Blue Qiuzhu

After driving Gao Jun away, Su Yuan sat quietly in her seat, thinking about how she had handled what just happened. Deep down, she disliked using someone as a shield to brush people off the way Xiao Yiyan had. Yet in reality, she had done the same thing.

They had both used someone else as a shield, but there seemed to be some difference. One had asked a familiar friend for help, while the other had grabbed some "stranger" at random and shoved him onto the front lines without a word. And the pressure they each faced was completely different.

But no matter how much she tried to reassure herself, Su Yuan couldn't help feeling inexplicably frustrated. After all, she had done something similar to what Xiao Yiyan had done.

She glanced furtively at Ji Yehao. He didn't seem affected at all.

"Su Yuan, how have things been living in the men's dorm these past few days?" In Instructor Tan's office, Su Yuan was helping her advisor grade assignments from the year below. She was slightly taken aback when Instructor Tan suddenly asked her that.

Instructor Tan had summoned her to the office with a phone call. Su Yuan had assumed it was just to grade assignments, but now she understood that the grading was not the real reason she had been called.

She set down her pen and nodded. "It's been all right."

"Why don't you move out?" Instructor Tan asked with concern. Who knew what might happen with a girl living in the men's dorm? Even if the men and women kept their distance, there were bound to be all sorts of inconveniences.

Su Yuan pressed her lips together.

Instructor Tan said, "If you're willing to move out, I can help you see which women's dorms still have beds available..."

Although she knew Su Yuan wasn't entirely a girl psychologically, and still had plenty of male habits of mind, making a women's dormitory somewhat unsuitable in a sense, when choosing between two evils, it was better to choose the lesser one. What could happen between a few girls? It was surely much safer than having a girl stay in a men's dorm!

"Ms. Tan, could you give me a few more days to think about it?"

Instructor Tan didn't press her. She smiled and said, "Of course. It's entirely your decision. But there's one thing I need to remind you of. You've probably noticed it yourself: your figure has changed a lot lately. The medication is starting to take effect. If you stay in the men's dorm much longer, people may recognize you."

"...There's a week-long Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday coming up. You have to give me an answer before then, and after the holiday, you must move out of the men's dorm. All right?"

Su Yuan hesitated, then nodded.

Binhe University of Science and Technology's library was a thoroughly modern building, a twelve-story tower with an elegant, pristine white exterior. Set against the campus greenery, it looked from afar like a graceful lady nestled in the midst of green.

Together with the vast artificial lake nearby, the two lay to the east and west, like the two halves of a yin-yang symbol embracing one another, lending the campus a touch of cultural charm.

The library was modern in style, but on the island in the middle of the lake stood a pavilion built over the water. It was a two-story, octagonal pavilion with pink walls and gray tiles, flying eaves and pillars. Its open sides were decorated with yellow drapes, giving it an old-fashioned charm. The sturdy vermilion columns gleamed in the bright sunlight, and the pavilion reflected in the rippling water, making it particularly striking.

It was another afternoon. Carrying her textbooks, Su Yuan climbed the steps leading up to the library, one flight after another.

It had been more than two weeks since she had transformed. During that time, she had had no choice but to adapt. Humans were strange creatures. Once they developed intelligence, they instinctively drew a line between themselves and animals. And in changing and adapting to their environment, humans had surpassed all other animals.

Some said the biggest difference between humans and animals was that humans knew no rest and were never satisfied, while animals were satisfied and knew when to rest. Others said "rest" should be replaced with "shame": humans felt shame but were never satisfied, while animals were satisfied and knew no shame. Just one word apart, the meanings were worlds apart. The first view said humans were inferior to animals; the second said that even with a sense of shame, humans still often didn't know when they had enough.

Whichever way you understood it, both seemed to speak of humanity's baser instincts.

Su Yuan was someone who knew how to be content. She had a remarkable ability to endure, and had quietly made it through such a drastic upheaval. What was there left that she couldn't face?

Nobody else knew what had happened to her, and she wasn't about to go around telling everyone. So while taking care to protect her secret, Su Yuan's daily routine hadn't changed much.

If anything, Su Yuan had become more studious. Becoming vice head of the External Relations Department seemed to have given her a strong drive to improve, and she often went to the library.

