15: Chapter 15 Marrying Someone of Equal Social Status

On the street, Li Fan strolled toward the apartment, his attention entirely focused on surfing the net. He didn't notice Luo Qingqian just a short distance ahead at all.

But Luo Qingqian's heart couldn't calm down at all, and her footsteps were a bit flustered.

"Why does he keep following me?" She secretly glanced at Li Fan, who was behind her with his head down, scrolling through his terminal. Her heart skipped a beat for no reason.

A moment later, she shook her head slightly, a subtle, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Forget it, forget it, let him follow if he wants."

In fact, she could have easily summoned a flying shuttle to go home.

But after experiencing the terrifying scene of being held hostage by a demonic cultivator just moments ago, she inexplicably felt exceptionally safe with Li Fan following behind her.

Walking a bit further, Luo Qingqian's heart gradually calmed down, and she even began to enjoy this journey home.

Even though Li Fan just kept his head down behind her, scrolling through his terminal without saying a single word.

"Let it be this way; he should go back once he sees me to the apartment entrance."

Luo Qingqian thought to herself, her steps lightening. But then she had second thoughts and couldn't help but feel down. This might be the last time she and Li Fan would meet.

The school examinations were coming up soon; after they were over, everyone would go their separate ways, and it would be hard for them to have any more contact.

She pursed her lips slightly, a look of disappointment in her eyes.

With her mood fluctuating like this, she arrived at the apartment entrance before she knew it.

Looking at the apartment entrance right in front of her, Luo Qingqian paused for a second, then continued walking, though her ears quietly turned red again.

"Don't look, don't look! If I look again, I really won't be able to forget."

She chanted repeatedly in her heart. She had originally wanted to turn back and look at Li Fan to properly say thank you and goodbye, but in the end, she managed to hold herself back.

She was afraid that if she looked one more time, she wouldn't be able to bear to part.

Luo Qingqian quickly passed the apartment's identity verification and walked to the base of the building, unable to resist looking back anymore.

"Just one look at his back, that should be fine, right?"

But what came into view was...

"What a coincidence, you live here too?"

Li Fan was looking up and discovered that Luo Qingqian was staring at him with wide eyes, filled with surprise, disbelief, and fluster.

Naturally, he couldn't read these complex emotions in her eyes. He put away his terminal interface and spoke with a smile.

"I didn't expect to end up seeing you all the way here. Let's go up."

The two of them stepped into the elevator together. Luo Qingqian subconsciously shrank into the corner of the elevator, her hands crossed in front of her waist, her head buried low, and she even softened her breathing.

Through her veil, Li Fan couldn't see her expression and proceeded to press the button for the 32nd floor.

Just as the elevator button lit up, Li Fan caught a glimpse of Luo Qingqian's body trembling.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to press your floor?" He asked, puzzled.

"I... I'll press it in a moment."

Luo Qingqian's voice was weak; Li Fan almost didn't hear it.

He shrugged and didn't pry further. Sometimes girls were just like that—unfathomable.

They soon arrived at the 32nd floor. Li Fan stepped out of the elevator first without looking back, just waving his hand behind him and saying casually.

"Since we live in the same building, if you have any problems in the future, you can come find me."

As he spoke, he walked to his own door and raised his student terminal to scan for identity verification. Just as the door opened halfway, the sound of another door opening came from behind him.

Li Fan paused and turned to look, already having a guess in his heart.

He saw Luo Qingqian standing in front of the door opposite his, her veil fluttering as she spoke with a stutter.

"Ha... haha, what a coincidence, I... I live right across from you."

After she finished speaking, she didn't wait for Li Fan to reply and, as if afraid of being questioned further, hurriedly squeezed through the half-open door.

With a "thud," she slammed the door shut.

Li Fan scratched his cheek; so it was Luo Qingqian who had moved in a few days ago.

He didn't think much of it and turned to walk into his own room, but just as he stepped inside, the door opposite suddenly opened a crack, and Luo Qingqian's head poked out.

"Um... your student terminal, you still haven't accepted my friend request."

After saying that, she closed the door again before Li Fan could respond, as fast as if she were running away from something.

"Can't you just say that to my face?"

Li Fan muttered, puzzled, and opened the friend request interface to check.

Upon seeing it, his heart skipped a beat, and only two words remained in his mind.

'It's over.'

The friend request interface displayed three pending requests.

[You have a friend request from Qian Zhenzhen]

[You have a friend request from Wen Xinmei]

[You have a friend request from Luo Qingqian]

Li Fan's fingertip hovered over the screen, trembling slightly.

Luo Qingqian was a new classmate, which was fine.

But the other two were not people to be trifled with. He hesitated for a moment, his inner self at war, before finally steeling himself.

"What am I afraid of! Can they even be my match now?"

Although he said that, he still had no confidence in his heart.

"My two ladies, I really didn't mean to ignore them; I just honestly forgot..."

Qian Zhenzhen and Wen Xinmei might seem like just young ladies from aristocratic Families in the Yan Region of Baigong Planet, but the Families behind them were top-tier existences within the entire Xuannü Civilization.

Although the status of the Main Planet was higher than that of secondary planets like Baigong Planet within the Xuannü Civilization, the hierarchy of the Families on each planet was roughly the same.

With the recovery of Spiritual Qi and the advancement of interstellar migration, many industries had gradually shifted toward the secondary planets.

As the origin of the Xuannü Civilization, the Main Planet was the core of communication for the entire civilization, gathering the highest institutions of learning, and excelling in entertainment, finance, and talent, while also retaining the highest administrative system to coordinate and regulate the entire civilization.

Baigong Planet was the manufacturing center for the entire civilization.

