“Where is this place?”
Lin Xinyuan felt as if he was standing in the middle of a vast wetland, the deep blue water reaching above his ankles, stretching endlessly in every direction, like a world of solitude.
The night pressed down, but there were no stars to be seen.
Only countless points of blue firefly light drifted through the space, bringing the only movement and brightness to this world.
He started walking, never feeling tired, nor having any clear goal.
His steps stirred ripples in the water, yet no sound came from them.
He didn’t know how long he had been walking.
Lin Xinyuan had already grown numb when suddenly, ahead of him, a crooked tree with a bare trunk appeared out of nowhere.
Beside the tree stood a shadowy figure…
No… It should be called a shapeless, human-shaped mist.
It seemed to notice his arrival, and “it” slowly turned around.
Although he couldn’t see anything clearly, Lin Xinyuan could distinctly feel “it” was sizing him up.
“You…■■■■■■■■■.”
“Its” voice was ethereal and distant, impossible to tell if it was male or female.
Lin Xinyuan only caught the first word; the rest became a harsh, grating noise like an old TV show malfunctioning.
Suddenly, the world spun, and he fell into utter darkness…
“Hoo…”
Lin Xinyuan woke up.
The sky was already bright.
He looked around the entire dorm room—unsurprisingly, he was alone again.
That dream was strange, but he didn’t pay it much mind.
He picked up his phone from beside his pillow, and a low battery warning popped up.
It was already past ten!
He didn’t even know how he fell asleep last night, only remembering that he had been scrolling on his phone in the upper bunk before dozing off.
Shaking his head, he stretched a little, then climbed out of bed to wash up.
Just as Lin Xinyuan expected, while washing up today, he noticed his skin was getting better and better.
Even his acne marks had faded a bit, and his skin wasn’t as rough anymore.
Though the effect wasn’t as dramatic as the first time, he was still very pleased.
Who could refuse becoming more handsome?
As for the jade bracelet he wore at all times, he had already started treating it like a treasure.
After washing up, he planned to check out the cafeteria at noon today.
After eating takeout for several weeks, he was getting tired of it and wanted a change of flavor.
A few days ago, Chen Ze had mentioned that a new restaurant had opened downstairs with pretty good food.
Lin Xinyuan planned to give it a try.
With that thought, he didn’t bother changing his shoes and just went downstairs in his slippers to the cafeteria on the first floor.
The South Cafeteria downstairs wasn’t large—nothing compared to the Large Cafeteria—but it was convenient, located right on the first floor of the boys’ dormitory building.
It had everything one needed, and the variety was decent.
He hadn’t arrived very early, so there were already quite a few people in the cafeteria.
At a glance, he spotted the new rice bowl shop Chen Ze had mentioned. According to Chen Ze, it had become quite popular recently.
And it was true—you could tell just by looking at the noticeably longer line in front of that window compared to the others.
He went to line up, and while waiting, glanced at the set meals and prices posted above the window.
Most meals were twelve yuan, which was about what he usually paid for takeout after using coupons—maybe a bit less, but not by much.
The line was long, but thankfully he hadn’t come too late; otherwise, he’d have to join the massive queue stretching behind him, not knowing when his turn would come.
This was also why he didn’t like coming to the cafeteria: any window with better food always meant a long wait.
As for the other windows, he thought they weren’t even as good as takeout—and takeout could be delivered right to his dorm room…
After waiting for nearly ten minutes, it was finally Lin Xinyuan’s turn.
He ordered a twelve-yuan double combo: classic fried chicken leg with shiitake mushroom meat patty, and for the side, chose garlicky sweet potato leaves.
After a short wait, he received a large, full bowl from the auntie at the counter.
Lin Xinyuan turned and looked around before finally spotting an empty table in a corner not far away.
He hurried over and sat down.
Using his chopsticks to stir the food a bit, he nodded with satisfaction.
It wasn’t just for show—the portions were generous, which he appreciated.
Next, it was time to see how it tasted.
He tried a bite of each dish.
The flavor was indeed pretty good—very homestyle.
No wonder it was so popular; it was much tastier than the mass-cooked cafeteria food.
Not thinking any more about it, Lin Xinyuan picked up the pace, eating quickly, mixing the meat patty and vegetables with his rice, leaving only the big chicken leg—of which he’d only taken a bite—to savor at the end.
