Zhang Chenxi accepted the friend request from Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon at lightning speed and coolly typed out, "Hello."
Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon: "Classmate, do you need a copy of Signals and Systems?"
Zhang Chenxi was ecstatic.
Puyue Cat: "Yes, Senior! If you're not using it, can you sell it to me?" (Expectant JPG)
Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon: "I need it for my graduate entrance exams, but I can lend it to you."
Hearing this, Zhang Chenxi became even more ecstatic, because borrowing a book was much cheaper than buying one.
Senior, you are my God in Charge of Being a Smartass! Zhang Chenxi mentally gave the senior a thumbs-up.
Puyue Cat: "Thank you so much, Senior! When you have time, could you leave it on the table downstairs in your dorm building? I'll come pick it up." (Kneeling in gratitude JPG)
The young woman raised an eyebrow as she looked at the message. You're a guy, and you use so many cute emojis?
She glanced at her own collection of panda and mouse stickers, feeling a bit sheepish.
Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon: "Then I'll leave it on the auntie's coffee table downstairs at Girls' Building No. 4, and you can grab it?"
Puyue Cat: "Alright, Senior. Just take a picture after you leave it there, and I'll go get it."
Having finally resolved his urgent problem, Zhang Chenxi felt the world was bright and magnificent once more, and everything was wonderful again.
Zhang Chenxi clicked on the game's interactive messages, staring at a somewhat familiar ID in deep thought until he finally remembered.
This week-long online girlfriend of his had vanished without a trace after the event ended.
Had a missing person returned? Aside from calling him to play the duo mode, she had never initiated a single conversation before.
After the event ended, even when both of them were online at the same time later on, neither had proactively invited the other to play.
What did it mean now that she was suddenly messaging him asking if he was there?
Could it be that she was being pestered by an ex-boyfriend and wanted to find him again to play the role of an official boyfriend as a shield, leading to an accidental spark in their feelings and turning fake love into real?
Or had her romantic awakening made her realize that the voice of the boy she played games with back then was simply so attractive that she wanted to start a sensational online romance?Zhang Chenxi's mind began conjuring up all sorts of outrageous scenarios.
Had Ji Mingyue known about this blossoming garden of thoughts in Zhang Chenxi's head at that time, this novel could have simply ended right here.
Imagination aside, Zhang Chenxi still replied politely:
[God in Charge of Being a Smartass]: "I'm here, what's up? Want to play together?"
[Genie Girl]: "No, I noticed all the tags on your homepage are for Longcheng, so I wanted to ask if there are any good universities in Longcheng?"
Zhang Chenxi wore a look of utter shock. Is she trying to get into the same university as me so we can meet in real life?
[God in Charge of Being a Smartass]: "I go to Longcheng University, but Longcheng has better schools, like the Jianghe University Longcheng Campus. You might want to consider that."
[Genie Girl]: "I've been preparing for the Longcheng University entrance exams all along. What a coincidence that you're there too."
Instead of feeling blessed, Zhang Chenxi felt a bit creeped out.
Combining this with his previous absurd speculations, he had already concluded that this was a naive, budding little freshman who was extremely easy to trick.
Although he usually enjoyed running his mouth online, when something like this actually landed on his doorstep, Zhang Chenxi's instinct was to feel a bit resistant.
[God in Charge of Being a Smartass]: "You should really think it over more. Choosing a university is a major event in life."
[Genie Girl]: "I've been thinking about it for a long time. Once I get in, I'll come find you to hang out."
Hang out my foot, Zhang Chenxi stared at the messages on his screen with a splitting headache, and could only let out a sigh inwardly.
It's ruined, it's all ruined. Is she playing for real? What if she actually comes? Are these kinds of cliché melodramatic plots actually going to happen to me?
Ji Mingyue tapped rapidly on her phone, having already deduced that this cheap boyfriend of hers was none other than the person who had borrowed books from her.
