They would probably need to continue milking the Drama Club for their new semester’s short videos.
Besides, they would get paid for the recruitment video, so it wasn’t work for nothing! Song Qiuyu figured she really couldn’t refuse the president’s request.
Thinking this, Song Qiuyu confirmed a few final details with the Drama Club President and then shared the news about the recruitment video in the dormitory group chat.
Xie Zhuran was the first to respond: “Great! More work is coming our way!”
[Jiang Xiao]: It’s been over half a month since our last video. It really is time for something new.
[Lin An]: Should we head back to school early then? It’ll be easier to discuss the script and other details if we’re together.
[Jiang Xiao]: That works. Song Qiuyu has put on some weight anyway, so I can supervise his diet!
[Song Qiuyu]: Penguin shaking on the ground.JPG!
[Lin An]: Ho? Old Jiang, how do you know Qiuyu gained weight? Are you two together right now?
[Xie Zhuran]: Such an enviable little couple.
[Lin An]: Old Xie, how dare you be so bold? Are you looking for a beating again?
[Xie Zhuran]: Because I believe Old Song and Old Jiang won’t hold it against me.
“…”
Song Qiuyu was completely speechless. This Haji Xie really took every opportunity to mess with Old Lin, who was still kept in the dark!
Then again, Old Lin deserved it. Since he had decided to mess with his roommates, he had to be prepared for them to mess with him in return…
She already began to fantasize about the moment Old Lin found out everything. She wondered if he would be as calm as Old Xie.
As for the time to return to school…
After some deep thought, she opened her eyes and made a grand decision.
She was going back to school one day early.
Not just her, but everyone in 602 Dormitory decided to go back a day early, including Xia Qi.
When she relayed this message to the Drama Club President and asked if he could arrive early too, he mentioned that he had been in South Wind City the entire winter break because he was a local.
Song Qiuyu felt a bit choked up for a moment, ended the chat abruptly, and started packing.
“Sweetie, do you need us to take you to school?”
Su Luo suddenly appeared at her bedroom door.
Song Zhao Ye followed closely behind his wife.
Song Qiuyu blinked. Her parents probably wanted to make up for the years they were absent and truly wanted to see their child off to school.
She pursed her lips and caught a glimpse of two white cat heads suddenly appearing by her parents’ feet.
“Dad, Mom, I can go to school by myself. Little Meow and Big Meow still need you to look after them!”
Song Qiuyu said with a smile, “Once I’m gone, you two should take the time to enjoy some quality couple time.”
Big Meow and Little Meow were, of course, the two little white cats.
Su Luo and Song Zhao Ye were stunned. The middle-aged couple looked at their well-behaved and sensible child, their faces melting into relieved smiles.
Slowly, four eyes grew moist.
‘Do older people cry this easily?’ Song Qiuyu wondered. She began to comfort the two old folks while continuing to pack her bags.
Once Su Luo was calmed down, she hurried back to her room and returned with a bottle of perfume, which she placed in her daughter’s hand.
She held her daughter’s small hand. “Sweetie, your period started yesterday, and now you have to take a train back to school. Just in case, spray some perfume before you go!”
“Oh.”
Song Qiuyu’s eyes lit up. She had indeed overlooked that.
She thanked her mother, took the perfume, and tested a couple of sprays on her hand, her nose twitching slightly.
It was a light lavender scent.
It was perfect for masking any odors without being too overpowering.
Her lips curved into a smile. She sprayed a bit on herself, memorized the brand, and handed the bottle back to her mom.
Then, she bid her parents farewell, pushed her luggage, and left the house.
The train station was crowded with workers that day. Various scents mingled in the air, but the faint lavender scent on her body made her feel remarkably at ease.
She blended into the crowd perfectly. After waiting for a while, she boarded the train and sat in her assigned seat.
She was used to traveling to school alone, but perhaps because she had been surrounded by laughing friends recently, she suddenly felt a bit lonely.
She pulled out her phone and started chatting with Jiang Xiao just to have something to say. As they talked, an uncontrollable urge rose from deep within her heart.
‘I really want to see Jiang Xiao right now!’
“I really wanted to see you too, so here I am!”
