Chapter 88: Roommates

After Jiang Mosheng and Qiao Mulan left, there was only Yu Jinli in the dormitory since his two roommates hadn’t returned. He wondered what they were like. Having attended classes with Class F yesterday afternoon, yet getting to know no one, he didn’t know who were his roommates. As he was lost in thought, the door to the dormitory was opened. Yu Jinli, who was in his own bedroom knew his roommates were back because of the laughing and joking. He hurriedly opened the door to his bedroom to greet his roommates. As the bedroom door was pulled open abruptly, the laughter stopped. Yu Jinli and his two roommates looked at each other across the room. There were a few seconds of silence, as if time had stopped. “Who are you? Why are you here?” Finding a stranger in his dormitory, Liu Xingye asked with his guard up. This boy looks familiar. Liu Xingye watched Yu Jinli. He tried to search his mind for anything related to him but failed. “I... I’m Yu Jinli. The teacher told me to move in.” A bit uneasy under Liu Xingye’s gaze, Yu Jinli explained in a small voice. Yu Jinli? Yu Jinli! Isn’t that the name of the new student? So, this is the new guy. Liu Xingye finally knew why he thought him familiar. “So, you are the new guy. Ah Su, we finally have the third roommate. Now we are complete,” said Liu Xingye excitedly. There used to be twenty students in Class F. Their dormitory was the only one with two residents. Even if they wanted to play card games, they were one person short. Now, with a newcomer, their dorm was finally complete which meant they could play card games together. Liu Xingye welcomed him enthusiastically and made an introduction: “I’m Liu Xingye, you can call me Ah Ye. That guy who doesn’t talk much is Liu Yuansu. You can call him Ah Su. Well, can I call you little chestnut? You have an interesting name.” Yu Jinli didn’t object. He was used to be called little chestnut for his family also preferred to call him that, so he nodded at Liu Xingye. “Little chestnut, why do you join us so late? School has started for two months.” Liu Xingye was a natural socializer. In a few minutes’ time, he got along with Yu Jinli as if a friend he had known for a long time. Yu Jinli was happy to have made his first friend here. “Ah? I don’t know. My mom asked me if I wanted to go to school, I said yes, and she sent me here,” answered Yu Jinli honestly. A bit perturbed, he then asked: “I never went to school before so I don’t know when school starts. Isn’t this a right time?” Liu Xingye was a bit surprised to hear that. It didn’t occur to him that Yu Jinli never went to school before, which made him extremely jealous. He didn’t like to study since childhood. Nor did he enjoy school. It was like a prison to him. However, his family wouldn’t allow him to skip school. If he did, he would get a beating from his dad. Therefore, he had no alternative but to attend school obediently. Hearing that Yu Jinli didn’t have to go to school before, he did envy him. “Of course, it is. You are here already, aren’t you?” said Liu Xingye smilingly. For students whose families had recommendations, they could always attend school as long as their inner focus grade was qualified for the academy had already given up on them and didn’t expect them to become Card Forgers. They simply needed to get through college, stay out of trouble, and get a diploma. “Right.” Yu Jinli finally thought it through with a silly smile on his face. Liu Xingye had a good impression of Yu Jinli, his new classmate as well as roommate, who had a good look, which was a pleasure to the eye. “Have you had lunch yet? Let’s go to the canteen together.” Liu Xingye made an invitation. That reminded Yu Jinli of an empty stomach. He had an early breakfast. Now that it was noon, it was time for lunch. Unaware of what Jiang Mosheng was doing, Yu Jinli thought he might not be able to have lunch with him since he said they would meet in the afternoon. He sent Jiang Mosheng a message, telling him that he went to lunch with his roommates. Jiang Mosheng got the message when he was on his way to the dormitory building of Card Forger School. After reading it, he stopped and replied at once. Jiang Mosheng: All right. See you in the afternoon. Then he turned around and headed to another direction. Jiang Mosheng didn’t dislike having lunch with Yu Jinli’s roommates. He was afraid he would spoil it for them when they saw him. Although he was jealous of them for sharing a dorm with the little one, he wished that the little one could have a good time at school and get along with his classmates as well as roommates like every other student. For now, Yu Jinli didn’t know the care and thought Jiang Mosheng expended on him yet, but he was happy to receive Jiang Mosheng’s reply. “Is the food at the canteen good?” asked Yu Jinli as he switched off his smart watch. “We have the best chef here with all kinds of food. You are going to love it,” said Liu Xingye smilingly. “Really? Let’s go.” The thought of good food filled Yu Jinli with expectation. “Ah Su, we are going to the canteen. Are you joining us?” Liu Xingye asked Liu Yuansu. “Yes.” Liu Yuansu nodded