Chapter 324: Stayed Up All Night, Became Sillier

After a tiring day, Jiang Qin’s close friend finally returned to Linchuan University from Longkai International Hotel with a CD still left on the passenger seat.

This CD, recorded by the Linchuan Municipal Government, contains the full interview of this signing event and is kept in a soft plastic case. One copy was left for Jiang Qin as a souvenir.

Jiang Qin gladly accepted it, feeling that such a 360-degree, all-encompassing gadget should be shown around whenever possible.

Right after he parked his car, he checked his QQ and found a barrage of messages from Jiang Tian, Song Qingqing, Ma Jiangming, and Tan Shipeng all showering him with praises. He just learned that earlier this afternoon, President Zhang already showcased it on the cafeteria TV.

Utterly tasteless. Truly utterly tasteless.

Carrying the CD, Jiang Qin returned to the male dorm room 302 to discover all three roommates were there.

Cao Guangyu was playing a video game, relentlessly banging on the keyboard and shouting orders, only to get shot in the head first, exploding in frustration.

Ren Ziqiang was blocking the balcony door, ferociously cleaning shoes while watching Old Cao play. For someone who needs three days to mentally prepare just to wash his feet, this was indeed rare – clearly, he had fallen in love and started caring about his appearance.

Zhou Chao was sincerely immersed in a novel, occasionally turning his fingers into a sword swishing around, lost in a world visible only to him.

Jiang Qin pulled a chair from under the desk and tossed the CD onto the table, instantly catching Cao Guangyu’s attention.

“Old Jiang, why are you still buying this stuff?”

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Qin didn’t understand.

Cao Guangyu made a face like a righteous man: “Shameless, Old Jiang! Aren’t the online ones enough for you? Did you actually buy a special disc? Is it some rare collector’s edition? From which country?”

“?????”

South of Linchuan University’s pedestrian street lies a hidden audio store in an alley, run by Brother Nan. Behind his store is a black cabinet filled with similar CDs, unadorned on the surface and only labeled with a mysterious license plate number.

It’s said that many students from Linchuan University have bought those, and once played in their drives, not a single person in the dorm could keep calm.

Although the Internet is prevalent and online resources are abundant, many unofficial sites have terrible servers, often unstable and prone to buffering. Sometimes, it takes half an hour just for a male actor to remove his shirt, driving many eager students almost to the point of jumping in to help.

Thus, when it comes to publically enjoyed art forms, it’s still more emotional to play from discs.

Don’t even ask for high-definition; subtitles aren’t important either. At least it won’t freeze into a PowerPoint presentation at a crucial moment.

Of course, buying these discs can sometimes backfire.

Last time, Zhang Guangfa from the next dorm secretly bought one, planning to privately enjoy some art, but ended up with “The Adventures of Blue Mouse and Big-Faced Cat”.

Initially, Zhang Guangfa didn’t realize he was duped as he thought it was just the store’s way to avoid random checks.

Usually, when they burn these DVDs, they add unrelated stuff—sometimes cartoons, sometimes opera.

That night, Zhang Guangfa played the DVD twice, finding nothing improper; it was all about “Blue Mouse and Big-Faced Cat”, leaving him furiously cursing.

Jiang Qin flipped the CD in his hands, observing it from both sides. Believe it or not, it really looked somewhat similar to what Brother Nan sells – also an anonymous looking disc.

“Probably domestic. I haven’t seen it. Interested? I’ll let you watch it.”

Cao Guangyu reluctantly accepted and inserted it into his drive, grumbling about critically reviewing this vulgar art.

When he saw Jiang Qin, decked in a business suit, appear on screen, the ordinarily plain Young Master Cao was instantly overwhelmed by the compelling aura.

Crap, that’s dirty!

At this point, Jiang Qin stood by laughing hard: “Damn, this leading man is really handsome, making even Yan Zu feel a bit inferior. Old Cao, want me to copy one for you?”

“No thanks, I can’t appreciate it. Just keep it for yourself.” Cao Guangyu quickly ejected the disk, not wishing to see any more, afraid it might corrupt his computer.

Jiang Qin put away the CD and turned to Ren Ziqiang: “Old Ren, how are things going with Wang Linlin?”

“Pretty well, Bro Jiang. We went out for dinner, strolled through the library, and yesterday we watched a badminton match at the gym.”

“Good progress. Seems like this girl might be interested in you. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a second date. Keep it up, Old Ren. But also remember, you can’t always just please her; sometimes you need to take the initiative.”

After speaking, Jiang Qin stepped onto the balcony to wash up, then returned to bed only to find many messages from Feng Nanshu addressing him as ‘big brother’.

