46: The feeling of being in love

Yu Heng walked leisurely toward the school, the cigarette between his fingers flickering in the evening breeze.

As he passed the snack street, several stalls had already been set up, and the smell of grease and cumin wafted through the air.

A young couple stood in front of a skewer stall. The girl was chiding the boy, "Can't you put a little less chili?"

The boy chuckled, "Chili makes it satisfying! Why don't you take a sip of my Coke to cool down?"

Yu Heng glanced over and clicked his tongue inwardly.

Being young is great; they can even flirt over how spicy a skewer is.

What was he doing at this age in his previous life?

Oh, he was also in a relationship, with He Mengyao.

But they weren't that lovey-dovey back then; both of them went straight to the point.

Thinking about it, pulling and pushing with these girls now actually made him find the feeling of a normal relationship?

It did take some time when he first started pursuing He Mengyao.

But once they confirmed their relationship, the progress was incredibly rapid.

Just a week later, they were getting a room at a hotel off-campus.

He Mengyao was unexpectedly proactive and skilled.

Yu Heng asked, "Isn't this your first time?"

He Mengyao said, "It's the first time with a person, but don't I have tools?"

Yu Heng cried out, "Well then!"

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but wonder if He Mengyao was doing 'handicrafts' in her dorm right now.

Reaching the school gate, his phone vibrated again.

Yu Heng pulled it out and saw it was a voice message from Ning Yutong.

He tapped it, and Ning Yutong's soft voice came out: "Yu Heng, I just tried on that JK uniform in the dorm. Do you want me to take a photo to see if it fits?"

It was followed by a playful emoji.

Yu Heng raised an eyebrow and typed back: "Sure, send it over."

He typed while walking toward the dormitory building. A few seconds later, the photo arrived.

Ning Yutong stood in front of the full-length mirror in her dorm, wearing the light blue JK uniform. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she flashed a peace sign at the camera.

The skirt did fit well, accentuating her slender waist and long legs.

Yu Heng stared at the photo for two seconds and replied: "It's good, this is the one. Remember to bring a pair of white over-the-knee socks; the contrast before and after the transformation will be better."

Ning Yutong replied instantly: "Okay! Then I'll wear this on the weekend!"

Yu Heng thought for a moment and typed: "Saturday morning. Come over first, we'll test the lighting."

He put away his phone just as he reached the dorm door.

Pushing the door open, the smell of instant noodles hit him in the face.

Hao Junran was holding a stainless steel bowl, slurping noodles. "Yo, Brother Heng is back? Have you eaten?"

"I've eaten." Yu Heng draped his jacket over the back of his chair. "Your food standards are quite stable; you're picking on Master Kong every day."

"It's to save money!" Hao Junran chuckled. "By the way, the Counselor just posted a notice in the group. Our department is organizing a freshman basketball tournament and asked if anyone in our class wants to sign up."

A basketball tournament?

There really was such a thing.

When he first entered university, he had so much energy he didn't know what to do with it. Whenever he saw an activity like this, he would charge in like he'd been injected with chicken blood.

Not only did he sign up, but he also got lucky.

They actually made it all the way to the finals and ended up as the department's runners-up.

Yu Heng remembered clearly that He Mengyao came to watch on the day of the finals.

Although that day, she was there to cheer for the people from her own department.

To the point that Yu Heng once mentioned his department didn't win the championship because she was cheering for the other side.

Then that night, while he was 'exercising,' he made her shout 'cheer up' for him.

"What are you thinking about?" Hao Junran tapped his chopsticks on the rim of the bowl. "Are you signing up? The Counselor wants a response by tomorrow."

"Sign me up, why not." Yu Heng straightened up. "In my last life... no, I mean, I played pretty well in high school. I should be fine just to make up the numbers."

"Alright!" Hao Junran got excited. "Then I'll sign up too! My skills are average, but I've got the weight for it. I'll definitely be useful for grabbing rebounds!"

