Chapter 31: The Freshmen Group

But before the bubble could fully expand, Mu Tingye suddenly left. The pink bubble that had filled the room seemed to be abruptly punctured, bursting and shattering, falling to the ground and leaving no trace of its existence.

After he left, Aunt He brought in the porridge. Its aroma filled the air, and her cooking was excellent. The girl, suddenly realizing how hungry she was, gave Aunt He a gentle smile before beginning to eat. It was indeed delicious.

Seeing her enjoy the meal, Aunt He felt reassured and offered a sincere apology, “Miss, I’m sorry. The situation with the room was my fault. I thought you were Mr. Mu’s girlfriend, so…”

There was no need for her to finish; everyone understood. But how could the girl truly blame her? She could only feel grateful. If not for Aunt He's well-intentioned meddling, how could she still be in Mu Tingye’s bedroom, sleeping in his large bed?

Though she thought this, the girl knew she must not let any of it show. She pretended to be startled by the remark, choking slightly on her porridge and coughing softly. Aunt He immediately rushed to her side, patting her back.

“I’m so sorry, I…”

The girl interrupted her apology, looking slightly embarrassed as she bit her lip, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. She explained, “The Mu family took me in out of kindness, and Uncle Tingye is Mr. Mu’s younger brother, so… so I’m not his girlfriend!”

Aunt He understood halfway through and realized she’d made a huge blunder. She wanted to apologize, but noticing the dimming light in the girl’s eyes, she feared she’d touched on something sensitive about her background.

Taken in out of kindness—she must feel fragile and anxious as well. After all, living as a long-term guest in a wealthy family, one would always be walking on eggshells, afraid that the slightest mistake would anger the hosts and get them sent away...

But this was truly a pure and kind child, not hiding anything but speaking frankly, never considering how others might see her, whether they’d look down on her or—

When she mentioned Mr. Mu, the girl seemed shy and timid. Had she already taken a liking to him? Yet, because of her past, she felt unworthy, so she didn’t dare to confess, keeping her feelings buried deep within her heart…

The more Aunt He thought about it, the more convinced she became. It was just like those TV dramas—the kind she’d seen so often. She felt as if she could see right through everything. Her heart ached for the girl, and she resolved to be even kinder to her, to help her. After all, the girl’s willingness to share such things with her meant she had truly accepted her, treating her as one of her own.

Little did the girl know that her single sentence had sent the woman’s imagination running wild. Otherwise, she would have sighed at how melodramatic soap operas had corrupted people’s minds—even a kindly old lady could have such an overactive imagination…

Aunt He looked at her with increasing tenderness and affection. “Oh, it was my mistake. Don’t take it to heart.”

“It’s alright. Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, it’s fine.”

Such a simple reply, but when Aunt He heard it, she couldn’t help but imagine a filter of tragedy over the scene—the girl, deeply in love with Mr. Mu, yet having to explain to others that there was nothing between them, pretending nothing was amiss.

Aunt He was almost moved to tears by the depth of the girl’s love. She used to think romance in dramas was fake, but wasn’t this genuine? Though just a bystander, she truly felt the helplessness and pain. The poor girl—she could only hope Mr. Mu would soon understand her feelings!

The girl paid no attention to Aunt He, who seemed lost in thought, nor to her gaze brimming with maternal tenderness and pity. She simply sat quietly, drinking her porridge.

Aunt He, seeing that the girl was silent, didn’t think she was unwilling to talk; rather, she believed she was lost in her own sorrow. She wondered, how could she help her?

So caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t even hear the girl call her, “Aunt He, Aunt He, I’m finished.”

When there was no response, the girl tugged gently at her sleeve. “Oh, I’m here,” Aunt He replied, finally roused from her reverie.

“Aunt He, I’ve finished.”

“Alright, I’ll head downstairs then. You get some rest.” The old formality and distance in her tone were gone, replaced by the gentle care of a mother.

Hmm? How had this old lady’s attitude changed so quickly? What kind of drama had she just played out in her head?

Still, it was rather endearing.

“Thank you for your trouble, Aunt He,” the girl replied with her usual soft sweetness.

Aunt He could hardly contain her delight. She’d always dreamed of having a soft, sweet daughter to dote on, and now the young lady before her—

Miss is truly well-behaved and adorable!

“It’s no trouble at all. Rest well, and call for me if you need anything,” Aunt He said with a smile before taking the empty bowl and leaving.

After she left, the girl shook her head with a faint smile, dropped the matter, and picked up her phone.

There were many messages—apart from a few from Mu Zichen, the rest were from the Zhuoguang University college and class freshmen group chats. After receiving her admission notice, she’d found these groups on the school website and joined them, occasionally chatting to learn about campus happenings and see what might differ from her past life, so she could be better prepared.

Though the college group mostly shared memes and idle chatter, she never muted it—after all, the school heartthrob and student council president, Cheng Yanran, was in there. What if she missed an official announcement from him? Even if that seemed unlikely.

But the class group was something else—over ninety-nine unread messages.

As the group had just been formed, people were joining one after another, and each new arrival was asked to post a photo.

Everyone was young and innocent, too shy to refuse outright, so they went along, choosing their best-looking pictures to share—after all, who doesn’t care about their looks or enjoy a little comparison?

The reactions in the group were immediate. If someone was attractive, the chat would be flooded with compliments, and some might even try to add them privately to get a head start. If not, there would be little response, and people would simply ignore the newcomer.

The girl had joined earlier but had never spoken in the group—until today.

Because she had spotted Lin Yuexin joining just now, and everyone was urging her to post a photo.

—Wow, another pretty girl!
—Hey, according to our class rules, new members have to post a photo!
—Photo, photo!
—Don’t be shy, we’ll be classmates soon. This is just a way to get to know each other.
—Not going to lie, I just checked out her Moments. She’s really good-looking!
—Wow~
—Where is she? Why isn’t she replying?
—Did we scare her off?
…

The notifications kept pouring in, one after another. The girl leaned lazily against the headboard, waiting to see what Lin Yuexin would do.

In her previous life, she had been timid and withdrawn, avoiding social situations and never joining these groups. As a result, she became isolated after starting university—apart from Lin Yuexin, she had no other friends and remained completely unaware of what was happening around her, always on the outside looking in.