Chapter 342: Chapter 230: The Campus Husband Chase Begins! A Familiar Scene

The days passed, one after another, bland and utterly devoid of surprise.

The trivialities of daily life read like a grade-schooler’s diary.

Go to class, get out of class, head home, eat, sleep. A teacher might criticize it for being a simple log of events, but people’s lives were indeed made up of these plain, unadorned parts. There really wasn’t much to tell.

Chen Yuan felt like he had truly returned to a completely normal university life. Jiangg, one of the twins, had brought endless turmoil into his life when he first started college, like the soaring crescendo of a symphony.

But now the chorus was over. The strings had faded, and life had returned to its normal rhythm. He had no choice but to get used to it.

For several days, he stuck to his schedule: exercising, playing games, eating three meals a day, and never staying up late.

He made sure to be sound asleep before midnight, a defense against the assault of bad moods.

And so it went, until the new semester began. The New Year was over, and school was starting once again. Students arrived from all corners of the country by every mode of transportation imaginable. Lamenting how short the break had been, they appeared on the campus’s tree-lined boulevards, lugging bags of all sizes.

The traffic on University Road stretched as far as the eye could see. Parents and students alike craned their necks out of car windows, trying to gauge the length of the jam.

The impatient ones gave up, grabbing their luggage from the trunk and deciding to walk. They weaved through the gridlock amidst an incessant blare of car horns.

The dorms, once so quiet you could hear a pin drop, were now as noisy as a marketplace. Walking down the hallway with a suitcase, a mere turn of the head revealed a hundred different scenes of student life.

Many had left their rooms thinking they were clean, only to return to a thick layer of dust. That was one of the better outcomes. Others were greeted by a foul stench upon entering, eventually discovering a forgotten apple in a corner, now completely rotten.

They could only pinch their noses and toss it in the trash.

Since Liu Nan and his friends had arrived on campus early, they were spared the traffic nightmare. Not that they got to relax. To move in early, they had to check in with their student advisor, and on the official first day, the advisor remembered them.

So he decided to assign them to welcome the female students from their class.

Being a first-rate scoundrel, Liu Nan informed Chen Yuan he had to come to campus and help welcome their classmates.

Chen Yuan was dumbfounded. He didn’t live in the dorms or have to check in, so how did the advisor know he was in Lanjing and available? Liu Nan explained that the advisor didn’t—he’d taken the liberty of ratting him out and volunteering him for the "opportunity."

And so the four dorm mates worked their asses off from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Their bodies ached with exhaustion.

Fortunately, the girls in their class were decent enough to treat them to dinner.

During dinner, they were surrounded by a flock of chattering girls who showered them with praise. It was a small comfort and compensation for the four buddies.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, or maybe they were genuinely happy. It had been a long time since things had been so lively.

The guys had a little to drink, Chen Yuan included. When dinner was over, he called a designated driver, and as soon as he got home, he collapsed onto his bed and fell fast asleep.

...

Three days into the new semester, life was completely back on track.

Chen Yuan paid close attention in his classes and actively found other things to keep himself busy outside of school.

He even signed up for the guitar club in his spare time, planning to learn the instrument.

On Tuesday afternoon, he went to a club meeting and had a great time. He hadn’t brought a guitar, but an upperclassman generously lent him hers. She even personally showed him how to play, how to read music, and all the basics.

This, of course, earned him the envy and jealousy of everyone else there.

But that couldn’t be helped. That was just how things were at school. People who didn’t know each other formed first impressions based on looks and clothes. Chen Yuan was undeniably handsome; it was only natural that the upperclassman would give him special treatment.

He had only wallowed in despair for two days right after the breakup.

After that, Chen Yuan’s "keep busy" therapy had been remarkably effective. His life wasn’t a mess. Just as he’d resolved, he seemed to be truly welcoming each new day and gradually emerging from the shadow of his heartbreak.

And so it went, right up until the fourth day of the semester.

...

"I have an 8 AM class!"

"I told you you had a full day of classes today. Told you not to stay up so late gaming. Serves you right for looking like death warmed over."

"I didn’t mean to play that late! Who knew the match would go into overtime again and again?"

"Then you shouldn’t have started that last match."

After speaking, Quan Yafeng suddenly broke into a run without warning. He treated the wide path like a runway, making repeated, forceful leaps into the air.

But no matter how hard he tried, he was always just shy of reaching a particular leaf.

It was spring, and the plane trees lining the boulevard had sprouted new leaves. They were a lush, vibrant green, and in the sunlight, they were as thin as a cicada’s wing, their veins clearly visible.

Early in the morning, students hurried along the path to their classrooms, their feet stepping on the patches of dappled sunlight.

"Hey, isn’t that Yuan up ahead?"

"It really is our number three."

"Hey—"

Liu Nan shouted from a dozen meters away. Chen Yuan, who had been playing a match-3 game on his phone as he walked, heard him and turned. Seeing his three friends, he waved back.

"Half a semester’s gone by and you still can’t reach that leaf. Boss, did you stop growing or something?"

"Are you kidding me? I grew! Don’t plane trees grow, too? It’s obviously growing faster than I am."

"You know, that actually makes sense."

The familiar roommates fell in together, playfully shoving one another as they walked to class, laughing and talking the whole way.

