Chapter 1689: Melon Field

Everyone says there are many problems in the girls' dormitory, and this is not false.

The four female students from the Television Photography class, living in one room, also had many discordances.

Because of Lu Qiaochuan, Zhong Bai and Lin Luoxue were at odds; because Gu Yixin scolded Ren Bao Yifan, Zhong Bai and Gu Yixin were at odds; and because she was close to Wang Yan, Lin Luoxue and Gu Yixin were also at odds.

Li Shuci drifted outside the trio, getting along with everyone reasonably well, but if one had to say who she got along with best, it was still Zhong Bai.

Of course, it wasn't just problems between the girls; the boys' dormitory was the same.

In Room 616, due to various minor frictions and because of Zhong Bai, Lu Qiaochuan and Xiao Haiyang's relationship was merely average, and while Yu Hao had no conflict with Lu Qiaochuan, since he was closer to Xiao Haiyang, naturally his relationship with Lu Qiaochuan was slightly worse.

Bi Shisan drifted outside the trio, getting along with everyone reasonably well, but if one had to say who he got along with best, it was still Wang Yan next door...

For Gu Yixin to complain about Zhong Bai's faults to Wang Yan was thus a normal situation; at the same time, this represented that her relationship with Wang Yan had grown closer, reaching the stage of speaking ill of people behind their backs.

However, speaking truly, it couldn't be called speaking ill; she merely discussed Zhong Bai's personality and explained the reasons why she couldn't last long with Lu Qiaochuan.

Listening to Gu Yixin talk for a while, Wang Yan fiddled with his camera, walking and stopping to take photos.

"No, I've said so much, did you listen to any of it?" Gu Yixin asked impatiently, patting him.

"You're telling me gossip; what does it matter whether I listen or not? Do you want me to seize an opportunity to pursue Zhong Bai?"

"Extinguish your hooligan thoughts and stop daydreaming," Gu Yixin said gleefully. "You might not know that because of your conflict with Lu Qiaochuan during military training, she has always disliked you. Haven't you noticed she barely speaks to you? She holds a grudge."

Wang Yan laughed heartily: "That's not necessarily true; didn't you dislike me too, yet now you're still touching me and taking advantage?"

"Who's taking advantage of you? Shameless! Don't talk nonsense."

At noon, in an ancient town noodle shop, Wang Yan and Gu Yixin met up with Bi Shisan and Ren Bao Yifan.

"What? One bowl of noodles costs twenty-five? Are they robbing us?" Gu Yixin looked at the sign posted at the entrance, then walked in to see what others were eating, and immediately wanted to drag Wang Yan and the others away.

Wang Yan said, "Where in this scenic area can you find cheap things? We can't leave since we're waiting for the sunset at dusk; let's just eat here, as there's nothing else tasty."

"Well said; my treat!" Ren Bao Yifan raised his hand to volunteer.

"I'm not hungry," Bi Shisan shook his head; this price was indeed very expensive, enough for him to buy three bags of frozen dumplings.

"Just eat; since Ren Bao Yifan is treating, what are you afraid of?" Gu Yixin said eagerly. "I want the most expensive one."

Ren Bao Yifan smiled and asked, "Why aren't you saying it's robbery now?"

"Anyway, it's not me being robbed."

"But you shouldn't add fuel to the fire either," Wang Yan said cheerfully, making a peace sign at Ren Bao Yifan. "I want two bowls, any flavor is fine, plus eggs, dried tofu, and sausages..."

"No problem, no problem," Ren Bao Yifan said very enthusiastically, letting Wang Yan and the others save seats while he ran off to order dishes, returning with several bottles of beer.

He waved a beer bottle beside his face, "On such a hot day, don't you want to drink some ice-cold beer to relieve the heat?"

Gu Yixin rolled her eyes: "Isn't it rather that you're troubled by love with no one to confide in, so you're drinking to dispel your worries?"

"Then my dearest and best friends, are you willing to accompany me in dispelling my worries?" Ren Bao Yifan blinked continuously, hoping to be pitied.

"Since you've already brought them, let's just drink."

Wang Yan readily agreed, so the four of them began eating and drinking in the shop; during this time, they saw other classmates coming to eat, and since everyone had drunk together before and had already taken enough photos to fulfill their obligations, under Ren Bao Yifan's simple greeting of "Want to join us for a drink?", no one refused.

Once the drinking started, it was serious; these were young people who didn't understand restraint, claiming before drinking that one bottle would be enough, but after one bottle of beer went down and the alcohol hit their heads, their voices grew louder, their gestures became more exaggerated, their tempers flared, and things spiraled out of control.

By this point, it was no longer a question of whether to drink, but how much to drink.

Because the alcohol here was expensive and the food wasn't particularly outstanding, they simply left and went to a restaurant outside to continue drinking.

The situation had started because of Wang Yan and the others; even though Wang Yan still wanted to stay to photograph the ancient town at dusk, one day more or less didn't matter, so he followed the crowd and left to drink as well...

