After a brief introduction, there wasn't much further conversation.
In Qin Tian's opinion, this first roommate was quite similar to his father in personality, both being rather quiet.
Qin Tian chose the bed on the left, closer to the inside, and began unpacking his luggage, taking his clothes out of the suitcase one by one and placing them in the wardrobe beneath the bed.
Xia Nuannuan, meanwhile, helped him arrange the daily necessities he had bought and then washed the bedsheets and quilt covers.
Her movements were noticeably clumsy, but she washed them very diligently.
"Nuannuan, you don't need to put so much effort into it. Just rinsing and drying them is enough. Once you're done, let's hurry to the cafeteria for a meal!"
Qin Tian hung up a jacket using a hanger and then spoke to Xia Nuannuan, who was standing by the washbasin.
"Okay, got it!"
Xia Nuannuan replied, still engrossed in scrubbing the bedsheets.
"208, yes, this is it!"
The few people suddenly heard a deep voice, and then the light in the dorm room dimmed.
Their gazes instinctively turned towards the doorway, all with a look of shocked surprise, their eyes slightly widened.
Standing at the dorm room entrance was a flat-topped young man with a憨厚 (hān hòu - simple and honest) smile on his face.
The young man was powerfully built and sturdy, his height likely exceeding 1.9 meters. He stood like a mountain, his head almost touching the upper frame of the dorm room door.
"Hello everyone, my name is Chen Zhuang, and I'm from that northeast corner!"
The young man greeted them with a hearty laugh, speaking in a humorous Northeastern dialect.
"Qin Tian, from a small town near Jiangcheng, I'm considered local."
Qin Tian responded, unable to suppress a smile.
"You, hello, my name is Zhuang Zhe, and this is my dad!"
Zhuang Zhe repeated his earlier introduction.
"Hello, Uncle Zhuang!"
Chen Zhuang busied himself greeting the middle-aged man again.
"Ah, hello, hello!"
The man nodded with a broad smile.
After entering the dorm room, Chen Zhuang set down the backpack on his shoulders, which looked incredibly heavy.
Letting out a long sigh, his gaze fell upon Xia Nuannuan. With a look of surprise, he said, "This beautiful girl, who is she? Anyone's girlfriend?"
"She's my girlfriend, Xia Nuannuan!"
Qin Tian replied with a smile.
"Hello!"
Xia Nuannuan waved with a bright smile.
"Hello, hello!"
Chen Zhuang nodded with a憨厚 (hān hòu - simple and honest) smile, looking at Qin Tian with envy. "Brother, you're truly blessed. When did you two start dating?"
"After the college entrance exams."
Qin Tian replied with a smile.
"Is sister-in-law also coming to Jiangcheng to study?"
"Yes, also at our school. We should all be in the same class!"
"Holy cow! You two took the college entrance exams together for Jiangda? That's seriously impressive!"
Chen Zhuang exclaimed.
Qin Tian nodded with a hint of amusement.
This guy was clearly straightforward and blunt. Although his words were a bit rough, he didn't seem annoying at the moment.
"I'm truly envious. Girls from the south are so beautiful and virtuous. Brother, you have no idea. In our senior year class, there were less than ten girls. Setting aside their looks, some of them were fiercer than us boys in fights and arguments. I couldn't handle it!"
Chen Zhuang said with a wry smile.
Qin Tian chuckled and said, "You can't generalize, right? There must be many beauties from your region too."
"Of course, there are. Our science class has fewer girls, but there are still beautiful girls in the school!"
Chen Zhuang pulled up a chair to rest and began chatting with him enthusiastically.
"However, personally, I still prefer the gentle girls from the south, which is why I applied to Jiangda."
"I heard that in your region, there are quite a lot of men who suffer domestic violence?"
"Ahem... Brother, you know about that too?"
"I've heard a little."
"It's true, that's the situation. Most of the women there are quite formidable. Many men are fierce fighters outside, but at home, they don't even dare to breathe loudly!"
"There must be good aspects too, right? Like, if something happens in the family, women can also hold up half the sky!"
"That's true. Sometimes, if a man loses a fight, his own wife goes to settle the score for him!"
Chen Zhuang nodded cheerfully.
Through casual banter and conversation, the two quickly became familiar with each other.
Xia Nuannuan listened with her ears perked up, finding their conversation very interesting.
...
...
Jiangda University's school cafeteria is famous throughout all the universities in the country.
Every year, many graduates from Jiangda lament that they graduated before they could even finish eating enough at the school cafeteria.
There are many cafeterias on campus, with Maple Garden, Plum Garden, Cherry Garden, and Osmanthus Garden being the most popular. These places are comparable to star-rated restaurants, not only offering an elegant environment but also an extremely rich variety of dishes.
Around 2 PM, Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan arrived at the Plum Garden cafeteria.
It was past lunchtime, and since most freshmen hadn't arrived yet, there weren't many people in the cafeteria.
The two went to the ordering area at the front, where a dazzling array of small bowls of dishes were displayed, including fried, stir-fried, braised, and deep-fried items, as well as a fruit section and a cold dish section.
"It looks great, what do you want to eat?"
Qin Tian asked with a smile.
"Yes, it looks so appetizing, there are too many varieties!"
Xia Nuannuan's eyes sparkled as she stared at the plates of dishes, appearing to have a touch of indecisiveness.
An aunt standing inside looked at the two with a gentle smile and asked, "Freshmen?"
"Yes, hello, we just arrived today."
Xia Nuannuan replied with a sweet smile.
"Then would you like me to recommend something?"
The aunt asked with a smile.
"May we? Thank you!"
Xia Nuannuan nodded and thanked her like a pecking chick.
"You're a bit late, the more popular dishes have already been picked. Let me see!"
The aunt scanned the area and then began helping them select dishes.
"This chicken drumstick looks good, do you want it?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Braised pork, do you want it?"
"Mhm, mhm!"
"These prawns..."
"We want these too!"
"Ribs..."
"Yes!"
Listening to the increasingly short dialogue and looking at the almost full tray in her hands, Qin Tian almost burst out laughing.
"Choose a staple food over there. For the two of you, these should be quite enough!"
The aunt reminded them kindly, her eyebrows curved in a smile.
"Tian Ge, is this enough?"
Xia Nuannuan asked, looking at Qin Tian, then glancing reluctantly at the other dishes still available.
"Alright, you'll have plenty of opportunities to try them all later!"
Qin Tian said humorously.
"Okay, then this is it!"
Xia Nuannuan nodded. Noticing Qin Tian and the aunt looking at her with knowing smiles, she couldn't help but blush.
"Tian Ge, I, I was just afraid you wouldn't have enough to eat!"
"Mm, I understand."
"Really, your appetite has always been quite large, hasn't it!"
"Mm!"
Qin Tian smiled dotingly and nodded.
Behind the ordering area, the aunt watched the two heading towards the staple food section with an affectionate smile.
She picked up two portions of rice and a small bowl of steamed buns!
The small bowls of dishes here mostly ranged from three to ten yuan. The seven dishes and two staple foods they chose cost only a little over forty yuan, which made Qin Tian exclaim about how affordable it was.
Using his campus card, which he had just topped up with two thousand yuan, Qin Tian swiped it to pay. Then, the two found a nearby table and sat down to enjoy their meal.