I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

While eating sunflower seeds, Shen Kang listened and gradually learned what was going on with Shi Mengting.

After he selected Su Yali as the person in charge of Qianmin University during his last visit, Su Yali began her work.

The shop's affairs were mainly being promoted by Dean Ding Zhentao, so Su Yali was responsible for recruiting staff.

Yin Mingyang, after being entrusted with an important task by Shen Kang, was quite proactive and also participated in the recruitment of staff.

That Shi Mengting is the one who came to apply for the job.

Su Yali was quite satisfied with Shi Mengting and felt that she could put her in charge of the board game social store. Yin Mingyang, of course, also agreed.

Thus, Shi Mengting officially became Yin Mingyang's colleague. Their paths crossed, they got to know each other, and they exchanged contact information…

"etc."

Upon hearing this, Shen Kang couldn't help but interrupt Yin Mingyang, "So you two didn't know each other at all before?"

Yin Mingyang disagreed with this statement: "I know her, but she may not know me."

Shen Kang cracked open another sunflower seed. "Very good," he said. "Tell me more specifically. How exactly did you meet her?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Mingyang looked on with a nostalgic gaze, wanting to imitate Guo Jingming by looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, but unfortunately, all he could see was the roof of the car.

But that's not important.

Yin Mingyang said slowly, "I remember, it was in September, during the freshman welcome party rehearsals. I had nothing to do at the time, so I went to watch the rehearsal with a few roommates, and she was there."

"There were a few other kids there, I don't know where they came from, chasing and playing around. One little boy fell down while playing and started crying loudly, and his parents were nowhere to be seen. Then she went over, squatted down, and magically produced a bag of snacks. She told the little boy that boys should be brave, and if he stopped crying, she could give him the bag of snacks. And the little boy really stopped crying. She gave him the snacks and then took out a tissue and gently wiped the dirt off his face."

Yin Mingyang looked up at the car roof at a 45-degree angle, his face full of tenderness.

"I remember, she was wearing a blue dress that day, and she was squatting in front of that little boy, smiling gently. The sunlight shone from behind her, and she seemed to be glowing. I also saw a flock of white doves take flight from behind her..."

"You're hallucinating," Shen Kang retorted.

Yin Mingyang was somewhat displeased that Shen Kang had disturbed his fond memories. "I really saw it."

Shen Kang lowered his head slightly and asked the phone between the two of them, "He Qiuzhu, do you think he's hallucinating?"

He Qiuzhu's voice came from the phone's speaker: "Hmm. Theoretically speaking, the probability of a flock of white doves appearing at a university welcome party rehearsal is extremely low. It's more likely that it's a hallucination."

The two of them, husband and wife, worked together, and Yin Mingyang couldn't argue with them alone, so he could only mumble a few words incoherently.

Shen Kang ignored what he was muttering and simply asked, "So, how far have things progressed between you and her?"

Yin Mingyang thought for a moment and said, "We haven't gone any further than that; we're just ordinary friends."

Shen Kang then asked, "Does she know you have a girlfriend?"

Yin Mingyang hesitated for a moment, then honestly replied, "She doesn't know."

Shen Kang asked again, "So what are you thinking now?"

Yin Mingyang fell into deep thought. After a moment, he spoke, his eyes somewhat lost: "I don't know either. Huang Jing is very good to me, and I think she's good too. But I also..."

Seeing that he couldn't speak for a while, Shen Kang spoke for him: "You're not reconciled?"

Yin Mingyang hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Mm."

Shen Kang directly spoke for him, saying what was on his mind: "It's actually very simple, one likes you, and the other likes you."

"In the past, you probably wouldn't have been so conflicted, because you felt unworthy of the person you liked, and you wouldn't have had those thoughts. You would have just been content to be with someone who liked you."

But things are different now.

"You're feeling that soon, several shops around Qianmin University will open, and you'll become the CF (Crossfire) of this area. Your status will be different from before, and you'll feel like you're a good match for her. You're getting a little restless."

Shen Kang concluded: "So the point you're struggling with now is whether to choose the one who likes you or the one you like."

"To use a numerical analogy, if you choose the one who likes you, you'll have a 60% sense of happiness, but the probability of success is 100%."

"Choose what you like, and you'll have 100% happiness, but the chance of success might only be 50%."

"Should I take the guaranteed minimum, or go all in?"

