In a large classroom on the right side of the third floor, staff members organizing the event had already pushed tables and chairs together along the walls, leaving a spacious area in the middle for dancing.
Each table was thoughtfully laid out with snacks like tangerine candies, melon seeds, peanuts, and drinks, all gathered by the students despite their limited resources.
Sun Ling, pulling Jiang Yuwei along, sat at a table. She took out a paper packet from her pocket. Glancing at her classmates chatting cheerfully around them, she picked up a cup from the table, crushed the pills inside, quickly put them into the cup, and then poured in some drink to shake it evenly. She then filled the other cups and nonchalantly picked up a tangerine candy from the table, peeled it, and popped it into her mouth.
Jiang Yuwei, sitting beside her, watched everything without saying a word.
As more people gradually arrived, Sun Ling began to frequently check the doorway. Her eyes lit up when she saw Chen Lishu and Zhang Xue enter, and she quickly stood up and waved at them, "Zhang Xue, Chen Lishu, over here!"
Chen Lishu's eyebrow twitched upon seeing this, and she walked towards them with Zhang Xue.
"Why are you two so late?" Sun Ling pointed to the seats opposite them. "Sit down quickly."
"It hasn't started yet, has it?" Chen Lishu smiled and sat down with Zhang Xue.
"You're early, so I've poured you drinks," Sun Ling said, handing two cups to them. "Each table only has one bottle, so you two should definitely try them."
"Thank you," Chen Lishu said, accepting the cups with a smile. Zhang Xue urgently poked her under the table with her finger, her eyes signaling that there was definitely something wrong with the drinks.
Chen Lishu tilted her head and gave her a reassuring look.
"Why aren't you two drinking? I think the taste is quite good, right, Yuwei?" Sun Ling watched Chen Lishu take the cup but not drink, feeling a hint of impatience.
"Yes, the taste is quite good," Jiang Yuwei said, picking up the drink in front of her and taking a sip.
Zhang Xue said, "We drank quite a lot of water when we came out of the dorm, so we're not very thirsty yet. We'll drink them later."
"These are drinks, you can drink them even if you're not thirsty."
Just as Sun Ling was about to say more, she felt someone bump her leg. Jiang Yuwei subtly shook her head at her.
Sun Ling also realized she was being a bit too eager. If she aroused their suspicion, her well-prepared plan would be ruined.
"Alright, then let's drink later. Have some candy, it's orange flavored." Sun Ling, masking her intentions, gave each of them another piece of candy.
Chen Lishu looked at the candy in her hand, slowly peeled off the wrapper, and put it into her mouth. Instantly, a rich orange flavor flooded her taste buds.
"Chen Lishu!"
Li Zhiwei entered, his gaze constantly searching for Chen Lishu. Upon finding her, he immediately brought Fatty Feng over.
"Why are you sitting together?" Li Zhiwei frowned instinctively when he got closer and saw Jiang Yuwei and Sun Ling were also there.
"Li Zhiwei, what do you mean? Why can't we sit together? Speak clearly," Sun Ling said, crossing her arms and challenging him.
"Okay, okay, my lady, you can sit," Li Zhiwei said, not wanting to argue with her. "Go on, move inside and make some space for me and Fatty."
Sun Ling didn't move. "There's only so much space here. Besides, how much space could Fatty Feng possibly take up? You two shouldn't crowd here; there's space over there."
"Don't dawdle, I want to crowd here. Move inside quickly, or I'll sit on you." Li Zhiwei made as if to sit on her lap. Sun Ling immediately exclaimed and pushed him away, "Li Zhiwei, you have no shame!"
Although she said that, she still got up and squeezed further inside with Jiang Yuwei.
Chen Lishu had been watching the two of them. Seeing Sun Ling and Jiang Yuwei busy moving, she quickly swapped her cup with Sun Ling's.
After some commotion, Fatty Feng went to fetch another stool from elsewhere, and the six of them somehow squeezed around one table.
Ever since Li Zhiwei sat down, Sun Ling's face had been sour, as if she was extremely annoyed with him. Li Zhiwei, completely unbothered, grabbed a few peanuts, shelled them, and then stood up to offer a handful of shelled peanuts to Chen Lishu.
"Keep them for yourself," Chen Lishu said with a smile, not taking them.
"Fine if you don't want them," Li Zhiwei said indifferently and popped a peanut into his mouth.
Sun Ling snorted at this and acidly remarked, "They don't even look at you, why bother trying to get close?"
"I want to."
"You!" Sun Ling was choked back.
"Classmates, I'm very happy that everyone could be here today..."
Just as the two were about to clash, the host on stage suddenly began to speak, and the lively noise from below gradually died down.
"I'm too lazy to bother with you," Sun Ling whispered, picked up the drink in front of her, and took a big gulp. After drinking, she frowned and smacked her lips. She felt the drink tasted a bit different from usual, but she didn't dwell on it for long because she saw Chen Lishu also pick up her drink and take a sip, her eyes suddenly gleaming with excitement.
Not long after, the host finished speaking, and the remaining time was left for private discussions.
Some people gathered to discuss poetry, others talked about history, and some engaged in academic debate.
As time went on, Sun Ling's gaze towards Chen Lishu gradually filled with confusion. Why was there no reaction after so long? She had clearly put in three pills. Could it be that she hadn't drunk enough?
"Chen Lishu, why aren't you drinking your beverage?"
Hearing her question, Chen Lishu glanced at the half-full cup in front of her. Although she didn't know what Sun Ling had done, she was certain there was something fishy going on.
"How about we all have a drink together?" Chen Lishu raised her cup and said with a smile.
"Wait a minute," Li Zhiwei kicked Fatty Feng's stool with his foot. "Fatty, go to the other end and get us a couple of cups too, let's join the fun."
"You know how much trouble it is for me to move around with my physique," Fatty Feng said, unwilling to move.
"Don't dawdle, hurry up," Li Zhiwei glared at him. Fatty Feng had no choice but to reluctantly get up, followed by a series of bumps from tables and chairs and the scraping sound of the floor. After much effort, Fatty Feng finally managed to free himself.
Sun Ling shot Li Zhiwei a cold glance and snorted, "Ugly people cause trouble."
"Who are you calling ugly?"
"You!"
"Oh—" Li Zhiwei drew out the 'oh' sound.
Sun Ling was so angry she stomped her foot.
Soon, Fatty Feng returned with two cups of drinks. Li Zhiwei, finally satisfied, clinked glasses with everyone and drank it all down.
"Is anyone interested in dancing? I borrowed a radio and some tapes from the department, and there are songs by Teresa Teng on them."
Seeing that the time was almost up, the host came on stage holding a radio about a foot long.
Hearing that there were Teresa Teng's songs, the atmosphere immediately became lively. As the music slowly began to play, several bold individuals were the first to step onto the open space in the middle.
Sun Ling looked at Chen Lishu, who still showed no reaction, and her brow furrowed. Chen Lishu looked up, saw Sun Ling's gaze occasionally directed at her, and curled her lips into a smile in return.