Xu Chacha shook her head, then turned and pulled Jiang Shu along, "Let's go, it's not good to be late."
Su Qing couldn't stand being pestered by Zhu Zhu either, so she chased after them, saying, "Wait for me!"
Xu Chacha walked along laughing, "Hurry up, the stairs are waiting for you."
None of the girls in their dorm were short. Jiang Shu and Xu Chacha were about the same height, and Su Qing and Zhu Zhu, wearing high heels, were probably around 1.7 meters tall. The four of them walking side by side attracted a lot of attention.
Jiang Miao was waiting at the door ten minutes early. When he saw Xu Chacha in the distance, his eyes lit up.
"Cha Cha, you're here."
"Hi senior, I just finished my work and came along. You don't mind having another person, do you?"
"Of course I don't mind." Jiang Miao raised his hand to introduce the people to each other. "These are all from the student union of the college. You can call them senior sisters or senior brothers as you like."
Then she turned around and introduced Xu Chacha to the people behind her, "Look, this is the pretty junior you've all been clamoring to see. The few pretty girls next to her are her roommates."
“Zhu Zhu, Jiang Shu… Su Qing.” Jiang Miao introduced their names according to his memory. “That’s right, isn’t it?”
Jiang Shu nodded. "Yes, I remember correctly."
"Senior, you have such a good memory!" Zhu Zhu's eyes lit up. "What should we eat?"
"How about barbecue?" Jiang Miao pointed in a direction. "A new shop just opened. A few of them ate there and said it tasted good."
"Yay! Barbecue is the best for late-night snacks!" Zhu Zhu exclaimed with delight.
Su Qing whispered to her, "Didn't you just eat spicy hot pot this afternoon to fill your stomach? Why do you still look like you're starving?"
Zhu Zhu touched her abdomen. "I don't know. I think my stomach might be leaking."
Xu Chacha reminded, "Don't overeat, it'll upset your stomach. You also stay up late a lot, which weakens your immune system, and then there are those sugary drinks..."
"Help!" Zhu Zhu covered her mouth. "Grandma! Can I call you Grandma? We're outside, why are you calling me that?"
Jiang Shu pursed her lips and exchanged a smile with Su Qing.
At first, when Xu Chacha, with her young and beautiful face, mentioned that the three of them had irregular lifestyles, they all looked astonished, their jaws practically dropping to the ground.
Who would have thought that Xu Chacha, a girl in her teens, could be more talkative than an old lady?
However, after being called on so many times, they got used to it and even gave Xu Chacha a nickname: "Health-conscious Beauty".
Xu Chacha herself didn't seem to care much.
They entered the barbecue restaurant, which was quite large. Downstairs there were scattered small stools, while upstairs there were large round tables reserved for large gatherings.
Jiang Miao was very decisive. Despite it being her first time ordering food and choosing seats, she acted very experienced. She asked about the dietary restrictions and drinks that the guests wanted, and then handed the menu back to the owner.
"Why are you still standing? Sit down." She turned her head and saw a table that had just been cleared out outside the balcony. "That's good. Boss, please help us tidy up so we can go to the balcony."
"Okay, wait a minute."
The boss was a middle-aged man in his forties. He worked very efficiently. He took an iron basin, swept all the trash into it, and immediately wiped his left hand clean with a rag. "Come on, sit down. The water will be ready soon."
Jiang Miao's group of seasoned veterans found seats near the food serving area, while Xu Chacha remained standing, unsure where to sit.
"Come sit next to me," Jiang Miao beckoned to Xu Chacha. "Don't get too close to those old foxes, it's bad luck."
A boy with a buzz cut spoke up, "What's wrong? Do you think we'll eat people?"
Jiang Miao retorted, "Yeah, you guys not only eat people, but you also specifically target pretty female students."
"Oh my, President Jiang is so protective of his own!" The short-haired girl, who was also there during orientation, joined in the teasing. "If I had known you were so good at spoiling people, I would have repeated a year to be your junior."
"Okay, you'll repeat the year today, and I'll arrange it for you tomorrow." After Jiang Miao finished speaking, she stood up and pulled Xu Chacha and the others to sit down. "Don't be afraid even if they eat people, your senior will protect you."
