Chapter 07

【Senior, is string a built-in data type in Python?】

【No, string refers to strings, which are a reference data type commonly used in languages like C++, Java, and VB.】

【I heard the red bean buns in the second cafeteria at A University are really good. Is that true?】

No reply.

……

Shanzha Porridge: 【Write a C++ program that takes an integer as input and determines whether it is even or odd. If it’s even, output “Even”; if it’s odd, output “Odd.” Senior, how do I solve this question?】

Ferry: 【sends an image】

Shanzha Porridge: 【Wow! Senior, you’re amazing! This problem had me stumped for so long, but with your guidance, I understand it instantly!】

Hawthorn Porridge: 【[Cat with starry eyes.jpg]】

No reply.

……

【Senior, I saw you shared a post about the campus art festival on your Moments. Can students from other schools come to visit?】

No reply.

……

A week had passed, and Zhu Shizhou only responded to questions related to academics, completely ignoring any questions about daily life.

So it’s purely academic communication? At this rate, who knows when I’ll ever win Zhu Shizhou over—maybe in the next decade! Bai Zining was so anxious he could feel his frustration building, frantically scrolling through experience posts on every platform he could find.

The Moments on his alternate account maintained a steady rhythm, posting a leg photo every other day. Bai Zining didn’t know whether Zhu Shizhou simply couldn’t see them or pretended not to, as he never liked a single post.

Bai Zining opened his own Moments photos to admire them. With legs this gorgeous, Zhu Shizhou isn’t impressed? His standards must be sky-high.

He had taken dozens of photos in the two dresses, each with a variety of poses, then carefully selected the most flattering ones to edit. To ensure no details gave him away during the photo shoots, he had even gone out of his way to buy a new bedsheet.

All this effort with no results, it felt like such a waste!

While reviewing his chat history, Bai Zining suddenly noticed that all his interactions with Zhu Shizhou were purely through text, there had been no verbal engagement. Inspired, he found several review posts and decided to invest in a voice changer app. After tinkering with it for quite a while, he finally adjusted the settings to perfection.

The next time Zhu Shizhou helped him solve a problem, Bai Zining opened the voice changer, pinched his throat slightly, and sent a voice message: 【“Thank you, Senior! You’re amazing! Let me treat you to milk tea!”】

After sending the message, Bai Zining played it back himself. A crisp, lively, yet slightly shy female voice came through the speaker, it was pleasant and sweet. He loved how it sounded and ended up replaying it several more times.

This time, Zhu Shizhou finally replied: 【No need, but thank you.】

Bai Zining’s online strategy hadn’t made much progress, and in real life, he managed to have a small conflict with Zhu Shizhou as well.

The reason was simple: at noon, the clothes Bai Zining had hung on the balcony fell to the ground, not just one piece, but several. And all afternoon, the only person who had been to the balcony was Zhu Shizhou, who went to use the restroom.

“When I left the bathroom, your clothes were still on the drying rack. That’s the truth,” Zhu Shizhou said, uncharacteristically speaking more and even making a small gesture. He took out his phone, opened the weather app, and showed it to Bai Zining. “The weather forecast says there’s a blue alert for strong winds today. They might have been blown off by the wind.”

Blown off by the wind? How come he didn’t hear the wind? With such solid evidence in front of him, Zhu Shizhou still had the nerve to argue. Bai Zining was genuinely impressed.

Bai Zining pulled a clean outfit from his wardrobe and put it on, slamming the wardrobe door with a loud bang that echoed through the room. Just as he was about to continue questioning Zhu Shizhou, he remembered the intricate plan he had been working on for so long. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed his anger, spat out, “Not worth my time,” and stormed off, dragging Cai Yu with him.

After he left, Zhu Shizhou, who had been sitting on a stool, also prepared to leave. As he glanced to his right, he noticed something. The force of Bai Zining slamming the wardrobe door earlier had caused the metal door to rebound slightly, leaving a gap about a foot wide.

Through this gap, Zhu Shizhou caught sight of part of a white skirt hem, pressed among a pile of hanging clothes. It wasn’t very noticeable, but it was there.

He froze mid-motion. The skirt looked strangely familiar. Zhu Shizhou pondered for a moment. First, why would there be a skirt in Bai Zining’s wardrobe? And second, where had he seen it before?

After half a minute, he took out his phone and scrolled to the Moments of the so-called “junior” he had added ten days ago. Since the posts were set to be visible for only three days, only one photo remained.

In the photo, the person sat with their legs together, slightly leaning on the bed. Their legs were slender and fair, and the picture was adorned with floral patterns and cute stickers. The skirt they were wearing was identical to the one in Bai Zining’s wardrobe.

Interesting. Zhu Shizhou put away his phone, walked over, and gently closed Bai Zining’s wardrobe door. At the same time, he took a closer look at the pattern on the skirt.

He let out a low whistle and then headed out to find Xie Cheng.

The next evening, Bai Zining was still stewing in yesterday’s frustration. He decided he needed to speed up the progress of his “online relationship.”

All four roommates were in the dorm. Bai Zining sat on his bed, drew the curtains, and pretended to be resting.

He switched to his alternate account and, as usual, sent a message: 【Good evening, Senior! I have another question I’d like to ask you!】

Normally, Zhu Shizhou would wait for him to state the question before responding, but today was oddly different, that Zhu Shizhou replied almost instantly: 【Go ahead.】

Bai Zining was delighted and quickly pulled a prepared question from his memo app to send over. The next second, a video call request popped up from the other side.

As the default WeChat ringtone sounded, Bai Zining’s own face suddenly appeared on the screen. Startled, he let out a loud yelp, fumbling to cover the front-facing camera before hurriedly hitting the hang-up button.

Hearing the commotion, Cai Yu called out to him, “Ah Bai, what happened?”

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Bai Zining’s forehead. He patted his chest, still heaving from the scare, and replied weakly, “It’s nothing. There was a spider just now… but it’s gone now.”

Why on earth would Zhu Shizhou suddenly initiate a video call?

Soon, a message came through from Zhu Shizhou: 【Sorry, slipped my hand.】

Slipped your hand? You almost scared me to death, do you know that?! Bai Zining fumed internally. If I’d accidentally hit the accept button, I can’t even imagine how disastrous that would’ve been.

Cursing silently in his heart, he typed back: 【It’s fine, Senior. For a moment there, I thought you wanted to see what I look like~ [Playful.jpg]】

A humorous yet graceful reply.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Shizhou responded: 【I do want to see.】

?

Bai Zining was stunned. After a moment of processing, he was overjoyed that the fish had taken the bait!

But there was no way he could send his own photo to Zhu Shizhou. There wasn’t enough time to hunt down some random picture online, and besides, using a fake photo was too risky that it could easily be exposed.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zining decided to turn the tables: 【What does Senior want to see?】

By throwing the question back, he reasoned that Zhu Shizhou, not being the type to be so forward, wouldn’t directly ask for a selfie or anything like that.

Five seconds later, the phone vibrated, and a new message appeared.

Ferry: 【Let me see your legs.】