At that moment, Jiang Xiao’s deep, slow adolescent voice sounded in her ear, accompanied by a familiar background track and the sound of whistling wind and snow.
Uh…
That sounded like the line Jiang Xiao said to the Snow Woman in the promotional video for the Hot Spring Hotel and Ski Resort!
Song Qiuyu turned her head and saw three girls laughing and chatting as they rolled their luggage to the seats next to her. They struggled to lift their suitcases onto the overhead racks and then sat down in the empty seats, still talking and laughing.
They started watching short videos and gossiping.
“Do you think Lemon and that handsome roommate of his are a real couple?”
“Tsk, tsk. You’re so naive. With a boy as pretty as Lemon in a men’s dormitory, do you think he only has one boyfriend?”
“He’s probably got at least three.”
“But I still suspect Lemon is a girl.”
“Who cares? Anyway, what I hate most are girls pretending to be guys or guys pretending to be girls. If Lemon is lying, I’m definitely going to track down where she lives!”
“If Lemon turns out to be a girl, I’m turning from a fan to a hater on the spot. I’ll flame her to death!”
“Count me in!”
How terrifying.
Song Qiuyu hurriedly pulled down her small hat to cover her face. She reached into her snack bag, pulled out a bag of cucumber-flavored snack chips, and tore it open with trembling hands.
‘I can’t let them find out that Lemon is sitting right next to them!’
‘Ugh…’
‘While a few fans don’t represent the whole, most of them would probably react like this.’
Come summer vacation, when her condition was announced and she told the truth, would the fans who had supported her turn into haters or just strangers?
She imagined it. She probably didn’t have the strength to endure a storm of abuse, and she might even end up on the trending search list because of it.
The very thought was terrifying.
Her body was tense as she crunched on the chips. She nervously licked her fingertips and looked down at her chat with Jiang Xiao.
Clutching her phone, she hesitated for two seconds before tapping the screen and sending a message about her current situation.
She held her breath, hoping Jiang Xiao would reply instantly.
As she hoped, Jiang Xiao replied quickly: “Xi’er, it’s okay. Take a deep breath and relax. The more nervous you are, the more likely you are to make a mistake!”
A smile blossomed on Song Qiuyu’s pretty face. She nodded quickly and replied with an “okay.”
After taking two deep breaths, she closed her eyes. Her heart, which had been racing with anxiety, gradually returned to its normal rhythm.
Song Qiuyu let out a sigh of relief.
‘Ah, this is what it feels like to have a boyfriend! It’s so nice!’
An itchy sensation tickled her heart, like countless ants biting her over and over, yet she couldn’t stop herself from enjoying the feeling.
Then, to her surprise, the girl next to her suddenly turned her head and stared at her intently!
“Are you a lady? You smell so good!” the girl said with a smile.
“Uh…”
Song Qiuyu pursed her lips and lowered her voice, intentionally sounding a bit annoyed. “Thanks, but I’m a guy.”
She hoped that one sentence would kill the conversation, but the three girls became even more persistent. They kept trying to chat with her about all sorts of things, making Song Qiuyu feel exhausted.
She just wanted to give them vague answers.
Just then, the girl next to her accidentally spilled some juice on her trousers. Song Qiuyu instinctively looked down at her legs.
As she turned her head, she caught a glimpse of the three girls’ stunned expressions.
In that instant, Song Qiuyu froze too.
Her hands holding the phone trembled slightly.
‘Uh-oh. I slipped up.’
“Lem… Lemon?”
The fashionable girl across from her looked shocked. She covered her red lips with her pink-nailed hands and let out a soft cry.
“Oh my god…”
The girl with twin tails sitting across from her was also staring in shock, stuttering slightly. “Th-this is such a coincidence.”
“…”
The girl with the curly hair next to her, who was holding the juice, couldn’t say a word.
It was obvious that the three of them remembered what they had said earlier. Their expressions became increasingly awkward.
The air seemed to freeze.
“So—” The hottie was the first to speak.
In that critical moment, Song Qiuyu casually rubbed the back of her neck and let out a light laugh.
“That’s right, that’s right. The Lemon you were talking about is me!”
That one sentence successfully killed the conversation.
“I was trying to keep you from being embarrassed, which is why I didn’t want to be recognized. But I guess I was caught anyway.”
