On the third morning, Shanghai University's sports field was bustling like a dumpling festival.
Dozens of club booths stretched from the East Gate of the sports field all the way to the entrance of the Student Activity Center, with banners hanging denser than clotheslines.
The air was filled with the scent of sweat, mixed with cheap cologne and the varying floral and fruity fragrances from the girls, along with the aroma of grilled sausages wafting from the nearby snack shop.
Su Mu walked leisurely with his hands in his pockets, following behind Wang Hao.
Wang Hao was as excited as a stupid husky just let out of its cage, his head swiveling like a radar.
"Suzi, look over there, the Modeling Club is full of long legs!"
"Liu Qiang wasn't lying last night, my god, that girl in the white dress must be at least 1.75 meters tall."
Su Mu glanced in the direction of the Modeling Club.
A group of tall girls stood beside the booth, indeed quite pleasing to the eye.
But he had developed a certain immunity to such visual impact by now.
After all, dealing with SSS-Rank and SS+ Rank goddesses every day, looking at these ordinary beauties was like being accustomed to Wagyu beef and then seeing supermarket discount beef, not very interesting.
"Let's go, let's check out the Anime Club first."
"Since when are you interested in anime?"
"I'm interested in the Anime Club's president."
Wang Hao opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He felt a lot of pressure walking with Su Mu.
This guy always spoke with such a naturally calm tone, as if all the beauties in the world should line up for him to choose from.
The key was, he actually had the confidence to back it up.
The Anime Club's booth was placed in a prime spot right at the main entrance of the Student Activity Center.
Zhong Ling had arrived early, decorating the booth flamboyantly, with photos from past anime exhibitions and club activity posters spread across the table.
But the real showstopper today wasn't these promotional materials.
It was the woman standing to the left of the booth.
Mu Changge wore a light blue, waist-cinching dress today, the hem just covering her knees.
She had applied light makeup, her eyelashes meticulously brushed, and her lips adorned with a thin layer of moist bean paste color.
When Zhong Ling saw her push the door open in the morning, she almost spat the mineral water in her mouth onto Fang Jinse's face.
"Changge, you're really giving me face today, aren't you?"
"You actually put on makeup?"
"When was the last time you wore makeup, for your ID photo, right?"
Mu Changge's ears turned slightly red, but her expression remained in her standard iceberg mode.
"The sun's out, so I put on some sunscreen and a little extra."
Zhong Ling rolled her eyes, thinking sunscreen could achieve the effect of mascara, truly technology changing lives.
Behind the booth, Su Banxia sat quietly on a folding chair.
She wore a light gray sweatshirt that had been washed to a faded hue, her hair casually tied in a low ponytail, with no makeup on her face.
Her injured ankle rested on a nearby box of flyers, wrapped tightly in bandages.
She held a pen and a stack of registration forms, appearing very focused on her preparatory work.
But her peripheral vision kept drifting towards the crowd.
Two girls sat less than three meters apart at the same booth, each with their own thoughts, looking towards the direction of the boys' dormitory.
They were looking for the same person.
Su Mu, with Wang Hao in tow, made his way through the crowd and spotted the Anime Club's booth from afar.
To be precise, he first saw Mu Changge standing in the center.
Or rather, some people are born to be the main character; wherever she stands becomes the center.
That light blue dress stood out among the colorful club banners.
Mu Changge's radiant white skin, paired with her face cold enough to freeze someone, and her title as the Iceberg Campus Belle, created an automatic three-meter radius vacuum around the booth.
The freshmen watched from afar, but few dared to approach and strike up a conversation.
Su Mu noticed that Mu Changge had put on makeup today.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
The Iceberg Campus Belle actually knew how to dress up today.
He didn't rush over.
Because he also noticed Su Banxia sitting there, her foot still bandaged.
"Haozi, you go ahead and wander around, I'm going over there to take a look."
"Where to?"
"The Anime Club."
