Chapter 670

On the way back to the dorm, Li Luo pulled out his phone, saw Ying Chanxi's name on the screen, and slowed down two steps behind his roommates: "You guys go ahead—I'll take this call."

Cheng Xin and Bai Haoran didn't think twice, nodded, and headed upstairs to the dorm.

Li Luo came to a complete stop, standing beside the greenery near the dorm building, and answered Ying Chanxi's call.

"Hello?" Li Luo smiled. "Miss me?"

"No way," Ying Chanxi instinctively retorted, but then hesitated, fidgeting for a long while before whispering, "I… I did miss you a little… but only a little!"

Ying Chanxi's "a little" carried a lot of weight.

Li Luo stopped teasing her and said, "I missed you too."

"Really…" Ying Chanxi's tone brightened with quiet delight, then she asked, "Then why didn't you call me first?"

"I was afraid you were busy," Li Luo said. "How are your roommates?"

"They all seem great!" Ying Chanxi chirped happily. "And Qiao Xinyan's in my dorm too—so lucky~"

"That's nice," Li Luo laughed. "What about the other two?"

"One's called Lin Zhixia. She was already there when I arrived this morning and had cleaned the whole dorm already," Ying Chanxi told him. "She seems really nice."

"The other's Jiang Lai. She showed up just before noon—super lively, instantly friendly, easy to get along with."

"Pretty?" Li Luo teased.

"Why are you asking that?" Ying Chanxi pouted. "Does it matter to you if my roommates are pretty? Are you up to something shady? I'll tell Zhu Sheng and the senior."

"I wouldn't dare," Li Luo chuckled. "I was just asking for my roommates—they both still don't have partners."

"Then we could arrange a group outing sometime," Ying Chanxi perked up eagerly. "But wait—did only two people come to your dorm?"

"Yeah, one hasn't arrived yet," Li Luo said, briefly shared details about his two roommates, then asked, "Where are you now?"

"In the dorm," Ying Chanxi said. "But Zhu Luoxuan isn't in the same residential area as your Qingxi Dormitory."

"Should I come over now?" Li Luo checked the time; he had nothing planned for the afternoon.

"Nah, better not," Ying Chanxi was tempted but whispered, "I made plans with my roommates to tour the campus after their nap. Let's meet when we go back tonight to get our stuff."

"Alright," Li Luo nodded. "If your roommates are napping, won't your call wake them?"

"It's fine," Ying Chanxi whispered. "I'm on the balcony—they can't hear me."

"I see," Li Luo said, then asked, "I remember you said on WeChat this morning your dorm is in Zhu Luoxuan Building 1, Room 406, right?"

"That's right, what's wrong?" Ying Chanxi asked in confusion.

"Which way does the balcony face?"

"Toward Ningshan—the view's great."

"Then look down. The view below might be even better than Ningshan."

"Huh?" Ying Chanxi paused, confused by his words, but followed his suggestion and looked down.

The next second, she saw him holding his phone, looking up at her with a smile.

Ying Chanxi froze for a second, then her face lit up with surprise and joy: "How did you get here?"

"I told you," Li Luo's voice softened, smiling gently. "I missed you."

Hearing this,

Ying Chanxi could no longer hold back.

She spun around and dashed inside, tiptoeing quietly to the dorm door, avoiding disturbing her roommates' nap. Once outside, she sprinted down the hallway, refusing to wait for the elevator, racing down the stairs from the fourth floor in seconds.

Soon after, Ying Chanxi burst out the front door of Zhu Luoxuan Building 1, circled around the dorm building to the back, and immediately threw herself into Li Luo's arms.

Li Luo put away his phone and wrapped his arms around her with a smile: "Miss me that much? You came running down so fast."

"I missed you so much," Ying Chanxi said, rarely voicing such affection, nuzzling against him.

"It's only been a morning."

"Still missed you," Ying Chanxi lifted her head in his arms, hesitating, glancing up the stairs to make sure no one was watching, then rose on her toes and pecked his lips.

