After sitting together in a corner of the hall, Lu Yaoqing finally had the chance to converse with this young woman highly praised by Old Li. He also took the opportunity to get a good look at her, and his first impression was: This person has an excellent demeanor!
This wasn’t to say he thought Qin Chaoyu’s appearance was lacking. On the contrary, he felt that among the women he had met, few could rival her looks. But there was no helping it—this was a woman whose demeanor outshone even her appearance, and compared to looks, he valued demeanor more.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” Qin Chaoyu said, feeling somewhat awkward because she genuinely didn’t know what to talk about with this person. She had this flaw: when meeting someone for the first time, she never knew how to engage in conversation. Unless absolutely necessary, she wouldn’t take the initiative to talk to others.
Lu Yaoqing also noticed Qin Chaoyu’s discomfort. Being naturally perceptive, he decided to lighten the mood with a joke: “It’s all Old Li’s fault. He kept praising you in front of me, which naturally piqued my curiosity. Now that I’ve met you, I see you truly live up to your reputation.”
“That’s right, I did mention you to Yaoqing,” Old Li stroked his beard and said to Qin Chaoyu. “Young friend, don’t blame this old man for being talkative.”
Previously, he had been so excited about meeting Qin Chaoyu that he couldn’t help but bring it up during a phone call with Yaoqing, showering her with praise. There was nothing inherently wrong with that, but now that the person in question knew about it, it felt a bit awkward.
Qin Chaoyu shook her head. “Not at all! I’m actually happy that Old Li praised me in front of others!”
“In that case, I’ll make sure to praise you more in front of others from now on. Haha!”
“Sure, I don’t mind!”
Lu Yaoqing watched with fascination as Old Li and Qin Chaoyu chatted so intimately. He could tell that the two of them genuinely interacted as equals. This only deepened his curiosity about Qin Chaoyu.
His relationship with Old Li wasn’t merely that of superior and subordinate. Although he was the young master of Tongrentang, and Old Li was just a resident physician at one of its branches, the truth was that Old Li worked there only because he wanted to. With Old Li’s medical skills, Tongrentang wouldn’t have been able to hire him otherwise.
Old Li had a personal friendship with the elders of the Lu family. Lu Yaoqing could be said to have grown up under Old Li’s watchful eye. When he was young, Old Li had even taught him medicine for a while. Though they weren’t formally master and disciple, Lu Yaoqing treated Old Li as his teacher and held him in great respect. Yet, despite Old Li’s gentle nature, it was rare to see him treat others as equals—the few exceptions being peers whose medical skills were on par with his own. The fact that Old Li treated Qin Chaoyu as an equal meant he believed this young woman’s medical skills could rival his own.
This realization surprised Lu Yaoqing, but given his personality, even if he learned of this, he would simply keep it in mind. Moreover, he had his own business to attend to in Yuzhou this time. No matter how remarkable this young woman was, he had no spare attention to give her now.
~
A month had passed since the start of the semester, and the freshmen’s initial excitement about the university had mostly faded. As the saying goes, idle hands make mischief, and so the annual Yuzhou University Department and Campus Beauty Rankings began.
All three members of Qin Chaoyu’s dormitory made the list. Qin Chaoyu, of course, was undeniably stunning. Qian Fangyuan, while not breathtakingly beautiful, was still undeniably pretty—adorable in a way that melted hearts. As for Bai Pengpeng, she was the type to leave people awestruck at first glance. Her features were exquisitely refined, paired with a fiery figure that made her resemble a dazzling rose. Yet, despite her striking appearance, she had a pair of innocent, straightforward eyes that softened some of her natural allure, lending her a touch of purity. This only made her even more captivating, though she remained oblivious to her own charm.
The rankings took two weeks to finalize, resulting in a Top Ten Campus Beauties list. All three members of Qin Chaoyu’s dormitory made the cut, with Bai Pengpeng even taking first place. Overnight, their dormitory became famous. Soon, they noticed unfamiliar faces in their classes—students from other departments coming to catch a glimpse of the beauties. They were also frequently approached by men asking for their contact information, which annoyed the trio and left them baffled.
It wasn’t until a classmate explained the situation that they understood what was happening. Unsurprisingly, none of them frequented Yuzhou University’s online forums, so they had been completely unaware of the rankings.
As for the beauty rankings, apart from Qian Fangyuan preening a little over her appearance, Qin Chaoyu and Bai Pengpeng had only one feeling: annoyance!
After this incident, Qian Fangyuan declared that to prevent their dormitory from remaining out of the loop in the future, she—a self-sacrificing soul—would bravely step forward and dedicate some of her study time to browsing the forums, keeping up with the latest campus news.
The truth, as Qin Chaoyu and the others knew, was simply that Qian Fangyuan loved gossip.
The hype from the beauty rankings was short-lived. After a while, the excitement died down, and Qin Chaoyu settled back into her routine: attending classes, working at Tongrentang on weekends, and occasionally going out with her roommates to shop or eat. This lifestyle finally gave her the sense that she, too, was a young woman in the bloom of youth.
As National Day approached, the atmosphere on campus grew noticeably different. This year, the holiday coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, extending the break to nine days.
Nine days—plenty of time to plan a proper trip or something similar.
But Qin Chaoyu’s only plan was to work at Tongrentang. She had grown accustomed to her shifts there. Though the number of patients was small, it still allowed her to practice medicine, treating patients while refining the skills her master had taught her.
Qian Fangyuan, on the other hand, was traveling abroad with her parents. As she put it, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to stay in the country—it was just that during holidays, tourist spots were so crowded you’d end up seeing more people than scenery.
Miao Zhaodi had found a part-time job and would naturally spend the holiday working. She was content; though the job was somewhat demanding, it paid 2,000 yuan a month. If she budgeted carefully, she might even save some money.
Each had their own plans, and when the holiday arrived, they went their separate ways.
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