Autumn in Jiangnan passed quickly.
Like a girlfriend’s good mood in a relationship, it was fleeting.
More often, it was a biting cold that felt almost irrational—the kind that made people shiver.
“Holy shit, in a few days it’s gonna be single-digit temperatures, right?” Zhu Niao held her phone, looking surprised. “Are we already heading into winter?”
“Winter probably isn’t here yet, but it feels like finals are coming up fast.” Ye Qingchang tucked her neck behind her scarf.
“Isn’t that cultured? Eleven or twelve degrees already makes me feel cold all over.”
Liu Xie hugged his trench coat tighter.
“Wait, did I just use a four-character idiom? I’m such a dad.”
“Winter in the south is a wet cold. It feels like it seeps right into your knees.”
Yang Shuli pointed at a passing female student by the roadside.
“Look, she’s even wearing a skirt, and it’s only down to her knees.”
“I feel like autumn hasn’t even ended yet,” Zhu Niao said. “And if we’re being honest, Little Bird’s skirt is barely a miniskirt.”
“Compared to them, you actually look pretty normal with your long johns on,” Liu Xie said, shivering and jerking his chin toward Zhu Niao.
“Just like Little Bird—looks smooth on the outside but lined on the inside.”
“That’s actually ‘bare legs tights.’ They’re as thick as cotton-padded trousers underneath.”
Zhu Niao didn’t even shiver while standing at the curb, a stark contrast to her three roommates who were trembling beside her.
“You think I want to wear these?” Zhu Niao stiffened her neck. “I’m doing it because someone asked me to. He likes this look. What the hell do you know?”
“Then let me ask you: when you wear these, do you feel warmer, or do you think you look better?”
“Probably warmer. Look—” Zhu Niao lifted her right foot and pointed toward her knee. “See, there are wrinkles here. Honestly, it’s not even that good-looking.”
“So it’s just for warmth, right?” Yang Shuli crouched by the roadside curb, wrapped up like a dumpling from head to toe. “So sneaky, Little Bird. You’d actually do something like this just to stand out in front of your buddies.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ye Qingchang nodded in agreement. “That kind of competitiveness is seriously strong.”
“I remember seeing a short video once that said girls’ body temperature is three times higher than guys’?” Yang Shuli suddenly remembered something and lifted her head to ask. “But I don’t feel better compared to when I was a guy.”
“You can’t compare your current self to your past self. You should compare your current self to the guys,” Zhu Niao said, extending her hand.
“Wait, first of all, leaving aside the conclusion from your first sentence—” Zhu Niao then pointed at the half-dead Gou Yu beside her. “Look, in terms of cold resistance, we’re actually a little better than them.”
Then, as if telepathically sensing something, the group holding bamboo skewers abruptly turned their heads toward Yang Shuli.
On Yang Shuli’s skewer, at least half of the grilled sausage remained.
Worth mentioning: Gou Yu’s sausage had been paid for by Zhu Niao.
God knows what that guy had been up to lately—saving money like crazy, not spending, and delivering food until midnight.
If she hadn’t seen the records on her phone, Zhu Niao would have thought he was keeping a mistress on the side.
“Don’t rush. I’m fully savoring every inch of the cuisine’s beauty,” Yang Shuli started rambling nonsense. “Eating fast like you guys—you can’t appreciate the aesthetic flavor a dish has to offer.”
Only Xu Nian, who had wrapped Yang Shuli into a dumpling, nodded in agreement.
But even though Xu Nian and Gou Yu were dressed just as thinly, Gou Yu looked half-dead while Xu Nian’s complexion was normal.
So Zhu Niao reached a conclusion.
Xu Nian must be wearing thermal underwear.
As for Gou Yu, he’d hesitated whether to put on thermals before going out.
But thermals weren’t cool enough. It would be like Zhu Niao wearing cotton-padded trousers—hiding her strengths.
So he made a pact with Zhu Niao.
He wouldn’t wear thermals, and Zhu Niao wouldn’t wear cotton-padded trousers.
And thus, a combination that looked eye-catching but could fall apart at any moment was born.
Because Gou Yu felt like he could freeze to death on the street at any second.
They had arrived at the teaching building early, found out class hadn’t started, and decided to squat by the road eating grilled sausages to kill time.
The group had apparently miscalculated the delayed winter-time class schedule.
So there they were— six people, including the dorm’s four plus Gou Yu and Xu Nian at either end— either squatting or standing on the roadside curb, unsure of what to do next.
Passersby would get stared down by their direct gazes.
Scared, they’d quicken their pace to escape the scene.
People thought some street punks had sneaked onto campus, all avoiding them like the plague.
“I keep feeling like we have something to do,” Zhu Niao said, frowning as she thought for a long time but failing to remember.
“I think the next class has homework we haven’t done yet,” Ye Qingchang said, expression unchanged.
“What homework?” Liu Xie asked, jolting up like a dying man who’d just heard terrible news, a look of terror on his face.
“The positive energy short video,” Ye Qingchang replied matter-of-factly.
“When a fluff class like that doesn’t have any gimmicks during lectures, it means it’s about to pull gimmicks with the homework.”
“Don’t panic. Don’t lose your composure,” Zhu Niao continued. “When’s the deadline?”
“I’m Jiji King,” Liu Xie asked again. “Any requirements?”
“Urgent, urgent, urgent, urgent!” Zhu Niao immediately put on a different expression. “This time next week.”
“Actually, there are three options,” Ye Qingchang said. “One is a political propaganda lecture, which requires at least dozens of people in the audience. One is a public welfare activity—just needs to be for a good cause. The last one is the positive energy short video, about five minutes.”
“None of them sound easy to pull off,” Zhu Niao said, looking troubled.
“Actually, I do have an idea about this,” Ye Qingchang suddenly spoke up.
“Great, I knew you could do it!” Zhu Niao stood up. “Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“What are you thinking?” Ye Qingchang reached out and pressed down on Zhu Niao’s shoulder. “You’re definitely helping too. You think you can freeload?”
“Director, I really don’t look good on camera. You can let me off the hook for filming. I think I could edit the video, though,” Zhu Niao said, trying to escape.
“What nonsense are you talking?”
“You’re the number one on the campus beauty list. Need I say more about what that’s worth? You’re the most photogenic among us,” Ye Qingchang said with a friendly smile.
Then Ye Qingchang looked at Gou Yu.
Gou Yu raised his hands. “I’m just a street loiterer.”
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