“Ah—” Qin Shu let out a sound. Foam had already clung to his eyelashes, so he quickly shut that eye, squinting the other. The light in front of him broke into fragments, and the boy’s face became hazy and indistinct.
Qin Shu hadn’t thought much of it before, but now, standing in front of such a ridiculously handsome guy, he suddenly felt like a complete fool.
“My shower stopped halfway through—suddenly the showerhead quit working.” Qin Shu said awkwardly. “Could I borrow your bathroom just to finish rinsing my hair? Please?”
The boy chuckled softly, his voice low and light. Probably thought he was a fool, Qin Shu thought gloomily.
“Sure,” the boy said. “Want me to lead you there?”
“No need, I can manage myself.”
With one eye shut and the other half-closed, Qin Shu felt unsafe, so he instinctively stretched his hands out in front, shuffling forward like a hopping zombie.
He was moving slowly when, out of nowhere, his wrist was caught. The boy’s voice came by his ear: “Chair.”
Qin Shu lowered his hand and, sure enough, felt the backrest of a chair. He laughed lightly. “Thanks.”
“Better let me take you.” The boy said.
Anything more polite would’ve been pretentious, so Qin Shu nodded. “Alright.”
Both were in short sleeves. The boy’s body temperature seemed a bit cooler than Qin Shu’s, a light chill lingering on his wrist.
“You live in 419?” the boy asked.
“Yeah.”
“Never seen you before.”
Qin Shu explained: “I moved off campus right at the start of freshman year. Only moved back today.”
The boy seemed to think of something. “Why the sudden return?”
“Because I figured it out.”
“Hm?”
“A university life without dorm living is incomplete.”
In just a few lines of conversation, they’d already reached the bathroom door. The boy let go, flipped on the light for him. “Go on in.”
“Thanks—you’re a good person.”
Xie Lanzhi, suddenly handed a Good Person Card: “…”
Once the foam was rinsed away, Qin Shu’s vision cleared again, and he went ahead and finished a full shower. Thinking of that face that could make him eat five bowls of rice, Qin Shu couldn’t help but sigh. If Baby looked like him, “ChengNing” fans would’ve at least quintupled. Who cares about personality and worldview? Sorry, us CP-shipping readers—our three views follow the face.
And even without mentioning looks, the guy’s temperament was way better than Baby’s—polite, well-mannered, cultured. Thank goodness this hottie wasn’t one of the “stock male leads.” Otherwise, forget Chu Cheng—even that guy surnamed Xie…
Wait a second. How did the original describe the one surnamed Xie?
—“Unparalleled looks, recognized as the cold, abstinent school grass. Distant and aloof with strangers, but not without basic courtesy. Occasionally drops shockingly flirty lines, both swoony and teasing, and standing next to Xu Ning, they’re especially well-matched.”
The hand Qin Shu was using to rub body wash trembled slightly.
School Grass. The title meant the most handsome guy in the whole school. The other “grass” couldn’t compare. But the boy just now was already handsome to that degree—could someone surnamed Xie be even better looking? Or… was he the one surnamed Xie?!
Qin Shu immediately felt like facing a great enemy. That Xie was the biggest stumbling block standing between his CP and canon. With his “stats,” he had the aura of a rightful spouse. Worst of all, in the latest author update, Xu Ning was already showing faint feelings for him. If not for the fact that Xie was originally straight and needed time to bend, all other ships would’ve sunk already.
If the guy outside really was the one surnamed Xie, Qin Shu had to stay alert, guard tightly, and absolutely not let him steal away his daughter-in-law.
When Qin Shu came out of the bathroom, Xie Lanzhi had just finished fixing a bug. He looked up at Qin Shu, noticing the subtle expression and gaze, raised a brow. “What?”
“N-no, nothing. Just… I showered really comfortably.”
Xie Lanzhi’s attention went back to his screen. His long fingers tapped at the keyboard, tone casual. “As long as you’re comfortable.”
Without the foam in the way, Qin Shu studied him seriously: fair skin, pronounced double eyelids, slightly long bangs brushing against his lashes, lips a faint shade of pink. His eyes were deep and cool, but his lips gave a warmth like a hot drink in winter. Together it was unexpectedly harmonious. Staring too long at that face from up close made even his breathing feel hot.
