Xia Linfei

After taking care of that, Su Yuan browsed a few more news pages, then followed Ji Yehao's lead and watched a movie for a while.

By ten thirty, the movie had ended as well. A bustling crowd poured in through the entrance of the internet café. Looking closely, they were people getting ready to pull an all-nighter. Su Yuan turned to Ji Yehao. "It's pretty late. Should we head back?"

Seeing him nod, she said to Yang Xiaowei, who was currently being lovey-dovey with his girlfriend on QQ, "Xiaowei, log off!"

Yang Xiaowei looked up with a smile. Unhurriedly, he sent his girlfriend one last message before leisurely logging off. Seeing this, Su Yuan said sourly, "You and your girlfriend are seriously inseparable. You can't even be apart for a little while without getting all clingy!"

"Of course. Xiao Ying and I are deeply in love. A day apart feels like three years." He smugly glanced at Su Yuan and Ji Yehao. "You two should work harder too. Try to get yourselves girlfriends this year!"

It would be a lie to say she was not envious, but what Su Yuan hated most was Yang Xiaowei flaunting his affection in front of her. In terms of looks, what part of herself and Ye Hao was inferior to him? Yet this loser had somehow been the first to find a girlfriend. With a dismissive snort, she grabbed Ji Yehao's hand. "Ignore him. Didn't Gao Jun ask for a bucket meal? Let's go buy one."

Ji Yehao smiled faintly and asked Yang Xiaowei, "Is Xiaowei going back to the dorm to sleep tonight, or...?"

"Isn't that obvious? Xiaowei is definitely spending the night with his Xiao Ying."

Yang Xiaowei gave her a thumbs-up. "Su Su really gets me!"

Su Yuan grinned, a knowing look on her face, and waved him off. "Then hurry up and go. It's so late—be careful your Xiao Ying doesn't misunderstand and think you're out fooling around."

"Don't worry. We have that much trust between us. Xiao Ying won't overthink it." He had long since grown used to Su Yuan's sharp tongue.

Yang Xiaowei and his girlfriend, Mo Ying, had started dating during their freshman year. Soon afterward, they moved in together off campus and lived a shamelessly lovey-dovey life. Their passion was in full bloom. Whenever Su Yuan saw how inseparable they were, she felt envious, so she often took verbal jabs at Yang Xiaowei. Yang Xiaowei, meanwhile, had long become immune to them.

After parting with Yang Xiaowei, Su Yuan and Ji Yehao bought a bucket meal from the nearby KFC and headed toward the dormitory area.

"You're finally back." When Gao Jun saw Su Yuan and Ji Yehao returning with the bucket meal, he rubbed his fists and snatched the food away. One bucket meal was a little sparse for three people, but it was not a proper meal. As a late-night snack, it was more than enough.

Su Yuan picked up a drumstick and took a bite, only to suddenly stop. She had just remembered the online rumors about KFC using hormone-injected chickens. Though those rumors might not be true, they had clearly ruined her appetite. She looked at the golden drumstick in her hand. Her throat moved, but she simply could not bring herself to take another bite.

She was currently taking medication, so it was best to avoid introducing outside factors that might interfere with it whenever possible. Better safe than sorry. Once she stopped taking the medicine, there would be plenty of chances to make up for it.

"Why aren't you eating?" Gao Jun, who was happily gnawing on a chicken breast, found Su Yuan's hesitation strange.

Su Yuan shook her head and excused herself. "I don't like this kind of food."

Ji Yehao gave her a surprised look. "If you don't like it, then don't eat it. There are still two pieces of bread and half an ear of corn at the bottom. Leave those for yourself."

Reluctantly putting down the drumstick in her hand, Su Yuan took a sip of her drink before pulling out two warm pieces of bread. Thinking about how everyone else was eating chicken legs and wings while she could only gnaw on bread and corn made her feel terribly unbalanced.

The Higher Education Park also had residential areas and bustling, prosperous streets. It was just somewhat quieter compared to the downtown area.

The sky was clear for miles, and the sun baked the ground scorching hot. Across the broad road was a small plaza. Two in the afternoon was the hottest time of day, and the fountain at the center of the plaza shot streams of water high into the air. Under the fierce sunlight, the mist gleamed in brilliant rainbow colors.

There were several shops nearby, but because the weather was so hot, there were not many people on the street. Wearing a sun hat and holding a stack of flyers, Su Yuan stood near a supermarket, half-heartedly handing flyers to the sparse pedestrians passing before her.

She had found this job online yesterday and had come out to give it a try today.

Beads of sweat glistened on her face as wave after wave of scorching heat pressed down from the sky, filtering through her sun hat and onto her head. By now, Su Yuan was already regretting coming out to hand out flyers. Being self-reliant sounded easy, but actually doing it was anything but simple. The pay was eighty yuan a day and included cold drinks, but the work was far too torturous.

With half her flyers still left, she could no longer endure the blazing heat and quietly shifted closer to the supermarket entrance. Threads of cool air leaked from inside, like a spring of sweet dew nourishing her soul.

This spot was nice. Su Yuan was delighted with her positioning. There were also more people going in and out of the supermarket, so the flyers in her hands began to go out one by one.

