Chapter 37: Chapter 37: I Forgot My Brother

"Your dorm is in the New Century University Village, Building 3, Room 302. A four-piece bedding set is provided. Anything else you need... you can buy at the commercial area near the dorms!"

After completing the registration process and getting clear directions to the dormitory, the two of them picked up their luggage and headed that way.

"Are you sure about this? You’re really going to live in the dorms? And what’s the deal with this outfit? Where are the ones you bought before?" Su Chen asked, puzzled, as he looked at the cheap floral dress Su Qingya was wearing.

"Yeah~ Of course I’m staying in the dorm. It’d be too much of a hassle to go home every day. As for my clothes..."

Su Qingya glanced down at her little floral dress and pouted. "What’s wrong with it? My mom spent fifty yuan on this for me!"

Su Chen smiled at her words and didn’t press the issue. After all, some things... she had to experience for herself to truly understand.

University wasn’t a sheltered high school bubble where everyone naively believed in friendship. It was a miniature society, full of complex interpersonal politics and backstabbing. Someone could act like your best friend to your face, only to be the one spreading rumors behind your back.

Still, Su Chen didn’t intervene. Everyone has their own path in life. How could she understand the harshness of reality without weathering a few storms?

It took them about half an hour of walking to finally find the women’s dormitory.

Say what you will, Shanghai University was massive. If they hadn’t kept asking for directions, there’s no telling when they would have found the place.

Su Chen stopped in front of the women’s dormitory.

"Qingya, I won’t go up into the women’s dorm. You’ll have to take this up yourself. I’ll wait for you down here!" As he spoke, he handed the suitcase to Su Qingya.

"Hehe~ Brother, aren’t you curious to see what the legendary women’s dorms look like on the inside?" Su Qingya teased, a sly grin spreading across her face.

"Get out of here. Am I that kind of person?" Su Chen shot her an exasperated glare.

Su Qingya giggled, then grabbed her suitcase and headed into the dormitory. Su Chen found a spot to sit down, lit a cigarette, and began to quietly appreciate the beautiful scenery passing by.

’Summer really is the best. Everyone’s dressed so lightly!’ he thought, watching the stylish and beautiful university students walk by. The sight seemed to make the air feel a few degrees cooler.

By the time Su Qingya hauled her suitcase up to the third floor, she was already panting. ’This is killing me! I knew I shouldn’t have packed so much!’

She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead and finally took a look around the third floor.

’302... so this is my room!’

Seeing the door was ajar, Su Qingya pushed it open and stepped inside.

The moment she entered, Su Qingya was dumbfounded!

She had expected the dorm to be like her high school’s, just a series of single rooms. She never imagined a university dorm would be an actual suite.

Su Qingya saw that the entire suite had a three-bedroom, one-living-room layout. The living room had been converted into a common study area, furnished with five or six desks and chairs.

"You’re a new student checking in, right? What’s your name?" asked a middle-aged woman who looked like a teacher, holding a small booklet.

"My name is Su Qingya!"

"Su Qingya... Su Qingya... ah, here you are. Your room is over there!" the middle-aged woman said, pointing nearby.

"Okay, thank you, ma’am!"

Su Qingya dragged her luggage into the bedroom. Three people were already inside; she was the last to arrive.

A woman with short hair, who was organizing clothes on the bed nearest the door, spotted Su Qingya standing there and looking around. She smiled and said, "Our last roommate is here! Welcome, welcome!"

"Oh! Hi, everyone. I’m Su Qingya, from Wudu."

The short-haired woman climbed down from her bunk. "Hi, I’m Qin Nan, from Yangcheng City!"

Just then, another person climbed down from her bed.

She wasn’t very tall, maybe a little over five feet, the classic ’baby face with a bombshell figure’ type. "Hi, I’m Zhao Ya, from Ice City!"

"Wang Yue. I’m a Shanghai local," a somewhat cold voice called out from the bed near the balcony.

Qin Nan and Zhao Ya were both the type to warm up to people quickly, and they helped Su Qingya get her bed set up in no time.

"It’s getting late. Let’s all go grab a meal together! We should get to know each other since we’ll all be living under one roof from now on!" With her short hair, Qin Nan really did have the air of a group leader.

"Sounds good!"

"I’m in!"

Su Qingya and Zhao Ya immediately agreed, but Wang Yue, who had been lying on her bed the whole time, remained silent.

"Wang Yue, are you coming?" Qin Nan wasn’t exactly a fan of this girl; she had been acting cold and aloof ever since she got there.

The room fell silent for several seconds. Just as everyone assumed she wasn’t coming, Wang Yue climbed down from her bed.

Su Qingya’s eyes were immediately drawn to Wang Yue. Her first impression was that she was stunningly beautiful. Her long legs were so fair they were almost dazzling.

What surprised Su Qingya even more was her discovery that Wang Yue was wearing a limited-edition piece from Louis Vuitton—with a six-figure price tag!

"Let’s go," Wang Yue said coolly.

The four of them then left the room. Most of them were chatting and laughing, except for Wang Yue, who trailed behind without uttering a single word.

Noticing Wang Yue in her peripheral vision, Su Qingya slowed her pace to walk beside her. "Can I call you Yuanyuan?"

Wang Yue’s cool eyes studied Su Qingya for several seconds before she finally gave a slow nod. "You can."

And so, the two of them began to talk. At first, it was mostly Su Qingya speaking while Wang Yue listened, only occasionally responding with a "mhm" or "yes." But as they kept chatting, Wang Yue’s replies gradually grew a little longer.

Su Qingya began to realize that Wang Yue wasn’t so much cold and aloof as she was just quiet.

The four of them found a decent-looking Cantonese restaurant in the commercial district near campus. That was the great thing about girls; it didn’t take long for them to start acting like sisters.

Whether they were true friends or fair-weather ones, however, was something only time would tell.

"Oh, crap!" Su Qingya had just finished ordering when she suddenly remembered her brother... who was probably still waiting for her outside the dormitory.

"What’s wrong?" the other three asked, turning to look at her.

"My brother is still waiting for me downstairs! I was so caught up in our conversation when we left that I completely forgot about him."

With that, Su Qingya pulled out her phone and called Su Chen.

Meanwhile, Su Chen was still sitting in the shade, people-watching.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ~

Seeing the caller ID, Su Chen glanced toward the dormitory entrance, assuming Su Qingya simply hadn’t spotted him.

But a quick scan of the area revealed no sign of her.

"Hello? Qingya, I’m in the shady spot to the left of your dorm building. Where are... I don’t see you!" Su Chen said, still looking around for her.

Hearing Su Chen’s question, Su Qingya hemmed and hawed awkwardly for a moment before admitting, "Brother... I forgot about you. I’m out eating with my new roommates. Do you want to come join us?"

Hearing that Su Qingya had forgotten about him, Su Chen could practically feel black lines forming on his forehead.

"It’s fine. You girls go ahead and eat. I don’t want to intrude," Su Chen said after a moment’s consideration, declining her offer.

’Su Qingya’s roommates must be pretty great,’ he figured, ’or else she wouldn’t have gotten so caught up chatting that she’d forget about her own brother. It would probably just be awkward if I showed up.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Hanging up the phone, Su Chen headed off campus. There was just one thing he wanted to do right now.

’I’m going to buy myself a nice watch!’