After parting ways with Jing Tian at noon, Yang Yue found himself hesitating on the way back to the dormitory.

There were no classes or plans for the afternoon, so he had plenty of free time. Logically, to prepare for next week’s exams, it would be best to immediately return to the dormitory and study diligently.

But he had some concerns.

The atmosphere between Jing Tian and Zheng Xunqian just now seemed awkward, not like they were still quarreling, but also not like they had already made up. Yang Yue knew Jing Tian’s personality too well; the more he cared about something, the worse he was at expressing it, and he always liked to brood over things. Yang Yue wanted to give them more time alone to communicate.

Having your best friend in a relationship was a bit lonely for him, but he didn’t want Jing Tian to be unhappy all day long.

Jing Tian said they weren’t in a romantic relationship with Zheng Xunqian, but Yang Yue didn’t believe it for a moment. When those two looked at each other, the air was thick enough to cut with a knife; their feelings were written all over their faces, clear as day. Anyone with eyes could see it; it was unmistakable.

But if he didn’t return to the dormitory, where else could he spend his time?

As Yang Yue walked in the direction of the school, he saw a familiar figure from a distance.

Shu Ziqin was wearing a white coat today. Although it was oversized, it accentuated his figure, making him look even taller and more striking. Yang Yue cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Lunch!”

Students around on the street turned their heads one after another, wanting to see who was shouting so loudly in the middle of the day.

Shu Ziqin also turned around, then slightly widened his eyes.

Yang Yue smiled, raised his hands, waved them vigorously twice, and was about to speed up and walk forward, but he saw Shu Ziqin turn around and run towards him.

“Senior,” he said when he ran up to Yang Yue, his face slightly flushed, “what a coincidence, I ran into you again.”

Yang Yue thought to himself, What a coincidence? We both started from the restaurant and are heading to school; it’s on the way.

“Why did you run back?” he asked. “You could have waited for me to catch up.”

Shu Ziqin smiled foolishly at him, ran his hand through his hair, and didn’t speak.

Today, he not only looked good in his clothes but also exuded an exceptionally pure aura. Judging people by their appearance was a weakness most people had, and Yang Yue was no exception. Looking at the refreshing and handsome face in front of him, his mood couldn’t help but become much lighter.

The atmosphere was indeed awkward during their meal just now, and Yang Yue felt somewhat ashamed. He was worried that he might have unintentionally left a psychological shadow on the innocent boy. Now, seeing that Shu Ziqin was still as enthusiastic and friendly as ever, he finally felt relieved.

The two walked towards the school together, and Yang Yue asked Shu Ziqin, “Do you have any plans for the afternoon?”

Shu Ziqin didn’t immediately answer. After thinking for a moment, he asked back, “Is there anywhere you need me to go?”

“Not really…” Yang Yue raised his head and smiled at him. “Oh, by the way, you said you ranked up to Silver yesterday?”

“Yes!” Shu Ziqin said proudly. “My promotion speed exceeds 86% of the players in the server!”

He was referring to the system text displayed to players after successfully ranking up. The data sounded impressive, but Silver was only slightly better than Bronze, and only a small percentage of players in the game belonged to this tier. Most people would quickly advance to higher ranks.

Eighty-six percent was just an ordinary level, but seeing Shu Ziqin proudly seeking praise, Yang Yue still cooperated and praised him, “Impressive! Promotion to Gold is just around the corner!”

“I could have ranked up successfully last night,” Shu Ziqin sighed, “but two teammates in my team argued, causing us to lose miserably.”

Yang Yue’s anger rose as he listened. If he encountered such teammates, he would be angry for a whole day after just one game, or at least curse Jing Tian for half an hour.

“I hope I’ll have better luck going back today,” Shu Ziqin continued. “As long as I meet normal teammates, I’ll become a Gold Warrior tomorrow!”

Yang Yue wanted to laugh, but he was afraid of appearing too mocking and crushing the enthusiasm of the child. He tried hard to hold back, lowered his head, and patted Shu Ziqin’s back twice, “Well done.”

“Would Senior be willing to team up with me then?” Shu Ziqin asked.

Yang Yue withdrew his hand, thought for a moment, and said, “No need to wait until then. If you’re free this afternoon, I’ll take you there.”

Shu Ziqin looked pleasantly surprised and nodded repeatedly, “I’m free!”

“Let’s go then,” Yang Yue pointed ahead, “you lead the way!”

But for some reason, Shu Ziqin hesitated, “Are we going to my place?”

“Yeah,” Yang Yue nodded, “I don’t want to go back to the dormitory.”

Or rather, he just wanted to find a place to pass the time, which is why he took the initiative to bring this newbie along to play games.

Shu Ziqin looked somewhat awkward. “But…”

“Inconvenient?” Yang Yue asked.

Shu Ziqin smiled at him. “It’s quite messy in my room.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yang Yue waved his hand, “as long as there’s a place to sit.”

After hesitating for a few seconds, Shu Ziqin said, “I think… there should be…”

The moment Yang Yue stepped into Shu Ziqin’s dorm room, he was frozen in shock.

He had seen his fair share of messy male dorm rooms, but this one seemed like it had been hit by an atomic bomb ten years ago and the unfortunate inhabitants were still rebuilding their lives on the ruins.

Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a large poster of a sexy woman on the front wall.

“That’s not mine!” Shu Ziqin explained loudly, his face red, “I find it strange too!”

“…Nice figure,” Yang Yue commented, then glanced around.

