They agreed on a wake-up time before bed. The next morning, around eight, the girls gradually woke up. They casually had some porridge for breakfast, then went off to get themselves ready. If you’re going out to play, of course, you have to take photos! 

They set off around 10 AM—not because they had no sense of time, but because the five girls all needed to change clothes, fix their hair, put on a little makeup, and with no urgent schedule ahead, taking more than an hour to get ready seemed perfectly normal. 

After driving for over an hour, they arrived at their destination just around lunchtime. 

Lu Nan parked the car in the parking lot and, following the guide, found the place to rent the charcoal stove. It was about 20 yuan for a stove, but they had to pay 50 yuan upfront. The other 30 yuan was a deposit, refundable only if the visitors cleaned up their trash before leaving. Lu Nan thought this rule was a good idea. 

Since the meat had been marinated the night before, all they needed to do was cook it, so it was sure to be tasty. The vegetables were brushed with oil and sprinkled with seasoning powder, and they just needed to be careful not to burn them. The five girls in the dorm all knew how to cook, so a barbecue was no challenge. 

Soon, the smell of the food started to fill the air. 

Other tourists passing by curiously asked, “Is this for sale?” 

The girls laughed and shook their heads. “We can give you a skewer.” 

Of course, the person asking didn’t want to take it and said to their friends, “Let’s go ask nearby if they sell pre-cooked barbecue.” 

Once they left, Lin Yan gave Lu Nan a thumbs up. “You really thought of everything.” 

Lu Nan gladly accepted the compliment. 

A while later, Xiang Feifei, noticing Lu Nan was grilling tofu wrapped in aluminum foil, asked, “Is that person over there waving at you?” 

Lu Nan, who had heard a few “Senior” calls earlier but didn’t pay attention, looked up at the sound. Just then, the person walked closer and called out her full name. “Lu Nan, Senior.” 

“Ah, junior,” Lu Nan put down the garlic sauce she was holding. “Sorry, I didn’t realize at first.” 

Chi Yan, the sophomore she had met at the skateboard park last month, said casually, “It’s okay, I didn’t shout clearly enough. I just thought that if you call out ‘beauty’ on the street, countless people will turn around, but I didn’t expect that calling ‘Senior’ didn’t work at all.” 

Lu Nan and the others couldn’t help but laugh. 

After laughing, Lu Nan introduced the two groups simply, saying one was her roommate, and the other was her junior. 

Once the introductions were over, Chi Yan sweetly greeted the other girls, then said, “Are you all barbecuing? I’m really good at skewering meat, let me serve you all.” 

Xiang Feifei shot Lu Nan a glance: Hey, what’s up with this overly attentive junior? 

Lu Nan blinked innocently: How would I know? 

“Junior, you… came to Rain South Lake to play today too, right? With friends?” implying: You should leave once you’re done here. 

But Lu Nan overestimated the emotional intelligence of a sophomore. The other person didn’t get the hint at all and calmly shook his head: “Ah, it’s a class outing. They’re grilling over there. There are plenty of people doing the work, they don’t need me.” Sure enough, a crowd of young men and women had gathered around the grill some 100 meters away. 

Chi Yan expertly sprinkled cumin powder evenly over the skewers and asked, “Senior, why haven’t you been to the skatepark lately?” 

“Ah, I’ve been a bit busy,” Lu Nan replied helplessly, under Xiang Feifei’s teasing gaze. 

“Sounds like an excuse. It’s like the grown-up’s excuse to a child,” Chi Yan shook his head with a smirk. 

Lu Nan had no choice but to explain, “I told you last time, I had a bad fall while skating. I broke my wrist, so I don’t really skate anymore.” 

“Well, here, try my skewers, ladies!” Chi Yan put the skewers on the stainless-steel tray for cooked food. Just as Lu Nan reached to take one, he added, “Last time you wore a short-sleeve shirt, I didn’t see any old injury on your wrist.” 

Lu Nan froze for a moment while reaching for the skewer: Ah, the wrist injury was from her past life. 

She smiled a little embarrassedly and said vaguely, “I remembered wrong. It wasn’t that serious.” 

Chi Yan smiled and didn’t pursue it further. He picked up a few pieces of tofu to put on the grill. His phone, which had been resting on a small stool beside him, rang. “Senior, could you pass me my phone?” 

Lu Nan handed it to him. 

Chi Yan looked at his hands, then at the phone: “It’s hard to grab…” 

Lu Nan quickly grabbed a wet wipe from her bag and handed it to him. 

He wiped his hands, answered the phone, and said in a playful tone, “What’s up?” 

“Alright, alright, I’ll come over soon.” After hanging up, Chi Yan sheepishly said, “My classmates want to take a group photo, Senior. I’ll be right back!” 

After he left, the remaining four girls quietly murmured, “Oh~” and looked at Lu Nan. 

Lu Nan facepalmed: She never expected this situation. The last time she saw Chi Yan at the skateboard park, he seemed so shy. 

After about ten minutes, as promised, Chi Yan returned. 

Xiang Feifei called to him, “Junior, you should eat too.” 

“Thanks, Senior. I won’t be polite.” 

After eating, Chi Yan very actively helped clean up the trash and asked, “Senior, what’s the plan for the afternoon? Are you going boating?” 

Of course, they were going boating. Lu Nan had seen it on the guide when planning the trip the previous day—it was a must-do at Rain South Lake. 

“I’ll go with you!” Chi Yan grinned. 

How could she tell him to leave? Lu Nan tactfully said, “Your class is having a group activity. You’ve been away from your class too long. It might be inappropriate.” 

