Xiaohuang hesitated for a moment. Perhaps realizing that the two-legged creature in front of it meant no harm, it slowly began to eat.
"It's eating! Look, it's eating, Junior."
Liu Yiyi said happily to Wang Peng.
"Junior, why don't you keep this cat?"
"I didn't have time before. I originally planned to take it home during the break, but my dad had me come to Beijing to keep my grandparents company. But it's not too late now."
With that, Wang Peng picked up Xiaohuang.
The two of them and the cat walked toward a pet shop.
"Hello, could you give this cat a deworming treatment and a checkup? I'll come pick it up in a couple of days."
Wang Peng told the pet shop staff.
Afterward, the two returned to school.
Cafeteria
This time, Wang Peng checked the time first and found it was already close to half past seven.
He opened his phone and checked the 626 group chat.
【Wang Peng】: Dad is at the cafeteria. Tell me what you want to eat and I'll get it.
Wang Peng put his phone down and started chatting with the senior.
Those guys wouldn't reply to his message right away; the chat wasn't dismissed yet, and once they saw it, they would definitely answer.
"Senior, let's go to the second floor. We've been to the cafeteria a few times but never upstairs."
"Senior, when are you going to make good on the condition you promised me?"
"Condition? What condition? I don't remember promising Junior any condition."
Watching the senior feign ignorance, Wang Peng took her hand and headed toward the second-floor dining area.
"Senior is treating me to a meal, consider it me collecting some interest in advance."
The two spotted a food stall with a relatively small line—basically no wait at all.
"Auntie, I'll take this, this, and that one too," Wang Peng pointed to shredded pork in garlic sauce, sweet and sour spare ribs, and braised pork meatballs.
Wang Peng watched as the cafeteria worker's hand kept shaking.
*Auntie, please, your hand can't shake anymore. If it shakes any more, the food will be gone.*
Wang Peng finally understood why the line at this stall was so short—everyone was afraid of the auntie's shaking hand.
After finding a place to sit down, just as they settled in, Wang Peng's phone rang. It was the 626 group chat.
【Liu Qing】: Nah, we've already reached the Zhuyuan cafeteria.
Wang Peng was so startled he choked, coughing a couple of times.
"What's wrong, Junior?"
"Uh, you see, Senior, Liu Qing and the others are coming over. I'm going to change seats."
Carrying his plate and hunching over, Wang Peng slipped away from Liu Yiyi's side, walked a few paces ahead of her, and sat down at another table.
The two of them exchanged glances. Wang Peng looked speechlessly at the senior, who was smiling so happily for no apparent reason.
No sooner had Wang Peng sat down than he saw Liu Qing and the other two walking over with their plates. Wang Peng waved at them. Wang Dong and Ye Chen sat down beside Wang Peng, while Liu Qing sat next to Liu Yiyi.
"Dog Number Three, what are you busy with these days, coming to the cafeteria so early?"
Wang Peng looked at Ye Chen, then looked at Wang Dong.
Wang Peng cast an inquiring look at Wang Dong: What is going on here?
Dog Number Three?!?!?
"This morning, Ye Chen gave nicknames to the three of us. I'm Number One, Liu Qing is Number Two, and you're Number Three. And he kept following me and Liu Qing around."
The three of them started eating. Because Wang Peng had arrived early and finished his meal, he started to stand up, but Ye Chen pressed him back down into his seat.
"None of you are allowed to go too far from me until I find a girlfriend, or else I don't know what I might do."
Ye Chen gave the two of them a deliberately fierce look.
After finishing his meal, Ye Chen led the other two back to the dorm.
【The Other Half】: Senior, I'm afraid I won't be able to chat with you tonight.
【Half a Roast Duck】: What's going on?
Wang Peng was just about to explain to the senior when Ye Chen snatched his phone away.
*What WeChat chatting? Let's go back to the dorm and play video games.*
Wang Peng and the other two played video games with Ye Chen until one in the morning.
When Wang Peng and the two others begged for mercy, Ye Chen finally let them off.
The Next Day
Wang Peng finally returned to the embrace of military training, beginning a painful process lasting over ten days—a dual torment of body and spirit.
.........
September 24th
Military training finally came to an end.
Dormitory 626, Building 3
"It feels like twenty days of military training was just a dream. It went by in the blink of an eye. I actually want to do it again."
Wang Dong said smugly.
Following the military training came a half-month-long break. Once the holiday was over, the four of them would officially kick off their college lives.
Wang Dong looked at Ye Chen.
"Ye Chen, you're heading to Beijing tomorrow, right?"
"Yanyan and I are planning to take advantage of the break to go visit Beijing. I wanted to ask what fun things there are to do in Beijing."
"Let's all go to Beijing together then."
Wang Dong then looked at Liu Qing.
"Qingzi, what about you?"
"I'm heading back to my hometown to harvest corn."
Finally, he looked at Wang Peng.
"What about you, Wang Peng?"
"I don't have much going on, I'll just see if the senior is leaving campus."
Afterward, the four members of Dormitory 626 finalized their plans: a dinner get-together that evening, the first official gathering just for the four of them.
"There's a major problem: what are we eating for dinner tonight?" Wang Dong looked at the other three.
"Ask Ye Chen, see what he wants to eat."
"How about hot pot?"
The three of them agreed.
"I'm going back to my room to grab something," Wang Peng told the three of them.
10:00 PM
Liu Qing and the other two had already arrived at the hot pot restaurant nearest to the campus and sent their location to Wang Peng.
When Wang Peng entered the private room carrying two bottles of baijiu, the dishes had already been fully served.
Wang Peng pushed the door open and shouted to the owner:
"Boss, bring a crate of beer!"
The hot pot restaurant owner quickly brought the beer in.
After the owner left, Wang Peng locked the door from the inside.
"Nobody is allowed to leave today until we finish drinking all this alcohol."
.........
An Hour Later
"Friends walk the same path for a lifetime..."
"Those days will never come back..."
"One word, a lifetime..."
"A lifetime of feelings in a cup of wine..."
"Friends are never lonely..."
"Say 'friend' and you'll understand..."
Wang Peng looked at the other three, who were completely wasted yet still insisted on singing.
"A bunch of lightweights."
Ye Chen suddenly stood up and said:
"Drink! Keep drinking! If you don't finish it, let's see who dares to leave!" With that, he slumped limply into his chair.
Wang Peng recorded their current antics so he could show them after they sobered up.
Suddenly, Wang Peng realized a problem: with these three completely sloshed, how was he supposed to get them back?
He opened his phone and called a ride-hailing service. Upon seeing that the three passengers were dead drunk, the driver didn't want to take Wang Peng and his friends.
Ultimately, the driver yielded to Wang Peng's "money power."
With the driver's cooperation, they managed to support the three into the car.
Inside the cab, Wang Dong began to droop, his mouth hanging open. Wang Peng knew immediately that he was about to vomit.
"Driver, please roll down the rear right window!"
"Don't throw up in the car!"
But it was already too late.
The driver simply refused to look in the rearview mirror, pretending none of this was happening.
After driving back to the campus, the driver helped Wang Peng escort the three of them back to their dorm.
The driver, who had previously lost his good mood, saw the payment amount Wang Peng sent and said with a beaming smile:
"Sir, well, if everything's fine I'll be heading off then. My car has a dashcam recording function—if you want to look back at your friends' awkward moments, you can contact me anytime within a month. The video gets automatically cleared every month."
"No need."