Xie Lanzhi was long used to strangers staring openly. Without raising his head, he asked, “Anything else?”
Qin Shu hesitated. “You look so good… are you the school grass of our school?”
Who even asked questions like that? Xie Lanzhi paused, then laughed. “No.”
Qin Shu let out a breath of relief. “Good, good.” He actually liked this guy—since he wasn’t surnamed Xie, they could happily be frie—(fan)nds. “I’m Qin Shu. ‘Qin’ like Qin Shi Huang, ‘Shu’ like a book. Sophomore in Computer Science. You?”
“Same department as you. Year Three.” Xie Lanzhi replied.
“Oh, so you’re my senior.” Qin Shu said cheerfully. “I live right across from you. Let’s add each other on WeChat—hang out sometime.”
Xie Lanzhi picked up his phone, scanned Qin Shu’s code, and typed in a remark. Though he typed “qinshu,” the system’s auto-suggestion popped up as “情书” (love letter). He tapped without thinking, so “Qin Shu” in his WeChat became “Love Letter.”
Qin Shu, excited at making a new friend, wanted to chat more. But the senior seemed busy. He glanced at the dense lines of code on screen, and that suffocating feeling from the computer lab came back. “Then I’ll head back first.” He said.
“Mm.” said Xie Lanzhi.
***
After playing basketball, Chu Cheng headed back to the dorm with senior Lu Rulu from 418.
Chu Cheng complained: “The h*ll, only played twenty minutes and you’re leaving, what kind of man does that?”
Lu Rulu gave a sheepish smile: “Can’t be helped, Brother Lan is waiting for me in the dorm for system integration. I don’t dare keep him waiting.”
Chu Cheng asked casually: “Brother Lan still lives off-campus?”
“Yeah. Back in freshman year his parents bought him a place near the school. I’ve been there a few times—reeks of money through and through.” Lu Rulu joked, “Hard to believe he can even stand living there.”
Chu Cheng thought for a bit, then said: “So he plans to keep living outside?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Lu Rulu said. “Who’d give up a mansion just to come back and live in the dorms?”
Chu Cheng muttered: “My roommate.”
Lu Rulu burst out laughing: “The roommate who wants to murder you?”
“I’m not joking!” Chu Cheng snapped impatiently. “He already moved back in today.”
“For real?” Lu Rulu had heard Chu Cheng mention this roommate Qin Shu before—supposedly a rich second-gen, arrogant as h*ll and begging for a beating, the type Chu Cheng would start fighting with the second they met. Since they were in different years and the campus was big, Lu Rulu had never seen Qin Shu, but suddenly moving back in did sound suspicious.
Lu Rulu patted Chu Cheng’s shoulder and comforted him: “Don’t worry, if he really does try something, just yell for help, I’ll come running.”
“If he comes at me openly, you think I’d lose?” Chu Cheng sneered. “What I’m afraid of is him poisoning me or something. Haven’t you seen all those news stories? One even happened at the school next door.”
Lu Rulu thought about it—there had indeed been plenty of cases of roommates murdering each other, each one more gruesome than the last. “Then I’ll go back to your dorm with you later,” he said. “See what this Qin Shu is like.”
Chu Cheng had always described Qin Shu as extremely obnoxious, the kind of person just looking at him could trigger a heart attack. So in Lu Rulu’s mind, Qin Shu’s image had already taken shape: heavy dark circles, sallow skin, greasy thinning hair… And since he was a rich kid, probably ate too well, maybe even had a beer belly at a young age…
So when Chu Cheng opened the dorm door, and he saw instead a fair, clean-looking underclassman sitting in a chair blow-drying his hair—this? This??
Qin Shu looked nothing like what he’d imagined. His eyes were dark and bright, skin pale, long legs and a slim waist—clearly the pampered young master type.
Hearing the noise at the door, Qin Shu turned off the dryer. “You’re back—oh, and you brought a guest.”
Chu Cheng said with disgust: “Drop the host’s tone.”
“But I am half the host of 419.”
