Chapter 089, Entering University Life
After a brief exchange, the four men quickly learned one another’s backgrounds.
Wang Jiaxu studied software engineering. He came from a county-level city in Hanghai, where his family ran a small factory and lived quite comfortably. He chose software engineering because he did not want to spend his future following the same old routine at the family business; he wanted to learn something about the internet and, after graduation, carve out a world of his own.
Zhao Xiaojia studied electrical engineering. He, too, came from Hanghai. Raised in a well-off household, he had been remarkably unlucky in love, always chasing after others but never quite catching up. His ambition was to find a girlfriend before his four years at university were over.
While they were talking, Liu Sheng and Ren Xiaodong finished making their beds and put away the luggage they had brought.
“Xiaojia, I think you still won’t be taken off the market in these four years,” Liu Sheng said from his own bed to Xiaojia across the room.
Xiaojia bristled at once. “You’re talking nonsense. There are countless beauties at university. I don’t believe I won’t land even one!”
“I’m not trying to hit you where it hurts, and I’m not calling you ugly,” Liu Sheng said. “What you said is true enough—there are countless beauties at university. But you went and chose a department full of monks.”
As soon as he said that, Ren Xiaodong and Lao Jiu Wang Jiaxu both burst out laughing.
Xiaojia suddenly realized the truth and exclaimed, “Damn it! How did I forget that? There are basically no girls in the mechanical and electrical department! I’ve been happy for nothing all summer!”
Liu Sheng glanced at the time on his phone and said, “It’s already past lunch. Tonight, then. Tonight I’ll host. We’ll have a meal together, to celebrate our meeting.”
“It’s the first day on campus. Let’s go out and take a look around, get familiar with the layout,” Xiaojia said as he urged the three of them outside.
On the surface, Xiaojia was saying they should go for a stroll, but his real meaning was that he wanted to look for pretty girls on campus and pick a target.
On the way, Xiaojia said to the others, “Pursuing girls takes skill. Take me, for example—I know exactly what I am. Good girls don’t fancy me, and the grotesquely ugly ones disgust me. So I go after the ordinary ones.”
Hearing his explanation, Ren Xiaodong, who was following along, could not make sense of it and said, “Do you realize money is a wonderful thing? It can let you change girlfriends every day.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, brother. I’m all about feelings first! Even if I fail again and again, I still believe the hundredth confession will succeed!”
Chongshi Normal University was enormous, with campus buses running within it. It took twenty minutes just to walk from the dormitory to the teaching buildings. The four of them arrived at the open area in front of the academic complex, where the leaders of various clubs were recruiting new members.
A truly good university was different. Its clubs were varied and strange: nunchaku, street dance, music, basketball, football—all the usual things. But there were even more outrageous ones, like the Alien Encounter Society and the Afterlife Research Club.
“Xiaojia, quick! There’s a club tailor-made for you over there. Go sign up!” Ren Xiaodong said, pointing to a corner where the Emotional Exchange Club had set up its booth.
Xiaojia frowned in confusion. “Forget it. I have no intention of joining any club or society. I don’t even know what this Emotional Exchange Club does. Besides, I’ve always hovered at the edge of romance and never gotten close.”
Liu Sheng smiled and said to him, “Go try it. It’ll make your university life much more colorful. To put it plainly, the Emotional Exchange Club is a matchmaking and socializing event—it’s specially prepared for single men and women.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lao Jiu, who had been silent all this time, walked over first, and Ren Xiaodong immediately followed.
“Gentlemen, are you here to join our Emotional Exchange Club? We have many single beauties here,” a long-haired senior girl said to Ren Xiaodong and Lao Jiu.
Just then, Liu Sheng and Xiaojia also came over. Liu Sheng grabbed Ren Xiaodong and said, “Behave yourself, or you’ll regret it!”
“If I behave, that’s when I’ll regret it! Why do you think I came to university? For the great forest of girls on campus, of course!” Ren Xiaodong said unhappily, believing Liu Sheng was trying to curb his romantic freedom.
Liu Sheng acted this way because he knew Tian Yun was also at this school. If he let Ren Xiaodong run wild, who knew whom Tian Yun might end up marrying in the future?
