CHAPTER 424: CHAPTER 420 EXTREMELY CLICHÉ

Zhou Li finished writing the address, looked up, and saw Baozi taking out another leave request slip, obviously obtained from Brother Nan as well.

From this, Zhou Li realized that in this match, he was truly defeated.

"How can you be so sure I definitely didn’t write it?"

"Guesswork."

"What if you’re wrong?"

"It’s just an extra piece of homework, not that troublesome."

Baozi picked up the book, looked at the address on it, and said, "If you had written it yourself, at worst I’d act cute and coquettish for you. But you’ll never have the chance to know that I did your homework for you; I wouldn’t even take it out."

She squatted down again and glanced at Zhou Li with a tilt of her eyes. "Not giving you the chance to gloat."

"..."

"Does that bother you?"

"When are you going?"

"Leaving this afternoon," Baozi said. "The ginkgo leaves are only yellow for about half a month... And what are you taking leave for?"

"Going to the Capital to hang out with my little brother."

"Oh."

"Are you going alone?" Zhou Li asked with concern. "That place is a bit remote, and it’s not too easy to get to by bus."

"I’ve got two friends going with me," Baozi said.

"That’s good." Zhou Li felt relieved.

"Dinner?" Baozi quietly packed up her books, held them to her chest, and looked at him softly. "What’s for dinner?"

"Stir-fried dishes."

"I’ll join!"

Baozi was instantly overjoyed.

The girl’s joy was so simple that it amused Zhou Li, and he couldn’t help but reach out and pat her head.

He and Baozi had a noticeable height difference, making this gesture rather easy for him. He immediately discovered that this feeling was surprisingly comfortable, a strange sense of satisfaction and protectiveness welling up from deep within his heart. No wonder other guys liked to do this to their girlfriends when they were dating.

If he replaced his cousin with a girlfriend...

Unfortunately, Brother Nan was too tall...

As soon as he withdrew his hand, he saw Baozi staring at him blankly, her head tilted up slightly.

Zhou Li quickly looked away, feigning nonchalance.

"Let’s go."

"Oh."

"I’ll send a message to Brother Nan."

Thinking of Brother Nan, Zhou Li couldn’t help but feel helpless. He already considered himself lacking in ambition, but compared to her, that seemed like nothing. Having found such a girlfriend, one who only knew how to eat, drink, and play all day, the future seemed filled with uncertainties.

After dinner, they walked back to the dorm.

Zhou Li felt a vague sense of dread.

Compared to the cozy and lovely nest he and Huai Xu shared, the dorm environment was truly dreadful.

SIGH.

Zhou Li decided to go back and have a talk with them.

「A few days flickered by.」

During these days, he endured the dorm environment, gradually becoming numb to it.

Actually, his words were somewhat effective, successfully improving the dorm environment a bit. However, it was only a slight improvement, and he couldn’t do anything about what remained.

And he was still one of the lucky ones. The one who truly suffered was Lord Dumpling. In the past few days, Zhou Li often saw Tuanzi unconsciously sniffing the air, then sniffing his own body, occasionally transforming into Little Cat Girl and back again. He seemed fearful of being tainted by these smells, a habit that even led him to sniff around when outside, which was just pitiful.

But living in the dorm had its advantages too; it allowed for better bonding with roommates, a different experience from living alone outside.

「October 12th, Monday.」

Early on, someone called Zhou Li to arrange his trip to the Capital.

"Is Lord Dumpling happy? You’re about to go have a state banquet!"

"Lord Dumpling doesn’t want to stay here anymore; this is that person’s territory, full of his scent!" Tuanzi said, wrinkling his little nose. "After the state banquet, Lord Dumpling wants to go out and play, not stay in this little house anymore!"

"Why not go home, Lord Dumpling?"

"Lord Dumpling wants to go out and play!"

"...Alright."

Zhou Li took a moment to silently mourn for the young and wealthy women within a ten-kilometer radius, then started to pack.

...

A group of school staff walked towards the school gate.

Zhou Qianqian, wearing a short-sleeved shirt with beads of sweat on her face, was still savoring the exhilarating battle from before.

It was said that the Dean had recently learned a few killer moves from the Principal, and his table tennis skills had improved significantly since last semester. After experiencing it firsthand, Zhou Qianqian indeed found this to be true. She had to expend considerable effort to defend her title as ’the teacher at Cai University who was best at table tennis’.

