<All the World Loves Me> was a very realistic novel. From national policy all the way down to celebrity gossip, everything overlapped perfectly with the real world Qin Shu came from. The original author had written it this way to make referencing memes easier, which conveniently also let Qin Shu blend seamlessly into the book’s world.
Qin Shu instantly understood Chu Cheng’s innuendo. Tilting his head, he glanced at Xu Ning. The pure little bunny couldn’t handle any kind of dirty talk, and his cheeks were already flushed. Qin Shu could practically see his affection bar for Chu Cheng plummeting like crazy.
Son, father is not scolding you, but your second-to-last ranking is totally deserved. If you could at least talk a little sweeter, you might manage to scrape into third-from-last.
Qin Shu had more or less figured it out—if he wanted the “Cheng-Ning” CP to become real, the key was to make Chu Cheng, who liked Xu Ning but didn’t know it, recognize his own feelings, and then stop being so mean-mouthed toward him.
In the original, Chu Cheng’s transformation only happened after being constantly stimulated by love rivals. By the time he realized he liked Xu Ning, it was already too late—Xu Ning was already deep in with other stock gongs. To avoid that “tragedy,” Qin Shu decided he had to provoke his son to death, so he’d wake up earlier.
Silently apologizing to Chu Cheng in his heart, Qin Shu reached out and wrapped an arm around Xu Ning’s shoulders. “Don’t talk nonsense. Ning Ning and I are in a pure boy-boy relationship.”
Xu Ning’s shoulders stiffened.
Chu Cheng glared at him, pointing at Qin Shu. “Xu Ning, are you dating him?”
“I…”
“Are you an idiot?!” Chu Cheng roared. “Don’t you know this b*stard is a player? Every good-looking person in school, he’s tried hitting on!”
“Even if I was a player before, I’m willing to give it up for Xu Ning.” Qin Shu frowned. “And another thing—why are you so fierce with Ning Ning?” Son, can’t you see his affection bar dropping again?!
Chu Cheng snarled, “I’ll be fierce with him if I want. What’s it to you?”
Qin Shu was furious—after all, he’d spent real money on deep-water donations to support Chu Cheng’s arc! “Why isn’t it my business? I’m your dad!”
The moment those words left his mouth, both Xu Ning and Chu Cheng’s friends were stunned. Chu Cheng froze for a second, then exploded, stepping forward to grab Qin Shu’s collar. “Say that again?”
Realizing what he’d just blurted out, Qin Shu swore. Looks like it wasn’t just his campus card that needed recharging—his IQ did too. But since things had already come this far, he couldn’t back down. He swallowed hard. “You sure?”
“Say it.” Chu Cheng’s voice was icy. “Say it right now.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard such a weird request,” Qin Shu said. “Why isn’t it my business? I’m your… dad.” His voice grew smaller and smaller, half from the intimidation on Chu Cheng’s face, half from sheer embarrassment.
Chu Cheng’s lips curved. “Good. You’ve got guts.” He raised his fist, and Qin Shu’s heart shot into his throat. “Then let’s see who’s the dad and who’s the son!”
The boy next to him hurriedly held him back. “Brother Cheng, forget it, we’re all classmates.”
“Classmates, my *ss! He’s calling me his son!”
“This is school, you’ll get demerits if you fight. Calm down.”
“You think I’m afraid of demerits?!”
The scene was chaotic. Xu Ning couldn’t take it anymore—he shut his eyes and shouted: “Stop!”
It was the first time Chu Cheng had ever heard Xu Ning raise his voice so loudly. Instinctively, he lowered his fist.
Xu Ning said, “Qin Shu and I are just schoolmates, you misunderstood.”
Chu Cheng froze again, yanking Qin Shu closer by the collar. “You playing me?”
Qin Shu said innocently, “I never said Ning Ning and I were a couple.”
“You said you two were in a man-man relationship!”
Qin Shu added, “A pure man-man relationship.” He especially emphasized the word pure.
Chu Cheng’s eyes looked like they could eat someone alive. Luckily, at that moment a professor-looking man passed by. Seeing the commotion, he stopped and asked, “What’s going on here?”
Everyone exchanged glances. One of the boys said, “Oh, my buddy’s just messing around, nothing serious.”
The professor’s sharp gaze landed on Chu Cheng. “Really?”
Reluctantly, Chu Cheng loosened his grip, gave a cold snort, picked up the basketball he’d tossed aside, and walked off.
The professor glanced at his watch. “Curfew’s almost here. Get back to your dorms.”
