Too Much Is as Bad as Too Little

Chen Lu didn't know whether Mo Yuqing had spotted him first or he had spotted her first.

Either way, they both froze for a moment.

"Anyway, remember, you can hurry them along, but make sure you're polite. Nobody hits a smiling face," Chen Lu said, finishing what he'd been saying as if he hadn't seen her.

Then he silently brought in the props and sound system, connected the speakers to the computer, and tested them.

From start to finish, he didn't say a word to Mo Yuqing.

Once the other odds and ends were taken care of, all that remained was to make sure the sound system worked properly.

Standing in front of the computer, Chen Lu tapped the mouse in his hand, speechless.

Running into her here of all places? You've got to be kidding me.

Li Sinian, you fucking bastard.

What Chen Lu didn't know, however, was that to the dance club girls who had been fretting over this for days, his arrival was like a god descending from the heavens.

Not to mention how he had handled everything by himself, smoothly and with practiced ease.

All these freshman girls saw was a handsome, gentle senior who spoke with a clear head.

In Liu Yan's mind, unaware of the circumstances, it became a different story.

How did Chen Lu know? Did he come to help on his own?

Was he still planning to pursue Mo Yuqing?

She wasn't sure about that guess. Although Chen Lu had helped, judging by how he had acted in the cafeteria, he seemed to have really given up.

Once the speakers successfully played music, Chen Lu silently turned down the volume.

"You're so handsome, senior! Thank you!" several girls called out, cheering him on.

Chen Lu smiled and gave a slight nod. He told them to keep practicing, as if just going through the motions, then turned and left.

There were other groups and all sorts of problems waiting for him to solve.

Being a dad is hard.

Watching Chen Lu's retreating back, Mo Yuqing parted her lips slightly, her cool, beautiful eyes blinking.

Contrary to what she had expected, Chen Lu not only failed to come apologize before leaving, he hadn't even spoken to her.

Hurry up and apologize already!

Before she could collect herself, a freshman girl picked up her phone and hurried after him.

Watching the girl chase after him, Mo Yuqing felt her heart inexplicably tighten.

It was as if a hand were scratching at her heart, making her feel unbearably restless for some reason.

Her breathing also grew a little quicker.

Soon, when she saw the girl return looking somewhat dejected, she felt relieved again, though she didn't know why.

"Boo-hoo, I didn't get his WeChat."

"Maybe it's not that he wasn't interested in you. A senior as wonderful as him should already have a girlfriend."

"I remember now! I think I saw this senior walking out of the school gates with a girl from our class... I saw them one afternoon!" a girl said, then scratched her head. "But that girl didn't stand out much. She kept her head down no matter what she was doing."

"But the senior said... he'd just been rejected after confessing, and he wasn't really in the mood..." the girl who had asked for his WeChat muttered.

"You're kidding, right? Even a senior that wonderful got rejected? Is that girl an idiot?"

The chatter rose and fell all around them.

"All right, back to practice!" Mo Yuqing frowned slightly, cutting off the discussion.

Still sitting, Liu Yan edged closer to Mo Yuqing. After spending quite a while feeling exasperated with herself, she lowered her voice again. "See that? You'd better think this through. There are plenty of little cabbages trying to hook up with Chen Lu!"

"The first thing he did when he came in was look at you. I bet it's not too late for you to lower your head now. You really need to be careful, or you'll regret it later..."

"If you have feelings for him, take a step back... I don't want to see you hurting in the future."

Liu Yan said this because she could tell Mo Yuqing had been upset when someone asked for Chen Lu's WeChat.

Her skills in this area were on a whole different level from those of ordinary people. Otherwise, she couldn't have kept Jiang Chao, who had been such a sea king before, in the palm of her hand.

Honestly, even she couldn't understand what was going through Mo Yuqing's head, but one thing was certain-Mo Yuqing would definitely regret it.

Mo Yuqing said nothing. From the way she kept winding her dark, silky hair around her finger, it was clear her thoughts were in turmoil.

Is it really not too late? Would lowering my head just once be enough?

Would things go back to the way they were?

She remembered how Chen Lu had always followed at her side, and the good-morning and good-night messages she hadn't received for days...

The thought was like candy, making Mo Yuqing swallow involuntarily.

But would that mean getting together with him?

Do I even like him?

Mo Yuqing couldn't find an answer.

She felt as though she had never liked anyone.

After a struggle with herself, she seemed to reach a decision.

Under Liu Yan's somewhat expectant gaze, Mo Yuqing gently bit her lower lip and slowly spoke.

"No way."

In all her life, Mo Yuqing had never lowered her head.

She would wait for him to apologize.

Chen Lu ran around all morning, feeling that quite a few of the new students these days really were spoiled idiots.

At noon, he grabbed a bite at the cafeteria and called Li Sinian to curse him out and vent his frustration. Then he got back to work in the afternoon.

Being called "dad" once and getting two seafood buffet meals made the trouble worthwhile.

He looked at the messages on his phone, thinking about which little idiots he should help next.

The drama club is putting on a stage play?

Interesting. Aren't they afraid of social death?

Chen Lu didn't quite understand.

Everyone was bound to die, but social death was the one death he couldn't accept.

As he walked across the sports field, he saw a couple snuggling up to each other in public in the distance and expressed his contempt on behalf of all his single-dog comrades.

Suddenly, a strangely dressed girl hopped in front of him and poked him with a fan.

