Serenade

The eight-person dormitory was a scene of misery.

Jin Xi stood at the door of the dorm, looking into the tiny room with four bare metal bunk beds, feeling utterly desolate.

On the balcony, a girl was singing while hanging her clothes to dry in the bleak wind and rain. "Little bok choy, so yellow in the earth."

The singer's name was Lin Luo, and Jin Xi had met her as her roommate when she joined the class group chat during summer vacation.

As Jin Xi entered the dorm with her luggage, Lin Luo turned to her with a sad expression, "Eight-person dorm, happy or not, surprising or not?"

Jin Xi sat down on her wire bed, feeling helpless. "It's 9102 already, why does this kind of dormitory still exist, destroying human nature?"

"I heard that the number of female students admitted to the university this year far exceeds that of male students, and the female dormitories are seriously overcrowded, so they had to convert them into eight-person dorms," Lin Luo explained.

At the mention of this, Lin Luo sat next to Jin Xi and whispered mysteriously, "I heard a rumor that the school is considering transferring some female students to the male dorms for a few days."

Jin Xi's eyes widened. "Is that true?"

Lin Luo replied, "Who knows, they say it's voluntary. Either live in a four-person room in the male dorm or stay in the eight-person dorm in the female dorm. It's up to you."

Jin Xi asked, "Would you like to live in the male dorm?"

Lin Luo chuckled. "It's 9102 already, little sister. I'd be happy to squat in the corner if it meant getting a four-person room!"

Jin Xi was impressed.

As the two were discussing this, their roommate Chu Zhao burst into the dorm excitedly. "Someone just saw Bo Yan, the senior, personally escorting a freshman girl to the dorm!"

Jin Xi blinked. "That..."

Chu Zhao exclaimed, "Whoever managed to catch Bo Yan, the guy who has eluded all the girls on campus for the whole year, is really impressive!"

"I..." Jin Xi said weakly.

"Someone who can provoke even the untouchable and invincible would-be suitors is truly a warrior not afraid of mass production!" Chu Zhao continued, shaking Jin Xi's shoulders.

Chu Zhao had access to all kinds of information about B City University, and she sat down next to Jin Xi, saying, "Bo Yan is the most handsome, straightforward, and charismatic guy in our university's National Defense Academy!"

Jin Xi knew about the National Defense Academy, which trained military defense students. When she first stepped onto campus, she saw a row of long-legged army brothers from the National Defense Academy marching on the emerald green field, exuding a charm that made one's heart skip a beat.

"I heard his parents were martyrs, and he grew up in the military district, a second-generation military noble. No one dares to provoke him. You haven't seen him in uniform; he's so handsome!" Chu Zhao gushed.

Jin Xi recalled Bo Yan's appearance when she saw him by the dormitory building earlier today. He wore a loose shirt, looking relaxed and casual, with a slightly rugged and unrestrained charm in his eyes and brows.

"Bo Yan is a handsome guy with many girls around him, all of them tall with long legs and a busty figure. That's why they call his pursuers a production line. "

Jin Xi instinctively looked down at her chest.

Lin Luo said, "Yours is like a shock absorber, there's nothing to see."

Jin Xi replied, "You're the one who's like a shock absorber!"

...

That night, the dormitory counselor announced in the group chat that some of the girls' dorms would be moved to the male dorms seven, eight, and twelve. Students who were willing to move to the male dorms should immediately sign up with the counselor.

Of course, only a few female students signed up. They would rather stay in the cramped eight-person rooms in the girls' dorm than live with those smelly men.

That night, Chu Zhao and Lin Luo climbed onto Jin Xi's bed, and the three girls wrapped themselves in blankets to discuss "national affairs."

Lin Luo was very determined: "I must move, even if I have to squat in a four-person room."

Chu Zhao said, "There's something I want to tell you. Forget about the other dorms, in male dorm eight, they are housing students from the Sports Academy and the National Defense Academy."

Jin Xi and Lin Luo asked, "So what?"

Chu Zhao replied, "I just think there's a chance to get a boyfriend, ignore me."

Lin Luo said, "But we might not even be assigned to male dorm eight. The dormitory allocation is random."

Jin Xi suddenly remembered something, "Wait...the senior students who kidnapped me today live in male dorm eight. I don't want to run into them."

Chu Zhao said, "Your boyfriend Bo Yan also lives in male dorm eight. Are you scared?"

Jin Xi shivered, "Yes."

