The three of them watched Ye Chen descending further into madness.
Ignoring him, Liu Qing and the other began offering Wang Peng advice. Wang Dong spoke up first.
"When dealing with girls, you just do this first, then that, and finally like this. Understand?"
Wang Peng stared at Wang Dong in utter bewilderment. What kind of nonsense was that? Rolling his eyes at Wang Dong, Wang Peng turned his gaze to Liu Qing.
The thought that Liu Qing was actually helping Wang Peng pursue his own biological sister almost made Wang Peng burst out laughing. When Liu Qing found out the truth, it would probably make front-page news at Xinzhou University: *A male student at Xinzhou University's Dormitory 626 kills his roommate then commits suicide — is this the perversion of human nature or the loss of morality?*
Still, he managed to hold back.
"When getting along with a girl, you need to follow these principles," Liu Qing said.
"First, respecting her wishes and ideas is crucial. Don't try to control her; instead, give her enough space and personal freedom.
"Second, treat others with sincerity so you can win their trust and support.
"Third, listen carefully to her views and feelings to make her feel valued and respected."
The more Wang Peng listened, the more familiar the words sounded, though he couldn't quite place where he had heard them. Suddenly, it hit him: he had searched for this on Baidu before, and the answers were word-for-word identical to what Liu Qing had just said.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you sure you didn't just look this up on Baidu?"
"No way! Does a master like me need Baidu?"
Wang Peng snatched Liu Qing's phone away and took a look. Sure enough, it was Baidu.
"Daddy here brings you guys meals, and this is how you repay me? Have you no shame?"
"You have to figure this kind of thing out on your own. Having others teach you is useless," Liu Qing said, tossing his head.
Wang Peng ignored the three of them, climbed up to his bed, and started chatting with the senior.
[Other Half Duck]: "Senior, what are you up to?"
[Half Roast Duck]: "Just finished washing up, getting ready for bed."
[Other Half Duck]: "Liu Qing is bullying me."
[Half Roast Duck]: "There's nothing I can do even if Liu Qing bullies you. I can't just go bully Liu Qing for no reason." [Helpless.jpg]
[Other Half Duck]: "Really not going to help?" [Expectant.jpg]
Looking at her screen, Liu Yiyi felt rather helpless. On one side was her dear younger brother, and on the other was her boyfriend. What was she supposed to do?
[Half Roast Duck]: "I've got a way. Just wait."
[Other Half Duck]: "What way?"
However, Liu Yiyi did not reply.
At that moment, Wang Peng heard Liu Qing let out a painful wail. Wang Peng asked, "What's wrong? Why are you howling all of a sudden?"
"My sister told me to go buy her milk tea. If I don't go, she's cutting off my allowance next month."
"See that? Karma's a bitch."
Wang Peng sent a WeChat message to Liu Yiyi.
[Other Half Duck]: "Senior, what a brilliant move." [Thumbs up]
[Half Roast Duck]: "I didn't do it for you, you know. I just wanted some milk tea."
By the time Liu Qing returned to the dormitory, it was already ten o'clock.
Before they knew it, the two of them had chatted late into the night, eventually talking about how Liu Yiyi loved going shopping. Wang Peng decided to set aside a day after military training to accompany the senior shopping.
The next day, Wang Peng went with Liu Yiyi to the art club to finish painting the remaining ducks.
Wang Peng quietly watched Liu Yiyi standing on the ladder. He looked at the senior's concentrated expression, her brow slightly furrowed as if pondering something.
Her furrowed brow relaxed, as though she had thought of something. She picked up her paintbrush and began outlining the four ducks on the wall.
"Junior, do you want to come fill in the colors?"
Wang Peng didn't respond to her; at that exact moment, he was completely captivated by the senior's lovely face.
"Junior? Junior?"
Liu Yiyi climbed down the ladder, walked right up to Wang Peng, and waved her hand in front of his face.Wang Peng snapped back to reality and wiped away some drool.
That's right, drool.
"What are you thinking about, Junior? You're even drooling."
"Nothing, nothing at all."
Could he possibly say out loud what was on his mind? If the senior found out he had been drooling just from looking at her, he would probably die of embarrassment on the spot.
"What did you say just now, Senior?"
"I've already sketched the outlines. Come on, let's fill in the colors."
Wang Peng took the brush handed to him by Liu Yiyi and began painting the ducks.
Before long, the two of them finished coloring all four ducks.
Just as they stopped, Liu Yiyi's phone rang.
She picked up the phone and answered it.
"Hello? Okay, we're pretty much done here. Got it."
With that, Liu Yiyi hung up the phone and looked at Wang Peng.
"Junior, you're supposed to go back to military training tomorrow."
"Didn't you help me ask for a few days off, Senior?"
"Your teaching assistant said military training is very important for every freshman. On one hand, it builds physical fitness; on the other hand, you get three credits—those are basically free credits. If you take leave, you only get a passing grade and one credit."
"Well, all right then."
"Senior, let me take you somewhere."
Wang Peng took Liu Yiyi's small hand and walked toward the school gate.
Leaving the campus, the two walked westward.
Seeing her junior leading her to a pet shop, Liu Yiyi asked doubtfully, "What are you bringing me to a pet shop for, Junior?"
"I'm taking you to a great place, Senior."
Seeing that Wang Peng didn't want to elaborate, Liu Yiyi stopped asking. When someone didn't want to talk, you couldn't get anything out of them anyway.
Wang Peng went inside the pet shop and said to the clerk,
"Hello, a small portion of cat food and a cat strip, please."
"Right away."
After coming out of the pet shop, Wang Peng said to Liu Yiyi,
"Let's go, Senior."
The two continued walking west.
There was an inland river on the west side of the campus.
They arrived at the riverbank.
"What are you bringing me here for, Junior?"
"Just come with me and you'll see."
Wang Peng squatted down next to a bench, poured a little cat food onto the ground, and then called out, "Meow, meow, meow."
Seeing Wang Peng imitating a cat, Liu Yiyi burst into laughter, her shoulders shaking with delight.
"Stop laughing, Senior," Wang Peng said with an awkward look on his face, but seeing her laugh so much, he couldn't help joining in.
Just as they were still laughing, a dirty little kitten crept out from under the bench. Vaguely, one could tell it was an orange cat. The orange cat approached Wang Peng and familiarly licked his hand before lowering its head to start eating the cat food.
"How has Xiaohuang been doing lately?"
"So cute!"
Liu Yiyi came over and squatted down beside Wang Peng.
Seemingly sensing the presence of a stranger, the kitten stopped eating the cat food and hid under Wang Peng, sticking out only its head as if secretly sizing up Liu Yiyi.
"So that's why her name is Xiaohuang."
"Xiaohuang! Xiaohuang! Xiaohuang!" Liu Yiyi called out three times in a row, but the kitten only peeked at her without responding.
Seeing that Xiaohuang was ignoring her, a magical scene unfolded: the girl and the cat just stared at each other.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Wang Peng hurriedly spoke up.
"Xiaohuang is a stray cat, so she won't respond to calls from strangers."
"I see. How did you meet this little cat?"
"She's been here for several months. I ran into her during a night run back in high school."
Wang Peng poured some cat food onto the senior's palm and placed the cat right next to her hand.
"Eat up, Xiaohuang."