Mu Chenxi pushed through the thick crowd only to find in front of her dormitory an array of intertwined heart shapes made from roses and candles, with a boy standing amidst the candles, holding a guitar and serenading with a love song.
The boy sang passionately, his eyes fixed on a window of the dormitory building, and before him were petals arranged to spell the words: Quan Jin, be my girlfriend!
Mu Chenxi suddenly widened her eyes then burst into muffled laughter, and soon Quan Jin along with a few others squeezed in as well.
"Little Quan, look, soone is confessing their love to you in such a funny way," Mu Chenxi laughed so hard it hurt her stomach, "Go on, you better settle this."
"What’s funny about it? I think it’s so romantic," Susu, true to her na, was a drear and her eyes moistened at such a romantic scene, saying, "If Qi Hao proposes to like this one day, I’d marry him without a second thought."
Xinyu scoffed, "Your Qi Hao could propose with a bunch of wildflowers, and you’d still waste your life away with him till the ends of the earth."
Quan Jin ignored the confession scene before her and turned to head back to the dormitory from the crowd.
anwhile, the boy, while singing, was keenly looking around; as soon as Quan Jin appeared, he imdiately walked over to her, calling out loudly, "Quan Jin."
Quan Jin didn’t even glance at him and turned to walk away.
"Quan Jin, I really, really like you, please give a chance to be your boyfriend. I will do everything to protect you, warm you, care for you. Whatever you wish for, I will try my best to satisfy it," the boy loudly professed his love, but to Quan Jin, such behavior was utterly childish.
"You can satisfy any demand?" Quan Jin suddenly stopped and faced him, speaking swiftly before he could respond, "I want Chanel perfu, Armani coats, LV handbags, La r costics, and a Cartier diamond ring. Gather all of these then co back and ask how I feel about it."
The boy stood baffled by her response, and before he could recover, Quan Jin had already sped into the dorm building, while the dorm supervisor hurried out, shooing him away as one would a fly: "Which departnt are you from, hurry up and leave, this is a female dorm, not a park, not a plaza, your family paid for your education, not for girlfriend-searching. Clean up all these things, take them away, all of them."
The boy sheepishly packed up his things under the supervisor’s orders, but still cast lingering glances at the dorm building before he left.
As soon as they returned to the dorm, everyone burst into laughter, Xinyu popping a peanut into her mouth said, "How many tis has a guy confessed under our dorm now, third one, you’re almost the envy of all the girls in the campus."
"What can she do about it, the third one is pretty and has a great figure, it’s normal for her to have suitors," Susu had forgotten her earlier displeasure, "But the third one, what was all that stuff you listed earlier, are they expensive?"
"All luxury goods, if you were to buy them all, it might cost a million," Mu Chenxi peered downstairs, "That guy has left, if I’m not wrong, he’s from the next class, and he’s been chasing you for a long ti."
This was when Quan Jin finally spoke, "I hate such n the most, they clearly can’t give you anything yet make grand promises, such people deserve to be single."
The girls chattered and giggled, when suddenly Mu Chenxi’s phone vibrated, she pulled it out, then quickly pocketed it again, "I need to go to the bathroom."
"Going to the toilet is just going, why is your face all red?" Xinyu chewed on the peanuts, chuckling, "And you even took your backpack."
Mu Chenxi hid in the bathroom and took out her phone; she didn’t even know the content but seeing the number that sent the ssage made her heart race with nervousness.
"Did you read the book?" The simple ssage was typical of Luo Shangqing’s style.
"Not yet, just got back to the dorm," Mu Chenxi quickly typed a response.
It took a while for Luo Shangqing to reply, "Co to my office tomorrow, I have a few more books for you."
Thinking of being alone with him made Mu Chenxi’s palms sweat nervously; she no longer had her initial bravery of a moth to a fla, instead, she felt like a soldier heading to battle, timid and hesitant.
"Okay, I’ll co after class."
After sending the ssage, Mu Chenxi waited a long ti without getting a response from Luo Shangqing, feeling the situation turned awkward, she carefully typed another ssage, "Soone proposed to Quan Jin under the dorm today, arranging lots of candles and roses."
Suddenly, Luo Shangqing’s call ca through, and Mu Chenxi, like a thief, peeked outside the bathroom door to make sure no one was around before picking up.
"Do you have any plans for the weekend?"
"The weekend? Going ho," Mu Chenxi spoke while glancing at various graffiti on the bathroom walls, all various outpourings of love and hate.