“Two handsome guys, I’m the president of the Emotional Exchange Club. Are you both single? Fill out a form and join us. We have plenty of beauties waiting for you,” the senior girl-president said, holding out two forms and two pens.
Ren Xiaodong pointed at Xiaojia and Lao Jiu, who were filling out forms nearby, and said to Liu Sheng, “Why don’t you stop them?”
“Listen to me—it’s good for you. Those two need this kind of matchmaking event. You’re different,” Liu Sheng said. Then he turned to the senior girl and asked, “Senior, why not just call it the Single Club?”
“Single Club sounds awful. You two are both handsome, and freshmen at that. You must be single, so join us! Our slogan is: If you don’t find a partner, you wasted your university years!”
The senior girl’s words kept tempting Ren Xiaodong, but under Liu Sheng’s restraint, he reluctantly gave up the idea of joining the Single Club.
Just as the senior girl was pestering the two of them to join the Emotional Exchange Club, waves of excited screams rose from the gathered students. Seeing the crowd so stirred up, Liu Sheng smiled and said, “Looks like our star has arrived.”
Because of the film Ren Xiaodong had made, Tang Xin could no longer be called a top-tier celebrity, but she was certainly a rising young star. All the students around were crowding her for photos and autographs.
“This is our school’s star, the female lead of the recently hot film Conquering the Tropical Rainforest. Being able to call Tang Xin your fellow alumna is already your good fortune—and she’s also a member of our Emotional Exchange Club. So, what do you say? Want to join now?” the senior girl said proudly to Liu Sheng and Ren Xiaodong.
At that moment Tang Xin also squeezed out of the crowd and came straight to Liu Sheng’s side. First she greeted the senior girl: “President, long time no see.”
Then Tang Xin looped her arm through Liu Sheng’s and said, “Let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend, Liu Sheng.” She then pointed at the senior girl and introduced her to Liu Sheng: “This is my roommate. We’re extremely, extremely close. Her name is He Panpan.”
“Damn, a celebrity!” Lao Jiu and Xiaojia came over then, pestering Tang Xin for a photo. Once Liu Sheng clarified that they were his roommates, Tang Xin happily took photos with them as well.
This immediately stirred the jealousy of the classmates around them. Countless furious eyes were fixed on Liu Sheng, as though their goddess, arm-in-arm with him, made them want to bite him to pieces.
“No way, I can’t watch you show off like this! Senior Panpan, give me a form—I’m joining!” Ren Xiaodong still refused to give up the idea of joining the senior girl’s club. “Liu Sheng’s been tied down by Tang Xin, so he gave up an entire forest. I’m a single dog—I can’t let this forest slip away!”
In the end, the helpless Liu Sheng dragged Ren Xiaodong away. Tang Xin followed the senior girl back to the dormitory. By then Tang Xin had become a dazzling sight at Chongshi Normal University; wherever she went, she drew the students’ attention.
“How does it feel to be a star?” He Panpan asked Tang Xin.
Tang Xin smiled and said, “It’s okay. At least no one laughs at me anymore, and no one looks down on me anymore.”
On the sports field, Ren Xiaodong kept grumbling all the way, like a woman scorned.
“My girls! Such a good opportunity, and you made me give it up! Do you know how dull those single girls’ lives will be without me?”
Lao Jiu also said at that point, “Liu Sheng, what exactly are you? Your girlfriend is actually the celebrity Tang Xin.”
“What am I? Just an ordinary student, your roommate. I knew Tang Xin before she became famous. She only ended up making a film later by some stroke of luck.”
After hearing Liu Sheng’s explanation, Lao Jiu looked at him and said, “A great grassland!”
As soon as he said that, Xiaojia and Ren Xiaodong both burst out laughing.
It was bad enough already, but Ren Xiaodong had to add a perfectly timed stab: “What Lao Jiu means is that you’re a patch of green amid a sea of flowers!” After saying that, he even patted Liu Sheng on the head.
That was more than Liu Sheng could stand. He immediately pinned Ren Xiaodong to the ground. Seeing Ren Xiaodong flattened there, Lao Jiu and Xiaojia rushed over to join the fun, all of them tickling his ribs.
