Chapter 53: Master of Time Management

After eating, it was 8:20 p.m.; night had fallen, and Changchun Garden Food Street grew even livelier, lit up brilliantly with crowds coming and going.

Leaving the restaurant, Xu Zhengyang asked if they should go to the KTV.

The girls hesitated; as freshmen, they still felt it was too late and decided to return to the dorm.

The group reached a fork in the road; Xu Qingzhou stopped and said, “Lao Xu, you guys go back first—I need to buy something.”

Xu Zhengyang and the others nodded; they still had to act as bodyguards.

Xu Qingzhou waved goodbye to Dong Shan and the others, watched them cross the street, then turned and walked toward the street he remembered. After fifteen minutes on foot, he entered a dessert shop called “Taste Memory.”

One minute later, he left holding a delicate little cake; he hadn’t had time to reply to Song Yao during the gathering—this cake was his compensation to her.

This was an old street, relatively quiet, lined with bookstores, flower shops, and cafés, radiating a sense of everyday life—he used to come here for tea during his breaks.

He gave Xue Ying directions: “Walk straight down this road, turn left at the next intersection onto Jing’an Road—it’s faster.”

Ding!

“Big Yao, you’ve had too much to drink. Little sister, sorry—go ahead and leave.” Another boy said apologetically.

“Thank you.”

“Alright.” Xu Qingzhou smiled and pulled out his phone.

Xue Ying stepped closer to Xu Qingzhou.

Creak—the sound of the door opening pulled Song Yao back to reality.

Could it be that he’d actually met a girl he liked?

“But it’s ultimately Song Yao’s own business—we shouldn’t interfere,” Zhong Ruotong wondered, though Song Yao was their roommate, they’d only met the day before.

“I’ll come back to eat later!”

He was about to hang up when he spotted a familiar face around the corner of the intersection—a classmate, Xue Ying.

Zhong Ruotong followed Zhang Qiong’s gaze and was surprised: “It really is him—are they on a date?”

The girl held a bouquet; the two were laughing and chatting—clearly just back from a date.

Xue Ying stepped back, but the man didn’t give up—he reached again for her phone.

At the same time, Zhang Qiong and Zhong Ruotong had just finished shopping; Zhang Qiong carried a box of fried rice noodles for Song Yao. As she walked, her peripheral vision caught a couple across the street. After confirming carefully, she frowned: “Isn’t that Xu Qingzhou?”

Dorm 206.

“I brought you fried rice noodles,” Zhang Qiong said, placing the container in front of Song Yao.

Xue Ying turned and saw a familiar face holding a phone—the screen already showing the emergency call number.

Xu Qingzhou shook his head and walked across the street with Xue Ying into the campus.

“I’ve been here before—I know this area well.”

“Xu Qingzhou, thank you,” Xue Ying said gratefully, looking at him.

Xu Qingzhou’s face darkened—what kind of nonsense was this? He’d just bought a cake, and now he’d stumbled into such a ridiculous scene.

“What do you think of Xu Qingzhou?” Zhang Qiong decided to get straight to the point—better short pain than long suffering.

Xu Qingzhou turned and saw Xue Ying shaking her phone: “Add me on WeChat.”

Xu Qingzhou shook off the man’s hand and said coolly: “You have two choices: leave right now, or I call the police and let the officers take you away.”

Zhang Qiong felt this wasn’t so simple—had she discovered some despicable behavior from Xu Qingzhou?

“Definitely,” Zhang Qiong nodded, glaring at Xu Qingzhou with clear disdain, and spat out two words: “Scumbag.”

He’d spent the afternoon strolling with Song Yao, had dinner with girls from their college two hours ago, and now here he was on another date—without even a break! He’s a total time-management master! Zhang Qiong wore an expression of righteous justice: “No, we have to tell Song Yao—this kind of girl can’t be ruined by this scumbag!”

