Chapter 17: Too Popular, What Should I Do? |
Chapter 17: Too Popular, What Should I Do?
Every time they joked about Li Qiang, he always tried to shift the topic to Lu Yuhang, and Chang Hao, who could joke with anyone, would follow suit. "Well, Yuhang, didn't know you had such a hobby," he said.
"Huh?" Lu Yuhang had no idea what they were talking about, making Li Qiang and Chang Hao laugh even harder.
Seeing them bully the honest Lu Yuhang, Zhou Yuwen intervened, "Don’t pick on Yuhang. That’s obviously the smell of ligustrum flowers."
"Ligustrum flowers? What are those?"
Zhou Yuwen explained what ligustrum flowers were, noting that they'd learned about it in their dendrology class. The smell was similar.
"Yuhang is young; don't corrupt him," Zhou Yuwen said.
Li Qiang laughed, "We’re just joking with Yuhang."
Ignoring him, Zhou Yuwen led the way to the shower rooms. It was past nine, and the showers were still crowded. At the entrance, they ran into two freshmen they had met earlier in the day, including some girls.
Zhou Yuwen responded politely, "Hello."
This finally sparked Chang Hao and Li Qiang's curiosity.
"Old Zhou, do you really have a twin brother?" Chang Hao asked as they undressed.
Zhou Yuwen didn’t answer, so Li Qiang chimed in, saying if that were true, Zhou wouldn’t have trouble finding a girlfriend.
"I noticed the girls greeting Old Zhou were pretty," Li Qiang said.
"Old Zhou never had trouble finding a girlfriend, unlike you," Chang Hao retorted.
"Hey, what do you mean by that, Brother Hao?"
Chang Hao admitted, "Though I hate to say it, Old Zhou is indeed better looking than us."
Li Qiang thought for a moment and reluctantly agreed. As they chatted, Zhou Yuwen and Lu Yuhang quickly got ready and headed into the showers. Chang Hao and Li Qiang hurried to catch up.
"Old Zhou, wait for us," they called.
"No way, we’re not waiting," Zhou Yuwen replied.
"Come on, we’re all brothers!"
"You and Li Qiang are brothers too."
Chang Hao reassured, "Don't worry, Brother Hao, we’ll go together."
The four found adjacent shower stalls, each with a partition. Chang Hao kept asking Zhou Yuwen about potential love interests, suggesting he could date one of the pretty girls who greeted him.
Zhou Yuwen teased, "You sound like a player."
"Hehe, what man isn't a player? If a man isn't, it means he lacks the ability," Chang Hao said, grinning while washing his hair.
"Wait, Brother Hao, didn’t you say you wanted pure love?" Li Qiang reminded him.
"Of course, I’ll play it pure until I get Yanyan. Once I have her, I’ll show you what it means to balance stable home life with excitement outside."
"Impressive."
"Sure thing. So, Old Zhou, any targets? What’s up with you and Su Qing from Yanyan's dorm? She seems to like you."
"Brother Hao, I forgot my shampoo. Can I borrow yours?" Li Qiang interrupted.
Chang Hao handed over his shampoo, still curious about Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing. But Zhou Yuwen didn’t answer, finishing his shower quickly and heading out with Lu Yuhang.
"Done so soon?"
"Quick showers save money."
"Come on, you can't be that cheap."
Zhou Yuwen explained that the showers charged five cents every thirty seconds, so a ten-minute shower would cost a yuan. "I can't waste money."
"Really?" Chang Hao asked, feeling rushed, he quickly smeared some face wash.
Seeing Chang Hao’s white-covered face, Li Qiang was startled, "Brother Hao, what’s that?"
"You don’t know face wash?"
"Face wash? Isn’t that for women?"
"Who says men don’t need skincare?"
"Can I use some?"
"No way, this bottle costs 200 yuan!"
"That expensive?"
Zhou Yuwen and Lu Yuhang, already dressed, watched as Chang Hao and Li Qiang finally finished their showers. Leaving the hot shower room, the cool breeze outside felt refreshing, especially with the scent of shampoo from the nearby girls’ shower room.
They walked back to their dorm in their large shorts and flip-flops, feeling relaxed. A chilled cola from the vending machine completed the experience, though Li Qiang grumbled about the price.
"Two yuan outside, but 2.5 yuan here. Why the extra 50 cents?"
Chang Hao laughed, "If you want it cheaper, buy it off-campus."
"It’s too far. The school’s ripping us off," Li Qiang muttered.
Back in the dorm, Chang Hao lit a cigarette and offered one to Li Qiang.
"Old Zhou, want one?" Chang Hao asked.
"You guys go ahead," Zhou Yuwen declined, checking his phone, which had over 99 unread messages. Having added nearly a hundred freshmen on WeChat and announcing his role in his high school and new class groups, Zhou Yuwen had a flood of messages, including many from strangers.
Opening the first message:
"Class Rep! I’m Liu Yue, sticking with you from now on !"
The second message:
"Li Jing."
The third message:
"Ma Tian."
The fourth, with a beautiful European girl’s profile picture, was Gu Yaoyao.
In total, about ten out of twenty-four girls in the class had sent friend requests to Zhou Yuwen.
After accepting them, Zhou Yuwen sifted through the important messages. Among them was one from his high school classmate Li Shiqi, who sent a list of thirty names.
Before he could ask what it was, she messaged, "These are all students who want to get campus cards."
"So many?" Zhou Yuwen was surprised.
"If they get cards, I get a 20 yuan commission each, right? " Li Shiqi, pleased with his surprise, saw it as a compliment.
Thirty cards meant a 600 yuan commission for her. Zhou Yuwen, impressed by her sales ability, praised her, "If you can manage thirty, I'll add a 200 yuan bonus."
"Really? "
"Of course ."