Chapter 669: Hello, I

Ying Chanxi was admitted to the Zhu Institute, the most elite academy at Qianjiang University and one of its flagship programs.

So its dormitory complex is located separately from the ordinary colleges, in an independent area near the west side, with better facilities and dedicated campus shuttle routes passing through regularly.

After completing registration at the south gate, Ying Chanxi followed Ying Zhicheng and was escorted by a diligent Zhu Institute senior to the institute's exclusive dormitory, Zhulu Pavilion.

Li Luo, meanwhile, followed Xu Youyu all the way to the dormitory complex across Ningshan Avenue, arriving at Qingxi Dormitory Building 2.

"I remember Youyu-jie is in Building 3, right?" Li Luo asked, glancing at the neighboring dorm building.

"That's right," Xu Youyu chuckled, pointing toward a window on the second floor. "That's our room—213. Let me see which one yours is."

Saying this, Xu Youyu glanced down at the documents Li Luo had received after registration, which listed his dorm building and number.

"You're in 310, which should be directly facing Building 3. Go up later and see if you can spot our room."

"So what if I can see it?" Li Luo laughed. "I'm not a peeping tom."

"Idiot," Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then glanced at Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong beside them before leaning close to Li Luo's ear and whispering, "You'll be stuck in the dorm all week for orientation and military training—you won't see me at night, so we can just call each other from the balconies."

"Didn't expect Youyu-jie to be so romantic."

"Hmph, let's go," Xu Youyu strode toward the entrance of Building 2. "Let's find the dorm supervisor to check in and get our keys."

Li Luo followed with his parents, entering Building 2 of Qingxi Dormitory and handing his student card to the dorm supervisor.

After carefully checking, the supervisor marked his name on the dorm list and said, "Sign here, then take your dorm key and Qingxi Card."

"The key opens your dorm door upstairs—you're in 310, turn left at the third floor, first room."

"The Qingxi Card works throughout the dorm complex—for using the washing machines on the first floor, the public hairdryers, and eating at the Qingxi Cafeteria."

"Dorm doors lock at 11 p. m. Anyone returning late must sign in and report to their counselor, so try not to come back too late."

After watching Li Luo sign, the supervisor gave him the key and Qingxi Card.

Xu Youyu signed her name and student ID in the register beside her, and only after the supervisor recorded it could she follow Li Luo upstairs.

"The Qingxi Card only works in the dorm area—the cafeteria here is the only one you can use it at," Xu Youyu explained as they climbed the stairs. "The dorm cafeteria and the other campus cafeterias are operated by different contractors."

"If you eat at the other campus cafeterias, you have to use your student card—they don't connect."

"The washing machines are only on the first floor, which is inconvenient."

"Like at Zhulu Pavilion where Chanxi is, every floor has its own laundry room—way better than our setup."

"So I lost out by not choosing the Zhu Institute?" Li Luo grinned. "Isn't there any perk to being the provincial top scorer and ending up in the Literature Department?"

"You're already asking for perks?" Xu Youyu smirked at him, rolled her eyes, then pulled a document from her pocket. "Here, my dad told me to give you this."

"What's this?" Li Luo took the document, glanced at it. "Campus Vehicle Access Application Form?"

"I asked my dad to arrange it for you—now that it's approved, you can drive your Audi A6 in and out of campus freely," Xu Youyu said.

"Just show this to the guard?" Li Luo asked.

"Your license plate hasn't been registered in the access system yet—it only gets updated monthly during the designated time," Xu Youyu said. "So right now, you need to show this document to the guard. Once it's registered, the system will recognize your plate automatically."

"That's actually a decent perk," Li Luo said, satisfied, tucking the document away. "Can students even apply for this?"

"Of course not," Xu Youyu shot him a sidelong glance. "Your car is registered under one of my dad's students—she just started as a counselor and has no plans to buy a car, so we're borrowing her quota."

"So this is what a power clique looks like…" Li Luo muttered, unable to hide his amazement.

"You're the power clique," Xu Youyu laughed, playfully punching him. "You got the benefit and still act like you're being wronged—I can't even get my own car into campus."

"Hehe."

The four of them reached the third floor and easily arrived at Room 310.

