How Much for a Pound of Cuteness

The carrot was an upperclassman with high EQ—especially when a pretty junior sister was involved. Talking to a witty and courteous person like him gave Chu Zhi a sense of comfort.

He accompanied her to find the registrar's office and the girls' dormitory. Throughout the morning, they exchanged their names, majors, classes, and finally, phone numbers.

Since it was the last day for check-ins, the campus was swarming with freshmen. By the time Chu Zhi retrieved her uniform for military training and arrived at the dormitory, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon.

Her dorm room was located in the corner of the second floor. There were four beds, a separate bathroom, and a small balcony. Three people were already inside, which meant Chu Zhi was the last to arrive. Coincidentally, the black-haired stick she saw at the campus entrance was one of her roommates.

She recognized Chu Zhi first, mainly because Chu Zhi hadn't seen what she looked like.

The black-haired stick's face and front view were just as beautiful as her back view. With an expression of pleasant surprise, she introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Lin Tong. Wow, I can't believe we're roommates! It must be fate. And um, didn't I call you short earlier this morning? I meant to say your height is adorable, hahaha."

"..."

'Please stop trying to explain yourself.'

"My name is Chu Zhi," she said. "My height is one meter sixty^(5'3"/160cm)."

She then paused and murmured, "... with shoes on."

At that, all three of her new roommates laughed. Chu Zhi let out a gloomy sigh.

Was she not allowed to defend her dignity? Her shortie heart was a fragile one!

Lin Tong came from Chengdu and had a very cheerful and pleasant personality. As a greeting gift, she gave Chu Zhi and the others each a handful of spicy hotpot seasoning. The packaging was transparent, and the bright color of the seasoning stirred their appetites.

Thus, the four girls slapped their thighs and decided to get acquainted over a hotpot meal after their class assembly.

They all had to sleep early because military training was starting the next day. After the assembly ended, they went out together and found a hotpot restaurant near the campus.

The storefront had an ancient Chinese vibe to it, and inside, the carved wooden tables and chairs were sectioned off in booths. The air was rich with the aroma of spicy hotpot.

The dippings were self-served. In the middle of the hotpot shop, there was a rectangular table with several large glass bowls of seasoning. Its bottom shelf was filled with stacks of clean plates. Off to the side, there were additional bowls containing a variety of fruit and vegetable salad.

After ordering, Chu Zhi leaned back in her seat and waited for her roommates to return. When they placed their dippings on the table, she stood up to get her own dippings.

The northern and the southern regions were very different from each other when it came to hotpot and dipping sauces. As someone who had a foot in both worlds and attended elementary school in the south, Chu Zhi liked to eat hotpot with two types of dippings mixed together.

The classic northern hotpot dipping, the "Old Three," involved mixing sesame paste, chives, and a small chunk of fermented bean curd together to create a type of transparent liquid. After adding some oyster sauce, garlic, and a sprinkle of green onions and cilantro to it, the dipping glittered like glazed water.

Soon, Chu Zhi finished making the dipping. Holding the bowl in one hand, she turned around...

And tripped over someone.

'???'

'Where did this squatting person come from?'

With a soft cry of alarm, Chu Zhi lost her balance. She instinctively reached out to try to steady herself. The saucer that was in her left hand slipped from her palm, and most of the sesame paste dip in her right hand spilled out of its bowl^[1].

[1] I've never been to a hotpot restaurant before so I'm not 100% certain, but I guess she grabbed an empty saucer along with the bowl of dipping sauce she made so she could transfer the dipping into the saucer in small amounts as she eats? I was confused as I translated this because there was no mention of a saucer before.

Chu Zhi looked down and froze.

The squatting man hadn't registered the mishap yet. His long arm was still stretched out towards the bottom shelf as he held a clean plate in his other hand. The saucer had landed on his head.

At this crucial moment of life and death, Chu Zhi's mind was still blank. Dazedly, she stared at him.

Suddenly, for some reason, she was reminded of the Uyghur lamb kebab stalls in Xinjiang^[2]. The stall owners would wear little white caps, just like the little saucer, and stand by the road as they grilled kebabs and loudly advertised their goodies.

The crisp sound of collision between the saucer and the floor snapped Chu Zhi out of her daze. The lamb kebab guy, whose little white cap had just fallen, finally raised his head and looked at her.

In his hair, a colorful masterpiece made with oil, chopped onions, garlic, and cilantro was on display.

Below it was a high nose bridge, thin lips, and a pair of peach blossom eyes.

When she realized who the man was, she let out a dumbfounded "ah."

'It's the cola man!'

But right now, he looked nothing like he did the first time she saw him. His inky black hair was wet, and a few beads of oil clung from his eyelashes. To put it bluntly, he looked like a mess.

She'd spilled almost an entire bowl of dipping sauce on his head; it was already beginning to drip down from his hair, trickling past his brow ridge and along the corners of his eyes to gather at his jawline.

Two glistening streams of oil, like trails of tears, slid down his expressionless face and dripped onto the floor in what felt like slow motion.