Doing It Over Again

ophomore year, if you don’t want to live in the dorms anymore, you have to submit an application to the residential life office.
Then you can move out.
Of course, some people continue to pay their room fee every year and just leave it empty, then rent an apartment off-campus.
The university allows all students to choose their own lifestyle, but if anyone breaks the law off-campus, the school won’t cover it up.
The university will expel them immediately.”

All of the dormitory rooms in Huaguo University were for four people, with no exceptions.
If a student was too pampered to accept that kind of communal living arrangement, they’d have to deal with it themselves.
The university’s attitude was to treat everyone equally.
If someone didn’t like dorm life, too bad.

Hua U had no shortage of excellent students.

Shen Shao thanked the upperclassman who escorted him.
Then he turned and pushed open the door to the dorm room.

To his surprise, there was already someone inside, and the room had been cleaned and tidied up.
It didn’t fit his image of a rough-and-ready boys’ dorm room at all.

The skinny boy who was scrubbing the sink with a brush saw him walk in and quickly stopped what he was doing.
He dried his hands and strode over to Shen Shao.
“Hi, I’m Xiong Gang, biology major.”

“Hello,” Shen Shao looked at the young man, who was extremely thin, and found it difficult to match a burly name like ‘Xiong Gang’ with the person he was looking at.
“I’m Shen Shao, majoring in information science.
I thought room assignments were based on majors, but I guess not.”

Xiong Gang saw that despite Shen Shao’s outstanding looks, he was still easy to get along with, and felt relieved.
“I don’t know how it was decided, but we come from all over.
It must be destiny at work.”

“That’s true.” Shen Shao looked over the room and began unpacking his things.
He made his bed and noticed that Xiong Gang had started to wipe down the door to the bathroom.
Shen Shao had excellent eyesight, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see a trace of dirt on the door.
Yet the young man was scrubbing so intently that Shen Shao couldn’t bring himself to discourage him.

Despite Xiong Gang’s magnificent and mighty name, his personality and figure were open and straightforward.

When Xiong Gang was finally satisfied with the cleanliness of their room, the door swung open with a bang.
In the center of the doorway stood a big, sturdy boy with his hands in his trouser pockets.
He nodded at the two of them, then pointed to one of the beds.
“That’s it.”

From behind him, several men and women immediately filed into the room.
They made his bed and put away his clothes, and when they were done they vanished as if by magic, leaving not the slightest trace behind.

“Hi guys.
My name’s Wang Hao.
I’m originally from Mei City, but we moved to the capital three years ago.” Wang Hao fished out a large bag of snacks from his suitcase and put them on the table.
With a trace of embarrassment he added, “Sorry about slamming the door just now.
Hope you don’t mind.
Here are some local specialties my relatives brought from my hometown.
Please try some.”

“Thank you,” Shen Shao said.
He thought to himself that this local tyrant roommate really did seem to have an impressive background.
The boy’s shirt cost at least four figures, but although he was wearing expensive brand name clothing, his attitude was down-to-earth.

Shen Shao thought that this person had a good personality.
He reached over and took a packet of snacks, opened it, and took a bite.
“Delicious!” he praised.

“They’re good, right? That’s an authentic local specialty from Mei City.” Wang Hao ignored the messy suitcase he’d just opened and sat down beside Shen Shao.
He opened another small bag and ate from it, and tossed two bags to Xiong Gang.
“I’m majoring in art and design.
What about you guys?”

When Shen Shao heard this big, burly student dressed in nouveau riche famous brands call himself an art student, Shen Shao felt a sliver of his world view begin to tremble.
He coughed dryly and said, “That’s a good major.
My name’s Shen Shao.
I’m majoring in information science, and Xiong Gang is a biology major.”

Wang Hao gave Xiong Gang a sidelong glance and fought to keep a straight face.
“Your name… has a lot of personality.”

Xiong Gang: ……

Like your name is so great.
Haha.

“Is there anyone else in our dorm who hasn’t come yet?” Wang Hao looked at the empty bed next to Shen Shao’s.
It had a label with a student’s name and major.

“Gu NingZhao, finance…” Wang Hao frowned and scratched his head.
“Why do I think that name sounds familiar?” It felt like he’d heard it multiple times.

Shen Shao also had the feeling he’d heard the name somewhere, but not in the last year or so.
After thinking about it, he shook his head.
China had over a billion people, and duplicate names were common.

“No, I remember.
Isn’t he that famous genius…” Before Wang Hao could finish speaking, the door creaked open.
When he glanced back and saw the new arrival, he swallowed the rest of his words.

Shen Shao also looked over.
With some surprise he saw a young man outside the door surrounded by several bodyguards.
Wasn’t he that mystifying second young master?

They were actually assigned to the same dorm room? Could such a coincidence really be a coincidence? 

Kinda sus.

TL Notes:

Imperial College – 国子监 – Directorate of Imperial Academy; the Imperial College, the highest educational administration in feudal China

local tyrant – 土豪 – local tyrant / local strong man / (slang) nouveau riche

big, burly – 五大三粗 – “five big three thick” – big and tall; strapping, burly.
The “five big” are hands, feet, ears, shoulders, and hips, and the “three thick” are waist, legs, and neck (Baidu)

Could such a coincidence really be a coincidence – 界上竟然有如此巧合的事，他们竟然真的像张莉说的那样 – “Could there really be such a coincidence in the world, of the kind Zhang Li said” – Seems to be a quote or reference but I didn’t preserve the exact wording

Kinda sus(picious) – 这不科学 – “This is unscientific/illogical/uncanny”

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Bentley – 宾利 – Bīnlì

Chen Zhang – 陈章 – Chén Zhāng

Xiong Gang – 熊刚 – Xióng Gāng – Surname 熊, “a bear, brilliant, bright”.
given name 刚, “hard, tough, rigid, strong”.
So his name is basically “Strong Bear”

Wang Hao – 王壕 – Surname 王, “king, royal”, but it’s a common and generic surname that doesn’t sound very regal.
For English speakers I guess the equivalent would be something like “Brown” or “Bush”

Mei City – 煤市 – AKA Coal City – A rich kid surnamed Wang from Coal Town would probably make native readers guess this is the child of an upstart who owns a coal mine, someone with money but not much class

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