In early September, during a Mathematical Analysis class at A University of Science and Technology, the sophomore students were noticeably distracted.
The young professor at the podium glanced down and spotted a large group of students engrossed in their phones.
Though he wasn’t a high school teacher, he couldn’t help but lament inwardly: “This generation is worse than the last. Even in Math Analysis class, they dare to slack off?” He could already envision the dismal outcomes on the final grades.
Clearing his throat somewhat theatrically, he still received no attention. Growing annoyed, the professor resolved to be tough with the grades this year to combat this poor attitude.
At the back of the classroom, Ge Zhicheng's heart raced as he continuously refreshed the backend of the academic system's page.
What the professor didn’t know was that today was the day for second-year students in the College of Science to be reassigned to dormitories; the assignment list would be posted at 3 PM.
The college employed a broad-based training model, meaning that during their freshman year, students took core courses without being divided by major. It wasn’t until the end of their freshman year that students were assigned majors based on their preferences and academic performance.
By the end of last semester, their major classes had been set, but the dormitory assignment had been delayed for various reasons until their sophomore year. This new assignment would determine who they would live with for the next three years, making the students’ anxiety nearly as intense as when they awaited their college entrance exam results.
At exactly 3 PM, Ge Zhicheng's phone page froze for a few seconds.
When it finally refreshed, the information updated.
Student dormitory 7... the dorm number changed from 339 to 323.
“Wow, awesome!” Ge Zhicheng breathed a sigh of relief as he read the names above, turning to a friend beside him, “Lu Ge, we’re in the same dorm!”
The boy sitting next to Ge Zhicheng continued writing brief calculations on a piece of paper, showing no response.
Only after solving the equations did he lift his eyes, offering a calm “Hmm.”
Ge Zhicheng was already used to Lu Yuxing’s indifferent attitude towards everything and didn’t mind, continuing to share with another roommate, “Old Wang is doing a great job this time! I think everyone in the Math department who signed up is in the same dorm.”
Originally, this reassignment was supposed to be random based on class, but after a year of living together, students who had developed good relationships were reluctant to adapt to new roommates. Many suggested changes to the upper administration, but their concerns were ignored.
Then, unexpectedly, a couple of days later, the class advisor suddenly sent a notice in the grade-level group, stating they would collect student preferences regarding dorm assignments.
This led to the current arrangement, which satisfied most students.
“I heard someone asked our department’s top student to talk to Old Wang,” Lin Xuying remarked with a sigh, “Tsk, the top student’s words carry weight.”
Ge Zhicheng replied, “Top student? Isn’t that our Lu Ge?”
“No, Lu Ge has the highest GPA. Our department lists overall performance each time.”
Overall performance is calculated based on a certain weighted combination of GPA and activity scores.
Ge Zhicheng casually acknowledged this, feeling that Lu Yuxing’s top position was unshakeable in his mind. To him, the top spot based purely on exam scores was more valuable.
Lin Xuying struggled with a poor network connection on his phone, and while the academic system was loading, he turned to see what Ge Zhicheng had on his screen.
“Who’s our fourth roommate?”
“Oh, it’s bed number two…”
Just as Ge Zhicheng was about to respond, the young professor at the front suddenly slapped a black folder onto the podium.
The students below quickly set down their phones and looked up.
The professor coldly said, “I’ll call out a few names.”
Although he said “a few,” after pulling out the list, he randomly selected over twenty lucky names.
Fortunately, the new students in the Math department still had some reverence for the notoriously difficult course, managing not to slip away unnoticed.
The professor’s expression softened a bit.
Due to this small interruption, he decided not to continue with the lecture, instead chatting casually with the students, discussing life planning and seemingly useful advice, including future academic pursuits.
“Down the line, I might be your advisor for your thesis and when you continue to graduate school here,” he said, setting down the list before casually asking, “Who was the top student last year?”
Someone whispered a name, not loud, but the professor caught it.
“Shang Jue, which one are you?”
In the central position of the third row, a taller boy stood up.
Ge Zhicheng didn’t enjoy attending class but loved to observe. He glanced up to see the boy from the back row; the black jacket was slightly loose, but his figure was impressive, and his demeanor stood out among the students.
