Next, Liu Hong took Han Lie for a tour of the dorm.
Room 404 in Building A was among the best of the male dorms.
In the School of Humanities, the quality of a dorm room primarily depended on the floor it was on.
The top floor wasn't the most prestigious; the second floor was.
Lower floors didn't require waiting for elevators, made getting out easy, had higher water pressure, takeout could be delivered directly to the dorm room, and even the student council rarely came by for room checks.
The convenience was simply unbeatable.
As for the top floor's river-view luxury mansions?
Even dogs wouldn't live there.
Han Lie got the keys, did a lap around the dorm, and was extremely satisfied.
"Thank you, Mr. Liu, for looking out for me! Oh, wait, do you smoke? I'll go buy you a carton!"
Han Lie smacked his forehead and was about to leave without even dealing with his luggage.
"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need!"
Liu Hong still had some dignity; the boy clearly didn't smoke and thus had no cigarettes on him, so how could he let the student go out of his way to buy them?
He quickly stopped Han Lie, thinking to himself: This kid is so honest!
Feeling better, the smile on his face became more genuine.
"You go ahead with what you need to do; there's no rush with the cigarettes."
"Oh."
Han Lie nodded blankly, pretending not to have picked up on the hint.
For their first meeting, it indeed wouldn't have been appropriate for Liu Hong to be any more explicit.
So he thought again: Being too honest isn't good either...
"Alright, then get settled in, and later go get a campus card for yourself. Before 6:30 p.m., head to classroom 222 in the teaching building for evening self-study."
Han Lie suddenly became alert again. "Got it! Mr. Liu, let me walk you out!"
Liu Hong left with mixed feelings, half proud and half annoyed, his hands clasped behind his back.
This last student of mine is pretty well-off and knows to respect teachers, which is good. But he's just too straightforward and doesn't know how to proactively get on one's good side; that will require some patient guidance... Sigh, being a good counselor isn't easy!
Meanwhile, the "straightforward" Han Lie hummed a tune, easily found his way off campus to a small market, and went to hunt for living essentials.
He aimed to buy the best of everything—bedding, toiletries, daily necessities, even self-defense tools, totaling over 4,000 yuan.
Spending an entire semester's worth of living expenses, he felt no pang of guilt whatsoever.
Han Lie quickly reminded himself: Can't get cocky! You're still a broke-ass!
He returned, tidied up the dorm room, then picked up his textbooks, signed up for a campus card, and paid the broadband fee.
With everything settled, his roommates still hadn't returned.
Han Lie took out his phone, snapped a picture of the dorm interior, and sent it to Chen Yanfei.
He followed it with two words and an emoji.
"Checked in! (Salute)"
It carried a double meaning: he had reported to the school, and now that he was settled, he was reporting to her.
Soon enough, her reply came through.
Homestead Beast: "Nice! (Sideways glance smiley)"
Han Lie smiled knowingly.
Obviously, she got it; otherwise, she wouldn't have replied with those two words and that emoji.
"Nice" also carried a double meaning.
The subtlety could only be felt, not conveyed in words.
Recently, both had been busy with limited chances to chat, but whenever they did, they easily understood each other's thoughts.
That was simply awesome.
The "single dog" Han Lie had never been in love before but had seen plenty of couples showing off their affection. In his view, couples who clicked this well were not that common.
However, the troubling part was that Han Lie couldn't visit Chen Yanfei in the short term.
The changes were really too significant, frightening even.
Fortunately, Chen Yanfei was at the Songjiang Campus of Shanghai International Studies University, not the Hongkou Campus. They were super far apart, making it difficult to meet.
Anyway, he should be able to coast through this semester.
When they met again during winter break, after a semester's buffer, she would be surprised but not suspicious.
Han Lie hoped that by then, he could max out his appearance points to the 79-point limit in one go.
To give her an enormous surprise.
After chatting a bit more, Chen Yanfei took the lead in saying goodbye.
"Little Han, my roommates are calling me for dinner~~~ You better hurry up too, eat well and bulk up!"
Blazing Firewood: "Afraid I'll get beaten up again? (Raised eyebrow)"
Homestead Beast: "PFFT! You're always trying to make me laugh!"
Blazing Firewood: "I love seeing you laugh. (Raised eyebrow)"
Homestead Beast: "(Grinning teeth smiley)(Grinning teeth smiley)(Grinning teeth smiley)"
Homestead Beast: "Alright, go eat!"
Han Lie cheerfully hummed a tune and put away his phone.
Seeing it was getting late, he headed out of the school gate to a spicy stir-fry pot restaurant and polished off three bowls of rice by himself.
Hmm, my appetite has even improved after adopting a healthier mindset. Eating like this, putting on some weight shouldn't be hard.
After dinner at six sharp, Han Lie wandered into a bookstore near the school, planning to buy a book.
Professional books were certainly not needed; he was after a manual for life.
He found the book and paid at the checkout when suddenly, DING! A sound came from the system.
[You have purchased a set of life manuals and triggered the bonus gift function, receiving an additional gift item.]
A good drop already? Nice!
Han Lie eagerly opened his inventory to see another book lying there.
The moment he saw the book's title, Bro Han was flabbergasted.
Sutra of the Medicine Buddha
What's this all about? A reminder that I should cultivate my character and improve my temperament?! I've already given up my 'handiwork,' damn it...
With a head full of question marks, he looked at the item's attributes and suddenly felt elated, laughing so hard he could hardly keep his legs together.
[A perfectly ordinary scripture]
[Reading the entire text with focus, each level can add 1 point to the Intelligence attribute.]
"Each level" meant that in the 70-79 point range, it could add 1 point to Intelligence.
Between 80-89 points, another point to Intelligence would be added.
Between 90-99 points, yet another point to Intelligence would be added.
Attributes at the Excellent tier aren't worth much, just 200,000 yuan. But Genius-tier attributes are a different story! Judging from the experience needed to upgrade Level 4 skills, wouldn't a single point cost 10 million yuan?!