Chapter 67: You're Overthinking It!

University life is colorful. There's military training, a welcome party, a dance every Friday, an English corner, a basketball team, a soccer team, a literary society, and a cinema.

University life can also be boring. Compared to high school, they suddenly have too much free time. They don't know what to do with it—sleep, daydream, read novels, fall in love, play poker, or video games.

Hua Ming was playing cards with people in the next dorm room. The loser had to stick paper strips on their face. The other two were already covered, and Hua Ming, with his large face, had the most paper strips, but he could still see one eye.

"Come on, come on," Hua Ming shouted excitedly. "Hurry up and play. I need to go back and be with my little darling. My little darling hasn't seen me for hours; she must be angry."

"Hua Ming, I need to talk to you," Li Shanggang from Class 2 said. "We have a pot. Can we borrow your rabbit?"

"Get lost, you cruel beasts," Hua Ming cursed. "Xiao Gua is my lover, my spring, my second life. I'd rather you cut a piece of my ass than touch a single hair on her."

"Does a rabbit have hands?" Zhang Tao asked with a smile.

"Even its feet and head are off-limits," Hua Ming said firmly.

Bang

The dorm door was pushed open forcefully, and Liang Tao's head poked in, shouting, "Boss, hurry. The second-in-command is being cornered at the school gate."

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't understand what these words meant. But such terms as "boss" and "second-in-command" were very common in university.

Hua Ming was shocked, threw the cards on the table, and shouted, "Third, don't lie to me. Or I'll beat you to a pulp."

"At a time like this, would I lie to you?" Liang Tao said angrily. "Believe it or not, if you don't go, I will."

Saying that, Liang Tao ran downstairs. Li Yu, who was short, followed behind. They didn't even have time to close the dorm door.

"Damn, who the hell dares to bully my second-in-command?" Hua Ming finally believed it. He scanned the dorm, rushed into the bathroom, and grabbed a mop. With a kick, he removed the mop head and ran out with the wooden stick.

"Who is their second-in-command?" Zhang Tao asked.

"Tang Zhong," Li Shanggang said.

"Shit, isn't that our class leader? Brothers, let's go check it out."

Hua Ming ran and shouted, "Third, how did you know?"

"Li Dayan called me. He said he saw the second-in-command being surrounded while eating wontons," Liang Tao explained. "Boss, you have paper strips on your face."

Hua Ming pulled them off, revealing his eyes, and said, "No problem. This makes me look fierce."

"..."

When they ran out of the school gate, they saw many people heading to the snack street. They knew Tang Zhong was indeed in trouble. So, they sprinted even harder.

Their speed was fast, but when they pushed through the crowd to the scene, the fight was already over.

Strangely, they saw Tang Zhong coming out of the public toilet, and a group of people were surrounding it, as if trying to peek at him urinating.

"Second, are you okay?" Hua Ming ran over with a wooden stick, asking with concern.

"I'm fine," Tang Zhong said with a smile. Seeing Hua Ming, who was drenched in sweat, with paper strips and sweat on his face, he was deeply moved.

Liang Tao was also out of breath, running up to ask what happened. Li Yu, who had finally made it, was so exhausted he couldn't even stand up straight or speak. These were all his brothers.

Nanjing University was too big. Running from the third-floor dorm to the school gate was not something just anyone could do.

Hua Ming, seeing Li Dapeng and others, said angrily, "Is it that bastard Qiao Lei again?"

"Yes," Tang Zhong nodded.

Hua Ming's face turned fierce, and he cursed, "Where is he? Where is he? Today I'll break that scoundrel's three dog legs."

"He's inside," Tang Zhong pointed to the men's toilet behind him.

Hua Ming was stunned and said, "What is he doing in there?"

"Maybe he's thirsty," Tang Zhong said.

Hua Ming didn't understand the implications of Tang Zhong's words. Hearing that Qiao Lei was still in the toilet, he rushed in with the wooden stick.

Liang Tao, worried that Hua Ming couldn't handle Qiao Lei alone, followed to help.

Soon, the two came out. Their expressions were incredible, but they remained silent.

Qiao Lei's friends, not hearing his voice, worried something had happened to him. They no longer feared Tang Zhong's retaliation and rushed into the toilet.

Then, they were completely shocked by what they saw.

