"Dad."
"Where's Mom?" Jiang Chen called out to his old man in the living room.
Jiang's Father retorted irritably, "You brat, all you ever do is look for your mom the whole day. You're about to leave and you don't even spare a word for your old man."
"Your mom went downstairs to buy your favorite sweet soybean milk and deep-fried dough sticks."
Today was the day Jiang Chen set off for university. Throughout his three years in high school, Jiang Chen's academic performance had been fairly decent, and he managed to get into a pretty good university. However, it wasn't very close to home, and he had to travel to another province.
His parents had originally thought about driving Jiang Chen there, but Jiang Chen refused. Jiang Chen felt it was unnecessary; his parents still had to work on weekdays, and they would have to take a day off just to send him off, so he politely declined their kind offer.
The sound of a lock turning came from the front door—it was his mother returning, holding the dough sticks and soybean milk in her hands.
"You're up, Chenchen. Hurry up and wash up. Once we finish eating, we have to catch the high-speed rail."
Half an hour later, the three of them were sitting in the car. His mother, Jiang Hui, was holding his hand in the back seat, while the old guy drove up front by himself.
"Chenchen, you must study hard once you get to university. It would be even better if you could find a girlfriend."
Jiang Chen wasn't too surprised by his mother's words. His mother was quite the fun-loving character; while other parents in high school forbade their children from dating early, his own mother had told him back then that if he met someone he liked, he could give it a try. She never once said he couldn't date early, and she loved gossiping and asking about other people's children's relationships.
"I know, Mom. If I meet the right person, I'll give it a try."
The whole way there, it was his mother holding his hand and chatting with him about university life, reminding him to stay safe, telling him to ask the family for money if he didn't have enough, and advising him to get along well with his classmates.
Jiang Chen didn't find it annoying at all; he felt that his mother was only doing it for his own good.
After getting out of the car and saying goodbye to his parents, Jiang Chen took his luggage and headed into the station. This was his first time taking the high-speed rail by himself.
After passing ticket check, he found his seat and looked at the ticket details.
The high-speed rail journey from Qing City to Nancheng took five hours, with a half-hour stop in Sucheng in the middle.
Jiang Chen was sitting in seat D, while seat F next to him already had a girl sitting in it, wearing a face mask. Although her face wasn't clearly visible, Jiang Chen could tell from her figure that she was a beauty.
After sending a message to his parents to let them know he had boarded the train, Jiang Chen fell asleep. When he heard that the Sucheng station had arrived, Jiang Chen woke up in a daze. After checking his phone to see that it was 12 o'clock and looking at the messages his parents had sent, Jiang Chen asked the train attendant for a boxed meal. As he scanned the code to pay, the previously groggy Jiang Chen instantly snapped wide awake—a single boxed meal cost 25 yuan.
When Jiang Chen tasted it, he felt the flavor wasn't even as good as the 10-yuan boxed meals in the school cafeteria. He swore to himself that he would never buy this kind of boxed meal again in this lifetime.
After this little episode, the next stop was Nancheng. Coincidentally, Jiang Chen discovered that the girl sitting next to him was also getting off at Nancheng.
When she boarded the train, he had been too sleepy to notice, but now the girl had taken off her mask. Jiang Chen looked at her face and drifted off slightly in thought; the girl had fair skin without a trace of expression, giving off a keep-them-at-a-thousand-miles-away vibe.
Jiang Chen followed her all the way to the exit and watched her get into a car before hailing a ride on his phone as well.
After taking a car to the university, looking at the imposing school gates and the bustling registration scene, Jiang Chen dragged his suitcase over to the Finance Department registration desk.
The people in charge of reception were a volunteer team formed by senior students.
A senior sister at the registration desk saw Jiang Chen and secretly poked another girl next to her: "Momo, look, a handsome guy is coming."
"Good sister, I'll handle this reception."
"Fine, like I don't know you—you lose all ability to walk when you see a handsome guy."
The two of them exchanged a glance, smiled, and waved Jiang Chen over.
"Junior, are you from the Finance Department?"
Hearing them call out to him, Jiang Chen hurriedly responded, "Yes, Senior Sister, Jiang Chen from Finance Class 1."
"Alright, let me check... Jiang Chen, Dormitory 408."
"However, Junior, it's very unfortunate that your dormitory building is undergoing renovations. You guys might need to go rent a place outside after a while, though the school provides a monthly subsidy of 1200."
When Jiang Chen heard that, he was completely dumbfounded. This really was misfortune opening the door for misfortune—misfortune had come home in full force: "Okay, Senior Sister, I understand."
After continuing with the registration procedures, the senior sister asked for Jiang Chen's contact information: "If you're renting an apartment, I have friends I know around here."
"Okay, Senior Sister."
After finishing the paperwork, Jiang Chen arrived at the dormitory and looked at the reasonably clean room before him. It was a four-person room with beds on top and desks below, and currently, he was the only one there.
He didn't plan on tidying up too much either, since he would be moving out to rent an apartment in a week anyway.
After a simple cleanup, Jiang Chen sat on his stool playing on his phone, browsing local rental information.
The dorm door was pushed open, and a rather sturdy boy walked in. Seeing Jiang Chen, he grinned: "You're in this dorm too, right? My name is Ding Junfei, and I'm from Liao City."
"Jiang Chen, I'm from Qing City," Jiang Chen said with a smile.
"Do you know we have to move dorms?"
"I know, that's why I didn't unpack my luggage much."
"Are you planning to rent a place outside then?"
Jiang Chen said helplessly, "I don't have any other choice. What about you?"
Ding Junfei said, "My aunt's family is here, so I might stay with her. If you can't find a place, you can come with me."
Jiang Chen wore a smile as he expressed his sincere gratitude to Ding Junfei. The two of them looked at each other and smiled, officially considering themselves acquainted from that moment on. Not long after, the remaining two people in the dorm also arrived one after another.
One of them was named Wang Congle, and his home was right in this city—he could be considered a true-blue local. Another person was named Ye Nian, and to his surprise, his home was also local. As a result, apart from Jiang Chen, everyone else in the entire dorm was a local, which made Jiang Chen feel a faint sense of desolation and helplessness.
At this moment, Jiang Chen inwardly bewailed his bad luck. Right now, he was the only one in the dorm who hadn't found a suitable place to live yet, which truly fit the old saying: When a person's luck is bad, even drinking cold water gets stuck between their teeth!
Looking at the relaxed and carefree expressions of his roommates, Jiang Chen could only sigh inwardly, calculating in his mind how to resolve this major housing problem as quickly as possible.
Browsing the rental information on his phone, he called his parents to talk about renting an apartment. The two of them were quite generous, telling him to rent a decent place and not to worry too much about the money.
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Jiang Chen thought to himself. The four roommates prepared to find a nearby restaurant for a meal; after all, since they had just arrived, they definitely needed to get together.
At night, the four of them came to a barbecue restaurant near the school. After ordering some skewers and a few beers, Wang Congle said, "We're in luck this time—our counselor is a major beauty."
Ding Junfei asked in confusion, "Didn't we just arrive? How would you know?"
"I know a senior student who happens to be our class assistant. He was chatting with me about it. Apparently, this teacher is quite famous too, and she's in charge of our grade this time."
"Oh right, she's only a few years older than us, and she stayed at this school as a counselor right after graduation. Word has it she was even a campus belle back then."
Listening to Wang Congle's words, everyone became interested; after all, who wouldn't be interested in a beauty?