Chapter 162: Embrace

"Miss, is this your first time in the capital?" Seeing her staring fixedly out the window, the taxi driver smiled and started a conversation.

Yu Qian turned her head and smiled. "No, it's my second."

"Here for sightseeing?"

"To see someone." Shaking her head, Yu Qian smiled rather shyly.

Seeing her expression, the driver assumed an understanding look. "Ah, a boyfriend!"

Yu Qian simply smiled, neither denying nor confirming.

"Where is the young lady from? Is your boyfriend studying at Yunjing University? An academic genius, wonderful, wonderful," the driver said enthusiastically.

"Sichuan Province."

"Sichuan Province?" The driver looked somewhat surprised. "Oh my, what a coincidence. I'm from Sichuan Province too."

He said this last sentence in the Sichuan dialect.

Yu Qian was also surprised and switched to the Sichuan dialect as well. "Uncle, how did you end up driving a taxi in Yunjing?"

"My kid got into a university here in the capital, and my wife said she wanted to come along to accompany him, so the whole family moved over." When speaking of his child, the driver's face was full of pride.

Yu Qian smiled and replied, "It seems uncle's child is also an academic star."

Sichuan and Yunjing did not use the same examination papers for the college entrance exam, and since it was out-of-province, the score requirements for any university were quite high. Not a single student who managed to study in Yunjing was anything less than a top-tier scholar.

"Not really much to speak of, studying at China University of Political Science and Law. It's quite a bit short of the score requirements for Yunjing University and Jinghua University." Although he said this, his expression conveyed the exact opposite, the pride and satisfaction overflowing from his brows and eyes. "Little sister, where are you going to college? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

The driver was clearly deceived by Yu Qian's height, assuming she was already a college student.

"Local." Yu Qian smiled sheepishly.

"That's not bad either, close to home, makes visiting home convenient," the driver nodded earnestly.

While they were talking, the car had arrived.

"Thank you, driver."

Opening the door and getting out, Yu Qian took out her face mask, sunglasses, and hat, put on her backpack, and looked up at the main gate.

Compared to the antique and solemn Chinese-style gates of Jinghua University, Yunjing University's entrance was of a typical Western style. On the left and right were guard booths covered in white tiles, and in between them was an automatic retractable gate. In front of the gate was a small garden, with the four characters "Yunjing University" carved onto a large boulder in the center.

Without rushing to put on her mask and other gear, Yu Qian walked through the school gate with a calm expression. As she passed the guard booth, she noticed several heavily disguised people being stopped and asked to reveal their faces.

As clever as I am, I knew it would be like this.

Yu Qian smiled. It wasn't until she was far away from the school gate that she put on her mask and hat, though she left her sunglasses off for the moment.

After asking several people along the way, she finally found the playground where the freshmen were undergoing military training.

She had thought she would have to make a huge detour to find Zhou Jingchen, but to her surprise, she saw him not long after stepping inside.

"A-Chen." Putting on her sunglasses, Yu Qian called out to him.

Zhou Jingchen, who was currently feeling irritated by a circle of surrounding girls, suddenly heard a familiar voice—it sounded just like his little cutie.

Realizing who the owner of that voice was, Zhou Jingchen abruptly raised his head. "Little cutie!"

The girls surrounding Zhou Jingchen followed his gaze and saw a tall, slender girl in a short-sleeved top and a long skirt standing under the shade of a tree, completely bundled up. Though her face couldn't be seen, she was remarkably graceful with a wonderful figure.

Involuntarily, a wave of envy washed over them.

A few girls who had caught Zhou Jingchen's words couldn't help feeling a surge of jealousy toward the person under the tree.

Zhou Jingchen couldn't care less about what they thought; now that his little cutie was here, who had time for them?

Pushing people aside, he walked quickly toward the girl. When he reached her, without saying a word, he pulled her straight into an embrace.

"Hiss!" Every student who witnessed this scene drew in a sharp breath.

They held each other in a long embrace without speaking, and Yu Qian remained silent as well, until the drill instructor blew the whistle.

"Go ahead. Come find me after military training; I'm not leaving until tomorrow afternoon." She patted his back, signaling him to let go so he could assemble with his squad.

Loosening his arms around the girl, he listened carefully to her words, feeling a surge of pleasant surprise. Unable to help himself, he gave her one more fierce hug. "Okay!"