Lu Rulu really couldn’t connect this fresh-looking junior with the arrogant rich brat Chu Cheng had described. He glanced at Chu Cheng, saying meaningfully: “Chu Cheng, not going to introduce us?”
Chu Cheng glared at him, as if to say are you kidding me right now.
Since he couldn’t rely on his baby, Qin Shu introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Qin Shu, Chu Cheng’s roommate.” And dad.
Lu Rulu was dazzled by the junior’s bright smile, and couldn’t help smiling back: “I’m Lu Rulu, live across from you guys, Year Three in the CS school.”
Lu—Ru—Lu, Lu Rulu… Qin Shu frowned. The name felt awkwardly familiar. Was this a character mentioned in the book? He remembered all the major names clearly, so this senior must be just a minor side character.
“Can I call you ‘Brother Lu’?” Qin Shu asked a little embarrassed. “Senior’s name is hard to pronounce.”
That “senior” made Lu Rulu feel a strange sour-sweet rush. “Of course, Chu Cheng calls me that too.”
“Cough cough—” Chu Cheng coughed heavily on purpose, reminding him of the main issue.
Lu Rulu got the hint. “So Qin Shu, what made you suddenly want to live in the dorms? Isn’t renting outside more comfortable?”
Qin Shu said: “It is. But living alone gets boring after a while. I wanted a change, live with someone else.”
“But Chu Cheng’s got such a rotten temper. Living with him isn’t asking for trouble?”
Chu Cheng: ??? Feeling attacked here.
Qin Shu glanced at Chu Cheng and sighed helplessly. For a moment, Chu Cheng felt like a little kid who’d disappointed his parent. “I’ll try my best to endure it.”
“Who asked you to endure me!” Chu Cheng roared. “And you, Brother Lu, who are you saying has a bad temper?!”
Seeing he’d made a mess of things, Lu Rulu quickly said: “Uh, my roommate’s waiting for me, I’ll head back first.”
“Bye-bye, Brother Lu.” Qin Shu nudged Chu Cheng with his elbow. “Chu Cheng, say bye to senior.”
Chu Cheng stared at him in disbelief, then bellowed: “Go get your head checked!”
The shout hurt Qin Shu’s eardrums, making him lean back a little. Inwardly, he muttered: Baby loses his temper way too easily. If he doesn’t fix that stinking attitude, even if he and Ning Ning make it to the marriage bureau, they’ll probably end up divorced.
Qin Shu finished blow-drying his hair and climbed into bed. Chu Cheng stayed below, scowling at his phone. Hearing a “Timi” notification, Qin Shu thought this was his chance. Hugging his pillow, he said: “Wanna team up? Wanna team up? I’m crazy good with Zhong Kui, hook never misses.”
Chu Cheng didn’t even lift his head. “Shut up.”
Qin Shu squeezed his pillow tight, smiling: “Fine, I’ll go play duo with Ning Ning then.”
Chu Cheng took a deep breath. “…Log in.”
And so began a very “joyful” parent-child bonding session.
Chu Cheng: “Can you actually hook someone?”
Qin Shu: “Of course I can. Don’t rush. Watch me—3, 2, 1—hook!”
Chu Cheng: “??? Why’d you hook a full-health Dian Wei?!”
Qin Shu: “Ahhh sorry, wrong target!”
Chu Cheng: “Hook the carry, OK?”
Qin Shu: “But the enemy carry is dodging!”
Chu Cheng: “…And Dian Wei isn’t?!”
That round ended with the enemy Dian Wei getting a pentakill and going godlike. Watching their crystal shatter, Chu Cheng muttered: “Am I insane, playing games with an idiot? Or is this all part of your plan?”
Do you want me to keep translating like this (close to word-for-word but still readable), or make it flow more like natural English dialogue?
Here’s a close-to-source English translation of that passage:
Chu Cheng complained: “The hell, only played twenty minutes and you’re leaving, what kind of man does that?”
Lu Rulu gave a sheepish smile: “Can’t be helped, Brother Lan is waiting for me in the dorm for system integration. I don’t dare keep him waiting.”
Chu Cheng asked casually: “Brother Lan still lives off-campus?”
