Chapter 9: His Highness the Prince Is Back

Across the distance of over twenty meters between the two buildings, Jiang Miao looked over with rapt attention. Through the gaps in the railing of Senior Sister’s balcony, he could vaguely see her exquisite face.

… And the dark-rimmed glasses on her straight nose.

Ah, no wonder. He had been wondering how Senior Sister, who was severely nearsighted, could see him from such a distance. It turned out she was wearing glasses.

Unfortunately, it was too far away, and the railing was obstructing the view, so he couldn’t see clearly. Otherwise, he really wanted to see what Senior Sister looked like with glasses on.

It would have been perfect if she was wearing a school uniform.

[Zhouzhou Loves Congee]: What are you eating for breakfast?

[Miaomiao is Deep in Thought]: Two buns. What about you?

[Zhouzhou Loves Congee]: A bowl of congee with ham sausage.

One sitting, one standing, they chatted on WeChat on their balconies.

While chatting, they slowly finished their breakfast.

They talked about trivial matters, but Jiang Miao didn’t feel impatient, and time passed unknowingly.

[Zhouzhou Loves Congee]: We’re collecting textbooks and military training uniforms in the afternoon. When the time comes, another class assistant and I will come find you guys. I’ll have to trouble you to help.

[Miaomiao is Deep in Thought]: It’s us troubling you, Senior Sister.

[Zhouzhou Loves Congee]: Okay, let’s stop chatting~ My roommate is rushing me. See you in the afternoon~

[Miaomiao is Deep in Thought]: Okay, see you in the afternoon.

Senior Sister on the opposite balcony stood up, stretched out half of her body over the railing, pressed down her wind-blown hair with one hand, and waved at him with a smile.

The near noon sunlight shone down, casting Senior Sister in a golden halo. The smile on her face was like a pure and beautiful arrow that pierced straight into people’s hearts.

Jiang Miao blinked, and the scene in his eyes seemed to freeze in his mind.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

By the time he reacted and waved, Senior Sister had already entered the room.

…

At noon, Jiang Miao went to the dining hall to eat alone.

This time, he didn’t encounter Senior Sister. After eating, he walked back to his dorm room, unsure if he was disappointed or relieved.

Returning to his room, Jiang Miao opened his word processor and placed his hands on the keyboard. He took a deep breath and suddenly remembered that he had already released chapters in the early morning.

So tired… Why am I so sleepy? Looks like I can’t focus on writing…

With this thought in mind, he got up from his chair, climbed up the ladder to his loft bed, and buried his head into his pillow, intending to take a nap.

In the afternoon, he was awakened from his nap by the sound of the room door opening. He sat up and looked down.

“Hello, classmate.” A slightly charming middle-aged woman walked in, carrying many bags. Seeing Jiang Miao in bed, she immediately smiled apologetically. “Sorry to disturb your sleep.”

“No worries. I was just about to get up,” Jiang Miao said and noticed two more people behind the woman.

One was a well-dressed middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and a potbelly.

The other was an expressionless boy between burly and chubby with baby fat and freckles on his face.

It seemed the third roommate had arrived.

It would be inappropriate for him to continue sitting in bed.

Jiang Miao got out of bed and asked politely, “Auntie, do you need help?”

“No need. You can just sit down. It’s fine,” the woman replied with a smile and began to help her son make his bed and arrange his wardrobe.

The middle-aged man who came in later occasionally helped, while the boy stood aside and looked at Jiang Miao before turning his head away, neither helping nor speaking.

“Say hello.” The middle-aged man patted his son’s shoulder and urged, “You’ll be classmates and roommates from now on. Don’t be silent like you are at home.”

Annoyed by his father’s urging, the boy looked at Jiang Miao and forced out a greeting. “… Hello.”

“Hello.” Jiang Miao had nothing to do and was pretending to fiddle with his laptop. When he heard the voice, he turned and smiled. “I’m Jiang Miao.”

“Introduce yourself properly. Don’t just stand there,” the middle-aged man urged again.

