Chen Nuanhan stared fixedly as Su Huai left.
Clearly sensing her gaze, Su Huai didn't respond, but waved over his shoulder as he carried his personal files and turned to walk towards the administrative building number 105.
As he passed by the Academic Affairs stall, he casually picked up a copy of the "Capital Normal University Freshmen Must-Know Rules and Regulations" booklet and started flipping through it while walking.
Chen Nuanhan furrowed her brows.
The predominant feeling in her heart was naturally annoyance, the rest was all confusion.
She watched Su Huai's leisurely and carefree figure from behind, her mind crammed full of question marks.
Is this really Su Huai?!
Is it because I had too little contact with him in high school and didn't understand him well?
Or is it... the loss of that friend just now, did he completely transform after bursting into tears?
Chen Nuanhan leaned towards the latter possibility.
Earlier, when they had just boarded the coach, Su Huai seemed so ordinary, so reserved, so green, a simple boy that one could see through at a glance.
Chen Nuanhan could feel that he really wanted to chat with her, but he struggled to find the right topic, so he kept hovering between opening and closing his mouth, his courage wavering.
But ever since he pinched his earlobe, he changed completely.
Could it be...
My earlobe is some sort of switch?
Chen Nuanhan subconsciously pinched her own earlobe, pondering as she did: Weird, doesn't feel anything special, huh?
"Hey! What are you thinking about?"
Wu Tianyou suddenly sprang out, startling her.
"Eh? Where did Old Su go? Gotta relieve himself before grinding away? He's not making us wait here for him, is he? Sheesh, like what do you take our Goddess Nuan Nuan for?!"
Wu Tianyou's playful words failed to resonate with Chen Nuanhan; instead, they made her feel somewhat annoyed.
Why is there such a big gap between people?
Wu Tianyou seemed more like a bear child who hadn't yet grown up, while Su Huai was much steadier. The difference wasn't so apparent when they were alone, but once you compared them side by side...
One a wolfhound, the other a Husky.
She was indeed very angry at Su Huai, but she had no reason to throw a fit at him; Wu Tianyou, however, was blindly asking for it, and she was no longer polite.
"Why are you always stepping on Su Huai for no reason? He's gone to deal with important stuff, and here you are, seizing the opportunity to badmouth him. How can a grown man gossip like an old woman?"
"Ah? I..."
Wu Tianyou was dumbfounded.
He wasn't stupid and knew better than to talk back. Hastily changing the subject, he asked, "What big thing is Old Su up to?"
Chen Nuanhan replied irritably, "He's thinking of transferring to your major..."
"What the hell!"
Wu Tianyou exclaimed in shock: "Is Old Su crazy? What's so good about reading that new major of ours?"
"Who knows?"
Chen Nuanhan gave the teaching building a cold stare, her resentment nearly overflowing: "Maybe he just doesn't want to be in the same class as me?"
"Pfft! Does he even deserve that?"
Wu Tianyou sneered disdainfully, while lavishly flattering Chen Nuanhan he trampled Su Huai into the dirt with his words.
"With his credentials, Nuanhan, you even giving him the time of day is grace enough. It's only for you to be picky about him, what grounds does he have to look down on you? Everyone knows he applied for e-commerce because of you. Maybe he just suddenly came to his senses, feeling too ashamed to interact too closely with you..."
Typically forgetful of past rebuffs, basically as long as you give me a chance, I'll shamelessly keep licking your boots.
Chen Nuanhan felt somewhat more at ease, but she didn't pick up on Wu Tianyou's line.
Actually, she thought the same way, never believing that Su Huai truly had no interest in her. How could those previous fervent but dodgy glances just be the way you look at a classmate?
What a tough mouth!
Wu Tianyou suddenly snickered, shaking his head in disdain, "You've got plenty of ideas, but, unfortunately for you, isn't our university a prestigious one? Can he just transfer whenever he wants?"
Chen Nuanhan's spirits lifted, "What do you mean? Is it difficult?"
"Of course, it's difficult!"
Wu Tianyou boasted noisily of his knowledge, "Changing majors is a very serious matter. You can't just let students go wherever they want to, haphazardly changing majors left and right. That would throw everything into chaos, right?
Besides, the better the school, the harder it is to change majors, due to the potentially high disparity in scores between majors and issues related to enrollment rules and administration, which aren't easy to coordinate."
"Suppose you were the head teacher of an e-commerce class, just starting the semester, having done nothing yet, and suddenly one less person is in your full class. Would you be happy about that?"
Chen Nuanhan's mood inexplicably brightened—it still had nothing to do with emotions, merely an indescribable sense of exhilaration.
"So, you're saying Su Huai can't do it?"
"He definitely can't do it!"
Wu Tianyou swore with all his might, "With no money and no connections, what does Su Huai have, huh?
If he really set his heart on transferring, at the earliest it would be by the end of freshman year. He'd have to fill out all sorts of application forms and go through assessments.
I asked a relative about this before I came here; otherwise, why do you think I wouldn't want to transfer to e-commerce to keep you company?
It's just that he left quickly, otherwise, I'd bet on anything against him... Let me put it this way, if Su Huai really manages it, I'll eat shit while standing on my head!"
"Aren't you disgusting?"
Chen Nuanhan frowned in disgust but truly felt her mood lift.
Su Huai was quite good, even if he couldn't manage to change his major, being too optimistic, but at least he dared to think and act, and had his own strategy.
Having just arrived in an unfamiliar environment, Chen Nuanhan really hoped to have someone "of her own" by her side, the more dependable the better.
Wu Tianyou clearly wouldn't do; he was too impulsive and his intentions too transparent.
Chen Nuanhan had never considered going back to her hometown, to live a quiet life in that small city, so Wu Tianyou was never within her scope of romance consideration.
Chen Nuanhan had clear standards for a "good friend." The best would be someone as harmless and honest as Su Huai.
No need to invest too much emotion, but when needed, he would always be there. It was this type of relationship that was the most freeing and comfortable.
She felt like things were back under her control again.
"You should really hope for some good from Su Huai..."
Chen Nuanhan pursed her lips in a smile, standing in the shade of a tree, her toes lightly tapping the ground intermittently, displaying a playfully pure allure that captivated all the eyes secretly watching her.
Meanwhile, Su Huai had already confidently found his way to the School of Management's office area—right side of the 4th floor in the East Block.
After going from room to room, he was surprised not to find the office of the Information Management Department Head.
After some thought, he continued up one more floor and quickly found Director Zhang Yaowen's name in the bulletin board by the stairwell, with his position listed as—Deputy Head of the Public Management Department.
Su Huai glanced at the yet-to-be-updated bulletin board and smiled lightly, feeling even more confident.
Being moved from Deputy Head of a top department to Head of a newly established department must have Director Zhang feeling quite anxious, and as long as he wanted to achieve results, he would definitely need students who could hold their own.
Su Huai roughly knew how to exert his efforts.
Upon finding the office, Su Huai tidied up his clothes and hair, then gently knocked on Director Zhang's door.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Come in!"
A strong, clipped voice came from inside the room. From his experience, Su Huai judged that Director Zhang must be a middle-aged man who handled things decisively, not fond of idle chat.
—Under 50, still filled with the desire to strive, often feeling the urgency of time slipping away, was their common trait.
In that failed past life, Su Huai had dealt with this kind of person more than once.
In an instant, he foresaw his own success.