Chapter 0034: Song and Smile

In Zhao Fusheng's impression, Ninghai Normal University had quite a few beauties, and recently during classes, he had indeed seen many pretty girls.

Generally speaking, in most female dormitories, having one attractive girl was the baseline, two or three was a surprise, and if there were more than three, it was definitely a goddess apartment.

And clearly, among Hu Xia's roommates, there were two beauties, no wonder Wen Yu and Wang Zhen were so eager to come.

Girls studying at a normal university, as long as they weren't too ugly, always had an indescribable temperament. Like Hu Xia's two beautiful roommates, they always wore faint smiles on their faces, with a temperament like orchids.

What surprised him even more was that there was actually another person here.

"I heard Tan Kaixuan was treating, so I came to join the fun," Mu Qingqing said to Tan Kaixuan with a smile, but her gaze was fixed on Zhao Fusheng behind Tan Kaixuan.

The others exchanged glances; Wang Zhen and Wen Yu smiled at each other, a knowing smile that only men understood.

Tan Kaixuan shook his head helplessly, his gaze turning to Zhao Fusheng with a hint of inquiry.

No matter what, even if Mu Qingqing had come with Hu Xia, if Zhao Fusheng felt uncomfortable, Tan Kaixuan would not let a friend be troubled because of him.

That was his character, unchanged over the years.

Zhao Fusheng smiled faintly, his expression calm, glancing at Mu Qingqing, "Since you're here, let's eat together."

Regardless, he had no bad impression of Mu Qingqing and didn't mind having dinner with such a stunning beauty. As for whether Mu Qingqing would take the opportunity to persuade him to join the poetry society, in Zhao Fusheng's view, his earlier performance had already moved this beauty, and she probably wouldn't ask for trouble.

Sure enough, Mu Qingqing didn't bring up the matter of Zhao Fusheng joining the poetry society, just chatted idly with Hu Xia and the others.

Zhao Fusheng was quite satisfied with this outcome, eating his food at leisure, occasionally chatting with his roommates, completely at ease.

Since it wasn't a mixer but just a celebration of Hu Xia and Tan Kaixuan finally becoming a couple, and everyone was in the same class, except for Mu Qingqing, the others were already familiar with each other, so the atmosphere at the table was naturally good.

Even though Mu Qingqing wasn't familiar with the group, she seemed to have an innate affinity; even Wen Yu and Wang Zhen, meeting her for the first time, soon became her fans. Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but sigh that heroes have a hard time getting past the beauty barrier—this was indeed a world that judged by looks.

The atmosphere at the table was quite good; everyone drank a lot, except for the self-disciplined Zhao Fusheng, who only had a few glasses, citing his recent poor health.

As for the others, including Mu Qingqing, they all drank more than two bottles.

As for today's protagonist Tan Kaixuan, he was naturally the main target of "attention," and on top of that, he had to act as a black knight to shield his girlfriend Hu Xia from drinks, so he was indeed quite tipsy. But fortunately, the guy had a strong tolerance for alcohol—he could down two jin of baijiu—so a bit of beer only made him a little dizzy, nothing more.

"Brother, thank you!"

Holding Zhao Fusheng, Tan Kaixuan repeated only these four words over and over.

Though not drunk, alcohol always excites people and brings out true feelings, and Tan Kaixuan was like that at this moment.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't be bothered with this guy. Even though he knew Tan Kaixuan meant it sincerely, a man full of alcohol breath hugging him still annoyed him.

After dinner, the group decided to go sing karaoke. Watching the cheerful Tan Kaixuan, Zhao Fusheng silently decided that before he earned enough money, he absolutely would not fall in love.

Are you kidding? A meal cost over three hundred yuan, plus the karaoke expenses, at least five hundred yuan gone.

This was 1999; five hundred yuan was enough for Zhao Fusheng to live on for over half a month.

People need to be realistic; life isn't a TV drama, where the heroine who suffers for the hero never takes an interest in the man who makes her work hard.

Women might like a man who is interesting, has charm, is handsome, charismatic, and mature, but they definitely don't like one who can only take them to eat cabbage and potatoes.

It's not that women are materialistic, but if you can't let her cry in a BMW, at least don't make her reluctant to even take a taxi.

However, what surprised Zhao Fusheng even more was that Mu Qingqing also wanted to go sing karaoke.

"Maybe this counts as experiencing life?" A bizarre thought suddenly popped into his mind. Zhao Fusheng felt that Mu Qingqing and karaoke just didn't match.

Little did he know, it was because his impression of Mu Qingqing had always been that of a goddess to be admired from afar but not touched; the distance was too great, so he couldn't see her true face clearly.

Regardless, Mu Qingqing was only twenty this year; after all, she was just a girl.

It had to be said, Tan Kaixuan was a born leader; no wonder he ended up as the most successful among his classmates in his previous life.

Once inside the karaoke bar, the guy turned into a mic hog, singing English songs, Cantonese songs, even folk songs, and he specifically chose love songs, which really made Hu Xia shine in front of her girlfriends.

"Love Story," "Beautiful Girl."

Song after song that Zhao Fusheng had never heard before were sung by these young boys and girls. Watching the noisy crowd around him and listening to unfamiliar songs, for some reason, Zhao Fusheng's heart suddenly felt desolate. He thought of the time he had spent, the figures that had disappeared from his memory, the people who were clearly in his memory but seemed never to have appeared in this world. For a moment, as if struck by the immense force of time and space, his mood inexplicably sank.

"What's wrong with you?" Someone noticed Zhao Fusheng's dejection—it was Mu Qingqing.

"Nothing."

Forcing a smile, Zhao Fusheng perked up, "Why aren't you singing?"

To be honest, although he hadn't lacked women in his previous life, Zhao Fusheng really didn't have much experience in dealing with girls.

Bullied by Fan Baobao since childhood, he always had an unconscious defensiveness towards pretty girls. He didn't have a girlfriend during his four years of college, and after graduation, he was busy striving and starting a business, eventually returning home in failure in his early thirties. Under his parents' urging, he met his wife through a blind date and got married after half a year of dating.

Ten years later, because they had no children, they eventually parted ways.

So, Zhao Fusheng's experience with women was limited to talking at length about advertising marketing and planning on dates, making his girlfriend at the time drowsy, or diligently writing plans at the table, leaving his wife bored enough to play on her phone.

Of course, he had heard from his roommates stories about nervously holding hands on campus or passionate first kisses in secluded places.

But the problem was, in Zhao Fusheng's view, when you're unsure of the other person's feelings, you shouldn't reveal your emotions too much; you should approach them little by little, making them develop a liking for you. He might not be a Casanova who could charm women effortlessly, but he knew not to pull a girl's ponytail or lift her skirt to get her attention like he did as a child.

But no matter what, Zhao Fusheng never expected that Mu Qingqing would be interested in him.