Chapter 305: Covetousness

The engagement banquet came to a perfect end.

Everyone was very happy. Some people were not only happy but also moved.

There were also those who suspected that their fiancée had dropped a caterpillar into their ear while cleaning it.

Gou Yu slapped one side of his head, as if trying to shake out the caterpillar from the other ear.

“Stop hitting yourself. I didn’t put anything in there.” Zhu Niao stood nearby and rolled her eyes.

“Bullshit. Then why do my ears feel different? And it’s itchy. If you didn’t stuff something in, what else could it be?” Gou Yu kept slapping his own head.

“Isn’t it normal for both ears to feel different? I only cleaned one ear for you.” Zhu Niao stepped forward and grabbed Gou Yu’s hand. “Alright, alright, stop hitting. You’ll give yourself a concussion.”

“No, I can’t rest until whatever’s inside comes out.”

“There’s nothing inside! If it’s itchy, maybe you’re growing a brain.” Zhu Niao was genuinely afraid that Gou Yu would knock himself unconscious.

“Really?” After hearing Zhu Niao’s explanation, Gou Yu lowered his hand. “That makes me feel better. Itching is good.”

One by one, the guests smiled, said their goodbyes, and left the hall.

Of course, Zhu Niao’s dormmates hadn’t left yet. Those guys were using takeout boxes to ravage the remaining delicious dishes from their own table.

But they mostly grabbed desserts. Even if they took the other dishes back to the dorm, there was no chance of a second meal.

They also thoughtfully set aside a separate portion for Zhu Niao to take back.

That’s what good dormmates are like.

Having experienced the same thing at Liu Xie’s school opening banquet—wielding takeout boxes and packaging leftovers—Ye Qingchang and Liu Xie faced the curious stares of passing guests without any fear.

As for Yang Shuli, without prior experience, she learned this time on her own and even wanted Xu Nian to snatch untouched desserts from other tables.

In the end, Ye Qingchang stopped her. Ye Qingchang, who cared most about face, still thought packing their own table’s food was embarrassing enough.

So, it’s the thick-skinned ones who get full.

“Here, for you.” Ye Qingchang held out a takeout box and handed it to Zhu Niao. “Fatherly love is like a mountain.”

Zhu Niao respectfully took it, then changed her expression. She raised her ringed left middle finger. “Just a spineless grandkid.”

“Hey, you little brat…” Ye Qingchang pointed at Zhu Niao. “Today is your engagement banquet. I won’t argue with you. Just you wait until tomorrow.”

Zhu Niao handed the takeout box to Gou Yu, then clasped her hands behind her head, striking a classic Western music pose.

“Tomorrow is a holiday. You won’t see me.”

Ye Qingchang was fuming.

“Just wait for me, alright.”

Then she left.

Next was Liu Xie. She walked ahead, followed by Liu Anran.

Liu Anran didn’t speak. The two were like a Stand and its user.

“The most important thing is that you two live well.” She first gave her advice, then asked, “When do you two plan to hold the wedding?”

Zhu Niao was startled, then slowly said, “Getting married? That’s still far off. We haven’t thought that far ahead…”

“Hey.” Liu Xie raised a finger. “I hope you two know that if you can get a marriage certificate while in college, you can get extra credit.”

Zhu Niao’s expression immediately went flat.

She looked at Liu Xie, opened her mouth, and hesitated, as if embarrassed by what she was about to say.

But in the end, she spoke.

“Is there any possibility that for people like us—who never listen in class, just barely scrape by on finals, and have zero self-study motivation—whether or not there’s extra credit makes no difference at all?”

Liu Xie, who was about to leave, stopped in her tracks.

She paused, opened her mouth, and seemed to want to say something but stopped.

Finally, realizing that what Zhu Niao said was absolutely correct, she inexplicably lifted her skirt slightly and trotted off to chase Liu Anran, who had already walked briskly out the door.

Zhu Niao, of course, didn’t understand.

Among the three dormmates, the last to leave were Yang Shuli and Xu Nian.

Xu Nian and Yang Shuli were rather straightforward. They held hands, fingers interlaced.

Zhu Niao glanced at them, unfazed.

Probably the kid had just seen Gou Yu and her doing the same and wanted to imitate.

Kids, always learning some random stuff.

Yang Shuli walked up to Zhu Niao and Gou Yu and extended her hand toward Zhu Niao.

“Why haven’t you taught me how to date yet?” Yang Shuli said. “Don’t you listen to your dorm leader anymore?”

Zhu Niao remembered: her little dorm leader had asked her for dating tips right at the start of the engagement banquet.

Back then, she had brushed Yang Shuli off like coaxing a child.

Could Yang Shuli be serious?

“You don’t need to learn. This isn’t something you should be learning anyway.” Xu Nian held Yang Shuli’s hand, his expression and tone as gentle as ever.

“It’s never too late to learn, you know?” Yang Shuli racked her brain for that excuse. “More skills don’t weigh you down, you know?”

“I understand, but isn’t it enough that one of us knows how?” Xu Nian asked Yang Shuli in return.

“How is it the same when you do it versus when I do it?” After saying that, Yang Shuli suddenly realized, “Then you teach me.”

“Alright, I’ll teach you slowly.”

And so, Xu Nian coaxed the kid away.

Zhu Niao had to admire Xu Nian’s exceptional skill and natural talent in handling children.

With just a few words, he had fended off Yang Shuli for her.

What did she know about dating? She was still being led around by the nose by Gou Yu.

And whether they were really even dating was another matter.

Zhu Niao was stunned again.

That’s right—she and Gou Yu weren’t really dating. Why not just explain that to her dorm leader earlier?

It was the honest truth. What would it matter if she said it?

She recalled Ye Qingchang’s words, emphasized twice.

She probably just didn’t want to bring it up in front of Gou Yu, for fear of hurting his feelings.

A brief silence.

A question from deep within suddenly surfaced in her heart.

Was she caring about Gou Yu’s feelings to avoid hurting him, or was it simply because she had started to covet this relationship?

Did she want to deny this fragile, precarious relationship that could shatter at the slightest touch, or did she want to protect it?

A warm touch came from her hand—Gou Yu had taken hers.

“Do you want to go out and have some fun?”

‘Even if it’s covetousness, let her be covetous for a little longer.’