Chapter 296 Roommate

Xiao Jue leaned against the door frame, watching his back, the corners of his mouth still curved upwards.

He noticed the arrangement of the books on Zhou Heng's desk, which decreased in height, with the text on the spines all facing the same direction.

The clothes in the wardrobe were hung up according to their light and dark colors, and the toiletries were lined up on the sink with almost equal spacing.

Everything was in its proper place, neat and orderly, without any impeccable order.

"You've packed it all up nicely," Xiao Jue muttered with a smile, dragging his suitcase in, pulling out a chair, and starting to unpack.

His suitcase was clearly more lively than his personality: a few casually folded T-shirts, two pairs of shoes, a laptop, several odds and ends of unknown purpose, and a pair of headphones that looked expensive.

As he took his things out, he said, "I'm letting you know in advance that I might have a lot of stuff, which will take up some space, but don't worry, I won't litter in public areas. I'm pretty self-aware enough to do that."

Zhou Heng put the last book away, pulled out a chair and sat down, then took out his phone to unlock and lock it again.

The screen lit up for two seconds and then went dark. There were only a few official account notifications and system messages from the carrier on WeChat.

The curtains weren't drawn, and the afternoon light filled the room, making the wood grain of the tabletop shine.

The cicadas outside the window were chirping loudly, surging up in waves from the garden downstairs, carrying the last bit of summer's lingering heat.

Xiao Jue stuffed all his clothes into the closet, then realized he didn't have enough hangers. He pulled out a roll of super tape that had been stuffed in his bag sometime earlier, tore it in two, and used it to secure the charging cable along the edge of the table.

The other two roommates arrived in the afternoon.

The first to arrive was a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses, named Fang Yuzhou, majoring in Computer Science and Technology, who came from a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui.

His parents came along with him. His father carried a woven bag, and his mother carried a thermos and a washbasin. The three of them searched for the house number in the corridor for a long time before squeezing in with smiles.

Fang Yuzhou himself was quite quiet, with fair skin and a soft voice. When he said goodbye to his parents, he stood at the end of the corridor and waved, unlike the other freshmen in the corridor who had tears in their eyes.

The first thing he did upon entering the room was to rummage through drawers and find the dormitory air conditioner remote, turn it to 16 degrees Celsius, then sit down in a chair, let out a long sigh, and said, "It's so hot today."

Xiao Jue was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, unpacking his headphones. Hearing this, he turned his head and smiled at him: "You're a lifesaver."

Fang Yuzhou glanced at him, then at Zhou Heng across from him who was hanging clothes in the closet. His lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

He wasn't the type to be overly familiar with others, but Xiao Jue had an aura that made it impossible to completely ignore him, so he finally nodded in response.

The last person to arrive was right at lunchtime. He rushed in, holding a grilled sausage in his hand, half a bite still in his mouth, and gave a mumbled self-introduction.

"Cheng Yue, from Henan, works in logistics management. Just call me Lao Cheng."

This person has a round face, a buzz cut, and his eyes squint into slits when he smiles. He's the kind of person who can quickly become familiar with anyone.

He shoved his huge suitcase under the bed and started chatting with Xiao Jue within ten minutes. They talked about everything from college entrance exam math to which cafeteria auntie's hand didn't shake when serving food. He even asked Fang Yuzhou if he knew where there was an internet cafe near the school.

Fang Yuzhou shook his head, adjusted his glasses, and continued tidying up his neatly stacked professional books.

Cheng Yue didn't mind and turned to continue chatting with Xiao Jue. The two of them talked back and forth, and the dormitory suddenly became lively, like a place with people.

The four of us ate dinner together at the cafeteria.

Xiao Jue suggested it casually, as if they had known each other for a long time: "Let's go check it out together, we'll have to eat here eventually."

Cheng Yue was the first to respond, Fang Yuzhou hesitated for a moment and then nodded, Zhou Heng didn't say anything, but when Xiao Jue took out his campus card, he stood up and put his phone in his pocket, which was considered as his agreement.

The cafeteria is on the first floor. It's crowded, with long, winding queues in front of the food windows. The air is filled with the aroma of braised pork and scrambled eggs with tomatoes, making your throat feel sweet.

The four of them carried their trays and sat down at a four-person table by the window. Xiao Jue ordered a braised pork rib and a pickled fish. Cheng Yue had a bowl of oil-splashed noodles and two roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers) in front of him. Fang Yuzhou ate lightly, with scrambled eggs with tomatoes and rice. Zhou Heng's plate contained mushrooms and greens, stir-fried broccoli, and a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup. He only took two liang (100 grams) of rice, which looked like only half a bowl.

Xiao Jue glanced at his plate, his chopsticks pausing for a moment: "Eating so much vegetarian food?"

"I'm going to lose weight," Zhou Heng said.

Xiao Jue glanced at him, his gaze quickly sweeping across his face, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just smiled and said, "You're still trying to lose weight?"

Zhou Heng didn't say anything more and lowered his head to take a sip of soup.

Cheng Yue started the conversation during the meal. He can't keep quiet while eating, and he mumbled about his high school days while stuffing roujiamo (Chinese meat sandwich) into his mouth.

"Let me tell you, our homeroom teacher was truly something else. In our senior year of high school, to prevent us from dating, he implemented something called 'opposite-sex distance management,' stipulating that boys and girls could not be less than 50 centimeters apart. I measured it with a tape measure; it's true."

Xiao Jue laughed so hard his shoulders were shaking. "Measured with a measuring tape? You made that up, didn't you?"

"Why would I lie to you? A guy in my class said a couple of words to a girl from the next class, and a picture of him was posted in the parents' group chat. He had to write a 3,000-word apology." Cheng Yue's expression was exaggerated, but his tone was very confident, making it hard to tell whether he was serious or joking.

Fang Yuzhou was amused. He laughed very softly, the corners of his mouth curving slightly before disappearing, but he seemed much more relaxed than when he first arrived in the afternoon.