Qin Huan stood at the school gate, her mouth slightly open in surprise at the sight before her.
Jinhai International University was already famous for throwing money around, but seeing the scale of the cultural festival firsthand still made her sigh inwardly.
‘Rich bastards…’
There was even a proper stage set up in the plaza at the end of the main road.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was a music festival.
“Xiao Huan, let’s go.”
Ju Zhenli naturally took her hand.
Today, she wasn’t wearing her usual crisp white shirt and black pantyhose.
Instead, she had on a light beige knitted cardigan over a white top, paired with a dark brown pleated long skirt.
Her golden hair, usually tied in a high ponytail, was loosely braided into a side braid resting on her shoulder.
She looked less like the sharp-tongued student council president and more like a gentle, laid-back big sister next door.
Qin Huan looked down at herself: a cartoon orange cat hoodie, baggy black pants, and white sneakers.
Standing next to Ju Zhenli, she was clearly the rich young lady and her little sidekick.
“You look really pretty today too, Sister Zhenli.”
Qin Huan looked up, maintaining her cute and innocent persona.
Ju Zhenli’s steps faltered slightly, her earlobes quietly turning a faint red.
“Xiao Huan is very cute too.”
“You didn’t even look at what I’m wearing!”
“Xiao Huan is cute at all times.”
Ju Zhenli walked straight ahead, eyes fixed forward.
“I don’t need to see to know that.”
Qin Huan felt like she’d been countered.
What’s up with this girl?
How is she so smooth?
Who’s going to restore my image of the aloof president now?
They strolled slowly along the main road.
Ju Zhenli didn’t walk fast; occasionally she stopped to look at stalls by the roadside.
When they passed the tent for the maid café, several girls inside—dressed in black-and-white maid outfits with cat-ear headbands—recognized her.
They bowed in unison and said, “Hello, President-sama!”
Then one bold one peeked at the hand Ju Zhenli was holding Qin Huan’s, a glint of sharp interest flashing in her eyes, as if she’d stumbled upon some juicy gossip material.
Ju Zhenli nodded impassively and pulled Qin Huan along to continue walking.
“Sister Zhenli, they seemed to be talking about us.”
“Mm.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Mind what?”
Ju Zhenli tilted her head, her brown eyes showing a hint of confusion.
“What’s wrong with me holding my Xiao Huan’s hand?”
They kept walking.
When they passed a tent with a curtain printed with bagua symbols, the curtain suddenly flipped open.
“President-sama!”
A girl with round-rimmed glasses and twin braids poked her head out.
The moment she saw Ju Zhenli, her eyes lit up like she’d found treasure.
“It’s rare to see President-sama touring the cultural festival! Want a fortune reading?”
Qin Huan peered curiously into the tent.
A purple-red velvet cloth covered the table, with several tarot cards and an ancient-looking tortoiseshell shell on it.
In the corner, sandalwood incense was burning, its smoke spiraling slowly upward.
“Fortune-telling club,” Ju Zhenli whispered to Qin Huan, then nodded to the twin-braid girl.
“What kind of fortune-telling is it?”
“Zhou Yi six-coin divination!”
The girl pushed up her glasses, lenses glinting, looking quite confident.
“My master is a true heir to the I Ching tradition. I’ve studied for three years, and my accuracy rate is ninety-one percent! Want to give it a try, President-sama?”
Ju Zhenli tilted her head again, seeming to seriously consider the offer.
Then she nodded lightly.
“All right, let’s try it.”
“Yay!”
The girl excitedly pulled back the curtain and ushered Ju Zhenli and Qin Huan inside.
“President-sama, please sit! And this is…”
“I’m Qin Huan, a sophomore.”
“Hello! I’m Zhou Yiyao, the club president, a junior.”
She warmly invited them to sit, then quickly returned to the table.
From the tortoiseshell shell, she poured out three bronze coins and handed them to Ju Zhenli.
“President-sama, silently think of a question you want to ask, then toss the coins onto the table. You need to do it six times.”
Ju Zhenli took the coins.
Her long, fair fingers gently held the three ancient bronze coins together, then she tossed them onto the table.
The three coins rolled a few times on the purple-red velvet cloth and clinked to a stop.
Zhou Yiyao glanced down, quickly drew a horizontal line on the notepad in front of her, and repeated the process until all six tosses were done.
Qin Huan sat quietly to the side, watching Ju Zhenli’s profile.
Her expression was serious, as if she was asking a very important question.
After Zhou Yiyao finished drawing the last line, she stared at the notepad for a long time, then let out a surprised “Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“This hexagram…”
Zhou Yiyao adjusted her glasses, her expression oscillating between surprise and excitement.
“It’s ‘Ze Shan Xian’! Upper Dui, lower Gen—young woman paired with young man… no, that’s wrong, young man paired with young woman… Either way, it’s a marriage hexagram!”
She lifted her head abruptly, eyes sparkling behind her lenses as she stared at Ju Zhenli.
“President-sama, you asked about romance, didn’t you?”
Ju Zhenli’s expression didn’t change, but her earlobes once again flushed faintly red.
“The hexagram says…”
Zhou Yiyao took a deep breath, leaned forward with both hands on the table, and spoke in an exaggerated, storyteller-like tone.
“If you confess to the person you like right now, you will definitely succeed!”
“R-really?”
Ju Zhenli’s voice sounded a little unnatural.
“Absolutely true!”
Zhou Yiyao nodded vigorously, her twin braids swinging with the motion.
“The ‘Xian’ hexagram is fundamentally about mutual attraction and connection, and all six lines of this hexagram are responsive, with yin and yang in harmony. It’s an extremely auspicious marriage hexagram! President-sama, seize the moment—opportunity won’t come twice! Go confess today!”
“Thank you. That was very accurate.”
Ju Zhenli took Qin Huan’s hand and pulled her quickly out of the fortune-telling tent.
Qin Huan stumbled along, dragged for a while until they turned into a secluded corner behind the sports field, where Ju Zhenli finally stopped.
“Sister Zhenli?”
Qin Huan ventured carefully.
Ju Zhenli had her back to her.
Her golden side braid hung over her shoulder, and the corner of her light beige cardigan fluttered in the wind.
Slowly, Ju Zhenli turned around…
Her face was already bright red.
Those usually calm and composed brown eyes were now a little evasive, her long lashes trembling nervously.
“Xiao Huan.”
Ju Zhenli’s voice was much softer than usual.
“Um… about that fortune-telling just now…”
“What?”
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Ju Zhenli lowered her lashes, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her cardigan.
“It’s not because of that hexagram that I… that I wanted to say these things… I already… I just hadn’t figured out how to say it yet… and then I happened to see the fortune-telling stall…”
The more she spoke, the more flustered she became, the blush deepening on her cheeks.
Qin Huan thought Ju Zhenli looked so cute like this it was almost unfair.
The unapproachable high flower at school, usually so decisive, was now flustered over a fortune-telling result?
“Sister Zhenli.”
She reached out on her own and took hold of Ju Zhenli’s fingers, stopping them from twisting the fabric.
“Hm?”
“What did you want to tell me?”
Ju Zhenli looked up.
Their eyes met, and Qin Huan’s face was reflected in those brown irises.
Suddenly, Qin Huan’s phone vibrated.
It was a call from Guchuan Xing.