Song Qiuyu coughed twice, pulled some paper napkins from her pocket, and wiped the juice off her trousers.
“I don’t really mind, honestly. It’s only natural for people to gossip about these things. I’ve long since gotten used to seeing and hearing it.”
Having said that, she tilted her head up and gave them a sweet, cute smile.
The three girls, who had been fierce and harsh when gossiping, turned into cowards the moment they met the subject of their gossip. Hearing her words, they were stunned for a moment. They seemed to have forgotten how to speak, only able to make vague “uh” and “ah” sounds.
They had expected a big argument today. After all, her earlier “Thanks, but I’m a guy” had sounded like she was angry!
However, the current situation was completely beyond their imagination.
Lemon didn’t seem angry at all. Instead, she was being considerate of their feelings.
Thinking more about her words, they felt overwhelmed with guilt and self-reproach. It was one thing to gossip in private, but to say it right in front of the person was too much!
Even if it was unintentional.
“Don’t be so nervous. Meeting like this is fate. Do you want to take a photo or something?”
Seeing that they were all intimidated, Song Qiuyu’s tension vanished. she took the chance to professionally display her personal charm.
The three girls eagerly accepted.
Once they realized Song Qiuyu was truly easygoing, they began to open up. They talked more and more freely, sharing their upcoming plans.
Song Qiuyu didn’t stay idle either. She curiously asked about “girl things” like their manicures and perfumes, taking notes as she went.
And so, the journey that was supposed to be lonely and boring became lively and fulfilling once again.
When the train reached the final station, Song Qiuyu said goodbye to her three new friends. She pushed her luggage out of the station, found a milk tea store, and walked inside.
“One hot pearl milk tea, half sugar, please!”
“Coming right up!”
After a brief exchange with the waiter, she picked a seat in the back, took a breather, and pulled out her phone.
With a smile, she opened the dormitory group chat and told her three roommates that she had arrived in South Wind City.
[Jiang Xiao]: That was fast. I’ll still be a while.
[Xie Zhuran]: I’m almost there too. Old Song, get a milk tea for me too!
[Lin An]: 1111.
[Song Qiuyu]: OKK.
[Jiang Xiao]: Then get one for me too. The same as yours is fine.
[Xie Zhuran]: Tsk, you two are really showing off.
[Lin An]: @Xie Zhuran. Speaking of which, Old Xie, is your hairstyle still that orange-yellow afro?
“Ahem!”
Song Qiuyu secretly suspected that Lin An had already caught onto something.
Haji Xie was being too obvious with his targeting; he wasn’t even trying to act? The next six months weren’t going to be easy!
Damn it!
Oh well. Quite a few people knew already anyway. If it really couldn’t be kept a secret, then so be it.
If everything came out, she would be the one who benefited the most.
Thinking of this, she asked her two roommates what milk tea they wanted and then immediately waved to the waiter to order four more cups.
The fourth cup was for Xia Qi. Xia Qi wasn’t in the dormitory group chat, but she was sitting next to Lin An, so he asked for one for her as well.
Then, perhaps because the train ride was so dull, Lin An soon posted a link to play Go in the group, inviting everyone to join.
Xie Zhuran was the first to enter and began a match against Lin An.
Song Qiuyu just watched them play without joining in, simply because she had no idea how to play Go.
If it were just a bunch of beginners fumbling around, it wouldn’t matter. The problem was that Xie Zhuran, Lin An, and even Xia Qi were unexpectedly good at it.
Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth.
She minimized the QQ chat and the Go page and opened a new browser window.
‘If you’re bad, you just have to learn.’
Just as she was frantically searching for introductory Go courses online, hoping to cram some knowledge and show off later, a figure suddenly sat down in the seat across from her.
Song Qiuyu froze and stared blankly. The person wasn’t Xie Zhuran or anyone else—it was Jiang Xiao.
“Need some help? I played Go with my grandpa for a while. I know a thing or two.”
Jiang Xiao raised an eyebrow at her and said with a light chuckle.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but smile too.
Sang Tian: Want to see more exciting sequels and sweet moments between Song Classmate and Jiang Xiao? Vote for me, and I’ll help push them together!