Chapter 706: My High School Classmate Is Ugly

Li Luo didn't expect things to be so coincidental.

Logically, Ying Chanxi and her roommate were both in Zhu Institute, while he was in the College of Literature.

Although they were in the same school, the chance of meeting was actually quite low.

Yet, by sheer luck, they ran into each other right in the gym.

Although Li Luo's expression remained calm, inside he was panicking, terrified that either side might say the wrong thing.

Fortunately, Xu Youyu had collapsed earlier and left, otherwise the risk of exposure would've been even greater.

"Huh? You two know each other?" Wen Zexuan asked, curious after seeing Jiang Lai and Li Luo greet each other.

"Yeah…" Jiang Lai nodded, opening her mouth to say more.

Li Luo immediately interrupted: "What are you doing here? I never knew you liked working out."

"Mm." Jiang Lai smiled. "Just came to try it out. The older a girl gets, the easier it is for her figure to go out of shape—I think I should learn how to control it."

"That's true," Wen Zexuan chuckled. "But for someone like you, it's pretty simple."

"Really?"

"You've got such great natural genetics—just a little exercise keeps you in shape."

"It's not that good," Jiang Lai covered her mouth and laughed softly, unconsciously letting the topic drift.

Li Luo also relaxed slightly, but still kept his guard up, afraid Wen Zexuan would dig deeper into his relationship with Jiang Lai.

Fortunately, Jiang Lai had already been at the gym for over two hours and now felt she'd done enough, so she prepared to leave.

Wen Zexuan then voluntarily added Jiang Lai on WeChat and successfully got her contact info.

After watching Jiang Lai leave, Wen Zexuan poked Li Luo's arm and asked curiously, "What's your relationship with her? How come you seem to know every beautiful girl?"

"Don't overthink it," Li Luo waved his hand. "She's roommates with a high school classmate of mine—we've met a few times."

"Oh, that explains it," Wen Zexuan nodded in understanding, not surprised at all.

Thanks to Li Luo's background at Fuyi High, he'd heard about some things from that school.

Over eighty students from Fuyi High had gotten into Qian University alone—so it was perfectly reasonable that Li Luo knew someone in Zhu Institute.

After learning the situation, Wen Zexuan felt a bit relieved: "Since you two aren't closely connected, I'm going to make my move, okay?"

"You're imagining things," Li Luo smirked. "She already has a boyfriend—give up on this idea."

"Really?" Wen Zexuan was startled. "Why do all the pretty girls already have boyfriends so fast? Is there no hope left for us?"

"You have the nerve to say that?" Cheng Xin couldn't help but retort. "And you've already got that second-year med student—can't you just chill out?"

"You mean her?" Wen Zexuan waved his hand. "We broke up."

"What?!" Cheng Xin was stunned, his mind blanking. "Didn't you two go on a date yesterday?"

"Yeah," Wen Zexuan nodded. "We had a breakup sex, then parted ways peacefully."

Cheng Xin: "..."

The world had become too complicated—it violently clashed with Cheng Xin's old worldview, leaving him utterly bewildered.

What does it even mean to have breakup sex and then part peacefully?

Can you even break up like that?!

"Why did you break up so fast?" Li Luo was also surprised.

"She was just too busy," Wen Zexuan said, waving his hand. "At the start of the semester, she'd occasionally come by to bring us drinks during military training."

"Ever since her second year started, she's been nowhere to be found—messages go unanswered for hours."

"I checked her class schedule—damn, it was packed solid, terrifying."

"With that schedule, her even finding time to date me was a real hardship for her."

"Isn't that good?" Cheng Xin felt sorry. "She's got such a packed schedule but still made time for you—shouldn't you be moved?"

"No way," Wen Zexuan immediately shook his finger. "You can let a girl make small sacrifices for you, but not too many."

"Otherwise, she'll keep accumulating emotional debt in her mind, thinking she's given you so much."

