Hailong now deeply regrets why he was so vain and insisted on joining the student council back then. Now, the department head requires all student council members to participate in the music competition as part of the logistics team, and they cannot be absent, or they will lose credits. Hailong was embarrassed when he heard this.
Logistics essentially means doing odd jobs. For example, what Hailong is doing now is dejectedly tidying up the chairs and tables at the competition venue. Over a hundred student council members are busy in the large auditorium, with a few teachers on the stage constantly directing everyone to clean up. Hailong sighed and could only continue working. What bad luck, being called to work here so early in the morning. He originally planned to sleep in today. Recently, he has to control the Dragon King to go to the crab area to catch crabs every night, and the fastest time it takes is more than two hours. After doing this, Hailong still has to continue exploring the Devil Sea, and he doesn't go to bed until after midnight every day, leaving him completely exhausted. Moreover, Hailong was woken up at 8 a.m. today, which is just too much.
While Hailong was complaining to himself, he suddenly felt an extremely unfriendly gaze fixed on him. This gaze made Hailong feel a chill down his spine. He immediately looked up to find the source, but as soon as he raised his head, that chilling feeling disappeared. He looked around and saw that everyone was working, and no one seemed to be looking at him. However, Hailong knew that someone must have intended to harm him. He thought, "Could it be one of Guan Dahu's men? How did they get into the school?" Hailong carefully examined everyone's faces, trying to find the person who might be Guan Dahu's man. Unfortunately, everyone looked like a student. He thought, "It doesn't seem like Guan Dahu's men. How could someone like Guan Dahu have followers to take revenge for him? He doesn't have that kind of charisma. If it's not Guan Dahu's men, then why would someone in this group have such strong hostility towards me?" Unfortunately, everyone was working, and Hailong couldn't read their expressions.
Since Hailong's soul devoured the Dragon King's soul, he has become extremely sensitive to changes in his environment, especially to whether someone's gaze is hostile. As long as they are within a few dozen meters, Hailong can clearly sense it. He has analyzed the reason for this, possibly because devouring the Dragon King's soul made his soul stronger, or because the heavy killing he did while controlling the Dragon King made him sensitive to hostile gazes. Although he doesn't know the exact reason, Hailong has indeed gained this ability.
While Hailong was looking around, at the corner of the second floor, the student council president, Sun Bo, was hiding and staring at Hailong intently. "This guy, how could Hu Jing actually ignore me for him? As the student council president, how am I inferior to this poor guy? He's wearing cheap knockoff Versace, does he really think he's wearing a brand name? He should look in the mirror and see what he looks like."
Ever since he met Hu Jing, Sun Bo has been captivated by her beauty. Although Sun Bo wanted to pursue Hu Jing, he already had a girlfriend. Sun Bo spent a month breaking up with his ex-girlfriend, but when he finally did, he found that a guy named Hailong had taken the opportunity to win Hu Jing's favor. This made Sun Bo extremely angry. Sun Bo wanted to teach Hailong a lesson, but Hailong often skipped classes, making it hard to find him. Today, Sun Bo finally got his chance and wanted to see what kind of person Hailong was.
Hailong looked around but couldn't find the source of the gaze, so he gave up and continued working. He noticed that the teachers were looking at him several times, and he was the only one not working, which made him stand out. This level of hostility didn't scare Hailong at all. For someone who fights with a two-meter-long yellow fish every day, this was nothing. The feeling of being inches away from death was much worse than that gaze. He decided to continue working.
Hailong didn't expect that this work would last from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it only ended an hour before the opening ceremony. When the teachers announced that the logistics team could rest, Hailong, exhausted, barely made it to his seat and lay down on the chair, unable to move.
He didn't bother watching the school's opening ceremony, where the first row of seats was occupied by the principal, department heads, and student representatives, who spoke for over an hour. Hailong fell asleep listening to them.
When the music started, Hailong perked up. As a homebody, he was also looking forward to seeing the charm of the goddesses at Donghai University. Indeed, as a national key university, the quality of the girls here was much higher than at other schools. They were all natural beauties, and the audience was cheering wildly. When the host announced that the next performer was Hu Jing, Hailong immediately sat up straight, ready to watch her performance. When Hu Jing appeared, Hailong was stunned. This wasn't Hu Jing; it was Jolin Tsai from the MV "Look at Me 72 Changes," with the same big eyes, the same smile, and the same long ponytail. Seeing Hailong's expression, a friend nearby asked, "Is this the girl you're pursuing?" Hailong nodded, and the friend said, "Go up and give her flowers. This is a great opportunity, don't miss it."