Xu Ning looked at Qin Shu apologetically. “Are you okay?”
Qin Shu sighed. Back when he was just a reader, he’d thought Chu Cheng’s chuuni antics were kind of funny. Now, seeing them firsthand, he started to doubt whether this kid was even salvageable. If he wasn’t, wouldn’t Qin Shu just be hopelessly stuck with this stock? “Ning Ning, I’m just a severe procrastinator, I don’t know a thing about time management. And I’ve never done group sports either,” Qin Shu said.
Xu Ning smiled. “You don’t have to explain all that to me.”
Qin Shu nodded. “Then let’s go, I’ll walk you back.”
Xu Ning’s dorm was in Building 7, an undergrad dorm full of art majors. Even the manhole covers were painted with cute doodles. Xu Ning said, “I’m here. You can head back.”
“Okay, see you Ning Ning.” Qin Shu took two steps, then turned back, hesitating as he looked at Xu Ning.
Xu Ning asked, “What is it?”
“Well, do you know which building my dorm is in?” He was new here, didn’t know where the original Qin Shu’s rented apartment was, and had no idea of the campus layout. Facing Xu Ning’s puzzled look, he forced himself to say, “It’s been so long since I went back, I forgot.”
Xu Ning’s expression brightened into a smile. “You’re in the Comp Sci faculty, right? I remember the comp sci guys all stay in Building 4.”
Qin Shu smacked his forehead. “Right, right, I remember now, it’s Building 4!”
Building 4 wasn’t far from 7. Qin Shu quickly found it, only to stare blankly at the seven-story building—Which room was it again?
His phone buzzed in his pocket. A lightbulb went off—of course his phone would have the original owner’s personal info.
He opened Maobao, found the shipping address records—several of them, and one was just a ten-minute walk from campus, probably the off-campus apartment. Praising his own cleverness, he opened the campus app, and sure enough found the dorm number: Room 419.
At the door of 419, Qin Shu pulled out a key ring, wondering whether to try each key one by one or just knock. But before he decided, the door opened from inside.
And there was Chu Cheng again—still in the same basketball outfit, a towel draped over his shoulders, a washbasin in his arms filled with shampoo, clearly on his way to shower.
In the bright light, Qin Shu got a close-up view of Chu Cheng’s physique. He kept a calm face, but inside he was screaming: Ahhhh, my son’s biceps are so full and firm, I wanna touch!
Chu Cheng saw him, and his face instantly darkened. “What do you want?” he asked warily.
Qin Shu snapped out of it, glanced in confusion at the door number. “Isn’t this 419?”
A vein popped on Chu Cheng’s forehead. “Don’t you dare say those three numbers.”
Qin Shu blinked. “You live in 419 too?”
“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“Oh, can’t say the numbers huh. Then… do you also live in four-one-nine?”
Chu Cheng: “Get lost!”
Chu Cheng might’ve barked fiercely, but he hadn’t denied it. So—shock! The original owner and Chu Cheng were actually roommates?! Was that ever mentioned in the novel?
Thinking about it, not surprising. The original owner and Chu Cheng, ranking at the very bottom of the popularity poll, barely had any screentime. The author wouldn’t waste ink on them. Plus, the original owner practically lived off-campus year-round, maybe returning once a semester at most. Readers only cared about when Xu Ning and the top stocks would get together. Oh? You’re saying Qin Shu and Chu Cheng are roommates? Interesting—but what’s that to us readers? 【indifferent.jpg】
Still, to any father-fan, being roommates with your son was like pie falling from the sky—big enough to knock you unconscious. Qin Shu was knocked unconscious, sneaking a glance at Chu Cheng’s face. “I won’t.”
“What?”
“I won’t leave.” Let me be your roommate, son. I’ll help you shake off your childhood shadows, fix your terrible habits, and win Ning Ning’s heart for you!
Not hearing Qin Shu’s inner monologue, Chu Cheng narrowed his eyes. “You looking for a fight?”
“I… I came back to get my stuff.”
“Get your stuff?” Chu Cheng turned toward Qin Shu’s desk. Qin Shu followed his gaze—completely bare, not a single thing there.
“You’d really have anything here?” Chu Cheng asked skeptically.
“Yes!” Qin Shu insisted. “Must be in the drawer.” He slipped past Chu Cheng, making a show of opening a drawer. Still nothing inside.
Qin Shu sneaked a glance at Chu Cheng from the corner of his eye. Chu Cheng stood behind him, basin in arms, watching like he was enjoying a comedy.
