【026】 The trajectory of change
Xi Lang accompanied Gu Juan to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities, such as laundry detergent, towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. He also bought a big round watermelon, a few pounds of bananas and a few pounds of red grapes.
"Why buy so many fruits?" Gu Juan held the big watermelon and knocked it, making a crisp sound. He already had all these fruits in his space.
Xi Lang said, "For your roommate."
Gu Juan remained silent, and suddenly thought, I wonder if Xi Lang has a younger brother? His younger brother must be happier.
Xi Lang didn't notice that Gu Juan's silence was a little strange, and thought that he must not forget to save Gu Juan's roommate's number later.
The two returned to the dormitory, and the last roommate had also arrived. His name was Liu Hui. He was short and fat. When he smiled, his eyes became two slits and his chubby chin turned into a double chin. He looked as amiable as Maitreya Buddha.
Seeing that the three roommates were all good-natured, Xi Lang felt relieved and shared the fruit with them.
Zhao Rui took the opportunity to suggest that they go out for lunch together and he would treat them.
Xi Lang had something to do at the company, so he gave Gu Juan a few words and left.
Gu Juan sent him downstairs, and watched him walk a long way before turning back to his roommates. The four of them went to the restaurant for dinner. At the dinner table, he got a basic understanding of the other three roommates. Zhao Rui was from the capital, majoring in computer science; Zhang Cong was from the city, majoring in English, and was in the same class as Gu Juan; Liu Hui was studying business administration and was from the south. After asking each other about their ages, they quickly ranked the oldest, second oldest, third oldest, and fourth oldest. Zhao Rui was the oldest, Liu Hui was the second oldest, Gu Juan was the third oldest, and Zhang Cong was the youngest. Liu Hui didn't think the second oldest sounded good, so he insisted on skipping the second oldest and saying that he was the third oldest, with Gu Juan and Zhang Cong being the fourth and fifth oldest respectively. Unfortunately, his protest was ineffective, and he had no choice but to accept it.
After dinner, Zhao Rui and the other two returned to the dormitory. Gu Juan did not go with them, but took a taxi to the University of Foreign Studies and Foreign Trade.
The University of Foreign Studies and Foreign Trade also started school in the next few days and was only half an hour's drive from Congzhou University. After entering, Gu Juan went directly to the orientation office of the School of Chemical Engineering, pretending to be An Jiaqi's friend, and asked the person in charge of the orientation whether An Jiaqi had reported and which class he was in.
The student union searched the admission list given to them by the college three times but couldn't find An Jiaqi's name.
Gu Juan was shocked. Not finding An Jiaqi's name could only lead to one possibility: An Jiaqi had changed his major, or wasn't even at the University of Foreign Studies! He couldn't figure out what was going on. Was this the butterfly effect of his rebirth?
He quickly came to the computer school where Chen Bin studied in his previous life, and got an unexpected yet somewhat expected answer: Chen Bin, like An Jiaqi, was not there either.
Gu Juan walked to a secluded place, deep in thought, his brow furrowed. If only one person had been "butterflyed" by him, it wouldn't have been strange, but now that the life trajectories of two people had been changed, this was a bit strange.
Ever since his impulsive assault on An Jiaqi, he'd become much calmer regarding the situation with An Jiaqi and Chen Bin. He wasn't panicking; as long as An Jiaqi and Chen Bin hadn't been "butterflyed" into nonexistence, no matter what, no matter what. After the shock wore off, he pulled up the number of a detective agency he'd found online. Having been close to An Jiaqi and Chen Bin in a previous life, he knew their addresses. With just a few clues, the detective agency would surely be able to track down where An Jiaqi and Chen Bin had been "butterflyed" into.
He was more cautious and got a new mobile phone number from the University of Foreign Studies before dialing the call.
After the call, he took a taxi back to school.
While waiting for the elevator downstairs in the dormitory, a man bumped into Gu Juan's shoulder, got into the elevator first, and took out his cell phone from his pocket to look at it.
When Gu Juan saw the boy's face clearly, his pupils suddenly shrank and a cold light flashed in the depths of his eyes.
The boy was tall and thin, with thick, scraggly eyebrows and narrow, drooping eyes half-hidden beneath single eyelids, exuding a cold and narrow-minded air. He stood in the middle, taking up the space of three or four people. His clothes, sneakers, and watch all showed signs of being of extraordinary value. Noticing someone was looking at him, the boy raised his head, glared, and said impatiently, "What are you looking at?"
Gu Juan indifferently withdrew his gaze, sneered in his heart, and stepped into the elevator. Was Chen Bin here for some reason, or had he also entered Congzhou University?
Chen Bin also went to the third floor. After getting out of the elevator, he looked back at Gu Juan and pointed at him from a distance with his index finger. "Kid, if you look at me like that again next time, I'll make you regret crawling out of your mother's belly!"