Hailong felt a bit embarrassed, as he had never done such a thing before and was a bit nervous about doing it in front of 3,000 people. As a few friends pushed him towards the stage, a guy behind Hailong suddenly bumped into him and walked up to the stage with a bouquet of flowers. Seeing Hu Jing smile and take the flowers, saying "thank you," Hailong couldn't sit still. When the guy came down, Hailong glared at him angrily, then went to the stage, picked up a bouquet of flowers prepared by the event, and walked up to give them to Hu Jing. When Hailong handed the flowers to Hu Jing, she smiled, and her song became even sweeter. The timing was perfect, as it was during the interlude. Hu Jing put down the microphone and said, "I thought you weren't coming. I didn't see you earlier. Thanks for the flowers." She smiled sweetly at Hailong. Hailong, who had mustered the courage to go on stage, was stunned by Hu Jing's beauty, especially after seeing her up close. Her smile completely broke down his defenses. He didn't know how he got off the stage, but Hu Jing's sweet smile stayed in his mind, lingering and refusing to leave.
After getting off the stage, Hailong's friends from the disciplinary committee said, "Hailong, you're so lucky. Such a beautiful girl actually favors you." Hailong laughed.
Hu Jing smoothly passed the preliminary and semi-final rounds but was eliminated in the quarter-finals, placing eighth. Hailong knew Hu Jing must be very disappointed and probably sad in the backstage area. Thinking of her sad face, Hailong quickly went backstage.
He found Hu Jing sitting alone in a corner. Hailong walked up to her and said, "What's wrong, beautiful? Disappointed about not getting first place?"
Hu Jing looked up and said dejectedly, "I felt I performed exceptionally well, but I still didn't make it to the finals. During my performance, I heard someone in the audience say I was lip-syncing. I was singing live, so to prove it, I deliberately slowed down by half a beat. But because of that, I was eliminated. I feel so bad, Hailong."
Hailong patted Hu Jing's back and said, "Let me take you somewhere nice to cheer you up."
Hu Jing nodded, and Hailong left the backstage area, which was off-limits to men because the girls were changing clothes.
Back in the audience, the judges were scoring, but the performances on stage hadn't ended. The host said, "Next, please welcome our handsome student council president, Sun Bo, to perform a piano piece. Let's give him a round of applause."
Sun Bo was surprisingly popular among the students. Even though his performance was terrible, with notes that didn't match, the audience still cheered. Hailong thought Sun Bo's piano skills were terrible. The climax of the piece was very difficult to play, requiring advanced techniques to produce such complex notes. But when it came to the climax, Sun Bo suddenly stopped, and the accompaniment continued. It turned out Sun Bo had never intended to play that part. Hailong felt disdain. The best part of the piece was the climax, which he hadn't played.
After the event, Hailong took Hu Jing's hand and led her to a secluded place on campus. At night, it looked like a maze, and in the center of the maze was an open area with long benches around it. Hailong led Hu Jing to a bench and said, "Look up at the sky." Hu Jing looked up and exclaimed, "Look, why are the stars in the sky above the maze in a straight line? So many stars arranged like that, it's so beautiful."
Hailong chuckled and said, "I found this place a long time ago, so I brought you here today."
Hu Jing smiled and leaned on Hailong's shoulder, saying, "Thank you. You always cheer me up when I'm sad. I feel much better."
Hailong smiled and said, "Silly girl, are you still sad about the competition?"
Hu Jing nodded silently, and Hailong patted her head, saying, "Silly girl, do you really think this is a competition?"
Hu Jing seemed to realize something and said, "What do you mean? Isn't this a competition?"
"What competition? The rankings were decided long ago. This isn't a competition; it's a way for the school to help soon-to-graduate students improve their employment rates. You know our school is a science and engineering school, and female students basically face unemployment after graduation. To help female students find good jobs, the school has set up this stage for the seniors. In the coming weeks, there will be more competitions, and you'll see that the winners are all seniors. Your placing today was already quite unexpected."
Hu Jing looked at Hailong in surprise and said, "How can this be? I thought this was a real competition. I did so much preparation for it. Why did I do all that?"
