Chapter 19: Cao Sheng: This Can't Be My Fault

At this moment, a server entered to serve the dishes.

First came four cold appetizers, along with alcohol and beverages.

Cao Sheng noticed that one of the four cold appetizers was spiced beef; having not eaten beef even once since his rebirth, his eyes lit up, and he immediately began to spin the glass turntable on the table.

A girl sitting opposite saw the spiced beef on the table, and her eyes lit up too. When the spiced beef spun in front of her, she subconsciously reached out with her chopsticks to grab some, but...

The spiced beef spun right past her, and she watched helplessly as the plate of spiced beef finally stopped in front of Cao Sheng.

Cao Sheng’s attention was not on the girls; by the time he noticed a girl wanted to grab the spiced beef, the turntable had almost brought it to him.

He glanced up at the girl, hesitated slightly, then decided to just go all the way, spinning the spiced beef directly in front of himself and using his chopsticks to pick up four or five slices into his bowl.

Then, without looking at the girl's expression, he lowered his head to eat his own food.

After all, he had promised his roommates today—he would eat more and talk less tonight, and not steal the spotlight from everyone else.

He considered himself a man of integrity.

When these girls first entered the private room, their gazes kept drifting toward him, and he felt a bit guilty toward his brothers.

At this moment, he thought: I just spun the table and offended that girl; the brothers should be happy to see that.

At the same time, another thought crossed his mind: Should I offend a few more girls later? Let the brothers see my sincerity? After all, they are splitting the bill for this meal tonight, and I’m not paying a cent; if I’m going to be a freeloader, I should have the attitude of a freeloader. Besides, it’s impossible for those girls to be interested in us anyway.

The spiced beef tasted good.

The more he chewed, the more fragrant it became.

After finishing the spiced beef, Cao Sheng looked up at the other cold appetizer on the table—chicken feet in pickled pepper.

By now, this appetizer had been mostly divided up by the girls, and seeing only the last two left, Cao Sheng quickly turned the turntable. This time, more people noticed his little maneuver.

Several gazes turned toward him.

Including two brothers from his own dormitory.

One of the brothers smiled and quietly gave Cao Sheng a thumbs-up, likely very satisfied with Cao Sheng’s attitude of only caring about eating.

Cao Sheng returned the smile, picked up the last two chicken feet in pickled pepper into his bowl, and gnawed on them with great relish. After two bites, he felt it wasn't satisfying to eat with chopsticks, so he simply put them down and used his hands to hold the chicken feet while he ate.

This scene left the girls opposite looking very surprised.

Two of the girls whispered to each other, and Cao Sheng vaguely heard one of them say: "Looks like this guy really has a girlfriend; look at how he doesn't care about his image at all in front of us..."

Cao Sheng glanced at her in surprise, thinking: You’re talking so loudly, what kind of whispering is that? Why don't you say it even louder?

He heard the remark, and many people in the private room heard it too.

At this time, Wei Dongming, who had been unwilling to let Cao Sheng attend tonight’s dinner, also turned to look at Cao Sheng, his expression much kinder.

Song Chao, sitting next to Cao Sheng, nudged his arm. Cao Sheng looked at him, and Song Chao leaned over slightly, whispering: "Just talk less, there's no need to deliberately ruin your own image like this."

Cao Sheng couldn't help but laugh.

He thought: Brother, I’m creating opportunities for you all! And you’re advising me not to do this?

There were sixteen men and women in the private room. Except for Cao Sheng and a few introverted individuals, everyone else was chatting, occasionally eating some cold appetizers or sipping tea.

Suddenly, Pang Yunhai, the oldest among the boys, stood up, clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention, and then smiled and loudly suggested: "Hey! I don't think the way we're sitting is appropriate. Since this is a mixer between our two dorms, I think we should sit with boys and girls separated! Instead of how we are now, with boys in one pile and girls in another. What does everyone think? Why don't we switch seats now? Brothers, be proactive! Old Seven, you stay put. Old Five! You’re sitting across from Old Seven, get up. Old Eight, you get up too! Brothers, let's have one person get up for every one we skip, hurry up and switch seats with the beauties! Remember to bring your own bowls, chopsticks, and glasses! Don't let the beauties use the ones you've used! Hehe."

As the big brother of Cao Sheng’s dorm, Pang Yunhai liked to give orders on various matters, and at this moment, he was once again showing off his big-brother demeanor.

To this, the boys, except for Cao Sheng, all readily agreed. Those who were supposed to get up did so and walked toward the girls, and as they went, they followed Pang Yunhai’s instructions and brought their own bowls, chopsticks, and glasses.

The girls, however, all frowned.

It was clear they were a bit repulsed by Pang Yunhai’s arrangement.

But Pang Yunhai and the others had already walked over with smiles, making one girl get up for every one they skipped. Cao Sheng noticed Pang Yunhai walk straight up to the prettiest one, He Xinglan, and smilingly asked the girl next to her to get up and switch seats.

His tone was very polite.

But Pang Yunhai’s gaze kept drifting toward He Xinglan beside her, his intentions obvious to everyone.

At this, Cao Sheng shook his head.

He thought: With Pang Yunhai doing this, I doubt any of these girls will have a good impression of him tonight, and He Xinglan is probably already very disgusted.

Besides, Pang Yunhai is dark and chubby; his looks and build don't match He Xinglan's at all. Now that he’s doing something so annoying, how could He Xinglan possibly be interested in him?

Suddenly, He Xinglan, who hadn't smiled since she arrived tonight, stood up, casually pushed her roommate who was about to get up back into her seat, and said coldly: "Fangfang, you just sit here! I'll go sit over there!"

After saying this, she picked up her bowl, chopsticks, and glass, and strode toward the boys' side with her straight, long legs. Pang Yunhai was a bit stunned; he raised his hand as if to stop her, but didn't have the nerve to actually pull her, so he just watched as He Xinglan walked past two boys, arrived beside Cao Sheng, pulled out a chair, sat down expressionlessly, and lowered her head to arrange her bowl, chopsticks, and glass.

Cao Sheng had been sitting still the whole time, but his roommates on both his left and right had gotten up to switch seats with the girls, so the seats next to Cao Sheng were empty.

At this moment, He Xinglan sat down on his left.

He was very surprised.

He subconsciously looked at He Xinglan, and because she was sitting right next to him, at this distance, he could even see the fine hairs on her face.

He could also smell the faint fragrance emanating from her.

Cao Sheng blinked, subconsciously looking at his brothers from the dorm again, wanting to say: This can't be my fault, right?

His brothers looked at him with various expressions, all speechless.

No one expected that Cao Sheng, who hadn't said a word and only cared about eating, would end up the biggest winner, with He Xinglan, the prettiest girl in the girls' dorm, actually taking the initiative to sit next to him.

Pang Yunhai’s grand operation, fierce as a tiger, ended up benefiting Cao Sheng.

However, after He Xinglan’s move, the other girls started to actively cooperate with switching seats, because the atmosphere in the room had become a bit stiff, and they wanted to ease the tension.

A moment later, the seating in the room was as Pang Yunhai had intended: every boy had two girls beside him, and every girl had two boys beside her.

But Pang Yunhai couldn't smile. He had originally thought that as the dorm leader, with the most handsome Cao Sheng and the already-taken Guan Zhi not competing, he should target He Xinglan, the prettiest girl in the girls' dorm.

The result?

He Xinglan had taken the initiative to sit next to Cao Sheng, while the two girls sitting next to him, Pang Yunhai, were one a bit chubby and the other with short hair and a tough temperament, looking a bit like a sports major—completely not his type.