Li Xu approached and smiled as she greeted her roommates and Jiang Minglang’s group.
The classmates behind her suddenly erupted like a disturbed hive.
As soon as Li Xu finished speaking to them, the area behind her turned into a noisy marketplace.
A flurry of “hello,” “hi, everyone,” “let’s share a table,” and “nice to meet you” filled the air, lively and bustling.
In Hai Da’s notoriously elite Class Z, the genius class that felt almost unreachable, they just settled in so down-to-earth, chatting and bustling about.
And Li Xu was still the center of everyone’s attention.
Before they started eating, Li Xu stood up and began introducing people to each other.
“From left to right over there, we have Zhao Wenhao, Zhou Ze, Fang Lanxin, Lou Mingliang…”
With every name she said, that person’s eyes lit up.
Eight names in total, and she didn’t get a single one wrong.
After all, they were all new classmates; they’d only known each other a short time, so most people only remembered the names of those they were close to.
Being remembered by someone felt very warm.
It was as if someone had taken the time to care.
Only Zhao Wenhao’s expression was odd. He remembered what Li Xu had said that morning and felt a little amused—he thought Li Xu was the kind of person who remembered people when they were down.
Still, Zhao Wenhao stared at Li Xu with some feeling.
***
After finishing this side, she began introducing her roommates. Regardless of whether people could remember each other’s names or not, she had done what she was supposed to do.
“This is Xu Zhi, this is Xie Tingting, this is Chen Min…”
When her gaze passed over Jiang Minglang’s friend, Li Xu hesitated for a moment.
Jiang Minglang quickly introduced, “This is my friend, and it’s the first time he’s meeting Li Xu too. His name is Xu Fufeng.”
“He’s in the Fashion Design class, sophomore year. We ran into each other today, so it’s fate that we’re all eating together.”
Xu Fufeng nodded to Li Xu and smiled at the others.
As everyone knows, the Fashion Design class is full of handsome guys and beautiful girls, all of whom are at least good-looking.
Xu Fufeng was clearly one of the best among them.
Not only was he tall and slender, almost like a character straight out of an anime, but his style and appearance were also excellent.
When their group came to the cafeteria, many people glanced over at their two tables while they ate.
Yes, one table was simply not enough.
Li Xu said, “Okay, now that we’ve got a basic understanding, let’s eat—I’m starving.”
“OK.”
“Let’s eat!”
At Li Xu’s words, like a family head giving the order, everyone picked up their chopsticks.
They began chatting, gradually warming up to one another.
Especially the classmates from Class Z, who started sharing amusing stories about Li Xu carrying someone during military training and going through the entire training alone.
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh.
Xie Tingting sat beside Li Xu, watching her eat seriously, and couldn’t help but recall what had happened at the milk tea shop before.
She thought: As expected, gold shines wherever it is. Even in the genius-filled Class Z, Li Xu had become the center of attention and was even elected Honorary Class Monitor.
In Xie Tingting’s impression, Class Z’s students probably weren’t easy to approach, but after eating with them today, she realized these people weren’t rigid; they were all quite amusing.
They called Li Xu “Xù Jie” (Sister Xu) or “Class Monitor” with every other sentence.
Li Xu didn’t seem to care at all—she let them call her whatever they wanted and stayed calm, which softened Xie Tingting’s stereotypical impressions of these geniuses.
But what she didn’t know was that the Class Z students weren’t impressed with Li Xu only because she carried someone during training.
Li Xu’s National Gold Medal and Paper achievements had long been spread around Class Z.
In the recent advanced math class, Li Xu had even solved a brain-twisting problem on the board calmly, writing out three different solutions.
The faster and more accurate she was, the more the advanced math professor gave her a death stare.
Eventually, the well-known old professor blushed and said something that the entire Class Z heard: “You should be in the Mathematics Department!”
Class Z students felt like Professor Zhou wanted to put a tightening hoop on Li Xu.
They were overwhelmed. Li Xu’s shadow had loomed over them since military training—physically and academically, she was an undeniable level above them.
But what could they do? Most had “lifelong” bonds with Li Xu, plus she seemed good-natured and kind to everyone, and she was their class monitor.
Their fire to surpass her gradually died out and turned into a different kind of urge—to cling to her, to hug the big thigh.
Listening to Class Z classmates recount Li Xu’s “feats” in class, Xie Tingting thought Li Xu was truly towering.
She felt that her own efforts to resist the Student Affairs Office’s unfair treatment of assistant counselors didn’t seem like much. Compared to Li Xu, she still had a long way to go.
Li Xu had almost finished eating when she glanced over to see Xie Tingting propping her chin up, her eyes bright as she looked at her.
Li Xu: “?”
Li Xu: “Why aren’t you eating? Think I can eat enough for both of us?”
Xie Tingting: “Yeah.”
Li Xu: “…Maybe you should drink some herbal medicine to adjust.”
