In university, most students’ social circles aren’t complicated. Most group projects and activities are completed within the dormitory unit.
The “interface upgrade” project from 3-402 followed the same pattern. The one who proposed the optimization plan was Lin Nuo’er, and the main executor was her close friend and dorm leader, Shu Ya.
When Yang Yan from the Computer Science Department submitted Gu Zhe’s name to the Media and Arts School, Shu Ya was the first to receive the news.
She stayed in bed and immediately launched a “Criticize Gu Zhe” campaign with her two roommates.
All three girls were full of worry, feeling a deep crisis—like their precious cabbage was about to be snatched up by a pig.
The next morning…
“Wow, did you all secretly study without me last night? Why do you all look like giant pandas?”
Lin Nuo’er was startled to see the three of them with dark circles under their eyes.
Shu Ya yawned while grabbing her towel and toothbrush to wash up.
“Nothing, we just found a great drama where the female lead shreds a scumbag. We got so into the plot we couldn’t stop talking about it.”
Lin Nuo’er immediately perked up.
“A drama about tearing apart a scumbag? That’s totally my thing! What’s it called? Recommend it to me!”
As the girls laughed and joked, a sudden knock came from the dorm room door.
“Excuse me, is Shu Ya here?”
A girl carrying a work bag stood at the door, peeking inside.
“That’s me. What do you need?”
“Hi, I’m a third-year student from the Software Engineering Department…”
The girl had come all the way over just to ask to join their project.
A provincial-level award was a golden opportunity for most students.
Even more so when Lin Nuo’er’s team had already completed a prototype—the latecomers would only need to work on the pure coding portion.
For Computer Science students with solid technical skills, this was like a meat pie falling from the sky.
Had they known this would happen, they never would’ve reported it to the instructor and let them assign some useless guy who only knew how to chase girls.
Shu Ya explained the current situation. Watching the clearly tech-savvy senior leave in disappointment made her heart ache.
Wasn’t this senior way better than that guy who was always hovering around Song Yihan?
“Shu Ya, did you tell her we already have a partner assigned by the department? What’s his name?”
She knew Lin Nuo’er’s leg injury had everything to do with Gu Zhe. If she told her that Gu Zhe had bought her dinner last night just to gain favor for the project, it’d only hurt the girl all over again.
Others might not see it, but Shu Ya knew that despite Lin Nuo’er’s tough appearance, she was just a romantic girl deep down.
Thinking of this, Shu Ya clenched her fists.
Such a good girl couldn’t be deceived by a fickle guy like Gu Zhe!
As Shu Ya was deep in thought and stepped out of the dormitory building, she had only taken a few steps before being stopped by a handsome young man.
“Hey, are you Shu Ya?”
Shu Ya stopped and looked up at the person in front of her, her eyes widening instantly.
“You’re… Gu Zhe?”
Thanks to a certain love-struck roommate, Shu Ya and the others were already familiar with Gu Zhe’s face.
But why did Gu Zhe know her?
“I’m Shu Ya. But… have we met before?”
Shu Ya looked at him warily.
Gu Zhe gave a warm smile. “I’m Nuo’er’s friend. A close friend, so I know a bit about you all.”
There was obviously some embellishment in that statement.
In his past life, Gu Zhe didn’t even know who Shu Ya was until after graduation.
Under Song Yihan’s double standards, he had long distanced himself from Lin Nuo’er, let alone the friends around her.
The only reason he recognized Shu Ya now was because, in his past life, they had worked together on a small app project.
After graduating, Lin Nuo’er entered the digital media industry and quickly stood out with her talent and artistic sense. She joined a major company in the Magic City and did extremely well.
Later on, she even brought Shu Ya into the company. The two remained good friends who supported each other through thick and thin.
As for Gu Zhe, because of Song Yihan’s constant presence, he only ever had brief and forgettable encounters with them.
In fact, it wasn’t until his wedding day that Gu Zhe finally realized he had never truly left Lin Nuo’er’s heart.
Because of her preconceived impressions of Gu Zhe, Shu Ya took a small step back, full of caution.
“You’re here for Nuo’er?”
Gu Zhe nodded, then handed over several bags of breakfast with a smile.
“You probably know her leg’s hurt. She can’t get around easily. I bought her breakfast and brought it over, but I can’t go in. Could you please take it to her? The rest are a small thank-you gift for you and the others in the dorm.” Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
Shu Ya glanced at the bags filled with food, then looked at Gu Zhe again.
“For me and the other roommates…?”
Wasn’t that the whole core team of the project?
Gu Zhe, oh Gu Zhe, what kind of scheme are you running? Your little calculations are practically smacking me in the face!
Shu Ya stared at him and asked, “You really just care about Nuo’er? No other intentions?”
“Of course!”
Come on—this girl stepped up to defend him and ended up hurting her leg. If he didn’t do anything in return, could he still call himself a man?
Shu Ya remembered how, during their freshman year, that silly girl Lin Nuo’er would bring breakfast, snacks, and anything delicious to Gu Zhe.
And Gu Zhe? He almost never gave anything back to her.
Thinking of what happened last year made Shu Ya angry again.
“Nuo’er’s meal, I have no problem with. But for ours, I’ll pay you back.”
And he says he’s only thinking about Nuo’er?
If so, why treat the whole dorm to breakfast?
Clearly, it was just to win favor with the whole core project team!
Shu Ya suppressed her anger. Gu Zhe’s participation in the project had already been finalized by both department advisors, so there was no changing it now.
Since that was the case, she’d just have to take things one step at a time.
But Gu Zhe firmly refused her money, saying he’d be troubling them for the next few days and this was the least he could do.
Seeing that he wasn’t the type to haggle over such things, Shu Ya stopped insisting after a few polite refusals.
“Fine, I’ll accept it then. Thanks.”
A warm smile spread across Gu Zhe’s face.
His handsome, sunny look made Shu Ya dazed for a moment.
Taking a deep breath, Shu Ya accepted the breakfast and slowly turned around.
“Gu Zhe, whatever you’re really thinking—you know it best yourself.”
“Nuo’er is a good girl. I suggest you treat her well.”