The dorm trio

"All right, I've passed on what I needed to, so I'll head off now. Have fun, you two."

Firefly: "Goodbye, Miss Su."

"Miss Su sounds so distant. Call me Sister Su from now on~"

"Ah... o-okay, Sister Su."

Su Qingyan suddenly leaned closer, giving Firefly a fright.

Su Qingyan smiled faintly. "Mm~ That's more like it. Bye, then~"

With that, Su Qingyan said goodbye to Lin Yu and Firefly.

Lin Yu: "Let's go, Firefly."

Firefly: "Oh... okay!"

Still dazed, Firefly came to her senses and hurried to catch up.

"Lin Yu, what was Miss Su... Sister Su talking about just now? It sounded pretty serious."

"Oh, that? It's nothing, really."

"Professor Zhou from our computer science department wants me to be his disciple. I turned down his kind offer before, but he doesn't seem ready to give up."

"Oh, you're that amazing, Lin Yu?"

"Hm? What makes you say that?" He hadn't revealed much at all. How had Firefly guessed?

Firefly folded her arms and said confidently,

"Don't the masters in those xianxia shows on TV always pick geniuses as disciples? Isn't your situation just like a sect elder discovering a genius and wanting to take him in?"

"Uh..."

Lin Yu had nothing to say. It was pretty far-fetched, but Firefly was right. Still, comparing it to xianxia was quite a stroke of genius!

Seeing that Lin Yu couldn't answer, she knew she'd guessed right. She planted both hands on her hips, looking even more confident.

"I was right, wasn't I?"

"You were, but your imagination is really something, Firefly. You even managed to guess that."

"Hehe~! I've been learning all the time, you know. Just like that saying, learn as long as you live. Life is all about learning."

"It's 'live as long as you learn.'"

"Sigh~ You've been learning from TV dramas, haven't you?"

Lin Yu shook his head helplessly. Just what had she been learning?

"Huh? Is that how it goes? Maybe I remembered it wrong. Hehe."

Firefly stuck out her tongue playfully, trying to brush it off.

The two strolled through campus, chatting and laughing, and eventually found themselves at the cafeteria.

He checked his watch. It was almost eleven. He looked at the girl beside him. "Are you hungry?"

At Lin Yu's question, she rubbed her protesting stomach, her face instantly turning red. She'd eaten breakfast that morning, yet she was already feeling hungry again.

"Mm..." Firefly nodded, feeling a little ashamed. She'd wanted to say she wasn't hungry, but ever since tasting the delicious food of this world, she'd been completely captivated. In the end, desire overcame reason, leaving her "no choice" but to nod.

"I happen to have quite a bit left on my meal card. It's enough for both of us."

As he spoke, Lin Yu took out a card and waved it. "Let's go."

"Okay..."

Right after speaking, Firefly suddenly grew serious and looked toward the crowd behind them, her gaze sharp enough to pierce a steel plate.

"Firefly?"

Firefly withdrew her gaze and smiled. "What is it?"

Lin Yu: "N-nothing. You just looked so alert. Did something happen?"

Firefly shook her head, her smile unchanged.

"It's nothing. Let's go."

"Oh... okay."

Thoroughly bewildered, Lin Yu walked into the cafeteria with Firefly.

Just as the two entered, three figures emerged from behind a large tree in the direction Firefly had looked.

"Good lord, that scared me to death! We almost got caught."

One of them, a slightly chubby young man, wiped the sweat from his forehead in relief.

"To think she could spot us from so far away. Her powers of observation are remarkably keen."

Another tall, muscular young man kept praising her.

"Old Zhang, what do you think?"

Standing between them was someone with striking blond hair. He was Zhang Zeyang, the friend who'd had skewers with Lin Yu yesterday.

The other two were his college roommates, Wang Haonan and Li Wei.

Zhang Zeyang: "Let's keep watching."

Li Wei: "But isn't it kind of wrong to follow them?"

Li Wei looked troubled. They'd only intended to get together with Lin Yu, but he hadn't replied to their messages or answered their calls. When they went to his classroom to look for him, they happened to see him leaving with a girl. Curious about their relationship, they'd quietly followed.

Wang Haonan looked in the direction the two had gone, grinding his teeth in exasperation.

"Damn it! When did Old Lin get such a gorgeous girlfriend?!"

Li Wei: "Could they just be friends?"

"Pfft! With the way they're acting, would you sooner believe they're friends or that I'm your dad?"

Zhang Zeyang: "Oh, get lost. You really never miss a chance to take advantage."