Li Luo wasn't satisfied—he leaned down and sealed her lips firmly, kissing her until she gasped, muffled and breathless.

They lost track of time, tireless.

Until Ying Chanxi's phone vibrated, forcing them apart.

Her lips slightly swollen, Ying Chanxi quickly pulled out her phone, glanced at it, then answered: "Hello, Xinyan?"

"Chanxi, where'd you go?" Qiao Xinyan asked, puzzled. "I checked the balcony and bathroom—no sign of you."

"Oh… I… I went downstairs to buy something," Ying Chanxi murmured, leaning against Li Luo, blushing and feeling guilty.

Li Luo found it amusing but stayed silent, instead quietly leaning down to kiss and brush his lips against her cheek.

"Didn't you say you'd go back with Li Luo tonight to get your stuff? Why are you buying things now?" Qiao Xinyan immediately spotted the inconsistency. "A moment ago, weren't you on the balcony on the phone?"

"Mmm…" Ying Chanxi squirmed as he kissed her, backing away until she was pressed against the dorm wall. Only when he briefly lifted his lips could she stammer, "I… I just suddenly remembered… I needed to buy something… I'll be right back…"

"Hurry back," Qiao Xinyan said. "Or we can come down and find you? Everyone's up now."

"Wait… wait for me… I'll be back… just a few minutes…"

After hanging up, Ying Chanxi turned to scold Li Luo for disrupting her, but the next second his lips were on hers again, kissing her until she went limp, cheeks flushed, breathing ragged.

"I promised Xinyan… I have to go back."

"Then beg me," Li Luo held her tightly against the wall, grinning mischievously. "I'll let you go."

"You're terrible," Ying Chanxi blushed, pushing against his chest. "It's all your fault—I almost got caught."

"Just tell Xinyan," Li Luo pinched her chin. "What's there to be shy about? She already knows."

"But there are other roommates," Ying Chanxi murmured, embarrassed. "What if the other two hear?"

"So what?" Li Luo whispered, smiling. "Just this noon, Yu Jie hugged my arm and told my roommates she's my girlfriend."

"What?!" Ying Chanxi's eyes widened, indignant. "How could the senior do that? That's too much!"

"Jealous?"

"No way!" Ying Chanxi stomped her foot in anger, unable to hold back her frustration. "If senior sister says that, what am I supposed to do?"

"Cough… you can ask Youyu sister about this tonight," Li Luo coughed, then added, "Besides, Zhu Institute and Qingxi Dormitory are far apart, and Zhusheng's music college is even farther. None of us usually know each other's roommates anyway—it shouldn't matter."

"But she still can't…" Ying Chanxi muttered under her breath, still dissatisfied, thinking that if she'd known, she never would've eaten lunch with her roommate—she should've gone straight to find Li Luo.

Looking back, when Gao Er first started, she'd been a step too slow, letting Yan Zhusheng become Li Luo's desk partner.

Now, at the start of university, she'd been a step too slow again—and the senior sister had beaten her to it, already cementing herself as Li Luo's official girlfriend among his roommates.

Damn it!

Thinking of it, Ying Chanxi's teeth ground with rage. With nowhere to vent her anger, she stomped on Li Luo's foot, then turned and stormed off.

"I'll come pick you up tonight," Li Luo called after her. "We'll message on WeChat."

"Fine," Ying Chanxi replied without turning, walking toward the main entrance of the dormitory, sulking and refusing to speak to him for now.

After seeing Ying Chanxi back to her dorm, Li Luo strolled out through the main gate of Zhuluoxuan Community, followed Ningshan Avenue back to Qingxi Dormitory.

Returning to Room 310, Building 2, Li Luo pushed open the door and saw that, besides Cheng Xin and Bai Haoran, someone else was inside.

"You're…" Li Luo stepped forward, curious, thinking this must be the last roommate.