Li Luo didn't even need his key—the door wasn't locked—and pushed it open.

Inside was a standard four-person room: bunk beds with desks below, plus a small balcony and a tiny bathroom.

Two roommates were already there—one was cleaning, the other was making the bed.

When they saw four people suddenly enter, both paused.

Li Luo stepped forward first, smiling and extending his hand to the roommate sweeping. "Hi, I'm Li Luo."

"Hmm, Bai Haoran," said the clean-shaven, bookish boy with square glasses, shaking his hand. "If you're Li Luo, your bed is this one."

He pointed to the first bed to the right after passing the bathroom—on the upper rail, a paper label bore Li Luo's name.

"Yes, Bed One, correct," Xu Youyu confirmed.

Bai Haoran glanced at Xu Youyu, slightly stunned, then politely looked away and turned to Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong. "Uncle, Auntie, hello."

"Hello, hello!" the couple replied cheerfully. Lin Xiuhong walked to Li Luo's bed, climbed up easily, and held out her hand to Li Guohong. "Hand me the sheet—I'll make it for him."

Li Guohong obeyed, then fetched a mop from the bathroom and joined Bai Haoran in cleaning.

"Hi, classmate," Li Luo now approached Bed Four, where the roommate was still making the bed. "Let's get acquainted?"

"Y-You… hi," said the boy, who had a clean buzzcut and black-rimmed glasses—clearly a model student. He extended his hand. "I'm Cheng Xin."

He seemed extremely nervous, his eyes darting repeatedly toward Xu Youyu—as if he knew it was inappropriate but couldn't help himself.

Mostly because Xu Youyu was simply too striking—a young boy like him couldn't help admiring such a beautiful girl.

At that moment, Xu Youyu had walked to the balcony and was gazing across.

When Li Luo stepped out after her, she laughed and pointed to a balcony below and to the left. "Look—there's our room. You can see it right away."

"So you'll be visible whenever you hang laundry?"

"We only hang outer clothes and pants outside," Xu Youyu waved her hand. "We always pull the curtains, and underwear and bras are hung beside the bed."

"Good, otherwise I'd get jealous."

"Haha~" Xu Youyu laughed, then her phone buzzed. After a moment's thought, she turned to Li Luo. "My teacher needs me—so I'll head off. If you have any questions about the dorm, just message me on WeChat."

"OK." Li Luo nodded and saw her off.

Soon after, Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong finished helping clean the dorm, gave Li Luo a final set of instructions, and departed.

Now the dorm fell silent.

The three were still unfamiliar with each other; after finishing his cleaning, Bai Haoran sat at his desk and opened a book to read.

Li Luo chatted with Cheng Xin, who had gotten out of bed.

"Oh, you're from Hubei Province, Wuhan City?"

"No no, just a small county—Huangmei County. What about you?"

"I'm local," Li Luo said with a smile. "My home is right nearby."

Cheng Xin's face showed envy: "That's so convenient. I had to take a six- or seven-hour train to get here from home."

"That's indeed far," Li Luo said, then remembered his other roommate and turned to ask casually, "What about Haoran? Where are you from?"

"Me?" Bai Haoran, hearing Li Luo ask him, paused slightly, then said, "Anhui Province."

The three of them exchanged simple words and quickly learned each other's backgrounds.

Li Luo had also noticed that Bai Haoran was rather reclusive, not very sociable, but not hard to talk to—he'd already shown he was decent by voluntarily cleaning the room.

Cheng Xin, meanwhile, was a typical small-town academic star: his grades were excellent, but his personality was introverted and insecure, especially after arriving in the big city, where this feeling grew even more obvious.

They chatted from just after nine in the morning until eleven. Seeing the time was right and the last roommate clearly wouldn't come that morning, Li Luo stood up and invited the two to go eat at the cafeteria.

Xu Youyu had just finished her tasks and, upon learning via WeChat that Li Luo was heading to Qingxi Cafeteria, said she was on her way there too.

As for Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, their roommates had dragged them off to eat, so they didn't come looking for Li Luo.

So when they arrived at the cafeteria, Cheng Xin and Bai Haoran saw Xu Youyu again.