This girl usually doesn’t start with ‘big brother’ right away; she reserves it for when she wants to act coy or do something she isn’t allowed to. It’s rare for her to come out gunning today.

“Little devil, why are you so whiny today?”

“I’m not a little devil, Jiang Qin, I’m a little fairy.”

Meanwhile, Ren Ziqiang also received a QQ message from Wang Linlin, hurriedly dropped the brush, and hopped onto his bed to reply, his face all smiles and his eyes radiating a roguish charm.

More coincidentally, just as Cao Guangyu hung up his game controller, he received a call from Ding Xue, his lips curving into a sly smile with each mention of ‘darling’.

After a while, Zhou Chao emerged from the fantasy world of his novel, looking for someone to discuss the thrilling plot with – after all, it’s something all guys would resonate with.

But after calling out for a while, nobody in the dorm responded.

“?”

Zhou Chao stood up, walked to the center of the room, and then observed a tableau resembling a famous painting.

The three on their beds had similar expressions, all clenching their phones, legs tucked under blankets, eyes glued to the screens, smiles faint yet tender.

Especially Jiang Qin, his gaze soft as water, brimming with adoration, as if about to emit pink bubbles.

“Bro Jiang, are you in love too?”

“Buzz off, I’m just making friends.”

Jiang Qin reined in his smile a bit, put on a stern face, his soft demeanor suddenly firm.

The next morning, dawn filled the campus and filtered through the increasingly yellow leaves, scattering mottled patterns that slowly ushered in a hint of autumn.

Jiang Qin left the dorm in the morning light, headed to the cafeteria and called Feng Nanshu to join him for breakfast, only to find her looking as if she had, indeed, pulled an all-nighter.

She always acted spaced out around him; now, tired to the point of silliness, she seemed spacier but coupled with her stunningly beautiful face, irresistibly adorable and soulless.

“Did you sneak out to steal chickens last night?”

Jiang Qin picked up some shredded potatoes with his chopsticks and fed them to the little rich girl.

Feng Nanshu ate the shredded potatoes and gently shook her head: “No stealing chickens. I stayed up late.”

“Stayed up late doing what? Didn’t I tell you to sleep early?” Jiang Qin put on a stern paternal expression.

Before the little rich girl could reply, Gao Wenhui came over with her tray: “She stayed up watching your interview video till midnight. She kept rewinding certain clips. It’s gotten to a point where all the girls in our dorm dreamed about you.”

Jiang Qin turned to Feng Nanshu: “Did you dream about me last night too?”

“You don’t need to ask her. She dreams about you every day, the kind she can’t go a day without,” Gao Wenhui interrupted.

Feng Nanshu nodded coolly: “What Wenhui said is right.”

“The whole dorm dreaming about me, isn’t this some kind of group sport…”

“?”

“Never mind, never mind, let’s eat. I was just suddenly moved.”

Jiang Qin grinned, grabbed a piece of meat and fed it to the little rich girl, then took some chili from her bowl and put it into Gao Wenhui’s, and finally took the chicken leg from Gao’s bowl for himself.

Gao Wenhui was stunned then grimaced: “Stealing my chicken leg again, is that polite? Feng Nanshu, look at your husband, is he being polite?”

Feng Nanshu glanced at Jiang Qin, said nothing, her delicate eyelashes trembling, her gaze starting to glaze, playing the ‘I don’t understand anything’ card.

Jiang Qin, with a look of disgust, returned the chicken leg: “Just scaring you a bit. Look at your cheapskate face.”

“Chicken legs are my life. You can dock my pay, but you can’t bite my chicken leg!” Gao Wenhui snapped fiercely.

“Alright, alright, don’t get mad. I’ll just dock your pay,” Jiang Qin said half-heartedly.

“Wait, why would you dock my pay?”

“Gao, do you have amnesia? You were the one who asked me to dock your pay just now. Now I do it and you are unhappy. There’s just no reasoning with you.”

“????”

Soon after, Jiang Qin finished his breakfast in a rush and hurriedly returned to the entrepreneurship base to arrange his next tasks while Feng Nanshu continued eating with Gao Wenhui, yawning incessantly throughout.

Gao Wenhui couldn’t help but glance at her: “Staying up so late and still getting up early to have breakfast with him? Your brain’s getting worse.”

Feng Nanshu nodded earnestly: “The food Jiang Qin feeds is tasty.”

“Let me feed you one to see if mine tastes good,” Gao Wenhui offered.

“I don’t want it, Wenhui, I don’t want to eat your drool.”

Gao Wenhui held her breath: “Then why do you like eating Jiang Qin’s drool so much?”

Feng Nanshu, already dopey from sleep, looked pitiful: “Wenhui, I can’t think anymore. Let’s finish eating and go back for a nap, okay?”