"If I go all out, I might lose everything, not even 60 points, only 0. But if I don't go all out, I'm not willing to give up—maybe if I go all out, I can succeed and get 100 points?"

"This is what's troubling you the most right now."

After listening, Yin Mingyang slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Old Shen, you really understand me."

Shen Kang had completely hit the nail on the head!

Then, Yin Mingyang stopped gazing at the car roof at a 45-degree angle to show off and stared at Shen Kang, asking impatiently, "Old Shen, do you think I should take the plunge?"

Shen Kang immediately pulled out a non-stick pan, saying, "I can't reach it."

Then, he suddenly got a mischievous urge and immediately shifted the blame, saying, "Why don't you ask He Qiuzhu?"

Yin Mingyang actually asked He Qiuzhu on the other end of the phone, and He Qiuzhu replied, "I can't get there."

Slang is really contagious, Shen Kang thought to himself as he ate sunflower seeds.

Yin Mingyang was still not satisfied with the "answer" and continued to pester Shen Kang for advice.

Unable to bear the pestering any longer, Shen Kang could only say, "I really don't know, but I can share an experience of one of my friends with you, which you can refer to."

"I have a friend who is average in many ways, but he is quite good-looking, so a few girls have expressed interest in him. My friend has also had contact with these girls, but in the process, he always finds something he is not satisfied with."

"There was a girl who was pretty, but my friend thought she was too willful, so he only tried her out and thought the next one would be better."

"There was a girl who wasn't willful, had a good personality, and was quite proactive and enthusiastic, but my friend thought she was just average-looking, so he only tried her out and thought the next one would be better."

"There was a girl who wasn't willful and was pretty, but my friend felt she was too clingy, making it impossible for him to do his own thing, so he only tried her out and thought the next one would be better..."

As Shen Kang spoke, he stopped eating the sunflower seeds, and his eyes became somewhat sentimental.

Her voice softened as she finished speaking: "...My friend ended up alone. His thinking gradually changed—there's no such thing as a perfect partner in the world. There's always someone better. Actually, he'd already given him the best, but he just didn't realize it. Tolerance, understanding, and cherishing are the most important things."

Then, the friend who finally learned to be tolerant, understanding, and reconcile with himself met an ex-wife.

Of course, there was no need to tell Yin Mingyang these things.

Yin Mingyang listened and listened until Shen Kang finished telling him about "his friend".

Then, he spoke with a puzzled expression.

"Old Shen, how come I've never heard you talk about these things before? You've been secretly discussing so much?"

"..."

Shen Kang's hand trembled slightly, but he remained calm. "I told you, it's a friend of mine, not me."

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came softly from the phone's speaker: "Brother, you're really amazing, you've dated so many people."

"..."

Shen Kang's hand trembled again. "It really is a friend of mine. Why don't you believe me? Lao Yin, you know me. We've been together since childhood, through elementary school, middle school, and high school. We always hang out together. If I really had talked about this much, wouldn't you know? Right?"

Yin Mingyang thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh, "It really is! You actually have such a friend?"

"Of course! In modern society, there is still too little trust between people, which is not good, not good at all."

As Shen Kang spoke, he secretly wiped away a bead of sweat, then quickly skipped over this part: "So, Lao Yin, this is just my friend's story, for reference only."

Yin Mingyang pondered silently for a while before saying, "Old Shen, I understand what your friend meant... but I'm still a little unwilling."

.

Shen Kang inwardly scoffed, then cracked open a sunflower seed—whatever. This kind of thing, like many grand principles, is something young people can't truly understand without experiencing it firsthand.

"Take it easy on yourself."

Shen Kang skipped over that topic and asked about something else: "What's the deal with that Gao Shang? His name is quite... impressive."

He originally wanted to say "dick," but then he thought about how He Qiuzhu had even learned his catchphrase "I can't do it," and worried that she might pick up the "dick" too.

Let's change the word.

Yin Mingyang also temporarily shifted his attention away from this topic: "Oh, him. He's in the same major as Shi Mengting, but not in the same class. They're said to be friends, but there's definitely something more to it..."

Having eaten their fill of gossip by now, Shen Kang told He Qiuzhu on the phone that today's gossip session was over. After asking a few more questions and learning that they were already on their way back to school, he reminded them to be careful on the road before hanging up.

After hanging up the phone, Shen Kang started talking to Yin Mingyang about something new: "What you told me online before, Dean Ding Zhentao hasn't taken down those 'warehouses' yet?"