Chapter 8: Surprise — I’m Your Roommate, After All

When they arrived at the school gate, banners and signs welcoming the new students were everywhere. Along the tree-lined path leading from the gate to the main teaching building, numerous clubs had set up tents and roll-up banners, actively recruiting new members.

Xia Chiyi led Zhou Zhexiao forward. Zhou was so quiet that Xia had to glance back every few steps to make sure he was still there. They passed by the Go club, Chess club, Film Studies club, Photography club. Xia recalled his roommate Xiaopang saying that joining the right club could vastly improve one’s chances of finding a partner.

The official school teams, like basketball or badminton, required special registration. For example, if the basketball team made it to the regional competitions, the school would register participants in the "Chinese Student Sports Information Service System," so those recruiting offices wouldn’t appear here.

The largest booth belonged to the Anime club.

Though not an avid fan himself, Xia couldn’t help but stop when he saw a cosplayer with exquisite makeup.

“Wow...” Xia’s eyes fixed on a figure dressed as an elven queen. He grabbed Zhou’s arm excitedly. “So beautiful! This is the first time I’ve seen such a gorgeous elf! That cosplayer must be famous! I want to take a photo with her!”

“Oh,” Zhou replied lightly, his eyelids drooping, showing little interest.

“You’re such a blockhead!” Xia thought. Observing the elf’s alluring yet unpretentious gaze, her graceful posture, elegant neck, and slender but strong arms, Xia’s fondness for the Anime club soared.

“Hey, can I take a picture with you?” Xia asked, locking eyes with the elven queen, who blinked briefly, then smiled.

“Sure, but there’s a condition,” she said in a lazy, husky voice that reminded Xia of Cate Blanchett’s regal tone, with a hint of seduction in her eyes—just perfect.

She tugged lightly at Xia’s collar, perfectly embodying the queen’s game character aura.

Two other cute girls wearing cat ears approached, holding registration forms.

“Wow, you’re really handsome! Your eyes are so natural and beautiful!”

“And your figure is amazing! You’re a perfect coser!”

“Ah... thank you...” Xia wasn’t new to compliments, but being fawned over by two cat-eared girls made him take a step back.

The elf queen walked over, smiling. “Want to take the photo?”

At that moment, Xia noticed the elf was wearing flat shoes but was quite tall—definitely over 180 centimeters.

Are girls nowadays really that tall?

“Um...” Xia nodded, feeling the elf looked vaguely familiar, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember where he’d seen her.

“If you can pick me up and do ten squats, I’ll take the picture with you,” the elf queen whispered mischievously in Xia’s ear. “Or are you not up for it?”

The crowd of boys began to cheer.

“If you’re a man, you can’t admit defeat!”

“Pick her up!”

“Ten squats? That’s tough on the waist! Surrender? Click the top right!”

Xia scratched the back of his head, a bit unsure what was going on.

The elf sighed. “Everyone says I’m heavy—over ninety pounds is a crime for an elf queen—but no one’s managed to lift me yet. Looks like I’ll have to go back to eating grass.”

“No, you don’t need to lose weight; you’re healthy as you are! I’ll lift you!”

Unexpectedly, Zhou tugged Xia’s shoulder gently, frowning as if wanting to say something.

“Don’t worry, it’s only ten squats. I can do it!” Xia said confidently, patting Zhou’s hand.

“He’s heavy,” Zhou said.

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“Heavy but I can still do it,” Xia replied, clapping his hands and saying, “Let’s go!”

The elf queen hooked one arm around Xia’s shoulder. When Xia lifted her, his waist buckled forward, and he nearly twisted it.

Huh? So heavy! Xia felt a vague sense of being tricked.

“Can you do it?” the elf queen asked near his ear.

Under all those watchful eyes, even if he couldn’t, he had to try!

Xia gritted his teeth, tensed every muscle, and smoothly completed three squats. Each subsequent one tested his full strength.

After the tenth, he set the elf queen down and exhaled deeply.

Applause erupted around him, with voices praising his strength.

“Not bad! Even if you don’t play basketball, you could be a weightlifter,” the elf teased, tugging his ear.

“Huh?”

She knew he played basketball? Had she watched his high school games?

“Come take the photo.”

The elf queen adjusted her hair accessories and beckoned Xia closer.

The price for this photo was so high, he felt compelled to frame it.

Xia returned to Zhou’s side and whispered, “You really have a sharp eye, knowing she was heavy... almost killed me...”

“Because he’s a guy.”

With that, Zhou pulled his suitcase and kept walking.