When the pungent smell of urine hit them, they finally came to their senses.

"Brother Lei," they rushed over and pulled Qiao Lei's head out of the urinal.

The public toilet was not clean, and two urinals were clogged, with urine filling the urinal trough.

Tang Zhong couldn't stuff Qiao Lei's head into the toilet bowl, so he threw his face into the urinal.

Qiao Lei's face, nose, eyebrows, and mouth were covered in dark yellow urine. His hair, soaked in urine, was matted.

As his head was pulled up, the urine on his face flowed onto his clothes, pants, and the floor, making him emit a nauseating smell.

His friends, young students, couldn't bear the stench and covered their noses, stepping back, letting him kneel and retch.

Finally, a slightly smarter guy ran out to buy a few bottles of mineral water and poured them over Qiao Lei's face and hair.

One, two, three bottles...

Qiao Lei's head was somewhat cleaner, but the smell on his body became even stronger.

He grabbed the last bottle from the guy and gulped it down.

Pfft

He spat out the water in his mouth.

He gulped a few more times and spat it out, but the urine smell in his mouth was still strong.

He gulped again and found the bottle empty.

"Buy more," Qiao Lei shouted.

The guy nodded and ran out again.

Qiao Lei looked around, feeling sad, and then burst into tears.

His thoughts were immature, and Tang Zhong's methods were too adult.

"Let's go," Tang Zhong said.

Hua Ming and Liang Tao didn't move, their eyes fixed on the entrance to the men's toilet.

"No need to look. He won't come out for a while," Tang Zhong said.

"Let's wait," Liang Tao said. "We have nothing to do back in the dorm. When he comes out, we'll give him a round of applause. You know, out of billions of people in China, not everyone has the courage to drink urine."

"Or we can go for some barbecue and beer?" Hua Ming didn't want to miss this show. Qiao Lei had caused trouble multiple times, and this time he brought a large group to corner Tang Zhong. Seeing him like this, they were extremely happy. "Let's go, let's go. I'll treat you."

"I've already eaten. I'm not hungry," Tang Zhong refused. He didn't want to stay and be gawked at like a zoo monkey.

"Then let's drink," Hua Ming pleaded, pulling Tang Zhong's arm. "Dear brother, my dear brother, just go with us. If I don't see his face when he comes out, I'll lose a few pounds."

"You do need to lose some weight," Tang Zhong said bluntly.

Hua Ming was about to persuade further when his eyes went wide, staring strangely at Tang Zhong's back.

Liang Tao also sensed something was wrong, following Hua Ming's gaze, his pupils dilating, his face turning red as if drunk.

Tang Zhong turned around and saw Su Shan, who had disappeared earlier, reappear with a ball bag.

She was sipping a cup of apple juice and said, "Done?"

"Done," Tang Zhong said.

Then, she handed him a cup of juice from her left hand and said, "You treated me to wontons, I'll treat you to juice."

Tang Zhong took the juice and took a sip, only to smile bitterly.

Orange juice. Tang Xin's favorite drink.

"I'm going back," Su Shan said, waving and turning around.

"I'll see you off," Tang Zhong said.

"I'll see you off too," Hua Ming wanted to rush out but was grabbed by Liang Tao.

"Why are you holding me?" Hua Ming said angrily. "You don't want to see her off?"

"I do," Liang Tao said gloomily. "But I don't want to be thrown into the toilet like the second-in-command."

Hua Ming thought about what he had seen in the toilet and shuddered.

"Is that Su Shan?" Hua Ming asked.

"You don't even know who she is, and you want to see her off?" Liang Tao said irritably. Seeing this scene was more shocking and terrifying than seeing Hua Ming pluck, clean, and chop his rabbit for a hot pot. How could Su Shan be with Tang Zhong? And even buy him juice?

"It can't be Su Shan," Hua Ming said. "How could Su Shan like the second-in-command? Think about it, what's so great about him? In terms of looks, he's not as good as you. In terms of charm, he's not as good as me. In terms of wealth, he's not as good as you. In terms of humor, he's not as good as me. In terms of chasing girls—neither of you is as good as me. Could Su Shan be intentionally getting close to the second-in-command to get to know me? I must say, this girl is very cunning. My admiration for her has increased tenfold."

"You're overthinking it," Liang Tao rolled his eyes, irritated.