Chapter 23: Heading to Linchuan University

It was a hot August morning and Jiang Qin arrived at the train station with his luggage in tow.

The station bustled with people jostling each other in the sweltering heat to the point you could easily lose a shoe if you weren’t careful.

This scene was quite normal though, since it was the start of the school year after all.

Jiang Qin stood in front of the entrance, unscrewed his water bottle and took a sip, thinking it was a good thing Yuan Youqin and Jiang Zhenghong didn’t come to see him off or they’d surely get separated in the crowd and he’d waste time looking for them.

Ten minutes later, the chubby Guo Zihang arrived.

He had applied to Linchuan University of Science and Technology, a decent second-tier school not too far but also not too close to Linchuan University, so the two decided to travel together.

After passing through security and ticket checks, they boarded the train and found their seats.

It was Guo Zihang’s first time traveling far and he’d never even ridden a train before, so as soon as he got on he was overexcited, looking around nonstop.

Luckily the train soon started moving and as the scenery outside changed, Guo Zihang calmed down quite a bit.

“Bro Jiang, what do you think college life will be like?”

“College students? Life’s pretty good for them.”

“????”

Jiang Qin took off his jacket to use as a pillow and leaned back, gazing out the window.

Jizhou had decent economic strength but very low investment in urban development, so every block looked run-down, not even as nice as the county-level cities under it.

So after leaving the station, the first thing that came into view was a large expanse of rural towns followed by golden wheat fields and the Ji River that encircled all of Jizhou.

But strangely, Jiang Qin felt these sights outside the window were especially unfamiliar to him.

Could it be that in his past life he never took a train?

Impossible. Did I crawl here on my knees then?

But then he quickly remembered – back then he was too busy staring at his phone waiting for messages from Chu Siqi to have time to look outside.

So being in a relationship is really not worth it, because you have no idea how many beautiful sights you miss for the sake of one person.

Jiang Qin pulled his shirt up to block the sunlight from the window, planning to sleep the whole way.

At 11 AM the train arrived and a large crowd of travelers poured onto the platform, then swarmed towards the station exit.

Jiang Qin and Guo Zihang walked side by side, pulling their suitcases to the station lobby. From there they could see the Xinmao Building across the street with a huge sign on top for the Cash Box Business KTV.

“Bro Jiang, where are we going now?”

Jiang Qin rested his hand on the suitcase handle. “Going our separate ways and back to our own schools of course.”

Guo Zihang hesitated for a while before speaking. “Why don’t you come with me to a mixer?”

“A mixer? What’s going on?”

“I joined a group for new students at my school the past few days. Everyone said they wanted to organize a mixer to get to know each other early so I signed up. But I’m a little scared to go alone.”

The corner of Jiang Qin’s mouth twitched. “Timid in real life but a keyboard warrior online – that describes someone like you perfectly.”

Guo Zihang coughed to hide his embarrassment. “Anyway, you have nothing to do when you get back. Come keep me company!”

“That’s true, I’ll be bored anyway. Let’s go, but you’re paying for the taxi.”

“I’ll pay, I’ll pay!”

So the two took a taxi from the train station towards Linchuan University of Science and Technology.

This idiot was incredibly nervous the whole way, taking deep breaths nonstop, looking like he was about to tear holes in his jeans.

Jiang Qin found it amusing. It’s not like he was meeting an online girlfriend, afraid his ugly face would scare her off. It’s just a mixer, what’s there to be so nervous about?

But Guo Zihang was different from him. He had the kind of personality where he wouldn’t dare make a peep even if someone stepped on his foot. Back in school, he’d have to psyche himself up just to talk to the cafeteria ladies.

Soon the taxi arrived at the gate of Linchuan University of Science and Technology. Guo Zihang took Jiang Qin to a milk tea shop diagonal from the school.

They called this event a “mixer” to make it sound good, but it was really just a small group meetup. Four girls and two guys showed up, probably all socially anxious types from the online group.

The 2008 college students didn’t pay much attention to fashion trends and couldn’t compare at all to those ten years later, so they looked quite plain.

Most of their t-shirts were pink or yellow with intricate patterns. Most had small hairclips in their hair.

As for the two guys next to them, frankly they weren’t even as easy on the eyes as Guo Zihang.

“I’m Liang Xiao.”

“I’m Xu Qingqing.”

“…”

“I’m… Guo Zihang.”

“Jiang Qin.”

After the round of introductions, a girl sitting on the very end suddenly caught Jiang Qin’s attention.

The girl introduced herself as Hong Yan from Hangcheng. She was best friends with Xu Qingqing next to her but didn’t mention what department or major she was in.

She was tall and slender with fair skin. She wore a gray short-sleeved shirt and black denim shorts. Perhaps due to a nutritious diet, her gray top fit very snugly, accentuating her curves.

Her looks were clearly in a different league from the other three girls, elegant and beautiful even without makeup.

Jiang Qin knew it was shallow to judge and grade girls based on appearance, but first impressions are like that. You always distinguish the good from bad, especially when the difference is glaringly obvious.

Of course, while the guys were eyeing Hong Yan, the girls had their sights set on Jiang Qin.

“Jiang Qin, what department are you in?”

“I’m… in the computer science department, majoring in software engineering. My buddy here too.”

Jiang Qin slapped Guo Zihang, signaling him to speak up. This was the mixer he signed up for, how could he let Jiang Qin do all the talking the whole time?

But this guy acted like he just found his soul again, only able to mutter “Ah, yeah, uh-huh.”

Xu Qingqing’s eyes lit up instantly. “I’m studying software engineering too! Which class were you assigned to?”

“Class 2 I think.”

“Oh Class 2, why ‘I think’? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Jiang Qin reached over and grabbed Guo Zihang. “The young lady is asking you. Do you have a girlfriend?”

Guo Zihang’s face flushed bright red. “Not… not at the moment.”

“Jiang Qin, what about you?”

“Me? I love studying. I feel uncomfortable if I don’t study for even a day. So I don’t plan on dating in college.”

Xu Qingqing furrowed her brow, clearly a bit displeased. “If you love studying so much why did you only get into Linchuan University of Science and Technology? Shouldn’t you be at Linchuan University?”

Hong Yan suddenly nudged her. “Qingqing, don’t be so sarcastic. Maybe he just didn’t perform well on the exam.”

“It’s fine, everyone says that. I’m the bookworm type.”

“See, I wasn’t wrong.” Xu Qingqing lifted her chin smugly.

Hong Yan frowned slightly. “That just means he worked hard. At least he won’t have regrets.”

Hearing this, Jiang Qin was a little surprised. Girls these days who were considerate of others’ feelings were a rare find.