It certainly wasn’t easy.

Two of the male teachers were such novices that she beat them soundly, leaving them looking utterly dejected.

This is where you could see the disparity in how people conduct themselves—just look at the Dean and Principal. They would lose just the same, yet they always kept smiling.

"The fish from that place is really well done! It’s tender and flavorful!" the Dean said to the Principal. "After playing table tennis and feeling the burn in my arms, I need to replenish protein. Fish is much more nutritious than pork!"

"White meat is more nutritious and healthier than red meat," the Principal nodded, "but it still depends on how it’s prepared. Some fish dishes can be very oily."

"Not oily at all! That place isn’t greasy!"

Zhou Qianqian listened to the two middle-aged men exchange health tips and couldn’t help but smirk to herself, giving an inward scoff. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Dean turn his head to look at the Principal just as she walked by the Principal’s other side, and her heart skipped a beat—

If nothing else, the Dean must have seen her expression just now!

After a moment’s thought... Zhou Qianqian pulled at the corners of her mouth again, feigning a facial twitch. That felt a bit fake...

So, she then stuck out her tongue to prod her teeth, pretending she had made the face because she was trying to dislodge something stuck there.

Right then, she caught sight of a familiar tall figure in front of her, wearing a backpack and also walking towards the school gate; she was taken aback for a moment.

She risked another glance from the corner of her eye. The Dean, in turn, glanced at her and then smiled.

Zhou Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back, grateful for the Dean’s concern for her ’facial nerve twitch’.

She then felt a bit guilty.

The Dean was so magnanimous, and there she was, secretly criticizing him. It really wasn’t right.

They arrived at the school gate.

Zhou Qianqian stood expressionlessly in the crowd, watching as Zhou Li was stopped by security to check his leave pass. Knowing full well that the leave pass was fake, she still didn’t dare to step forward and expose him. She felt incredibly frustrated.

Suddenly, she heard the Dean’s voice, "Isn’t that student from Teacher Zhou Qianqian’s class?"

"How did you know, Dean?" Zhou Qianqian asked with a smile.

"He’s quite handsome, and I remember seeing him come to your office. It left a deep impression on me," the Dean paused before continuing, "Why is he leaving campus just as it’s been sealed? Teacher Zhou Qianqian, aren’t you doing your job properly? Ha ha ha..."

"Ha ha... ha..."

Zhou Qianqian forced a stiff smile but laughed along for a bit and explained, "His family has some important matters, so I signed a leave slip for him."

Still beaming, the Dean said, "Just kidding, just kidding, ha ha, if you need to sign, sign it! That’s what a counselor’s job is all about! Speaking of which, I’ve heard that some university teachers sign leave slips for students too casually; it’s a bit too lax. That’s irresponsible behavior... especially during these special times!"

To her surprise, the Principal agreed with him, nodding his head in deep agreement. "This is a common phenomenon among university teachers."

So the two middle-aged men began discussing the sense of responsibility university teachers should have and how they should discipline university students.

Until a sedan slowly arrived, pulling up in front of the school.

The Principal adjusted his glasses, curious.

The Dean stopped speaking as well.

A young man got out of the car. He also noticed the Principal and was a bit surprised. He greeted him respectfully but didn’t come over, instead just opening the car door for the student. Meanwhile, when the student—Zhou Li—turned his head and saw them, he appeared a bit bewildered but quickly got into the car under the young man’s guidance and left.

A male teacher said suspiciously, "That car seems to be..."

"Ah," the Dean cut in, shaking his head. "Don’t worry about whose car it is. We educators need to focus on teaching and nurturing students. Even if he comes to and from school in Shen Chang’s personal car, we shall discipline him all the same if he needs it. That’s what we should be doing, the right thing."

The Dean’s words were forceful, and as soon as he finished speaking, they immediately drew flattery from several teachers.

Then the two middle-aged men changed the topic of their discussion to which big shot’s children from the province attended which school, whether they were naughty or well-behaved, their academic performance, and even when they had run afoul of them and been disciplined.

Zhou Qianqian scratched her head, feeling a bit lost. Should she be nicer to Zhou Li? She was so preoccupied that she didn’t even have time to criticize the Dean.

Fortunately, her stomach grumbled a few times, and clarity returned to her mind. All she could think about was the Sichuan peppercorn fish the Dean had mentioned.