You Have the Right to Keep a Secret Love

Extra 3 [Gu Yan's Perspective Two] (His Little Squirrel Was More...)

Gu Yan's attention to Qi Xi began unconsciously. By the time he realized it, he had already developed a habitual tendency to seek out Qi Xi's presence, whether it was in their major courses or other elective classes. Gu Yan even subconsciously chose the exact same electives as Qi Xi. As for which electives Qi Xi chose, Gu Yan benefited from his gossip-loving roommate, Zhang Jialiang.

"Our class's big beauty Qi Xi chose a course on popular romance novel studies. To keep up with the beautiful girl's pace, I've decided to take that course too! When the elective registration system opens, I'll be the first to grab it because it's so popular! I heard many girls are fighting to take it because the class involves the teacher introducing contemporary popular romance novels, and the homework for each class is just reading novels. You know how girls love that kind of romantic stuff..."

Zhang Jialiang spoke without intention, but Gu Yan listened with interest. When the elective registration system opened, he purposely went home and, taking advantage of his home's fast internet speed, successfully grabbed the popular romance novel studies course. Ironically, Zhang Jialiang, who had boasted about using elective courses to create chance encounters with Qi Xi, returned empty-handed.

Gu Yan didn't think much about his course selection, but when classes officially started, he realized the situation was a bit awkward—most of the students who chose this elective were girls... As one of the few male students, Gu Yan naturally attracted attention like an endangered species.

However, Gu Yan's belated embarrassment disappeared when he saw Qi Xi. At least Zhang Jialiang wasn't entirely lying—Qi Xi did indeed choose this course.

In fact, Gu Yan was somewhat surprised by Qi Xi's choice of this course because he always felt that Qi Xi was the type who didn't care about anything other than studying. Her mind shouldn't be filled with the romantic fantasies found in novels. After all, if she truly yearned for novel-like love, she would have had countless opportunities to experience it firsthand.

However, Gu Yan quickly understood why Qi Xi chose this course—the attendance policy was very lenient, and the final grades given in previous years were very high.

Gu Yan only saw Qi Xi during the first class. In subsequent classes, Qi Xi didn't show up; instead, she sent her friend Zhao Yiran to represent her. She would then head to the library to continue studying cases with a furrowed brow.

In truth, this course was a complete waste of time for Gu Yan. He had no interest in romance novels and attending the class meant dealing with notes and love letters, having to spend time rejecting and comforting the girls who fancied him. Yet, he still attended every time because he always hoped that maybe Qi Xi would show up one day. But she never did.

Gu Yan realized he was approaching his feelings for Qi Xi in a very passive manner, silently waiting without even letting her know. Having never been in love before, he wasn't sure if this silent waiting was the right approach, but he believed it was the best way to handle Qi Xi, especially since he had witnessed her cold attitude towards those who confessed to her.

Her dedication to studying surpassed her treatment of males. Besides diligently attending lectures and studying professional courses, she spent most of her time in the library, rarely participating in campus activities. The only time she was proactive was when she checked the rankings after each exam.

It was then that Gu Yan decided he wanted to be someone Qi Xi paid attention to when the rankings were posted. He realized that no matter how many activities he participated in or how many awards he won, Qi Xi wouldn't notice him. The only way to catch her attention was to surpass her academically and become the top student.

Much later, when faced with Qi Xi's questioning, Gu Yan casually claimed that being the top student was easy. However, he had lied to Qi Xi. It wasn't easy at all. Surpassing Qi Xi, making her remember his name, and capturing her attention wasn't simple because Qi Xi's grades were much better than he had thought, and she was even more hardworking than he had imagined. Each exam took a toll on him as well.