“… Xun Liang.”

“Haha, we’ll have to trouble you to take care of him.” The middle-aged man glared at his disappointing son and then laughed heartily. “Our Liangliang doesn’t like to talk. He’s actually a good kid at heart.”

“Okay, you’re too polite, Uncle,” Jiang Miao replied with a polite smile. “We’ll be roommates from now on, so we should take care of each other.”

He made small talk with the man, discussing topics like where their hometown was, their college entrance examination results, whether they had a girlfriend, and so on.

Jiang Miao observed his new roommate, Xun Liang, and saw that he would only say a word or two when his father asked him. It seemed he was socially awkward…

However, this wasn’t too bad. At least it meant that he could write without disturbance.

With Xun Liang’s social difficulties, he likely wouldn’t pay attention to what Jiang Miao usually did on his laptop.

…

The woman tidied up very quickly. In addition, Wang Xin had already cleaned the bed, wardrobe, and so on yesterday, so it didn’t take much work to get everything in order. She finished in about ten minutes.

The two parents seemed to be in a hurry. After helping their son settle in and giving him a few reminders, they said goodbye to Jiang Miao and left in a hurry.

“We still need to send your sister to school, so we’ll leave first. Take care of yourself.”

“I know,” Xun Liang replied impatiently and sent them out before closing the dorm room door behind him.

Now, there were only the two of them left in the room.

Jiang Miao was about to greet him and get to know him.

But to his surprise, Xun Liang, whose face was full of baby fat and freckles, smiled, approached Jiang Miao, and grabbed his hand with both hands enthusiastically. “Hello, Brother Jiang, hello. Let’s get to know each other again. I am Xun Liang.”

“…” Jiang Miao opened his mouth and looked at his enthusiastic roommate, momentarily at a loss for how to respond. After a few seconds, he replied with a wry smile, “Hello, I am Jiang Miao.”

After Xun Liang released his hand, Jiang Miao shook his wrist. Gee, he’s really strong… But brother, the difference before and after is too great.

In front of his parents, he was rebellious and introverted. But once they were gone, he let loose and revealed his true nature.

“Brother Jiang, do you want some chicken?” Xun Liang sat on a chair casually with one foot resting on it. He rummaged through his wardrobe, pulled out a big bag of snacks, and tossed a few packets over. “I’ve got wings and drumsticks. No need to be polite. We’re family from now on.”

“Thanks.” Jiang Miao caught the snacks without declining, but he wasn’t that hungry after lunch, so he symbolically opened a packet of chicken wings and chatted while Xun Liang ate.

“Brother Jiang, aren’t the other two here yet? I thought I was late enough.”

“Your neighbor is already here, but he went to have lunch with his high school classmates and hasn’t returned yet. The other one hasn’t arrived.”

“Oh.” Xun Liang stood up again and strolled around the dorm room while nibbling on chicken claws, feeling as relaxed as he were at home. He even went to Wang Xin’s bed to look at the name tag. “Wang Zi[1]? Hahahaha! This name is something else!”

“Ahem… Take a closer look.”

“What’s wrong? Isn’t it Zi?”

“It’s Xin. You missed the radical at the end.”

What went around came around. Jiang Miao didn’t expect to explain this name to someone one day.

“I see. Hahaha!” Xun Liang laughed awkwardly. He even raised his chicken claw to ‘toast’ with Jiang Miao “My Chinese proficiency has always been terrible. I can get eight out of ten questions wrong in multiple-choice tests.”

Jiang Miao laughed along. “I made the same mistake. It’s mainly because Wang Zi just rolls off the tongue too smoothly.”

While chatting, the two quickly became acquainted, and a chicken claw was finished off.

At around half past one, the dorm room door clicked as it unlocked.

Xun Liang, swiveling in his chair, stood up and waved enthusiastically at the calm-looking Wang Xin walking in. “Hey! His Highness the Prince has returned!”

Wang Xin: “?”

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1. Wang Zi (王子) means prince in Chinese.↩