XXX, I love you.
XXX, we must be happy together.
And XXX, you jerk, I hate you!
Although the teachers supervising the dormitory repeatedly held etings to prohibit graffiti on the toilet walls, this secluded sanctuary remained a preferred place for everyone to pour out their hearts, writing down their thoughts and venting without anyone knowing who they were. Over ti, this place beca a hub for sharing personal issues, often accompanied by various comnts under each graffiti—so cursing, so advising, and so even extending over twenty entries.
"Hmm, got it," Luo Shangqing said before hanging up the phone.
Chenxi held the phone, bewildered. Was this the reason he called?
"Sigh." Chenxi put away the phone and breathed out deeply. Seeing that no one was around, she pulled a marker from her backpack.
~
The next day, Chenxi arrived at the laboratory early to prepare for the next phase of the experint, compiling the data and then docunting it in written text.
In the dical college, it was stipulated that if your academic paper was published by a journal, the process of graduation would beco much smoother; so could even use their academic article as their thesis. More importantly, if the journal was prestigious, a hefty scholarship could be awarded.
Chenxi was busy experinting and writing her paper, not noticing soone had approached until the person gently cleared their throat, at which she finally beca aware and looked over.
"Teacher Qu," Chenxi quickly stood up.
Teacher Qu was from their departnt and had taught her last sester. Although, given her poor academic performance, Teacher Qu might not even rember her.
"Do you need any help?" Teacher Qu asked warmly. "I was passing by and saw you here, so I ca in. I heard your experint was a success, is that right?"
"Yes, Teacher Qu," Chenxi respectfully replied. "But there are many issues yet to be addressed."
"If you don’t mind, let guide you."
"That would be wonderful, thank you, Teacher Qu." Chenxi happily made space for a seat beside her. Knowing that Teacher Qu was also engaged in this field of research, she thought the prospect of achieving results was imminent with her guidance.
The two of them continued their research into the late hours, after which Chenxi thanked Teacher Qu profusely as they parted ways.
Three days later, Chenxi’s academic paper was finally completed. While her roommates were celebrating, Susu suddenly received a phone call. After hanging up, her expression turned troubled, seemingly at a loss for words. Ultimately, it was Chenxi who guessed: "Was it a call from Qi Hao?"
"Yes." Susu beca even more embarrassed. "Qi Hao asked if your paper was finished?"
"He’s keeping really close tabs," Quan Jin scoffed coldly, but Chenxi quickly pinched her, signaling her to stop.
Susu also knew this was imposing, feeling extrely ashad.
"It’s alright, let him see it. Arrange a ti to give him the paper, just make sure to return it to tonight. Teacher Qu said she would help submit it to the magazine, a very prestigious dical weekly in Aus City." Chenxi handed the printed folder to Susu. "Here, he will be the first to see the entire paper, I haven’t even shown Teacher Qu."
Susu hesitated before taking it, solemnly promising, "Fourth Sister, don’t worry, I’ll be watching him closely. He can look, but he doesn’t have the ability to morize it and plagiarize."
"I know, I trust you."
After Susu took the paper away, Quan Jin angrily discarded a sunflower seed shell, "It’s always you indulging her. You worked nearly two months hard on this, what if it gets plagiarized by soone else?"
"That won’t happen, Susu said she’d watch him."
"Her, outsmart Qi Hao? Seriously?" Quan Jin exhaled heavily, "Just don’t co crying to if sothing goes wrong."
Xinyu also added, "Susu is really being thoughtless about this. It’s only because you, Fourth Sister, are so kind-hearted. If it were , I wouldn’t lend it to her. He’s a boyfriend, not a father, and even if it were her father, he wouldn’t be this compliant. Qi Hao really struck gold."
Quan Jin said helplessly, "Fourth Sister had no other choice, we can’t just watch Susu and Qi Hao fight over this. Let’s just trust Qi Hao this ti; after all, he and Susu have been together for nearly two years."
The matter soon concluded after Susu returned the complete paper. She repeatedly assured everyone that throughout the ti Qi Hao reviewed the paper, she was right beside him. He did nothing but read it through from beginning to end, displaying no suspicious behavior.
Chenxi also didn’t want to think ill of Qi Hao’s character since he was Susu’s beloved, hoping for a happy outco for them, and wishing to avoid strife between Susu and Quan Jin.
Thus, over the weekend, Chenxi happily went ho.
On Saturday noon, just as she was getting ready for a nap, she received a call from Luo Shangqing.
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