Chapter 345: Campus Luck and Laughs

In the school’s tea house.

Heqing bought two drinks and sat down. Across from her, Lily flipped through a book, deep in study.

Though university life was free, you couldn’t just play every day—sometimes you had to hit the books.

Still, Heqing was curious: “Lily, if you’re studying, why not go to the library? Isn’t it quieter there? Here, I got you a drink.”

Lily took the drink and said thanks: “Studying? I’m not actually studying.”

“But you’re looking at a book?” Heqing didn’t get it.

Lily glanced down at the book in her hands and chuckled:

“This? Oh, I saw a post online a few days ago saying that if you carry a book around during breaks, you’ll turn your luck around quickly. So I’ve been doing that. I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately.”

“A slump?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Lately, when I grab chopsticks to eat, the disposable ones split right in half. I choke on water, my comb gets tangled in my hair, and even when I call Zheng Ran, the phone drops and cracks. See?” She pulled out her cracked-screen phone to show.

Heqing was baffled: “Are you kidding me?”

Lily looked dejected: “I know you don’t believe it, and I didn’t either, but that’s just how it’s been. Otherwise, I wouldn’t try these weird fixes.”

As she said that, Lily stuck in a straw, but pushed too hard—the cup tipped over, spilling water everywhere onto the book and phone.

Both Lily and Heqing jumped, grabbing napkins to wipe it up.

The book got soggy, the phone took on water, and her skirt was soaked. The phone went black and froze.

Staring at the mess, Lily said with a grievance: “See? I told you I’m in a slump—nothing goes right. Now my phone’s totally dead.”

Heqing, who’d seen it all, was convinced: “Okay, that’s seriously unlucky… Sorry, Lily, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have bought you that drink!”

“It’s not your fault. It’s just the slump.”

Heqing, mimicking Lin Zheng Ran, patted Lily’s head: “Really sorry, Lily. Don’t cry—it’ll get better.”

Lily wanted to cry but couldn’t.

“Ever since I got back from the south last week and got that reminder call from the music company, it’s been like this. It’s fine if I’m the one having bad luck, but I’m scared it’ll hit right before the competition. It’s in two months—that’s the most important event of my life.”

Heqing thought to herself that this wasn’t something she could easily fix.

“Maybe ask Lin Zheng Ran if he has any ideas?”

“Ask Zheng Ran? He can’t handle something like this—he’s not a miracle worker who can change my luck.”

Heqing sipped her drink: “Yeah, I guess not…”

No sooner had she spoken than Jiang Qian walked by outside the tea house, catching Heqing and Lily’s attention.

She was carrying some forms.

Lily wondered: “What’s Jiang Qian been up to lately? She hasn’t caused trouble for Zheng Ran in ages, and she’s barely around except for classes.”

Heqing shook her head: “No idea. And she hasn’t been with Fang Meng recently—they seem to have split up.”

Lily tried her phone again—it was completely dead and needed replacing: “I don’t get those two. Hey, where’s Han Wenwen?”

Heqing turned to face Lily: “Oh, Wenwen said she’s at the lingerie store near school buying underwear. She’ll probably be back in a bit.”

Lily asked Heqing: “Buying underwear? Why didn’t she ask us to go along?”

Heqing slurped her drink: “She said she didn’t want to interrupt your studying, so she asked me to keep you company and went by herself. Who knew you had a book but weren’t even reading it?”

Lily suddenly had a hunch, her eyes narrowing: “Wait, Heqing, doesn’t this feel off? Zheng Ran’s not here yet, and Wenwen’s gone. Do you think that fox might have gone to find him?”

“Ah?!” Heqing snapped to attention: “No way? Wenwen said she’d be back soon—she’s not staying away. How could she track down Lin Zheng Ran in that time? He’s still at home.”

Lily huffed: “Anything’s possible. Or maybe I’m just overthinking it.”

She stood up: “I’ll grab another drink—wait for me.”

“Okay.”

As Lily left her seat, she somehow bumped her arm on the table edge.

She yelped in pain, looking down at the spot on her elbow that had turned white.

Heqing worried: “Are you okay, Lily? This is just too unlucky. I have a band-aid in my bag—hold on.”

Lily winced at the pain, watching her elbow go from white to red—it was scraped, but not bleeding yet.

After Heqing applied the band-aid, Lily thanked her and headed off to buy water.

Though the counter wasn’t far—even a three-year-old could manage it—Heqing started worrying if Lily could pull off something so ‘challenging’.

Lily pressed the edges of the band-aid and ordered a lemon water.

“Sister, get me a lemon water.”

“Sure, just a moment.”

While waiting, a familiar girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Lily, got a minute?”

Lily turned and saw: “Fang Meng?”

Fang Meng stood there in a stylish plaid shirt and short skirt.

Her straight, snowy legs caught the eye. Lily stared at Zheng Ran’s friend, her ponytail swinging: “What do you want?”

Fang Meng said calmly: “I want to ask you a few questions. As payment, I’ll tell you how to break your slump.”

She pulled out a certificate seriously: “I’m a pro—I got certified as a fortune-teller. You can trust me.”

Lily took it, stunned—it had Fang Meng’s name on it. “Is this for real? There’s a certificate for that? And how did you know about my slump?”

Fang Meng: “You’ve got bad energy all over you—it’s obvious. Plus, I just saw your string of mishaps nearby. Definitely a slump.”

Lily: “…”

“Might as well try,” she told Fang Meng. “How many questions? Where are we doing this? I need to get back to Heqing.”

“Right here works. I’ll cover this lemon water. Just five questions—answer them, and I’ll tell you how to fix it. Don’t worry, they’re simple, nothing big.”

“Alright…”

So Fang Meng and Lily sat at a new table.

Lily smoothed her twin tails and carefully inserted the straw, finally taking a sip.

She relaxed: “Go ahead.”

Fang Meng pulled out her little notebook: “First question: Is Lin Zheng Ran juggling… oh, wait, four boats right now?”

Lily’s face flushed as she choked, spitting lemon water right onto Fang Meng’s face.

She coughed hard.