“You’re going too far!” Xue Ying, though gentle in appearance, was not weak—she pulled out her phone from her bag: “If you don’t move, I’m calling the police.”

The tall boy, drunk, had been momentarily carried away by the pretty girl, but seeing Xu Qingzhou’s imposing frame and the cigarette dangling from his lips—he looked like a hardened outsider—he snapped back to his senses, muttered something about finding his friends, and walked off.

To be precise, there were two other boys. Xue Ying asked: “What’s going on?”

Xu Qingzhou had just left the dessert shop and instinctively lit a cigarette, but after a few puffs, he found it tasteless—no trace of the feeling he once knew.

As Xu Qingzhou walked, he suddenly felt a chill on his back—he turned around strangely, but saw nothing; only countless figures returning to campus lined the roadside.

Song Yao immediately put down her chopsticks and eagerly checked her messages.

“Pretty good?” So her roommate was still in the dark.

“He’s pretty good,” Song Yao didn’t know how to describe it—sometimes Xu Qingzhou was truly annoying, but she felt comfortable being around him.

Song Yao sat with her chin propped up, distracted—Xu Qingzhou, that bastard, hadn’t replied to her in nearly three hours!

But… he’d clearly said he wasn’t interested in dating.

Xu Qingzhou nodded and said nothing more, turning toward Song Yao’s dorm building.

“Let’s go,” Xu Qingzhou shook his head, crushed out the cigarette in the trash, and asked: “Why are you alone?”

!.

“Today he—” Zhang Qiong was about to tell Song Yao everything she’d seen.

But the tall guy was stronger, and the other boy couldn’t stop him.

“Where are your dorm mates?”

“Move!” Xue Ying’s pale face flushed red with anger—she’d only come out to buy flowers, and now she was being harassed by these thugs! She ignored them and tried to walk around, but the tall guy blocked her: “Little sister, you’re from Jingda, right? We’re civil engineering majors—let’s exchange contact info, maybe hang out sometime.”

“They left first—I came here to buy something.” Xu Qingzhou led Xue Ying around the corner; seeing she seemed unfamiliar with the area, he explained: “This way is shorter.”

“Okay, thank you,” Xue Ying said.

“I saw a flower shop while shopping and wanted to buy a bouquet—I told them to go back first,” Xue Ying sighed: “I never expected college to have people like this.”

“No, it’s just my first time living on campus—I’m not used to it,” Song Yao denied, then opened the container. Though angry, she should eat.

“The Gaokao tests learning ability, not character. The bigger the forest, the more kinds of birds there are,” Xu Qingzhou said casually, smiling: “There are several bars nearby—messier, crowded, and after drinking, people forget their own names.”

“Hey, beautiful, leave your number.”

After walking about two minutes, Xue Ying saw the familiar street—crowds flowed endlessly; across the road was the campus gate.

After exchanging contact info, they parted at the campus gate.

Seeing Xue Ying was about to call the police, the tall guy reached for her phone.

But at that moment, Song Yao’s phone buzzed with a message alert.

Behind him, Xue Ying’s voice called: “Wait.”

Xue Ying held the flowers, following behind Xu Qingzhou: “Oh, okay—you seem to know this place well?”

At that moment, a hand clamped down on the outstretched paw.

Zhang Qiong noticed Song Yao’s low mood, so she dragged over a stool and sat beside her: “Feeling down?”

After walking a few steps, Xue Ying turned back, gazing at Xu Qingzhou’s back, sighed softly, and felt cheerful—she sniffed the tulips in her arms. Indeed, beautiful flowers bring good luck.

“Scumbags deserve to be punished!”

Before Zhang Qiong could finish speaking, she saw Song Yao leap up with delight, leaving behind a single phrase, then ran out in her slippers.

“Where’s she going?” Zhong Ruotong asked, puzzled.

“It’s obvious—it’s about Xu Qingzhou.”

Zhang Qiong sighed helplessly; it seemed she’d have to wait to tell Song Yao this cruel truth.

(End of Chapter)