Right after getting dumped, He suddenly learned that his best buddy was the legendary cold-as-ice school beauty. - Chapter 63

In the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, there’s a concept called the “Negative 25,” also referred to as the “Life Negative.”

Everyone’s Negative 25 is different.

But whatever it captures is always something they’ve dreamed of since the very beginning.

A person’s eyes can be thought of as a super camera with 576 million pixels.

Ji Qingqian used her eyes to capture a single photo belonging only to her—one frame of her life.

The boy’s smiling face in the sunset would be preserved forever as her Negative 25.

Her own fair face flushed slightly, warm in the sunset glow.

Since coming to Jiangnan University, she had seen Lu Yibei countless times.

By rights, she shouldn’t be shy.

Yet his sudden presence made her heart skip a beat.

Perhaps this was the charm of an unexpected encounter.

Ji Qingqian lowered her gaze.

Lu Yibei was standing some distance away, but she was afraid he’d see her flustered expression. She stubbornly turned her face aside before continuing to type.

[Qingqian: What are you doing here?]

[YibeiNorth: Last night of military training. Came to check it out.]

[Qingqian: …Oh.]

Fortunately, she had mustered the courage to repeat a year of school, allowing her to come to this university and meet Yibei so many times.

Ji Qingqian pressed her lips together, smiling lightly.

The final night’s “military training” wasn’t serious—it was just a farewell evening with the instructors.

No strict atmosphere, just fun and chaos.

After gathering several classes together, Sun Bing—aka Monkey Bro—carried over a speaker and shouted:

“Song time! Who dares to sing a long song?”

The students below hesitated, until another instructor grabbed the microphone and belted out the classic My Good Brother.

Earth-shattering, howling—technique was secondary; it was all heart.

The students applauded, giving the performer a great start.

“If someone dares to sing this badly, I can too,” they thought.

Soon, a student grabbed the mic and sang JJ’s If Only with heartfelt emotion.

Chu Chu quietly overheard:

“Apparently, he just broke up with his girlfriend…”

“So passionate! They must have known each other for years, right?” Ma Jiaojiao commented.

“Nope. Met on the first day of training, broke up on the last,” Chu Chu said.

“…Fast-food romance, huh,” Ma Jiaojiao sighed.

Last year, Lu Yibei and friends had gone through similar scenes. With multiple instructors combining classes, the chaos made sense.

Although the atmosphere tempted many to grab the mic, social anxiety held most back. Few dared speak in public, let alone sing.

Even if you could sing well, one wrong note could ruin your dating prospects for four years.

One class was too small to keep the mic moving; too many people meant total chaos.

“Ma Jiaojiao, are you going up?” Chu Chu asked.

“…A bit shy,” Ma Jiaojiao waved her hand. “Forget it. This is physically exhausting.”

“Jue Jue…”

Chu Chu glanced at Wang Jue; she might as well skip it. Ji Qingqian, ever indifferent, was even less likely to volunteer. But Chu Chu, confident, raised her hand:

“Our dorm needs me to hold some face!”

Chu Chu’s personality was naturally outgoing. Except when facing someone she liked, she was brave.

She chose a classic song: The Wind Rises.

“Walking this road, stopping and drifting along the traces of youth, just before leaving the station, I hesitate…”
“The wind stirs the past, when we first met this world, lingering everywhere, willing to go through fire and water…”
“I once gave her my youth, my fingertips plucking the height of summer…”

Chu Chu’s pitch was high—singing The Wind Rises was a show of skill. With her beautiful face and trendy wavy hair, even the boys in the neighboring class were curious about her.

Of course, most eyes were still on the cool, aloof campus goddess—Ji Qingqian.

“…The evening wind lifts the strands of white in your hair, smoothing over scars left by memory…”
“Where the heart is moved, let it follow fate…”

Chu Chu continued singing.

Ji Qingqian glanced toward Lu Yibei.

She realized… he wasn’t paying attention to Chu Chu at all. He was even standing with his back turned.

Since Lu Yibei had previously mentioned his roommates, Ji Qingqian only briefly noted the three accompanying him. They all gazed at Chu Chu together.

[Qingqian: What are you doing?]

Curious, she waited for his reply.

Nearby, Liu Jie, sharp-eyed, called out: “Li Zi!”

Lu Yibei looked over, seeing the petite, tan-skinned girl Xia Xiao Li talking to a bespectacled boy.

The boy, taller than Lu Yibei, had to bend slightly to speak to her.

Lu Yibei remembered him—met once during orientation. His name was easy to remember: Li Si, the student council president.

Xia Li noticed him through Liu Jie’s shout and excitedly waved:

“Brother Yibei!!”

She ran over, stopping in front of Lu Yibei with a bright, radiant smile.

Li Si shook his head, amused, following close behind.

“Brother Yibei, you’re here too? What are you doing?”

Liu Jie muttered: “…Li Zi? I called you, right?”

Xia Li noticed: “Oh, so you’re here too.”

Liu Jie: “You little—!”

“Listening to music,” Lu Yibei replied. “You?”

Liu Jie squinted, joking: “Strolling the campus… I smell romance.”

“No way!” Xia Li laughed, a dazzling, innocent smile. “President and I were discussing the orientation party. Our department’s event is later, after National Day—we need proper prep.”

She asked: “Brother Yibei, why are you facing away while listening to music?”

Liu Jie answered, while Lu Yibei also replied to Ji Qingqian’s similar question.

[YibeiNorth: Jiangnan’s Got Talent! When I hear a heart-throbbing voice, I’ll turn around!]

Xia Li sighed: “…Brother Yibei, you’re so silly.”

Then she stood beside him, also facing away: “I’ll try it too!”

[Qingqian: …]
[Qingqian: Will you turn around for me?]

[YibeiNorth: No, given your personality, you wouldn’t go on stage anyway.]

[Qingqian: Are we that familiar? You sound like you know me well.]

[YibeiNorth: ?]

[Qingqian: You better turn around for me.]

At that moment, Chu Chu’s song ended.

Ji Qingqian raised her fair arm.

“I want to sing. I’ll sing Courage.”

Ji Qingqian and Chu Chu were polar opposites.

She was only brave in front of the person she liked.