H City is also known as Haishi.
As the plane landed and she sat in the taxi, taking in the bustling cityscape, Li Xu couldn’t help but think of the H City from the novels.
The same kind of prosperity, the same kind of powerful and wealthy people everywhere.
But the real-life Haishi seemed even more saturated with the scent of money.
Her simple T-shirt looked plain and even a bit shabby among the crowd of people dressed in all sorts of trendy, flashy outfits.
If it were before, Li Xu would have felt so inferior she couldn’t lift her head, but now she handled it calmly.
According to the map, she took the subway, transferred lines, and dragged her luggage all the way to Hai Da.
After checking in, she hauled her suitcase upstairs.
The dorm was a four-person room, and by the time she arrived, two girls were already there.
One, like her, was from out of town; the other was a local from Haishi.
The out-of-town girl had a round face and looked kind and approachable—her name was Xu Zhi.
The local girl was tall, with sweet features and delicate makeup. On her desk sat some cosmetics and a branded bag with a logo on the tag.
When she saw Li Xu arrive, she took the initiative to ask, “Are you Chen Min or Li Xu?”
“I’m Xie Tingting.” The sweet-looking girl introduced herself with a bright smile.
Xu Zhi also greeted her warmly, “I’m Xu Zhi, nice to meet you!”
Li Xu gave a polite smile. “Hello, I’m Li Xu. I’m glad to meet you both.”
She discussed with her two new roommates and picked the bed closest to the door. Then she went downstairs to buy bedding.
Xie Tingting said, “I’ll go with you. Xu Zhi, are you coming? I’m actually a bit thirsty, want to get a drink.” As she spoke, she slung the bag’s strap over her shoulder and smiled at Li Xu, “Let’s go!”
Xu Zhi replied, “It’s too hot, you two go ahead. I need to tidy up a bit.”
After buying bedding, Li Xu accompanied Xie Tingting to the Milk Tea Shop.
She set her things down on the floor and scrolled through the messages Zhou Yi had sent her. The Milk Tea Shop in University Town was crowded, so Li Xu stood in a corner to reply.
Zhou Yi: [Where are you? You’re not sick, are you?]
Zhou Yi: [Boss??]
Zhou Yi: [Yesterday, your fans went crazy looking for you. You didn’t even take leave. Are you really okay? Don’t faint from low blood sugar from dieting……….]
Li Xu: [I’m fine]
Li Xu: [I’m not a professional streamer, I don’t need to take leave]
Zhou Yi: [You’re back to life!!!]
Li Xu: [Yep]
Zhou Yi: [So you had something to do yesterday?]
Li Xu: [Yeah, freshman registration at university]
Zhou Yi: [Oh, right, the timing fits. I’m about to start school too. So you won’t be streaming for a while?]
Li Xu: [Probably not, depends on the situation]
Hearing that Li Xu wouldn’t be streaming these days, Zhou Yi felt a little disappointed for some reason.
But then he thought, if Li Xu isn’t streaming, doesn’t that mean he can finally catch up on Werewolf Kill for a few days? Plus, if Li Xu isn’t streaming, vidong won’t be able to find her either.
But he wondered if vidong really hadn’t added Li Xu on Wechat.
Zhou Yi: [By the way, did vidong add you on Wechat?]
After sending it, Zhou Yi felt a bit weird.
Li Xu: [No]
Seeing this reply, Zhou Yi let out a sigh of relief and tossed away that strange feeling from just now.
Plus, today Li Xu was replying to Zhou Yi almost instantly, which made him feel pretty good.
He’d already forgotten that yesterday, not a single one of his messages got a reply from Li Xu.
After finishing her conversation with Zhou Yi, Li Xu heard a commotion not far away.
It turned out that Xie Tingting, when picking up her milk tea, had accidentally bumped into someone.
That person was holding a cup of milk cap tea without a sealed lid, and when they turned, the drink spilled all over Xie Tingting.
The Milk Tea Shop was already crowded.
Xie Tingting was wearing a white T-shirt, and when the milk tea soaked it, the fabric clung to her skin, slowly revealing the color underneath.
As the wet stain spread, even the color of her underwear started to show…
Still holding her receipt, the sticky mess made Xie Tingting feel utterly embarrassed.
Jiang Minglang was in the corner messaging his roommate, wearing headphones, when someone tapped his arm.
He looked down and took off his headphones, only to see a round-faced girl asking, “Classmate, could I borrow your jacket? My friend got spilled on, her clothes are see-through. I’ll return it to you next time, okay?”
Jiang Minglang followed Li Xu’s gaze. After thinking for a second, he took off his plaid short-sleeved shirt and handed it to Li Xu.
He was wearing two layers—a white T-shirt underneath and the plaid shirt on top—so taking one off for Li Xu didn’t matter.
Li Xu nodded, took the shirt, squeezed through the crowd, and draped the boy’s shirt over Xie Tingting’s chest, blocking the prying eyes around them.
The sudden gesture stunned Xie Tingting.
Her ears turned red, and with all the people staring, she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
Li Xu said, “Put the shirt on so you don’t get exposed.”
Xie Tingting was dazed. “Th-thank you… Where did the shirt come from…”
Li Xu glanced at Jiang Minglang in the corner, nodded at him, and said to Xie Tingting, “I borrowed it from a guy. Just wash it clean and return it to him later.”