Basic raw materials and minerals were sourced from Guangyin Planet, another secondary planet that was the largest and most resource-rich.

Therefore, the planets of the Xuannü Civilization each had their own specialties, with no clear distinction of superiority or inferiority; the Main Planet only naturally held the top position because it was the origin of the civilization.

"As long as they don't dump me in the river."

Li Fan closed his eyes and decisively clicked accept on all of them.

Perhaps it was too late, but after accepting, no one sent him a message.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Li Fan lay down on the bed and continued surfing the net.

Not long after, a message came from a friend. Li Fan quickly opened it, and to his surprise, it was from Mo Shang.

"How was it, how was it? Tell me quickly, did you kiss already?"

Li Fan's mouth twitched, and his fingers quickly typed out one word.

"Scram!"

After sending it, he closed the chat window.

A while later, the terminal popped up another notification. Li Fan opened it to see that this time it was from Luo Qingqian, and the content was very simple.

"Good night."

"So that was just to say good night?" Li Fan wondered to himself.

He simply closed the window, but then he caught a glimpse of the word "Scram" he had sent to Mo Shang, and he felt a bit bad about it.

"Is it not good to treat a brother like this? He was at least trying to care about me."

So, he opened the chat window with Mo Shang again and, imitating Luo Qingqian, added a "good night."

Not long after, Mo Shang's reply came.

"Eww... you're so disgusting, don't send me such mushy messages."

"Scram!" Li Fan gritted his teeth in anger, closed the chat box, and continued surfing the net, his inner frustration only calmed by browsing for entertainment.

...

On the other side, after Luo Qingqian closed her door, her body went limp, and she slid down onto the floor against the door panel, covering her burning cheeks with her hands, her voice full of fluster.

"What do I do? What do I do! How can he live right across from me?"

She never expected that she would actually live in the same apartment building as Li Fan, on the same floor, and even be across the hall!

Thinking of this, her heart began to race uncontrollably again, and an absurd thought even popped into her mind.

"If he comes to knock on my door in the middle of the night, should I... should I let him in?"

As soon as this thought emerged, Luo Qingqian's ears instantly burned, and her cheeks felt hot. She quickly shook her head, trying to shake the thought away.

"No, no, I can't let my mind wander; let me take a shower to calm down first."

After washing up, Luo Qingqian stood in front of the mirror, looking at the face in the reflection that couldn't be considered pretty, and whispered to herself.

"You are no longer Luo Shuying; you are Luo Qingqian. You don't need to be bound by the opinions of fans anymore; you can do whatever you want."

She raised her hand and gently stroked her cheek.

This appearance was vastly different from when she was still in the "Xianmi Group," but she didn't care at all.

"It's only temporary... once I reach a Breakthrough in the Qi Refining Realm, I will be able to fully control the dual Spiritual Roots in my body."

A glimmer of anticipation flashed in her eyes.

After leaving the group, she used the resources she had accumulated over the years to apply for a second Spiritual Root. Now, in addition to her original Yin and Yang Soul-Melding Spiritual Root, she also had the Liangyi Tongxuan Spiritual Root.

Once she achieved a Breakthrough in Qi Refining, her appearance would not only return to how it was before but would even improve further.

She had originally been a stunning beauty, and if she took another step forward, she would likely reach the stature of an immortal.

"However, it seems Li Fan doesn't care about my appearance."

Luo Qingqian's lips curled slightly upward, and a trace of warmth rose in her eyes.

Back when her appearance had just changed, she had secretly rejoiced, thinking that this way, no one would be able to recognize her, and she could completely shed her past identity.

But later, the people she met, upon seeing her appearance, would all show looks of difficulty, so she had no choice but to cover her face with a veil.

Only Li Fan was the first person to see what she looked like without showing any signs of disdain.

Just as she was thinking this, the terminal suddenly popped up a notification: [Friend request accepted].

Luo Qingqian's heart leaped with joy, and she quickly picked up the terminal, but looking at the blank chat box, she instantly hesitated again.

"What should I send? Would sending 'Thank you' be too perfunctory? Would sending too much make me seem too forward?"

She struggled with this, and before she knew it, her hair was almost dry, yet she still hadn't decided what to say for the first sentence.

"Luo Qingqian, oh Luo Qingqian, when did you become so indecisive?"

She gently patted her cheeks, trying to cheer herself up, but the next second, she immediately dismissed the idea.

"What if he sees the message and thinks I'm boring?"

For the first time, she experienced this feeling of being anxious about gains and losses; she didn't understand why she had become like this.

She only knew that ever since she met Li Fan, she had started to become different from before.

She was no longer the aloof and composed top star of the immortal group, Luo Shuying, but just a Luo Qingqian who could get nervous, shy, and have wild thoughts.

Finally, Luo Qingqian made up her mind. She draped the towel over her chest, freed both hands, and sent two simple words to Li Fan: "Good night."

After sending it, she nodded with satisfaction.

"It's so late; he must be asleep already, right?"

Looking at the terminal with no reply for a long time, she became even more convinced of her thought.

"He must be asleep, he didn't reply to me; sending 'Good night' was definitely the right choice."

Luo Qingqian turned off the terminal, turned off the lights, and lay on the bed. But she tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, her mind filled with Li Fan's image.

"He and I live across the hall from each other; does this... does this count as a Good Match?"

As this thought popped up, Luo Qingqian quickly covered her cheeks with her hands.

"Luo Qingqian, how could you think that? Have you no shame!"

She tossed and turned like this, lost in her wild thoughts, and it wasn't until who knows how long later that she gradually drifted off to sleep. There was still a faint smile on her lips.