"Just got back a week ago." Tang Qingyu smiled sweetly, giving Chen Luo a serious once-over. "Wow, haven't seen you in years, you seem to have gotten more handsome?"
Before Chen Luo could respond, another female voice chimed in, "Qingyu, is this your friend?"
Chen Luo turned to see a pretty girl approaching with two cups of coffee in hand.
"Zhimo, let me introduce you. This is Chen Luo, my classmate from middle and high school," Tang Qingyu said, then pointed to the pretty girl. "This beauty is Zhou Zhimo, my college classmate and bestie."
As Chen Luo looked at Zhou Zhimo, she was also sizing him up.
After a moment, Zhou Zhimo smiled slightly, "What a coincidence, running into a classmate here."
"Yeah, I didn't expect it either. Just got back to the country and already bumped into a classmate. What could be better?" Tang Qingyu glanced at Chen Luo with a smile. "Mind if we join you?"
Chen Luo smiled, "Having two beautiful ladies for company? I'd love that."
Once Tang Qingyu and Zhou Zhimo sat down, she immediately asked with a smile, "It's been about seven years, hasn't it?"
Chen Luo nodded with a smile, "We graduated high school at eighteen, so yes, seven years. So, has our goddess graduated yet?"
"Oh, come on, still using that outdated nickname?" Tang Qingyu rolled her eyes at Chen Luo, unable to suppress a laugh.
Chen Luo laughed heartily, "No matter how many years pass, you'll always be the goddess of all the boys at our school. If you don't believe me, just send a message in our high school group chat. I guarantee a bunch of guys will pop up calling you goddess."
Tang Qingyu shook her head with a smile, "Forget it. Every time I say something in that group, the messages just keep flashing. I can't keep up, so I just pretend I'm not there."
Zhou Zhimo couldn't help but laugh too, "Was Qingyu that popular in high school?"
Chen Luo chuckled, "Popular? Tang the Goddess was the dream girl of every boy in our school."
Zhou Zhimo looked at Chen Luo with a sly smile, "Does that include you, Chen Luo?"
Chen Luo was momentarily stunned, then laughed, "Of course, I was infatuated with Tang the Goddess for many years."
Chen Luo's candid admission made it seem like he was joking, and no one took it seriously.
"Yeah, right. We sat next to each other for a year, and how many words did you say to me?" Tang Qingyu gave Chen Luo a sidelong glance.
Back then, Chen Luo was too nervous to talk to Tang Qingyu, getting anxious whenever he tried.
"Do you know how many warnings I got, both openly and subtly?" Chen Luo chuckled wryly. "I don't know what was up, but every one of your admirers would first come to warn me not to talk to you. It was like threatening me was the first step in pursuing you. Wasn't I wronged?"
Tang Qingyu and Zhou Zhimo burst into laughter, the two beautiful women laughing so hard that they attracted the attention of many guys around them.
"Wait, how come I've never heard about this?"
Chen Luo laughed, "Would those who threatened me have told you? Eventually, I got used to it and didn't take it seriously, so I never mentioned it. Later on, there was that incident where I took the blame for you, and we never spoke until you went abroad."
Tang Qingyu burst into laughter again, tears streaming down her face from laughing so hard.
Zhou Zhimo was puzzled, not understanding why Tang Qingyu was laughing so much. She didn't find Chen Luo's story particularly funny.
"Is she crazy?"
Zhou Zhimo glanced at Tang Qingyu in confusion, then noticed Chen Luo across from her with a wry smile, realizing there must be a story between them.
"Hey, stop laughing, what's going on?"
Tang Qingyu finally managed to stop laughing, catching her breath as she looked at Zhou Zhimo. "Do you know why, after seven years, I could still recognize him at a glance?"
"Isn't it because he looks pretty good?"
By now, Chen Luo had fused with the Divine Descendant Gene twice. Although his appearance hadn't changed much, his skin was as fair and smooth as a baby's, and his bright, clear eyes had elevated his looks by several notches.
She then recounted the incident from high school.
It was during a math evening self-study session in their senior year. The math teacher, Yang Guofan, came in and started writing problems on the board. At that time, Chen Luo had stayed up all night playing online games and was so tired by evening that he fell asleep on his desk.
Meanwhile, his deskmate Tang Qingyu was listening to music with headphones and reading a romance novel hidden under her math textbook. When she reached an exciting part, she couldn't help but hum along with the music.
The classroom was quiet during evening self-study, but Tang Qingyu was so engrossed that she forgot where she was.
After humming a few lines, she realized all her classmates were looking at her, and she knew something was wrong.
Tang Qingyu was quick-witted, swiftly tucking her headphones into her desk and covering the novel with her textbook.
When Yang Guofan turned around, Tang Qingyu was already acting nonchalant, looking at the sleeping Chen Luo along with the other students.
Naturally, Yang Guofan's first sight was Chen Luo sleeping at his desk. He walked over, picked up a textbook, and smacked it down on Chen Luo's head.
Tang Qingyu couldn't help but laugh again as she recounted, "Do you know what the math teacher said when he hit him?"
Zhou Zhimo asked curiously, "What did he say?"
Tang Qingyu mimicked Yang Guofan's tone, holding back laughter, "If you're going to sleep, at least don't hum!"
Zhou Zhimo was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter, gasping for breath as she said, "Haha, so, so your math teacher thought he was talking in his sleep?"
Chen Luo shook his head with a wry smile, "Yeah, the worst part is I woke up thinking I deserved it for getting caught sleeping in class... It wasn't until after evening self-study that my deskmate told me the truth."
Zhou Zhimo and Tang Qingyu laughed together, finally calming down after a while.
"Oh my, I haven't laughed this hard in ages," Zhou Zhimo said, struggling to catch her breath, feeling completely worn out from laughing.
...