“Oh… okay.”
After their brief exchange, Li Xu looked up at the other girl, who seemed just as flustered.
This girl had spilled the milk tea on Xie Tingting, but she looked even more bewildered than Xie Tingting herself.
She had short hair, big but dull eyes, and looked pitifully lost, as if she was the real victim.
Her friend moved closer to her and spoke up for her, “Sorry, classmate, my friend didn’t mean it.” Then she turned and asked the girl, “Tian Tian, are you okay? Did it scare you?”
Xie Tingting’s expression changed.
Li Xu also watched their interaction, lost in thought.
The girl called Tian Tian seemed to take a while to recover. She bit her lip and apologized to Xie Tingting, “I didn’t mean to…”
***
Xie Tingting felt that something was off, but couldn’t put her finger on it.
A lot of people were watching this “accident,” all curious about what would happen next.
With all those eyes on her, the girl named Tian Tian became even shyer, lowering her head and looking even more pitiful.
Although Xie Tingting was also the sweet type, her tall figure gave her a commanding presence, making the other girl look even more delicate and in need of protection.
Li Xu noticed that when Tian Tian lowered her head, she glanced toward the corner.
Li Xu followed her gaze and saw the boy who had lent his shirt looking this way as well.
Earlier, things happened too quickly, so when Li Xu borrowed the shirt, she hadn’t even gotten a good look at his face. Now that she could see clearly—
He looked pretty good.
It seemed this Tian Tian girl knew him.
“That girl is so cute, she looks kind of familiar. Have we seen her somewhere before?”
“Wasn’t she the girl who played cello at last year’s art festival? What’s her name, Tian…”
People were whispering…
“She really is cute in person, kind of silly…”
These comments drifted into Li Xu’s ears, and also into Xie Tingting’s.
- That guy is tall.
For Xie Tingting, getting drenched in milk tea was a disaster. But for this Tian Tian girl, it had turned into a stage performance?
What was she upset about, anyway?
It’s not like her own clothes got soaked.
Xie Tingting was full of complaints. Her surprised gaze became increasingly strange.
Seeing the change in her expression, the girl’s friend quickly grabbed her hand and said to Xie Tingting, “We’re really sorry, classmate. My friend already apologized, and we’ve got things to do… Let’s go, okay…”
She started pulling Tian Tian away.
What could Xie Tingting do? She couldn’t make a scene in public, especially since everyone here was probably a Hai Da student. With a stiff smile on her face, she was just about to nod.
Suddenly, Li Xu spoke up, “Why are you leaving?”
All three of them looked at Li Xu in surprise.
“We already apologized, and we’ve got stuff to do…” The girl’s friend tacked on without a trace of apology.
“And who are you?” she asked.
Li Xu replied, “I’m her friend.”
“When did you apologize? How come I didn’t hear it?”
She glanced at the girl named Tian Tian, her dark eyes flashing with a cold, mocking smile.
Yang Yutian was a local of Haishi, the cherished daughter raised by doting parents. Though she looked small and harmless, in her heart she looked down on outsiders, and so did her friend.
Seeing plainly dressed Li Xu stand up for the girl who got spilled on, her friend was the first to show a look of disdain and contempt.
Then, amusingly, the two of them started speaking in Haishi dialect to each other.
“Tian Tian, ignore them, let’s go.”
Tian Tian: “Today is just unlucky, I don’t know how this happened.”
“Outsiders are just unreasonable.”
“Don’t say that, so many people are watching… If it comes to it, I’ll just buy her a new shirt. I’m in a bad mood, I don’t even feel like I was wrong…”
“Why should you? It wasn’t your fault, she was the one blocking the way…”
Xie Tingting was also from Haishi, so of course she understood what they were saying.
But Li Xu was from another province, so logically she shouldn’t have understood their insults.
Fury shot straight up to Xie Tingting’s head, and just as she was about to say something, Li Xu suddenly spoke: “Local, huh? Planning to act like a local tyrant?”
Her tone was calm, but her words were sharp.
“And are you two from Hai Da? Studying at the same school as you makes me feel like my value just dropped.”
That was even more poisonous.
“I’m really not reasonable, and this Tian Tian…”
She smiled, her eyes dark and bright, making her otherwise plain face lively and vivid.
“When did you apologize? You think a simple ‘I didn’t mean to’ counts as an apology?”
“Alright, if you won’t apologize, how about this: just like you said, buy my friend a new shirt.”
“Her top costs over 10,000, so if you don’t want to apologize, you can transfer the money right now via Alipay, and I’ll have my friend go back to the dorm and give you her shirt…With things like this, she really does need to change, to get rid of the bad luck.”
As soon as she finished, all three of them were stunned.
Xie Tingting looked at Li Xu, and in her surprise, a wave of warmth swept through her heart.
Originally, she just wanted to have a good relationship with her roommate and not get in each other’s way, but now she suddenly felt—
Taking the initiative to greet Li Xu was the best decision she’d ever made. At this moment, Li Xu’s image in her mind grew tall and heroic.
The way she stood up for her now—like a little hero, shining bright.
Even though she didn’t know why Li Xu understood the Haishi dialect, or luxury brands, yet dressed like a poor, honest person.