Chapter 42 part 1
Bai He was very busy.
After spending a few days getting everything on track, he had finally managed to arrange all the tasks that needed to be done. But it was only just the beginning.
Every day, his schedule was packed. This went on for about a month, and it wasn't until two of his courses wrapped up that he could finally catch his breath.
He was exhausted, but thoroughly enjoyed it.
As a third-year student in the Department of Language and Literature, Bai He had a lot to catch up on from the previous years. After negotiating with the college, he was allowed to focus on a few key courses, under the condition that he needed to score at least 90% in each to make up the credits for the other subjects.
While he was striving to complete his required credits, he also had to find time to earn his elective credits.
This was the only thing he hadn’t yet started preparing for. Elective credits came from various extracurricular activities, but Bai He had no time for them, so he had to put this aside for the time being.
One afternoon, shortly after "Lidong" (the start of winter), Bai He received a message in the class group chat, tagging all members.
The school was organizing a winter recruitment event for clubs, open to all students.
As usual, Bai He quickly skimmed through the message. His eyes caught on the last line—**any club member who serves in a club for one year will earn 24 elective credits.**
Startled, he quickly checked the date of the recruitment event. It was tomorrow!
Bai He immediately decided to visit the event the next day.
By the time his last class ended that afternoon, it was already 6 p.m. Bai He followed the crowd out of the teaching building, walking along the scenic avenue. This road was long, passing by the library and the art plaza of the Fine Arts Academy, and further ahead was the College of Literature.
He went upstairs to the self-study room to retrieve the books he had left there earlier. A student wearing headphones was now sitting in the spot he had previously used.
Bai He approached and gently tapped the student's shoulder. The person turned around, removing their headphones to look at Bai He.
“Sorry to bother you,” Bai He pointed at the books and notebook beside the student. “I’m just here to get my things.”
The boy hesitated for a moment, then quickly stood up, apologizing in a hushed voice, “I’m sorry, when I came in, all the seats were taken, and I saw this spot was empty, so I sat here for a bit.”
Bai He gathered his books into his arms and smiled, shaking his head. “It’s fine. The self-study room is for everyone. I’m leaving now, so feel free to keep using it.”
The boy stared at Bai He for a moment and suddenly tilted his head. “Are you Bai He from the College of Literature?”
Bai He looked up. “And you are?”
“I’m Xia Tian, a student from the Fine Arts Academy.” The boy flashed a big smile and extended his hand to Bai He. “Nice to meet you! I’ve heard about you for a while now!”
Surprised, Bai He shook Xia Tian’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
After a brief pause, Bai He asked, puzzled, “You’ve heard about me?”
“Yeah!” Xia Tian nodded enthusiastically, his voice rising a little before he realized they were still in the study room. He quickly lowered his head and whispered, “Let’s go outside. I was about to leave too.”
The two of them left the College of Literature together, walking along the avenue. Xia Tian finally explained, “The Fine Arts Academy has some professional classrooms on the first floor of your college, so I’ve been hanging out in your study room.”
He smiled brightly at Bai He as he continued, “My elder sister is Xia You, and my second brother is Xia Xiao Miao. Also, you’ve been quite popular on the school forum lately, so it’s hard *not* to hear about you.”
Bai He was taken aback, his face blank for a long moment. “Your sister and brother? Xia You and Xia Xiao Miao?”
They all had the surname Xia, and…
Bai He examined the boy in front of him more closely. His short hair was slightly curly, though not as curly as Xia Xiao Miao’s, and his facial features did resemble Xia You’s a bit. He was also taller than Xia Xiao Miao.
Bai He found it all rather curious.
“Exactly!” Xia Tian gave a playful smile and winked at Bai He. “My sister and brother have been arguing for a long time. They’re not talking to each other, and as the middleman, not only do I have to be their messenger, but I also end up being their punching bag. Neither of them knows that the other knows you, but I do!”
Bai He smiled warmly. Standing up straight, Xia Tian walked in a straight line along the cracks in the pavement. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a while. I think we could be great friends.”
Before Bai He could say anything, the talkative Xia Tian asked, “Bai He, are you interested in game design?”
The abrupt topic change caught Bai He off guard for a moment, but he nodded truthfully. “Yes, I am.”
“Then would you like to join our game design club?” Xia Tian suddenly grabbed Bai He’s wrist, his eyes sparkling. “Our club treats its members super well, with lots of perks! We’re even working on a project that might get picked up by a major company!”
After listening to Xia Tian’s enthusiastic pitch, Bai He slowly narrowed his eyes. He smiled and asked, “Do you want to be friends with me, or are you just trying to recruit me into your club?”
Xia Tian blushed slightly at Bai He’s smile and scratched the back of his head, standing up straight. “Both, of course! But mainly, I want to be friends!”
“Bai He, I know you’re amazing. There have been so many posts about you on the forum lately. You’ve only been here for a month, and you’ve already completed two required courses, both with scores above 90. That’s incredible! Our club needs someone who’s good at writing and planning. You won’t regret joining us! Come on, join us!”
Xia Tian shook Bai He’s arm, and Bai He sighed helplessly. Compared to the students at Alpha University, the students at Omega University seemed to have a softer nature. Over the past month, every student Bai He had met here had been considerate, polite, and well-mannered.
That’s not to say that Alpha University students weren’t well-behaved, but there were always a few oddballs like Zhang Wen Jing.
Bai He didn’t immediately agree to Xia Tian’s request. He only said, “I’ll go check out the recruitment event tomorrow.”
Xia Tian was happy enough with that answer. He stood on tiptoe and gave Bai He a quick hug, then pulled him along as they continued walking. “Come on, let’s go! I’ll treat you to something delicious! There’s a new dessert shop outside the school, and their cakes are amazing!”
Bai He let himself be dragged along. The two of them passed through the underground tunnel to the second campus. As they walked by the athletic field, Bai He noticed that the teaching building on the other side was crowded with people.
Omega University had two campuses: Campus One, which focused more on the humanities, and Campus Two, which focused on the sciences. About 80% of the students were based on Campus One, so Campus Two was relatively quiet.
However, Bai He had noticed that there seemed to be more students on Campus Two recently.
“Campus Two was expanded last year,” Xia Tian commented as he looked in that direction. Then he leaned closer to Bai He and whispered mysteriously, “I heard from a reliable source that our university is going to merge with Alpha University. I’ve seen a lot of students moving things over recently, so it’s probably true!”
Bai He slowly turned his head to look at Xia Tian, who was winking at him. “A reliable source?”
“Someone mentioned it on the forum,” Xia Tian chuckled, rubbing his chin. “That’s my only source! But seriously, just look over there. Don’t those students look way taller than the ones from our school?”
Following Xia Tian’s words, Bai He glanced over again. The nearest building was the newly constructed Life Sciences Academy, and students were busily moving books in and out. They did seem taller than the average students at Omega University.
After watching for a while, Bai He turned back to Xia Tian. “Where’s this dessert shop you mentioned?”
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