"Please take a look. We welcome your patronage, thank you!"

The person was a male student. After accepting Su Yuan's flyer, he glanced at her. "Discounted cold drinks?"

She did not react at first, but once she realized he was speaking to her, Su Yuan hurriedly nodded. "Yes. During the grand opening, buy two cups and get one free. Spend a certain amount on snacks and receive a free cold drink."

Naturally, she had read the flyers she was handing out and had done her homework thoroughly. The flyer listed dozens of cold drinks, and customers could generally understand it at a glance. This was the first time someone had asked her about it directly. With the principle that the customer was king, Su Yuan enthusiastically introduced the offer to him.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Peng Jie, a third-year student at the School of Economics of Binhe Institute of Technology."

Looking at his outstretched hand, Su Yuan froze for a moment. "Sorry, I'm here to hand out flyers, not make friends."

Peng Jie awkwardly withdrew his hand, gave her another suspicious look, then shook his head and walked away.

"Was that guy hitting on you just now?" A pleasant female voice sounded beside her. Su Yuan turned around and saw a beautiful girl looking at her. She asked blankly, "Hitting on me?"

"You don't even know what hitting on someone means?" The girl looked at her and smiled as she asked.

Of course Su Yuan knew what "hitting on someone" meant, but she did not think Peng Jie had been hitting on her. At most, he had wanted to make friends. Then again, there did not seem to be much of a difference between the two. Seeing that the girl was also holding a stack of identical flyers, she asked in surprise, "You're handing out flyers too?"

"Yeah. My name is Xia Linfei. You are...?"

"Su Yuan."

Since the other person was a girl, Su Yuan straightforwardly told her her name.

"Su Yuan. That's a nice name."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"Why don't we do this together?"

"Sure!"

Xia Linfei was tall and well-proportioned, but not so tall as to intimidate people. She had an excellent figure, and her white shirt dress perfectly accentuated her curves. Her long, glossy black hair was tied into a neat ponytail. Like a Dark Horse among girls, she was graceful without lacking wildness, the sort who easily drew men's attention.

She gave Su Yuan a refreshing, eye-catching impression. The "handsome guy and pretty girl" pairing they made standing together was particularly attention-grabbing, and the next several hours quickly passed by.

Xia Linfei fanned herself with her hand and complained to the heavens, "It's really hot today."

"Yeah. The weather forecast said it would reach thirty-five degrees. Luckily, the hottest part of the day is already over. If it were like the past few days, with highs hovering around thirty-eight or thirty-nine degrees, that would be truly miserable."

After getting used to extreme heat, thirty-five degrees no longer felt all that hot. With their excellent location by the supermarket entrance, they handed out flyers much faster. Perhaps because Xia Linfei was beautiful, her efficiency was much higher than Su Yuan's, but Su Yuan was not bad either. She quickly handed out every flyer she had left.

Handing out flyers came with both time limits and quotas. There were also rewards for exceeding the quota.

At five o'clock, the day's work ended. Sitting in the cold drink shop, Xia Linfei stretched lazily, and the fleeting languor made Su Yuan's eyes blur for a moment.

Seeing Su Yuan staring straight at her, Xia Linfei suddenly smiled and reached out to pat Su Yuan on the shoulder. "What are you looking at, little one? Never seen a pretty girl before? Oh, you definitely don't have a girlfriend yet, do you? You're not that young anymore. It won't do if you've never dated. One day, I'll introduce you to some of my classmates. Maybe one of them will catch your eye."

Her all-encompassing attitude made Su Yuan a little embarrassed. From their simple conversation during work, Su Yuan had learned that Xia Linfei was a student from the neighboring medical university. She had just been admitted to graduate school at Binhe Institute of Technology this year, so they could be considered schoolmates.

As for finding one of her graduate student classmates to be a girlfriend, Su Yuan had never considered that even before her transformation. She gave an awkward laugh. "Um, no need."

Xia Linfei smiled. "What, you look down on me? Let me tell you, all my friends are beautiful..."

Not wanting her to misunderstand, Su Yuan hurriedly waved her hands. "That's not the reason."

"Then do you think they're too old for you?"

People said that marrying a woman three years older was like gaining a brick of gold, but in reality, men often did not like having girlfriends older than themselves. Xia Linfei thought she had found the key to the issue. Her eyes lit up, and she leaned closer, whispering softly, "Let me tell you, mature women are the ones with real charm! I have several classmates who look cold, elegant, and noble, like proud princesses, but with my help, they're easy to win over. As the saying goes, even the strongest fortress can be breached from within. So, do you want to give it a try?"

Su Yuan fell silent, her cheek feeling slightly strange from Xia Linfei's breath.

Xia Linfei seemed more than happy to play matchmaker. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and she felt it was necessary to press on, so she continued chattering into Su Yuan's ear.

"You look so handsome and cute. If you're willing to take the initiative, you'll definitely win them over. Who knows, you might even end up with one on each arm. How happy would that be?"

A puff of hot breath landed on Su Yuan's neck, startling her. Looking at Xia Linfei's bright eyes, she suddenly found her a little creepy.

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