Chapter 35 But now what popped up was “Zhi…

After working non-stop until his bed was made, Lin Zhi collapsed onto the dry, soft bed and didn’t want to get up. He simply grabbed his phone and began explaining to Yao Wenjing that he had a boyfriend.

After some back-and-forth, blending truth and lies, Yao Wenjing finally understood his point.

Yao Wenjing: “Oh, I get it. You’re saying you’re treating the person you like as your partner, but they’re not actually your boyfriend yet.”

Lin Zhi replied, “Kind of,” to be more precise, “Zhi” didn’t even know who he was yet.

As he started feeling sleepy, Yuan Hesong asked if he wanted to go to the school supermarket to buy some toiletries. Lin Zhi said “Sure” and got out of bed.

The evening breeze was gentle, and there were many students walking around the campus, with the supermarket even busier.

Freshmen’s eyes sparkled with excitement, sophomores and juniors were dressed up with refined makeup, and seniors wore pajamas and slippers.

This school was so much better than the one Lin Zhi attended in his previous life, even the supermarket was much larger. Lin Zhi efficiently grabbed the items he needed, then waited for Yuan Hesong to finish and paid for everything together before heading back to the dorm.

The next morning, Lin Zhi entered his information for registration right at the time when the school began. He collected a bunch of brochures and cards, but didn’t bother with them. He stuffed everything into his drawer, then tidied up his appearance before heading out to meet Yao Wenjing to visit Lu Liu’s school.

Lu Liu was waiting at the school gate, along with the welcoming seniors. He seemed to fit in well, with new students asking him for directions, either with parents or by themselves.

As Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing approached, they overheard Lu Liu politely declining a new student’s request for help.

Lin Zhi, in a playful mood, leaned forward and asked, “Senior, could you tell me how to get to the Law School?”

The smile on Lu Liu’s face turned genuine as he replied, “I’ll take you there.”

“Great!” Lin Zhi grinned. “Thank you, Senior.”

The rejected new student was left speechless: “…”

As they walked further, Lin Zhi suddenly thought of a question, “By the way, that person just now was probably your classmate, right?”

“Maybe,” Lu Liu said. He had been standing near the Law School’s welcoming tent, and the student who had talked to him was likely from the law department.

Lin Zhi hoped that the student hadn’t remembered what Lu Liu looked like.

Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing first accompanied Lu Liu to register for his department. Lin Zhi took the opportunity to glance around at the new students registering around the same time as Lu Liu but didn’t feel that anyone resembled “Zhi.”

Afterward, Lin Zhi found an excuse to visit Lu Liu’s dorm, where he met Lu Liu’s two roommates and a few classmates who came in and out of neighboring rooms.

Unfortunately, none of them had the “Zhi” vibe, though that vibe was something Lin Zhi had imagined himself.

Lu Liu actually seemed more like “Zhi” than any of them.

Lin Zhi felt a bit disappointed. It wasn’t easy to find someone without knowing their characteristics. But after wandering around the university town with Lu Liu and Yao Wenjing in the afternoon, Lin Zhi felt a little more at ease. He had done everything he could. Now that he was so close to “Zhi’s” school, once he added him on WeChat, what could stop him?

In the evening, they each went back to their rooms. Lin Zhi opened the door and came face to face with an unfamiliar face. It seemed like the new roommate had arrived today.

“Hey,” Lin Zhi smiled politely and introduced himself, “I’m Lin Zhi.”

“I’m Zhao Shaochuan,” Zhao Shaochuan smiled back, holding a damp cloth. “Did you just arrive?”

“No,” Lin Zhi pointed to the bed by the window. “I came yesterday, went out this morning.”

Zhao Shaochuan nodded and continued cleaning the desk with his cloth.

Yuan Hesong wasn’t around, and Lin Zhi didn’t ask. The only sound in the room for a while was Zhao Shaochuan’s movements.

The Last Roommate Arrives

Lin Zhi’s last roommate arrived in the afternoon on the second day, just in time to catch the tail end of registration. That evening, the counselor hastily held a meeting for all students in their major, where they were informed about the upcoming military training schedule and precautions.

Lin Zhi was still in the economics program, and with the gender imbalance, it was naturally up to them to collect the military training uniforms.

They delivered the smaller sizes to the girls’ dormitory, and the guys in Lin Zhi’s dorm couldn’t contain their curiosity and quickly returned to try on their camouflage uniforms.

Lin Zhi wasn’t excited, as he had already experienced university military training in his past life. All he remembered from that time was the hot weather and the sunburnt skin that turned a dried meat color. It took him an entire semester to get back to his original skin tone. Fortunately, in this life, he had the foresight to prepare a powerful sunscreen.

On the first morning of military training, Lin Zhi slowly applied sunscreen to his exposed skin while his roommates gave him strange looks, and he received a round of teasing.

It wasn’t long before, just a couple of days later, his roommates started coming to him for sunscreen, embarrassed to ask. Lin Zhi raised his chin and sarcastically responded, “Hurry up, you guys. Stop dragging your feet with the sunscreen.”

His fingers, remembering the routine, clicked open WeChat and typed in the familiar string of numbers to add a new friend. Just as he pressed enter, he glanced at Yuan Hesong’s face and said, “You didn’t apply sunscreen on your forehead…”

His words abruptly stopped. Recently, he had been searching for “Zhi” on WeChat more and more frequently. He clearly remembered that just yesterday afternoon, it had said the user didn’t exist. But now, the contact card for “Zhi” popped up.

It was a one-character WeChat name, with the familiar profile picture of a banner with the slogan, “Planting trees benefits the present and future.”

Lin Zhi’s heart raced, and his fingers, usually nimble enough to operate the phone with one hand, now seemed unsure of how to proceed.

“Didn’t apply it?” Yuan Hesong mumbled as he squeezed out another bit of sunscreen to rub on his forehead. “I thought I did.”

“You didn’t spread it evenly,” Lin Zhi replied in a hoarse voice, suddenly feeling dry in the mouth. He gulped down a glass of cold water and then clicked to add the friend.

After a while, “Zhi” still hadn’t accepted the request.

Hastily arriving at the military training grounds, Lin Zhi quickly stuffed his phone into his bag, glancing at it before putting it away. “Zhi” still hadn’t accepted.

He probably was busy with military training too.

With no phone access in the morning, Lin Zhi couldn’t help but glance at his bag during drills, maybe even letting his expression slip.

As a result, the stern instructor singled him out and had him do two sets of push-ups.

Finally, when noon came, Lin Zhi rushed to the bag area, even more enthusiastic than Zhao Shaochuan, who always replied to his girlfriend’s messages on time.

Unfortunately, “Zhi” still hadn’t accepted his friend request, which made him feel restless.

So, in the afternoon, he was once again dragged out for two more sets of push-ups.

His arm muscles ached, and after showering in the evening, he didn’t feel like raising his hands to dry his hair. He let the water drip down his neck and be absorbed by the collar of his shirt.

Sitting back in his chair, Lin Zhi picked up his phone, and finally saw “Zhi’s” profile picture at the top of his chat list. What’s more, “Zhi” had initiated a message to him.

【Zhi: Hmm?】

Although the tone of the greeting felt a little strange.

Lin Zhi ignored it and couldn’t help but smile as he began typing his reply.

【Lin Zhi: Good evening.】