The Young Master's Live-In Nanny - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Reporting for School — Turns out the big city’s hustle and bustle isn’t everywhere…

Luohai City was a first-tier domestic metropolis. Its prosperity far exceeded Xu Qiushi’s imagination, and the scale of the train station was incomparable to their small hometown.

As the train prepared to dock, the two brothers packed their things early and waited at the door. The moment the doors opened, a roar of human voices mixed with a wave of sweltering heat hit them full force.

They followed the stream of people out. Upon exiting the station, various welcome banners for new students were immediately visible.

Luohai University sent special shuttle buses every year to pick up freshmen; family members could also ride for free.

Xu Qiushi followed his brother onto the bus. The air conditioning was on, isolating them from the noise and parching heat outside.

The bus sped along wide roads. Skyscrapers lined both sides, elevated highways and overpasses interlaced, and giant electronic screens looped vibrant advertisements. Crowds surged at mall entrances, and they saw many foreigners of different ethnicities.

Outside the window was a scene of prosperity never seen before. Xu Qiushi unconsciously gripped the straps of his backpack. This was what a big city looked like.

It wasn’t just the city; Luohai University possessed a campus environment that matched its prestigious reputation.

After getting off the bus, Xu Qiushi lugged the snakeskin bags and followed Xu Qiuze to the freshman registration desk.

There was a long queue. Since they hadn’t had a chance to use the restroom since waking up on the train, the brothers decided to handle their physiological needs first.

The registration desk was set up in the activity plaza. There was a restroom on the edge of the plaza, so they placed their luggage nearby, taking turns to watch over it.

Xu Qiuze, who came out first, stood by the luggage waiting for his brother while checking group messages on his phone. Suddenly, he felt a mysterious force push against the bags at his feet, followed by a loud, clear curse: “Holy sh—! What the hell is this?!”

Xu Qiuze looked toward the sound. A boy was sprawled over the pile of luggage, struggling to get up. He hurried forward to help: “Classmate, are you okay?”

“I am not okay!” Gu Chengfei finally found a point of support with his flailing hands and scrambled to his feet. “Are these things yours? How can you just leave them in the middle of the road! Trying to trip me to death?”

Hearing that the other had tripped over his luggage, Xu Qiuze looked guiltily and apologized sincerely.

“What’s the use of an apology? If my handsome face got ruined, could you afford to pay for it!” Gu Chengfei clutched his forehead where he’d been bumped and angrily kicked the snakeskin bag. He didn’t know what was inside, but it was angular; his forehead was definitely going to be red.

“I am truly sorry.” Xu Qiuze knew this was entirely his fault. He had been so focused on his phone. If he had paid more attention to his surroundings, he could have warned the person. He only wanted to see if there was important info in the freshman group chat, but in the time it took to lower his head, he’d run into this unlucky guy.

Gu Chengfei was fuming. Although he hadn’t been looking where he was going either, who would expect a pile of junk luggage right outside a restroom? Most importantly, with people coming and going on the plaza, this was so embarrassing!

Suffering a double blow to his body and ego, Gu Chengfei prepared to argue his case. But when he looked up and met Xu Qiuze’s eyes, his brain suddenly stalled. He blurted out instinctively: “You… which department are you from? What’s your name?”

Just as Xu Qiuze was about to answer, a familiar figure walked out of the restroom.

Unaware of the situation, Xu Qiushi habitually stepped in front of his brother, asking in a deep voice, “What happened?”

Gu Chengfei had to tilt his head back further to look up. Facing Xu Qiushi’s oppressive physical presence, he recovered a bit of logic but remained stubborn: “You… you guys put your things by the restroom door and made me fall. Don’t you know this is a public area? How can you just occupy it?”

“I’m sorry. Is the fall serious? Do you need to go to the hospital?” After hearing the explanation, Xu Qiushi immediately reached out to help him up.

Gu Chengfei thought the man was going to hit him and took a giant step back in fright. Only after seeing the confusion on their faces did he realize he had overreacted. His face flushed; he knew he wasn’t entirely in the right anyway. Dropping a “Just my luck,” he hurried away.

The brothers looked at each other, assuming the person was simply being generous by not pursuing the matter.

…

On the other side of the plaza, Jiang Yichi was standing and waiting. His naturally pale skin, combined with his superior height and looks, drew glances from passersby.

Accustomed to being the center of attention, Jiang Yichi checked the time. The impatience on his face deepened, warding off those who considered approaching him.

Despite standing in the shade, the dry, hot air was unbearable. Just as his patience was about to run out, he finally saw Gu Chengfei running toward him.

Jiang Yichi’s first words were: “Is there something so precious in there that you had to stay so long? It’s so slow, don’t you know how hot it is!”

“A little accident happened, and you don’t even care about me? All you do is scold me!” Gu Chengfei pointed at his bumped forehead and grumbled.

“You fell in the toilet?” Jiang Yichi frowned, moving away from him imperceptibly.

“Not in the toilet! Outside!” Gu Chengfei thought about the way those two were dressed and the absurdly large snakeskin bags. “Two country bumpkins left their luggage blocking the path. I almost died.”

