Zheng Bin left the country in a hurry, even sooner than planned.

One streamer's biggest tipper had flown into a rage and hired someone to dig up Zheng Bin's real identity. The very next day, several cars nobody recognized were parked outside his gate.

Zheng Hong was afraid things would get out of hand, so he had Zheng Bin rushed off to Japan.

The story hung around online for a few days before newer trending topics buried it. But the damage to Zheng Hong was done.

When the board met, it removed him as chairman, just as everyone expected. He was still a director, but his say in the company had collapsed.

Xu Ye left it at that.

On the last day of the month, he finished all the paperwork on the little Western-style house. Then, while his roommates were all studying for finals, he had a few design firms come out to measure the place and told them what he had in mind.

The plan was to settle on a design before the end of the year and start the renovation in the spring. In the second half of the year he'd be a senior, and they could move right in.

Finals began right on schedule. If his counselor, Su Tong, hadn't called him ahead of time to tell him to show up and at least go through the motions, Xu Ye wouldn't even have bothered taking them.

Once the solar term Minor Cold had passed, the days got a lot shorter.

By a little after four in the afternoon, it was basically dark.

After his finals were over, Xu Ye didn't head straight to the Conservatory, because Chen Qingqing still had a few days of exams left.

Then, the very next day, Wang Manning showed up at the office with a suitcase.

When Xu Ye saw her walk into his office, his eyes went wide. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on break."

"If you're on break, go home. What are you doing here?"

Wang Manning giggled. "I already cleared it with my mom. I'm going back with…