The moment they came out of the school gate, they saw Wang Mingtao and Mr. Wang waving at them from afar.

The two of them had equally brilliant smiles on their faces.

The five of them strode over.

Xie Minghai walked up to Wang Mingtao and sized him up carefully. He said strangely, “Mingtao, don’t tell me you’ve been slacking off at the training base?”

Wang Mingtao was displeased to hear this. “How could I have slacked off?”

After saying that, he even raised his head and puffed up his chest. He said proudly, “I’m the leader of our class!”

“I really can’t tell. Then why aren’t you especially tanned? During my military training back then, I became so tanned that even my mother didn’t recognize me.”

Yu Lei chimed in, “Me too. Back then, we only turned fairer again slightly after one semester.”

Wang Mingtao was also vexed. “How would I know? All the boys in our faculty became so tanned until they couldn’t stand it. I was the only one who didn’t get tanned. I was almost despised by them.

“And that group of terrifying girls. During the breaks, they would always stop me and ask me what sunscreen I used… Other than Sister Chu’s skincare products, I’ve never used sunscreen before!”

Wang Mingtao sounded aggrieved, but the smile on his face betrayed the smugness in his heart.

Mr. Wang couldn’t stand it anymore and smacked him on the forehead. “What are you showing off for, kid? Let me tell you, as a man, you have to be responsible. How dare you be flirty in front of girls? See if I don’t beat you up.”

Wang Mingtao looked wronged. “When did I flirt with girls? I just couldn’t avoid them.”

When Mr. Wang heard this, his expression suddenly turned serious. He even fake-coughed twice to clear his throat before saying to him earnestly, “I’m telling you not to sweet-talk a random girl, not to hide from all the girls. If you like her, you can woo her. Our family isn’t that old-fashioned.”

Wang Mingtao: “…”

“Pfft… Hahaha…”

“Uncle Wang is right. Mingtao, you have to find a girlfriend during your freshman year. By the time you’re a sophomore, the girls will have higher standards and will have become smarter. When the time comes, it will be difficult for you to woo them even if you wanted to.”

Chu Luo glanced at Xie Minghai, who looked experienced, and the corners of her lips twitched.

The group got into the car. Along the way, as Mr. Wang drove, Wang Mingtao kept talking about the interesting things that happened during the military training.

In the end, Wang Mingtao even said gloatingly, “When we went over, many people were looking for Sister Chu. They wanted to see what you looked like.

“During that period of time, everyone handed in their phones. Without any communication tools in the day, some boys secretly sent messages at night. Finally, one night, a few students were caught red-handed by the instructor. The instructor punished them to run for 10,000 meters. The next day, those people’s legs trembled so much that they couldn’t stand straight. It was terrible, hahaha…”

When the boys heard this, they also gloated.

Tang Zhiyun asked, “Did they find out that Junior didn’t go to military training?”

“They did.” Wang Mingtao shrugged. “But Sister Chu went to do something big. So what if she didn’t go for military training? She’s someone who has been approved by the school not to participate in the military training.”

After Wang Mingtao finished speaking, he turned around and winked at Chu Luo. “Sister Chu, I’m especially looking forward to everyone’s reaction when Professor Wu announces that you’re his student.”

When the boys heard this, they suddenly looked at each other.

Tang Zhiyun said to Chu Luo seriously, “Junior, there’s something I think you should know.”

“What?”

“Someone released news this afternoon that you didn’t go to military training because…”

“Because of what?” Wang Mingtao was even more anxious than Chu Luo. “Senior Brother Tang, don’t stop.”

“Someone said that Junior is a kept mistress of a person of high status. She went through the back door and didn’t participate in the military training.”

“F*ck!” Wang Mingtao jumped up in anger and was pulled back by the seatbelt.

Mr. Wang said angrily, “Rascal, sit properly. Are you trying to jump in the car?!”

Only then did Wang Mingtao sit down obediently.

Chu Luo was very calm. She asked, “Do you know who spread this?”

“The IP address is from the school’s Internet cafe. At that time, I hacked into the Internet cafe’s surveillance system and took a look. The person who went on that computer was very smart. At that time, he had been wearing a hat and a mask.”

“Who dares to defame Sister Chu like that?” Wang Mingtao said angrily. “I’ll clarify things for Sister Chu when we get back!”

“Do you think it would help if you speak up?” Tang Zhiyun told him not to be impulsive. “If we talk about this matter, we will put Junior in a more passive position. We might as well get the school’s heads to talk about it.”

At this point, Tang Zhiyun looked at Chu Luo. “Junior, what do you think?”

Chu Luo curled her lips. “Since someone wants to defame me, let them be smug for a while more.”