After whispering among themselves for a while, the three of them reached a consensus and agreed to move to the male dormitory. As for how they would be assigned, it was up to fate.

The next morning, Lin Luo went to the counselor to sign up. The counselor told them to prepare because new students from various colleges would be arriving soon, and the shortage of female dorms meant that they would probably have to move.

...

At dusk, Jin Xi and her roommates went to a tea shop outside the school gates to drink bubble tea.

Since the new school year had just begun, the small food street outside the school was bustling with activity. There were bubble tea shops, restaurants, noodle shops, and street vendors...

The three girls sat at a white table in front of the bubble tea shop, each with a cup of matcha milk tea, discussing where to go for hot pot later.

Jin Xi suddenly remembered, "Senior student Bo Yan helped me today. Shouldn't I invite him to dinner to show my gratitude?"

Chu Zhao said, "Girls who want to invite Senior Bo Yan to dinner would have to queue up three times around B University. What's the point of daydreaming so late at night?"

Jin Xi bit her straw, "I forgot to ask for his contact information."

Lin Luo said, "Even if you ask for it, he might not give it to you."

Chu Zhao said, "Even if he gives it to you, he might not add you."

Jin Xi hesitated.

Seeing that Jin Xi didn't believe her, Chu Zhao took out her phone and showed her a QR code image, "This is Senior Bo Yan's WeChat. Add him, and don't say I didn't remind you."

Jin Xi asked, "How did you get his WeChat?"

"Everyone has it, okay! Every B University girl has a copy. But having someone's WeChat QR code and them actually adding you are two different things."

Jin Xi didn't believe in superstitions, so she took out her phone and scanned the QR code that appeared on the screen. The username that popped up was "Watercolor Oil Painting Sketch Private Chat Good Price."

Jin Xi: "Why does this look like a scam?"

"I heard that Bo Yan loves to paint and started his own studio." Chu Zhao urged her, "This must be the right account, add him quickly!"

So Jin Xi pressed the green "Add Friend" button and waited...

Chu Zhao said, "This WeChat QR code was originally sold on a forum, and it's said that sales have reached several thousand. You can imagine how many girls add him every day. If you succeed, I'll treat you to hot pot this year."

Just then, Jin Xi's phone made a "ding" sound. Both girls looked at Jin Xi's phone screen at the same time.

Jin Xi swiped the screen and smiled, "Looks like you owe me hot pot this year."

The notification on her phone read: "You and Watercolor Oil Painting Sketch Private Chat Good Price are now friends. Start chatting now."

The air was quiet for ten seconds.

Chu Zhao exclaimed, "How did you do that?!"

Lin Luo also couldn't believe it, "What did you send him as a verification?"

Jin Xi replied calmly, "He sells art, so I said I wanted to buy some. That's how I got in."

The two girls paused for a long time before giving her a thumbs-up. "Smart."

Jin Xi asked, "What do I do now?"

"Quick, chat with him and ask him out to eat."

"No, you have to introduce yourself first."

"Or maybe you should really buy some art. Be sincere and establish a business relationship first."

Jin Xi patiently waited for their enthusiastic discussion to end before saying, "I just wanted to thank him. Why did you two make it so complicated?"

"Don't you want to be friends with Bo Yan?"

"Don't you want to be Bo Yan's girlfriend?"

Jin Xi: ...

"Anyway, let's check out his Moments first!"

"Right, let's see what his daily life is like!"

Jin Xi clicked on Bo Yan's Moments, which were only visible for the past three days.

"There's nothing there."

"Ai."

Jin Xi already knew that a guy like Bo Yan wouldn't be coy in his Moments if he was interested in someone.

A few minutes later, the clerk called out their order number and Chu Zhao went to get the drinks. But when she came back, her face had clearly changed.

Lin Luo asked, "What's wrong, did you see a ghost?"

Chu Zhao lowered her voice and said shakily, "I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Lin Luo and Jin Xi both chose the bad news.

"In that case, I'll start with the good news. Someone has treated us to drinks."

"Who's so kind to treat us to drinks?"

"Well, that's the bad news," Chu Zhao took a deep breath. "It's a friend of Bo Yan's who treated us. And including Bo Yan himself, they're all behind us. They overheard everything we said, including the part about Jin Xi wanting to be Bo Yan's girlfriend."

"Okay, that's enough," Jin Xi said. She didn't dare to turn around, feeling like she wanted to die.