Zhu Zhu chose a seat outside, and the others secretly squeezed Xu Chacha next to Jiang Miao, saying, "Senior is so nice, it's easy for me to fall in love with you."
Su Qing rolled her eyes at her. "Zhu Zhu, here you go again. If you don't have sex with four or five people a day, do you think you can keep talking all day?"
"You're so fierce."
Once the conversation flowed, the atmosphere wasn't as awkward as it had been at the beginning. Although the seniors were quick to take advantage of others, they were actually quite considerate of the juniors. When the dishes were served, they would pass the first dish to the seniors first, and only when the dishes got cold would they clear the plates together.
Xu Chacha is the type of person who talks less when there are many people around, and she also doesn't have a strong appetite, so she eats very slowly.
Jiang Miao thought she didn't like the dishes she ordered, so he asked the owner for another menu and handed it to her, saying, "Order whatever you want to eat again."
Xu Chacha quickly shook her head. She had developed a psychological trauma from being force-fed like a pig by her elders when she was a child, and she was afraid that Jiang Miao would suffer the same fate.
After all, it seems that she takes care of herself almost as attentively as she takes care of a half-daughter.
"No need, senior. I ate too much at lunch and can't eat anymore."
"Then have these garlic scallops, they're small and appetizing." Jiang Miao put some on her plate.
"Thanks."
"By the way, junior, do you know Professor Lang Shu?" The short-haired girl, who had been holding back for half the meal, finally couldn't help but ask. "I've noticed you often collaborate with him."
Xu Chacha had no intention of hiding her secret. With the internet so readily available these days, even if she didn't say anything, people would find out pretty much everything. Zhu Zhu and the others had asked her about it when school started, and she had answered them all.
“Yes, I know him. He’s a really nice teacher. He’s the one who got me into this industry,” Xu Chacha replied with a smile, looking into the senior’s eyes.
"It really is you!" The short-haired girl covered her face. "Isn't it weird for a senior to ask you for an autograph? My mom is a fan of yours, I'm not kidding!"
"Senior's mother..." Xu Chacha tilted her head, her expression a little unreadable, but she still nodded. "Signing an autograph is no problem, but my autograph isn't worth much. I'm just glad you don't mind."
"How could I possibly mind! My mom would probably be so happy she'd give me an extra two thousand yuan for living expenses." The short-haired girl hadn't expected Xu Chacha to be so easy to talk to, and immediately handed over the notebook she had prepared in advance.
"You're so spineless. Couldn't you have waited until you finished eating before asking them to sign?" Jiang Miao glanced at her sideways.
"It's alright, Senior Jiang Miao." Xu Chacha stood up, took the notebook with both hands, and skillfully signed her name.
Then she drew a cartoon character with short hair and a big head next to it. The cartoon character was squinting and smiling. At first glance, it looked somewhat similar to her when she was a child.
"Ahhh! Thank you so much! To celebrate my mom getting her idol, what do you want to eat? I'll buy it for you!"
"Haha, senior, you're so funny! Really, no need, I'm already full." Xu Chacha waved her hands repeatedly.
Hearing her praise the short-haired girl for being interesting, Jiang Miao's chewing slowed down for some reason. She glanced at Xu Chacha out of the corner of her eye and found that she was smiling happily with her lips curled up, her eyes sparkling under the light.
How should I put it? It's so bright that you can't take your eyes off it.
But she also knew that Xu Chacha was probably just like that by nature, able to quickly get along with anyone. She secretly felt that she might be more special to Xu Chacha than others.
Damn it, something's not right, Jiang Miao, she cursed herself inwardly, "Are you trying to turn yourself gay?"
"Oh, right, there's something else I'm really curious about." Now that they'd finally managed to steer the conversation towards Xu Chacha, they decided to dig deeper. "Was Wen Mubai, the former campus belle of Q University, your aunt?"
“We’re not relatives, but we’re close family members, so we’ve known each other since we were little. I’m used to calling her Auntie,” Xu Chacha replied, sipping her lemonade.
"Haha, Ah Yang, this is the closest you've ever gotten to your childhood goddess!" someone joked to the buzz-cut boy.