After saying that, she tapped her fingers on her knees and continued, “If nothing goes wrong, many things about me will be exposed tonight. We’ll see who it is then.”

The boys looked at each other and nodded.

The car arrived outside Wang Mingtao’s apartment building. The bunch of them got off and went upstairs.

Mrs. Wang had already prepared dinner and was waiting for them at home.

When Mrs. Wang saw them, she greeted them enthusiastically. She even held Chu Luo’s hand and said with a smile, “Little Chu, that set of cosmetics you gave me last time was very useful. Look at the corners of my eyes. Can’t see any wrinkles anymore.”

Chu Luo looked at the corners of her eyes and nodded. “If Auntie thinks it’s useful, I’ll send it to you when you’re done using this set. I’ll cover your cosmetics from now on.”

“Hahaha… Okay, okay, okay… I’ve waited for this sentence for decades. That blockhead of mine couldn’t come up with it. I didn’t expect Little Chu to say it. If only Little Chu was my daughter.”

“Mom, am I no good?” Wang Mingtao grinned and leaned over. He placed his head on his mother’s shoulder and rubbed against her head wheedlingly.

Mrs. Wang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his actions. She pushed his big head away with a look of disdain. “How old are you? Why are you still wheedling here? Don’t you feel embarrassed!”

Then, she added, “If you were a daughter like Chu Luo, I’ll let you wheedle as you please.”

Wang Mingtao clutched his chest. “Mom, I’m definitely not your biological child.”

“That’s right. You’re a freebie.”

“…”

Seeing how Wang Mingtao looked like he had been dealt a heavy blow, Mr. Wang and the boys laughed out loud. “Hahahaha…”

Chu Luo looked at Wang Mingtao who was clowning around and smiled.

Mrs. Wang glanced at Wang Mingtao, who seemed to have been dealt a heavy blow. She patted his shoulder and said, “Look at how prescient I was. I asked you to bring the skincare products that Little Chu gave me. You’re not very tanned now because of that, eh?”

Wang Mingtao looked enlightened. “So it’s because of the lotion Sister Chu gave me. I thought I was born unsusceptible to getting tanned!”

“Forget it. Have you forgotten how tanned you got during your high school military training?”

Wang Mingtao stopped talking.

Mrs. Wang waved at everyone. “Let’s go eat first. Otherwise, the food will turn cold.”

Everyone chatted and laughed as they walked over to eat.

After a joyous dinner, Chu Luo and the others sat in the Wang residence for a while before returning to Imperial University.

Today, all the freshmen had returned. It was much more lively inside and outside Imperial University.

When the five of them entered the school gate, someone stopped Chu Luo.

“Are you Chu Luo?”

Before Chu Luo could answer, she was shielded by the four boys.

At this moment, many people had stopped to watch.

Tang Zhiyun said politely, “Classmate, you have the wrong person.”

Chu Luo was wearing a mask. The male voice craned his neck to look at her but was blocked by Tang Zhiyun.

The boy scratched his head and was a little unsure. “Aren’t you the brilliant senior brothers in computer science? I heard that the girl walking with you is Chu Luo.”

Xie Minghai grinned. “Classmate, you really got the wrong person. She’s my younger sister. My biological sister. She’s here to see me today.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course…” Xie Minghai spouted nonsense in a serious tone. “Junior, you’re a freshman, right? If you want to see Junior Chu, you can see her during class. This is my younger sister. She just got off the train. I still have to bring her to the school’s guesthouse to register for accommodation. We’ll leave first.”

“Oh, oh.” The boy subconsciously moved aside.

Chu Luo walked into the school gate under the protection of the four boys.

As they walked to the bicycle parking lot, a boy happened to be standing by a bike talking on the phone. Beside him stood a girl.

The girl was complaining to him. “You’ve been calling for half an hour. Can’t you stop calling?”

The boy glanced at her and said to the person on the other end of the phone, “We’ll discuss the rest in person tomorrow.”

After saying that, he hung up and said to the girl, “Sorry, the New Year’s Gala is coming up soon. There are a lot of things going on in the Student Union, so I have to confirm some things.”

“You’re obviously the Head of Publicity. Why do I feel that you’re even busier than the Head of Arts?”

The boy smiled and pushed the bike over to sit in the front seat. He said, “We’re all busy. After these two days, I’ll accompany you wherever you want to go during National Day.”

The girl sat down and hugged his waist, leaning her head on his back. She said, “Previously, you said that the president asked the art department to reserve a show. What does the president want to do? Could it be that he’s really prepared to perform himself? But how would he have the time to prepare when he’s so busy?”

“I don’t know about that either.”

The two of them rode away.