Shen Xingruo was also somewhat surprised to see Li Ting, but after the initial surprise, she didn’t react much and simply said, “What a coincidence.”
Who wants to be coincidental with you…
Li Ting couldn’t find the words. She sat in the dormitory, unable to snap out of her daze.
Bai Lu’s heart raced as she listened to Chen Mengmeng’s latest update, learning that Lu Xingyan’s girlfriend had transferred to Xing University. In an instant, she recalled the humiliation she had endured over the past half year, feeling a mix of anger and fear.
At the same time, she also felt that she couldn’t be the only one feeling stifled. So, she hurriedly went to find Li Ting in her new dormitory.
Besides Li Ting and Shen Xingruo, there were also two girls from the Foreign Languages Department in the new dormitory. When Bai Lu arrived, Shen Xingruo was in the bathroom, while Li Ting was chatting with the two new roommates.
As soon as Li Ting saw her, her expression turned sour. “What are you doing here?”
Bai Lu stood at the door, smiling, “Nothing, just wanted to talk to you about something.”
“So, do you have something to say or not?”
Li Ting’s tone was quite aggressive.
Bai Lu didn’t mind and continued to smile, “Mengmeng told me that Lu Xingyan’s girlfriend transferred to our school. Wasn’t she your high school roommate? You tore up her exam paper and had to move out because of it. I’m worried she might come looking for trouble, so I came to give you a heads-up.”
The two girls from the Foreign Languages Department faintly felt that something was off.
Lu Xingyan’s girlfriend was Shen Xingruo, right? So, did that mean Li Ting had torn up Shen Xingruo’s exam paper? What was going on here?
Li Ting was on the verge of exploding. Bai Lu, this jerk, was here to tell her new roommates about her dark history!
She was about to confront Bai Lu when suddenly the bathroom door opened, and Shen Xingruo stepped out, walking towards the doorway while drying her hands.
Reaching the doorway, Shen Xingruo said to Li Ting, “Li Ting, can I borrow your library card? Mine hasn’t been processed yet.”
Li Ting was taken aback.
Bai Lu recognized Shen Xingruo and was stunned!
This… this couldn’t be…!!!
Shen Xingruo seemed to notice them just now, glanced at them casually, and greeted, “Long time no see.”
Bai Lu’s face turned ashen, but she didn’t say a word and quickly ran off, feeling utterly humiliated. What a “long time no see”! She never wanted to see her again in her entire life! She was like the king of hell!!!
Li Ting stood at the doorway, dumbfounded, until Bai Lu disappeared before snapping back to reality.
She subconsciously looked at Shen Xingruo, unable to understand why Shen Xingruo would help her.
Shen Xingruo also looked at her for a while and then said, “Library card.”
“Oh… wait a moment, please.”
Li Ting hesitated slightly as she rummaged through her belongings and found the library card. She handed it to Shen Xingruo, lowering her voice, “I used to share a dorm room with Bai Lu. Be careful around her and her best friend.”
“Her best friend is named Chen Mengmeng, and both of them are in the student union with Lu Xingyan. I’m not trying to sow discord, it’s true. Chen Mengmeng is even worse than Bai Lu. I’ve spent enough time with her in the same dorm to know.”
“Understood.”
Shen Xingruo seemed unfazed as she took the library card and walked out.
The main reason she had come to Xing University as an exchange student was because of her love-struck brain. These two schools were quite puzzling; usually, exchanges were within the same tier of schools. It was unclear what historical reasons led to exchanges between these two different-tiered schools. But even if there were, in previous years, it had mostly been one-way exchanges from Xing University to the other. No one would come from the other school to Xing University.
She had chosen this because there was no competition. However, there were practical considerations too. Professor Pan, who she greatly admired and had even intended to bring a sophomore into one of her literary projects, had been appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Xing University. Professor Pan was a big name in literary studies in China, and being part of her project group in sophomore year would be beneficial.
However, with Professor Pan’s move, the focus of the project group would naturally shift. The graduate and doctoral students already in the project group wouldn’t be affected much, but it wasn’t necessary to have a sophomore from another university as a remote assistant.
Furthermore, there was a serious conflict between the double major she wanted to pursue and the exchange program. She could only choose one to give up.
But if she was willing to exchange to Xing University and work on Professor Pan’s project, and if Professor Pan was also willing to help her navigate through, breaking a precedent and allowing her to minor in law at Xing University, of course, provided she could handle it and earn enough credits.
With all the things to do right after starting school, she didn’t have time to deal with Chen Mengmeng for the time being. But as long as Shen Xingruo didn’t stir up trouble, there were always people trying to probe her limits.
On Friday night, after finishing the busy recruitment, the Student Union planned to have a gathering.
Liu Xingyan asked Shen Xingruo if she wanted to go together, but Shen Xingruo didn’t respond. Instead, he sent her the address, saying that if she finished her work early, she could come find him. If not, she could just go home.
Liu Xingyan felt like she had a lot on her plate and didn’t know what was going on. They were at the same school now, but it seemed even harder to meet than when they weren’t.
He was quite frustrated.
At eleven o’clock that night, after the gathering ended, a group of people came out from playing board games, still excitedly discussing the game they just played.
Liu Xingyan had driven over in his Aston Martin, which caught everyone’s attention. They all praised it, and one guy joked, “Hey, Liu, are you going back to school? Let me catch a ride and experience the Aston Martin.”
“Going back to school? I’m heading towards Lake Luoxing. If you’re going that way, I can give you a lift.”
The guy who wanted a ride chuckled lightly.
Just as everyone was about to go their separate ways, a senior who had befriended Chen Mengmeng received a signal and nudged her, “Mengmeng, aren’t you going to Same Heart Road? That’s conveniently on the way.”
“Liu Xingyan, why don’t you take Mengmeng with you? It’s quite late, and it’s not suitable for a girl to go home alone. Your girlfriend won’t mind sharing a ride, right?”
Chen Mengmeng looked bewildered as she was pushed towards the front passenger seat, appearing somewhat awkward and shy.
But Liu Xingyan didn’t open the door for her. “You can take a taxi. My family has strict rules, and I can’t have any other girls besides my mom and my girlfriend sitting in the front passenger seat.”
He said it to Chen Mengmeng, but his gaze swept past her, directly toward Shen Xingruo standing on the steps. After speaking, he raised his hand and smiled.