The word "big brother" had barely left his mouth when Yao Chuan was about to respond.
Xie Xie immediately jumped in from the side. He threw an arm around Tang Wulin's neck and teased him with a grin.
"Whoa. You're already calling him big brother? Never mind whether you're strong enough to qualify, brother."
He jerked his chin toward Yao Chuan.
"You don't have the faintest idea how capable our boss really is."
He sighed, his tone turning a little wistful, with the weathered air of someone who'd been there.
"Let me tell you. Being with our boss is... both lucky and painful."
Tang Wulin listened, a little confused.
"Lucky... I can understand. Painful?"
He instinctively looked at Yao Chuan's handsome, gentle face. He just couldn't imagine Yao Chuan doing anything that would make someone suffer.
Could this big brother have some special... hobby in private? Maybe he liked brutal training, beating his underlings into the ground.
A few unsavory images flashed through his mind.
His expression turned a little strange.
Xie Xie took one look at his face and knew he'd gotten the wrong idea. He hurriedly slapped him.
"Hey, hey. What are you thinking? It's not what you think."
He leaned in with an air of mystery and lowered his voice.
"You'll understand that kind of pain when you experience it for real. For now, even if I told you, you wouldn't get it."
He patted Tang Wulin's shoulder again, meaningfully.
"Don't worry. You'll understand soon enough."
With that, Xie Xie stopped explaining and turned to call to Yao Chuan.
"Boss, let's go. I think we've got a class meeting this afternoon."
Yao Chuan nodded.
He gave Tang Wulin a warm smile.
"Come on, Wulin. Let's go back to the dorm and rest."
Then he turned and walked out of the cafeteria with Xie Xie.
Tang Wulin watched the two of them go.
He was still puzzling over Xie Xie's words—"both lucky and painful"—and the more he thought about them, the more baffled he became.
What did that even mean?
He shook his head, trying to put the question aside for now, then quickly cleared away his tray and prepared to catch up with them.
But he'd barely taken a few steps outside the cafeteria when someone came racing down the side corridor, nearly colliding with him.
Tang Wulin instinctively stepped back to steady himself.
He looked up and saw a very pretty upperclasswoman.
She wore a fitted pink tracksuit, and her figure was just beginning to take shape. Her skin was as smooth and pale as jade.
Her beautiful blue hair was tied in a neat ponytail, bouncing behind her as she ran.
Her features were exquisite, especially her large, limpid eyes.
Under the afternoon sun, they seemed to shimmer with a faint golden glow, making her look especially lively.
The pretty upperclasswoman quickly scanned the area. When she didn't see Yao Chuan, she looked a little disappointed.
But soon her gaze fell on Tang Wulin.
A bright smile immediately bloomed on her face, and she walked over to him.
Her voice was clear, with just the right touch of girlish sweetness.
"Hey, junior. You're a new first-year, right? You're Yao Chuan's roommate, aren't you?"
Looking at the pretty upperclasswoman's smiling face so close to his, Tang Wulin caught the faint fragrance coming from her.
His heart sped up for no reason, and his face felt a little warm.
He answered with a slight stammer.
"Y-yes. Hello, senior. I'm Tang Wulin. I share a dorm room with Yao Chuan."
At that, the pretty upperclasswoman's smile grew even sweeter.
Her large eyes curved into crescent moons.
"So you're Tang Wulin. Hello, hello! My name is Ouyang Zixin. I'm a fourth-year."
She introduced herself openly, then pressed her hands together against her chest in a cute, pleading gesture.
Her voice softened, tinged with embarrassment.
"Junior Tang Wulin, there's something very important I'd like to ask you. Would you help me?"
Ouyang Zixin was already beautiful, and now she was acting so sweetly. For a pure-hearted boy like Tang Wulin, who was just beginning to fall in love, it hit like a nuclear bomb.
His head spun, and his heart pounded. He nodded hard almost without thinking.
"Tell me, senior. If you need help with anything, I'll do it."
Seeing how readily he agreed, Ouyang Zixin looked even happier.
She immediately took a pink envelope out of her little bag. It was scented with a faint fragrance.
In neat, delicate handwriting, the words "To Yao Chuan, open personally" were written on it.
Carefully, as if she were holding some priceless treasure, she offered the envelope to Tang Wulin with both hands.
"Junior Tang Wulin, please help me. You have to hand this to Yao Chuan yourself. All right?"
Her large eyes gazed at Tang Wulin expectantly.
The excitement and embarrassment on Tang Wulin's face froze in an instant, as if someone had doused him from head to toe with cold water.
The fluttering in his heart cooled by half. So the senior had stopped him so warmly, smiled so sweetly, and asked him for something "very important" just to... deliver a love letter to Yao Chuan.
He felt like a foolish little idiot who'd mistaken her friendliness for interest. His heart felt a little hollow, with a faint pang of jealousy.
But he was an honest kid. Since he'd agreed, he wouldn't go back on his word.
A little stiffly, he reached out and took the fragrant pink envelope.
When his fingers touched it, the envelope even felt a little hot.
He forced a smile and nodded.
"All right, senior. Don't worry. I'll make sure to hand it to Yao Chuan myself."
"Thank you so much, junior Tang Wulin. You're such a good person."
With her task done, Ouyang Zixin thanked him happily. She even gave him a playful wink before turning and walking away with a spring in her step.
That left Tang Wulin standing alone, holding the pink envelope and staring blankly, his heart a jumble of emotions.
He sighed, carefully tucked the envelope into his pocket, and decided to give it to Yao Chuan when they got back to the dorm.
He shook his head, trying to shake off his little disappointment, and started walking back to the dorm.
But he hadn't gone far from the cafeteria before he stopped again.
And this time, it wasn't one person stopping him. There were more than a dozen.
More than a dozen upperclasswomen in uniforms from different year groups appeared from who knew where.
In a flurry,
they surrounded him in an instant.
Their eyes all sparkled as they stared at Tang Wulin, filled with hope, excitement, and even a trace of fervor.
Their gazes instantly reminded Tang Wulin of the wolves he'd once seen in a Soul Beast guidebook. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his heart sank with a strong sense that something was wrong.
Sure enough.
The next second,
the upperclasswomen began chattering all at once. Their voices differed, but their requests were remarkably alike.
"Junior, junior. Could you pass this along to Yao Chuan for me?"
"Little brother, make sure you give this to him personally, okay? I'll treat you to something tasty later."
"And mine too. You're junior Tang Wulin, right? Please, please!"
"Junior, do me a favor..."
In an instant,
envelopes of all kinds appeared: pink, blue, purple, scented, tied with ribbons, and even decorated with little flowers...
They were stuffed into Tang Wulin's hands like snowflakes, fluttering down to pile at his feet with a flurry of thumps.
A towering stack formed in an instant, almost burying him.
Tang Wulin stood there, stunned, forced to cradle a huge pile of thick love letters that carried every kind of perfume.
This sudden "spectacle" had completely bowled him over. He looked at the eager faces of the upperclasswomen, then down at the ever-growing "mountain of letters" in his arms, and felt his scalp go numb.
His mouth opened and closed, but not a word came out.
All he could do was wail inwardly.
Heavens above.
What on earth was going on?
Before you continue