"Then when you break up later, it won't be so easy—you're better off cutting losses early."

Here, Wen Zexuan paused, then cleared his throat and added: "Also, she's studying medicine—I looked at her course list: anatomy and all that… it's kind of creepy."

"If I ever piss her off, I'm afraid she'll stab me with a scalpel."

Hearing this, Li Luo gave Wen Zexuan a knowing look, thinking: You've got some foresight, kid.

Otherwise, a med student girl stabbing you might just count as a minor injury.

"Too bad—I finally found a girl who really suited my taste," Wen Zexuan sighed, then asked Li Luo, "By the way, how did you know Jiang Lai had a boyfriend?"

"Her roommate from high school mentioned it to me," Li Luo said simply. "They started dating before the semester began."

"Tsk." Wen Zexuan was speechless, then asked curiously, "Is your high school classmate pretty?"

"What are you planning?" Li Luo shot him a sidelong glance.

"If she's hot, introduce me," Wen Zexuan grinned. "Luo Ge has so many connections—can't you hook up your bros?"

"I don't push people into fire pits," Li Luo shook his head, then added, "My high school classmate is ugly—don't even think about it."

That's what he said.

If Ying Chanxi heard that, would she beat him up?

After this little episode, Li Luo finally felt relieved—Wen Zexuan's interest in pursuing Jiang Lai had been thoroughly doused.

Li Luo continued his workout, while Wen Zexuan and Cheng Xin wandered the gym together, searching for their next target.

At 4:30 p. m., the three left the fitness center together.

Li Luo went to have dinner with Xu Youyu.

Cheng Xin went to the library to have dinner with Bai Haoran.

As for Wen Zexuan, after just one afternoon, he'd added three girls on WeChat and was already out on a date.

But in a corner Li Luo never imagined, Wen Zexuan pondered long and hard, then sent Jiang Lai a message to probe whether her romantic situation was truly as Li Luo had claimed.

When he discovered Jiang Lai replied that she was now single, he was stunned, raised his eyebrows, and suddenly found the situation intriguing—while Li Luo remained completely unaware.

…

On Wednesday morning, Li Luo had no class, but he and Ying Chanxi had jointly enrolled in the elective "Astronomical Observation and Cosmic Exploration," and arrived at the classroom early at 9:40 a. m.

Ying Chanxi pulled Li Luo into the classroom and sat them down in the farthest corner of the back row; he glanced at the seating arrangement and chuckled, "Someone doesn't plan to pay attention in class, huh? Why pick such a backseat?"

"Why do you care so much?" Ying Chanxi huffed.

The classroom seats weren't individual chairs but long, continuous benches.

So Ying Chanxi easily leaned close to Li Luo, pressing her arm against his.

But since they were in a classroom, she dared not go too far—just this much was already enough to satisfy her.

Yet Li Luo was far from satisfied; he reached out, slipped her small hand into his palm, and began gently playing with it beneath the desk.

Before class began, the two chatted idly while affectionately clinging to each other.

Ying Chanxi chattered about amusing incidents from the past two days of class, while Li Luo complained about being dragged by Xu Rongsheng to serve as class representative, and mentioned his recent fitness routine.

"You really started working out?" Ying Chanxi was surprised. "Last summer you said you'd get fit, but after your binge-updates started, you vanished—I thought you'd given up."

"Give up? Impossible," Li Luo chuckled. "Wait till I'm trained—then I'll be able to pick you up effortlessly with just one arm."

Ying Chanxi's cheeks flushed at his words; imagining Li Luo stronger after training, easily pinning her against walls or beds, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of anticipation.

But she certainly wouldn't say so aloud.

"Just don't turn into one of those muscular guys—it's ugly."

"That's exaggerated," Li Luo shook his head. "Those bulky muscles require long-term protein supplements and diet control. Without proper nutrition, normal people can't achieve such extreme physiques."

"Oh, I see," Ying Chanxi nodded in understanding. "Then it's fine."