Of course, Ji Mingyue wasn't lying either; she really had been planning to apply to Longcheng University all along—just for graduate school, that was all.Although Ji Mingyue's grades were exceptional, she unfortunately had no desire to go to any other institution, and since Longcheng University lacked recommendation quotas for graduate school, she had no choice but to take the national entrance examinations.
As for the age of 18 listed on her Honor of Kings profile—well, she would forever remain eighteen, and no one could ever change that.
Yet why would the usually aloof Ji Mingyue want to tease this cheap boyfriend of hers on Honor of Kings?
For one thing, the review process was utterly boring; for another, she wanted to see whether it was really true, as people on the internet said, that guys who used cute sticker packs were mostly fuckboys.
Seeing that her cheap boyfriend had not replied for a long time, Ji Mingyue launched into her act once again.
[Genie Girl]: "Don't you want me to go? If we're at the same university, we could play games offline together, eat, go for walks, and all that. Just thinking about it makes me happy."
After calming his nerves, Zhang Chenxi desperately racked his brain for a way to dissuade this Genie Girl from attending his university.
Suddenly seeing this message, his suspended heart finally died.
Come on, we're just a rank-one, lowest-level, virtually unacquainted online couple—are you actually taking this seriously?
A sudden thought struck him, and he frantically grabbed his phone, typing at lightning speed as if a single second's delay might cause the Genie Girl to make some terrifying decision.
[God in Charge of Being a Smartass]: "Of course not, I definitely want you to come! Oh, right, you should apply for Longcheng University's chemical engineering major; that's the school's most famous program."
Longcheng University's trump card and specialty was petrochemical engineering. That major was located at the University Town campus, whereas Zhang Chenxi's campus was a newly built one out in the suburbs.
The two campuses were far apart. If he could trick the Genie Girl into going to a different campus, there might still be hope.
I am an absolute genius, Zhang Chenxi rejoiced inwardly. But his good times didn't last long—his smile quickly froze on his face.
[Genie Girl]: "No way. I'm a humanities student, I want a humanities major—the best Chinese language and literature program in the entire world!"
……
Zhang Chenxi's already dead heart simply shattered into pieces. Chinese Language and Literature and his own major were both right there at the Dongda Sea Campus.
With the college entrance exams approaching, Zhang Chenxi didn't dare say anything too harsh; it wouldn't do to affect the kid's exams.
After agonizing back and forth, he could only reply:
"Good luck, let's talk after the exams. Wishing you surpass your usual level and get a score you're happy with."
On the other side, Ji Mingyue could no longer hold it in, covering her mouth as a soft laugh escaped her. Trying to trick me into another campus? Not a chance.
Seeming to realize how improper this train of thought was, Ji Mingyue blushed slightly.
It looks like this underclassman isn't a fuckboy after all, Ji Mingyue thought to herself.
She walked out of the library, returned to her dorm to place the books the underclassman needed downstairs, took a photo, and then walked out of the school gates to stroll over to a nearby upscale residential compound.
This was a place her parents had bought for her to stay in while studying in Longcheng. The living room on the first floor of the duplex had been converted into a small soundproof studio, equipped with a piano, a guzheng, and other musical instruments.
Layer upon layer of curtains draped down like clouds, and a few simple, clean landscape paintings hung on the pale cyan walls.
A faint, soothing fragrance lingered in the room, naturally calming one's mind.
The second floor housed her bedroom, along with a study where she usually read and played games.
The reason she studied in the school library instead of her own home was simply because this gaming-addicted Genie Girl was afraid she wouldn't be able to control her hands from firing up a match.
After washing up, Ji Mingyue lay in bed to binge-watch a drama, while Zhang Chenxi saw the message his senior had sent him, scrambled over to Building Number Four on all fours, and picked up the books.
Written on the cover of the books was the name of their owner:
Ji Mingyue
The handwriting inside the books was just like the name—fresh, elegant, graceful, and refined.