131: Chapter 131 When the Plums Ripen: Childhood Sweetheart Male Lead 9

On the campus of Jinling University, the chirping of cicadas in the summer rose and fell in succession.

The dense canopy of the phoenix trees sliced the sunlight into fragmented spots of light.

"Li Li, baby!"

"Xi Xi, baby!"

The two bright and lively girls cheered and embraced each other fully.

"I've missed you to death!"

Lin Xi looked Nan Li up and down, unable to resist reaching out to pinch her cheek.

"Tsk tsk, I haven't seen you for half a month, and you seem to have become even prettier? Is the feng shui of Qinghe Garden really that nourishing?"

"Oh, no way!"

Nan Li swatted her hand away and smilingly took the milk tea from her hand.

Only then did Lin Xi look at Meng Zhu, who was beside Nan Li, and handed him a cup of milk tea as well.

"Meng... Brother Meng Zhu?"

"Thank you. You can do as Zhaoyu does and call me Brother Courtesy Name."

Meng Zhu smiled and replied politely.

Lin Xi shook her head with a smile, unable to resist teasing him.

"No, no. I don't have a Courtesy Name, so it wouldn't be fair. But Brother Meng Zhu, I actually thought you wouldn't like milk tea."

Meng Zhu raised an eyebrow, inserted the straw, and took a sip.

"I like drinking tea. As for milk tea, it's not much different."

"Haha, you even know how to joke."

Nan Li couldn't help but nudge Lin Xi.

"Xi Xi, what are you saying? Brother Courtesy Name is only three years older than us; he's not old-fashioned at all."

"Yes, yes, yes, it's just my stereotypical image."

Upon hearing this, Nan Li made a move to cover Lin Xi's mouth.

She hurriedly pulled her forward, while Meng Zhu followed behind the two of them, unhurried and steady.

Before long, the three arrived at the teaching building, and Nan Li went upstairs alone to find the counselor to register.

Only Lin Xi and Meng Zhu were left, waiting in the shade of the trees downstairs.

Lin Xi drank her milk tea, occasionally stealing glances at the man beside her from the corner of her eye.

Meng Zhu appeared to be standing casually, yet his posture remained upright and tall, his aura completely distinct from that of a university student, making it impossible to ignore him.

A moment later, Lin Xi took a deep breath, mustered up her courage, and moved half a step forward.

"Brother Meng Zhu?"

Hearing the voice, Meng Zhu snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at her.

He deliberately restrained his aura, nodded slightly, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Hmm, what is it, Student Lin Xi?"

Seeing his gentle tone, Lin Xi bit her straw and simply went straight to the point.

"Brother Meng Zhu, what exactly is your relationship with my Li Li?"

"What relationship?"

A ripple flashed through Meng Zhu's eyes. He didn't answer immediately, instead turning his gaze back toward the teaching building.

After a while, a curve appeared at the corner of his lips, and he recited a line of poetry in a casual voice.

"Perhaps it is..."

"The relationship of 'The mountain has trees, and the trees have branches; my heart delights in you, but you do not know'."

Lin Xi's eyes widened abruptly, and she almost choked on a mouthful of milk tea.

[Holy crap! He told her best friend directly?]

[You guys are so shallow, the point is the poem! This line of poetry is just too amazing.]

[It's amazing, but what about the promised secret crush? If Lin Xi knows, doesn't that mean Nan Li will know?]

[Don't panic, don't panic, let's keep watching.]

Lin Xi indeed knew now; this line of poetry was simple and easy to understand, and she had no reason not to grasp it.

So it wasn't some faux-incestuous relationship, but a big bad wolf eyeing a little white rabbit!

But upon reflection, considering the unreserved reliance and intimacy that Nan Li usually showed toward Meng Zhu.

Lin Xi suddenly wondered, does Nan Li really not know that Meng Zhu likes her? Or, are they actually a couple, and Meng Zhu is lying to her?

Seeming to have discerned Lin Xi's thoughts, Meng Zhu added.

"She really doesn't know I like her, and she doesn't like me either."

Lin Xi blinked.

"Could it be, then, love without realizing it?"

Meng Zhu smiled and shook his head.