“It’s fine, we’re all college students, not elementary schoolers. I told the assistant teacher when I arrived.” 

There were both two-person and four-person duck boats, and Chi Yan was going to buy tickets. “I’ll treat you all.” 

Xiang Feifei subtly pushed him aside, saying, “We’ve all been working, we can’t let you, a student, treat us. Two four-person boat tickets.” 

Tickets in hand, they divided into groups. 

Jiang Xiaoyun, Hong Danni, and Lin Yan were in one boat; Lu Nan, Xiang Feifei, and Chi Yan in another. 

The sunlight bathed Rain South Lake, and the water shimmered like scattered gold. 

Chi Yan sat on one side, while Lu Nan and Xiang Feifei sat opposite him. 

Xiang Feifei quietly texted Lu Nan: “See, I’m being considerate. Even though the junior keeps giving me looks, I didn’t leave you behind.” 

Lu Nan replied with a thumbs-up. 

After rowing further away from the shore, Lu Nan said, “Let’s stop here for a bit.” 

The other two had no objections. 

Lu Nan leaned back, put on her sunglasses, and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun, the rocking of the boat, and the distant sounds of laughter from the shore or other boats. It was so relaxing that she even began to feel drowsy. 

They drifted on the lake for about an hour before rowing back to the dock. 

Chi Yan, still full of energy, suggested they go flower viewing together, but it seemed like his class was about to gather to go hiking, so reluctantly, he left. Before he left, he said to Lu Nan, “While the weather’s still nice, Senior, go skate a few more times!” 

Lu Nan smiled politely, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. 

“Let’s go see the flowers and take some photos.” With no unfamiliar males around, the roommates felt much more relaxed. 

Lu Nan was quite good at taking photos, so she took on the role of photographer and even shared some tips on angle and composition for taking portraits. These little tricks had been compiled by countless influencers, and Lu Nan selected a few to explain, making Xiang Feifei and the others admire her even more. 

The outing was perfect, and the atmosphere in the dormitory was peaceful. The other girls already thought Lu Nan was a good person but didn’t know how to approach her. Now that she took the initiative to reach out, it was natural that their relationship grew closer. 

On the way back, Lu Nan’s phone connected to the car’s Bluetooth, and they sang and laughed all the way back to the dorm. It was a very happy day. 

*** 

Human joy and sorrow are not shared. 

While Lu Nan and her group were enjoying themselves, Manager Wang felt like tearing his hair out in frustration. 

After last night’s banquet, he went to Director Tong’s room. Director Tong explained that the afternoon meeting with Green Trading had been a failure. The other party had stated that their current stock could not be repurchased at the original price; at most, they would offer a 20% discount. However, if new distributors could be recruited in Hailing City, the company could provide an additional 10–20% rebate to the new distributors of Harmony Wine. In short, Harmony Wine could never appear on the market at a low price; that was the bottom line. 

Director Tong spoke earnestly: “Wang Xinglong, you’ve been with the company for five years, right?” 

“Yes, it will be my sixth year after the New Year.” 

“Hmm.” 

What did that mean? After the conversation, Wang Xinglong didn’t dare to ask. He knew that Director Tong had truly been angered and frustrated in Hailing City. He just hoped to stay secure in his position as city manager, maybe get a promotion, but after being splashed with two cold showers in a row, he had already woken from the dream. 

Now, he dreamed of signing a distributor for Harmony Wine. As long as someone could handle even half of Green Trading’s stock, he could make them feel like royalty. 

… 

After returning to the dormitory and waiting for the security guard to let her through at the entrance of the complex, Lu Nan saw Teacher Zhang. She lowered the window and called out to her. 

Teacher Zhang said, “Oh? Xiao Lu, I was just about to call you. I’m going to buy some groceries. Come over later for dinner.” 

As she spoke, she winked, almost as if it were a secret signal, looking quite cute. 

Lu Nan smiled and agreed, “Alright, I’ll park the car and come with you.” 

“No need, it’s just a few steps. You just got back from playing, so rest a bit first. You can come over in about an hour.” 

Although Teacher Zhang said this, Lu Nan obviously couldn’t just wait around for a ready meal. She parked the car downstairs, quickly took a shower upstairs, changed into some comfortable casual clothes, and brought the draft of the cooperation agreement she had written last night. Then, she apologized to Xiang Feifei and the others: “You can handle the remaining skewers, seasonings, and drinks. Thank you for your hard work.” 

Xiang Feifei casually replied, “It’s fine, you go ahead.” 

When Lu Nan arrived at Teacher Zhang’s house and rang the doorbell, Teacher Zhang opened the door and said, “I told you to rest a bit first, but you didn’t listen.” 

“There’s nothing tiring about playing, I don’t need to rest,” Lu Nan said as she lifted a bag of pomegranates. “These soft-seed pomegranates are quite good, they seem to be a new variety. You can peel them or make juice if you like.” 

Teacher Zhang didn’t bother with pleasantries and said directly, “Just put it in the fruit basket in the living room.” 

After dinner, not long after, a video call from Xu Chengzhi came through: “Mom, Lu Nan.” 

After greetings, Xu Chengzhi, with a happy expression, said to Lu Nan, “The taste of Harmony Wine isn’t as rich as the classic wine. Me and Wu Li had some with our friends here, and they all said it was pretty good. They also introduced me to some Chinese bar owners. All six boxes of wine were distributed, and some of it has been opened already. The customers’ reactions to Harmony Wine have been good—oh, and the classic wine was bought by an older owner for personal consumption.” 

Xu Chengzhi said confidently, “I think you can send me $20,000, no, $30,000 worth of Harmony Wine.”