"Hi, senior!"

The girl's voice was lively and cute, but because of her cosplay outfit, Chen Lu didn't recognize her at all.

"Who are you?" Chen Lu asked.

"...I'm Lin Miaomiao."

Chen Lu took a few steps back and looked at the sun umbrella in front of him. Only then did he realize this was where the drama club had gathered.

He sat down on a white plastic chair under the umbrella and looked around for someone.

Liang Zhirou had said last night that she would help, so she should be here too.

He was a little embarrassed that he hadn't recognized Lin Miaomiao, but an idea quickly struck him.

"I know. I meant, who are you cosplaying?"

"Kamisato Ayaka. Do I look good? The cosplay outfit I bought just arrived today, so I figured I'd wear it out for fun." Lin Miaomiao flashed a peace sign and showed her trademark little canine teeth as she took a selfie.

"Mm-hmm, looks good."

Chen Lu praised her, but his eyes remained on the girl working diligently in the distance.

Liang Zhirou wore her long hair in a ponytail. She was earnestly helping arrange the various props for the performance, occasionally wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

Lin Miaomiao noticed, of course. Both annoyed and amused, she pouted but said no more about it.

She knew that although she was a little flat in front and her figure was a bit too "youthful and energetic," her looks weren't bad.

But then again, Liang Zhirou was such a feast for the eyes!

Chen Lu sat in the chair watching, intending to see when Liang Zhirou would notice him.

Ten minutes passed, but she still hadn't.

Some people are already taking a break. Go on, slack off a little!

Are you stupid? You're here to help!

Were you born in the year of the ox?!

Liang Zhirou didn't chat with the people around her either, just kept her head down and helped set things up.

She was moving tables and all sorts of fake scenery made of foam. He really had no idea what the drama club was putting together.

Chen Lu was worried sick and somewhat regretted not going over to help at the start.

"You're in the drama club, right? Liang Zhirou's supposed to be here helping, so why are you slacking off?" Chen Lu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My health isn't very good." Lin Miaomiao smiled faintly and said no more.

She casually changed the subject. "Speaking of which, are you here to see Liang Zhirou? How did you know she was here?"

Chen Lu shook his head. "Huh? I didn't. I'm here to help. Li Sinian had something to do and couldn't come."

He cleared his throat. "What problems are you having here?"

Lin Miaomiao felt like murdering him.

Here to... help?

Then you sat there all that time and made me stand to the side?!

Where are your manners?

Are you even human?

"Senior, you came to help, and you're just sitting there? I thought you were here for fun!

"You're sitting in my spot!" Lin Miaomiao snapped at Chen Lu angrily, her little canine teeth clearly visible.

"Oh, come on, you have Liang Zhirou helping you, don't you?"

Chen Lu spoke half-jokingly.

"She's really good to you. Even with her part-time job keeping her so busy, she still found time to help you out."

The silly Liang Zhirou certainly wouldn't have caught what Chen Lu meant, but Lin Miaomiao was different.

Lin Miaomiao understood at once. For some reason, rather than being upset by his snide remark, she smiled. "I'm treating her to a feast when we're done! We could both use a better meal."

Then she looked toward the busy figure. "It's all work, but this is different from her part-time job. This counts as relaxing too."

Chen Lu nodded slightly and said no more.

If Lin Miaomiao offered to treat Liang Zhirou for no reason, Liang Zhirou might not agree to go.

Lin Miaomiao really was clever and mischievous.

"She's had a hard life, but she's strong." The smile suddenly vanished from Lin Miaomiao's face.

She had been smiling a moment ago, but her tone suddenly grew serious.

It was as though she had become a different person.

"Senior, you're so bad. That senior named Mo Yuqing and Liang Zhirou must be the two prettiest girls at our school."

Chen Lu's brow twitched, and he gave a wry smile inwardly.

She sure knows a lot.

"When I first went to help her, I didn't even get a clear look at her face," Chen Lu said truthfully.

"She shouldn't be this pretty." Lin Miaomiao made a camera with her hands and framed Liang Zhirou in it. "She's very fragile. I'm afraid anyone could hurt her easily, so I don't want all kinds of random people walking into her life.

"Keeping her mountains and waters hidden is absolutely the right choice. This was a secret not many people knew about, but I didn't expect you to discover it..."

Then she smiled at Chen Lu again. "Fortunately, you seem like a good person, senior."

"What do you mean, 'seem'?" Chen Lu retorted, having formed a rough impression of Lin Miaomiao.

Looks like she treats Liang Zhirou well.

"If you're only being nice to her because you saw a pretty face and took a fancy to her, wouldn't that mean you're not a good person?" Lin Miaomiao poked him with her fan again. "Out with it! Why are you being so nice to our Liang Zhirou?"

"Because she's the only girl who was willing to wait for me." As Lin Miaomiao pretended to joke around, Chen Lu, who had been doing the same, turned serious instead.

"And she gave me candy, too."

Watching Liang Zhirou finally walk over, Lin Miaomiao felt inexplicably down. She lowered her head and muttered, "I hope you do better than I did. The two of us are among the few friends she has. It'll probably be hard for anyone else to find their way into her heart."

Once Liang Zhirou came closer, Lin Miaomiao quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to help out with her? I'll treat you both to a meal afterward."

Chen Lu blinked. "Can I still eat if I don't help? My stomach's not good, so I'm suited to eating soft rice."