CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 61 THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

It was now 7:30 p.m.

The landscaping at Cai University was excellent. Each blade of grass and every tree was perfectly placed, harmonizing with the roads and buildings to create a picturesque scene. Whether bathed in the mottled light of the afternoon or now dyed red by the evening glow, Zhou Li found it beautiful.

Brother Nan was waiting for him at the entrance, and Ji Ran was there too.

Zhou Li walked over and greeted Ji Ran.

Brother Nan, on the other hand, was gazing up at the sky, exclaiming, "The weather here is just too good!"

"It’s beautiful, isn’t it?" Zhou Li asked.

"Yeah!" Brother Nan nodded. "You didn’t let me down!"

"What do you mean, let you down?" Ji Ran asked from the side.

"It’s nothing," Zhou Li said.

"Let’s go, let’s go, time to eat!" Brother Nan called out. "I didn’t eat well on the high-speed train at noon, and I’m starving now!"

"Alright."

Qiu Yuan was indeed very close to Southern Capital.

Exiting through a small gate, they immediately found themselves on an extensive commercial street bustling with life. It was lined with shared electric scooters and bicycles, and packed with milk tea shops, snack bars, restaurants, and even the occasional tutoring center or gym.

As Brother Nan walked, she surveyed their surroundings and asked, "What do you guys feel like eating? Bao Ran?"

"Ji Ran."

"Oh, sorry," Brother Nan apologized hastily. "I remembered it wrong. My memory isn’t very good."

"It’s alright."

"What would you like to eat?"

"Whatever."

"What about Zhou Li?"

"You decide," Zhou Li said.

"Why can’t you ever make up your mind?" Brother Nan grumbled.

"Hm?"

"What’s with that expression?"

"A senior advised that we should speak Mandarin at school."

"Whatever that senior says doesn’t count; what Brother Nan says is what counts!" Brother Nan never subscribed to the idea of ’seniors.’ If any of these upperclassmen had attended the same high school as her, regardless of being one or two grades ahead, they’d still have to call her Brother Nan now.

"Just forget what your senior said!" After saying this, Brother Nan hastily added, "Think about what you want to eat!"

"Well, there’s a grilled meat rice place," Zhou Li said offhandedly.

"Not eating that!"

"That chicken cutlet rice place also has good business."

"Ruled out."

"This braised pork rice is pretty cheap."

"Zhou Li, I’ve realized you have no dreams!" Brother Nan turned to stare at him with a pained expression.

"That’s right."

"You’re deliberately trying to annoy me!"

"No, I’m not."

"Tsk!"

Brother Nan didn’t argue with him; it wasn’t worth getting upset over.

She pulled out a small notebook, glanced at it, and after walking a short distance, went straight into a shop.

Zhou Li stopped and looked up.

Fuyuan Sour Cabbage Pork Hock.

As he entered, he could faintly hear bickering.

A young voice said, "I just left it here, and now so much is missing! I don’t know what happened either!"

Then a more mature voice retorted, "Does meat just get up and run away?"

The young voice argued back, dissatisfied.

Zhou Li remained expressionless.

He sat opposite Brother Nan and Ji Ran and asked, "What’s this? Is it tasty?"

Staring at the menu on the wall, Brother Nan said, "Never tried it. Let’s give it a go. It seems to be a dish from somewhere in Caiyun."

Meanwhile, another voice rang in Zhou Li’s ear—

It’s tasty, I just ate quite a bit!

"I see."

Zhou Li maintained his expressionless face.

Brother Nan scrutinized the menu, somewhat indecisive. "Is there a difference between pork hock and pig trotters? Are pig trotters just the feet?"

"Maybe," he said.

In the end, Brother Nan ordered a large pot of sour cabbage pork hock, adding luncheon meat, quail eggs, and lettuce. Then, she started telling her new roommate, Ji Ran, about Jiang Han, a childhood friend, because she thought Ji Ran resembled Jiang Han.

Zhou Li, meanwhile, took out his phone.