Liu Sheng understood what Lao Jiu meant by a great grassland: he was implying that a celebrity would be subject to unspoken rules, and that Liu Sheng must therefore be wearing a green hat. But Tang Xin’s boss was Liu Sheng himself, and even the director was him. If there were any unspoken rules at all, only Liu Sheng was the one who could enforce them.
Struggling free from the three of them, Ren Xiaodong broke loose and ran toward the edge of the field, with Lao Jiu and Xiaojia in hot pursuit. Liu Sheng watched the three running figures and murmured to himself, “The best years of university are when you have friends by your side—playing together, making trouble together, skipping class together.”
While Ren Xiaodong and the others were chasing and wrestling, a girl appeared in Liu Sheng’s line of sight. She was slender and tall, with delicate features, phoenix eyes, very fair skin, and a tasteful floral dress. She wore a round countryside-style hat.
Looking at the girl in the distance, Liu Sheng smiled. Just then, Ren Xiaodong and the others ran back to his side and caught him staring foolishly at another girl.
“Hey! How can you be such a scoundrel? Isn’t Tang Xin enough for you? Have you forgotten how you lost Xiaoya and Liu Meng? And you’re still thinking of having two boats at once?” Ren Xiaodong said dramatically.
Liu Sheng quickly wrapped an arm around his neck and tightened it. “When did I ever have two boats? Didn’t you say you could run? Run again!”
“I was wrong, wrong! It hurts, it hurts!” Ren Xiaodong begged for mercy.
Liu Sheng still did not let go. He only looked at the girl from before and asked Ren Xiaodong, “What do you think of her?”
Ren Xiaodong shook free of Liu Sheng’s grip, looked in the direction he indicated, and said, “Beautiful. A textbook goddess.”
“Do you like her?” Liu Sheng asked very seriously.
Ren Xiaodong smiled and said, “Forget it. Such a fine girl—I wouldn’t want to ruin her.”
“Who said anything about ruining her? Go win her over with sincerity. Move her with the identity of an ordinary person,” Liu Sheng said earnestly.
Ren Xiaodong was somewhat baffled. “What a joke. Do you think I don’t know what kind of man I am? How could I possibly hang myself from one tree?”
“Don’t speak too soon. Try it. Pursue her as an ordinary person. University life is something everyone has to go through; otherwise, how can you call yourself a college student?”
After saying that, Liu Sheng pulled Ren Xiaodong toward the girl’s direction. On the way, Ren Xiaodong still complained, “Didn’t you say I wasn’t allowed to get close to girls? Besides, I’m not ready yet. If you want me to use money to find a girl, that I can do. If you want me to chase one myself, I really can’t!”
But once they drew near, Ren Xiaodong was deeply captivated by the girl’s face, unable to tear his eyes away from her. When the girl saw him staring at her so intently, she turned to leave.
Liu Sheng hurriedly shoved Ren Xiaodong forward. Ren Xiaodong rushed up and said to the girl, “H-hello, I... I... my name is Ren Xiaodong. I want to have children with you... no, I want to live with you... no, ah, damn it...”
Liu Sheng knew Ren Xiaodong was already completely taken with the girl, and his words had become an incoherent mess. So he stepped forward and said to her, “He wants to get to know you. When he was looking at you just now, he seemed to lose his soul. Maybe the two of you are destined to meet here. In the future, Ren Xiaodong will treat you as if you were his own, cherish you in every possible way, protect you, and care for you. To say it further ahead, you’ll marry, have children, enjoy a happy family, and find success in your career.”
Ren Xiaodong, hearing all this, immediately went dumbfounded and asked in a low voice, “Doesn’t that make you shudder? I don’t even believe a word of it myself!”
The girl glanced at Ren Xiaodong and thought he seemed a little foolish. Then she said to Liu Sheng, “Are all men from the north as smooth-tongued as you?”
“No, please take out the word northern,” Liu Sheng replied.
“All right. I’m from the north too. Since we’re both northerners, I’ll let him add me on WeChat first.” The girl took out her phone, opened her QR code, and held it up in front of Ren Xiaodong. Ren Xiaodong quickly took out his own phone and added her.
The girl turned and walked away. Ren Xiaodong hurriedly called after her, “What’s your name?”
The girl did not look back, and gave no answer.
In Liu Sheng’s heart, he thought: Tian Yun, your future wife. The two of you are destined for one another, and no matter what, that will never change.