Chapter 31: A Visit

Seeing Liu Jiaoyue's reaction was so intense—and the key was that she wanted to cry but didn't dare to, only quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand the moment tears spilled over, while stealing a glance at Yang Tianxing in the middle of it, terrified he would flare up again—she looked just like a little punching bag suffering in silence.

"Alright, alright, then let's not talk about being friends for now. I like to be reasonable; I never force anyone."

Yang Tianxing had no choice but to set the matter aside for the moment; in any case, Liu Jiaoyue couldn't escape him, he thought to himself, while casually peeling two shrimp and placing them in Liu Jiaoyue's bowl.

Liu Jiaoyue glanced at the "never force anyone" Class Monitor Yang, afraid he would try to feed her like last time, so she could only silently "enjoy" Yang Tianxing's service.

After eating a few, Liu Jiaoyue said softly, "I'm full."

Only then did Yang Tianxing pick up his bowl again to finish off the remaining dishes.

Outside, the light rain was still drizzling down; Yang Tianxing lit a cigarette and stared out the window, wondering what he was thinking about.

Seeing that Yang Tianxing's attention was outside, Liu Jiaoyue quietly raised her head to size up this "bully" who wanted to be her boyfriend, while the warning from her roommate He Yulin flashed through her mind.

"Most classmates can't handle Yang Tianxing. Look, it's only been a month since school started, and Yang Tianxing is already the class monitor and the deputy minister of the External Liaison Department. Even I'm inexplicably helping him do things."

"Yang Tianxing seems to have a thing for you. If you don't want to date, you must avoid him in the future."

Liu Jiaoyue thought blankly; in truth, she only wanted to know why Yang Tianxing was always so fierce toward her.

After a while, Liu Jiaoyue felt something was off. Upon closer inspection, it turned out the cafeteria window was reflecting the scene, and Yang Tianxing was watching her through the glass, though his gaze was soft, lacking his usual sharpness and arrogance.

"I, I'm heading back now."

Liu Jiaoyue hurriedly stood up, preparing to leave.

Yang Tianxing didn't stop her; he also picked up his luggage and said, "The Second Cafeteria is closer to the boys' dormitory, so keep the umbrella. Also, remember to tidy up the things on the table."

Then, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and his luggage in hand, Yang Tianxing lifted the rubber curtain of the cafeteria and headed straight back to the dormitory.

Liu Jiaoyue didn't have time to decline, but while tidying the table, she discovered an envelope that was bulging; it was clearly left behind by Yang Tianxing, but he was already nowhere to be seen.

………………

The big shots of Dorm 312 were either home or at the internet cafe. Yang Tianxing first reported his safety to his mother, took a shower, grabbed a random book to read, and once sleepiness set in, he slept straight until the next morning.

It was a pity that in this era there were no smartphones, so one couldn't enjoy the cozy life of playing on a phone while wrapped in a quilt as it rained outside after a shower.

Sleeping for long periods is a passive skill for college students, and even Yang Tianxing couldn't escape it. When he opened his eyes in the morning, he found that Song Fei and Yi Min had just returned from an all-nighter.

"Brother Yang, I brought you some steamed buns. Let's eat breakfast together after I shower."

Yi Min pointed to two steaming bags of breakfast on the table and said.

Yang Tianxing curled his lip: "Spit it out, you dog son. I know you; you never do anything without a motive."

"Brother Yang, that's not fair of you to say. We're good brothers in the same dorm."

Yi Min said with a look of grievance.

Yang Tianxing didn't give him a chance to perform: "I'm heading out in a bit. If you don't say it now, wait until I get back."

Upon hearing this, Yi Min immediately dropped the act and said somewhat bashfully: "Actually, it's nothing major. I just plan to pursue Deng Yidi, but the competition is too intense, so I wanted to ask Brother Yang for some help."

This wasn't a big deal, so Yang Tianxing asked: "How do you need me to cooperate?"

"I haven't thought it through yet, but you're the class monitor; you can always create an opportunity, right?" Yi Min offered a small compliment.

Yang Tianxing thought for a moment: "I agree, but you dog-brained bastard are too stingy, actually trying to bribe me with just a bag of buns."

