Chapter 1671: Getting Along

Yu Hao entered the dormitory, exchanged introductions with Jiang Yunming, and then walked over to fiddle with Wang Yan's camera and lenses.

"Wang Yan, don't tell me that with this huge array of long and short lenses, you don't have any presentable photos; if so, I'll definitely mock you for four years. No, it won't even stop after graduation."

"Search my name on Weibo, and you'll see them."

So Yu Hao and Jiang Yunming simultaneously took out their phones, opened Weibo, and began searching.

"Wait, there are so many Wang Yans; which one is you?" Jiang Yunming said. "Why don't you just give us your ID?"

"Exactly, there's even one listed as 'living next door'."

"That's the one."

"Huh?" Yu Hao paused, stunned.

Wang Yan said, "It's 'My surname is Wang, and I live next door' (Wang Yan). What can I do? 'Wang Yan' was already registered, so I had to do it this way."

"What kind of terrible pun is that?" Yu Hao looked utterly speechless. "I'm truly i-fu-le-you."

Jiang Yunming was even more disdainful: "Isn't that even worse?"

"Terrible to the extreme," Wang Yan agreed.

"Don't sweat the details; let's see what presentable photos 'Old Wang Next Door' has."

After scrolling for a while, Yu Hao remarked, "Your skill is actually quite good; I underestimated you. I notice you seem to focus more on humanistic subjects."

"There's light and shadow, there's humanity, there's a story."

"Wait, if you can shoot like this, why are you spending money to study here? You should just devise a way to market yourself as a genius photographer, go around picking fights with established names, and within a few years, you'd be famous and successful. Look at these black-and-white photos of yours; they feel no different from He Fan's work."

"If I didn't attend school, how would I get to know a photography master of your caliber?"

Yu Hao grinned and clasped his hands in a gesture of respect: "I yield, I yield; you are the true master."

"Likewise," Wang Yan replied, returning the gesture.

"Then what about me?" Jiang Yunming stared blankly at the two shamelessly praising each other.

Yu Hao stared fixedly at him, displaying a standard smile showing eight teeth: "You must know that masters need an audience; you will play an unparalleled and significant role. Keep it up; I have high hopes for you."

Then, without waiting for Jiang Yunming to speak, Yu Hao immediately added, "Old Wang, I want to go buy some clothes hangers and such, then check out the school cafeteria to see how the food tastes."

"Are you going?" Wang Yan nodded toward Jiang Yunming.

"Let's go together; otherwise, it's no fun going by myself."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go quickly; carrying the luggage up to the sixth floor in one go nearly cost me my life; I feel like I could eat a whole pig in one bite!"

"You really know how to exaggerate."

Hearing Wang Yan's words, Yu Hao asked, "What do you mean?"

"It means what you said is too exaggerated."

Yu Hao smiled and said, "There's also a person from Northeast China in our dorm, but he's playing games right now and doesn't have time to go out; otherwise, I would have invited him too."

The three companions went out together, chatting and laughing as they wandered around; just as Yu Hao had said, they bought clothes hangers, soap, laundry detergent, thermos flasks, and the like.

Yu Hao was a refined person; he had basically prepared everything before arriving, and all of it was of high quality. Wang Yan and Jiang Yunming were clearly not like that; mainly, it was the two of them doing the shopping.

At this time, the supermarket on campus was truly packed; buying things was like fighting a battle.

The cafeteria was even livelier, filled everywhere with students and parents.

Because military training lasts for twenty days, freshmen report half a month early. Except for volunteers and those filming assignments, older students basically haven't returned yet, so the cafeteria is actually not open.

However, due to freshman enrollment and parents coming to inspect and understand the school situation, apart from private stalls, everything else in the cafeteria is open. With students plus parents, over a thousand people together made for a buzzing, lively scene.

"They are really something, insisting on having their parents escort them one by one, acting like children who haven't been weaned yet," Jiang Yunming expressed his disdain.

At eighteen, having left high school and arrived at university, it is time to demonstrate independence and maturity. This was naturally Jiang Yunming's mindset, hence his words carried a slight sense of pride about coming alone to such a distant school.

"Is coming alone something impressive?" Yu Hao rolled his eyes at him. "As if anyone didn't come alone; right, Old Wang?"

"Absolutely."

Jiang Yunming was originally somewhat unhappy and about to show it on his face, but Yu Hao's next sentence took a sharp turn, and Wang Yan chimed in as well. Now it was fine; all three of them were children who hadn't been weaned yet, arriving alone!

"Want a drink? My treat."

"Jasmine honey tea, thanks," Yu Hao said without any hesitation.