The first class of the morning was Group Theory in Physics. It was a required course for their major, and its difficulty was more than enough to jolt anyone awake. The lecturer was a highly experienced, elderly professor who spoke at a breakneck pace. If you lost focus for even a second, you’d fall behind. Even the time it took to pick up a dropped pen was enough to leave you staring blankly at the board, completely lost.

The students all sat ramrod straight, but there was no shortage of non-stop yawning in the crowd. Liu Nan was a prime example.

The second class was a fundamental math course, and it wasn’t any easier. Chen Yuan filled page after page of his notebook with notes.

During the short break between classes, it was clear Liu Nan hadn’t gotten enough sleep. He went from drowsy to giving up entirely—he just flopped onto his desk and fell asleep.

Quan Yafeng had to slap him awake when the class ended.

Liu Nan, bleary-eyed, stretched and looked out the window. The sunlight was particularly intense; it was almost noon.

"Let’s go. Time for the general ed class in the main lecture hall. You can sleep all you want once we get there."

During the long break, the four of them ran to buy drinks and started chugging them down.

The second the ice-cold soda from the cans hit their lips, they were instantly back at full health.

"So damn refreshing."

"Let’s hurry and grab some seats. I don’t want us to be scattered all over the place, and I definitely don’t want to end up next to some sweaty, chubby kid playing Genshin Impact."

"No need. Senior Sister Tingyue said she’d save seats for us. She went ahead early."

"Who?"

"Liu Tingyue! Our senior sister," Quan Yafeng said, looking at Chen Yuan. "She messaged me right after her class ended to ask if we needed help saving seats."

As he spoke, an image formed in Chen Yuan’s mind: the senior sister who was quite pretty, but also a bit of a schemer.

"If you hadn’t said anything... I would’ve forgotten she even existed."

Chen Yuan suddenly felt a sense of detachment.

It had been a while since he’d had a combined lecture in that hall. He had truly settled back into the rhythm of university life, and yet... his story with Jiangg had begun in this very same lecture hall they were heading to now.

He hadn’t heard from Senior Sister Liu in a long time. He barely even saw her on his social media feed anymore—’or maybe she blocked me,’ he thought. ’After all, she loves posting.’ 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Everything felt like it was only yesterday.

And yet, so much had changed.

When they reached the lecture hall, it was already packed to the brim, a sea of bobbing heads.

"Senior Sister."

"Hi, Senior Sister."

The four guys greeted Liu Tingyue, who was sitting in her seat playing on her phone.

"You guys finally made it. The bell’s about to ring. Hurry up and sit," Senior Sister Liu said, looking up.

He had to admit, her makeup today was quite simple and clean. It gave her the demure look of a girl-next-door, making one want to take a second glance.

"Thanks for saving us seats, Senior Sister," Liu Nan said with a cheeky grin.

"It was no trouble at all," Liu Tingyue said, moving out of the aisle seat. She tilted her head slightly to look past the others, her gaze locking onto Chen Yuan. "Junior, you should sit here. It’s by the window, so it’s not as stuffy."

"Okay."

At his response, Liu Tingyue beamed, smiling as if she’d just received the highest praise.

After he walked past.

Liu Nan furtively nudged Quan Yafeng’s arm and sighed, "Women, am I right?"

"What’s your brilliant insight this time?"

"Nothing. Just lamenting the unfairness of it all."

"Oh, get lost. You’re mooching off his good looks and you’re still complaining? Why don’t you go sit in the back row by yourself?"

"Hehe, make me."

Chen Yuan didn’t hear their whispering. He was in a strange state, staring blankly toward the podium, his expression unreadable.

This class was Principles of Marxist Political Economy. The professor hadn’t arrived yet; everyone knew he’d probably show up two minutes after the bell. It was his habit. After all, not every teacher was like Jiangg Ning, who always walked in right on the bell.

’Like a graceful fawn dancing on musical notes,’ he thought. ’Both of them have such perfectly sculpted calves.’

Now that they were in a less important general education course, Liu Nan was suddenly wide awake.

"Hey, aren’t you guys curious?"

"Curious about what?"

"About how exactly Yuan broke up with his twin teacher, Jiangg."

"Not really. If you want to know so bad, why don’t you ask him?"

"I’m not an idiot. That’s a surefire way to get an earful."

"So you do have some sense," Wei Zhen said, scratching his head. "It’s complicated. Just wait for him to talk about it himself someday."

"Hah! So you two know the inside story. I can tell."

"We don’t."

Just then, Chen Yuan snapped out of his daze and looked at his three friends in confusion.

"What are you guys whispering about?"

"Nothing."

"Zhen, why aren’t you sitting in the seat next to me? You’re all squeezed in on the right. There’s an empty spot right here... unless the chair’s broken."

"It’s not broken." Wei Zhen gave Chen Yuan a strange, strained grin. "You’ll see in a minute."

「Just then.」

A sudden commotion erupted at the front of the classroom. Many students craned their necks to see, and some even stood up.

A young woman dressed all in white walked into the classroom, looking slightly nervous.

As every eye in the lecture hall focused on her, she grew a little flustered, despite her past experience as a teacher.

"You can come in..."

The stunningly graceful woman lowered her voice and gave two quick waves of her hand.

Then, as if by magic.

Another young woman in a white dress stepped into the lecture hall, her head lowered.

They had identical faces and wore similar clothes. It was impossible to tell them apart as they stood together at the front of the room.

The sight was utterly surreal.