Chapter 1884 — Guarding Love

"Ha, I'm Bai Weituo—Brother Lin's humble follower!" The moment Wei Zhao finished shaking hands, Bai Weituo couldn't wait to thrust out his own.

He Meiyue frowned slightly, but shook it all the same. As for Zhao Shengji and Song Xiaodao, seeing that she showed no particular enthusiasm, they kept their hands to themselves.

It was the round-faced, doll-like girl beside He Meiyue who suddenly pointed at Zhao Shengji and shrieked: "Wow, I know you!"

"?" Zhao Shengji blinked, staring at the doll-faced girl in bafflement, racking his brains—he could not for the life of him recall ever having met her.

"Outside the school gate before—you bought ten steamed buns and finished them in five bites, two buns a bite! Amazing!" the doll-faced girl said. "You big dumpling, I was absolutely dumbstruck!"

"Uh..." Zhao Shengji broke into a sweat. "I'd just gotten off the bus, I was a little hungry, that's all..."

"Haha!" He Meiyue burst out laughing at the girl's account, and Wang Xinyan could not help but smile too.

"That's Zhao Shengji for you—look at that build of his, two buns a bite is hardly surprising, is it?" Bai Weituo introduced him with a grin.

"Hello, I'm Chai Xiaoling." The doll-faced girl covered her mouth and greeted Zhao Shengji.

"Xiaoling's the fourth in our dorm, Xinyan's the third, and this is the second, Lan Xiaoru—but she already has a boyfriend, so don't you boys go getting any ideas about her," He Meiyue said.

The four of them sat down on the other side of the table, and Wang Xinyan, whether by design or accident, was seated directly opposite Wei Zhao—which left both of them rather helpless.

In this age of gossip, the more one explains, the more one conceals.

Bai Weituo waved a waiter over to order, and after taking the menu, he handed it first to Wei Zhao—even now he had not forgotten that Wei Zhao was his grandfather's savior, and so made no effort to curry favor with He Meiyue.

Wei Zhao, for his part, casually passed it on to Wang Xinyan: "You order..."

But that casual gesture was one he would immediately regret, for out of the corner of his eye he caught two familiar figures walking in through the cafeteria doors!

They were Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu! His relationship with Wang Xinyan had already been misunderstood by them once, back on the commercial street—and now here he was, openly eating with her, and handing her the menu besides. This was going to get complicated...

Wei Zhao saw Gu Mengyao, and Gu Mengyao naturally saw Wei Zhao too. Her brows knitted slightly.

"Yao-yao, what's Arrow-brand Brother doing chasing girls?" Shen Yushu whispered.

"Who knows? He's forgotten all about Yun-yun, so of course he's off chasing someone else," Gu Mengyao said, visibly displeased at the sight of Wei Zhao's gesture.

"But he can't chase just anyone! Good water shouldn't flow into outsiders' fields—he ought to be chasing the two of us!" Shen Yushu said. "Or is it that we're too familiar, and he can't bring himself to poach his own?"

"..." Gu Mengyao was speechless.

"Yao-yao, Sister Yun-yun's gone, and she left Arrow-brand Brother in our care. We ought to shoulder that responsibility—guard Sister Yun-yun's love, and not let Arrow-brand Brother go out philandering! Even if he fights, he can only fight over us!" Shen Yushu urged in Gu Mengyao's ear.

"Our dorm sisters are here today. Forget it—we'll talk when we get back," Gu Mengyao said, glancing at the two sisters from their dorm not far off. It wouldn't do to go say something to Wei Zhao now and give people the wrong idea.

"Fine." Shen Yushu nodded. "Then let Arrow-brand Brother enjoy himself a little longer."

When Wei Zhao saw that Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu did not look his way again after their exchange, he knew they must be rather unhappy—and no wonder. He had invited Wang Xinyan but not them; anyone would be upset.

Still, inwardly Wei Zhao was groaning. If the young lady hadn't texted earlier to say they'd eat on their own, he'd probably have called them already!

Wei Zhao helplessly withdrew his gaze, but fortunately no one had noticed. All eyes were on He Meiyue and Chai Xiaoling; as for Lan Xiaoru, who already had a boyfriend—pretty and refined as she was, with the unmistakable air of a well-bred young lady—no one paid her any more attention. After all, Bai Weituo's purpose in arranging the dorm mixer was perfectly simple: to solve the singles problem.

"In our dorm, He Meiyue's the eldest. Who's the head of yours? From now on, let him be in charge of arranging the dorm mixers?" Chai Xiaoling asked.

"Ha, since he's the one handling contact, that'd be Wei Zhao. And it just so happens Bai Weituo calls him big brother—so let's make him our dorm head, shall we?" Zhao Shengji knew he had no head for leadership and no connections besides; since the dorm head's job was to liaise between dorms, he certainly wasn't up to it.

"Right, from now on our dorm's in Brother Lin's hands!" Song Xiaodao nodded.

And so Wei Zhao inexplicably became dorm head. Of course, it was no plum position—no salary, no perks, and on top of that he had to look out for everyone's welfare. At most, when it came time to clean the dorm, he could order the others about—but weighed against what it demanded, the benefit was pitiably slight.

Wei Zhao's mind had wandered for a moment, and it had earned him a dorm head's post. He was rather speechless, but did not object.

It was plain that Wang Xinyan and Wei Zhao were both the quiet sort—a well-matched pair at this table—while Bai Weituo and He Meiyue were both great talkers, tossing out jokes now and then that set everyone roaring with laughter.

Zhao Shengji and Song Xiaodao were not ones to sit idle either, but their efforts were directed at He Meiyue and Chai Xiaoling; as for Lan Xiaoru and Wang Xinyan, they had given up any designs.

Lan Xiaoru had about her an air of noble grace, as though she came from a great family of well-bred ladies. Her speech was proper and generous, putting one at ease, and yet inspiring a natural respect.

Such was the subtlety of social grace—neither too close nor too distant.

The meal passed with host and guests alike delighted, and Bai Weituo, Zhao Shengji, and Song Xiaodao grew familiar with He Meiyue, Chai Xiaoling, and the rest.

Everyone agreed to get together often from then on.

After lunch, each returned to their own dorm. It was plain that Bai Weituo seemed taken with He Meiyue—she was all he talked about, in one way or another—while Zhao Shengji and Song Xiaodao were less obvious, clearly still watching and waiting. Neither had yet found anyone who particularly sparked with them; they weren't about to lock in a target before school had even started.

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