"It's nothing. Didn't you add Lu Lin to WeChat, too?" Zhou Yuwen retorted.
Chang Hao chuckled and said, "That's different. I've barely said two words to Lu Lin since I added her."
"You're not the same, Old Zhou. You're handsome and rich; what girl wouldn't like you? If I were a girl, I'd like you too," Chang Hao said casually as he chatted with Zhou Yuwen.
He then asked Zhou Yuwen if there was any girl he was interested in.
Zhou Yuwen responded, "How about Zheng Yanyan? Would you give her to me?"
"Old Zhou, you're joking again."
It seemed like Chang Hao was intentionally teasing Zhou Yuwen, completely ignoring Li Qiang.
Li Qiang was a bit taken aback when he heard that Lu Lin had added Zhou Yuwen's contact, but after hearing Chang Hao's comment, he felt deflated.
Chang Hao was right—Zhou Yuwen was handsome and could make money. If Lu Lin liked him, it would be understandable. What right did he have to compete with Zhou Yuwen?
Zhou Yuwen was different from Chang Hao. Chang Hao often flaunted his wealth in the dorm, sometimes hurting Li Qiang's self-esteem. At those times, Li Qiang would think, "What's so great about you? If you weren't born lucky, you'd be nothing."
But Zhou Yuwen was different. At least Zhou Yuwen earned his money independently without relying on his family. Plus, Zhou Yuwen was meticulous in everything he did, making it easy and comfortable to get along with him, unlike Chang Hao.
For instance, when they shower together, if Li Qiang was a bit slower, Zhou Yuwen would wait outside with the others, but Chang Hao would always impatiently say, "Why are you so slow, Old Zhou? Let's just go."
"Wait a bit; there's no rush."
Zhou Yuwen never went out of his way to help Li Qiang, but he always managed to take care of him in small ways.
So when Li Qiang heard that Lu Lin might be pursuing Zhou Yuwen, he felt helpless. He wanted to say something but didn't have the energy.
Later, when he went to the sink to wash dishes, he still couldn't shake the mood.
At that moment, Zhou Yuwen also came to the sink to wash his dishes. Standing beside Li Qiang, he casually said, "Lu Lin added me to ask for a loan."
"A loan?" Li Qiang was stunned and looked at Zhou Yuwen in disbelief.
Zhou Yuwen nodded. "She must be facing some difficulty."
"Did you lend it to her?" Li Qiang asked concern for Lu Lin, evident in his eyes.
"No," Zhou Yuwen answered calmly.
As sneaky as it might sound, Li Qiang felt a strange relief when Zhou Yuwen said no. Deep down, he knew that if Zhou Yuwen had lent the money, he might never surpass Zhou Yuwen in Lu Lin's eyes. But now that Zhou Yuwen hadn't, Li Qiang was secretly glad that Lu Lin might have a negative impression of him. He controlled his excitement and asked, "How much did she want?"
"Two thousand. It's not much, but we barely know each other. Asking me for money out of the blue is kind of weird," Zhou Yuwen said as he rinsed his bowl.
Two thousand yuan wasn't a lot. Recently, Li Qiang heard about part-time jobs through the school's external affairs department, like working at weddings for 100 yuan a day and scholarships offered at just 3,000 yuan a year. By that measure, two thousand wasn't much. Li Qiang could have lent it to Lu Lin himself—she did not need to ask Zhou Yuwen.
"She probably thinks you're rich. Didn't expect you to be so stingy!" Originally feeling down, Li Qiang was now grinning thanks to Zhou Yuwen's words, even joking with him.
Zhou Yuwen sighed and said, "Can't help it. My family is poor. I have to live frugally."
"Heh, stop it! You're not poor!" Li Qiang laughed.
Zhou Yuwen finished washing the dishes and said he would return to the dorm.
Li Qiang nodded.
Over the past few days, Lu Lin had contacted Zhou Yuwen again. She had said that if Zhou Yuwen was willing to lend her money, she'd become his girlfriend. Zhou Yuwen had ignored her.
Later that afternoon, after her military training, Lu Lin picked up her phone, hoping to see a reply from Zhou Yuwen. But when she checked, he still hadn't responded.
In the end, Lu Lin was just an eighteen-year-old girl who couldn't hold back her anxiety. She sent him another message with a question mark:
"?"
"Do you think I need a girlfriend?"
Zhou Yuwen was getting fed up with Lu Lin's pestering. He would have blocked her long ago if they'd met in a different setting, like a karaoke bar.
Later that night, Lu Lin sent Zhou Yuwen another message:
"If you give me two thousand yuan a month, I'll be your girlfriend, but it won't stop you from finding other girlfriends."
Zhou Yuwen laughed when he saw the message, thinking, "Then why would I need you?"
He was about to reply when he suddenly realized what Lu Lin meant. Feeling a bit speechless, he decided not to respond at all.
This time, Zhou Yuwen didn't reply.
Lu Lin sent several more question marks, but Zhou Yuwen stayed silent.
Telling Li Qiang about Lu Lin asking him for money was partly to clear up any misunderstandings, so Li Qiang wouldn't get the wrong idea about him. It was also a way to get Lu Lin off his back.
After hearing the news, Li Qiang eagerly started chatting with Lu Lin.
The weather cooled down in mid-September, but the sky remained clear.
One day around noon, Zheng Yanyan and other girls from the neighboring dorm played cards. In the dormitory building surrounded by green trees, the girls, dressed in black or white camisoles, with their long legs propped up, were intensely playing a game of "Landlord." The scene had its unique charm.
Still, in her camouflage uniform, Lu Lin had her collar open, revealing a black tube top underneath, covering her modest chest—though she wasn't entirely flat, there was something there.
She liked to lean against the balcony to smoke with the bright blue sky overhead.
At that moment, her phone buzzed.
It was a message from Li Qiang.
"What are you up to? "
Lu Lin felt a bit disappointed. Even though Zhou Yuwen hadn't responded to her for three days, she still held onto hope. She had heard rumors on the forum that Zhou Yuwen had earned tens of thousands on his campus card, though she wasn't sure if it was true.