Evelyn woke up early to fix breakfast.
Last night, sharing a bed with Alexander had her nerves on edge.
She barely slept.
When she opened her eyes this morning, she was both shocked and unsurprised to find herself curled up like a koala, sprawled across Alexander's chest.
She couldn't help but think his temper was way too good.
He hadn't kicked her out of bed.
Should she thank God for that?
Even with that luck, it didn't change the fact that she was sleep-deprived.
She looked exhausted.
She slipped out of bed quietly, padded into the bathroom to wash up, then left the bedroom to make breakfast.
The fridge was packed with all kinds of food.
Evelyn picked out a few items and started cooking.
Her culinary skills weren't great.
She could only manage the simplest dishes.
But she was a quick learner.
Right now, she was reading the recipe, holding the ingredients, and managing to turn out a decent meal.
Instead of cooking porridge, she made a lean meat and vegetable congee.
She also made two sandwiches.
Nutritious and filling.
Just as she finished and was about to check if Alexander was up, he walked out of the bedroom.
Evelyn almost wondered if he had a super-sensitive nose.
Had he already smelled the breakfast?
Seeing him, Evelyn's cheeks flushed slightly.
She felt a little awkward.
In a low voice, she said, "Breakfast is ready. You can eat now."
"Okay."
After breakfast, Alexander had the driver take Evelyn back to school.
He went straight to work.
They were like any other ordinary couple, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
But in reality, they were nothing like an ordinary couple.
They were only married on paper.
Back at school, Evelyn heard some bad news.
The video of her singing and playing guitar that day had been posted on the campus BBS.
She was being called the new generation goddess.
"Goddess?" Evelyn was stunned.
"Yeah, tons of people are replying, asking what major you are and what year you're in!" Emily said with a grin.
"You didn't sell me out, did you?" Evelyn asked.
"I'd need the chance to sell you out first! Even if I didn't say anything, Lin Zi and the other classmates would blab." Emily had a smug look on her face as she patted Evelyn's shoulder.
Evelyn's face fell.
Then she laughed the next second. "It's fine. They won't recognize me when they see me anyway!"
Emily rolled her eyes. "I can't tell if you're complimenting how ethereal you looked that day or putting yourself down now."
"Either way, it's the truth!" Evelyn said, adjusting her glasses.
She was still more comfortable wearing framed glasses.
So whenever she was on campus, she wore them.
When she got home, she switched to contacts.
"Other people want to be famous, but you want to be invisible!"
"Haven't you heard the saying? Fame is as bad as being a fat pig."
"You don't have any shady history. What are you afraid of?"
"I'm most afraid of people finding out I'm the daughter of a nouveau riche." Evelyn answered tightly.
Emily laughed. "Don't worry. Everyone already knows the truth."
"Fine, fine. If anyone asks later, just say there's no such person in our dorm!" Evelyn said, throwing an arm around Emily's shoulder.
"I'll say you were wearing heavy makeup. Without it, you look like a ghost."
"A ghost?" Evelyn looked down at herself. "Is there a female ghost this real?"
"Female ghosts can be good or bad. There's this novel I'm reading..." Emily started rambling about her new book.
Evelyn could only listen attentively.
But she wasn't really paying attention.
She was still upset that someone had posted her photo on the BBS without permission.
That was a violation of her portrait rights, okay?
Forget it.
Even she couldn't recognize herself from that day.
Let alone other people.
After four classes, they were all starving.
Their stomachs were practically touching their backs.
They rushed from the classroom to the cafeteria.
Their bodies were screaming for food as they ran to the order window.
They collapsed when they saw a long line in front of the window.
They had to queue up.
Stella was yawning in line.
"You didn't sleep last night?" Evelyn asked.
"I almost didn't go to bed until dawn!" Stella answered sleepily.
"What were you doing?"
"I was playing a game, trying to clear a level. My IQ was too high, so I kept passing and couldn't stop." Stella boasted.
"If your IQ is that high, you wouldn't have stopped taking your meds by now!" Emily said with a laugh.
"I couldn't stop. If I didn't have class this morning, I would have been struggling with the temptation of the game. Maybe I'd still be clearing levels right now!"
Evelyn listened to Emily and Stella bickering and laughed.
"But seriously, don't be too smart. Women who are too smart never get married!" Stella said with a sigh.