This is even more exciting.

The fire of gossip ignited in Lin Xi's eyes, and she leaned in closer excitedly.

"Then confess! Let her know!"

She lowered her voice, her tone full of frustration at his lack of progress.

"Maybe it would work as soon as you confessed? How about it, do you want my help?"

Looking at Lin Xi's enthusiastic demeanor, Meng Zhu shook his head again.

"No. Right now, she only has reliance on me; that is not yet love. She is naturally slow when it comes to feelings. Acting rashly would only scare her."

Meng Zhu's voice was very soft, carrying confidence.

"It requires a long-term plan."

Lin Xi was stunned; he was so good at keeping his composure.

"Uh... then you figure it out yourself."

Lin Xi shrugged, then immediately patted her chest readily.

"But I really support you! If there's anything you need me for, I will definitely help you."

She could see the special way Nan Li treated Meng Zhu, and she was quite keen on shipping this couple.

Meng Zhu smiled slightly.

"There actually is."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, opened the WeChat QR code, and handed it to Lin Xi.

Lin Xi scanned the code and added him as a friend with a bewildered expression.

Meng Zhu put away his phone, his tone unhurried.

"In the future, she will definitely encounter many confusing problems at school, especially regarding relationships. You need to teach her more."

Meng Zhu looked at Lin Xi, his gaze deep.

"But first, you must become the person she is most willing to ask about these problems."

Lin Xi silently gasped.

This was clearly saying that Nan Li was about to encounter many relationship problems.

The subtext was that this man was about to make a move on the little white rabbit.

Thinking back to that confident tone when he said "long-term plan".

Poor Li Li, baby, you're done for.

She prayed for her best friend in her heart with a sinister feeling, but on the surface, she was completely on board.

"Brother Meng Zhu, don't worry! If Li Li has any worries, she will definitely ask me. Although Li Li has many friends at school, she is absolutely best friends with me!"

Speaking of this, Lin Xi glanced at Meng Zhu, then immediately changed her words with a strong sense of self-preservation.

"Ah no, second best, you are first."

Meng Zhu hooked the corners of his lips, and the coldness between his brows dissipated a little more.

Lin Xi looked at his confident appearance and couldn't help but ask another core question.

"But Brother Meng Zhu, with such an unhurried long-term plan, aren't you afraid that someone else will get there first and snatch Li Li away?"

Nan Li was beautiful and had a great temperament; there were never a shortage of people pursuing her.

Hearing this question, Meng Zhu didn't show a trace of nervousness.

He stood at the boundary between the tree shadows and the sunlight, his gaze fixed on the teaching building as if he could see right through it.

"It won't happen."

Meng Zhu's voice was very calm, carrying a sense of certainty.

"She doesn't understand what love is yet, but through subtle influence, she knows what boundaries are."

"And I am standing right on that boundary."

[Amazing, he's killing it again!]

[He's back, I can feel it, everything is back.]

[Meng Zhu definitely already has a plan.]

[Please, he doesn't just have a plan, he has confidence.]

The barrage comments were not wrong.

The half-month spent in Qinghe Garden had been relaxed and comfortable for Meng Zhu.

But he wasn't slacking off; he was there to thoroughly adjust his psychological issues.

Otherwise, if something went wrong at a critical moment, it would be too late to regret it.

Now that Nan Li had returned to school to register for the competition, he was also truly starting to take action.

Depending on the acting component involved, he was now even more patient than the original owner.

If he were to follow the plot, finishing this movie now would be easy and a certainty.

But he couldn't do that. If he shot a movie exactly the same as the original, the audience would only say that Meng Zhu's subconscious was amazing, but they wouldn't say that the movie Meng Zhu shot was amazing.

Meng Zhu himself could not accept such a result.

Moreover, there was one more point.

In the original work, the male and female leads were actually very annoying.

All that confessing, forced kissing, various wall-pinning, misunderstandings, pushing away, and tormenting each other for a long time before finally completing the whole tug-of-war process.

And this process was not elegant at all, which Meng Zhu could never accept.

As it turned out, the barrage audience was actually right.

This time, Meng Zhu really had made a complete plan.