Chapter Nineteen: Classmate, Aren’t You a Bit Arrogant?

Chapter Nineteen: "Classmate, Aren’t You a Bit Too Arrogant?"

After congratulating Tang Zhong, Li Qiang turned his gaze back to the group and said with a smile, “As you all probably know, the first month for freshmen at university is military training. It’s mandatory—no one can get out of it. Unless there are special circumstances, my personal advice is that you grit your teeth and stick it out—regardless of whether you’re a guy or a girl. If you make it through, this month might bring you great rewards.”

“So, try not to feign illness to skip the training. And by the way, I’m very strict with approvals. Without a solid reason, I won’t sign off on any requests. Military training starts tomorrow, and the drill instructors from the army have already arrived. Assemble on the sports field at 8 a.m. sharp, wearing your training uniforms. Don’t be late.”

“All right, now I need ten guys to come with me to the logistics office to fetch the uniforms for our department.” Li Qiang glanced around. “Let’s have the boys in the last row come with me. You’re sitting so far back I can barely see you with my nearsightedness. This way, we can get to know each other on the way.”

Amid the uproarious laughter and the groans from the boys in the last row, the meeting came to an end.

Tang Zhong and Li Yu walked ahead, while Hua Wuqian, gasping for breath, caught up to them.

“Why are you two walking so fast?” Hua Ming complained.

“I half expected you to bring your rabbit,” Tang Zhong said with a laugh.

“Heh, I already asked around. Most of our department’s freshmen are guys, and the few girls aren’t especially pretty—so I didn’t bother wasting my energy.” Hua Wuqian shamelessly replied.

“Is that so?” Tang Zhong thought about it and realized he hadn’t really noticed if there were any beautiful girls in class.

“Heh, I never get this sort of thing wrong,” Hua Wuqian said, full of pride. “I’ve already checked each one out. Out of consideration for our classmate bond, I’ll say the best among them barely merits a seventy-five. For beauties, you have to look in the School of Arts or the Department of Economics and Management. Our department and the Civil Engineering students are all ‘hard cases.’”

“With your rabbit, you’ll never have to worry about finding a girlfriend,” Tang Zhong joked. “It’s Li Yu and I who are at greater risk.”

“Hey, we’re roommates, aren’t we? I wouldn’t just stand by and watch you suffer.” Hua Wuqian clapped Tang Zhong on the shoulder, grandly declaring, “At worst, I’ll lend you my rabbit for a few days.”

“No, thank you. I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist slicing up a couple of carrots and stewing it,” Tang Zhong quickly refused. He’d rather admit to being ‘Tang Xin’ than walk around carrying a rabbit.

“Then forget it,” Hua Wuqian withdrew immediately. “My happiness below the waist depends entirely on that rabbit. If you stew it, I’ll have to raise another one all over again. By the way, do you know anything about Liang Tao’s background?”

“No idea,” Tang Zhong shook his head.

“I do,” Hua Wuqian replied smugly. “Did you really think I wanted to go out drinking with that LV display rack? I just wanted to fish for information. No wonder the guy’s loaded—his dad’s the mayor of Huaihua City. He doesn’t even have to buy his own clothes; people just give them to him. Guess how much we spent on lunch today?”

He stretched out a big hand. “Almost five thousand. A bottle of Maotai alone cost over two thousand. I could tell it was fake with the first sip, but the money he spent was definitely real.”

“He’s pretty generous,” Tang Zhong said with a smile.

“There’s a reason for that,” Hua Wuqian lowered his voice. “Even though he didn’t spell it out, I know he wants to isolate you. If I’m not mistaken, he must have invited Li Yu to dinner, too?”

“He did,” Li Yu said quietly. “I ate my fill and didn’t go.”

“There you have it. There are only four of us in the dorm. If he draws me and Li Yu over to his side, you’ll be left on your own. If three of us are against you, how could you possibly stay?”

“You must have disappointed him,” Tang Zhong remarked.

“Hey, can’t blame the kid for being stupid. College isn’t like high school—back then, a meal at KFC could buy over your classmates. Now that we’re in university, pulling the same tricks is just asking for trouble. All he’s doing is isolating himself,” Hua Wuqian said with disdain.

“KFC?” Tang Zhong asked.

“Yeah—KFC. Don’t you know?” Hua Wuqian gave him a look. “But now that you’ve been chosen as the dean’s student, I bet he’ll behave himself around you from now on. You’re really lucky, you know. Didn’t you see how many people were red-eyed watching you? That was envy. Even I was jealous. That lunch doesn’t count—tonight, you have to treat us to dinner. It’ll be our first roommate meal in 307.”

“No problem,” Tang Zhong agreed readily. “But I can’t afford to buy you Maotai.”