"Junior, since that's the case, why don't you give me your contact information and help him pursue him?" The short-haired girl patted the boy on the back and said with a smile.
The boy with the buzz cut touched his neck sheepishly, "That's not a good idea, she might already have a boyfriend."
“She doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Xu Chacha’s smile changed. The corners of her mouth were still up, but her eyes were not as gentle as before. “But it’s not easy to give her her contact information. She’s focused on her work and has even turned down all the blind dates her family has arranged for her.”
The blind date arranged by the family must be a good match in terms of social status and background. What can a short-haired college student compare to them? Besides, the former doesn't even meet Wen Mubai's standards.
"It seems so. Your goddess is now the editor-in-chief in HN, Y country. She doesn't have time for romance with a young boy like you."
"I...I didn't mean anything by it, don't talk nonsense."
"Come on, your face is all red. You're not the one who's holding that magazine cover for an entire class period."
The short-haired girl spoke directly and loudly, which made everyone laugh, but Xu Chacha gradually lost interest.
Perhaps it's because she doesn't like Wen Mubai being casually paired up with other people, and she also dislikes the undisguised admiration and shyness that the senior showed when mentioning Wen Mubai.
Her hand, which was under the table, unconsciously clenched into a fist, and she felt an unpleasant feeling that her possessions were being spied on.
However, Wen Mubai was never anyone's possession.
Xu Chacha shook her head to clear her mind of the terrible thoughts, tilted her head back, picked up her glass, and took a big gulp. However, she didn't realize that she had taken Jiang Shu's glass instead, and only after drinking it did she realize that it was beer.
"Cough cough cough."
"What's wrong? You misread this?" Jiang Shu patted his back. "You're alright. I think you said you can't hold your liquor."
Xu Chacha shook her head. "The beer should be fine."
"Are you dizzy?" Jiang Miao asked worriedly, drawn by her commotion. "Do you not like them talking about you? I told them to stop."
"No, it's quite interesting. I enjoy listening to the upperclassmen chat," Xu Chacha interrupted her.
"It's just a bunch of idle people gossiping. If you like it, I'll add you to the group, and they can chat for 99+ minutes."
"Haha, then you should pull Zhu Zhu, she's a chatterbox too."
"Yeah, let's all add each other on WeChat. That way we can keep in touch if anything comes up, and call us anytime if we want to go out for a late-night snack," the short-haired girl suggested.
"Okay!" Zhu Zhu was the first to raise her hand.
The group added each other as friends, and Jiang Miao simply created a group chat and added everyone in.
Taking advantage of the moment, Xu Chacha got up and said, "I'm going to the restroom. You guys continue eating."
“Okay, go to the first floor of the restroom and turn right,” Jiang Miao told her.
"Thank you, senior."
Xu Chacha put her phone in her pocket, walked down the stairs, but instead of going to the restroom, she went straight to the owner. "Boss, how much is our table? I'll pay the bill."
"Oh, six tables? Wait a moment while I find the order form."
The shopkeeper pulled out the receipt and handed it to Xu Chacha. "Take a look. It comes to 1723. I'll round it down to 1700."
Xu Chacha glanced at the bill, then readily took out her phone to pay. "Thank you, boss. I'll come back to eat here again next time I have time."
"Sure, please patronize our business." The owner smiled and handed Xu Chacha a large bottle of Coke. "Here's another Coke for you, students, drink less alcohol."
"Okay, I'll go up and keep an eye on things." Xu Chacha took the cola, thanked the shop owner, and then turned to leave.
Turning her head, she saw that Jiang Miao had already come down and was standing on the handrail at the corner, staring at her.
"Senior, are you here to use the restroom too?" Xu Chacha raised her hand to greet her.
Jiang Miao came down and saw the Coke she had hidden behind her back. "I told you it was my treat, why did you sneak down to pay the bill?"
"I had already agreed with Zhu Zhu and the others that I would treat them."
"How much? I'll transfer it to you." Jiang Miao took out his phone.
"Goodbye, senior." Xu Chacha pushed her hand away. "It's just a meal, how much could it cost? You can treat me to a meal at the cafeteria next time."