At 10:20, class ended, and sure enough, many students were sitting on the bleachers, some even taking out compact mirrors to retouch their makeup.
Shang Hui whispered that the senior female students had arrived, and pulling Liu Yiyi along, she joined their group. The two of them introduced themselves to the seniors and asked for their autographs.
In just ten minutes, they had already collected over twenty. As unfamiliar names gradually filled her hands, Liu Yiyi never expected it to be so easy.
Just as she and Shang Hui were about to keep moving forward, the senior students suddenly started cheering excitedly, shouting, "Shao Qi! Shao Qi!"
Following the direction of the seniors' gazes, Liu Yiyi looked over and saw that it really was the pop star Zhang Lin liked. Beside her, Shang Hui was also shouting, "Shao Qi! Shao Qi!"
Liu Yiyi asked her, "You like him?"
"Of course! He's so handsome. The main reason there are so many senior girls here is because of him. He can sing and dance, comes from a wealthy family, plays basketball, and is so handsome—he's practically the Prince Charming of my dreams," Shang Hui said, her eyes sparkling as she ticked off his virtues on her fingers.
Liu Yiyi asked again, "Given how things are now, we probably won't be able to get any more autographs. Is there anywhere else we can go?"
"Right now, everyone's just watching Shao Qi play basketball. Autographs can wait until later," Shang Hui replied, pulling out her phone to take pictures of Shao Qi with extreme excitement. Once she finished, she even dragged Liu Yiyi over to look at them together.
Thinking that Shang Hui had, after all, helped her get a few autographs from the seniors, Liu Yiyi obediently sat down next to her, took out her phone, and went back to studying her textbook.
The endless noise ringing in her ears was hard to imagine.
It was understandable for freshmen to see their idol play basketball for the very first time, but shouldn't these senior girls be able to watch him every single day? Wouldn't they get tired of it? Dark lines of speechlessness cropped up all over Liu Yiyi's face.
Suddenly, Shang Hui grabbed Liu Yiyi's arm and exclaimed, "Look, look! Shao Qi scored! So cool!"
Liu Yiyi merely glanced briefly, but in her heart, she desperately wanted to leave—it was just too loud. She lowered her head to check her watch: it was already 11:17.
She patted Shang Hui's arm and said, "We need to go. It's time to gather."
Shang Hui asked, "What time is it?"
"It's already 11:17."
"Then let's hurry up and leave. We can come back to watch after the freshman orientation session."
The two of them left the bleachers and headed toward the activity room. The gathering was set for 11:30. Tan Qiuyan introduced the location of the cafeteria to the freshmen and reminded everyone that the cafeteria was a great place to collect a large haul of autographs from senior students.
A representative from their group of five took roll call for all the freshmen, and at noon, they were dismissed for lunch.
Just as Liu Yiyi was about to leave, Shang Hui linked arms with her, and together they headed to the cafeteria. University T had three large cafeterias and five small ones, with the School of Economics being closest to the Fuppertes Cafeteria.
Armed with their University T tokens, Liu Yiyi and Shang Hui went to buy food. Surveying the colorful array of meals, Liu Yiyi walked up to a window that looked like a noodle shop. Using the local language, she ordered a signature bowl of noodles, took her number tag, and found a seat to wait.
Shang Hui walked over to Liu Yiyi carrying two drinks and handed one to her. Feeling the icy chill radiating from the cup, Liu Yiyi said, "I'll go buy them next time."
Feigning deafness, Shang Hui urged Liu Yiyi to take a sip and try it, claiming it was the shop's specialty. Looking at the greenish liquid packed entirely with ice cubes, Liu Yiyi thought that while the weather was indeed scorching hot, wasn't there a bit too much ice?
Meeting Shang Hui's expectant gaze, Liu Yiyi took a small sip. The taste was all right, just freezing cold.
