Ji Mingyue walked out of the school gate, sipping her milk tea as she strolled toward her residence.
The God in Charge of Being a Smartass, Puyue Cat, Zhang Chenxi, and Xizhao finally coalesced into a single person in her mind.
Socially awkward in front of strangers, possessing a strong sense of boundaries, and possessing an inherent kindness—these traits formed Zhang Chenxi's image in Ji Mingyue's heart.
At that moment, Ji Mingyue was feeling somewhat conflicted, biting on her straw as she pondered how she should handle her relationship with her junior.
Rather than saying she understood the junior, it would be more accurate to say she understood Xizhao. Furthermore, what Ji Mingyue appreciated most about Xizhao was his kindness and sense of responsibility.
If they could be friends with Xizhao—oh, wait, perhaps on Note they were already friends.
If they could become friends in real life as well, Ji Mingyue would be more than happy.
Yet, Ji Mingyue seemed to have forgotten something: normally, one didn't need to meticulously dress up just to meet a friend.
Nor would one experience such dramatic emotional fluctuations simply because a certain junior happened to be Xizhao.
Unbeknownst to Ji Mingyue herself, on her way to school just earlier, upon learning that the junior was actually Xizhao, she had frozen completely, standing rigidly in her tracks.
With a smile on her face while wearing earphones to listen to the songs sung by the junior, she had maintained that exact posture for a full two minutes.
Passersby on the street, seeing such a breathtakingly beautiful woman standing there all alone and smiling to herself, cast one startled and astonished glance after another in her direction.
However, Ji Mingyue had been utterly immersed in her inner joy, completely oblivious to everything in the outside world.
"But how am I supposed to become friends with my junior in the capacity of a senior?"
Ji Mingyue found herself in a dilemma.
If she used her identity as Genie Girl or Jieyue, things would be much simpler.
Yet Ji Mingyue had never expected that she would need to keep those two identities around specifically to tease her junior.
……
……
Zhang Chenxi returned to the dorm carrying a cup of milk tea in one hand and books in the other.
"Dong, your milk tea."
"Where's mine?" Wang Jiuri asked purposely.
"You have one too. I bought you an imported one."
"What imported?"
Zhang Chenxi took a massive gulp of water and walked toward Wang Jiuri.
"Get lost, damn it!" Wang Jiuri cursed as he retreated.
Zhang Chenxi swallowed the water and let out a hiccup. "Are you playing hard to get with me?"
Wang Jiuri ran off to the adjacent dorm.
"Dong, want to take a shower together?" Zhang Chenxi asked, wanting to use Sun Dong's campus card since his own had run out of money.
The dormitories at Longcheng University did not have en-suite bathrooms, so taking a shower meant going down to the public bathhouse on the ground floor.
The dormitories at Longcheng University truly did not have en-suite bathrooms, and taking a shower genuinely meant going down to the public bathhouse on the ground floor.
Sun Dong, who had listened to the entire exchange between Zhang Chenxi and Wang Jiuri, hurriedly waved his hand.
"I'm going to drag Wang Jiuri back."
"Lend me your card!!!" Zhang Chenxi shouted hurriedly.
"Take it yourself." Dropping those words, Sun Dong headed over to the neighboring dorm as well.
Zhang Chenxi was puzzled: "Why is everyone so obsessed with going to the next room? Is there actually someone in there?"
Taking Sun Dong's card, Zhang Chenxi went off to take a shower in utter confusion.
……
A short while later, Zhang Chenxi returned, only to find that Sun Dong and Wang Jiuri still hadn't come back from the neighboring dorm.
So he picked up his *Signals and Systems* textbook and began to review, though it quickly became clear that Zhang Chenxi had vastly overestimated himself.
As a subject notorious for causing senior students to fail three times, Zhang Chenxi could barely understand the first few parts and memorize a few routine problem-solving methods, but the further he read, the more he felt like he was reading a heavenly scripture.
Furthermore, many of the methods in the senior's notes differed significantly from those in the textbook.
"What should I do? Am I really going to fail this semester?"