“Yeah. Back in freshman year his parents bought him a place near the school. I’ve been there a few times—reeks of money through and through.” Lu Rulu joked, “Hard to believe he can even stand living there.”
Chu Cheng thought for a bit, then said: “So he plans to keep living outside?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Lu Rulu said. “Who’d give up a mansion just to come back and live in the dorms?”
Chu Cheng muttered: “My roommate.”
Lu Rulu burst out laughing: “The roommate who wants to murder you?”
“I’m not joking!” Chu Cheng snapped impatiently. “He already moved back in today.”
“For real?” Lu Rulu had heard Chu Cheng mention this roommate Qin Shu before—supposedly a rich second-gen, arrogant as hell and begging for a beating, the type Chu Cheng would start fighting with the second they met. Since they were in different years and the campus was big, Lu Rulu had never seen Qin Shu, but suddenly moving back in did sound suspicious.
Lu Rulu patted Chu Cheng’s shoulder and comforted him: “Don’t worry, if he really does try something, just yell for help, I’ll come running.”
“If he comes at me openly, you think I’d lose?” Chu Cheng sneered. “What I’m afraid of is him poisoning me or something. Haven’t you seen all those news stories? One even happened at the school next door.”
Lu Rulu thought about it—there had indeed been plenty of cases of roommates murdering each other, each one more gruesome than the last. “Then I’ll go back to your dorm with you later,” he said. “See what this Qin Shu is like.”
Chu Cheng had always described Qin Shu as extremely obnoxious, the kind of person just looking at him could trigger a heart attack. So in Lu Rulu’s mind, Qin Shu’s image had already taken shape: heavy dark circles, sallow skin, greasy thinning hair… And since he was a rich kid, probably ate too well, maybe even had a beer belly at a young age…
So when Chu Cheng opened the dorm door, and he saw instead a fair, clean-looking underclassman sitting in a chair blow-drying his hair—this? This??
Qin Shu looked nothing like what he’d imagined. His eyes were dark and bright, skin pale, long legs and a slim waist—clearly the pampered young master type.
Hearing the noise at the door, Qin Shu turned off the dryer. “You’re back—oh, and you brought a guest.”
Chu Cheng said with disgust: “Drop the host’s tone.”
“But I am half the host of 419.”
Lu Rulu really couldn’t connect this fresh-looking junior with the arrogant rich brat Chu Cheng had described. He glanced at Chu Cheng, saying meaningfully: “Chu Cheng, not going to introduce us?”
Chu Cheng glared at him, as if to say are you kidding me right now.
Since he couldn’t rely on his baby, Qin Shu introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Qin Shu, Chu Cheng’s roommate.” And dad.
Lu Rulu was dazzled by the junior’s bright smile, and couldn’t help smiling back: “I’m Lu Rulu, live across from you guys, junior in the CS school.”
Lu—Ru—Lu, Lu Rulu… Qin Shu frowned. The name felt awkwardly familiar. Was this a character mentioned in the book? He remembered all the major names clearly, so this senior must be just a minor side character.
“Can I call you ‘Brother Lu’?” Qin Shu asked a little embarrassed. “Senior’s name is hard to pronounce.”
That “senior” made Lu Rulu feel a strange sour-sweet rush. “Of course, Chu Cheng calls me that too.”
“Cough cough—” Chu Cheng coughed heavily on purpose, reminding him of the main issue.
Lu Rulu got the hint. “So Qin Shu, what made you suddenly want to live in the dorms? Isn’t renting outside more comfortable?”
Qin Shu said: “It is. But living alone gets boring after a while. I wanted a change, live with someone else.”
“But Chu Cheng’s got such a rotten temper. Living with him isn’t asking for trouble?”
Chu Cheng: ??? Feeling attacked here.
Qin Shu glanced at Chu Cheng and sighed helplessly. For a moment, Chu Cheng felt like a little kid who’d disappointed his parent. “I’ll try my best to endure it.”
“Who asked you to endure me!” Chu Cheng roared. “And you, Brother Lu, who are you saying has a bad temper?!”
Seeing he’d made a mess of things, Lu Rulu quickly said: “Uh, my roommate’s waiting for me, I’ll head back first.”