"That… I wanted to ask earlier," Cheng Xin said, seeing Xu Youyu wave at Li Luo and stride toward them. He tugged Li Luo's sleeve and leaned in to whisper, "Who is this…?"

"Ahem… she's my senior from high school," Li Luo whispered in reply. "I went to the affiliated No. 1 High School next door. She's one year ahead of me—we knew each other from high school."

"Oh, no wonder," Cheng Xin said, his face lighting up with understanding, tinged with envy.

On the other side, Bai Haoran glanced at Xu Youyu once, then quietly looked away.

The next second, Xu Youyu walked up and wrapped her arm around Li Luo's, grinning as she greeted the two: "Hi hi~ I didn't say anything earlier because his parents were around, so let me properly introduce myself again—I'm Xu Youyu, Li Luo's girlfriend~"

At that moment.

Bai Haoran stopped walking, staring at them in shock.

Cheng Xin's face was utterly stunned—he gaped at Xu Youyu, her chest pressed tightly against Li Luo's arm, too amazed to close his mouth.

"You… this…"

Cheng Xin couldn't speak.

Wasn't she just your senior?

How did she suddenly become your girlfriend?!

That's a bit unfair!

Are you local kids picking on outsiders?

"Ahem… I hadn't finished saying that," Li Luo said. He'd planned to keep it quiet, but Xu Youyu had just publicly claimed him, so he nodded in admission. "She's also my girlfriend—and she's from the College of Literature."

"S-senior, hello," Cheng Xin stammered.

Clearly, he had no idea how to handle a beautiful girl.

After learning the truth about Li Luo and Xu Youyu's relationship, he felt a deep surge of envy and inferiority.

While he'd been struggling through high school studying, this guy from Qianjiang Province had already been dating such a gorgeous senior back in high school?

After all, they'd only just entered university—and they were already a couple. Even if they hadn't officially confirmed their relationship in high school, they must've started flirting long ago.

They were all high schoolers who'd gotten into Qianjiang University—how could the gap be so huge?

Cheng Xin felt a bitter pang, thinking of his own unrequited high school crush, and his envy grew stronger.

As for Bai Haoran beside him, his expression remained unchanged. He wasn't interested in romance, though he had to admit Xu Youyu was beautiful—nothing more than that.

Those who indulged too early in beauty would never amount to much.

That's what Bai Haoran thought to himself.

"Alright, let's go get food," Xu Youyu said, still clinging to Li Luo's arm as she headed upstairs. "It's your first day—let me treat you."

"No no no, that's too much," Cheng Xin hurriedly declined.

"Oh come on, it's nothing," Xu Youyu waved her hand. "Even if I didn't care about Li Luo, as your senior, isn't it normal for me to treat you guys to a meal? Come on, let's go, no more fussing."

Bai Haoran clearly wasn't good at refusing, and Cheng Xin was soon persuaded, half-heartedly following her upstairs.

Xu Youyu paid for the meal, and the four of them sat down at a table.

With Xu Youyu present, Li Luo didn't need to find topics—he could leave all the hosting to her.

After they finished lunch laughing and chatting, Xu Youyu bid them farewell again—she had other things to attend to in the afternoon.

"Are there really this many things on the first day of school?" Li Luo asked, puzzled as they left the cafeteria.

"Oh, just department stuff," Xu Youyu winked at him, grinned mischievously, kissed his cheek, then turned to leave. "I'm off!"

Watching this, Cheng Xin's eyes brimmed with envy. On the way back to the dorm, he finally couldn't hold back and whispered: "Li Luo."

"Hmm?"

"Are your senior's roommates pretty?"

"Well…" Li Luo recalled Jiang Feiya, Zhao Letian, and Xie Xiuying's appearances. "They're definitely not as pretty as her."

"I know that," Cheng Xin had self-awareness. "What about compared to average girls?"

"They're still quite pretty," Li Luo nodded. "One's good at makeup, one's athletic, and one's delicately pretty. Why? Are you falling for them already?"

Cheng Xin blushed, waving his hands frantically: "I—I was just asking, just asking!"

Li Luo laughed, then felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and saw a call from Ying Chanxi.

(End of Chapter)