But the man grinned upon seeing Li Luo and greeted him: "Hi, I'm Zhong Leixiang, your senior from Gao Er. You're Li Luo, right? This year's provincial top scorer in Qianjiang Province."

"Oh, you're too kind," Li Luo shook his hand. "What brings you here, senior?"

"I'm your class assistant for Humanities Class One. I came early to meet you all and set up a group," Zhong Leixiang smiled. "I've already added these two juniors. You should join too."

"Oh, got it—thanks for the trouble, senior," Li Luo nodded, pulled out his phone, scanned the QR code, and was instantly added to a QQ group.

"Good you're here—I won't have to ask your roommates to pass it on," Zhong Leixiang continued. "Next Monday morning, our school will hold the opening ceremony, and in the evening, our College of Humanities will have its own departmental opening ceremony."

"We need to select a student representative to give a speech at our department's ceremony."

"The Vice Dean recommended you, so I'm here to notify you—please draft your speech these next two days."

"Got it," Li Luo nodded, agreeing without hesitation.

If it were just about giving a speech, Li Luo might've found it annoying and declined.

But hearing it was the Vice Dean who recommended him—that meant the man was his future father-in-law.

Li Luo had just received the vehicle access pass the man had arranged for him—how could he possibly refuse? He immediately nodded in agreement.

After giving his instructions, Zhong Leixiang took his leave to visit the neighboring dorms and add other students to the group.

At that moment, Cheng Xin and Bai Haoran both turned their eyes sharply toward Li Luo.

"Just now…" Bai Haoran's expression was complicated. He couldn't help asking Li Luo, "Did senior Zhong say you're the provincial top scorer?"

"Oh, that?" Li Luo waved his hand modestly. "Actually, I'm not exactly the top scorer—I just tied with him. But since my math score was lower, I ranked second in the province. Strictly speaking, I can't be called the provincial top scorer."

Bai Haoran: "…"

Cheng Xin: "…"

Is that even the point?!

"With such a high Gaokao rank, why did you end up at Qian University?" Cheng Xin blurted. "If you were top scorer, you could've gone to Tsinghua or Peking anytime!"

In Cheng Xin's world, Tsinghua and Peking were the ultimate dreams of every top student.

Especially in his county, where his high school had produced only one Tsinghua-Peking candidate this year, and just two 985 candidates—he was one of them.

In his mind, if that Tsinghua-Peking candidate from his school had chosen Qian University instead, his parents and teachers would've beaten him senseless.

Bai Haoran also couldn't understand. He thought: if he'd scored provincial top, he'd never choose Qian University—he'd aim as high as possible.

But Li Luo simply shook his head: "Qian University is closer to home. I don't want to go too far—it's too troublesome."

At this, both roommates fell silent.

Cheng Xin felt Li Luo was wasting his score—he wished he could trade places and go to Tsinghua instead.

Bai Haoran couldn't help rolling his eyes, utterly baffled by this logic, even silently cursing: idiot.

Fortunately, his good upbringing kept him from saying it aloud—he truly thought this guy might be mentally ill.

He then remembered something else and pressed further: "If your scores are this high, why not just apply directly to Zhu Institute? Why come to the College of Humanities?"

"Yeah," Cheng Xin realized too. "Isn't Zhu Institute Qian University's strongest department? With your score, you could've gotten in easily."

"Cough…" Li Luo cleared his throat and made up an excuse. "I'm just more drawn to literature. I'll leave Zhu Institute's spots for those who need them more."

Is that even human speech?!

Bai Haoran's mouth hung open—he thought this guy was utterly unreasonable.

He even began to suspect: is this guy love-struck?

All that stuff he just said was nonsense—he only wanted to be in the same school, even the same major, as his girlfriend?

Thinking of this, Bai Haoran's face lit up with sudden understanding—and then he couldn't help looking down on Li Luo.

He had such a bright future, yet he'd thrown it all away for love.

If they broke up later, he'd regret it bitterly.

In his view, this choice was simply stupid.

(End of Chapter)