“Bye-bye, Brother Lu.” Qin Shu nudged Chu Cheng with his elbow. “Chu Cheng, say bye to senior.”
Chu Cheng stared at him in disbelief, then bellowed: “Go get your head checked!”
The shout hurt Qin Shu’s eardrums, making him lean back a little. Inwardly, he muttered: Baby loses his temper way too easily. If he doesn’t fix that stinking attitude, even if he and Ning Ning make it to the marriage bureau, they’ll probably end up divorced.
Qin Shu finished blow-drying his hair and climbed into bed. Chu Cheng stayed below, scowling at his phone. Hearing a “Timi” notification, Qin Shu thought this was his chance. Hugging his pillow, he said: “Wanna team up? Wanna team up? I’m crazy good with Zhong Kui, hook never misses.”
Chu Cheng didn’t even lift his head. “Shut up.”
Qin Shu squeezed his pillow tight, smiling: “Fine, I’ll go play duo with Ning Ning then.”
Chu Cheng took a deep breath. “…Log in.”
And so began a very “joyful” parent-child bonding session.
Chu Cheng: “Can you actually hook someone?”
Qin Shu: “Of course I can. Don’t rush. Watch me—3, 2, 1—hook!”
Chu Cheng: “??? Why’d you hook a full-health Dian Wei?!”
Qin Shu: “Ahhh sorry, wrong target!”
Chu Cheng: “Hook the carry, OK?”
Qin Shu: “But the enemy carry is dodging!”
Chu Cheng: “…And Dian Wei isn’t?!”
That round ended with the enemy Dian Wei getting a pentakill and going godlike. Watching their crystal shatter, Chu Cheng muttered: “Am I insane, playing games with an idiot? Or is this all part of your plan?”
“What?”
“You’re not trying to poison me, you’re trying to piss me to death, aren’t you!”
Feeling guilty, Qin Shu said with shame: “Although I don’t really know what you’re talking about… but please give me another chance, I swear I’ll hook the C position this time!”
“No way.” Chu Cheng slammed his phone on the desk, glaring. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“The bathroom’s broken, where are you going to wash?”
“The Yellow River.”
“Oh… um, I already told the dorm manager lady, she said she’ll have someone come fix it tomorrow.”
Chu Cheng ignored him, picked up his washbasin and toiletries, and left the room. He was about to knock on 418’s door but thought better of it, and instead turned to 417 next door.
In 418, after finishing system debugging with Xie Lanzhi, Lu Rulu started gossiping about the guys across the hall. “Hey, I just saw that little junior who’s supposedly trying to kill Chu Cheng.”
Xie Lanzhi closed his laptop. “And?”
“Looks pretty clean and delicate, seems easy to get along with. Not nearly as bad as Chu Cheng makes him sound.”
Xie Lanzhi didn’t comment, just said, “I’m leaving.”
Feigning indignation, Lu Rulu said, “So quick? Use someone and then ditch them without even keeping them company? Tsk, scumbag.”
“Scram,” Xie Lanzhi said coolly, carrying his laptop out of the dorm. When he saw the number plate for 419 across the hall, he pulled out his phone, found “Love Letter” in his contacts, and sent a WeChat.
[Shuimenjian: Did you tell the dorm manager about the bathroom?]
The reply came quickly.
[Love Letter: Ah, is that senior! I already told her o(〃’▽’〃)o]
[Shuimenjian: Mm.]
[Love Letter: Thanks for today, senior. Next time I’ll treat you to milk tea =V=]
Xie Lanzhi glanced at the message, then slipped his phone back into his pocket.
While waiting for his reply, Qin Shu scrolled through the senior’s Moments. Nothing very interesting—mostly reposts, occasionally a few blue-sky, sea-view photos. Qin Shu stared at his WeChat handle, a bit curious what “Shuimenjian” meant. He thought about adding a note, then realized he still didn’t know the guy’s actual name.
After a moment’s thought, he added a note: “Super Handsome Big Bro.”
Author’s note: Why do all of my gong’s roommates have these ridiculously awkward names (falls into deep thought.jpg)
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