There was one other change: Su Yuan had become much more graceful in her manner. She didn't think she was any more graceful than before, and perhaps she really hadn't changed at all. Yet for some reason, everyone else had come to the same conclusion: she had suddenly become elegant.

Perhaps that was what people meant when they said that a mind enriched by books gave a person an air of refinement. It was probably a change in her bearing.

The incident last Saturday, when Peng Jie confessed his feelings to her, was still making the rounds, much to her annoyance. Sometimes she felt there were simply too many people in the world with nothing better to do. The rumors about her and Xiao Yiyan had barely died down before rumors about Peng Jie started raging again.

Fortunately, there hadn't been many people around to witness it. Besides, Peng Jie pursuing girls wasn't news. It would probably be news if he stopped. No one had noticed that the person he had pursued this time was actually a "guy."

Perhaps because Su Yuan had turned him down so decisively, Peng Jie hadn't come to see her again these past few days. Who knew where he was, practicing his secrets for picking up girls?

It was clear that he wasn't the kind of person who gave up easily.

Although Peng Jie hadn't shown up, Su Yuan still felt the incident had left her with serious aftereffects. Maybe, in Ji Yehao's and Gao Jun's eyes, she had already strayed from her original "lane" and started acting strangely.

On top of that, Instructor Tan had asked her to consider moving out. She still hadn't decided whether to rent a place off campus or move into the women's dorm. Just thinking about it made her frustrated, so she did her best to find books to distract herself.

The school library stood on an enormous raised platform, and reaching the first floor meant climbing dozens of steps.

The reading room on the tenth floor.

The spacious reading room was neatly lined with tables and chairs, and the shelves along one side held reference books.

Holding a copy of Human Physiology, she found a seat by the window. The light was excellent there, and a glance outside revealed a wide stretch of the campus. She gently pulled out the chair, sat down, and opened the book.

She read for a long time, completely absorbed, and all the troubles in her mind fell away. Suddenly, a sweet fragrance wafted over, and a girl in a white blouse sat down across from her.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?"

Her voice was lovely.

From the way she looked, the girl seemed to have a very striking figure. She was probably beautiful.

Su Yuan looked up. There were plenty of empty seats on the tenth floor, but since a beautiful girl wanted to sit across from her, she had no reason to send her away. Thinking that sitting with a beauty would be quite a pleasure, she smiled faintly at her.

Lan Qiuzhu was in a terrible mood today. At the Anime Club's recruitment drive, which had just ended, the club she led had attracted very few new members. Out of the several thousand, nearly ten thousand freshmen on campus, they had recruited only a little over a hundred.

Binhe University of Science and Technology had dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of student clubs. Recruiting more than a hundred members was no poor result—in fact, it was very good.

But Lan Qiuzhu was still unhappy. The reason was that the Anime Club had recruited barely any cute girls this time!

Although they had recruited more than twenty female members, fewer than ten had real potential to become the club's stars in the future.

Everyone else was male!

The Anime Club was a medium-sized organization among the school's clubs, with around two hundred members. Its core members—the forty-odd people who could appear on stage—were roughly split evenly between men and women.

As the club's new president, Lan Qiuzhu was a third-year student. Having just taken over from the previous president, she naturally hoped to make her mark.

Like the other clubs, they had tried to recruit members by casting a wide net. She knew perfectly well that most of the hundred or so people who had filled out applications had joined because they were hoping to meet girls in the club. Lan Qiuzhu absolutely couldn't tolerate that.

She had decided to screen applicants strictly this time and weed out everyone who was just looking to take advantage. Even if that meant keeping only half of them, she wouldn't hesitate.

What really troubled her, though, was the club's core membership. There were a few freshmen with the potential to become core members, but without proper training, their natural abilities seemed a little weaker than those of previous years...

A club couldn't be sustained by just a few people. That was what had Lan Qiuzhu so worried!

Lan Qiuzhu had come to the library today partly to find some peace and think about the club's future, and partly to try her luck.

She knew Binhe Institute of Technology had plenty of talent. The question was how to find it.

Many cultured, intellectual girls weren't interested in anime. It was unrealistic to expect them to fill out an application and join the Anime Club on their own. So where did well-behaved girls like to hang out?

The library!!

Lan Qiuzhu had an ambitious eye. Like a talent scout, she was searching for people who might fit her needs. Boy or girl, once someone caught her eye, they had no chance of escaping her clutches.