Seeing Hu Jing's agitated state, Hailong quickly sat her down and said, "School is like half of society; you'll get used to it." Seeing Hu Jing become sad again, Hailong told her some funny stories from the school's past. Since Hailong lived near the school and often shopped at the university supermarket, he often heard interesting stories. After adding some details, he made Hu Jing laugh. Seeing her no longer sad, Hailong said, "Not sad anymore, right?"
Hu Jing, leaning on Hailong's shoulder, said happily, "You're so funny, I can't be sad. You're so nice."
Hu Jing said enviously, "Your family must be great. You're so optimistic, it's really enviable."
Hailong said helplessly, "What's there to envy? My father passed away when I was in high school, and my mother worked hard to raise me. My optimism was forced upon me."
It was the first time Hailong looked a bit sad, and Hu Jing said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up your sad memories."
Hailong chuckled and said, "It's okay, don't just talk about me. Tell me about yourself."
Hu Jing said, "My family has a farm, and we can grow whatever we want. It's so much fun." They talked until late at night. When Hu Jing started to feel sleepy, Hailong took her back to her dorm. At the dorm entrance, Hu Jing, perhaps feeling attached to Hailong, said sadly, "Why is happy time always so short?"
Hearing this, Hailong looked at Hu Jing and said, "Why do you say that? You look so sad."
Hu Jing's eyes showed a sad expression, looking lonely and helpless in the moonlight. She said, "I don't want to talk about it, it's just some sad things."
Seeing Hu Jing's sad expression, Hailong felt very heartbroken. He wanted to hug her and comfort her, but he couldn't do that. Such a frivolous act would make Hu Jing look down on him. Hailong also didn't want to part with Hu Jing. Seeing that the convenience store next to the dorm was still open, Hailong took Hu Jing's hand and went in, buying a beautiful diary. He said to Hu Jing, "Why don't we write diaries? You write one, and I write one. What do you think?"
Hailong's idea surprised Hu Jing, and she said happily, "How did you think of that? Great idea. Let's write diaries. I'll write one for you, and you write one for me. I'll tell you about the things that happen to me." Hu Jing happily took the diary and went back to the dorm. Seeing Hu Jing go upstairs, Hailong turned to go home, his mind full of Hu Jing's various expressions, feeling as sweet as honey.
Back in the dorm, Hu Jing couldn't calm down. In high school, Hu Jing had a boyfriend, but she put her studies first. Even so, she felt she had invested a lot of emotion. However, her boyfriend cheated on her, and she saw him hugging her best friend by the river. Hu Jing's heart was broken, and she cut ties with her boyfriend, focusing on her studies. Her once-broken heart was frozen.
Now in college, Hu Jing longed for a sweet romance, but the pain of her first love made her hesitant to accept love easily. She was like a snail, cautiously touching those who got close to her, and if anything felt wrong, she would retreat into her shell, making it hard for others to approach.
For Hailong, Hu Jing had a strange feeling. She never thought that their first encounter would be the beginning of their destiny. Hailong kept running into her, and she wondered if he was deliberately creating these encounters. But upon reflection, it seemed impossible. The first encounter was when she sat in Hailong's seat, the second was when she went to practice singing next to his house, the third was when she took Hailong's hand, and the fourth was when she discovered his classroom was next to hers. Each encounter seemed to be initiated by her, as if she was the one approaching him. Thinking about this, Hu Jing, hiding in her bed, blushed and her heart pounded. She thought, "Does Hailong think I'm the one approaching him?" She shook her head to clear this thought, thinking, "There are so many boys who want to pursue me. If you think you have a chance, I'll kick you." She took a few deep breaths to calm her heart, then thought about Hailong again. Whenever she was in pain, Hailong was there to comfort her like a big brother, making her feel very warm and safe.
While Hu Jing was thinking about Hailong, her three roommates suddenly pulled back her blanket, making her scream, "What are you doing? You're so mean."
The oldest roommate said seriously, "Hey, have you noticed that our little Jing is acting strange lately?"
The second roommate continued, "Yeah, she didn't cry after losing the singing competition and is hiding in her bed with a happy face. What's going on?"
The youngest roommate chimed in, "Could it be that Brother Hailong has given our sister infinite power? Love is so great."
The three roommates' words made Hu Jing blush. She grabbed the blanket and hid in it, saying, "I'm not talking to you. You're just bullying me." This made the three roommates laugh.