Chapter 378 - 292: The One Next to Xue Rui, Part 3

"Hey, what’s your major? The food from this counter is pretty bad. You should try that one over there next time."

"Let’s add each other on QQ. If you ever have questions about anything, you can hit me up," the male student said politely.

"I have a boyfriend. Xue Rui told me not to add other guys on QQ," Lin Ruoxi said.

"What school does he go to?" the student pressed.

A lot of freshmen had boyfriends at the start of the year, but that didn’t matter. Long-distance relationships rarely lasted. When a girl inevitably posted about her breakup, he could be the first one to swoop in and comfort her.

Cast a wide net, catch more fish, and take your pick of the best.

Seeing this, Cai Huazhou waved to his friends. In an instant, four big guys appeared behind the student. "Hey, if you’re not going to eat, then give up your spot."

They were pretty jealous of a lucky guy like Xue Rui, but at the end of the day, they were a unit. They had just spent the whole afternoon working together in the dorm...

Before Xue Rui left, he’d even invited them to the girls’ dorm. He was so thoughtful!

’Too bad none of them knew anyone in the girls’ dorm. It just didn’t feel right going without a proper reason, so no one dared to go...’

But they remembered the gesture!

So now, how could they just stand by and watch their roommate’s girlfriend get harassed?

The upperclassman turned to see four guys standing behind him. Feeling he couldn’t lose face in front of the freshman girl, he said, "You must be new freshmen, huh? Don’t you know how to show some respect?"

Zhao Chaojie didn’t mince words. "So what if we’re freshmen? All you’ve done is eat here for two more years than us. You really expect me to call you ’senior’?"

Qian Huabiao jeered, "You’ve been messing around for two years and still haven’t found a girlfriend. What makes you think you deserve to be called a ’senior’?"

"You... you guys!"

He was about to say something else when he noticed the silent, bearded guy had already placed a hand under his food tray. It looked as if the tray would be flipped into his face the second another nasty word left his mouth.

He got the message—these guys were not to be trifled with. He turned to Lin Ruoxi and said, "Hey, did they scare you? Do you want me to get a teacher?"

"Um, I know them. They’re my boyfriend’s roommates. I’m waiting for him here," Lin Ruoxi said softly.

’Damn it! Why didn’t you say so sooner?’ the upperclassman cursed inwardly. ’So her boyfriend is on his way over right now?’

He lowered his head and squeezed his way through them. As he was leaving, someone stepped on his foot.

"Sorry, senior!" Cai Huazhou shouted.

The upperclassman’s face flushed with anger. He’d heard the apology *before* his foot was stepped on.

’Calling me "senior" now? What’s that supposed to mean?’

’It was clearly their way of saying, "I already apologized, so what’s the big deal if I step on you?"’

"You’d better not let me catch you guys later!"

The upperclassman left them with that threat.

"Afraid of him?"

The four of them exchanged a glance and sat down across from Lin Ruoxi.

"Lin Ruoxi, where’s Xue Rui?" Qian Huabiao asked.

"Um, he went to eat with Jiang Yuan," Lin Ruoxi answered truthfully.

She knew they had helped her out. Remembering what Xue Rui had told her, she went and bought drinks for his roommates.

...

It was dinnertime, and many teachers had told their students to gather in their classrooms that evening. People filed into the cafeteria, mostly sitting together in their dorm groups.

Lin Ruoxi had planned to eat with her roommates, but just as she was about to sit down, Zhao Ru placed her bag on the adjacent seat, saying she was saving it for Jiang Yuan and telling Lin Ruoxi to move one seat further down.

She wasn’t stupid. She could tell someone didn’t want to sit with her, so she sat a little farther away.

The guys from their class, Software Engineering 141, also started gathering at nearby tables, but the two seats on either side of Lin Ruoxi remained empty.

"We’re from Room 623. Let’s head to the classroom together later."

The group ate and chatted, occasionally stealing glances at Lin Ruoxi. They all remembered the beautiful girl who had helped clean Room 622; she had been the main topic of conversation in their dorm that afternoon.

’What a shame. She’s already taken.’

"Where are the girls from our class?" Qian Huabiao asked.

Lin Ruoxi pointed to two tables not far away, causing the guys to turn their heads and look.

After just a few seconds, they couldn’t help but look disappointed. After seeing Lin Ruoxi, their expectations had been set a little too high...

"There’s one named Jiang Yuan who’s pretty cute. Probably the second-prettiest in our class. I saw her yesterday," one of them said.

"Which one? Is she at one of those two tables? The name sounds familiar... I feel like I just heard it somewhere," Zhao Chaojie said, craning his neck to look over at the tables.

Qian Huabiao reminded him in a low voice, "Be subtle about it. Someone over there was just glaring in our direction."

"Here they come. She’s the one next to Xue Rui."