A moment later, he said to Brother Nan, "Want to check the group chat? It’s pretty interesting."

"What’s up?"

"The girls are all WHIMPERING, and the boys are HOWLING."

"What does that mean?"

Brother Nan quickly sensed something was amiss. She hurriedly took out her phone, her expression gradually turning amused as she stared at it, letting out soft chuckles.

Zhou Li took the opportunity to grab the small notebook she had placed on the table and casually flipped it open.

It was filled with many itemized entries—

Spicy fish at the entrance of Guandu Ancient City;

Thai-style wrapped fish from Culture Alley;

Fuyuan Sour Cabbage Pork Hock Hotpot in Southern Capital;

Over-bridge rice noodles in Tianrunkang Garden Residential Area;

Jianshui Grilled Tofu;

Old Granny Potato;

...

Zhou Li turned to the second page.

His reading was abruptly interrupted by Brother Nan’s voice, "Zhou Li, look at what Wang Dan posted, HAHAHA!"

Zhou Li put down her notebook and unlocked his phone—

Biology Science ’18, Wang Dan (Head of Culture and Entertainment): Girls, don’t be sad. Although Brother Nan has turned into a girl, Brother Nan has brought you a super handsome guy. The voice messages Brother Nan usually sends are in his voice.

Zhou Li’s expression grew strange.

With a senior like Wang Dan making that announcement, it’s likely no one will pursue Brother Nan for a while, and no one will pursue me either.

The hotpot was soon served.

Zhou Li looked closely; it was very different from what he had imagined.

The broth wasn’t the spicy red kind but a clear one. The sour cabbage wasn’t the aged pickles he’d envisioned but consisted mainly of white radishes. These weren’t the discolored old sour radishes found in sour radish and duck soup; they were very white and clean.

The pork hock wasn’t fresh either.

It was smoked pig knuckle, sliced. At a glance, the pot seemed full of reddish meat.

Brother Nan gestured for her new roommate to start eating.

Zhou Li also picked up a piece of radish to try.

It was refreshing, with only a very faint sourness, barely noticeable if one didn’t pay close attention.

He liked white radish.

He then picked up a piece of pork hock to try; it tasted good as well.

Beside him, Huai Xu asked, "Will it taste even better after being cooked? I ate some uncooked, but it was already cooked through."

Zhou Li didn’t say anything.

Brother Nan also stopped looking at her phone. She pushed all those thoughts behind her and looked up to ask Zhou Li, "How many people have arrived in your dormitory?"

"Just me."

"In our dorm, it’s just me and Bao... I mean, Ji Ran."

"We arrived quite early."

"I’ve made arrangements with a few people from the student union. I’ll go help them welcome new students tomorrow. Hey, it’s better than doing nothing, and I heard we can even snag a free meal at noon!" Brother Nan was playful and active by nature.

"I’m not going."

"I haven’t even asked you yet."

"Not going."

"You... When we left, Aunt Jiang told me to look after you more and make sure you don’t become withdrawn."

"I’m not interested in pretending to be a senior."

"Enmmm..."

Brother Nan lowered her head and continued to eat.

Ji Ran, sitting beside her, ate with concentration, occasionally glancing at Brother Nan or Zhou Li. After a long while, she asked, "Are you two dating? Did you apply to the same university because of that?"

"No."

"Yes, yes."

"Oh." Ji Ran nodded, swallowing the food in her mouth. She then added nonchalantly, "I have a cousin also named Zhou Li."

"What a coincidence."

"Yes."

It was dark by the time they finished dinner.

The edge of the sky was still red, a fiery crimson.

Brother Nan was now flush with cash, and it seemed her luck had gradually returned to normal. She paid the bill with gusto.

Afterward, at her suggestion, the three of them strolled around campus to familiarize themselves with the place they would call home for the next four years. However, it was dark, and as they walked, they soon realized they were lost.

On the side of the road, a few talented young men were singing with guitars, drawing a crowd of girls.

Zhou Li listened for a bit; they sang quite well.

