Mu Chenxi opened her mouth about to explain when Luo Shangqing’s phone rang. He made a gesture for silence and stood up to answer the call by the window.
It was unclear what the other person said, but he listened with a calm deanor, occasionally saying "Mhm."
Mu Chenxi knew that it would be polite for her to quietly leave at this ti, but how could she go without clearing up the misunderstanding?
Luo Shangqing stood in front of the window, his slender fingers idly playing with the naless potted green plant. The sunlight outside the window draped over him like a warm veil, making him appear as if cast from golden powder, bright and dazzling to the eyes.
The call lasted a while, and he seed to sense soone was still in the room. He couldn’t help but slightly turn his body to look over, prompting Mu Chenxi to give him a silly smile in a hurry, her feet still planted firmly on the spot with no intention of leaving.
Finally, when Luo Shangqing finished the call, Mu Chenxi cleared her throat, barely starting with "Actually—"
"If you have any questions, ask next class. I have to go out now." Luo Shangqing took his wool coat off the rack, not minding Mu Chenxi still standing there, but paused at the doorway, pointed to the several potted flowers on the windowsill, "Wipe the table down, and water the flowers a bit, the water is behind the cabinet."
After giving these instructions, Luo Shangqing left with large strides.
Mu Chenxi could only speak the rest of her sentence to his retreating figure: Actually, I don’t know him at all.
Mu Chenxi sighed, but soon got excited again because she got the lovely job of wiping his table and watering his plants.
Luo Shangqing’s desk was almost spotless, neatly organized, with a dozen or so pens in a pen holder, and file folders lined up like troops in formation. Those in dical fields mostly have a bit of germophobia, and Luo Shangqing’s living habits just confird it.
Humming a tune, Mu Chenxi took a clean cloth and wiped his desk again, taking great care of every corner, seen and unseen.
After cleaning the desk, Mu Chenxi went on to water the plants. Seeing those vibrantly blooming flowers, although unknown by na, seed especially bright to her. She couldn’t resist taking out her phone to snap a few selfies with the plants.
～
When Mu Chenxi returned to the dorm, Jiang Xinyu was lying on the upper bunk reading comics, her hand reaching out to grab shrimp sticks from a snack bag.
Mu Chenxi swiftly seized the bag of shrimp sticks and started crunching on them.
"You just grab food the mont you’re back, Mu the Fourth." Jiang Xinyu sat up from the upper bunk and fiercely tossed a pillow her way.
"It’s just a bag of shrimp sticks. I’ll pay you back tomorrow with two bags and a packet of chips." While humming, Mu Chenxi dodged the pillow and walked to the table to pour water.
Jiang Xinyu stared at her face for a while, then sneered: "You look like you’re in heat; did your Professor Luo announce you or sothing?"
Mu Chenxi couldn’t help but laugh proudly and sent an ’you’re so clever’ look back at her: "Today I helped my male-god wipe his desk and water his plants."
"Pfft, just for such a trifle, you’re grinning like a blooming chrysanthemum?" Jiang Xinyu curled her lip; the whole dorm knew about Mu Chenxi’s crush on Professor Luo, ever since her first glance at him, it was as if she’d lost her soul to him. Whenever there was a class by Professor Luo, she would attend even if knives were falling from the sky, and for every lecture related to Professor Luo, she’d definitely be there sitting in the front row, right on ti.
Everyone in the dorm told her it was impossible for her and Professor Luo, not to ntion the age gap of over a decade between them, but also because his prestigious family wouldn’t likely take interest in soone so ordinary as her.
But Mu Chenxi was stubborn, determined about the things she decided on, not turning back before slamming into the south wall.
She had a diary, where she ticulously recorded every trivial matter in her pursuit of Professor Luo, though it would be more apt to call it a crush, since Professor Luo didn’t even know she existed.
Mu Chenxi munched on shrimp sticks while furiously jotting down in her diary.
"Writing in your crush diary again?" The dorm ’leader’ Susu walked in, carrying a big basin of freshly washed clothes, and picked out a pair of socks to toss onto Mu Chenxi’s desk, "Here, your stinky socks, stop throwing them everywhere."
Mu Chenxi imdiately put down her pen and hugged Susu tightly, planting two kisses on her: "Thanks, boss, you’re my true big sis."
Susu pushed her away with disgust: "I’ve heard that those in dicine have a thing for cleanliness; if you keep throwing your socks around, be careful that your Professor Luo wouldn’t approve of your sloppiness."
"I promise I’ll never throw them around again," promised Mu Chenxi, raising her hand as if taking an oath, "I’ll definitely aim right into your laundry basin."
"Get out of here," Susu flicked her forehead.
Mu Chenxi started school when she was just five years old and was the youngest in the dorm, so everyone always looked after her and treated her with affection, especially Susu, who was practically her confidante, always bringing along a couple of extra items of clothing for her when doing the laundry.
Mu Chenxi’s father was the head of the internal departnt at the hospital, and her family’s conditions were quite good. Of the four girls in the dorm, only she herself was a local from Aus City, so whenever she went ho on the weekends, she would bring lots of food for everyone, and she was always generous and reliable whenever soone needed her help.