Just as Zhang Chenxi was agonizing over this, a message notification chimed on his phone.
Ding-dong! Genie Girl: "What are you doing?"
Puyue Cat: "Studying, obviously. I have exams too, and right now I can't understand a single thing. Aren't you going to sleep yet? The college entrance exam is tomorrow, you know."
Genie Girl: "English is my strong suit. I can score over 140 with my eyes closed."
Zhang Chenxi felt utterly speechless. If he weren't planning to vanish right after Genie Girl finished her college entrance exams, he would seriously have wanted to tie her up, cut her hair, put makeup on her, and have her take his CET-6 exam for him.
Ji Mingyue, who had been lying comfortably on her bed, suddenly shivered.
Genie Girl: "You could ask the senior to help you review. I feel like the senior is actually a pretty nice person."
Puyue Cat: "? What makes you say that?"
Genie Girl: "The senior even remembered to lend her book back to you, and besides, she's so pretty."
Puyue Cat: "? The first reason is a bit far-fetched, and as for the second reason... I wouldn't say it's wrong, but it's completely irrelevant."
Genie Girl: "Pretty girls are always nice people. By the way, is that senior really that pretty?"
Puyue Cat: "Yeah, she's very pretty, especially her eyes."
Genie Girl: "How about this: you go find the senior tomorrow and ask her to help you review, and then secretly snap a photo and show it to me, okay?"
Puyue Cat: "? Are you a pervert? And you want to turn me into a pervert too?"
Genie Girl: "Please, just say the word—will you? Please?"
Puyue Cat: "Coward."
Genie Girl: "…… But I really, really want to see the senior. If I can't see her, I'm afraid I won't be able to focus on my politics and history exams the day after tomorrow. (Sad emoji)"
Zhang Chenxi could only award Genie Girl's outrageous antics 98.5 points, leaving 1.5 points for her speech.
Puyue Cat: "No way. That's super impolite, and plus, if the senior catches me, I'm dead meat."
Genie Girl: "So you've already decided to go find the senior tomorrow, right? Just take a photo of her back. Don't people on the campus wall confession page often snap photos of people's backs to find them? That should be fine, right?"
Puyue Cat: "You really are a genius. Do you play *Teamfight Tactics*? There's a trait this season with Heaven's blessing and Dragonlord heroes—you should go replace them and take your place up there."
Ji Mingyue wore a puzzled expression. What did that mean? Was he complimenting her?
The two of them stopped chatting. Zhang Chenxi continued struggling to cram knowledge into his brain.
As for Ji Mingyue, she was afraid that chatting too much might reveal her cloven hooves—er, give away her secret.
……
……
At noon the next day,
after finishing his morning classes, Zhang Chenxi fell into a state of indecision.
Should he look for the senior or not? Even though it was a bit abrupt, he genuinely didn't know anything...
Screw it, who told the senior to use methods different from what the teacher taught? Since I studied your method, you've got no choice but to teach me through to the end and take responsibility for me!
Having found a reason to convince himself, Zhang Chenxi righteously sent a message to Ji Mingyue.
"Senior, are you there?"
Ji Mingyue had spent all morning clutching her phone waiting in vain for her junior's message, refreshing QQ over and over again until she finally received his text at noon.
Ten minutes later, Ji Mingyue replied, "What's up, Junior?"
Puyue Cat: "Senior, I still don't know the answer to the question you asked me in class yesterday. If you have some free time, could I ask you about it?"
Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon: "Sure."
Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon: {Voice Call}
Startled out of his wits by the sudden voice call pop-up, Zhang Chenxi hurriedly clicked decline.
"Senior, my roommate is sleeping. Do you have time this afternoon? Can I come find you?" Zhang Chenxi hastily explained.
Sending Sorrow to the Bright Moon: "Three o'clock this afternoon, second-floor circular corridor of the library, number 167," Ji Mingyue replied.
You are willing to come find your senior, which makes her very happy, but hanging up on your senior's call is something she does not like.
Puyue Cat: "Got it, thank you, Senior, sorry to bother you."