Pulling her notebook and pen out of her bag, Shang Hui said to Liu Yiyi, "Come on, let's go get some autographs!"Liu Yiyi and Shang Hui were weaving between the tables. Gathering signatures here wasn't quite as smooth as it had been on the sports ground, but the upperclassmen and upperclassmen's requests weren't too unreasonable either. They mostly asked for small favors: fetching a meal, doing a few push-ups, or introducing themselves in a loud voice, which still earned them quite a few signatures.
Walking up to the next table, a group of five seniors, they introduced themselves—stating their names and their colleges—and said they hoped to get to know the seniors and asked them for their signatures.
The seniors looked the two junior students up and down. One of them, upon looking at Liu Yiyi, showed a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He looked at her with a slightly playful tone and said, "Tsk, little junior, quite pretty. Got a boyfriend? How do you think I measure up as a senior?" As he spoke, he didn't forget to raise an eyebrow and rub his chin with his fingers, striking a pose he thought was very handsome.
Holding her notebook, Liu Yiyi said coldly, "Senior, do you want to sign or not?"
That senior stood up and reached out to stroke Liu Yiyi's face. "Say yes, and I'll sign right away."Shang Hui quickly pulled Liu Yiyi away, saying, "Senior, I think our food is ready," and turned to leave.
The senior blocked their path, shoved Shang Hui aside, and walked straight up to Liu Yiyi. "Junior, give me an answer," he said, staring fixedly at her like a leopard eyeing a choice meal.
"I'm not interested in you," Liu Yiyi said in a low voice, a cold gleam flashing in her eyes.
The senior gave a light chuckle. "So high and mighty. Well, you're not going anywhere now. Since you've wasted my time, go buy five bottles of drinks for my friends."
Shang Hui stepped in to smooth things over. "We'll go buy them right now," she said, tugging at Liu Yiyi's arm toward the shop.
Adhering to the principle that it is better to avoid trouble than to invite it, Liu Yiyi went with Shang Hui and bought five bottles of drinks. When she came back and handed them over, the senior said, "I don't drink this kind. Swap it for another." With that, he slammed the bottle down heavily onto the table.Shang Hui was just about to pick up the bottle of beverage to exchange it for another one, when Liu Yiyi grabbed her by the arm and asked the senior, "And what if we don't go?"
The atmosphere grew heavy for a moment, and the senior's expression darkened instantly. His friend chuckled softly nearby, watching to see how he would handle the situation. "The senior's request is a rule," the friend chimed in. "As a newcomer to this school, what right do you have to say no?"
"Senior, if you want this drink, use your own legs to go buy it yourself. I'm not a professional errand runner," Liu Yiyi said, turning around to leave.
The senior grabbed her by the arm. "Today, like it or not, you're going!"
Shang Hui whispered in my ear, "Yiyi, it's fine, let's just swap it for another bottle. I'll go change it."
Liu Yiyi patted her hand and replied to the senior, "I am not going."
Furious, the senior stepped forward and raised his hand to strike. Liu Yiyi grabbed his wrist and bent it downward, and the senior let out a screech: "Let go! Let go!"
"Senior, I am not going to buy that drink," she said, releasing him. The moment he regained his freedom, the senior lashed out with a kick toward Liu Yiyi.
Sensing movement behind her, Liu Yiyi spun around, leaped up, and delivered a side kick straight to his chest. The senior crashed into a dining table with a loud clatter.
The attention of surrounding students began to gather on the spot. Seeing his friend in such a sorry state, the senior's buddy strode over toward Liu Yiyi. Shang Hui tried to intervene and stop him, but the seniors completely ignored her and shoved her hard to the ground.
One of them sneered, "Junior, isn't this going a bit too far? Do you even know who we are?"
Liu Yiyi looked at Shang Hui, who had fallen to the ground, and helped her up, gently brushing the dust off her clothes. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, but you..." Shang Hui looked at Liu Yiyi, deeply worried for her.