Brother Nan, however, was unimpressed. She said they were only singing by the roadside to pick up girls. If she were a guy, she wouldn’t need such tactics.

In the end, the three of them used their phones’ navigation to get back.

Before returning, Zhou Li found a barbecue stall and bought a skewer of grilled saury, which Brother Nan paid for.

His dormitory was still empty except for him, feeling quite deserted.

Tuanzi lay on his bed, her head poking out as she stared at him.

Zhou Li held up the grilled fish, gesturing to her. Three minutes later, Tuanzi had eaten more than half of it, getting oil all over her mouth. She kept nibbling at it from different angles, occasionally eyeing Zhou Li to remind him to hold the barbecue stick steady and not let it wobble.

After finishing, she smacked her lips. "Throw it away."

"Was it good?"

"This flavor is too strong. Lord Dumpling prefers something light and fresh. Remember that in the future."

"Like what?"

"Matsutake mushrooms, wild ones that grow high up," Tuanzi earnestly advised Zhou Li. "Lord Dumpling is of noble heritage; you can’t always feed her these cheap things."

"I don’t have money."

"Tell Huai Xu to steal them!"

"I wouldn’t do such a thing!" Huai Xu said.

"Speaking of stealing..."

Zhou Li turned his head toward Huai Xu. "Look at how much trouble you caused those people today."

Huai Xu lowered his head, seeking tranquility.

The dormitory came with stools. Zhou Li sat down, feeling the temperature drop considerably. It was getting a little cold, and the wind outside was strong.

The dormitory was so quiet.

Zhou Li didn’t have much to do. He rummaged through his suitcase for a moment and pulled out the books Zheng Zhilan had given him.

Seeing he was about to study, Lord Dumpling dropped her aloof demeanor.

She scampered over with small, quick steps, jumping onto the desk to sit in front of Zhou Li’s book. Wherever Zhou Li’s gaze landed, she would press her small paw on the words there and watch his reaction.

Zhou Li was speechless.

Tuanzi even said, "Keep reading!"

Zhou Li: ...

He simply took out his phone, only to find a text message.

Zheng Zhilan: Have you arrived at the university?

Zhou Li: Yes, got here this afternoon.

Zheng Zhilan replied almost instantly: Is the university beautiful?

Zhou Li: Very.

Zheng Zhilan: Good.

Zhou Li thought for a moment and then told her about his day, including Brother Nan’s mischief. He thought Zheng Zhilan would find it interesting.

Zheng Zhilan took a while to reply this time—

That’s interesting.

Zhou Li also had one new WeChat message and one QQ message.

Hong Ran: You made it to Chunming, right?

Zhou Li: Yes.

Hong Ran didn’t reply; she was probably busy.

The QQ message was from Li Nan. It was a picture of her in military uniform.

She was tall with a good figure; she looked good in anything.

Li Daimao: Did you try on your military uniform?

Zhou Li: I’m not sending you a picture.

Li Daimao: ...

Li Daimao: [Sticker]

Li Daimao: Voice message 9’’

Zhou Li casually clicked on it.

First, the melancholic intro of an emo song played, followed by Brother Nan’s voice: "Zhou Li, you’re so heartless! Just this morning we agreed you’d be my Little Brother, and now you won’t acknowledge me as your big brother."

Zhou Li: ?

Zhou Li: Where did you get that background music?

Just as he sent it, he received another voice message from Brother Nan.

Zhou Li clicked it.

Another emo song intro played.

Then Brother Nan said, "I sent you mine, so isn’t it a bit unfair if you don’t send yours?"

Li Daimao: HHH, fun, right?

Li Daimao: Don’t change the subject.

Zhou Li then tried on the military uniform. It fit quite well. He casually took a selfie and sent it to Brother Nan.

"This fabric is so cheap," Huai Xu commented, sitting on another bunk. "Imagine if your pants suddenly split while you’re walking..."

"How much meat did you steal from those people today?"

"..."

Huai Xu shut his mouth.