Originally, Jiang Minglang had hoped to use this meal to get closer to Li Xu and introduce his own friends, but he found he had no chance to speak at all during the dinner.
Jiang Minglang accepted this reality.
He secretly observed Li Xu across the table and felt she seemed even more beautiful than before.
Xu Fufeng was observing too.
Listening to the Class Z students list Li Xu’s glorious deeds, he suddenly grew a little interested.
“By the way, there are so many of us eating today. Can I film a video to record this moment?”
When he said this, everyone looked at him.
Xu Fufeng briefly introduced himself:
“I’m a small internet celebrity too. I usually post life vlogs on Moyin. Today, your conversation is really interesting, so I thought, if no one minds, I could film a little clip. Is that okay?”
He had a refined aura, and his smile gave off a very easy-to-approach vibe. With his good looks and polite manner, most agreed.
“I don’t mind.”
“Sure, can I follow your Moyin account?”
“Really? My first time on a vlog.”
Li Xu looked down at the white T-shirt she wore during her livestream, and Zhou Ze adjusted his black-rimmed glasses.
Then both said in unison: “No.”
Because it was just too neat and consistent, after saying that, Zhou Ze and Li Xu exchanged glances and saw mutual refusal in each other’s eyes.
Xu Fufeng was a little surprised and asked, “Is it inconvenient? It’s okay if it is.”
“No, it’s inconvenient. If it’s inconvenient, then forget it.”
Xu Fufeng wasn’t exactly a close acquaintance to Li Xu, so she didn’t bother making excuses. She just said, “Yeah, it’s inconvenient. You can film with the others; I’ll just step back a bit.”
Xu Fufeng put down his phone with a smile: “No need for that, if I can’t film, then forget it.”
Zhou Ze was more tactful. He tried to explain carefully, “I have a bit of camera anxiety. I don’t like photos or videos much.”
Xu Fufeng: “Okay, haha, understood.”
In the end, no video was made. But Xu Fufeng seemed to have a gentle temperament. When people asked for his Moyin account, he took out his phone and showed everyone the homepage.
“Five hundred thousand followers! That’s a lot!”
“I’ll follow you.”
“That’s impressive, senior…”
Xu Fufeng glanced briefly at Li Xu, who had refused his filming request. She remained expressionless as before.
When others searched for his Moyin account on their phones, Li Xu never opened hers. When Xie Tingting searched too, Li Xu seemed to glance once, then quickly looked away.
“By the way, Li Xu, can I add you on WeChat?”
Xu Fufeng suddenly smiled and asked from across the table, waving his phone as if he didn’t care that asking for a WeChat ID so abruptly might be a bit forward.
But he was handsome—whatever he did was attractive. In Xie Tingting’s eyes, Xu Fufeng was even more handsome than Jiang Minglang, with better looks and temperament.
Zhou Ze leisurely looked toward Xu Fufeng, his eyes smiling. No one knew what he was thinking.
This time, Li Xu didn’t refuse. She took out her phone and let him scan her QR code.
Jiang Minglang looked at his friend with a strange expression.
In any case, the meal was overall very enjoyable.
After finishing, everyone dispersed. Some returned to their dorms to rest, some went to the library to read and take a nap, and others went back to the classroom.
Li Xu went to the library with a few from Class Z.
Among them were two girls and Zhou Ze. Xie Tingting wanted to go too but had to stop by the Student Affairs Office to pick up a form for their class, so she couldn’t come.
While Li Xu searched the shelves for books, Zhou Ze followed closely beside her.
Zhou Ze was tall but dressed like a delicate scholar. However, upon closer look, his broad shoulders and muscular arms hinted at a disciplined exercise routine.
The library was quiet, and Li Xu didn’t seem to mind Zhou Ze tagging along as she picked books.
She targeted a collection of Borges’ novels, then went to another section to find a physics volume. On the way back, Zhou Ze’s hands were empty.
Li Xu looked back at him. Zhou Ze hadn’t expected Li Xu to suddenly stop, so he didn’t brake in time and bumped into her.
Li Xu reacted quickly, placing two books vertically between them, the hard covers pressing against his chest. He grunted and took a large step back.
A smile appeared in his eyes as he silently mouthed, “Sorry.”
Li Xu squinted at him. “What’s up?”
Zhou Ze nodded and pointed outside the library.
Li Xu put the books back on the table, gave Zhou Ze a meaningful glance, and stepped toward the exit.
Zhou Ze followed closely behind her.
Just as they reached the doorway, before Li Xu could say anything, her phone vibrated twice in her pocket.
She opened the WeChat interface and saw two messages.
One was from Xie Tingting: [Xu Xu, I see you’ve lost weight and your clothes don’t fit anymore. Want to go shopping together tonight?]
The other was from the newly added friend Xu Fufeng: [Do you know Catcat Xu? (smile)]
The latter message made Li Xu furrow her brow.