Today was Saturday, September 7th.
Fang Bai returned to his rented room to take a shower, grabbed his study materials, and then went to the University of Finance and Economics to find Qin Shuyu.
That night, the two of them spent the night together at a hotel. Qin Shuyu didn't return to her dorm, telling her roommates she was out traveling for a day.
The next day, Fang Bai took Qin Shuyu to buy daily necessities for the new house, to set it up in advance.
After finishing these tasks, the two stayed in the library to read.
The day passed very quickly, and in the evening, Fang Bai returned to his dorm to rest.
Before dawn, Fang Bai, who was sleeping on the top bunk, got up to use the restroom and saw Cui Xiaoqiang putting on his shoes, ready to go for a run. He quietly asked:
"Xiaoqiang, is there any need to get up so early?"
Fang Bai had slept in the dorm for two nights and noticed that Cui Xiaoqiang got up to run at around five o'clock.
He didn't have proper sportswear; he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and canvas shoes.
"I'm used to it," Cui Xiaoqiang smiled shyly.
"Hmm, then keep it up," Fang Bai encouraged him. This guy was even more hardworking than himself.
After speaking, he climbed back into the top bunk and continued to sleep.
After staying in the dorm for two days, Fang Bai noticed that while these classmates played when it was time to play, they were very dedicated when it came to studying.
Mei Xihu enjoyed reading poetry and planned to join the school's literary club;
Dong Jiang loved reading wuxia novels and didn't join any clubs. He even secretly read novels in class. If he continued to be so immersed, it felt like he might fail his courses;
Yang Tan liked to visit other dorms and really wanted to join the student union…
Cui Xiaoqiang was very disciplined, usually quiet, and focused all his energy on studying, not wanting to join the student union or any clubs.
Fang Bai used his probing ability on him and only then learned that he and his mother lived together, his father gambled, and they divorced years ago. No wonder he worked so hard.
Alas, it was quite pitiful, but thankfully Cui Xiaoqiang was very determined.
Fang Bai took a nap and woke up at 6:30 AM, changed into his sportswear, and planned to go for a run on the sports field.
Leaving the dorm, he walked through the campus.
At this time, the sun had just risen from the east, casting soft sunlight that illuminated the entire campus, and the roof tiles of Zhixin West Lake reflected golden rays.
The campus was filled with a quiet and fresh atmosphere, and many students were running in the morning light, leaving fleeting figures.
Arriving near the sports field, Fang Bai saw many students already reciting English.
Entering the sports field, he found that many students were already morning running; a quick count revealed no less than a hundred people.
The sports field was still cinder ground, without a plastic track, and stepping on it made a "rustling" sound.
As soon as Fang Bai joined the morning running group, he attracted the attention of the surrounding students, mainly because his sportswear was different from theirs and stood out.
He was dressed all in black, like a phantom streaking across the sports field.
Nearly a year after his rebirth, Fang Bai's weight had increased slightly, and he usually paid attention to exercising, making his body more solid. The form-fitting sportswear highlighted his fuller muscles, and a sense of power seemed to be overflowing.
Of course, he wasn't like those bulky muscle men, but rather seven parts masculine and three parts refined, with a well-proportioned physique that looked quite aesthetic.
He wasn't exceptionally handsome, just had a unique temperament.
He didn't know how long he had been running, but Fang Bai started his tenth lap, his speed still undiminished, maintaining a pace of over ten kilometers per hour, surpassing one girl after another.
It felt great to run so fast. He remembered that when he reached forty, running two or three kilometers at a ten-kilometer pace would be exhausting.
"Oh, Fang Bai, are you here to run?"
Suddenly, he heard someone greet him, slowed down, and looked back to see it was his senior, Qiu Ya.
She wore tight pants and a fitted sports top, showcasing her 1.6-meter-plus figure, adding a lot of charm.
Such attire was rare on the sports field, making people wonder if she was out for a run or just trying to attract attention?
"Morning, senior."
"My name is Qiu Ya."
"Okay, senior, keep it up."
Fang Bai smiled and replied, then turned back, accelerated, and quickly distanced himself from Qiu Ya.
"..."
Qiu Ya looked at Fang Bai's retreating back and felt quite sad.
Just a few days ago, this junior had hurt her once.
When she bumped into him just now, she was pleasantly surprised, thinking they could jog slowly together, chat, and perhaps even arrange to run together on the sports field every day. As long as the time was long enough, she could move him. She wasn't afraid of his childhood sweetheart at all; she believed her wall-digging skills were absolutely top-notch.
However, in less than three seconds, he just replied and then slipped away.
Am I poisonous?
Is there a need to run that fast?
Suddenly, she felt like a plum blossom standing proudly in the snow, with snowflakes fluttering and the north wind howling before her eyes!
Qiu Ya, in a fit of pique, sped up to catch him, not caring about her roommate anymore.
As a result, she found she couldn't keep up with his speed: "He's infuriating."
She simply stopped running. Her roommate also caught up and teasingly asked, "Is that Fang Bai? He's quite handsome."
"Mhm."
"Qiu Ya, it seems he's not paying much attention to you. I feel like if you want to pursue a guy like him, you need to run at a hundred-meter sprint speed."
"You're mistaken, I'm not pursuing him. Only guys pursue me."
"Then why did you run so fast just now? Chasing air, hehe."
"I'm not talking to you anymore." Qiu Ya walked slowly, intending to wait for Fang Bai to run by again.
However, she saw Fang Bai doing leg stretches on the parallel bars in the distance.
By the time she got close, that damned Fang Bai had started running again.