"Don't worry. You'll be the first one in our dorm to get married!" Emily comforted her.
"How do you know?" Stella asked in surprise.
"Didn't you just say the smarter you are, the harder it is to get married? So the time you get married is determined by your IQ?" Emily shot back.
"Get lost. You're calling me stupid in a roundabout way!" Stella finally caught on and playfully scolded Emily.
Three women make a play.
That was their dorm.
Right now, Evelyn was smiling but didn't dare to interrupt.
This topic was way too awkward for her.
They were joking around, but it didn't seem so sleepy anymore.
When it got quiet, Evelyn heard two girls whispering behind them in line.
"That's her. Besides her good figure, her face looks pretty average!"
"This is the difference between a bare face and Photoshop. She looks like two different people."
"Exactly, exactly!"
Emily turned her head.
The two girls behind them fell silent.
Emily lowered her voice and asked Evelyn, "They're not talking about you, are they?"
"I don't know!" Evelyn shook her head.
But if they were talking about her, she was actually happy.
If everyone knew she was ordinary, she could finally have some peace.
They got their food and found a table to sit down.
When Emily saw Evelyn's meal, she immediately said in dismay, "Aren't you trying to lose weight?"
"Who said I'm trying to lose weight?" Evelyn looked up at Emily.
"I'm the one who needs to lose weight!" Stella said with her mouth full.
"Oh, I remember now. I thought she wanted to lose weight and was eating so much!"
"I eat a lot too. It's better to be fat than to starve. Besides, if you don't have enough energy, how can you have the strength to lose weight?" Stella said matter-of-factly.
"Actually, we don't need to lose weight. Our figures are perfectly fine!" Evelyn replied with a smile.
"Health is the most important thing. Let's eat more!" Emily said, then couldn't help but laugh.
After dinner, they had the energy to gossip.
The hot topic was the class heartthrob's new relationship.
"You'll never guess who he's with now!"
"Who?" Evelyn asked with a smile.
"Someone in our class!" Stella said mysteriously.
"Who?" Emily also asked.
"I knew you wouldn't know! Jackson is with the class monitor!"
"No way!" Emily waved her hand in disbelief.
"Really. When I went out last night, I saw them holding hands while shopping!" Stella said firmly. "I wanted to tell you about the big scandal when I got back, but you two weren't in the dorm. Then I forgot because I was playing games."
"How can Jackson be with the monitor? Haven't they always hated each other?"
"Maybe they're the type of happy enemies! They argue on the surface, but deep down, they like each other!" Emily analyzed.
"That analysis is spot on." Stella gave Emily a thumbs up.
"Of course. I didn't read all those novels for nothing!" Emily asked triumphantly.
"Did the monitor see you?"
"No, they didn't see me. I saw them. I guess they don't know I found out about their secret relationship."
"Maybe they want to keep a low profile." Evelyn chimed in.
It felt weird to use the word "secret relationship."
"That's possible. If we know, we should act like we don't." Emily nodded.
"But don't you think the monitor is losing out by being with Jackson?" Stella asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you know how fast Jackson changes girlfriends? It's like a revolving door. It's weird that the monitor won't get hurt!"
"Maybe the monitor is his true love. Maybe he'll settle down from now on!" Evelyn took a sip of soup and replied.
"I think it's more bad than good." Stella wasn't optimistic.
"If you don't have a good impression of Jackson, you'll completely deny him." Evelyn said with a smile.
"I don't like men who aren't faithful and have no sense of responsibility. What's the use of being handsome? You can't eat him!"
"Wrong, wrong, wrong. Haven't you heard the saying 'beauty is edible'? That means beauty can be eaten sometimes. Which of those young idols doesn't have some beauty!" Emily said exaggeratedly.
"It's better if they have talent. But I hope what you said is true. Otherwise, the monitor will be pitiful. She looks pretty infatuated!" Stella said in a low voice.
"The monitor is also very smart. You can rest assured!"
After all the gossip, they were full and headed back to the dorm.
As Evelyn walked, she thought about the emotional world.
If it wasn't mutual affection, one party would always get hurt.
In the real world, even if it was mutual affection, there was no guarantee of a good outcome.
So fate was sometimes good, sometimes bad.
The key was who you met.
And whether you finally found happiness.