"By the way, I ran into your roommate at the gym," Li Luo suddenly said.

"Really?" Ying Chanxi was surprised, then recalled. "Was it Jiang Lai?"

"Yes. Did she tell you?"

"No, she didn't," Ying Chanxi shook her head. "But Xin Yan doesn't usually work out—we're practically always together on campus."

"Lin Zhixia is more into studying—she's always in the library."

"Only Jiang Lai would go to the gym."

Li Luo nodded knowingly, then whispered, "Yesterday was actually tense—my roommate was there too, and one of them actually went up to flirt with Jiang Lai. She almost mentioned us."

"What?!" Ying Chanxi jumped, looking even more worried than Li Luo. "What happened after?"

"Luckily I interrupted in time," Li Luo coughed. "Then I told my roommate Jiang Lai has a boyfriend, so it dropped."

"You scared me," Ying Chanxi patted her small chest, exhaling in relief, then mused, "The National Day holiday comes soon… or maybe I can ask a senior to help you break up with her earlier?"

"Uh… you'll have to tell her yourself."

"It feels a bit awkward," Ying Chanxi murmured. "We already agreed to wait—it's just gotta wait a little longer."

"It's fine," Li Luo patted her hand. "Didn't I promise you this weekend? I'll treat your roommates to dinner."

"Mmm~" At the mention, Ying Chanxi brightened instantly. "That was already settled—Jiang Lai and the others will all be free."

"So where do you want to eat?" Li Luo asked.

"I don't know," Ying Chanxi frowned in thought. "Since you're treating, you pick the place."

"Then we won't go to Shidai Tianjie," Li Luo said. "Shidai Tianjie is close—we can go anytime."

"For this dinner, let's go somewhere farther."

"I remember a nice upscale buffet in the city center—we'll drive there and eat together."

"Afterward, we can stroll along Xihu."

Ying Chanxi had no objections to Li Luo's plan, nodding obediently. "Okay, I'll tell them tonight when I get back to the dorm."

"Alright, it's settled," Li Luo said. "I'll reserve a table at the restaurant in advance."

"Oh, by the way," Ying Chanxi suddenly remembered something, pulled out her phone, and showed Li Luo two photos. "What do you think of these shoes?"

"What's up?" Li Luo glanced. "They look fine."

"Should I buy you a pair?"

"Where did you buy them?"

"Um…" Ying Chanxi hesitated, then said, "They're sold by Jiang Lai."

"Huh?"

"She often posts photos of cosmetics and shoes on her Moments—prices are cheap," Ying Chanxi explained. "She says she just earns a little pocket money. She even asked us to join her, but I already have plenty of allowance, so I declined."

"Let me see," Li Luo raised an eyebrow, opened Ying Chanxi's Moments, and sure enough, found Jiang Lai promoting various products.

Well, well…

Is she doing WeChat commerce?

Li Luo raised an eyebrow, surprised.

He'd assumed Jiang Lai's style was trendy and assumed her family was well-off—never expected she'd start selling on Moments right after enrollment.

Li Luo didn't comment on it.

But these days, WeChat commerce had passed its peak—it didn't make much money anymore.

He made no judgment on Jiang Lai's actions, but told Ying Chanxi, "If you want shoes, just buy them in a store."

"Okay…" Ying Chanxi nodded obediently. "I won't buy them—I just wanted to support her a bit."

"WeChat commerce is already outdated," Li Luo chuckled, seeing her desire to support her roommate. "I've got a suggestion—tell her to download TikTok when she has time. Might work wonders."

"TikTok?"

"Yeah, just a random suggestion," Li Luo brushed it off, not planning to elaborate.

Just as the class bell rang, Li Luo continued to hold Ying Chanxi's small hand, attending class while whispering to her in the corner of the classroom.

Ying Chanxi savored the joy of having class alone with Li Luo, and soon forgot the earlier incident.

(End of Chapter)