Wang Yan didn't want to spoil the mood either, so he ordered a bottle of cola, even though he was already drinking free mung bean soup. But since Jiang Yunming was spending the money, not letting him spend it would make him unhappy; people are just that strange.

So Jiang Yunming happily got up and went to the vending machine in the corner of the cafeteria to buy drinks.

"Why does he act like he hasn't grown up? 'Insisting on having parents escort them one by one, acting like children who haven't been weaned yet'..." Yu Hao exaggeratedly mimicked Jiang Yunming's earlier tone with sarcastic mockery.

"Do you know what this behavior is called in Northeast China?"

"What?"

"Old Sister-in-Law," Wang Yan thoughtfully explained. "It describes men who are feminine and gossip about others' strengths and weaknesses."

Yu Hao was game for fun; he covered his mouth in a feigned look of surprise: "Really? I didn't expect Northeast China to have such a fitting description for me; later when I'm back with nothing to do, I'll have to continue watching 'Country Love'; I'm going to watch it all."

"Then good luck."

"Have you finished watching it?"

"No," Wang Yan shook his head.

Mainly, he used to watch it on TV with his family in the past; after streaming platforms appeared, he rarely watched it anymore...

After the three ate lunch together and carried their things back to the dormitory building, they huffed and puffed as they climbed up to the sixth floor.

After Wang Yan organized his belongings, amidst Jiang Yunming's eager anticipation, he finally took out his laptop, connected to the internet, and with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, started playing League of Legends with Jiang Yunming.

For this game to develop momentum, one needs to be able to set the pace; the most convenient positions for this, besides the jungler, are the mid-lane. Undoubtedly, as someone who likes to show off, possesses a bit of rebellious arrogance, and considers himself a gaming expert, Jiang Yunming plays the jungler.

So Wang Yan played a mid-lane mage, coordinating with Jiang Yunming at the level of a normal solo-queue king. Especially since this kid Jiang Yunming has a sharp tongue, liking to taunt opponents and pressure teammates, watching him passionately trade blows with a clatter of keys felt quite enjoyable.

Speaking of which, Wang Yan hadn't played games for a long time even before being favored by his 'living father'; now, playing games in this era felt quite similar to his real-world timeline, and indulging in it felt truly quite nice.

Moreover, even though his laning was strong, his one-on-one skills invincible, and he had a grasp on the overall situation, this was ultimately a team-cooperation game; no matter how awesome he was, he was ultimately controlling a character to fight, not entering the fray himself, so situations where the other four teammates dragged everyone down were inevitable; plus, with the opposing side having greater average strength, he couldn't control the outcome.

Struggling for thirty or forty minutes to lead his teammates to a comeback reversal was something he actually rarely did. He was here to experience relaxation, not to create pressure for himself. If he were truly this age, he would be very willing to go all out to win a game, but unfortunately...

Flowers bloom again, but youth never returns to a man.

Even if he is truly eighteen this year, what makes one young is forever not age, but that fervent, soaring heart...

"Holy crap! Old Wang, you're fucking awesome!" Jiang Yunming let out a weird cry.

Because just moments ago, Wang Yan, controlling Yasuo, had pulled off a spectacular pentakill; his Yasuo was truly slick.

"Mainly because your Flash-R kick was good; you kicked three people up with one foot." Wang Yan gave him plenty of face with a compliment, admitting that Jiang Yunming's kick was very showy.

Thus both were happy, and things grew even livelier afterward.

"Aiyo, what are you doing? I heard your two loud voices from next door."

As he spoke, Yu Hao walked in, frowning and waving his hand in front of his nose to fan away the smell. "Really, don't you know smoking is harmful to health? And the smell is so strong; it's terrible."

Jiang Yunming didn't even turn his head: "Nobody forced you to smell it; you're not from this room. Besides, Old Wang and I already agreed we'd only do this for these couple of days; we have to consider our other brothers too."

"You'd better be."

Yu Hao rolled his eyes at him, then dragged a chair over to sit beside Wang Yan, watching Wang Yan slaughter enemies left and right.

"I didn't expect you to be so skilled at playing."

"Maybe I'm just that one-in-ten-thousand gaming genius."

"I've realized you're quite shameless too."

"Since I'm living next door to Old Wang, how could I keep my face?" Wang Yan said, utterly unconcerned. "Do you want to play?"

"Big Brother will carry you," Jiang Yunming interjected, not delaying his constant clicking of the mouse in the slightest.

"I don't play; all that shouting and screaming isn't elegant at all, plus a single game takes several dozen minutes, enough time for me to watch an episode of Country Love."

Yu Hao expressed his disdain, then leaned in closer, gazing eagerly at Wang Yan. "Old Wang, there's some news you definitely won't expect."

"What news?"

