After Lin Yutang left.
The car still seemed to carry the faint fruity floral scent she had brought with her—sweet but not cloying—and Lu Chaosheng didn’t even roll down the window for a long while.
He drove a loop around the block, then returned to the school gate to check in.
Likewise, he failed to notice that in the small grove just now, someone had been standing behind the dense bushes, having memorized Lin Yutang’s face.
After freshman registration came military training, which no one could escape.
Lin Yutang sat in the dormitory.
Her roommates were wailing about how miserable military training was, but she had to use this lunch break to hurry up and submit more part-time job applications.
Her family owed too much money. Tuition and living expenses all had to be earned by herself, and she also wanted to help her parents pay off more of the debt. Every bit counted, and she didn’t mind how small the amount was.
For the first eighteen years of her life, she had been a little princess cradled in the palms of her parents and older brother—no worries about food or clothing, doted on endlessly, her life as carefree as if soaked in honey.
When her family’s investment failed overnight and the company went bankrupt, she didn’t complain. She took the initiative to shoulder this sudden heavy burden.
Her roommate Jian Ying picked up her phone, checked the time, and gasped: “Ladies, we’ve got twenty minutes before we assemble. Get up and change into your military training uniforms and head out!”
Ni Qianqian struggled to get up and put on her uniform, chuckling: “I clearly don’t want to, but I’m still being tortured miserably. This military training is like BDSM, and the safe word is ‘report.’ Am I right or what?”
“…Stop sexualizing suffering!” Jian Ying was speechless.
Ignoring their conversation, Ji Shuning lazily stretched and walked over to Lin Yutang. “Babe, you’re still looking for part-time jobs?”
“Yeah, I’ve sent out over a dozen applications, but only one offline tutoring position got back to me.” Lin Yutang was a bit frustrated too. She hadn’t expected part-time jobs near Jing University to be this hard to find.
Ni Qianqian came over as well. “Tangtang, you’re already working this hard to make money? We’re still in military training—every day is exhausting!”
Lin Yutang smiled and explained, “I don’t have a choice. I need to earn my tuition and living expenses.”
Jian Ying held up her phone and turned back to look at them. “Speaking of part-time jobs, that reminds me—I’ve got one. Do you want to do it?”
Lin Yutang turned around in surprise, her doe-like eyes sparkling as she looked at her precious roommate: “Yes, yes, yes! Ying, what kind of part-time job is it?”
“My high school senior asked me this morning. He’s now the head of Jing University’s New Media Center. They’re holding a freshman white T-shirt design competition, and they’re still short two freshman judges for the finals.” Jian Ying looked up from her phone and shrugged helplessly.
“The finals are scheduled for the day after military training ends, which is also a Saturday rest day. They couldn’t gather enough people, so in the end they had to offer an eighty-yuan part-time stipend to recruit.”
Eighty yuan.
The pay really wasn’t high.
But Lin Yutang was too short on money right now, so she decisively took the job.
On the day of the finals.
Lin Yutang headed to Lecture Hall 501 together with Ji Shuning.
Ji Shuning was one of the finalists.
Both her parents worked at Jing University. After learning about the competition in August, they told Ji Shuning, who loved drawing, to participate if she had the time.
Lin Yutang also loved drawing.
But she had spent the entire summer working part-time jobs and had no time for competitions like this.
Ten people ultimately made it to the finals.
The teacher judges voted first, followed by the student judges going up to cast their votes.
Ten pure white T-shirts had been covered with all kinds of designs by the contestants.
But among these works, only Ji Shuning’s and another girl’s pieces were the most visually pleasing.
Most votes went to those two.
Lin Yutang was the last student judge.
She looked up at the competition theme banner hanging on the wall and ultimately cast her vote for Ji Shuning’s work.
The student union members began tallying the votes.
Before the final vote was announced, Ji Shuning and another contestant, Hang Xia, were tied at 11 votes each.
The entire venue was waiting to see who the last vote would go to.
“Vote 25: Ji Shuning.”
“I hereby announce that the first-place winner of this year’s freshman white T-shirt design competition is Ji Shuning! Congratulations, Classmate Ji!”
