28.
In the end, they didn’t go to buy sanitary napkins. Liang Pei himself definitely wouldn’t go, and neither would his junior.
Zhou Mengyu felt his attempt to promote the product was a failure. Although he was willing to help Liang Pei buy it, he shouldn’t force it on him if he wasn’t interested. He believed that once Liang Pei experienced the discomfort of wearing military training shoes, he would realize how good sanitary napkins are!
The next day, Liang Pei got up before the roosters crowed, even though there were actually no chickens in the dormitory.
For Zhou Mengyu and his junior, a third-year student and a second-year student, this time of waking up was nothing short of hell- 6:30? 6:30!
They both felt like they were going to die when they got up at 7:50 in the morning. It had been so long since they had seen the sun at 6:30. Liang Pei actually had to get up at 6:30.
So young! So energetic!
So pitiful.
29.
Zhou Mengyu was woken up by Liang Pei’s alarm clock.
He poked his head out from behind the head tightly drawn blackout curtains and mumled incoherently, “It’s too hot. If you feel unwell, be sure to say so. Don’t push yourself.”
“Every year, some people suddenly faint. If you feel unwell, just say so, and the instructor will let you rest.”
“You must eat breakfast, you absolutely must!”
“Drink more water, be lazier, don’t strive to be a model of diligence, you won’t get a certificate.”
He mumbled a string of words before he came to his senses a little more. Just now, he had been talking without really thinking about what he was saying.
He saw Liang Pei staring at him silently. He thought it was because of his bedhead, so he casually scratched it. “Go on, don’t be late on the first day.”
Liang reached out and pulled his blackout curtains a little tighter. “Okay, you can go back to sleep.”
30.
But actually, Zhou Mengyu didn’t get much sleep either. His alarm went off at eight o’clock. Poor junior, he was woken up twice by alarms this morning.
The junior student, barely alive, said, “I’m fine. You’re the one whose suffering the most. You’re already a senior and still have to suffer with the freshmen!”
Zhou Mengyu had a rubber band in his mouth, ran his fingers through his hair a couple of times, and tied a small braid at the back of his head.
The student council was busiest during military training. They were basically assigned to be responsible for the classes. The counselors and homeroom teachers definitely wouldn’t come to check on them, only the student council was useful for hard labor.
If someone were to faint or feel unwell, someone would need to be watching over them.
Zhou Mengyu was naturally assigned to the class from the art college, and by the time he arrived, the military training had already begun.
There were many girls in the art college, and the instructors for this class were quite gentle and considerate, simply joking around with them.
He couldn’t sit still for long and kept wanting to go see Liang Pei.
31.
Liang Pei left a little after 6:30, and they didn’t gather until 7:00. Shouldn’t he have had breakfast by now?
Zhou Mengyu bought two breakfasts on a whim, only realizing it after he finished.
He nudged the class leader next to him, a little girl with pigtails.
“Keep an eye on our class for me, I’m going to take a look over there.”
The girl with twin ponytails nodded, giving hima look that said, “I’ll take care of you.”
Zhou Mengyu, carrying two steamed buns with braised pork and a bag of walnut wilk, pretended to be just strolling around casually…
Strolling around, he walked directly from the art college’s grounds to the sports college’s grounds.
He knew everyone in the student council of the sports college. Arts and sports are closely related, and the dormitories of the two colleges were all in the same place.
“Hey, who’s this?” a voice rang out.
Zhou Mengyu was unusually embarrassed.
32.
The vice president of the sports college’s student council was a true 1[mfn]Slang for Gong/Top[/mfn], and was 190cm tall. He admits that he even pursued Zhou Mengyu during their sophomore year.
At 190cm, he’s actually quite good-looking, and given the reality of there being fewer 1’s and many 0’s[mfn]Slang for Shou/Bottom[/mfn] in the world, quite a few people pursued him. This reality easily shapes many ordinary yet confident 1’s.
This ship was popular for a while, but the shipping frenzy ended after a few days.
Because when 190 was pursuing Zhou Mengyu, Zhou Mengyu was radiating embarrassment. The discomfort and awkwardness he exuded were so palpable that even from a distance, it gave you goosebumps and toes digging in. It was really impossible to ship them.
190 helped Zhou Mengyu secure a seat, and Zhou Mengyu said he had a condition where he couldn’t focus in class while sitting in the second row.
190 brought breakfast for Zhou Mengyu, and Zhou Mengyu, looking at the soup dumplings early in the morning, said he wanted to eat turkey.
190 modeled for Zhou Mengyu, and Zhou Mengyu said he dreamed last night that a master told him that he shouldn’t look at men’s bodies recently.
Even drug-addicted chickens have dignity; if they can’t take it anymore, they give up.
33.
“Why are you running to our college? Did you come to see me?” When 190 saw him, he took a step towards Zhou Mengyu and tried to put his arm around Zhou Mengyu’s shoulder, but Zhou Mengyu dodged him without any hesitation.
“Come to see the kids in my dorm,” Zhou Mengyu said.
“Oh, did someone from our college get assigned to your dorm?” 190 glanced around. “Is that the one? He was singled out by the instructors early this morning as a model student.”
“They’re selecting model students on the very first day??” Zhou Mengyu’s eyes widened.