Various miscellaneous items littered the floor, from rogue routers to portable dumbbells. In the corner, there was even a shared power bank rental machine with a small bowl on top, in which a lone goldfish was floating aimlessly. Balloons were tied to the corners of the beds, some of which were already deflated, hanging limply.

“Is that yours?” Yang Yue asked, pointing to the bowl.

“None of these are mine,” Shu Ziqin shook his head quickly, then finally pointed to the small bowl on the shared power bank, “That’s mine.”

“Aren’t you afraid of knocking it over?” Yang Yue frowned, “These things on the floor aren’t waterproof, are they?”

Shu Ziqin seemed to find the reasoning valid. Stepping over the obstacles on the floor with long strides, he picked up the small bowl and placed it on the table.

“You should at least buy a proper fish tank,” Yang Yue said.

“I already did, but it hasn’t arrived yet,” Shu Ziqin said, “This fish I just picked up from the street the day before yesterday.”

“You can find fish on the street?” Yang Yue was surprised.

“It was in one of those tied-up plastic bags,” Shu Ziqin gestured, “Maybe a kid bought it and didn’t want it anymore, so they threw it on top of a trash can. When I saw it, it was already leaking a bit, and I felt sorry for it, so I brought it home.”

“I see…” Yang Yue sighed softly, then walked over and squatted down, looking at the pitiful yet lucky little goldfish, “Does it have a name?”

Shu Ziqin laughed, “Who names a fish!”

Yang Yue raised an eyebrow at him.

“…Then let’s give it one!” Shu Ziqin said.

Yang Yue nodded in satisfaction, stroking his chin, “You’re called Sh… What was it?”

Shu Ziqin looked puzzled, “Shu Ziqin.”

“Since you’re Shu Ziqin,” Yang Yue pointed at the fish, “let’s call it Lunch!”

Shu Ziqin completely didn’t understand the logic behind it, looking puzzled.

“Is that okay?” Yang Yue asked.

“Uh…” Shu Ziqin frowned slightly, then nodded vigorously, “It’s fine!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the dorm room opened from the outside, and a tall and sturdy flat-headed guy walked in, looking surprised to see Shu Ziqin.

“Skipping class too?” he asked.

“No,” Shu Ziqin answered loudly, “I remembered wrong, I don’t have class this afternoon!”

The flat-headed guy looked puzzled for a moment, then turned his gaze to Yang Yue and immediately widened his eyes in surprise, “Hey!”

This was undoubtedly Shu Ziqin’s roommate. Yang Yue smiled and greeted him, showing friendliness.

The flat-headed guy smiled back, but his expression was somewhat strange, staring at Yang Yue for a while before exclaiming, “Hey, wait a minute, haven’t we met somewhere before? You look familiar.”

“Really?” Yang Yue couldn’t remember, “I don’t think I have any impression. Can you remind me?”

The flat-headed guy crossed his arms and sat on the chair, tilting his head in thought for a while. Then, he slapped his hands together, “I remember now! No wonder I didn’t recognize you right away! You’re Yang Yue from junior year! Am I right?”

“I’m that famous?” Yang Yue was surprised.

“Of course, your name is widely known,” the flat-headed guy laughed, scratching his head, “I even saved your picture, but unfortunately I haven’t seen you in person.”

“Oh~” Yang Yue suddenly realized, straightforwardly telling him, “Now that we’ve met, you can come find me next time there’s a performance.”

The flat-headed guy laughed loudly, “That’s great! Can I enjoy the benefits in advance now?”

He was obviously just joking, something Yang Yue was accustomed to. He also got into the spirit of it, pretending to hold Shu Ziqin’s arm next to him, “Not now, my boyfriend is here, and he’ll get jealous if he sees. Let’s keep it quiet when he’s not around.”

Shu Ziqin widened his eyes in shock.

The flat-headed guy exaggeratedly exclaimed, “Wow!” then shook his head, “Tsk tsk tsk, your boyfriend is so enviable! No wonder there are girls chasing after him but he doesn’t want them.”

“Really?” Yang Yue got excited, then gave Shu Ziqin a playful pat, “You’re quite popular, huh! How’s it going with that?”

Shu Ziqin didn’t seem to like this topic very much, frowning and turning his head away, “No progress, I rejected her.”

“Why?” Yang Yue asked.

“Why? There’s no reason,” Shu Ziqin lightly tapped the small bowl containing the fish with his finger, “I don’t want to talk about this.”

Seeing him looking somewhat unhappy, Yang Yue didn’t press further and nodded, “Okay, okay.”

“What’s with the attitude?” the flat-headed guy teased him, “I now know why you rejected her. It’s because you’re hiding someone prettier than her.”

After saying that, he looked at Yang Yue with a slightly ridiculous expression, raising his eyebrows a couple of times, undoubtedly continuing the joke from earlier.

Yang Yue went along with it and said, “Exactly, he’s got me now, so don’t mention those other girls to him anymore.”

After finishing speaking, he saw Shu Ziqin look at him, then winked at him.

Shu Ziqin blinked slightly, then turned his head away without any response.

Yang Yue found it strange. Was this honest kid unable to take even this little joke?

But he was clearly helping him.

Yang Yue liked to tease him, but he didn’t like seeing others teasing him. Seeing him in distress, he unconsciously wanted to protect him. Couldn’t this silly kid appreciate it?

Just as he was puzzled, he saw Shu Ziqin lightly purse his lips, then turned to look at him again, slightly leaning down towards his ear, and said quietly yet seriously, “Senior, I don’t like this kind of joke. I refused because I have someone I like.”