“Are you blind?” Knowing his friend’s personality, Jiang Yichi hit the nail on the head.

Gu Chengfei: “…”

“Let’s go, I’m roasting.” They had also come to register today. They had finished the paperwork and were about to leave when Gu Chengfei insisted on using the restroom, leading to the previous scene.

Holding a grudge, Gu Chengfei looked back and saw the two distinct men walking toward the registration desk. He hurriedly pointed them out to Jiang Yichi: “Look, look, that’s them. Don’t they look like total hicks? It’s my first time seeing snakeskin bags that big. Did they bring their entire life’s possessions?”

Jiang Yichi glanced casually. He couldn’t see their faces, only the man’s tall, sturdy back. He withdrew his gaze, uninterested.

“Are you really not going to consider staying in the dorms with me?” Gu Chengfei, who chose the dorms out of curiosity about group living, tried to recruit Jiang Yichi again. “I heard the dorm conditions are actually okay.”

“No matter how good the conditions are, it’s still four people squeezed into one room.” In other words, how good could it be if you had to share?

“The more people, the livelier it is!”

“When you run into roommates who don’t clean, who snore, or who have irregular schedules, I hope you remember your ‘loving the crowd’ persona,” Jiang Yichi snorted.

“It can’t be that much of a coincidence, right?” Gu Chengfei hadn’t considered that.

“With your luck, what kind of good roommates could you possibly meet?”

That made too much sense to argue with. Gu Chengfei rubbed his chin, starting to wonder if his decision to live on campus was a bit hasty.

…

The small episode at the restroom didn’t affect Xu Qiushi and Xu Qiuze’s mood. After queuing to finish the admission process, a senior student led them to the dormitory.

“This is the deposit machine. You can top up your student card and pay your electricity bill here,” the senior said, pointing at a machine downstairs.

Water was free, but electricity was extra, charged at the civilian rate of 0.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour.

“Put the card here and follow the prompts. There’s an ICBC ATM near the canteen; depositing and withdrawing cash is very convenient,” the senior continued.

Spending on campus required the campus card, so topping up was essential. Xu Qiuze said gratefully, “Thank you, Senior. Sorry for the trouble.”

“You’re welcome. I won’t go up with you; I have to pick up others.”

Xu Qiushi stood by, watching his brother operate the machine. His eyes held a hint of curiosity. If Xu Qiuze hadn’t gotten into university, he would never have stepped onto a campus or seen so many novel things in his life.

“All done, Brother. Let’s go up.” Xu Qiuze put away his card and headed up to their floor.

The dorm was a four-person room with bunk beds over desks, a private bathroom, and a balcony. It was very convenient for washing up and drying clothes.

Beds were assigned with names and ID numbers; Xu Qiuze’s was near the balcony.

Xu Qiushi walked several laps in the small space, checking every corner before nodding in apparent satisfaction.

They were the first to arrive. Soon, the other two roommates showed up. After a round of greetings, everyone got busy.

Xu Qiushi was nimble. After cleaning his brother’s area, he conveniently scrubbed the bathroom and balcony too.

They had lunch at the canteen downstairs.

Since the semester hadn’t officially started, only the snack windows were open. The brothers ordered two bowls of tomato and egg noodles for 20 yuan—prices were a bit higher than back home.

While waiting for the noodles, Xu Qiushi called the Village Chief and Qiang-zi to let them know they had arrived safely.

The canteen wasn’t crowded, so the food came quickly. Xu Qiushi picked up his chopsticks and moved the larger pieces of egg from his bowl to Xu Qiuze’s.

“Brother, you eat. Stop giving them to me,” Xu Qiuze said, blocking his bowl.

“Mm,” Xu Qiushi grunted, finishing his noodles in a few bites and drinking the soup dry. Following the example of others, he took his tray to the return area and said to Xu Qiuze, “Eat slowly. I’m going to look at the shop next door.”

Next to the canteen was a small shop that briefly turned into a mini-department store during orientation, selling all kinds of daily necessities.

Xu Qiushi thought about the things the other roommates had brought and wanted to buy one for his brother too.

“Brother, what did you buy?” Xu Qiuze asked curiously as he exited the canteen. “What’s this? A mattress topper? I don’t need it, let’s go return it.”

Xu Qiuze reached out to take it, wanting to go back to the shop. Since he got into school, Xu Qiushi has spent a lot of money. They didn’t have much savings, and Xu Qiushi still needed to find a job. They should save where they can.

“You need it. Let’s go,” Xu Qiushi said firmly. He never felt stingy when it came to spending on his brother.

“Brother, do you still have money? I’ll withdraw some cash for you; I don’t have many places to spend money in school anyway.” Before reporting, Xu Qiushi had deposited a large sum into his card for tuition and living expenses. Knowing his brother, Xu Qiushi probably hadn’t kept much for himself.

“Don’t worry about the money.” In Xu Qiushi’s view, the only thing his brother needed to worry about was studying.

Back in the dorm, the other roommates were out, likely for lunch.

