During the last summer vacation before university, Qi Shaobai was living a carefree life.
Some days he would stay in his room the whole time, intensely building Lego models for eight or nine hours straight.
Other times he would call up Wei Zhaonan to go out and play basketball together.
His uncle Cheng Xin, who lived abroad, had invited him to travel to the United States and visit his Lego collection with nearly a thousand different sets.
When Cheng Xin called, Qi Shaobai happened to be playing video games with his younger uncle Cheng Zhuo.
During this time, Cheng Zhuo came over with new video games every few days for Qi Shaobai to "compare skills", although it was more like a challenge.
As citizen Sheng Mumu walked by the living room, she saw the “Game Over” screen appear on Qi Shaobai’s side for what seemed like the nth time. She generously expressed her praise:
“Little Qi has superb talent in video games, as expected of my good boy.”
At the same time, she gave some tactful encouragement to Cheng Zhuo:
“Noob, keep it up - aren't you embarrassed to lose to Qi Shaobai? Hmm?"
Qi Shaobai: "..."
Cheng Zhuo: "..."
When it came to rendering two people speechless with just a few sentences, Sheng Mumu was undoubtedly very skilled.
Before the two could come up with a retort, Sheng Mumu was already clip-clopping out the door in her high heels, leaving behind a beautiful silhouette and a faint scent of perfume lingering in the air.
Qi Shaobai helplessly lowered his eyes halfway, gazing silently at the door.
A sigh.
She went out to play again without him.
He really wanted to complain - a certain someone had been especially close with a certain Miss Sheng lately!
The two visibly spent less time at work in the past week. At least three days they didn't come home for dinner, going out on dates to eat and watch movies every day instead.
It was as if the ones enjoying summer vacation and about to start university were them instead of Qi Shaobai, who had just received his admission notice.
Qi Shaobai’s resentment only lingered over his head for a little while before his attention was drawn away by the opening music of the next game.
The two were playing a multiplayer real-time strategy game. Players had to gather resources and build forces to destroy the opponent.
Qi Shaobai lazily sat cross-legged on the carpet and started showing off his professional-level control. Cheng Zhuo was so shocked that he stared blankly again and again.
At the end of the game, Cheng Zhuo gritted his teeth and said, "You've already secured a win this round - why did you have to ruthlessly slaughter me?"
Qi Shaobai laughed. "We’re brothers, so of course I have to slaughter you."
Cheng Zhuo was so angry that his eyes rolled back. "Get the seniority straight. I'm your uncle."
"Next round, if you win, I'll call you Uncle one thousand times instead of just one hundred."
"Come on then, I won't believe I can’t win!”
That’s how the whole summer break went by very quickly.
It wasn’t until three days before University of Science and Technology Jing City notified new students to report that Qi Shaobai belatedly realized summer was almost over.
In previous years, the start of each school year was always the lowest point emotionally.
But this year felt different from past years.
Firstly, because he had been admitted to his dream university.
Secondly, he had asked his dad and stepmother in advance - they said they would accompany him on the day of report in.
It was pretty sad. He had finished nine years of compulsory education but this was the first time experiencing having his parents take him to enroll in school.
University of Science and Technology Jing City gave new first year students four days to report in.
Qi Shaobai had originally intended to go on the fourth day.
He disliked crowds and noise. Just imagining the crowded campus scene those first two days gave him a headache.
But when he had just suggested "go on the last day", he was glared into submission by a look from Sheng Mumu.
"Are you silly? If you wait until the fourth day, you’d have completely lost the dorm selection priority. The early bird gets the worm, understand?"
She had researched in advance - University of Science and Technology Jing City didn't allocate dorms by class number. It was first come first serve, mixed between departments.
The official reason was: to promote friendly exchanges and mutual improvement between students of different departments.
After some thought, Qi Shaobai agreed that what Sheng Mumu said made a lot of sense.
Just as Sheng Mumu had found out, Qi Shaobai’s early arrival allowed him to choose a very nice dorm room.
University of Science and Technology Jing City was built on the shore of Jing City’s largest inland lake. Living lakeside had the advantages of beautiful scenery and tranquility, but also the drawback of pestering mosquitoes.
Arriving early meant luckily choosing a building just a few hundred meters from the lakefront trail where he could enjoy the beautiful view without being in the worst mosquito area.
The various mosquito repellent sprays and anti-itch ointments Sheng Mumu had prepared in advance ended up not needed.
What’s more, his other three dorm mates were all very easy to get along with.
In Sheng Mumu's words: “Little Qi, based on my initial observations, your three roommates are all extroverts. This is great. Even if you wanted to isolate yourself as an introvert, they would drag you out to socialize. How reassuring!"
Qi Shaobai was speechless for a moment: "..."
After settling in and finishing all the enrollment procedures, it happened to be 5 pm.
Watching the sun gradually sinking, it seemed Sheng Mumu suddenly thought of something as her eyes slowly lit up.
Qi Shaobai was extremely familiar with her subtle expressions. With just a glance, he understood what she had in mind.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he said in a deep voice:
"It's still early now that Qi Shaobai has finished enrolling. There's no hurry to go back."
Qi Shaobai thought his dad wanted to find a restaurant near the school for the three of them to have dinner together. His pleasant anticipation had just risen halfway when he suddenly heard Sheng Mumu's voice:
"I was thinking the exact same thing. If we go now, we might still be able to catch the sunset."
Qi bent down his head in acknowledgement. “Okay, I’ll drive faster.”
Qi Shaobai: ???
Setting off? To see the sunset?
Qi Shaobai was completely confused, clearly not understanding their cryptic conversation.
Only after Sheng Mumu explained a few sentences to Qi Shaobai did he suddenly realize - he was wishfully thinking again. They hadn’t planned on bringing him at all!
Sheng Mumu ignored Qi Shaobai’s slightly twitching lips. She happily pulled Qi’s outstretched arm towards the parking lot.
Less than ten minutes' drive from University of Science and Technology Jing City was a highly-rated homestay.
The top-rated comment on a certain review app said watching the sunset there makes the sun seem gentle.
Since the flower shop business had gradually gotten on track, she no longer needed to stare at the company all day. She started planning to expand the business scope.
After some investigation and discussion with Qi, she took a liking to the homestay chain project, believing it had great potential.
It just so happened they were in the area today. They could first experience it as customers.
While those two beautifully enjoyed the scenic homestay, Qi Shaobai began his first sleepless night tossing and turning in the dorm.
He was used to his own bed. Even though University of Science and Technology Jing City dorm conditions were pretty good, he still found it hard to adapt.
Adding insult to injury, the morning after he got up with dark eye circles, a senior student pushed open the dorm room door. He announced loudly to the room:
“Handsome and hardworking juniors, the report in place is short on manpower for the new female students. Come with me to show them around.”