Wang Hao followed Su Mu's gaze and immediately spotted Mu Changge.
His expression shifted through shock, jealousy, and resignation in three seconds.
Su Mu turned and walked to a nearby tea with milk stall, spending twenty yuan on two cups of hot tea with milk.
As he leisurely walked towards the Anime Club booth with the two cups, someone else from another direction had also set their sights on this territory.
Zhao Zixuan was wearing a limited edition Balenciaga tracksuit today, with a Rolex Green Submariner on his wrist, gleaming painfully in the sunlight.
He had a follower on each side, strutting arrogantly around the sports field.
Zhao Zixuan originally had no interest in the Hundred Clubs Fair.
He had previously discovered Mu Changge meeting a wealthy man late at night, harboring a bit of wishful thinking.
Later, her underground girlfriend Zhou Zhiqing informed him that Mu Changge had returned to the dormitory covered in injuries after being played by someone.
Only then did he give up completely, planning to find someone new at today's freshman recruitment fair.
As he approached the Anime Club booth, his attention was caught by someone else.
Su Banxia sat on a folding chair, writing with her head down, the sunlight hitting her face from the side, illuminating her bare face cleanly.
Zhao Zixuan slowed his pace.
He had never come across this person on the campus forum.
After all, Su Banxia's presence at school was extremely low, always either in class or working, even many of her second-year peers weren't familiar with her.
But seeing her up close now, he had to admit, her natural beauty was astonishing.
Delicate, with a hint of stubbornness, like a wildflower in a mountain stream yet to be discovered.
The key was, she looked poor.
Zhao Zixuan licked his lips, his mind racing with calculations.
He adjusted his collar and stepped towards the booth.
"Classmate, how did you hurt your foot?"
Zhao Zixuan stood in front of Su Banxia, slightly bending over, his tone carrying a kind of second-generation wealthy's benevolent concern.
"It looks quite serious, do you need me to take you to the campus clinic? My car is parked just beside the sports field."
Su Banxia didn't even lift her head.
"Thank you, no need."
Zhong Ling handed over a recruitment flyer from the side, which Zhao Zixuan didn't even glance at.
He changed his angle to continue getting closer.
"You're from the School of Economics and Management, right? I'm also from the School of Economics and Management, a freshman named Zhao Zixuan, you might have heard of me."
"Interested in getting to know each other, maybe add me on WeChat?"
This time, Su Banxia finally looked up at him.
Her gaze was calm, so calm that Zhao Zixuan felt like he had been splashed with a basin of lukewarm water, not painful but irritating.
"No need, I'm not interested."
Zhao Zixuan's smile froze for a moment.
Just as he was about to switch to another set of pickup lines, a cup of hot tea with milk was placed directly on the table in front of Su Banxia from the side.
"Senior Susu, Uncle brought this for you, drink something warm with your injured foot."
Su Banxia jolted as if electrocuted, looking up sharply.
Su Mu stood less than half a meter away from her, holding another cup of tea with milk, with a smile on his face that made her both embarrassed and flustered.
Her ears visibly turned red, the flush spreading from her earlobes down to the base of her neck.
"You, why are you here?"
"Just joining in the fun."
Su Mu spoke casually, as if buying two cups of tea with milk and walking across half the sports field was just on his way.
Zhao Zixuan watched this scene, his brows furrowing into a knot.
"Who are you?"
Su Mu didn't even turn his head, continuing to talk to Su Banxia.
"Doesn't the bandage need changing? I see the edges are coming loose."
As he spoke, he was about to squat down to check Su Banxia's ankle.
Su Banxia was so startled she quickly pulled her foot back a bit, but only a little.
She whispered that it wasn't necessary.
Zhao Zixuan had never been treated as air before in his life.
"Hey, I'm talking to you."
"I'm saying, don't you know the rules? Even hitting on someone has a first-come, first-served basis, right?"
Zhao Zixuan pointed at the ordinary-looking tea with milk and sneered repeatedly.