The bed boards, which had been wiped with a damp cloth, were already dry. Xu Qiuze climbed up to lay out the mattress and the cooling mat. Xu Qiushi organized the luggage below, putting away winter clothes and quilts into the locker.

He folded the emptied snakeskin bags to keep for later use.

The dorm storage was well-designed, with large cabinets near the door. The bottom two were already taken by roommates for shoes. Xu Qiuze didn’t have many shoes, so he picked a middle one for his suitcase.

“Brother, come sleep on the bed for a bit,” Xu Qiuze said once everything was tidied. They hadn’t rested well for two days, especially on the train.

“Mm.” Xu Qiushi didn’t refuse. He needed to recover his energy; he had many things to do, like finding a job and a place to stay in this strange city.

Xu Qiushi changed into slippers, washed his feet thoroughly, and lay down with Xu Qiuze.

On the narrow twin bed, they lay head-to-foot. Pillowed on cushions brought from home, the familiar scent was reassuring. Before long, they were fast asleep.

They slept for nearly two hours. Luckily, the roommates didn’t return during that time. Eventually, they were woken by a phone ringing.

Xu Qiushi answered. Hearing the voice on the other end, he snapped awake.

The caller was Qiang-zi’s cousin, Xun Wenyao. Xu Qiushi hadn’t expected him to reach out proactively; Qiang-zi must have been worried and bothered his cousin again.

Shortly after hanging up, he received a text with the address of a bar and detailed directions on how to get there from the university.

Xu Qiushi got out of bed and packed a simple backpack, preparing to head to the address.

“Brother, I’ll go with you,” Xu Qiuze said.

“No.” Xu Qiushi’s intention was for his brother to rest. Furthermore, the address was a bar—in his impression, bars were places full of all kinds of people, and he didn’t want his brother exposed to that so early.

“But you aren’t familiar with this place.” As soon as he said it, Xu Qiuze realized it was his first day here too; he didn’t know much more than his brother.

“I’ll ask for directions if I get lost.” Xu Qiushi didn’t see it as a problem.

“Then take my phone. You can use the map navigation.” He had just gotten the campus SIM card, so data wasn’t an issue.

“No need.” Truthfully, he didn’t know how to use it.

“Then I’ll walk you to the school gate,” Xu Qiuze said helplessly.

“Mm.” That was fine.

Though he said he’d just walk him to the gate, Xu Qiuze watched until his brother boarded the bus before leaving.

The address Xun Wenyao gave wasn’t far—about fifteen minutes by bus.

Worried about missing his stop, Xu Qiushi silently counted the remaining stops while listening to the announcements. He also kept in touch with Xun Wenyao via text.

“Wenhua Plaza station. Passengers getting off, please exit through the rear door after the bus has stopped. Thank you for riding.”

Xu Qiushi got off. Looking back, he saw an elderly man with a cane struggling toward the front door, shakily extending a leg to step onto the bus.

Seeing that no one else was helping, Xu Qiushi turned and stepped forward, supporting the old man’s arm and hoisting him onto the bus with a firm lift.

The old man turned and smiled: “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Xu Qiushi returned to the platform. He was about to call Xun Wenyao when he saw a handsome, fair-skinned man waving at him.

Xu Qiushi spoke first: “Hello, I’m Xu Qiushi, Qiang-zi’s friend.”

“I know. Qiang-zi sent me eight hundred messages on QQ today telling me I had to look after his good brother,” Xun Wenyao said with a smile. A sparkling diamond earring in his ear was particularly eye-catching. “I’m a bit older than you; calling me ‘Brother’ won’t cost you anything.”

“Brother Wenyao.”

“You didn’t bring luggage?” seeing Xu Qiushi empty-handed, Xun Wenyao asked.

“Left it at my brother’s dorm,” Xu Qiushi said. It was inconvenient to carry it around; he planned to get it once he found a place to stay.

“Oh, as long as you didn’t leave it on the bus.” Xun Wenyao nodded. “Follow me.”

Xu Qiushi followed him. The main street was packed with people. If it weren’t for their height, they would have been separated by the crowd in no time.

“It’s peak tourist season, so there are a lot of people,” Xun Wenyao said as they waited at a red light. “Luohai University is a tourist spot too; you probably saw lots of tourists when you registered today, right?”

“Mm.”

“But your brother getting into Luohai University is really impressive. Our hometown hasn’t produced a university student in a long time.” Xun Wenyao was from the same area, though from a different village.

“A-Ze is very hardworking.” Talking about his brother, Xu Qiushi couldn’t help but feel proud.

They crossed the zebra crossing, turned a corner, and entered another street. The scene was completely different—it was so quiet it felt almost desolate.

“This is Bar Street. It’s not business hours yet; it only gets lively at night,” Xun Wenyao explained.

The road ahead wasn’t very wide. It felt more like an alley than a street. Xu Qiushi looked at the storefronts on both sides; most were tightly shut. Posters for performances and flyers were plastered on the walls, their curled edges fluttering in the wind.

In this moment, Xu Qiushi felt a sense of relief from leaving the dreamlike prosperity. It felt like being back in the small town in his hometown. Turns out the big city’s hustle and bustle isn’t everywhere and at all times.