slightly, not very enthusiastic. However, Yu Jinli liked him. Ah Sheng didn’t talk much either but he was a kind person. Though his roommates didn’t have virtue golden glow around them, they had a thin layer of red mist instead, which meant they were blessed. Those who were blessed were usually good people. However, there was a trace of blackness among the red mist around Liu Yuansu. Yu Jinli wanted to make sure but couldn’t find it the second time he looked at Liu Yuansu. He might have been wrong. Usually, dark mist meant a person with bad character or conduct. It could also mean a bad omen. With a slight frown, Yu Jinli was a bit worried. He wanted to warn Liu Yuansu about it but didn’t want to offend him since he had just met him. For now, he had no idea what to do. “Little chestnut, why do you seem troubled all of a sudden?” asked Liu Xingye, confused. “It’s nothing.” Yu Jinli gave him a faint smile and said. Well, let him watch Liu Yuansu for a while first. Perhaps there wasn’t any dark mist at all and he had simply made a mistake. Putting Liu Yuansu and the dark mist behind him, Yu Jinli was happy again. He wondered what food the canteen offered and wished he was there now so that he could see for himself. On the way to the canteen, Liu Xingye told him all about the food. Yu Jinli listened carefully with great interest, which gave Liu Xingye the impression that he had found a person who shared his love for food so he talked more enthusiastically. Before, when Liu Xingye wanted to talk about food, no one was interested. Now he finally found such a person, which nearly brought him to tears. “Canteen A owns the most variety of food in our academy with a five-star chef. It is said that chef comes from families of chefs. He is here once a week. You are lucky for he is here today.” The thought of delicious cuisine made Liu Xingye’s mouth water. If he hadn’t left his student card in the dorm, he would have gone to the canteen already. Every time the chef was here, the canteen would be crowded with people. One minute late might cost one a delicious meal. “Hurry up. Otherwise, we might not be able to find a spot. Perhaps no food will be left for us either.” The thought of the delicious meal he had last time made Liu Xingye so excited that he wanted to drag Yu Jinli and Liu Yuansu in a run as fast as he could. As expected, when they arrived at the canteen, it was packed with students and noisy. Canteen A was very large. Once inside the door, one was directly opposite to a number of stalls, each offering a unique cuisine. Students could go to the corresponding stall to get the food they liked. Usually, the lines in front of each stall were similar. However, today, it was a different scene. The lines on the left part of the canteen had wound several times with students keep joining behind to add to its length while the line on the right was very short with few students, which seemed abandoned. “There are so many people here today. I don’t think we can eat the chef’s cooking.” Liu Xingye’s face dropped at the endless line in front of him. He knew he shouldn’t have gone back for his student card. Otherwise, he might have already had the chef’s cooking. With this endless line, there might be no food left when it was his turn. More optimistic than Liu Xingye, Yu Jinli was as curious about the stalls on the right as he was about the ones on the left. He first walked to the stalls on the right to see if there was anything he liked. However, it turned out all the food there was boiled, which wasn’t even as good as what Zheng Peiqi, Jiang Family’s chef could cook. Having seen all the stalls on the left, he was completely disappointed. Yet the large number of students lining up in front of the stalls on the left with excitement gave him hope. Therefore, taking advantage of his tiny body, he moved forward quickly without bumping into anyone. Soon, the stalls appeared right in front of him. His mood was lifted by the food which looked way nicer than those on the right. It turned out there were indeed people who knew how to cook in this world. Though the food didn’t look as good as his own work, he wanted to have a try. Meanwhile, at Liu Xingye’s side. “Yo, losers from Class F. Why are you here? Has Canteen C closed down?” A malicious voice went up from nearby. Liu Xingye knew who it was at once. Immediately, he turned angrily to the source of the voice with furious eyes. “We have Chef Gu Yuan today. That’s why he has come to take advantage of us,” spoke another person with sarcasm. Having glanced at the lengthy line, he continued to scoff, “But now, I’m afraid you don’t have a chance today... Well, well, well... Poor thing.” When that person spoke with scorn as he looked at Liu Xingye and Liu Yuansu arrogantly, Yu Jinli was back with two large trays of food. “Ah Ye, Ah Su, come and give me a hand. I can’t hold them anymore.” Yu Jinli said in a hurry as he spotted two familiar figures. With sore hands, he might drop all the food on the floor if no one came to help. When Liu Xingye heard that, he ran over quickly and took the food trays over. Looking at the plates of exquisite dishes, he was stunned. “This is..."