Mermaid and Orca

Watching Liu Shang and Jiang Ruolin chat and laugh as they gradually walked away into the school, everyone at the entrance was dumbfounded.

Earlier, they had already seen that boy carrying a large suitcase inexplicably lying on the grass, and he had been lying there for quite a while.

At the time, they had all thought that this guy's manners were simply terrible.

This was the lawn outside the school gates. He had just sprawled there without a care in the world, and on such an important day as freshman orientation, he was bound to stand out.

But when that pure, unbelievably beautiful girl appeared later, and the two of them chatted and laughed as they entered the school, everyone present suddenly understood.

So that freshman with the suitcase had been lying on the grass for so long just to attract kind-hearted, warm, beautiful girls from the school to come talk to him?!!!

What kind of move was that?

Jiang Taigong fishing, or waiting for a rabbit by a tree stump?!!!

This scene deeply wounded several upperclassmen's eyes and fragile hearts. "Damn, are all freshmen this fierce these days?"

"Wasn't that girl just now Jiang Ruolin, the incredibly popular freshman?"

"This morning, I even heard quite a few wolves in the Student Union talking about making a move. Who would've thought some freshman would cut in and snatch her away halfway through!"

"I deeply curse him to have his trick exposed, then get despised and rejected by that girl! But judging by how happily they were chatting just now, that kid's got some serious skills!"

Not far from them, several upperclasswomen were also watching the direction Liu Shang and Jiang Ruolin had gone, their eyes gleaming.

"Earlier, when I saw that freshman lying on the grass, I couldn't help thinking of one of Stephen Chow's lines: 'He looks like a dog.'"

"But looking at him now, that boy is pretty clever, sunny, and handsome. Look how good he is at making girls happy."

"Hey, don't look at me like that, okay? Any cute, caring girl naturally likes raising dogs."

Just as everyone found it amusing and discussed it animatedly, there were also two freshmen who had come to register together not far from the lawn.

"Tsk, tsk. Since ancient times, schemes have won people's hearts. That saying really is true."

"Didn't that guy just now get a chance to meet a pretty girl by getting there first?"

"But humanity progresses because humans love to learn."

"Just watch. I'll reenact that trick for you."

As he spoke, this freshman named Chen Qiang pushed his large suitcase to the same spot, then copied Liu Shang's pose and lay down on the grass.

This sight immediately drew cries of surprise and a crowd of onlookers.

What was wrong with this year's freshmen? Were they all this thick-skinned and shameless?

Listening to the murmurs around him, Chen Qiang lay on the lawn with his eyes closed, secretly pleased with himself.

The louder the surrounding discussions were, the more successful his plan was.

That kid just now might have been the inventor of this trick, but this trick was destined to flourish in his hands.

Maybe he would run into an even prettier girl?!

But then he recalled Jiang Ruolin's lovely figure from before and had to admit with some disappointment that that kid really had been lucky.

Even if one searched the entire school from top to bottom, there probably weren't many girls who could compare to that one.

Still, he wasn't picky. He would be satisfied with someone at eighty percent of that girl's level. At the very least, she had to be class-beauty or department-beauty material, right?

Just as he lay there with his eyes closed, his mind full of sweet little fantasies, he suddenly felt the light around him dim by several degrees.

He then opened his eyes with a frown, only to see a girl around 170 centimeters tall, with a build sturdy enough to crush his one-and-a-half selves, standing before him like a mid-rise building.

The reason the light had dimmed was that her shadow had completely blocked out a patch of sunlight on the lawn.

If Liu Shang had been able to see dappled sunlight through Jiang Ruolin's hair earlier, then what Chen Qiang now saw was a gigantic black hole...

As Chen Qiang lay on the grass with hollow eyes, frozen like a wooden chicken, the girl before him asked with a booming "concern," "Classmate, are you okay? Do you want me to carry you to the school hospital?"

"Uh... hehe, I'm fine..."

"I won't trouble you, classmate..."

Before Chen Qiang could haltingly express what he really meant—I'm fine, please leave quickly. Don't ruin my fishing—the girl lifted him from the grass with one hand as though picking up a chick.

"My name is Fang Jiajia. I'm from the Student Union Discipline Inspection Department, a National Level Two shot put athlete, and your sophomore senior."

"I see you're a freshman here to enroll. Perfect, I'll take you to register."

Then Fang Jiajia, without giving him any chance to refuse, directly grabbed Chen Qiang's small suitcase and led him into the school.

Perhaps to show her friendliness, she even gave Chen Qiang's back a symbolic pat, making him feel waves of burning numbness and soreness across it.

Seeing him like that, Chen Qiang's friend in the distance gave him a look that said, Envious! Admirable! Brother, may you survive this, then pushed his own suitcase away in a hurry.

Seeing the treatment Chen Qiang received, along with the huge contrast and comedic effect compared with Liu Shang's earlier experience, the people around them had long since burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, on the way to the freshman registration area with Fang Jiajia leading him along, Chen Qiang's heart was filled with endless bitterness:

Damn it, that kid just used a trick to hook a delicate, pure little mermaid. Why did I run into such a terrifying, hulking orca?!!!!

Two months later, as Liu Shang and Jiang Ruolin chatted and laughed on their way to the internet cafe, Liu Shang suddenly stopped by the roadside not far from it.

Jiang Ruolin stopped as well, still looking at him with a touch of playfulness and delight in her eyes.

Over the past two months, the two of them had grown increasingly familiar with each other, and their feelings had rapidly warmed.

The fact that Jiang Ruolin, who had never spent time alone with a boy, was willing to accompany him to the internet cafe to go online together already said everything.

Their relationship had reached the point where everything had fallen into place, with only one thin layer of paper left between them.

Their relationship was developing much faster than it had in Liu Shang's previous life.

At this moment, faced with Jiang Ruolin's curious gaze, Liu Shang still showed no intention of moving forward.

Instead, he crossed his hands behind his head and looked up at the huge sign of the internet cafe: Youth Internet Cafe.

"Jiang, I think it's wonderful to have you in my youth."