“Hey, we’re all broke students. Who cares about that? If the company’s bad, even delicacies taste like sawdust. If the conversation’s good, beer and peanuts are a feast. I saw a campus restaurant near the school gate when we went out today. Let’s eat there,” Hua Wuqian suggested.

“Fine, let’s do the campus restaurant,” Tang Zhong nodded.

When they got back to the dorm, Liang Tao had already returned.

What surprised them even more was that he actually greeted Tang Zhong of his own accord, smiling as he said, “Congratulations, Tang Zhong! Becoming the dean’s student means your future is set. From now on, we classmates and roommates will be relying on you to look after us.”

“It’s just luck,” Tang Zhong replied. It really was just that.

He’d come to Nanda alone, without anyone to accompany him. So all his attention had been on the local customs and sights. When he reached the stone at the school gate, he even stood there reciting the school motto twice, which was why he could answer Dean Jiao Yuheng’s question.

If his parents had come with him, he’d probably have been too busy chatting with them to notice any of this.

Of course, what surprised Tang Zhong even more was that the school motto was printed right on the admission notice. How did nobody else remember it? Was everyone just staring at the busty student ambassador in the white shirt on the front?

“Luck is a kind of ability too,” Liang Tao flattered him. “Today’s a big day—first, we all met among the tens of thousands of students at Nanda, fate even put us in the same dorm, and now we’ll be living together for four years. Second, Tang Zhong was chosen by the dean as his disciple. No matter what, we should celebrate. Tonight, let me host—we’ll go out for a proper celebration.”

“Heh, you’re too late,” Hua Wuqian laughed. “On the way back, Tang Zhong and I already decided to have dinner at the campus restaurant tonight.”

“All right, then the campus restaurant it is,” Liang Tao agreed. “Tonight, the four of us brothers will have a good drink together. By the way, I heard that in other dorms, they’ve already picked their eldest and second eldest. Who’s the oldest in ours?”

Each reported their age. Because Hua Ming had repeated grades in both elementary and middle school, he was the oldest of the four. Tang Zhong had started school late, so he was second. Liang Tao was third, and Li Yu, still not yet eighteen, was the youngest.

The first day of school was both busy and idle—a flurry of aimless activity, with nothing concrete to do.

After a while, Li Qiang brought the students’ military uniforms for the boys. Tang Zhong, being very tall, could only wear the largest size. But his frame was so skinny that the oversized uniform hung loosely on him, looking like a burlap sack draped over a lamppost.

Hua Ming was both tall and burly; even the largest training uniform fit him snugly, like a muscleman. Clearly, the designers of the uniforms hadn’t anticipated freshmen of his size.

Li Yu was the opposite extreme—he picked the smallest size, but it still looked like a child wearing his father’s clothes. Liang Tao’s medium-sized uniform, however, fit perfectly, making him look particularly heroic.

The four of them preened in front of the only cracked mirror left by former seniors in their dorm, admiring themselves until it was time for dinner.

Downstairs, many students were already walking about in their military training uniforms, boys and girls alike. Naturally, Tang Zhong and his roommates wouldn’t go out in uniform at this hour; instead, they changed into their own clothes and headed for the campus restaurant.

When they arrived, they discovered a serious problem. It was the first day of school, and plenty of students had the same idea about holding a ‘roommate meal.’ By the time they got there, the place was packed.

“Boss, second eldest, let’s go eat at the hotel next door,” Liang Tao said, frowning. “It’s too crowded here.”

He really wasn’t used to eating in such modest places, but since Tang Zhong and the others wanted to come, he’d forced himself to tag along. He hadn’t expected business to be so booming.

“Let’s wait,” Tang Zhong smiled. “There’s a table over there about to pay.”

Sure enough, a couple who looked like students were just finishing up and reaching for the bill.

“I’ll go reserve the seats,” Hua Wuqian said, shaking his sizable hips as he hurried over.

As soon as the boy paid, Hua Wuqian plopped down on a chair and turned to wave at Tang Zhong and the others.

Unfortunately, his line of sight was blocked by a human wall.

“Hey, classmate, how about letting us have this table?” The tall wall of people smiled down at Hua Wuqian.

“No way,” Hua Wuqian refused with authority.

“But we claimed this table first,” the wall’s smile grew wider. He hadn’t expected anyone to actually refuse them.

“But right now, the seat is under my butt,” Hua Wuqian replied. He wasn’t the kind to back down just because someone tried to intimidate him. “You got here first? If you did, why is the chair under me and not you?”

“Classmate, you’ve got some attitude,” the man said.

“Right back at you,” Hua Wuqian shot back.

“Is that so?” The man kicked the chair leg. The plastic couldn’t withstand the force and snapped.

With a crisp crack and a dull thud, Hua Wuqian’s body crashed heavily to the floor.