Hao Junran was indeed sturdy. He wasn't fat, but he was nearly 1.9 meters tall and weighed close to 180 pounds.

Hou Xudong poked his head out. "Are you grabbing rebounds? You're just using your weight to crush people, aren't you?"

"What do you know!" Hao Junran was indignant. "Basketball is a contact sport!"

Yu Heng laughed. "That's true. When you stand under the basket, you're like a wall."

He calculated in his head; if he played again this time, maybe he could win the championship?

"Then tell the Counselor yourself," Hao Junran said, scrolling through his phone. "I won't tell her for you."

"Fine." Yu Heng climbed onto his bunk and took out his phone.

Leaning against the wall, he opened WeChat and found Qin Lu's chat window.

He typed: "Counselor, sign me up for the basketball tournament."

After sending the message, he casually clicked on Qin Lu's Moments.

Her Moments were very clean. The most recent post was from half a month ago, a shared article from the school's official account.

The title was something like 'Innovative Paths for Aesthetic Education in the New Era.'

Typical university Counselor style.

Just as he was thinking, his phone vibrated.

Qin Lu replied quite quickly: "Okay, I'll sign you up."

Yu Heng was about to reply with a "Thanks, Counselor" when another message popped up in the chat box: "Qin Ya came back very happy today. Thank you for today."

He stared at this line of text for two seconds.

Qin Lu's tone seemed a bit softer than usual?

It wasn't that kind of business-like politeness.

He typed back: "Qin Ya is very sensible; she just needs someone to play with her. If she wants to come for the livestream on weekends in the future, just send her over anytime. I'm free anyway."

Qin Lu's side showed [Typing...] for quite a while. Finally, she only replied with two words: "Much obliged."

Yu Heng looked at the reply and narrowed his eyes. It didn't seem like they had gotten much closer.

Whatever, watch some shows and go to sleep!

As for Korean dramas, Yu Heng didn't watch them at first.

But unfortunately, current domestic TV dramas were too trashy. The scripts were bad, and the acting was even worse—he even felt he could do better himself.

In contrast, the scripts and acting abilities in Korean dramas were quite solid.

They were pretty good for passing the time.

At first, hearing Korean was a bit awkward, but after listening for a while, it actually sounded quite nice.

The next morning, Yu Heng was woken up by Hao Junran's alarm.

This grandson's phone was an iPhone, and he had set the alarm to the most primitive electronic 'beep-beep' sound. He had even set six of them, going off every five minutes.

Anyone who's heard it knows that sound is like a freaking death knell.

"Fuck..." Yu Heng poked his head out from his bunk. "Can you turn that piece of junk off?"

"Coming, coming..." Hao Junran reached out a hand from under the covers, fumbled around the pillow for a long time, found the phone, and turned off the alarm.

The dorm was finally quiet.

Yu Heng checked his phone: 7:20.

He resignedly climbed down from the bed and put on his slippers to go wash up.

The washroom was chilly, and the tap water was so cold it made him shiver. "Damn, can't this school turn on the heating earlier... I have an 8 AM class!"

A guy he didn't know was standing at the next sink, meticulously styling his hair with wax in front of the mirror.

Yu Heng glanced over and clicked his tongue inwardly.

Going to an 8 AM class was almost like going on a blind date.

After washing up and returning to the dorm, Hao Junran was still slumped on the bed, but Hou Xudong had already sat up and was squinting while putting on socks.

"Rat! Get up," Yu Heng kicked Hao Junran's bed frame. "If you don't get up now, you won't even make it for breakfast."

"Five minutes... just five more minutes..." Hao Junran's voice came muffled from under the covers.

Yu Heng couldn't be bothered to urge him further. "Then I'm leaving first."

"Wait for me!" Hao Junran sat up abruptly. "I'm coming right now!"

"Aren't you going to wash up?"

"I'm skipping it, let's go, let's go!"