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  Chapter 32: The Ups and Downs of Life

  TL: Etude

  After replying to the message, Jiang Qin stretched zily, only to notice his roommates gazing ily out the window.

  Curious, he looked in the same dire and saw the girls from the finance css shopping at the stalls outside. Among them were Song Qingqing and Jiang Tian, ughing radiantly like blooming flowers.

  “Jiang, stop looking. She’s not for you,” one of the roommates ented.

  Jiang Qin snapped back to reality, feeling exasperated, “I was just curious about what you guys were staring at!”

  Zhou Chao couldn’t resist teasing Cao Guangyu, “You ’t get her, so why not let Jiang enjoy the view?”

  Cao Guangyu, although not ranking Song Qingqing as the top beauty, agreed with Zhou Chao’s se, “Jiang, you should set yhts on someone else. I think Pan Xiu is not bad. She might not pare to Song Qingqing and Jiang Tian, but she’s definitely a beauty among the average girls.”

  Ren Ziqiang, who had been silent, suddenly looked up, “Pan Xiu is not an option. I just added her on QQ. Don’t pete with me. If you do, I might actually lose.”

  Zhou Chao and Cao Guangyu were astonished, “Man, you move fast!”

  “One must be proactive in pursuing girls, or else it’s a sign of a problem,” quipped Jiang Qin, disdain in his voice. If he truly wanted a retionship, he wouldn’t need advice from these timid guys. He scoffed at the thought of being ied in Song Qingqing.

  Muttering under his breath about the unnecessary drama, Jiang Qin saw the three roommates exge gnces.

  “Jiang, are you feeling challenged?” teased Cao Guangyu. “You might be somewhat handsome, but you don’t stand much ce against a beauty like Song Qingqing, especially with no experien dating.”

  “I agree. You’re wele to try, but you’re bound to be rejected,” added another.

  Jiang Qin shook his head dismissively, “Not ied in her, not my type.”

  Zhou Chao sneered, “Yeah right!”

  Jiang Qin g him, thinking about how to sober them up from their delusions. He hoped they wouldn’t get too sweet a taste of victory.

  Cao Guangyu observed Jiang Qin, a smirk f on his lips. He thought Jiang was just being coy, probably pnning to pursue her secretly. But chasing a beauty like that was tough, even for a rich sed-geion like himself, let alone for Jiang. Cao eaihe thought of swooping in after Jiang’s iable failure, winning over Song Qingqing, and putting Jiang in his pce.

  His thoughts were interrupted by Zhou Chao’s excmation, “Look, a beauty!”

  As they were all lost ihoughts, Zhou Chao’s voiapped them back to reality. They followed his pointing finger, and their gaze froze.

  A girl, carrying a light grey bag with a lychee pattern, walked gracefully betweeables. She wore denim shorts that revealed her slender, fair legs and outlined her slim waist. Her upper body was a bck lettered T-shirt. Though not tight, her good figure made it seem so. Up close, they could see her standard oval face, moist cherry lips, and attractive eyes. Her earlobes adorned with clover-shaped silver earrings added to her charm.

  In that brief moment, the entment Song Qingqing had cast on them vanished without a trace. All thoughts of Song Qingqing and Jiang Tian being the most beautiful faded away.

  But soon, this entment turned into panic. They realized the girl was heading straight towards them, a shy smile on her exquisite face.

  These timid guys, who couldn’t even raise their heads in front of Song Qingqing, were remely nervous. They preteo look elsewhere, subsciously straightening their hair and clothes.

  To their surprise, the girl actually sat down in front of them, flipping her hair casually, and then turo Jiang Qin.

  “I’m here,” she said.

  Jiang Qin raised an eyebrow, “You arrived just in time. These guys needed a wake-up call.”

  Hong Yan blinked her beautiful eyes, a hint of fusion in her gaze, “What do you mean?”

  “It’s nothing, they’re just really happy to see you,” Jiang Qin responded.

  “Thank you, but won’t I be intruding on yroup gathering by joining for the meal?”

  Jiang Qin immediately shook his head, “Don’t worry, just sit down. They deserve to be disturbed.”

  Hong Yan chuckled softly, someuzzled, then g the empty table, “Haven’t you ordered yet? Let me treat you.”

  “We’ve already ordered, but due to the busy start-of-term rush, the kit staff is overwhelmed and the service is a bit slow. Would you like some tea first?”

  “Sure.”

  Jiang Qin passed his already ed utensils to her and casually poured her a cup of tea.

  Hong Yan murmured a thank you with a smile in her eyes and pced her small bag on the chair o her.

  Ren Ziqiang and Zhou Chao were dumbfouhey looked at Hong Yan and then at Jiang Qin, barely taining their astonishment.

  “Old… Old Jiang, who is she?”

  “A freshman from our batch, from the Law Department, Hong Yan,” Jiang Qin replied.

  He turo Hong Yan, “Let me introduce you. These three are my roommates: Zhou Chao, Ren Ziqiang, and Cao Guangyu.”

  Ren Ziqiang stared bnkly at Jiang Qin, “You actually mao invite such a beautiful girl to dih you?”

  Hong Yan suddenly coughed, “You guys are mistaken. Actually, I was the one who asked Jiang Qin.”

  “?????”

  Hong Yan ughed a bit sheepishly, “I even added him on QQ first…”

  Jiang Qin quickly gestured with his hand, “Actually, you spoke too quickly, not giving me a ce to say it first.”

  “But what I said is the truth.”

  Hong Yan blinked, not finding anything shameful about a girl taking the initiative.

  In fact, she had e to meet Jiang Qin with an unspeakable sense of anticipation.

  From their first meeting, she had found herself unusually drawn to and curious about Jiang Qin. She thought he was unventional yet unusually steady. He could stay unobtrusive in someone else’s party and surprise everyone when it came to settling the bill.

  Simply put, Hong Yan found him to have the boldness of youth without being off-putting ant, quite different from the immature boys who were all talk and no substance.

  And this meeting reaffirmed her expectations.

  He didn’t take pride in her approag him, nor did he use it to gain admiration from others. Instead, he was very siderate of her feelings.

  He was truly nice, and that was enough for her.

  Meanwhile, Ren Ziqiang and Zhou Chao were feeling overwhelmed.

  Just moments ago, they were debating whether Song Qingqing or Jiang Tian was more beautiful and even thought Jiang Qin pursuing Song Qingqing was a joke. Now they realized how ludicrous their assumptions were. Jiang Qin was on a pletely different level.

  The irony of being approached by a goddess, being asked out, and them not even having stepped into society yet made them acutely feel the disparities of life.

  They wondered if they were really attending the same uy.

  “Old Cao, did you hear that? It’s unbelievable!”

  “Yeah…”

  Cao Guangyu’s mouth twitched, as if he had something to say but after a long pause, he swallowed his words.

  Actually, he knew Hong Yan. She was the school beauty in their high school and also his ued love. But seeititude, she probably didn’t remember him at all.

  EtudeTranstions