Xiao Rongyu wished that Chen Hansheng would throw away the paper with Zhixi's number on it. Unfortunately, Chen Hansheng simply put it away in his pocket.
Xiao Rongyu felt as if she was losing Chen Hansheng, even though she never had him in the first place. This weird sense of loss made her feel lonely and lost, especially when she looked at all the things she had to unpack while Xu Zhixi hummed happily and the others minded their own business.
She picked up her phone and was about to call her father, but in the end, she decided to endure things.
Life had just given Xiao Rongyu, a sheltered child from a small city, a good lesson. She might have been the campus belle and everyone's goddess at The First Port City High School. But here at Donghai University, she wasn't any more special than her roommates.
Suddenly, Chen Hansheng's voice came from the other side of the door. "Xiao Rongyu, please come and verify my identity. The dorm matron refuses to let me out."
Xiao Rongyu sniffed and stood up. She didn't want the 'heartless person', Chen Hansheng, to see her current state.
"Let's go," said Xiao Rongyu coldly.
Chen Hansheng brought her to the corner of the second floor and looked at Xiao Rongyu thoughtfully.
"What are you up to?" Xiao Rongyu didn't want to meet Chen Hansheng's eyes.
"Roommate dynamics are much more complicated than high school dorms. You have to be careful with your words and actions."
Xiao Rongyu had just arrived at the dorms and she almost had a small conflict with her roommate. If she kept this up, she was deliberately making her university life more difficult. Of course, it was no thanks to Chen Hansheng.
"Just come look for me if you are having any trouble, alright?"
Chen Hansheng gently told Xiao Rongyu.
There was a slight hint of concern in his voice that moved Xiao Rongyu just a little. However, when she remembered how he had joked with the other girls in high spirits while ignoring her earlier, her heart hardened again.
"Got it. Just hurry up and leave."
Xiao Rongyu turned around to go back to her room.
She was in a completely new environment so far away from home. It was not surprising that she, deep down in her heart, wanted Chen Hansheng to be around longer.
Chen Hansheng watched Xiao Rongyu's slender and graceful back and thought to himself, 'If I add up all the years, I have liked Xiao Rongyu for six years.'
In a way, Xiao Rongyu was his youth.
Even though he had changed after returning to his eighteen-year-old self, Xiao Rongyu still had a special place in his heart. That was why he had come back to advise her.
"We're from the same hometown, after all, so we should look out for each other. Besides, if my confession was successful that night, you would be my girlfriend by now and I would have taken care of you anyway."
Chen Hansheng's words were sincere, which touched Xiao Rongyu. In the end, she could not hold it back anymore. Her tears started to flow down her cheeks.
"Then why do you keep making me sad? I haven't cried more than twice in three years in Port City, but you've made me cry twice in one day in Jianye."
Xiao Rongyu cried so hard this time as if she wanted to vent out all the emotions she was feeling - the homesickness, the loneliness, and the jealousy. But she daren't cry out too loudly as she didn't want others to see or hear her.
Xiao Rongyu still looked beautiful when she cried. Her thick eyelashes looked like a lotus flower that had just bloomed from the pond.
"Why do you still have her number?"
Xiao Rongyu blurted this question out of the blue. Even she was confused. Chen Hansheng actually had nothing to do with her, so she could keep anyone's phone number.
But Chen Hansheng turned his trouser pocket inside out to prove himself. "Nope, nothing's in here. I've thrown it away."
Thanks to this, Xiao Rongyu was starting to feel better.
"Try to get along with your roommates." Chen Hansheng reminded her again.
Xiao Rongyu nodded to show that she understood.
"Alright, I'm leaving now. You can go back to your room now," said Chen Hansheng.
Xiao Rongyu was stunned for a moment and asked innocently, "Didn't you ask me to send you out?"
Chen Hansheng smiled. "I just wanted to find a legitimate reason to call you out. Don't worry. I don't have any troubles leaving here. It's like a wet market where anyone can go in and out whenever they pleased."
