The two continued walking forward, and Cheng Lu suddenly chuckled.
She turned to Xu Xiuwen and said, "If my dad knew you said he was a garbage collector, what do you think he'd think?"
Xu Xiuwen was instantly dumbfounded.
"I was just making an analogy, that doesn't count, right?"
"I don't care, you still said it."
Xu Xiuwen's eyes darted around, and he suddenly said, "Then go tell him. If your father ends up hating me and doesn't let you marry me, we'll see who's crying then!"
Cheng Lu got a bit angry upon hearing this, and her face turned cold.
"You're happy if I don't marry you, huh? Tell me, who do you want to marry?"
Cheng Lu could change her mood in an instant.
Xu Xiuwen, caught between laughter and tears, quickly explained, "I only want to marry you, no one else. I'm happy because I made money."
Cheng Lu snorted softly, considering him forgiven.
The two continued walking, and Xu Xiuwen suddenly laughed foolishly.
Before Cheng Lu could ask, Xu Xiuwen said, "Ten million! Once the contract is signed, I'll be a millionaire."
Although Cheng Lu was also very happy, she still rolled her eyes at him, "Look at your lack of ambition."
Xu Xiuwen retorted, "I don't have ambition? This is already one-tenth of a small goal. It's not a small amount."
Cheng Lu thought for a moment and nodded, "True, it's not a small amount."
She looked at Xu Xiuwen with admiration in her eyes, "I have good taste, the pig I chose is quite capable."
Xu Xiuwen said proudly, "You are damn right! You won't find a better student than me at Jiaotong University. Ten million, they probably won't make that much in their lifetime."
Cheng Lu's face suddenly turned cold, "Bring your face over here!"
"Why?" Xu Xiuwen was a bit puzzled.
"Who told you to swear? Let me hit you."
Xu Xiuwen wasn't foolish. He laughed, "I'm not that stupid. If you want to hit me, catch me first."
With that, he ran off with his long legs.
Cheng Lu chased after him, shouting, "Don't run!"
Her response was Xu Xiuwen's hearty laughter.
The two played around for a while.
Xu Xiuwen eventually stopped and waited for Cheng Lu to catch up.
When Cheng Lu caught up, she didn't mention hitting him. Instead, she linked her arm with his.
The two walked side by side, out of breath, but with smiles of happiness on their faces in the Jiaotong University campus.
Cheng Lu asked, "Tomorrow is exam week. Are you confident?"
Xu Xiuwen raised his head and said, "With your help, this exam is a piece of cake."
Cheng Lu smiled and reminded him, "Don't get complacent. You need to do well in the exams. If you get a good score, no one will question you being selected as one of the top ten outstanding young students of the university."
Xu Xiuwen was taken aback, "I didn't tell anyone about this. How did you know?"
Cheng Lu rolled her eyes at him, "Of course I know."
Xu Xiuwen realized, "Did Secretary Li tell you? But she told me to keep it a secret. Why did she tell you?"
The more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became.
In previous visits to Secretary Li's office, Cheng Lu was always there.
Usually, those who could interact with Secretary Li were the heads of various departments of the student union. Cheng Lu, a freshman and vice-minister, shouldn't be there every time.
Xu Xiuwen couldn't help but ask, "What's your relationship with Secretary Li?"
Cheng Lu chuckled, "You're pretty smart today. Secretary Li and my mom were college roommates and are very close. I came to this school because my mom thought having someone familiar here would take care of me. Otherwise, I wanted to go to Beijing Normal University."
"Good thing you listened to your mom and came here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met you."
As soon as Xu Xiuwen finished speaking, he saw Cheng Lu glaring at him with an unhappy expression.
He was confused for a second but quickly realized and explained, "I wasn't insulting your mom. That's not what I meant."
Xu Xiuwen was at a loss.
Cheng Lu looked at him and suddenly burst into laughter, "I know you weren't insulting my mom. Look at you, scared."
Xu Xiuwen couldn't help but say, "That's because you always want to hit my face. No one has ever hit my face growing up. You control me more than my mom does."
"Have you seen any excellent guys who swear often?" Cheng Lu first explained, then glared at him, "I just want to control you. Will you listen to me?"
Actually, Xu Xiuwen didn't like being controlled by girls, but Cheng Lu's words, he could barely accept.
The key was that Cheng Lu had a sense of perspective and right and wrong that most girls didn't have. She wasn't being unreasonable, and her demands were for his own good.
"Fine, fine, I won't listen to anyone else. I'll just listen to you, okay?"
Cheng Lu was very satisfied with his response.
She looked around to make sure no one was there, then stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
Xu Xiuwen was surprised but immediately responded.
The two stood under the plane trees by the road of Jiaotong University, embracing and passionately kissing.
After a minute, Cheng Lu gently pushed him away.
"Happy now?"
Xu Xiuwen licked his lips and chuckled, "Happy."
"Silly!" Cheng Lu gave him a charming look.
Xu Xiuwen felt a rush of warmth in his heart from that look.
...
Xu Xiuwen checked the time; it was just dinner time.
He didn't dare to have dinner with Cheng Lu at the Jiaotong University cafeteria, fearing they might run into someone they knew. So, he took Cheng Lu to East Street.
The only downside to eating on East Street was the generally higher prices.
But neither Xu Xiuwen nor Cheng Lu lacked money.
After dinner, Xu Xiuwen sent a text to Tang Weiwei, saying, "I can't take you to your part-time job today, but I'll pick you up tonight."
Tang Weiwei knew he had a meeting with the provincial TV station at three o'clock, so she immediately replied, "Got it."
Seeing Tang Weiwei's text, with no trace of suspicion, made Xu Xiuwen feel both touched and guilty.
However, seeing that Cheng Lu was about to return from the restroom, Xu Xiuwen quickly put away his phone.
After dinner, Xu Xiuwen and Cheng Lu strolled around East Street and then went back to Jiaotong University library to study.
They studied until after 9 p.m., and Xu Xiuwen sent Cheng Lu back to her dormitory before heading to pick up Tang Weiwei.
The next day arrived in a flash.
It was exam week, which happened once a semester.
Over five days, there were a total of 14 exams, including difficult subjects like mathematics and simpler ones like university-level Chinese.
Some courses even had open-book exams.
But for university students, especially those who liked to skip classes and chat or sleep during lectures, every exam felt like crossing a perilous bridge.
In Room 412, except for Jin Haonan, the other guys complained after every exam.
Xu Xiuwen was completely different from his roommates.
After more than a week of day-and-night study, especially with guidance from the top students like Tang Weiwei and Cheng Lu, his exams were like a breeze.
For several exams, he even finished early.
And just like that, exam week came to an end.