Some people exude charm even without showing their faces; this boy was one of them.
Just from the glimpse of his long, fair neck, Ge Zhicheng felt sure he must be good-looking.
As expected, the professor, after seeing the boy’s appearance, was momentarily stunned and then teased with a smile, “Oh wow, we have a handsome guy here.”
A few scattered laughs filled the classroom.
The boy who had been called up also chuckled softly.
Ge Zhicheng felt that “Shang Jue” sounded familiar and racked his brain for a moment before suddenly realizing.
He glanced down at the dormitory list on his phone.
Bed number two, Shang Jue.
...Wait, what?
“Damn it, Yingzi...”
Lin Xuying asked, “What’s up?”
“Our dorm has two big shots!?”
Lin Xuying paused, “What do you mean?”
Ge Zhicheng pushed his phone towards him, “Our new dorm’s second bed roommate is Shang Jue!”
Beside him, Lu Yuxing, who had been quietly solving problems, made a mistake with his pen, the cold tip of the steel pen tearing through the paper with a sharp sound.
He ripped through two sheets of paper.
Stopping, he looked up.
“Shang Jue, what are your plans for the next few years of university? Please share with everyone.” the professor said.
A cheerful voice came from the front row: "I'm quite interested in academic research, and I think I will probably continue on the academic path in the future..."
The boy's voice was very pleasant, deep and clean. His emphasis and pauses in speech were quite comfortable, making it easy for listeners to feel as if they were basking in the spring breeze.
However, to hear such words about being interested in academic research from Shang Jue almost made Lu Yuxing laugh.
The professor who asked the question, upon hearing Shang Jue's intention to further his studies, couldn't help but ask a few more questions. Among them were some professional inquiries, and despite being only a sophomore, Shang Jue answered most of them fluently. For questions that exceeded his knowledge, he candidly admitted that he had not yet delved into them.
His speech was exceptionally smooth and composed, unlike most students who would often feel nervous and stumble when facing a teacher of higher status.
The professor nodded repeatedly, and a few minutes later, when he resumed his lecture, he noticeably appeared more amiable.
Lu Yuxing lowered his eyes coldly, unable to sense any sincerity in Shang Jue's words. He felt a deep-seated aversion to what he recognized as flattery aimed at pleasing the teacher.
After class, the students began to leave one by one.
“Lu Ge, are you coming?” Ge Zhicheng called out to him.
“...Hmm.”
As Lu Yuxing stood up, he towered over the other two.
Lin Xuying was the shortest and walked at the front, making the group resemble an increasing bar graph.
“Shang Jue.”
Passing the front of the classroom, Lu Yuxing heard that name again.
It was a very sweet female voice speaking: “Thank you for helping me suggest to the advisor! This time, our dorm is divided so that all the students from the same department are together. Are you free recently? Our dorm wants to invite you to dinner.”
“Hmm? That's not necessary.”
Lu Yuxing walked past without glancing sideways and stepped out of the classroom.
“Please, you have to come! You’ve gone to the advisor’s office several times for us; we feel quite embarrassed…”
Shang Jue, facing the girl who was speaking, turned his smiling eyes halfway around to glance at the tall figure who had just stepped out of the classroom. With a straight back, he stood out prominently.
Tsk, what a lousy dorm arrangement…
He sighed inwardly.
For a meal that was more of a suggestion than a necessity, he had brought himself unnecessary trouble. If only he had known, he wouldn't have played the good guy.
“Shang Jue?” The girl, having waited a long time without a response, spoke in confusion.
“Ah,” Shang Jue snapped back to attention and smiled, “Sure. Thank you.”
—
Back at the dorm, adhering to his strict principles, Lu Yuxing still went to check the academic system after hearing Ge Zhicheng mention the list of roommates.
The name of the person in bed number two stood out brightly on the screen, and Lu Yuxing was certain that there wouldn't be another Shang Jue in the entire sophomore class of the School of Science.
Lu Yuxing felt in a bad mood.
Even Ge Zhicheng noticed this. Although Lu Yuxing usually had an expressionless face, this time he was enveloped by an unapproachable aura.
He couldn’t directly ask in the dorm, so he secretly sent a few messages to Lin Xuying.