"Chen Hansheng, you're such a liar." Xiao Rongyu sounded muffled.
Chen Hansheng reached out to wipe her tears. Xiao Rongyu instinctively wanted to avoid it, but after a moment of hesitation, she stood still on the spot and felt the warmth of Chen Hansheng's fingers on her delicate skin.
Then, the two people went their separate ways without another word.
The moment Chen Hansheng stepped out of the female dorm, he pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. Xu Zhixi's number was written on it.
This bastard lied to Xiao Rongyu again.
...
The School of Finance and Economics' campus was much smaller than that of Donghai University. Chen Hansheng did not even need to sign in. He walked towards the campus activity center, following the usual route by memory. It was the venue for prospective students to report themselves on the first day of university.
Chen Hansheng queued at the payment counter, where parents felt reluctant to part ways with not only their children but the money for tuition fees.
Once he was done with his payment, Chen Hansheng took the receipt and went to Public Administration Class 2 of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences to register himself.
There were two tables at the registration counter where a man and woman sat. The man looked like he was in his mid-40s while the woman seemed to be a university student.
"Hey, student, are you enrolled for Public Administration Class 2?" asked the female university student.
"Yes, my name is Chen Hansheng." Chen Hansheng affirmed.
As the Andrew Sisters used to sing, a smile could go a long way. Chen Hansheng might not be ugly - he was tall, big, healthy-looking, and energetic, though a little tanned - but it didn't hurt to put one's best foot forward when meeting others for the first time.
"My name is Hu Linyu. I'm also a freshman here and enrolled in this class. I guess we're classmates now."
The girl introduced herself politely.
Chen Hansheng already knew Hu Linyu. If things went according to his memories, Hu Linyu would be the Student President of the university for four years. Later, she would be handpicked to join the working field.
Hu Linyu was just an average-looking person who could easily blend into the crowd. She was more on the quiet side but she is quick to take initiative and be proactive. She also speaks coherently and charismatically, thus coming off as a very competent person.
"This is our professor, Guo Zhongyun."
Hu Linyu introduced the middle-aged man next to her.
'Ah, yes. Professor Guo. Don't get too close to him, Hansheng.' Chen Hansheng reminded himself.
Guo Zhongyun wore gold-rimmed glasses as he observed his new student. He smiled and greeted Chen Hansheng before taking out a few registration forms. "Fill in your information and I'll help you arrange a room in the dorm."
Hu Linyu looked around Chen Hansheng as the latter filled the form. "Didn't your parents come with you?"
"No, I came alone," said Chen Hansheng.
"How admirable to be so independent already! Only you and the other girl in our class signed up alone," said Hu Linyu sincerely.
Though she did not mean anything by it, the other students who would be her future classmates felt a little embarrassed when they heard her as they looked at Hu Linyu and Chen Hansheng.
Hu Linyu did not know that she had misspoken as she was busy with the registration process.
"Nah, it's not that impressive," said Chen Hansheng without batting an eyelid.
"I had to come alone because my parents had an urgent matter to attend to in our hometown."
Hu Linyu was a little confused. Chen Hansheng did not need to explain himself to her, but the students behind him started to look more relieved.
Professor Guo Zhongyun glanced at Chen Hansheng but did not say anything.
Once Chen Hansheng had finished the formalities, he had finally become a university student. He said goodbye to Hu Linyu and left.
Based on the memories of the thirty-five-year-old Chen Hansheng, Hu Linyu's prospects had been very good. But because of her slightly careless mouth, she had caused a blunder at work. Fortunately, she was quick enough to notice by that time and took the initiative to leave her job.
The world was always full of hardworking people but sometimes it's the little and subtle things that determined one's success.
If only people were more willing to look up from their busy daily lives, take some time to observe and think, broaden their minds, and process the feedback from those around them, perhaps their lives could be even more brilliant.
...