“It’s just standing at attention, they made him stand at the front.” 190 smirked, “How can a man not understand men the most? With that upright posture, any man would e unwilling to lose, I even wanted to go and show off.”
The group from the sports college’s student council, who had been eavesdropping nearby, murmured: …That’s called showing off!
34.
Zhou Mengyu stood behind and watched for a while, but Liang Pei couldn’t see him. Liang Pei didn’t turn around until the instructor said it was time to rest.
His face was full of impatience, his bis brows were slightly furrowed, and he exuded an aura of “don’t bother me.” The hair on his forehead was a little damp from standing at attention for nearly an hour, but it obediently fell down.
Oh my god.
Zhou Mengyu heard several female students from the formation, and behind him, exclaim in quiet amazement, and he himself also gasped in surprise. It was out of appreciation for “beauty”.
Liang Pei’s gaze wandered aimlessly for a moment before suddenly stopping on Zhou Mengyu.
Zhou Mengyu raised his hand and shook the braised pork bun and walnut milk in his hand.
35.
Liang Pei sat on the basketball stands, slowly drinking walnut milk.
Zhou Mengyu bent down and moved someone’s back beside Liang Pei. His loose hair on both sides of his ears fell down, swaying, almost brushing against Liang Pei’s face. “I came to take a look, but I still have to go back in a bit.”
He hesitated for a moment and then said, “These people from the sports college don’t know how to take care of people. I bet they didn’t even prepare Huoxiang Zhengqi Water[mfn]A traditional Chinese medicine for heatstroke[/mfn]. They’re so straight-laced.
Liang Pei raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a straight man too?”
“Can all straight men be the same? I’m a meticulous straight man, I’m a straight man who washes socks, and I know that women’s lipstick shades are not limited to red and pink.”
Liang Pei asked him, “What other colors are there?”
Zhou Mengyu glanced at him, “Tomato red, pumpkin red, menstrual red[mfn]There’s menstrual red lipstick??[/mfn], red bean paste, strawberry, berry…”
Liang Pei: “…”
Zhou Mengyu explained, “After all, I studied fine arts.”
36.
190 leaned over, raised his arm to support himself on the basketball stand, and leaned against it at an angle.
His gaze fell on the walnut milk in Liang Pei’s hand, then swept over the two of them, and he asked Zhou Mengyu, “You two have only been in school for a few days, how come you’re already so familiar?”
The question sounded sarcastic, and Liang Pei looked up at him.
190 was standing, while Liang Pei was sitting.
But Liang Pei completely overwhelmed 190 with his aura.
190 had just wanted to show off a bit to Liang Pei, but being overshadowed made him even more displeased. Are new students so fierce now?
He gritted his teeth, “Didn’t your teacher tell you to show respect to the seniors?”
Liang Pei glanced at him calmly, “He did.”
Zhou Mengyu quickly pulled Liang Pei, gently tugging at the sleeve patch of Liang Pei’s military-style uniform, afraid that the next word Liang Pei would utter would be, “You think you’re worthy?” How could this kid have such a temper?
37.
After only a few minutes of rest, they had to go back to standing at attention. This morning, they did nothing but stand at attention.
In the instructors’ words, this is to temper your spoiled, pampered attitudes at home. This is the army, not a greenhouse. There are only soldiers, no flowers here!
They were really into it… What bad luck…
Liang Pei was once again moved to the front to be a model soldier, with broad shoulders and a wide back.
To be honest, how old is a freshman this year? Zhou Mengyu counted on his fingers, and he was only eighteen or nineteen years old, right? It’s rare for a kid to grow up to look as manly as Liang Pei.
So much so that Zhou Mengyu gradually stopped feeling like he was a senior when he was with him.
It seemed like they never had that senior-junior atmosphere! Zhou Mengyu belatedly realized this and felt somewhat indignant. He had endured two years to become a senior, and a freshman was behaving so disrespectfully towards him!
Didn’t his teacher say that he should show more respect to his seniors? Zhou Mengyu also started to think about this question.
38.
At lunchtime, when it was time to disperse, the freshmen rushed to the cafeteria like tigers pouncing on their prey. It was hilarious; the upperclassmen didn’t even get a chance to eat.
Zhou Mengyu was very experienced; he ordered takeout at 11 o’clock and bought three cups of mung bean smoothies downstairs when he carried the takeout back to his dormitory.
When he got back, he saw Liang Pei sitting at the table eating noodles with soybean paste.
Zhou Mengyu cleared his throat, straightened his back, broadened his shoulders, and walked to Liang Pei’s side.
He waved the mung bean smoothie in front of him. “Want some?”
Liang Pei held out his hand, “Thanks.”
“Call me senior,” Zhou Mengyu said.
Liang Pei paused for a moment before turning to look directly at Zhou Mengyu.
The two stared at each other for a moment, and Liang Pei smiled faintly, “Senior Xiaoyu.”
Zhou Mengyu: …Is there no law left in this world?!
39.
Zhou Mengyu: “Fine, if you don’t want to call me that, then you don’t have to.”
Liang Pei readily agreed: “Little Fish.”
Zhou Mengyu: “I suggest you remove the first words instead of the last two.”
Liang Pei: “You’re quite difficult to please.”
T/N: Another chapter done! When will Zhou Mengyu realize he isn’t ‘simply admiring art’? When will the junior have a name? Who knows!