The next day, Wang Yan sat on the window sill of the washroom smoking.

Yu Hao, wearing floral pajamas with messy hair, walked in with a cat-like stride; he yawned and said good morning to Wang Yan.

"It's already ten-thirty," Wang Yan responded with a smile.

"Then it's good late morning," Yu Hao responded from inside the toilet. "I spent a long time editing photos last night; I wasn't familiar with various functions and had to search on Baidu, often failing to find clear answers, so I kept editing until the early hours before sleeping; I even felt like dying."

Yu Hao liked photography, so he was willing to research it, he just researched slowly; after all, most people didn't possess such strong execution power or willpower, only mustering bursts of ambition to make sudden progress after studying intensively for a while.

"You should have let Shisan teach you today; he's so professional at photo editing."

"It's better to research it myself; I remember it deeper and learn faster."

In the time it took to exchange these two sentences, Yu Hao walked out, washed his hands at the sink, splashed cold water on his face, and instantly became refreshed.

He grinned and sidled up to Wang Yan, "Old Wang, I heard that you and Gu Yixin..."

Before he could finish, he raised his eyebrows mischievously, pointing his index fingers back and forth.

"What you heard is quite good," Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "She's been captivated by me and can't extricate herself."

"Really? That's too sudden," Yu Hao said in surprise, covering his mouth.

"Sudden? Didn't you say this long ago? Now it should be exactly as you expected."

"Saying it is one thing, it was just teasing; who would have thought that you two ill-fated enemies could actually end up together."

"Since you already called us ill-fated enemies..." Wang Yan shook his head amusedly.

Having received confirmation, Yu Hao didn't dwell on the matter further and instead asked about yesterday's drinking session.

Wang Yan recounted the events to him, saying, "We didn't expect to end up getting so drunk; everyone drank too much."

"Hearing you say this, Ren Bao Yifan really seems quite pitiful; with two friends quarreling, he became the extra one," Yu Hao clicked his tongue, then added, "Hey, Old Wang, let me tell you, Xiao Haiyang is so funny; since he's pursuing Zhong Bai, I gave him advice..."

Yu Hao recounted how he told Xiao Haiyang to abandon old habits and become a new gentleman, taking Zhong Bai to eat Western food, drink red wine, handing her water when she was thirsty, fanning her when she was hot, and holding an umbrella to shade her when the sun was fierce, aiming to care for Zhong Bai in every possible way.

"Old Wang, do you think my teaching was wrong? As a result, Xiao Haiyang scolded me for a long time; it's truly a case of a dog biting Lu Dongbin, failing to recognize a good person's heart," Yu Hao said indignantly.

"Aren't you just teaching him to be a simp?" Seeing Yu Hao glare, Wang Yan waved his hand amusedly. "Alright, not a simp; let's say it's like Zhang Fei threading a needle, that's not wrong, right? If they didn't know each other, fine, but they already have a certain understanding, so that definitely won't work; moreover, even if they didn't know each other, if Xiao Haiyang approached like that, chances are he wouldn't win her true heart and would only end up as a backup plan."

Yu Hao covered his mouth, stared at the door, and spoke softly: "So you're saying he isn't a backup plan now? Old Wang, do you think Zhong Bai truly doesn't know or is she pretending not to know?"

"Only heaven knows."

"See, you think it's fake too," Yu Hao shook his head repeatedly. "Let me tell you something even more explosive; do you know why Xiao Haiyang likes Zhong Bai? You definitely don't."

"Tell me then."

"Xiao Haiyang's ex-girlfriend is five years older than him; he was a freshman, and she was a senior."

"Then the ages don't match up."

"She repeated a grade, that's all. Oh, stop interrupting," Yu Hao said. "Let me tell you, after my comprehensive investigation, this ex-girlfriend has the surname Zhao. She's carefree and straightforward, getting along with Xiao Haiyang just like good buddies... See? Doesn't that all line up with Zhong Bai? Their personalities are similar. So I think Xiao Haiyang liking Zhong Bai also stems from this; he's treating Zhong Bai as a substitute..."

Yu Hao's words cut off abruptly because Xiao Haiyang, looking groggy, appeared at the doorway.

"Morning, Haiyang."

"Morning, Brother Hao, Old Wang." Xiao Haiyang greeted them groggily. Just as he was about to head to the toilet, he suddenly turned around, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Yu Hao, who was flashing an eight-tooth smile.

"Are you hiding something from me? Gossiping about me with Old Wang?"

"No, no, am I that kind of person?" Yu Hao denied it outright.

Xiao Haiyang, surprised by Yu Hao's lack of self-awareness, retorted, "Then... aren't you?"

"Old Wang! Look at him!" Yu Hao started whining, began arguing without reason, and then ran back inside.

Wang Yan smiled, flicked away his cigarette butt, and left as well, leaving Xiao Haiyang completely bewildered...

People and matters have two sides; there was nothing wrong with Xiao Haiyang pursuing Zhong Bai. After all, although Zhong Bai liked Lu Qiaochuan, she wasn't together with him. If morality slipped a bit further, even being together wouldn't matter. Slip a bit more, and even marriage wouldn't affect anything.