He always liked to save the tastiest part for last.
“Yo, you actually came down to eat at the cafeteria?”
Suddenly, a familiar voice full of surprise sounded beside him.
The tone was all too familiar.
Lin Xinyuan turned his head, and sure enough, it was that rascal Qin Nanfeng.
The young man sat down next to him with a grin.
Lin Xinyuan noticed that Qin Nanfeng also had a big bowl in front of him—in fact, he had two.
Noticing Lin Xinyuan’s odd look, Qin Nanfeng explained, “Just finished playing basketball. Big appetite—normal, right?”
“Oh.”
Lin Xinyuan’s voice was flat.
He didn’t say much more.
Seeing this reaction, Qin Nanfeng looked puzzled but didn’t ask further, thinking Lin Xinyuan was just in a bad mood today.
“Over here! This way, this way!”
From not far off came Chen Ze’s loud call.
Lin Xinyuan couldn’t help but look up.
Several figures were approaching, each carrying two large bowls.
Especially Old Bear—one of his bowls was piled high with white rice, which suited his sturdy build perfectly.
Soon, four people were seated at Lin Xinyuan’s table.
Actually, the table could seat six, but it was too hot to crowd together, so Xu Lao’er and Wen Laosi, who came last, sat at the neighboring table.
“Old Six, you actually came down to the cafeteria? The Takeout King himself, here to experience cafeteria culture?” Chen Ze said with a grin, picking up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks.
Old Bear also looked at him with a strange expression, as if he’d just seen the sun rise in the west.
Lin Xinyuan shot back, “Tch… Can’t I come experience life? Besides, it’s not like I haven’t eaten downstairs this semester! After all, if even you have the nerve to—”
Before he could finish, Chen Ze panicked and quickly cut him off, “Hey, hey, my bad, let’s not talk about it, bro.”
He looked at Lin Xinyuan with pleading eyes, pitifully begging.
Chen Ze really didn’t want his roommates to find out about that incident.
That would be so embarrassing! Besides, he wanted to wait until he’d successfully wooed Weiwei before telling anyone.
“Tch, coward.” Lin Xinyuan curled his lip.
He was just teasing Chen Ze and had no real interest in other people’s business.
Qin Nanfeng casually teased, “Hey, Old Five? What else are you hiding from us? You only let Old Six know, not us? Got rejected by a girl? Or did you break up? No, wait… I just gave you those accounts yesterday—was it that fast?”
“Hey, no! Of those accounts you gave me, only Old Xu accepted. I really just took a look, didn’t add anyone, okay? Besides, it’s not like people would just accept random adds! Anyway, I’m focused—it’s still Weiwei… cough, cough…”
Eager to defend himself, Chen Ze blurted it out, unintentionally confessing.
“Oh~”
“Weiwei, huh!”
Old Bear and Qin Nanfeng both nodded knowingly, sighing in unison.
“It’s not—slipped out just now… ah, damn…”
Flustered, Chen Ze only made it worse, and in the end could only admit defeat and tell the truth.
After briefly explaining what happened, he was, as expected, laughed at by the other two—especially Old Bear, who laughed the loudest, drawing looks from people nearby.
Xu Wentao and Wen Laosi at the neighboring table also looked over, full of curiosity.
At this point, Chen Ze was nearly in tears. He glanced at Lin Xinyuan, who was looking at him like he was a total fool.
From then on, he stopped talking and focused on eating, turning his grief into appetite…
However, as Lin Xinyuan watched that head bent over his food, he couldn’t help but feel even more annoyed with Qin Nanfeng.
Because deep down, he felt like that damned yellow-haired guy’s earlier words had been aimed at him…
With a sigh, he sped up and finished the rest of his meal.
“I’m done, heading back to the dorm…”
Right now, Lin Xinyuan really didn’t want to see Qin Nanfeng, so he left before he could get even more annoyed.
“Okay,” Old Bear responded, not thinking much of it, while Chen Ze was still busy eating.
Qin Nanfeng stroked his chin, watching the boy’s departing figure, deep in thought.
His gaze flickered—he seemed to have thought of something, recalling what he’d said at the barbecue stall.
The corners of his mouth curled up…
Looks like things are about to get a whole lot more interesting…
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