. Several times, he raised the brick above his head, ready to throw it at us, but each time he would heave a heavy sigh and lower it again.

I covered the wound on my forehead with one hand and reached out the other, trying to look conciliatory. "It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. We’re here to help Lisa."

He stood against the wall and sneered. "Heh, help her? Your 'help' is exactly what’s destroying her! You just want to satisfy your own endless carnal desires. You rich people are all animals! You don't treat others like human beings at all!"

The more he spoke, the more excited he became. He charged straight at us, shouting, and raised the brick to smash it hard at my face.

*Oh, come on, me again?* If that connected, it would be a disaster—my incredibly handsome face would certainly be ruined.

Just as I was turning to run while holding my forehead, I heard a sharp "thwack." The brick hit the ground with a heavy thud. The student had already collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach and groaning incessantly.

I looked at the "Vajra Pestle" in Old Liao’s hand and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Old Liao, aren't you a Taoist? Why are you using that thing!"

Old Liao slowly tucked the Vajra Pestle into the backpack on his back and chuckled. "Can't have too many skills, you know!"

I grabbed the man writhing on the ground by his collar and pinned him against a nearby wall. "Speak! Why did you throw that at me?!"

The man gritted his teeth against the pain and suddenly looked up, locking eyes with me. I felt as if I could see a raging fire in his expression.

"You really have it wrong. Nothing happened between us and Lisa. I’m just here to help her settle some private matters. What are you to her, anyway?"

Seeing how desperate he was for Lisa's safety, I stopped being angry. After all, it was just a small scrape on my forehead; nothing serious. Thinking that he might know more about Lisa and could be of help, I began to question him.

To my surprise, he simply turned his head away, looking defiant, and refused to answer.

Old Liao set his backpack down, leaned against the corner of the wall, and lit a cigarette. "That woman, she wasn't always so flighty, was she? Do you know why?"

The young man's stubborn face suddenly lifted. A glint of light appeared in his eyes. He forced himself out of my grip and crawled toward Old Liao. "Can you... make her change back?"

I sighed deeply from the sidelines. *Sigh, another lovesick fool.*

...

Back at the shop, I watched the boy sitting on the sofa, still clutching his stomach—it seemed Old Liao had hit him quite hard with the Vajra Pestle. I handed him a cup of hot tea to help soothe the pain.

Old Liao sat across from him and asked, "Can you tell us what exactly happened to Lisa?"

The boy held the cup with both hands, steam rising from it. I watched the veins bulge on his hands as he gripped the cup tightly. He kept his head down, his long hair obscuring his face; I could only see his teeth clenched and his mouth trembling slightly.

Suddenly, he gave a faint, bitter laugh and let out a long sigh. "After you hear this, you'll probably think I'm a very strange person..."

The boy's real name was Xie Jialan. He was a senior at the South Guangdong Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in painting, just like Lisa. He had originally been a simple boy obsessed with art, his mind filled only with classes and drawing. In his free time, he would just play League of Legends with friends. He was a very gentle person who never argued with anyone. Even when he lost all night because of bad teammates in games, he would just laugh it off. However, his personality and his campus life were completely changed during a public lecture in his sophomore year.

That day, during the first oil painting class of his second year—which, unlike the simple foundations of freshman year, began to incorporate professional techniques—Xie Jialan's class was combined with two others for a lecture by a renowned professor. The professor was passionately teaching them the essence of art. To demonstrate oil painting techniques, the professor chose a student from the crowd to be his model. That student was Lisa.

In Xie Jialan's own words, Lisa was like a lotus rising from the water that day, a fairy who had wandered into his life. The professor’s brush danced and traced, and in the blink of an eye, the image of a vibrant, youthful girl came to life on the canvas. The painting drew applause from the entire room. Even the usually reserved and introverted Xie Jialan led the standing ovation. The girl stood on the stage, looking at him, and lowered her head with a shy, light laugh.

"Art and love—that was the happiest time of my life," Xie Jialan said.

During that time, he and Lisa dove madly into art. While others went online or hit the bars, they often met at the studio on weekends to practice. The feelings between the young man and woman were so clear, yet they never dared to voice them. Just like that, half a year of sweet, ambiguous bliss passed, and the two were introduced by the department to participate in a provincial art exhibition together.

"Xiao Xie, Xiao Xie, the theme of this exhibition is 'Love and Desire.' What do you want to paint?" Lisa asked, sitting across from him in the cafeteria.

Xiao Xie lowered his head shyly, saying nothing. Then, he looked up, his eyes shining with a strange brilliance. "I haven't decided yet. What about you? What do you want to paint?"

"Heh, I'm a bit shallow. My family conditions aren't great, so I want to live in a big house and wear the most beautiful clothes!"

Xiao Xie looked at the girl in front of him, talking so freely about her future life of luxury, a doting smile on his face. He thought to himself...

*From beginning to end, my only love and my only desire has been you.*