Qin Shu said, “Weren’t you going to shower?”
Chu Cheng sneered, “No rush. I want to see what my ‘good roommate’—who only showed up once at the start of freshman year, said ‘what kind of dump is this,’ and never came back—has left in here.”
…That did sound like something the original owner would’ve said. Qin Shu, scrambling for a cover, opened the second drawer—suddenly his eyes lit up. “Found it!”
Chu Cheng leaned over. In Qin Shu’s hand was… a piece of chewing gum, covered in dust, clearly long expired.
“What the h*ll,” Chu Cheng said in surprise, “you especially came back just to get a piece of gum?”
Qin Shu’s expression grew deep. “Don’t underestimate this as just an ordinary piece of gum. In fact, behind it lies a very profound story—do you want to hear it?”
Chu Cheng looked at him like he was an idiot. “I’m going to shower. You got your stuff, so leave.”
No way, Dad wants to spend more time with you. “419 is also my dorm, what right do you have to kick me out?”
“You’re not leaving—do you want to stay the night?”
“Can’t I?”
Chu Cheng pointed at the bed above the desk. The bed was still in its original state—just three long planks, nothing else. “You sure?”
“Uh… forget it today. I’ll move my things in tomorrow.”
Chu Cheng studied Qin Shu with a complicated expression, opened his mouth as if to say something, then finally tossed out a “Don’t you dare,” and walked off with his basin.
The dorm was equipped with a bathroom, but the showerhead in 419’s bathroom was broken. Chu Cheng kept forgetting to report it to the dorm auntie, so these past few days he had been going to the dorm across the hall to bathe.
Across the hall in 418 lived some third-year seniors from the same department. Chu Cheng often played basketball with them and was on fairly good terms.
One senior opened the door for him and laughed. “Yo, the water moocher is here again. Sorry, but today our 418 bathhouse is closed.”
This time Chu Cheng didn’t banter back like usual, but wore a thoughtful look instead.
The senior asked, “What’s wrong, someone put a curse on you or something?”
Chu Cheng struggled for a bit, then said: “I think… my roommate wants to murder me.”
The senior: “Pfft—”
“I’m serious,” Chu Cheng said angrily.
The senior laughed so hard tears came out. “Oh, and you’re serious. Brother Lan, did you hear that? He’s serious—hahaha—”
Chu Cheng, aggrieved, muttered: “Forget it, never mind.”
At that moment, another boy walked in from the balcony, his hands wet. He grabbed a couple of tissues from the desk, wiping his hands as he asked, “What’s the story?”
Chu Cheng had always known that the school’s campus heartthrob lived across the hall, but this was the first time he saw him in person inside the dorm. He couldn’t help but sigh—school grass is school grass, so breathtakingly handsome. Even as a guy himself, he wanted to whip out his phone and snap a few pictures, just so he could show off later that their school’s school grass was better-looking than celebrities.
“Xie Lianzhi—you should know him,” the senior said proudly. “The big hottie, the school grass.”
“Of course I know him,” said Chu Cheng.
“Brother Lan, this is Chu Cheng, lives across the hall, a sophomore.”
Xie Lianzhi nodded, and with interest asked, “So why do you think your roommate wants to murder you?”
“He suddenly wants to move back into the dorm,” Chu Cheng said. “And we almost fought just now.”
The senior asked: “The same rich-kid roommate you’ve been complaining about?”
Chu Cheng got excited. “Yeah! He used to go on and on about how the dorm ‘isn’t fit for humans to live in.’ After quarreling with me, he suddenly decides to move back in? Even if he doesn’t want to murder me, he must be plotting something against me!”
Walking down the street, Qin Shu let out a massive sneeze, then casually tossed the disgustingly dirty gum into a trash can. Following the delivery address on Taobao, he found his way to a residential area near campus and easily located the off-campus apartment the original owner had rented.
The place was over 100 square meters, two bedrooms and two living rooms, decorated in European style. Good floor, good lighting, excellent living conditions. But Qin Shu didn’t like staying in such a big place. Back in high school, after his parents died in a car accident, he would spend long summer and winter breaks all alone in a big, empty house. Compared to that, he much preferred the collective life in a dorm. Not to mention, there was a cub in the dorm waiting to be raised (?), so of course he wanted to move back.
Planning to shower first, Qin Shu pulled out his phone and saw an unread text:
【Account ending 8462 received (September living allowance) 50,000 yuan on Sept. 5 at 22:53. Balance: 515,628 yuan】
Qin Shu: …Wow.