Thunderous applause filled the venue.
Only one girl with brown hair in the crowd shot to her feet, glaring furiously in Lin Yutang’s direction. “Wait! I object to the last vote!”
The head of the New Media Center gestured for everyone to stop applauding and looked at Hang Xia in confusion. “Classmate Hang, if you have any objections, you may raise them.”
“The last student judge to vote—I noticed she arrived at the finals venue arm in arm with Ji Shuning. Clearly, she was showing favoritism!” Hang Xia raised her hand and pointed at Lin Yutang, fierce anger flashing in her eyes.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Lin Yutang, and whispers spread throughout the venue.
“I saw that judge come in with Ji Shuning too…”
“They’re even roommates, it seems. She might really have cast a friendship vote.”
“That’s so unfair to Hang Xia!”
Seeing public opinion increasingly tilt in her favor, a smug smile curled at the corner of Hang Xia’s lips. “So, can the last vote be invalidated now?”
“You can just cancel it like that?” Ji Shuning gave a light snort, defending her best friend and roommate. “You saw me and Tangtang walking in arm in arm, thought we were close, and assumed she voted for me out of personal favor. Well, I saw you walking into this building with a male teacher—should I say you two are having a teacher-student romance?”
The whole room erupted in murmurs.
The male teacher who had walked in with Hang Xia shot up from his seat, his face turning green. “You student, don’t talk nonsense! You’re ruining my reputation!”
“Did I name you? Why are you so eager to claim it?” Ji Shuning clicked her tongue twice.
The male teacher slammed the table in anger. “You!”
A female teacher beside him quietly reminded him, “Teacher Liu, sit down quickly, don’t argue. Classmate Ji’s mother is the vice principal, and her father is the dean of the management school. Why would you provoke her?”
Teacher Liu didn’t dare make another sound.
Lin Yutang rubbed her temples. She hadn’t expected that coming here for a part-time job would stir up so much trouble.
“Classmate Hang Xia, please get this straight. I voted for Ji Shuning not because she and I are close. Both of your works are outstanding, but hers fits the theme of this competition better.”
Lin Yutang raised her hand and pointed to the banner stretched across the wall—
“Youth Paints the Campus: Sunshine White T-Shirt Design Competition”
Hang Xia’s work was clearly darker in tone, with the pattern on the white T-shirt also in dark shades, while Ji Shuning’s work was bright and beautiful, better matching the competition’s youthful, sunny theme.
Hang Xia’s expression turned cold as she glared at Lin Yutang. “Who knows if that’s just a reason you made up! How much did Ji Shuning pay you to be so biased toward her?”
“She gave me nothing. But you,” Lin Yutang said, her expression calm as she looked up at her, speaking unhurriedly, “when Ji Shuning and I were entering this building, we saw you chatting with the male teacher who’s a judge. In your words, there was something like ‘I’ve agreed to your terms, so stop walking with me and drawing attention.'”
Lin Yutang took out her phone and played the recording.
The gist was that the male teacher wasn’t satisfied with the original terms and demanded Hang Xia add another ten thousand yuan before he’d continue voting for her.
Hang Xia’s face went pale.
She hadn’t expected that Teacher Liu would go back on his word this morning. When they were on the stairs, he suddenly pestered her about raising the price—and it just so happened that Ji Shuning and Lin Yutang overheard it.
She had looked around at the time. There was clearly no one nearby.
Those two must have hidden in the stairwell corner when they saw them!
Teacher Liu, hearing the recording, turned even paler with fright, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
Sitting in the front row, he suddenly stood up and reached out to snatch Lin Yutang’s phone.
With a loud bang, the classroom door was kicked open, and Gu Xun’an walked in with several people behind him.
The one at the very back had features that were simply too striking—brows and eyes clear and deep, a tall and straight figure, dressed all in white, strolling in with a lazy, nonchalant air, yet every movement exuded an undeniable nobility.
Among the crowd, Lu Chaosheng spotted Lin Yutang in the front row at a glance.
His steps halted beside her, and the floral scent from the girl drifted over once again.
Tsk.
Why did his little sister smell so good?
He mused.