Gu Yan's attention to Qi Xi began in this imperceptible way. By the time he became aware of it, he had already become accustomed to seeking out Qi Xi's figure, whether in his major courses or in other elective courses. Gu Yan even unconsciously chose the exact same elective courses as Qi Xi. He learned which electives Qi Xi had chosen thanks to his gossipy roommate, Zhang Jialiang—
"That beautiful girl in our class, Qi Xi, chose to study popular romance novels for her elective. To keep up with the beautiful girl, I've decided to take that class too! When the elective course selection system opens, I'll be the first to stake my claim, because this class is very popular! I heard that many girls are scrambling to choose it, because the class just involves the teacher introducing contemporary popular romance novels. The homework for each class is just to read novels. As you know, girls just like to read that kind of romantic stuff..."
Zhang Jialiang spoke without thinking, but Gu Yan listened with intent. When the elective course selection system opened, he specifically went home, taking advantage of his home's internet speed, which crushed the school's, and successfully secured a spot in the popular romance novel research course. Conversely, Zhang Jialiang, who had been clamoring about using the elective course to create chance encounters with Qi Xi, returned in defeat.