"You think this is a market to buy cabbage, bringing a cheap tea with milk to pick up girls, get in line at the back."
"Did the sun bake your brain during military training?"
Su Mu pointed at the tea with milk in front of Su Banxia.
"If you really don't need your eyesight, you could donate your corneas to someone in need. Didn't you see the girl doesn't even want to acknowledge you?"
The follower couldn't stand it anymore, stepping up to educate Su Mu.
"Do you know who this is? The Audi A6 parked over there on the sports field belongs to Brother Xuan."
"You're a freshman too, right? Didn't you hear about Brother Xuan during military training?"
Su Mu's response was a short syllable.
"Oh~"
Then he squatted down, carefully repositioning Su Banxia's foot on the box, pressing the loose bandage edges back into place.
Su Banxia's face was already completely red, her fingers gripping the pen so tightly that her knuckles turned white, yet she didn't pull away.
Zhao Zixuan listened to Su Mu's sarcastic "oh," his temples throbbing several times.
Just as he was about to explode, a cold female voice interjected from the other side of the booth.
"Classmate, this is the club registration area. If you're not signing up, don't block the way."
Mu Changge had somehow walked over, standing next to Su Banxia's chair, her gaze coldly fixed on Zhao Zixuan.
Zhao Zixuan looked at Mu Changge.
Then he looked at Su Mu squatting by Su Banxia's foot.
He noticed a detail.
Mu Changge only told him to leave, not even glancing at Su Mu, nor did she ask Su Mu to leave.
Zhao Zixuan's mind raced, why was Mu Changge protecting this guy?
Could it be that this Iceberg Campus Belle, behind the back of her wealthy patron, wanted to keep a pretty boy at school?
Zhao Zixuan's lips curled into a smile, thinking he had figured it all out.
He took a small step back, his lips curling into a smile he believed showed he understood everything.
Watching Su Mu's dismissive attitude, he deliberately leaned closer to Su Mu.
"Kid, don't get too happy too soon. Do you really think the campus belle stood up for you because she likes you?"
"You think she would fancy someone like you?"
"She's already been kept by a rich guy outside, probably played with all over."
Zhao Zixuan's voice grew louder, each word dripping with malice.
"These days, being handsome is useless, you need money to get girls."
The last two sentences were loud enough for several people nearby to hear.
After saying this, Zhao Zixuan left triumphantly.
Although he couldn't get the campus belle either, making this poor guy realize the truth about his goddess being played by a rich guy gave him a twisted sense of satisfaction.
Mu Changge's face lost all color in an instant.
Her lips trembled.
Not out of anger, but fear.
She almost instinctively turned to see Su Mu's expression.
Her mind was filled with one thought: it's over, would he believe those words, would he think she's that kind of loose woman, would he completely despise her from now on.
Mu Changge even forgot to refute Zhao Zixuan's slander.
All her attention was focused on Su Mu's face, trying to read even a hint of disdain from his expression.
Su Mu slowly stood up.
He patted the nonexistent dust off his knees, looking at Zhao Zixuan with no anger, no shock, not even a hint of displeasure.
He was holding back laughter; didn't he know whether Mu Changge had been "developed" by anyone?
Moreover, the wealthy patron Zhao Zixuan mentioned who supposedly kept Mu Changge was actually him.
This guy went to such lengths to put a green hat on him, only to find out the main character of the green hat and the informed party were the same person.
Su Mu thought it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard.
He looked at Zhao Zixuan's smug expression, genuinely wanting to give him a round of applause.
Mu Changge was still staring at Su Mu's face in terror.
Then she saw the corners of Su Mu's mouth curve slightly.
That curve held no disdain, no doubt, and even a hint of indescribable amusement.
Su Mu glanced down at her.
His voice was soft, only audible to the two of them.
"You look pretty in that dress today."
Mu Changge's mind went blank, then the blood rushed visibly from the base of her neck to her entire face.