At this moment, Song Fei, who had just finished showering, walked into the dorm, and Yi Min immediately shut his mouth about the matter.

Seeing food on the table, Song Fei didn't stand on ceremony, picked up one of Yi Min's buns, and stuffed it into his mouth: "I don't know why you're sucking up to the Second Brother today, actually buying him breakfast."

Yi Min hurriedly protected the food: "Didn't you already eat at the cafeteria, you motherfucker?"

"Can't I be hungry again?"

Song Fei said with righteous indignation, then reached out to grab another bun.

Yi Min had been planning to go shower, but worried Song Fei would steal the breakfast, he spat a few times onto the buns right in front of Song Fei, then triumphantly carried his basin to the bathroom.

"Cheap bastard!"

Yang Tianxing and Song Fei cursed in unison.

"Second Brother, give me a few of your buns."

Seeing that Yang Tianxing still had a bag of buns, Song Fei started plotting again.

Yang Tianxing refused: "I haven't eaten yet. Besides, doesn't Number Six have some over there?"

"There's spit on the outside, you're going to eat that?"

Yang Tianxing coughed and said: "There's spit on the outside, but not on the inside."

Song Fei paused for a moment before it clicked, and he gave Yang Tianxing a thumbs-up.

After finishing his buns, the "dog-headed strategist" Yang Tianxing went downstairs. As he reached the first floor, he heard Yi Min's heart-wrenching roar.

"Song Fei, you son of a bitch, where's the filling in the bun?"

…………

Yang Tianxing smiled, picked up the public phone on the first floor, and called his counselor, Xie Yu'an.

"Teacher Xie, I brought some local specialties from my hometown and wanted to give them to Silu and your wife to try."

It wasn't convenient to talk about such things in the dormitory; the counselor's image certainly had to be maintained.

Yang Tianxing didn't specifically say he was giving them to Xie Yu'an, but instead brought up Xie Silu and Mrs. Xie to lower the possibility of Old Xie refusing.

However, even so, Old Xie still politely said: "No need. Don't you have relatives in Chang'an? Just give them to them."

"I've already given some to my relatives; these are specifically for Silu and your wife to try."

Yang Tianxing said over the phone, though the relatives were, of course, a fabrication.

After listening, Xie Yu'an thought for a moment: "Alright then, thank you. You might as well come over to our place for lunch while you're at it."

After hanging up, Mrs. Xie asked from the side: "Who was that?"

"Yang Tianxing. He brought me some local specialties from Jinzhou."

"This student of yours is a bit too attentive. Could he be after something?" Mrs. Xie's suspicion was actually human nature.

Xie Yu'an smiled kindly: "I'm just an ordinary college counselor with no resources in my hands. Yang Tianxing is already the class monitor and the deputy minister of the External Liaison Department; what else could I possibly give him?"

Old Xie's social resources were indeed limited, but he still had a bit of pull within the Finance Institute; if Yang Tianxing wanted to spend his four years at the Finance Institute comfortably, he really needed Old Xie's pull right now.

Teacher Xie's wife was very surprised: "Is he already a vice minister of the department student union? Could it be that someone from the Youth League Committee is supporting him?"

Xie Yu'an shook his head: "According to the information I have, it's not a connection from the Youth League Committee; this vice minister position was a bit of a fluke, but none of that matters. Go buy some groceries, I'll have a few drinks with him at noon."

Following the address provided by Xie Yu'an, Yang Tianxing arrived at their doorstep; in terms of interpersonal relationships, visiting someone's home for a meal was already a relatively intimate gesture, especially since Xie Silu had such a deep memory of this older brother, Yang Tianxing.

Upon meeting, the little chubby girl said loudly: "Brother, I know Teacher Xiaoyun's QQ now!"

"What QQ?"

Neither Xie Yu'an nor his wife understood what she meant, and Yang Tianxing felt a bit awkward hearing it, thinking to himself that the little chubby girl couldn't even speak clearly, yet she actually still remembered this.

Next time I come over, Brother will buy you a box of addition and subtraction practice workbooks and New Concept English exercises from the Xinhua Bookstore, guaranteed to let you win at the starting line.