As they proceeded, they chatted about schoolwork. As a senior and a proverbial old timer at Capital University, Zhou Hongjin could tell He Zhilan which roads in the university were the most beautiful during each season, and which shops on the commercial street served the most delicious food. They chatted all the way until they reached Zhilan’s dormitory building.
However, when they got off the bike, Zhilan found the dormitory door tightly closed and felt like crying, was there a curfew even during the National Day holiday?
"Your girls’ dormitory is so strict~," Zhou Hongjin remarked before suggesting, "Shall we try the dormitory manager’s door?"
Zhilan nodded. It was a must. If the manager didn’t wake up to open the door for her, would she have to sleep on the street tonight?
Nevertheless, they underestimated the dormitory manager’s deep sleep. Despite their loud knocking, the person inside kept snoring heavily.
"What should we do?" Zhilan looked up at Hongjin, then laughed despite her misfortune, "I seem to be quite unlucky. It’s my first night back late and I encountered the night of the dormitory manager’s deep sleep."
Hongjin didn’t expect that a new student’s dormitory would have such strict management, so after thinking for a bit, he suggested tentatively, "How about, you come to my dormitory?"
Seeing Zhilan’s astonished eyes, he immediately explained, "The International Studies graduate student dormitory is different from yours, ours is a newly built suite, constructed together with the teachers’ dormitory, right next to it. You can come to my place, you can sleep in my room, and I can sleep in my roommate’s room."
Upon hearing this, Zhilan was somewhat envious, "You guys really have great conditions."
"Indeed, everyone envies us." Zhou Hongjin shamelessly told Zhilan that he enjoyed better conditions than most graduate students because of his family’s influence.
"Well then, I have no other choice, it’s a bother but can senior Zhou take me back? Tonight I will have to continue occupying senior Zhou’s room, I feel quite lucky to have met you, senior Zhou seems to be the unlucky one." Upon hearing there were also other students in Zhou Hongjin’s dormitory, Zhilan felt much more at ease; at least they wouldn’t be alone, there would be a third person around.
"How so?" Zhou Hongjin laughed and opened the car door for Zhilan then drove her towards his dormitory. In Zhou Hongjin’s mind, how could this be bad luck? Only god knew, how relieved and happy he was at the moment.
Zhou Hongjin’s dormitory was quite a distance from Zhilan’s, considering it was very late and people were likely resting, they remained silent as they ascended the five floors.
"We’re here, come in." As soon as Zhou Hongjin opened the door, he immediately checked to make sure that his room, which he had cleaned before the holiday, was not too dirty or messy, he sighed in relief.
Zhilan followed Hongjin into his room, looked around, and then stuck out her tongue. This dormitory was even better than He Hongmei’s teacher’s dormitory at the town high school, it was just a bit smaller.
"This is my room, it’s fairly clean. There are clean duvet covers and bed sheets in the top cabinet, I’ll change them for you later, sit in the living room for a bit while I tidy up." Since it was his private residence there might be some personal stuff that needed to be put away, so Zhou Hongjin poured Zhangilan a glass of water and asked her to wait for a bit.