"Qiu Ya, let's go. He's hiding far away, it seems intentional, oh," her roommate teased her, laughing.
"I said I wasn't waiting for Fang Bai."
"I didn't say it was Fang Bai, haha."
Qiu Ya simply admitted, "Hmph, so what if it is? I don't believe that if I wait for him here, he won't come over."
After waiting for a few minutes, she still didn't see Fang Bai run by.
She looked around but couldn't find him.
He left?
He just left like that?
"Hey, our Qiu Ya is falling in love, but eating tender grass might be a bit difficult."
"Get lost, I'm not talking to you this week."
"Actually, there's a trick that can make him care about you for a while."
"What trick?"
"When he comes to run again tomorrow, you accidentally bump into him, then pretend to fall and sprain yourself. Let him carry you to the school hospital, and taking care of you for a week won't be a problem."
"No way!"
Qiu Ya immediately denied it, but deep down, she felt this trick might actually work.
At this moment, Fang Bai was already on his way back to the dorm. He ran a bit too hard today, so he would rest tomorrow and planned to run again the day after.
After eating breakfast at the cafeteria, he saw it was only a little past seven, so he bought two bags of vegetable buns to take back to the dorm.
Wu Jiang and Cui Xiaoqiang in the dorm came from poor families. They probably didn't even have a good breakfast, and their lunch consisted of steamed buns and porridge. Fang Bai remembered this and decided to help them occasionally in a different way, but not every day, just whenever he thought of it.
Returning to the dorm, he placed the two bags of buns on the table and said to the few roommates still in the dorm, "I bought two bags of vegetable buns. I was afraid you hadn't eaten breakfast, so I bought some extra."
"Wow, Class Monitor is too kind! I'm just hungry and haven't had breakfast yet."
"Class Monitor, there's no need to buy so many, we won't finish them, it'll be a waste."
"If you don't finish them, save them for lunch," Fang Bai wiped his body with a wet towel, changed his clothes, and a moment later, slung on his backpack and left the dorm.
Cui Xiaoqiang sat on his bed reading, looking at the two large bags of vegetable buns on the table, then at Fang Bai's departing back, lost in thought.
He had only had a bowl of porridge that morning and nothing else, feeling that not being hungry was enough.
The last time Fang Bai treated them to a meal, it was arguably the most delicious meal he had ever eaten in his life, and he secretly shed tears that night.
This Class Monitor was very rich, but he had no airs with them, the poor students; instead, he took good care of them.
He knew the Class Monitor must have eaten breakfast before returning to the dorm, but he still bought two large bags of vegetable buns back.
Smelling the vegetable buns, Cui Xiaoqiang couldn't resist his still somewhat empty stomach and picked one up to try.
Huh, it was actually a meat bun!
Not a plain vegetable bun.
Meat buns at school were more expensive, as meat wasn't cheap now, and he had never bought meat buns to eat before.
He checked them, and they were all exactly the same, probably all meat buns, nearly twenty of them, and each portion was quite substantial.
"The Class Monitor bought meat buns, hmm, they're delicious. I have to say, he takes such good care of us." Cui Xiaoqiang wasn't very talkative, but at this moment, he still spoke well of Fang Bai.
"Yes, yes, definitely a good Class Monitor. He even brought breakfast back himself after running," his roommate, who had already tasted the bun, also praised.
"What business does the Class Monitor's family do? Do you know?"
"I don't know, he didn't say, and I didn't feel right asking him. He feels very mysterious, but he's definitely very rich."
"Maybe his family is very rich, but what I admire most is that the Class Monitor has no airs at all."
"Actually, what I admire most is that even though he's so rich, he's still so hardworking, and his learning talent is so good! Damn!" Wang Yifei couldn't help but curse, taking a big bite of his bun, feeling too much academic pressure from him.
"I've decided, starting tomorrow, no more sleeping in!" Dong Jiang put down his wuxia novel, feeling he couldn't be so carefree anymore.
"Let's put up the couplets in a bit, I've finished writing them," Mei Xihu suggested. He had finished writing the "mechanical eight oddities" couplets on Sunday and had also bought paste, but they hadn't put them up yet.
Everyone heard about putting up the couplets and quickly got to work, pasting them on the walls on both sides outside the dorm door.
In a moment, the mechanical eight oddities' couplets were finally put up.
It must be said that Mei Xihu's clerical script calligraphy was very good, flowing like clouds and water, with strong and powerful strokes, full lines, and a sense of strength and weight.
Classmates who hadn't left the dorm yet passed by, saw them, and curiously came over to look, couldn't help but read aloud: "mechanical eight oddities, Bai Tan Fei Wu Jiang, Mei Chui Dong San Jun?"
"What does that mean?"
"It's taken from the names of the eight people in our dorm. Bai is Fang Bai, Yang Tan, Wang Yifei, Wu Jiang, Mei Xihu, Dong Jiang, Chen Sanjun."
"Oh, I see, that's quite interesting, and the calligraphy is well written too."
"Mei Xihu wrote it, it's indeed grand."
"Then Fang Bai is the big oddity, the big BOSS, haha, that seems right too."
"Borrowing Fang Bai's fame, maybe your mechanical eight oddities will become famous soon."
Not long after, the story of the mechanical eight oddities quickly spread throughout the class.
At this time, after leaving the dorm, Fang Bai went to a corner of the campus to practice his spoken English.
His English vocabulary had already exceeded six thousand, and he required himself to learn no less than 50 new words daily. Now he was focusing on spoken English, but he lacked opportunities for conversation.
The school had international students, so he could spend some money for one-on-one practice, correct his pronunciation issues, and also overcome the psychological barrier of communicating with foreigners.