"Lanlan, you can go ahead. I'll take care of this." Mo Jingchun smiled at Deng Lanlan, who looked a little at a loss.
"Then... my roommates and I will head back to the dorm first. Bye!"
Deng Lanlan pulled her roommates along and hurried out of the classroom without looking back.
The canvas bag containing diapers and other things was still on a seat in the back row. Holding his little sister, Candy, Mo Jingchun turned around and saw that his upperclassman Yang Wenzhao and upperclasswoman Zhang Huizhen hadn't left yet.
Zhang Huizhen shrugged, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. "Need your upperclassman and upperclasswoman to help you, junior?"
Mo Jingchun glanced at Zhang Huizhen and answered without mercy, "I'm taking my little sister to the men's restroom to change her diaper. Are you sure you still want to help?"
"What a shame. We'll head back to the dorm, then. Bye!" Zhang Huizhen pursed her lips and forcibly dragged Yang Wenzhao away.
By the time Mo Jingchun carried his little sister to the restroom, it was empty. The other freshmen had either already left for their dorms or were still attending their class meetings.
He opened the diaper and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she'd only wet herself, so he just needed to change her diaper for now. Once they got back to the apartment, he could wash the little one's bottom. It was hot, and he didn't want her skin to get irritated and make her uncomfortable.
"Let's go! We're heading back to the dorm too~"
Carrying his grinning little sister, Candy, and her cute canvas bag, Mo Jingchun strode out of the restroom and headed for the apartment building.
Back in the bedroom, Mo Jingchun wiped Candy with a damp little towel, then set her on the bed to play on her tummy.
For her safety, he'd moved the bed into the corner of the bedroom and blocked off the other side with a table. Mo Jingchun sat in the only opening to keep her from getting out.
Candy crawled around on the bed. Every so often, she'd crawl over to Mo Jingchun and poke at him a few times. After he failed to respond several times, she started entertaining herself, often babbling in a language he couldn't understand.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Mo Jingchun rapidly typed on his laptop, entering the code in his head into a custom library in the right order.
At the office, Yang Wenzhao and Zhang Huizhen hadn't actually gone back to the dorms as they'd told Mo Jingchun. Instead, they'd gone together to the office of their counselor, Li Na.
Knock, knock, knock~
Li Na tapped the A4 sheets covered with names, contact details, and other information on her desk, then said, "The QQ numbers are all here. Let's split up the work and add everyone to the group."
Before long, Li Na had divided the nine sheets of paper into three piles, handing three to each person.
"I'll create a QQ group chat and add you two first."
Li Na deftly created a new QQ group chat on her phone and added Yang Wenzhao and Zhang Huizhen.
"Let's get started."
Zhang Huizhen and Yang Wenzhao nodded at the same time, found places to sit, and began adding the students listed on their sheets to the temporary group chat, one by one.
After more than ten minutes, Li Na and the two class assistants had added everyone in the class except Mo Jingchun.
There was no keeping Mo Jingchun bringing his little sister to school a secret. Over the past two days, most students had probably assumed that his parents were still in the Capital City and that bringing his sister to a class meeting was perfectly normal. But before classes began, during military training, everyone would realize that Mo Jingchun was in a special situation.
They'd find out sooner or later, so it was better to be open about it in advance and prepare everyone, reminding them not to look at the strong Mo Jingchun differently.
But they couldn't discuss something like this in front of Mo Jingchun. No one knew how he'd react. It might even backfire and make him feel inferior.
Li Na carefully wrote a long message and sent it to the silent QQ group chat.
"Regarding the information and instructions above about Mo Jingchun, everyone who has read this, please reply in the group using your name and student ID. Once the two class assistants and I have confirmed that everyone has received the message, I'll disband this group chat."
In the women's dormitory for the Class of 2021 Software Engineering Major, most of the girls stared at the messages in the group in shock. For a moment, they could hardly believe it, and their noses began to sting.
Women were emotional creatures, and compared to men, their moods tended to fluctuate more.
In the dorm, Deng Lanlan had just returned with hot water. She read the group messages, fell silent for a long while, and only after she'd composed herself did she reply that she'd received them, following the requested format.
"That poor little baby."
In Deng Lanlan's dorm, Li Xuanyu had been reading a book. After hearing her roommate Zhou Huiling, she put it down and turned to her. "Actually, Mo Jingchun is the one to pity. At least his little sister has a brother who loves her. She doesn't have to worry about making ends meet."
"But Mo Jingchun does. He has to support himself and his little sister."
Zhou Huiling frowned, puzzled. "Even if both of Mo Jingchun's parents died, wouldn't he have relatives? Why not have his sister stay with them?"
This time, before Li Xuanyu could answer Zhou Huiling, Deng Lanlan spoke up. "Leaving aside whether any relatives would be willing to raise her, a baby under one takes far more effort than a child who's a few years old. If you raise her well, that's fine. But if you don't, other people will gossip."
Deng Lanlan fell silent for a moment, then continued:
"If you've ever lived with relatives, you'd understand why Mo Jingchun would rather shoulder the pressure and bring his little sister to school with him."
"Come on, don't get so gloomy. Look, with a counselor like Teacher Li, what is there to worry about? Besides, Mo Jingchun will probably bring his sister to class often from now on. You can help look after her then. And if all else fails, you could try to make him your boyfriend."
"He's a promising catch, and such a responsible, caring man too. You couldn't find a boyfriend like him even with a lantern!" Li Xuanyu teased with a laugh.
Li Xuanyu was telling the truth. Whether Mo Jingchun went on to graduate school after college or entered the workforce, his income probably wouldn't be low under normal circumstances. The Internet industry was among the highest-paying fields for new graduates, and that wasn't just something people said for fun.
As for what kind of person Mo Jingchun was, you could tell something from the fact that he'd brought his little sister to school. Whatever else he was like, he couldn't be too bad.
"If he's such a catch, why don't you confess to him?"
In the office, after confirming that everyone had read the message and replied, Li Na immediately disbanded the temporary group chat.
Meanwhile, Mo Jingchun was still absorbed in writing code, completely unaware of any of it.
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