"Since you want to know, I'll benevolently tell you," Yu Hao said. "Didn't I tell you I have a roommate who's already arrived, and he's your fellow townsman? Guess what?"

"I guess whatever."

"You're annoying." Yu Hao reached out and patted Wang Yan, then continued, "Just now while we were chatting, I noticed he was especially familiar with the school, so I asked him why. Turns out he told me he's already completed his freshman year twice, and this is his third time! Can you believe it? He's doing his freshman year for the third time!"

"The world is vast and full of wonders. Just like those three years studying abroad in Germany were the most unforgettable seven years of your five-year study-abroad career; when you later recall those nine happy years, they will become the most important eleven years of your life."

"Hm? Is studying abroad in Germany that difficult?" Yu Hao's attention was captured.

"I don't know; I only heard it. I've never even left the country; how would I know so much?"

"I'll look into it later; that set of lines you said is quite interesting; it's mine now."

Immediately after, Yu Hao let out an "Aiya!" "Speaking of Xiao Haiyang repeating his freshman year for three years, he's truly persistent, huh; he's actually sticking with it..."

"It's perfectly normal; few people in our major are good at studying; he probably isn't willing to cheat either. Think about it: he doesn't study, doesn't memorize, and doesn't cheat, so repeating two grades doesn't seem that strange, does it? After all, those studying art are all quite individualistic. Wait, why are you staring at me like that? Laozi isn't gay!"

"Get lost, get lost, get lost," Yu Hao said disdainfully. "Even if I were gay, I wouldn't go for you. I'm just surprised that with your sharp mind and quick reactions, someone with such muscular bulk could be so smart."

At this moment, both Wang Yan and Jiang Yunming were shirtless; even though there was air conditioning in the room, being unbound was simply more comfortable.

"Thanks a lot," Wang Yan said, glancing at him as if quite annoyed, before continuing his battle.

"It'll be dinner time soon; what are your plans?" Yu Hao asked.

Jiang Yunming didn't even turn his head: "Old Wang and I have already discussed it; we plan to scout out the surrounding takeout options."

"If you're lazy, just say you're lazy; why call it 'scouting'? You've only just started university and you're already holed up in the dorm acting like shut-in nerds? There's a great glittering world outside; are you just going to abandon it?"

Wang Yan smiled: "We're photography majors; we'll be here for four years. I think there'll hardly be any place we haven't been to; we won't even be able to avoid going everywhere."

Yu Hao's eyes widened slightly: "You make a good point; then I'll order takeout too. Let me ask Xiao Haiyang; the four of us can eat together."

"Sure, browse around and see what you feel like eating."

"Let me make a suggestion..." Jiang Yunming took a moment to turn his head. "Let's get some beer to celebrate."

Yu Hao took on this task, finding a restaurant with a decent reputation to order stir-fried dishes.

"Come, come, come; let's have a toast just for the gesture, then we'll start eating." Yu Hao raised his wine glass, and Wang Yan and the others, giving him plenty of face, raised their beer bottles to clink against it.

Putting down his glass, Yu Hao said, "You guys can all hold your liquor quite well."

Jiang Yunming chuckled: "Of course! Let me tell you, I've never yielded to anyone when it comes to drinking; I can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk!"

"I can't really drink; I was just a bit thirsty," Xiao Haiyang said, raising his beer bottle and taking another big gulp.

He was tall and burly, smiling brightly; even though he was already a twenty-year-old freshman, he was still in the prime of his youth.

Wang Yan opened his palm, tucked in his middle finger, and presented the back of his hand to the three of them.

"What does that mean?" Yu Hao played the straight man.

"Drinking without the middle finger."

"You'd better be. Alright, hurry up and eat; I did come once during the art entrance exams, but I didn't really eat much then. Let's quickly taste what authentic Hunan cuisine is like."

Speaking of authentic, Wang Yan thought of authentic Northeastern Malatang, Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles, Anhui authentic beef noodle soup, and the like; wouldn't they know whether it's authentic or not...

Hunan cuisine is fragrant and spicy, though the level of spiciness varies from person to person; apart from Wang Yan, the other three were all hissing from the heat. However, not every dish ordered was spicy, so they still ate very well. When it got too spicy, they drank some beer, which was quite pleasant.

When young people get along, unless there are problems with fitting in, everyone bonds very quickly. After a few bottles of beer, they were already very familiar, chatting happily with laughter and jokes.

They talked from the art entrance exams to the college entrance exams, from girlfriends to video games; upon learning that Xiao Haiyang also played League of Legends, Jiang Yunming began recounting the seven-game winning streak he and Wang Yan had achieved earlier...

Outside the window, sunset glow filled the sky as the sun gradually set; the newly enrolled young people, drunk on wine, laughed and scolded...

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