Lin Feng looked at her reply and gave a cold smirk.
He raised his phone, aimed it at Su Qingwen and that simp guy, and with a click, took a clear photo, sending it straight to her.
Then he added a message: [Your "bestie"… is a guy?]
Su Qingwen's phone vibrated again.
When she saw the photo and Lin Feng's pointed question, her face instantly drained of color, turning pale as a sheet.
Her hand holding the phone started to tremble slightly as she quickly typed out an explanation: [No! Listen to me! He's just a distant cousin of mine — he happened to be shopping today, and we ran into each other! I'll send him away right now!]
The earnest guy in the checkered shirt, seeing Su Qingwen distracted and jittery, leaned over with concern. "Senior, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
"N‑no… It's nothing!" Su Qingwen waved him off half-heartedly, her mind clearly elsewhere.
Frantic, she sent Lin Feng one last message: [I'm coming to find you right now. Please don't come over, okay? I'm begging you!]
But after sending it, she looked up instinctively — and froze.
Not far away, by the pillar, Lin Feng had somehow appeared and was watching her with a faint, mocking smile. His gaze was full of teasing and icy amusement.
"Lin Feng? What a coincidence!"
Su Qingwen forced a calm expression, plastered on a look of fake surprise, and took two quick steps forward, positioning herself between Lin Feng and Zhang Bin. She shot Lin Feng a pleading look.
"Yeah, real coincidence, Senior."
Lin Feng smiled easily, as if he hadn't noticed her signal, and walked straight over.
He stretched out an arm and, right in front of Zhang Bin, pulled Su Qingwen into a firm hold around her slightly plush, super-soft waist.
Only then did he turn to the gobsmacked guy in the checkered shirt and ask with a grin, "And you are?"
Su Qingwen definitely didn't want anyone — especially her simp — to know about her and Lin Feng.
She instinctively tried to squirm away, but her body seemed to remember Lin Feng's scent and touch.
The moment that familiar big hand landed on her soft waist, her strength evaporated; she went rigid, letting him hold her as her heart thundered.
"I… let me introduce you."
Su Qingwen took a deep breath and, trying to act casual, said, "This is Lin Feng, a Chinese major. And this is Zhang Bin, computer science. You're both in the same year — I was in charge of welcoming freshmen, so you're both my juniors!"
"Oh, hey Zhang Bin, my roommate's in comp sci too!"
Lin Feng kept one arm around Su Qingwen and extended his other hand to Zhang Bin with a friendly smile.
Zhang Bin's eyes nearly shot fire at the sight of Lin Feng's arm around Su Qingwen's waist.
But not wanting to lose face in front of his goddess, he reluctantly shook Lin Feng's hand, his gaze full of undisguised hostility.
"Sorry to interrupt your shopping," Lin Feng said, retracting his hand, but tightening his arm around Su Qingwen. Feeling the slight tremble of the woman in his arms, he smirked. "But I need to borrow your senior for a bit — I'll give her back when I'm done!"
The line was loaded with innuendo, impossible to misunderstand.
And that was exactly the effect Lin Feng wanted.
Su Qingwen had once tried to rope him into being her fallback guy, and when the truth came out, Lin Feng had been furious.
So he wasn't about to let this wholesome Zhang Bin become the next victim.
Especially now, since Su Qingwen was already addicted to him — she'd never quit.
Her best fate was to become his personal little pet, kept and cared for by him.
Of course, he'd take responsibility.
If Su Qingwen kept feeding this simp false hope, one day, when he discovered his goddess was actually naked on the floor, serving as a real "lick dog" for Lin Feng, he'd probably lose it on the spot.
"Lin Feng, what do you mean?!"
Sure enough, Zhang Bin's temper flared at those words, his finger jabbing at Lin Feng as he glared.
"I'm doing you a favor — don't be ungrateful!" Lin Feng couldn't be bothered to explain; there was no way to explain this sort of thing properly.
"Ah, it's a misunderstanding, totally a misunderstanding!"
Seeing the tension, Su Qingwen quickly broke free from Lin Feng's hold.
She grabbed Zhang Bin's arm, pulled him aside, and started explaining in a hushed, anxious tone.
As she spoke, she kept sneaking glances at Lin Feng, her expression complicated.
Miraculously, Zhang Bin's face shifted before their eyes — from icy fury to gradually easing.
By the end, the hostility in his eyes had vanished, replaced by… friendliness?
What the hell?
Lin Feng couldn't help but admire her.
They were this close to blowing everything open, and Su Qingwen had defused it with just a few sentences!?
This woman was no pushover.
Soon, Su Qingwen walked back over, her gentle, composed mask fully restored.
This time, there wasn't a trace of panic or nervousness.
She even slipped her arm through Lin Feng's, naturally pressing herself against him, then gave him a sweet smile. "Let's go, I'll help you pick out some clothes."
Turning back to Zhang Bin, she said, "Zhang Bin, watch our bags for us, okay?"
Zhang Bin actually nodded without complaint and followed behind.
"What just happened?" Lin Feng asked in a low voice, leaning close to Su Qingwen's ear.
"Shh…" Su Qingwen placed a finger over her lips, blinked at him, and said, "I'll explain later."
She led Lin Feng into the men's section and quickly picked out a few T‑shirts and a jacket. Holding them up against him, she nodded in approval. "These look good — go try them on."
Without waiting for his response, she gave him a gentle push into the fitting room beside them.
Lin Feng had zero intention of changing — the clothes in his hands weren't his style at all.
Just as he was about to text Su Qingwen to ask what the heck was going on, the lock on the fitting room door clicked softly, and the door opened a crack.
Su Qingwen slipped inside, quickly relocked the door, and instantly, the small space filled with her pleasant shampoo scent.
"What's going on?" Lin Feng was even more confused.
"I sent Zhang Bin to go buy milk tea," Su Qingwen said, casually pulling the hair tie from her wrist and tying her long hair into a neat ponytail, revealing her smooth, slender neck.
"The milk tea shop's in the basement, and there's a long line. We've got about fifteen minutes."