Where is the great error in normally using one's mind to pursue a woman? And speaking of Yu Hao helping Xiao Haiyang, it seemed there was nothing wrong with that either.

On the contrary, Zhong Bai hadn't taken a clear stance either, acting as if she knew nothing...

As for Wang Yan and Gu Yixin, although the two hadn't explicitly spoken words like 'like' or 'love,' they were already together. Like a couple, they arranged to eat together, stroll the streets, and watch movies; others saw it all, laughed about it for a while, and let it pass.

Meanwhile, thanks to Bi Shisan's diligent work, the renovation progress of the shop Wang Yan bought was very fast and already taking shape. In fact, if not for the need to live there for several years and Wang Yan's high standards, a simple decoration would have allowed immediate move-in.

Even so, it was expected to be fully completed and put into use before the end of December. The entire construction period was just over two months. Wang Yan wasn't particularly expectant yet, but Yu Hao, Jiang Yunming, and others had already started looking forward to it. After all, the space over there was large, the power never went out, and it was very convenient for everyone to eat and drink together...

During this period, Ye Jiping felt very melancholy because there were no noteworthy activities in the class, which was one of the factors in his performance assessment. Especially since Television Photography was an art major, and art majors naturally needed to create events; how could they manage without any?

Thus, instructions were passed down from above, and just like in the original drama, Lu Qiaochuan began organizing various activities, such as Bi Shisan's Book Sharing Session and Yu Hao's Fashion Exchange Meeting. Ultimately, it was decided to take an outing to the countryside during this late autumn season.

After Lu Qiaochuan proposed it and everyone voted again, it was settled to visit a farmhouse leisure spot downstream to experience activities like fishing, fruit picking, and riding motorcycles, holding a grand class gathering.

In late October, the Television Photography class boarded a bus collectively and set off for the countryside farmhouse leisure spot for a two-day, two-night activity...

Arriving at the location in the morning, they immediately organized everyone to go fishing at the fish pond.

Wang Yan sat on a folding stool, holding a fishing rod in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth, fishing steadily. Beside him was Gu Yixin, acting as if she had hyperactivity disorder; lacking patience, she couldn't sit still.

Unlike Bi Shisan and Li Shuci on the other side, both of whom sat firmly like anglers on a fishing platform, staring intently at the water's surface and lifting their rods to bait hooks according to a schedule...

Gu Yixin lifted her rod again, and seeing the bait still remaining on it, she couldn't help but turn her head and ask, "Are there any fish here?"

Wang Yan suddenly jerked up his fishing rod; wriggling on the end was a struggling fish.

Thus, Gu Yixin happily stood up, took the landing net to catch the fish and remove the hook, then squatted beside the bucket watching the fish swim.

A moment later, she was restlessly looking around again.

"Hey, Old Wang, look." Gu Yixin tilted her head toward the distance.

Wang Yan followed her gaze and saw that on the two sides of the fish pond, on one side were Lu Qiaochuan and Lin Luoxue, and on the other were Xiao Haiyang and Zhong Bai.

"Oh my, you finally noticed; they've been sitting like that for several minutes." Yu Hao squeezed in between the two. "How is it? Doesn't it look especially thrilling? It's practically a battlefield of love, isn't it?"

"Brother Hao, if you can't handle it, just find someone yourself; look how excited you are." Gu Yixin was speechless.

"Finding someone myself isn't as interesting as watching other people's drama."

Under the gaze of Wang Yan and Gu Yixin, Yu Hao picked up his camera. The lens was a telephoto one, and he started taking pictures of the scene over there.

"Ever since that photo Old Wang took during military training, which was simply breathtaking, I knew something like this would happen, so I made sure to bring my camera. Twenty-four million pixels, optical zoom, it won't be blurry even later. I'm going to eat Xiao Haiyang's gossip melon for the rest of my life."

"So cruel." Wang Yan shook his head repeatedly. "I really don't know what sin Xiao Haiyang committed in his past life."

"Indeed, Brother Hao, one must be cautious when eating melons," Gu Yixin agreed. "If one day Xiao Haiyang gets angry out of shame and goes 'snap' on you..."

"Dying in a melon field, even as a ghost, one remains romantic."

Gu Yixin shook her head: "You're hopeless, Brother Hao."

Yu Hao laughed heartily: "You're the hopeless one, Sister Yixin. The sun is so strong today; you've even gotten tanned. What will you do if Old Wang shifts his affection elsewhere because of your skin problems?"

"He wouldn't dare! I'll bite him to death!" Gu Yixin said ferociously.

Wang Yan smiled.

Yu Hao said: "Even if not for Old Wang, do it for yourself. Come on, let us sisters go apply sunscreen. Shuci, let's go, let's go; fishing is too boring. No, this farmhouse leisure spot is simply meaningless..."

And so, Yu Hao took Gu Yixin and Li Shuci away to do their skincare...

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