Gu Juan felt that he must have been blind in his previous life to consider someone like Chen Bin a good friend. He raised his lip slightly and asked politely, "My classmate, are you also from Congzhou University?"
Chen Bin's expression changed drastically. His grades weren't good enough to get into Congzhou University. His father had a friend whose son was incredibly promising, having gotten into Imperial Capital University with top scores. This friend had always boasted to his father. In a fit of rage, his father had donated 10,000 computers to Congzhou University to secure a spot for him. Therefore, Gu Juan's words sounded like a mockery to him.
"You kid, you're quite brave!" Chen Bin punched Gu Juan in the face without saying a word.
Everyone in the corridor looked over in surprise.
Chen Bin's speed was like a slow motion in Gu Juan's eyes. He stood there motionless, lightly grabbed Chen Bin's wrist, and suddenly exerted force.
Chen Bin's eyes blurred, and then he fell to the ground on his back. He was thrown over Gu Juan's shoulder and fell to the ground. His buttocks and back were numb with pain.
"You are going too far. I was talking to you nicely, why did you hit me?" Gu Juan deliberately asked loudly.
Several students not far away saw what had just happened and echoed the sentiment, pointing fingers at Chen Bin.
"That's unreasonable, isn't it?"
"What kind of people are these? They are here to lower the overall quality of our school."
"Don't say that. Maybe my fist just itches."
“…”
Chen Bin was furious and gloomy. He quickly got up from the ground and said, "Just wait and see!"
Gu Juan nodded friendly to the boys who spoke up for him and walked towards his dormitory, a glint in his eyes. Chen Bin, I'm looking forward to your next performance!
The three people from 303 saw Gu Juan come in and pulled him over to sit down.
"Third brother, we were just discussing buying a washing machine and a refrigerator. Do you have any opinions?" Zhao Rui said, "There is a laundry shop on campus, but the supply is insufficient to meet the demand. It would be more convenient for us to have our own washing machine."
Gu Juan said, "I have no objection. I'm a bit careless in this regard, so please take care of it. Just tell me how much you should pay."
Gu Juan was the one who spoke the least at the dinner table. Zhao Rui, Liu Hui, and Zhang Cong were not surprised by this, and since Gu Juan's words were polite, the three of them didn't mind at all. They all assured him that they would take care of it.
Zhao Rui, Zhang Cong, and Liu Hui went out together to the mall to select refrigerators and washing machines. Gu Juan lay in bed "taking a nap," but his consciousness had actually entered the space, searching the medicinal fields of the space for tuckahoe, white atractylodes, ginseng, ganoderma lucidum, coix seed, hay, and other herbs that nourish the stomach. He was no ungrateful person; he remembered all the kindness Xi Lang had shown him.
Alchemy and medicine are fundamentally related. Gu Juan couldn't refine elixirs yet, but he had already read a fair amount of basic knowledge, laying the foundation for future alchemy. Now, brewing medicinal soups over an open flame was no problem. However, using his spiritual consciousness to control the process couldn't compare to using his physical body, and since it was his first time, the heat was either too low or too high, ruining pot after pot of broth. Fortunately, he had a space, so he could afford to waste medicinal ingredients. The broth wasn't truly wasted, as the spiritual energy contained within it would return to the space.
It was not until Zhao Rui and his two companions, along with the people from the shopping mall, delivered the medicine to Gu Juan's door that he was able to successfully make a pot of medicinal soup.
Liu Hui noticed that he was soaked with sweat and asked in surprise, "Third Brother, why are you sweating all over while sleeping? Did you have a nightmare?"
Gu Juan gave a vague reply, wiped his sweat, jumped off the bed, and helped move the four suitcases so the delivery man could put the refrigerator in. As for the washing machine, he put it in the bathroom.
After seeing the delivery man off, Gu Juan took a shower and changed into clean clothes.
After he came out, Zhao Rui said, "The refrigerator and washing machine cost a total of 4,298 yuan. Just give me 1,000 yuan each."
Gu Juan, Liu Hui, and Zhang Cong remained silent. While brothers often settle accounts, sometimes being overly calculating can seem petty. They were going to live together for four years, and they could find a way to compensate Zhao Rui for the shortfall.
Liu Hui suggested that they should go downstairs and transfer money to Zhao Rui right away, and go shopping at the supermarket to fill up the refrigerator in preparation for the upcoming military training. The other three had no objections.
Gu Juan, Zhang Cong, and Liu Hui all readily transferred a thousand yuan to Zhao Rui, and all four of them breathed a sigh of relief. This showed that everyone was relatively comfortable financially. It wasn't that they looked down on those who were too poor. Four people living together, with shared refrigerators and washing machines, were bound to have financial ties. At least they wouldn't have to argue over small sums. When everyone's financial situation was similar, they felt more comfortable getting along, less worried.
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