65

 Xiang Ran found himself momentarily stumped by Fatty's words.

Needs?

He suddenly remembered he had indeed told Fatty earlier that he was going to communicate needs with the school beauty today.

But honestly, from their meeting to eating and walking, he hadn’t mentioned anything about what Teacher Wu said at all!

So, it was even harder to speak about something he didn't know.

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow; there’s still time.”

He casually replied.

？？？

Fatty was left with a head full of question marks, waiting to be assigned a task.

Is this really the same Brother Ran who’s always so driven?

Xiang Ran pressed his phone screen, the lock screen showing the three big bosses, but he couldn’t shake off a slight feeling of guilt.

Fortunately, Fatty didn’t press further; instead, Qi Dong seemed to remember something.

"By the way, have you gotten your ticket for the National Day holiday yet? It's almost the end of the month; break time is coming up."

"Ahhhhhh!"

"damn, let me check!"

A couple of seconds later, Fatty erupted in the dorm like he’d stepped on a live wire!

"Nothing! Not even a shadow of a ticket!"

"Then you’re out of luck for Mid-Autumn and National Day."

"Still not on the waitlist? So many people?" Wang Hao chimed in.

Among the four in their dorm, Fatty lived the farthest away. Wang Hao took a different route and couldn't get a high-speed train ticket, so he settled for a hard sleeper, which still allowed him to go home and saved over 300 yuan.

Qi Dong lived in the neighboring province; although he hadn’t bought a ticket home, driving wasn’t too far, and he had long since made plans.

As for Xiang Ran, he could just take the subway and get there.

So every word they said stabbed right at Fatty's heart!

"What kind of friends are you? You don’t care if your brother suffers!"

"It’s okay! This year, I’ll rent a car! I’ll join a tour group! I can still go back!" Fatty frantically scrolled through his phone, trying to find a solution.

"Rent a car?"

"Do you even have a driver’s license?"

The soul-crushing questions shattered the heart of this young man who hadn't even passed his driving test yet.

"And your hometown is a tourist destination, right? The prices are going to skyrocket during National Day!"

The dorm was filled with loud chatter, while Xiang Ran raised an eyebrow, as if he thought of something.

"Isn’t it almost the end of the month?"

"What the hell!"

"Do all locals speak so viciously?"

Fatty had been so caught up in the failed ticket rush that he had missed the upcoming holiday timing, especially with Xiang Ran busy with the big screen project.

He glanced at the date on his notebook, then quickly checked the holiday dates.

September 28th, Thursday.

Right after that were the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. He wondered if Liu Shuyao had any plans.

Meanwhile, in the girls' dorm.

Liu Shuyao had started catching up on her comic work as soon as she returned, working diligently enough to astonish the other two girls in the dorm.

"Shuyao, you’ve already won him over; why are you working so hard? You don’t need to write in your diary every day!"

Li Meixun, with a face mask on, came over and shook her head at the sight of the school beauty writing furiously.

Ever since she found out about Shuyao’s comic drawing, she had described it as a diary-writing phenomenon.

"I have no choice~ I’m on the recommendation list; I can’t stop updating."

"Then your current one should be ranking up again...."

"Isn’t that going to blow up the traffic?"

"Mm-hmm, it’s been recommended on the homepage lately."

Liu Shuyao had always been indifferent to traffic since she originally drew this comic just to record her daily life.

"Homepage recommendation? Is it the kind you see as soon as you open the app?"

Zhao Ying leaned in curiously.

"Mm-hmm." Liu Shuyao nodded.

"Does Xiang Ran read comics?"

"......"

This question really caught the school beauty off guard. She hesitated, recalling how Fatty had mentioned the comic during their last meal and Xiang Ran's reaction. "He..."

"Probably doesn’t read it?"

"He seems to be into those adventure and action genres," Liu Shuyao replied carefully. She still wanted to keep her little secret safe, especially since her current drawing style was a bit too self-indulgent.

If her boyfriend found out, that would be so embarrassing.

"Oh, okay."

Zhao Ying didn’t press further but instead shifted to some other gossip.

"By the way, your birthday is coming up soon! Do you have any plans? Are you going out with Xiang Ran?"

"Ah!"

"As for that question... I’m not sure yet~"

"I’ll probably go out on a date~"

"What day are you both leaving to go home? If you’re not in a rush, we could grab a meal together first."

As she spoke, the school beauty pulled out her phone to check the calendar.

"I’m leaving on the afternoon of the 29th."

"I’m leaving on the 28th. It’s so hard to buy high-speed train tickets this year, so I got a bus ticket instead." Zhao Ying lived close to Qi Dong, where it was just a drive away.

Liu Shuyao nodded. Her family was local, so she usually didn’t have any opportunities to participate in the ticket rushes.

"How about we have dinner together on the night of the 27th? It can be an early celebration."

"Sounds good~"

"I’m fine with that~"

The three of them made their plans, and Liu Shuyao took out her phone to check her boyfriend’s schedule.

School Beauty【Poke.jpg】

Xiang Ran【Appears.jpg】

School Beauty【What are you doing? Studying?】

Feeling a little guilty for a moment, Xiang Ran normally should be studying or coding, but right now...

He was staring at the words "birthday gift for girlfriend" that he had just searched for on his phone, deep in thought.

As for that paper, he realized he hadn’t even opened it in a while.

Xiang Ran【No, I’m listening to Fatty talk about his ticket struggles for Mid-Autumn.】

School Beauty【Do you have any plans for the holiday?】

Xiang Ran【What about you?】

It was better to ask about her plans first before mentioning his own.

Then he watched as the "typing..." indicator blinked on the WeChat screen.

After waiting for a while, just when Xiang Ran thought she might send him a detailed schedule, he finally received a reply.

Just four simple words.

School Beauty【I want to go out~】

Xiang Ran【Sure! Where do you want to go?】

School Beauty【Are there any lesser-known tourist spots nearby? A place with fewer people.】

Xiang Ran【We can look for some over the next few days; there’s no rush.】

School Beauty【Yay~~~】

Then they chatted a little more. By now, the boys' dorm had quieted down quite a bit since Fatty was engrossed in the latest updates of that dog food comic.

"Being on the homepage recommendation really makes a difference!"

"This author updates so fast now!"

Five minutes later.

"What the hell!"

"They're doing an escape room theme!"

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

"Look at them! Falling in love while escaping! They even have handcuff play! So cool..."

"You’ve got me hooked again~"

"This is basically a relationship bible!"

"Brothers, I strongly suggest you all study this if you can't find a partner!"

Fatty continued to express his thoughts, while Wang Hao, who had a girlfriend, didn’t take it seriously. Qi Dong was out washing up, but Xiang Ran was genuinely interested, though it all felt oddly familiar.

He looked at the top-ranked birthday gift for his girlfriend, a "crystal ball," and found it a bit unreliable. Maybe he should explore other options?

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