After AFK for five years, I returned to be number one in the entire server.

As December began, the sky was overcast all day at the beginning of the month, and finally, fine snowflakes began to fall in the evening.

Ningchuan University, as a top university in Xiamen, has a very open management system. The university emphasizes students' self-motivation and independent time management, and has never required freshmen to attend evening self-study sessions.

As long as the required credits are earned by the end of the semester, the rest of the time is at the students' discretion.

With plenty of free time, Lin Ye and Shen Yi still maintained their habit of working the evening shift at the barbecue restaurant on the commercial street every day.

Although Shen Yi was trying her best to plan their future and intended to find an internship with a base salary and performance bonus, the wall of reality was much harder than she had imagined.

Over the past two weeks, she has submitted her resume to more than a dozen relatively reputable companies in Ningchuan City, applying for copywriting or corporate publicity positions.

Most resumes seem to disappear without a trace, receiving no response whatsoever.

For HR personnel in those companies, a freshman who hasn't learned much in his major courses simply cannot guarantee stable attendance and output.

The only two or three PR firms that offered her interviews made Shen Yi feel uncomfortable with the actual situation.

During an in-person interview at one of the media companies located in an office building, the male manager didn't ask her any professional questions about copywriting or planning; his gaze remained fixed on her face.

The salary offered was very attractive; she only needed to occasionally represent the company at some so-called dinner parties and social events. She took her resume back and left the office building.

After several setbacks, Shen Yi completely gave up on the idea of ​​finding a proper internship in her first semester of college.

She plans to wait until after the new school year starts to see if there are any other short-term programs suitable for her to pursue.

With her hourly wage at the barbecue restaurant and weekend allowance, she can not only cover her daily expenses in the rented apartment, but also save a small amount of money into her account every month.

As for Lin Ye and Su Nian, as time went by, they seemed to have returned to their former relationship.

Su Nian would occasionally go to Songyuan to check on Lin Ye's situation, following Zhou Qiaoyun's instructions.

One weekend evening, Lin also ran into Su Nian and Fang Cheng having dinner together while she was working part-time at a barbecue restaurant.

There weren't many customers in the store at the time. The two sides simply nodded and greeted each other. Fang Cheng even glared at Lin Ye before leaving after finishing their meal.

Rental housing.

Lin Ye was the only one there; Shen Yi had a full schedule of professional classes in the afternoon and wouldn't be back until the evening.

The house isn't large, but after more than half a month of decorating, it's already filled with traces of the two people's lives.

On the two-seater sofa that they bought at the furniture store, there was a shawl that Shen Yi had taken off last night.

Two identical water glasses were placed on the coffee table, with faint steam still clinging to the rims of the glasses from when Shen Yi drank.

Lin sat on the edge of the lower bunk, looking down at an old anime series on her phone.

The sound insulation of old residential buildings has always been poor, and a noticeable noise came from outside the quiet house.

There was the sound of heavy objects being dragged across the floor tiles, mixed with the dull thud of cardboard boxes hitting the wall.

The room opposite Lin Ye had been empty ever since Shen Yi rented it; the door lock was even covered in dust. The commotion now indicated that someone had moved in.

He finished watching an episode of anime, put down his phone, and his gaze fell on the full garbage bag near the door.

Before leaving, Shen Yi specifically instructed that after eating takeout, the trash should be cleaned up to avoid the house smelling bad.

Lin also stood up, picked up the black plastic bag, and pushed open the door.

The motion-sensor lights in the stairwell turn on in response to the sound of doors opening, illuminating the narrow stairwell.

The security door opposite was wide open, with three huge cardboard boxes and a 26-inch suitcase piled up in front of it.

A girl is standing with her back to the stairwell, gripping the edge of one of the largest cardboard boxes with both hands, trying to drag it across the threshold.

The box seemed to be filled with heavy items such as books, making the girl's movements appear particularly strenuous.

Today she was wearing a white fitted top, with a long, flowing gray-brown cardigan over it. From behind, she exuded a tall yet slender and well-proportioned air.

Hearing the door open and footsteps behind her, the girl stopped what she was doing and turned around.

It was a face in his early twenties, with soft and natural features, without any flamboyant or sharp aggression.

Her hair was simply pulled back, with a few loose strands falling beside her cheeks. She exuded a gentle and tranquil aura, like an older sister browsing through ancient books in a library, with a natural and approachable charm.

She was slightly out of breath, and her fair cheeks were flushed with a faint blush from carrying heavy objects.

When the girl saw Lin Ye carrying a trash bag, a fleeting, almost imperceptible pause crossed her eyes before quickly giving him a gentle, slightly apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, was I making too much noise while moving things and disturbing you?" Her voice was very soft, with a clear and pleasant tone.

"No, I just came out to throw out the trash," Lin said calmly.

He walked straight past the cardboard boxes piled up in the hallway, went down the stairs, and threw the garbage bag into the green garbage bin downstairs.

When Lin Ye came back up, the girl was still standing at the door, seemingly gathering her strength to deal with the remaining heavy boxes.

When she saw Lin Ye return, she bit her lip, her eyes filled with embarrassment and pleading.

"Excuse me, could you lend me a hand? These boxes are full of books, and it's really hard for me to carry them by myself."

Lin nodded and walked to the cardboard boxes.

These boxes filled with books are indeed a considerable challenge for the average girl, weighing at least several dozen kilograms.

Instead of bending down to help the girl lift the boxes, he gripped the bottom edge of the heaviest box with one hand, exerting only a barely perceptible force with his wrist. The huge box was lifted as if it were empty, steadily stepped over the threshold, and placed on the floor in the entryway.

Then came the second, and the third.

The girl's eyes widened slightly, seemingly surprised by the arm strength of the tall, slender boy in front of her.

"Thank you, you're really strong." The girl followed him into the house, took out a pack of unopened tissues from her pocket and handed it to him, wanting him to wipe the dust off his hands.

Lin waved his hand, indicating that it wasn't necessary.

"My name is Gu Qingxin." She put away the tissue, her eyebrows curving into a very friendly smile, as warm as the winter afternoon sun. "I just graduated from university and started working. I just moved here today."

"Lin Ye." He thought for a moment and gave his name.