[Ge Zhicheng]: Yingzi, what's up with Lu Ge?
[Ge Zhicheng]: Why does it feel like he's a bit unhappy since the three of us got together?
[Ge Zhicheng]: I can't believe it! Does Lu Ge actually not want to be in the same dorm as us? [Crying][Crying]
Lin Xuying heard the message notification and turned over in bed.
[Lin Xuying]: No way. If Lu Ge really didn't want to continue being our roommate, he wouldn’t have gone to ask Old Wang for suggestions.
[Ge Zhicheng]: So what's going on?
Lin Xuying peeked out of bed to look at Lu Yuxing, then typed a response.
[Lin Xuying]: Hiss, I heard this from other people in our grade too.
[Lin Xuying]: That guy named Shang Jue is the top student, and apparently, he and Lu Ge don’t get along at all.
[Ge Zhicheng]: Shang Jue? Our new roommate?
[Lin Xuying]: Yeah, they attended the same high school, and their relationship has been bad since then. What a coincidence that they both filled out the same university choice and ended up at A University together.
[Lin Xuying]: Maybe it's some kind of unspoken agreement between rivals?
[Lin Xuying]: But I thought it was unfortunate enough to be in the same school and major; who would have thought they’d end up in the same dorm?
Ge Zhicheng pondered this for a moment and felt it was indeed unfortunate. Statistically, it was incredibly rare!
Living with someone you dislike for three years—if it were him, he would find it quite bothersome.
While the two were chatting away, Lu Yuxing sat alone at the table. In less than ten minutes, he had already contacted several agents to look for housing.
As Ge Zhicheng prepared to go to the balcony to use the restroom, he casually glanced at the rental property video playing on Lu Yuxing’s phone and was taken aback: “Lu Ge! Lu Dad!!”
Lu Yuxing turned his head slightly to glance at him. Ge Zhicheng asked, “Why are you watching rental videos? Are you planning to move out?”
His voice also roused Lin Xuying, who sat up suddenly.
“What? Moving out?”
Last school year, Lu Yuxing was the one in their dorm who acted as the template for homework answers. With him around, the entire 339 dormitory aced various assignments and quizzes, and the other three members regarded him as a life-saver.
In response to their excitement, Lu Yuxing gave only one word: “Yes.” He flicked his fingers and continued watching the next video sent by the agent.
“What do you mean, yes? I won’t allow it! Is it because of Shang Jue?”
Lu Yuxing glanced at Ge Zhicheng but remained silent, which was tantamount to an acknowledgment.
He added, “I won’t be moving out that quickly; the earliest would be this weekend.”
Looking for a place to rent also takes time. It was one thing that he didn't like Shang Jue, but he also didn't want to hastily choose an uncomfortable place to live.
“…” Although Ge Zhicheng was disappointed, he still had to consider whether to move out
Ultimately, living together was a personal choice for Lu Yuxing; their roommate relationship hadn’t yet developed to the point where they interfered in each other’s private matters. Ge Zhicheng didn’t want to push Lu Yuxing further. However, he was curious about what kind of person Shang Jue was to make Lu Yuxing want to move out so desperately.
“Just personal grievances,” he mused.
Though Lu Yuxing had a cold personality, he had shown considerable tolerance for the little quirks of his roommates over the past year. What could have happened to provoke him this way? Ge Zhicheng couldn’t imagine anyone managing to irritate Lu Yuxing to such a degree.
He tentatively added, “Lu Ge, what’s the situation between you and Shang Jue?”
Lu Yuxing was not one to speak ill of others behind their backs, yet he had his own opinions about Shang Jue. A slight frown appeared on his face as he turned off his phone, a smiling visage flashing through his mind.
—
1. Lu Ge (鹿哥): "Ge" means "brother," so it affectionately means "Brother Lu."
2. Zi (子): "Zi" can also be affectionate, often meaning "child" or "son," and it adds a sense of endearment when used in names, like in "Ying Zi" (颖子).
3. Old Wang (老王): "Lao" means "old," and it is a common way to show familiarity or respect towards someone, often used for teachers or older individuals, translating to "Old Wang."
Comments