Chapter 308: Chapter 279: Dropping In

Not wanting to banter with Lu Tianjiao any longer, Li Qian went to the balcony and glanced across. The dorm room opposite was nearly tidy, and its shattered glass door had been reinstalled.

"Don’t worry, I’ll move back tomorrow," Lu Tianjiao said, his voice tinged with melancholy, knowing what Li Qian was thinking. "It’s just that they finished cleaning today. The whole place was redone, so the smell is pretty strong."

The sound of his voice made Li Qian shudder. It wasn’t that he didn’t want him to stay, but it was genuinely rather inconvenient.

What if Fatty An and Li Lanying got the urge to drop by one day? Wouldn’t it be awkward if they saw Lu Tianjiao?

That was what Li Qian was thinking, but he soon discovered his worries were entirely unnecessary. Because at that very moment, there was a sudden knock on his dorm room door.

He was about to turn his head and warn Lu Tianjiao, but was shocked to see that Lu Tianjiao had already darted to the balcony. With a single leap, he vaulted onto the balcony of the dorm next door—his own room.

’That guy is ridiculously fast. Nimble as a monkey. One moment you’re not looking, and he’s gone.’

Shaking his head, Li Qian didn’t give it much more thought. He walked straight over and opened the door. After all, this was a school dormitory; he didn’t really need to worry about security.

’As for last night’s situation, that was an extreme, isolated case. Besides, I seriously suspect everything is under the school’s control. The fact that help didn’t arrive immediately was probably intentional. The reason? Either to test us or to bait someone out. I think the latter is more likely.’

’Otherwise, in a school this huge and filled with powerful individuals, they never would have let two small fries like us struggle for so long.’

’In the end, the one who took action was another first-year. The more I think about it, the more I feel like the whole thing is just plain weird.’

CREAK!

The door opened, revealing a familiar yet unexpected figure. It was none other than his old classmate, Li Lanying.

"It’s pretty late. What made you decide to come by for a visit?" Li Qian made a welcoming gesture and ushered Li Lanying into his room.

Li Lanying entered Li Qian’s room and looked all around, nodding with a hint of envy. "As expected of Xianya Garden. The conditions are much better than our communal dorms."

"It’s alright, I guess. Seems pretty standard to me. If you were willing to spend more, you could probably get a better room," Li Qian replied casually. To him, it was just a one-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, and not a particularly luxurious one at that. ’If you ignore the special status of Xianya Garden, it’s nothing to write home about.’

Hearing this, Li Lanying shook her head with a helpless look. "You actually can’t. Here at Shazhou Beast Taming University, as far as student dorms go, your Xianya Garden is honestly the best there is."

"The best among the other dorms is a two-person room, and it’s not even apartment-style. No amount of money can get you anything better."

A look of slight shock crossed Li Qian’s face, but understanding dawned on him quickly. ’This is a Beast Taming University, after all, and one of the Eight Great ones at that. It’s not some diploma mill. Money really doesn’t mean much here.’

"Well, you should work hard then. Try your best to get into Xianya Garden one day," Li Qian said with an encouraging smile after his realization. At this point, he couldn’t think of anything else to say besides such pleasantries.

"By the way, didn’t you eat at the cafeteria tonight?" Li Lanying asked, her curiosity piqued after noticing a take-out box on the coffee table during her brief tour of the room.

Li Qian nodded, taking the fall for Lu Tianjiao. "I still had some tidying up to do here," he admitted with a "helpless" sigh, "so I just brought takeout back to eat."

Following the principle of "the less trouble, the better," he didn’t want to over-explain things, so he opted for a little white lie.

Besides, having one grown man shacked up with another in his dorm room... if word of that got out, it would be bad for his reputation.

"So, um, was there a particular reason you came over tonight?" Li Qian asked after a bit of small talk, cutting to the chase.

Hearing this, Li Lanying smiled. "Nothing important. I just wanted to drop by and learn the way, so I know where to find you if I need you in the future."

Li Qian’s lips twitched. ’You must have a lot of free time. Wasn’t the daytime military training exhausting enough for you? And you still made a special trip to wander over here at night.’

"Well, you should hurry and eat your dinner. It’ll upset your stomach if it gets cold. I’ll let you get to it," Li Lanying said, finding an excuse to leave after a few more pleasantries. Li Qian had no intention of stopping her; it wasn’t a good time for that anyway.

Li Lanying left. The moment the door clicked shut, Lu Tianjiao’s figure materialized on the balcony, appearing as if from nowhere.

He sidled over, his expression shifty and sly. "Alright, fess up," he said in a teasing, sleazy voice. "Who was that girl? An old flame?"

Li Qian shot him a look and retorted wearily, "An old flame? Not even. She’s just someone from my hometown, that’s all."

"We’re from the same town, and we used to be classmates. Stop your wild guessing," Li Qian added, feeling the need to clarify.

"I can tell, man. That girl is totally into you," Lu Tianjiao said, getting more worked up. "And while she might not be a total knockout, she’s not bad looking. The most important thing is her aura—it’s fantastic. A girl like that... let me tell you, put her in a uniform and it would be absolutely killer!"

"Get lost! Your mind is seriously in the gutter!" Li Qian shot back, though his tone was half-joking.

Inwardly, however, he couldn’t suppress the images of Li Lanying in various uniforms that started to surface in his mind. ’It would indeed be a bit... ahem...’

After the retort, something occurred to Li Qian. He asked, a little puzzled, "By the way, Xianya Garden is supposed to be where all the geniuses live. The security should be pretty tight, right? How did she get up here so easily?"

"She probably pulled some strings, I’d bet..." Lu Tianjiao mumbled, his words muffled by the food he was still eating.

His words only confused Li Qian more. "What kind of strings?"

The moment Li Qian finished speaking, Lu Tianjiao began his performance. Putting on a high-pitched, feminine voice, he said, "Hello, Mr. Guard, sir! I’m here to see my boyfriend. He lives in Building 3, Room 305. His name is Li Qian!"

"Faced with a situation like that, the guard is gonna let her pass nine times out of ten..."

Li Qian listened to Lu Tianjiao’s explanation and shook his head firmly. "Impossible. Li Lanying would never say that!"

But just as Li Qian made his resolute declaration, back at the entrance of Xianya Garden, the security guard watched Li Lanying walk out and teased, "Seen your boyfriend already?"

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