Zhang Zeyang gave Wang Haonan an irritated kick.

"Come on, let's follow them."

"Sure thing. Let's go~"

With that, Zhang Zeyang and Wang Haonan headed toward the cafeteria. Li Wei sighed and followed.

"Wow-! There are so many tasty things!"

Firefly drooled at the dazzling assortment of food behind the serving counter.

"Just tell me what you want."

Although she wanted to try everything there, she thought better of it.

"Um, I don't know what to eat. Why don't you recommend something, Lin Yu?"

"My recommendation? I'd recommend the braised chicken with rice. Our school's braised chicken with rice is really good."

"Okay... I'll have one, then."

"Hm? Will that be enough?" That was rather surprising. Was she really only eating that much today?

"Miss, one braised chicken with rice and one beef brisket noodle soup, please."

The cafeteria auntie was delighted to be addressed as "miss." Even her previously shaky serving hand steadied, and she filled Lin Yu's bowl right to the brim.

"What a sweet talker you are, young man. Here you go, your food~"

"Great. Thank you, miss."

The two found empty seats and sat down.

"Lin Yu, why did she give you so much just because you called her 'miss'?"

"That's something you don't know, huh? Today, I'll teach you your first lesson in college survival: if you want to eat your fill, compliments are essential."

"Keep the cafeteria aunties happy, and their hands stop shaking. Then you get more food."

"Oh, I see. So surviving college is that difficult."

Firefly looked at Lin Yu with pity, as though saying, "You poor thing."

"Uh... it's really not as difficult as you think."

"All right, enough talking. Eat up. It won't taste as good once it gets cold."

"Mmm-! Sho yummy."

"Right?"

Lin Yu slurped up some of his noodles too. It had been a long time since he'd eaten the school's beef brisket noodles, and he'd rather missed them.

Just as he was about to take another bite, he noticed Firefly staring ravenously at his noodles.

"Sigh. I really can't say no to you."

Lin Yu got up, fetched a small soup bowl, and put some beef brisket and noodles into it.

"Here."

Firefly accepted happily. Of course, she didn't eat it for free. She took some chicken from her bowl and put it into Lin Yu's.

"This is in exchange for the noodles."

While the two chatted and laughed, Zhang Zeyang and Li Wei were discussing what to eat at a table not far away. As for Wang Haonan...

"Holy shit, they're actually feeding each other. The sour stench of romance!"

Zhang Zeyang: "Stop watching them. Figure out what you want to eat first."

"I'm not eating. I'm already stuffed with dog food."

Wang Haonan lay slumped over the table, looking as though he had nothing left to live for.

Zhang Zeyang: "I'll have malatang."

Li Wei: "I'll have buckwheat noodles."

None of them knew Firefly had already set her sights on them.

"What's wrong, Firefly? You keep frowning."

"Lin Yu, we're being followed."

"Huh?" Hearing that they were being followed left Lin Yu completely bewildered. They weren't anyone famous, so why would anyone follow them?

Before Lin Yu could react, Firefly began reporting their positions. "Three men in total. One looks around 184 centimeters tall and is muscular all over. Another is around 165 centimeters and slightly chubby. The last is around 178 centimeters, with a build similar to yours and striking blond hair."

Wait... why did that sound so familiar? Could it be...?

"Where are they?"

"At nine o'clock, roughly a hundred meters away."

Lin Yu looked in the direction Firefly indicated. Upon closer inspection-well, would you look at that? Just as he'd thought, they really were his roommates.

"Don't worry. They're not bad people."

?

"Lin Yu, do you know them?"

"Yes. They're my college roommates." Lin Yu covered his face speechlessly.

After glancing at Firefly, he had a pretty good idea of what those guys were up to.

"Stay here and eat. I'll go catch up with them." With that, Lin Yu walked toward the three.

"Holy crap, do you guys know what I just realized?"

Zhang Zeyang and Li Wei: "What?"

Wang Haonan said solemnly, "I realized Old Lin's girlfriend is as pretty as our campus belle Bai. She might even have a slight edge!"

Zhang Zeyang: "Pfft~ I thought you'd figured out what kind of person she was. Turns out you were just being horny."

Li Wei: "Old Wang, aren't you afraid Brother Lin will come after you for saying that?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I'm complimenting her, okay? Besides, he's not here. How could he possibly hear me?"

"Oh, really?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Wang Haonan, who'd sounded so bold a moment ago, stiffened and slowly turned his head.

"Eek-!"

"Hello, everyone. Are you here to eat?"