Chapter 120: A New Arrival

“Senior Brother, you really need to be more careful.” Feeling helpless, Chen Xin patted her senior brother’s shoulder before following her senior sister to register.

“This afternoon, you two are free to explore and get familiar with the surroundings. Also, here’s a meal card; I borrowed it from a classmate. There’s no money on it, so you’ll have to top it up yourselves.” Senior Sister Wei was busy—she was the team leader and had heavier responsibilities than the others. She was the only one who could drive, so she came to pick them up. “I have some work to do this afternoon. If you’re free tonight, come to the library. We’re having a summary meeting, and it would be good for you to sit in and get a feel for things.”

After giving her instructions, Senior Sister Wei hurried off.

“Well then, Senior Brother, I’ll head upstairs first. We can do our own thing this afternoon.”

After greeting Lu Qing, Chen Xin carried her luggage up to the third floor and found the dormitory according to the senior sister’s instructions.

This dormitory building was an old student dorm converted into one large shared room. Two wardrobes were placed against the wall, along with a bunk bed made of iron frames, and opposite were two desks.

The room was fairly spacious. During renovation, a washroom had been partitioned out inside, where showers could be taken. However, the toilets were still located at the far end of the floor.

Above the window opposite the door, two steel hooks were fixed into the ceiling with wires strung between them specifically for hanging clothes to dry.

Senior Sister Wei had told her that the other occupant of this dorm was busy with a project under the supervision of their professor, rarely returning except for one day a week. Chen Xin was assigned the upper bunk and was advised not to touch the other person’s belongings.

Just as Chen Xin put down her things and went to fetch water from the washroom, intending to wipe down the bed frame, desk, and wardrobe, she heard the door lock turn. A short-haired female classmate entered. Seeing Chen Xin, the girl casually asked a couple of questions, then hurriedly packed her luggage with a flustered expression.

“I’m going with my advisor to the south for academic exchange. I probably won’t be back for over a week. Feel free to make yourself at home. You can use the books and stationery on the desk if you need them, and my library card is also there. If you want to go to the library, you can use my card, or if you prefer, get a temporary one yourself. I was supposed to show you around campus, but there’s no time now. Sorry about that. When I return, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Senior Sister Wei had mentioned this girl was a top draftswoman in the Architecture Department, a favored student of her advisor, and a brilliant scholar pursuing combined master’s and doctoral degrees. Chen Xin had initially planned to take her out for a meal to build rapport but hadn’t expected her to leave so soon after arriving. It seemed her luck wasn’t great.

After dinner, Chen Xin took a short nap. She hadn’t rested well on the bus, but waking from this nap, she felt rejuvenated.

“Oh no, it’s almost four o’clock.” Glancing at her watch, she rubbed her face, quickly showered, changed clothes, and planned to explore outside before dinner.

“Hey, junior sister, I was just about to find you.” Lu Qing, carrying two large bags, saw Chen Xin emerge from the female dormitory and hurried over. “I bought these snacks for you. Take them back to your roommate.”

Chen Xin frowned as she looked at the bulging bags in his hands. “No thanks, I don’t really eat snacks.”

“Don’t be polite, just take them.” Lu Qing ignored her refusal and stuffed the bags into her arms. “I have to go back and play games with my roommates and drink beer. See you tonight.”

Watching Lu Qing scamper off again, Chen Xin felt like facepalming.

She couldn’t carry such large bags of snacks around while strolling. Looking inside, the snacks were small breads and similar treats favored by girls. Chen Xin usually liked making her own desserts and rarely bought ready-made factory pastries, which never sparked her appetite.

She kept a couple of candy packs as a token gesture for her dorm neighbors and took the rest to the second-floor study room of the library—the place Senior Sister Wei had mentioned for the evening’s exchange meeting. It was quiet at this time, with only two girls busy inside.

“Hello, I’m here to study. My name is Chen Xin.” Upon entering, the two girls looked up at her, their eyes red-rimmed.

“Chen Xin? Oh, right, Senior Sister Wei mentioned you. Didn’t she say you wouldn’t come this afternoon?”

“Yes. Senior Brother Lu Qing bought some snacks for everyone but went back to the dorm. I brought them over.” Seeing the exhausted looks on the seniors’ faces, Chen Xin worried if they had enough energy to keep going. “Why don’t you take a rest?”

“No need. Qin Qing and I stayed up all night last night. We plan to sleep as soon as the exchange meeting ends. If we go back now, we probably won’t get up tonight.”

Chen Xin nodded and placed the snack bags on the table, noticing the clutter. “Should I stay and help?”

“No need. Most of this week’s tasks are done. The rest will be assigned by the senior sister tonight. No overtime tonight, but probably starting the day after tomorrow.”

That made sense—if they had to keep this up, they’d be risking sudden collapse.

Chen Xin hadn’t expected humanities projects to be so grueling. Though she hadn’t done graduate studies herself, she had heard that graduate students in other fields didn’t endure this level of strain.

Noticing Chen Xin’s worried expression was somewhat amusing, Qin Qing rifled through the snack bag to find some peppermint candies to revive their spirits, inviting Chen Xin to chat with them for a while.

“You’re scared, aren’t you? Don’t be. It’s really just an accident.”

Qin Qing explained that the extra workload was unexpected and this was her first time encountering such a situation in two years of graduate school.

“Don’t say you’ve been in graduate school for two years. Senior Sister Wei said she was in a combined master’s and doctorate program for four and a half years, and this was her first time too.” Their voices were soft and weary. After talking for a while, Chen Xin checked the time and asked if they wanted to go eat.

“Let’s go! I’ll take you to the night market for fish.” Mentioning food instantly energized Qin Qing. “There’s not enough time today, but after I wake up tomorrow, I’ll find you and take you from one end of the night market to the other.”

“Qin Qing is such a foodie. I don’t know how she manages to eat so much and not gain weight, while I seem to gain just from drinking water.”

The other girl was slightly plump but looked rounder compared to Qin Qing.

The three of them left through the back gate of the school, turning to a small corner at the start of the night market. They climbed up a narrow iron staircase, each step making Chen Xin’s heart race.

“This place was started by a senior who graduated. His mom didn’t want to lose the stall, so she kept running it. The food tastes good and is affordable. We all like to come here.”

Qin Qing confidently ordered grilled fish, several iron-grilled vegetable dishes, and three bowls of rice.

“Today we’ll just make do. Their specialty is ‘five ways to enjoy one fish,’ but there’s no time, and there are only a few of us. Five ways would be too wasteful.”

Qin Qing urged Chen Xin to eat the fish quickly while she took a bite of tender fish belly coated in spicy sauce on the iron plate. The bright red sauce glistened as she popped it in her mouth, her face filled with satisfaction.