Xia froze, struck by a thunderclap, feeling completely scorched inside and out.

Damn it! Over one eighty tall... toned arms... Adam’s apple...

The “Cate Blanchett queen voice” was clearly a man’s voice!

Why... why am I so easily fooled?

Xia, have you lost your eyesight? How could you not see he was a guy?

The girls around the Anime club were chatting with the elf queen, who lowered her head, smiling enchantingly.

“That guy you bullied earlier was a freshman too, right? Really handsome, with eyes like little peach blossoms. I want to do his makeup.”

“And such long legs! Did you see his calves? I’ve never seen a guy with such beautiful ankles. If he cosplayed as an assassin wearing boots, he’d slay everyone!”

“Ahhh, even if he can’t join the club, he should drop by sometimes! So handsome...”

The elf queen tapped their heads like a groundhog. “You beauty fans, tone it down. That guy is really innocent—don’t scare him.”

She glanced at Xia, who was blushing tomato-red at the nape of his neck, walking stiffly.

After finally finishing the tree-lined path, Xia took a deep breath and turned to Zhou.

“Hey, you have to keep this secret.”

“Hm?” Zhou lifted his eyelids like a goldfish with a seven-second memory, already forgetting what had just happened.

“I mean... the part where I lifted that elf queen and did squats.”

“Why keep it secret?”

“He’s a guy. Don’t you see he deliberately tricked me?” Xia was tearfully helpless.

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Zhou looked at Xia, analyzing what exactly the elf queen had tricked him into.

“You exchanged ten squats for a photo with him. Isn’t that a fair trade?”

Xia took a deep breath. “That’s like being catfished online. I’d rather the other side be a sixty-year-old woman than a man!”

Zhou gave a knowing “oh.” “Since you’re already deceived, why fuss whether it’s a sixty-year-old woman or a man?”

Xia pouted, his little heart wounded a million times. “I don’t want to talk to someone who doesn’t understand what it’s like to be catfished.”

“Shouldn’t you be happy then?”

“Happy about what?”

“That besides me, you probably won’t find a third person on campus who can lift eighty kilograms and do ten squats.”

Xia stopped and turned to Zhou. Hearing that, he felt somewhat comforted.

“Ah, that’s true.” Xia smiled broadly. “Ningchang University doesn’t have a weightlifting team.”

They walked on as Xia introduced the library, the cafeteria, and the teaching buildings, eventually arriving at the dormitory.

At the dorm door, Xia opened it and pushed Zhou’s luggage inside.

“See, the space is well-utilized: bed on top, living space below, with a desk and wardrobe. Ah... I forgot to buy you a little desk lamp.”

Zhou just walked forward and bumped his forehead on the upper bunk with a “thud,” startling Xia.

“Let me see!”

Xia hurried over and lifted Zhou’s fringe, unexpectedly meeting his eyes. Xia’s heart fluttered gently as if touched by a kitten’s paw.

Zhou’s beauty had lasted since childhood.

“I bumped mine too when I first came here. Does it still hurt?”

Zhou stayed silent, a tear glistening at the corner of his eye, clearly dazed.

Xia cupped his hand over Zhou’s hurt forehead.

Zhou closed his eyes, suddenly realizing someone was comforting him.

In the past, no matter how severe the injury during a game—ankle, ligament, shoulder—there was always a doctor on the sidelines, a coach’s worried gaze. Everyone cared if he could keep playing. But now, only Xia asked if he was hurt.

He used to think he didn’t need such sentimental, pointless concern. But when Xia held him like this, he realized how much he wanted it.

Simply to be cared for.

A few seconds later, Zhou placed his hand atop Xia’s hand and murmured, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Want to climb up and try the bed? If it’s too short, we can talk to the school.”

Zhou climbed the ladder and lay on the bare mattress, obedient as a lamb, doing whatever Xia suggested. “The length is okay.”

“Yeah, about two point two meters long. With a pillow, it’s just right. If you grow taller, it’ll get cramped.” Xia glanced behind and saw the bed opposite, next to Xiaopang’s, already made with blankets and a computer on the desk. The fourth roommate had arrived.

Xia sent a WeChat message to Xiaopang: [Pang, our dorm is all set. Can we have a dinner party tonight?]

Xiaopang replied: [Yeah, the new guy has tons of fans! Apparently, he’s an internet celebrity!]

Internet celebrity? How famous?

Suddenly, Xia remembered something. He quickly climbed to his own bed and covered Sheng Xingming’s poster with a pillow.

Remember, Zhou had been fantasizing about being Sheng Xingming just last month. What if seeing the poster triggered him again?