“Yu Qing.”
Li Ming stood in front of the dormitory door, looking at Yu Qing, who was hurriedly packing his luggage.
His eyes behind his glasses were filled with complexity.
“Ah, you’re here.”
“Hurry up, help your dad pack up a bit.”
“So much luggage, it’s killing me.”
Yu Qing heard the voice, looked up, saw it was Li Ming calling him, was slightly stunned, but quickly reacted and waved him over to help.
That fleeting trace of unnaturalness, however, happened to fall into Li Ming’s eyes.
“Found a place to live?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Li Ming walked over to Yu Qing’s desk and helped him stuff textbooks into the suitcase.
“Sigh, what’s there to say?”
“You guys are either busy with grad school exams or the power grid test.”
“This little thing of mine isn’t worth bothering you over.”
Yu Qing laughed, his hands not stopping as he quickly shoved his camera into his backpack, looking perfectly natural on the surface.
“I see…”
Li Ming replied, and then there was a long silence.
The two didn’t say a word until they finished moving Yu Qing’s luggage downstairs.
After loading the last suitcase into the Huo La La van, Yu Qing finally spoke.
“Lao Li, about that night—sorry.”
And then, another bout of silence.
“I have my own issues too. Concern makes one rash. I was too anxious and didn’t consider your feelings.”
Li Ming shook his head, accepting Yu Qing’s apology and admitting his own fault.
He looked at Yu Qing, still a bit unwilling.
“Still can’t talk about it?”
Yu Qing didn’t answer, only shook his head silently.
Seeing this, Li Ming could only let out a bitter laugh.
“Be careful of Fu Yi.”
“Qing Huan says she’s not someone to underestimate.”
“If you look down on her, you might pay a heavy price.”
With that, he gave Yu Qing one last look, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
Yu Qing didn’t speak, watching Li Ming’s back fade into the crowd, then turned and motioned for the Huo La La staff to drive off first.
Of course he knew Fu Yi wasn’t a simple person.
He was very clear about it.
***
In the days that followed, after moving his luggage into the apartment, Yu Qing did just as Li Ming expected and began to deliberately avoid everyone he knew.
He was the last to enter class and the first to leave.
If Zhang Li or the others asked, he’d use Mei Xue as a shield, since he did often hang around her when he had nothing to do.
He didn’t stalk her, just openly went to chat, and even used the chance to get familiar with Zhou Min.
After some thought, Yu Qing realized rather pessimistically that there was really nothing more he could do.
Those seniors in novels and comics either directly obtained the original owner’s memories or had the ability to handle things themselves.
Compared to them, he was only similar in still being human—other than that, he couldn’t even fake it.
Better to spend his time chatting with Mei Xue, act a bit silly to lower her guard, then find a chance to tie her up and lock her in the basement.
As for other matters—
Su Qing Ruan was indeed as she claimed: leaving early and returning late, rarely running into Yu Qing.
If not for the fact that she wore different shoes out each day, letting Yu Qing track her comings and goings by the changes at the doorway, he might have doubted whether she even came home at all.
The upside was that he now had a space to himself, so the issue of co-renting, which he had rushed to resolve, was settled in a roundabout way.
Besides that, in several dance practices during this period, Yu Qing made rapid progress.
After just a few days of practice, he could perform a complete Waltz.
Although still not fully skilled, it was impressive enough—at least it left Shen Tang dumbfounded.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
“It’s unbelievable. Among the people I know, your rate of improvement is among the fastest.”
Shen Tang watched Yu Qing’s dance all the way through, marveling with surprise.
If she hadn’t seen Yu Qing’s terrible dance foundation at first, she might have thought these two had come just to mess with her.
“It really is amazing.”
“Looks like Senior truly put in some serious effort!”
Fu Yi, for once free from work today, finished a dance with Yu Qing and stood aside, clapping with praise.
“It’s nothing, really. It’s mainly because Teacher Shen taught well.”
Yu Qing scratched his head, brushing off the compliments with a smile.
He knew exactly why he was improving so fast, so he didn’t feel proud over it.
“Hm? Why only mention Teacher Shen? Did I not help at all, Senior~?”
Fu Yi, hearing this, puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, crossing her arms at Yu Qing.
Seeing Fu Yi strike this pose again, Shen Tang just shook her head, put down her work, and quietly moved away to leave the two of them some space.
“You? I guess you were useful enough.”
Yu Qing waved his hand, casually brushing Fu Yi off.
Honestly, this ancestor was more trouble than help, constantly causing chaos.
During practice, she would either step on his foot, tickle his palm, or sometimes deliberately trip herself and scramble up, claiming it was an accident.
As if it really was an accident.
Yu Qing pouted inwardly, silently complaining, but kept a calm face to avoid further pranks.
After talking so much with Mei Xue lately, he’d gotten used to it and barely showed any emotional reaction unless Mei Xue pulled a surprise attack.
“If Senior says it helped, then it helped a lot!”
Fu Yi seemed completely oblivious to Yu Qing’s half-hearted reply, clasping her hands together with a cheerful smile.
“Yes, Mei Xue really was a huge help!”
Yu Qing echoed her words, emotionlessly.
“If not for you being a unique Grinding Stone, how could a mediocre guy like me improve so quickly?”
Maybe unintentionally, Yu Qing put extra emphasis on “Grinding Stone,” even gritting his teeth slightly.
But Fu Yi seemed not to catch the hidden complaint, instead nodding in satisfaction.
Her eyes turned into crescent moons as she laughed.
“It’s great that Senior thinks that way!”
“I was worried you’d dislike my little pranks!”
“But—”
Halfway through, Fu Yi suddenly changed her tone, a bit of regret and helplessness in her voice.
She sighed, sounding very sorry.
“It’s just, in the coming days, I might not be able to keep being your Grinding Stone, Senior.”
There’s such a good thing?
At her words, Yu Qing’s wandering mind snapped back, a flash of joy rising inside.
He instinctively thought Mei Xue had something that would keep her away from school for a while, meaning he’d have more chances to impersonate Mei Xue on campus.
But it was just a thought.
Yu Qing suppressed the excitement, putting on a calm front.
“That’s really a pity. Is there something you need to do? Is it work-related?”
“Yeah.”
Fu Yi sighed, rubbing her wrist.
She looked worn out, her small face scrunching in displeasure.
“The boss wants me to finish a promotional plan in a short time, and I might have to visit other branch offices to coordinate.”
“For the next few weeks, I’ll probably be so busy my feet won’t touch the ground.”
“If it’s about rehearsals, I really don’t think I’ll have time to come.”
She finished, letting out another sigh, her sad expression genuine.
Her gaze, however, unobtrusively drifted to Yu Qing’s face, a hint of scrutiny in her eyes.
As if… secretly watching Yu Qing’s reaction.
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