"I’m hungry, so hungry. Is Third coming back for dinner or not?" Jiang Xinyu put down the comic book in her hands and rubbed her stomach.
"Forget about her, let’s go eat by ourselves." Susu finished hanging the clothes, "Where should we eat today?"
Mu Chenxi quickly held up a finger: "Let’s go to Canteen Number One. Based on my observations, Professor Luo always goes there to eat beef stir-fried rice noodles at this ti every week."
The teachers at the school have their own designated cafeterias, where the food is much better than the student cafeterias, and they don’t have to pay for their als.
But Mu Chenxi noticed that Luo Shangqing goes to Canteen Number One every Friday at noon, and he always orders the beef stir-fried rice noodles.
"Fourth Sister, your male god is queuing up behind you," whispered Jiang Xinyu in the cafeteria, her head close against Mu Chenxi’s neck.
Mu Chenxi turned her head and saw Luo Shangqing standing at the end of the not-so-long line, one hand in his pocket and the other fiddling with his phone, probably texting as his fingers swiftly moved across the keyboard.
In the bustling cafeteria, he seed like a separate landscape, where his presence natural made the noisy surroundings fade into an unusual calmness.
"Student, what dish would you like?" The cafeteria worker knocked on the big aluminum pot in front of him.
Mu Chenxi hurriedly withdrew her gaze and said proficiently, "Beef stir-fried rice noodles."
A large portion of beef stir-fried rice noodles was put into Mu Chenxi’s lunch box. As she passed by Luo Shangqing, she couldn’t help but slow down her pace, but he continued focusing on his phone, not giving any attention to anyone else.
Mu Chenxi asked Jiang Xinyu and Susu to save seats first while she lingered near the queue with her rice noodles.
Finally it was Luo Shangqing’s turn. The cafeteria worker already recognized him and said warmly with a smile, "Professor Luo, the beef stir-fried rice noodles are sold out, the last portion was bought by that student."
As the worker spoke, he glanced towards Mu Chenxi’s direction. Luo Shangqing followed the worker’s gaze, just in ti to see Mu Chenxi standing there holding her lunch box like a fool. His gaze lightly glanced over her face and then turned back to tell the worker, "Then just give sothing else."
Mu Chenxi, holding the only portion of beef stir-fried rice noodles, suddenly felt a heavy sense of guilt.
After getting his al, Luo Shangqing went to sit at a corner, seeming to handle so important ssages. He wasn’t in a hurry to eat; still toying with his phone, his well-built forearm exposed, he looked completely engrossed.
"Fourth Sister, do you dare to go sit with your professor?" Xinyu teased Mu Chenxi, "Look at Professor Luo sitting there all by himself, you should keep him company."
Mu Chenxi, though bold in heart, was timid in action, stuffing rice noodles into her mouth haphazardly; to her, Professor Luo was soone to be admired from a distance but not to be trifled with.
After eating, upon returning to the dormitory, Mu Chenxi was writing in her secret crush diary while Xinyu was preparing to sleep, and the dorm leader, as always, was diligently studying, buried in thick dical books.
At that mont, soone ca in through the door. Without even looking back, the light fragrance told Mu Chenxi that Third had returned.
Quan Jin placed her backpack beside her bed and glanced at Mu Chenxi, who was writing fervently: "Writing in your silly diary again?"
Mu Chenxi was writing, "Professor Luo must not have liked the food at noon today. I saw him frown twice, stare deeply at his plate for five seconds, and what’s more, he left food on his plate – a sin, a grave sin. I vow here and now, I’ll never eat beef stir-fried rice noodles again."
Hearing Quan Jin’s words, Mu Chenxi swung a playful punch in her direction: "Remove the word ’silly’; I’m writing very seriously here."
Quan Jin laughed out loud: "Writing about your Professor Luo again, huh? You’ve been secretly in love with him since your freshman year, and now you’re almost a junior, but he hasn’t even glanced at you. Yet you’re still going after him."
"Professor Luo looked at a few tis today," Mu Chenxi counted on her fingers – he looked at her twice during class, twice when she went to water plants in his office, and then again in the cafeteria; in sum, today was quite fruitful.
"Give it up; you’re just daydreaming," Quan Jin said as she threw a box of exquisitely wrapped chocolates on Mu Chenxi’s desk, "Share it with everyone."
"Who’s it from this ti?" Mu Chenxi began to unwrap the chocolates with glee.
Quan Jin was the epito of beauty, tall and slim, with fair skin and delicately refined features. She was known as the flower of the departnt, and the line of boys pursuing her could stretch from one end of the sports field to the other.
"Probably from the next class, can’t rember his na." Quan Jin sat down at her desk, took a mirror, and started drawing her eyebrows, "He gave it to in person but I didn’t accept it. Sohow it ended up in my desk."
Mu Chenxi distributed the chocolates to Xinyu and Susu up on the bunk.
Climbing down from her bed and biting a piece of chocolate, Xinyu asked, "Third, what exactly are you looking for in a guy? Good n are getting scarcer nowadays. Don’t be too picky and miss out."
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