Guan Hui E led Xia Xiao Lan out of the department office.

Xia Xiao Lan was impressed by Guan Hui E’s commanding presence today. Since Guan Hui E had come to help her, Xia Xiao Lan couldn’t be ungrateful and treated her poorly after leaving the office. She needed to be sweet and coaxing, though this time she did so willingly.

“Auntie Guan, please don’t be too angry. People like her are just living in their world. I heard she has some mental health issues…”

Guan Hui E glared at Xia Xiao Lan – without context, it might have seemed like Xia Xiao Lan was defending Ji Ya.

“Zhou Cheng called home about this matter. At the academy, they only get two minutes of outside contact in the first month. Though Zhou Cheng isn’t in Beijing, our Zhou family won’t stand by and watch others bully you. Your Uncle Zhou knows about this too. Fortunately, I happened to run into this situation during my visit – otherwise, we wouldn’t have known how aggressive the Ji family was being. Oh, and come to our house this Sunday.”

She had promised to look after both Zhou Cheng’s father and Xia Xiao Lan, speaking sweetly, but hadn’t visited every weekend.

Xia Xiao Lan finally realized that today wasn’t a coincidence – Guan Hui E had made this trip specifically for her!

“Auntie Guan, you and Uncle Zhou are so good to me!”

Guan Hui E felt uncomfortable – Chinese people had been reserved for thousands of years, rarely expressing feelings directly among family members. She didn’t feel she was particularly good to Xia Xiao Lan, yet Xia Xiao Lan spoke so sincerely, her tone clearly from the heart.

Guan Hui E changed the subject:

“I see you get along well with your roommates. Those girls were quite protective of you earlier. It’s getting late – let me treat them to a meal.”

Though Guan Hui E had meant to forcefully change the topic, she realized she was still showing consideration for Xia Xiao Lan.

Xia Xiao Lan knew this too.

Somehow, despite having mentally prepared herself if Zhou Cheng’s parents didn’t like her, she would just treat them like superiors. But when Guan Hui E showed even a bit of kindness, Xia Xiao Lan felt that if it were just business-like, Guan Hui E wouldn’t have offered to treat the girls from Room 307 to a meal.

Afraid of appearing smug and making Guan Hui E lose face, she quickly agreed:

“Whatever you say.”

Guan Hui E opened her mouth – liar, if you really did whatever I said, why didn’t you break up with Zhou Cheng when I asked?

After walking a few steps, Guan Hui E finally managed to:

“Next time you argue with someone, speak up louder!”

Xia Xiao Lan, who was going down the stairs, almost stumbled at these words.

Guan Hui E wanted to bite her tongue off – everything she said seemed wrong. Better to just keep quiet. She quickened her pace, moving much faster down the stairs.

She heard Xia Xiao Lan following behind, saying in a soft voice:

“Please slow down. I’ll do as you say – next time I argue with someone, I won’t let them take advantage…”

Liar, liar, trying to soften her heart again!

Not listening, not listening, didn’t hear anything!

Why act so obedient? Zhou Cheng wasn’t even here – who was she performing for?

It took Guan Hui E quite a while to mentally shake off Xia Xiao Lan’s influence.

The girls from Room 307 were indeed worried – they had been waiting downstairs while Xia Xiao Lan and Guan Hui E were in the department office.

After such a long time, even the two who hadn’t been there initially had received the news and put aside other matters to wait for the outcome of Xia Xiao Lan’s situation. Besides Room 307, Ning Xue was there too.

“Xia Xiao Lan, I apologize on Auntie Ji’s behalf.”

Ning Xue looked behind her but didn’t see Ji Ya.

Xia Xiao Lan waved it off: “This has nothing to do with you, Student Ning Xue. Don’t worry about it.”

Even if Ning Xue had something with Ji Jiang Yuan, it wasn’t her place to apologize to Ji Ya. In other words, Xia Xiao Lan wouldn’t accept Ning Xue’s apology… Though Ning Xue meant well, Xia Xiao Lan’s issue wasn’t with her but with Ji Ya!

Ning Xue, being quick-witted, immediately understood Xia Xiao Lan’s meaning.

Not being one to persist, she directly passed by Xia Xiao Lan and went upstairs to find Ji Ya.

The girls from Room 307 gathered around.

“Xiao Liu, are you okay?”

“What did the department say?”

“Ji Jiang Yuan’s mom is too much, talking like her son is some prize everyone wants!”

The department had no good solution. Not wanting to worry her lovely roommates, Xia Xiao Lan introduced Guan Hui E: “This is Auntie Guan, she’s me…”

Guan Hui E was very considerate of Xia Xiao Lan’s face, showing a friendly smile:

“I’m Zhou Cheng’s mother. Xiao Lan and Zhou Cheng are dating. One’s in school, one’s at work, so they can’t meet often. Thank you all for taking care of her. Come on, let me treat you to a meal – I brought plenty of money, so don’t be polite with me.”

So Xiao Lan’s boyfriend was called Zhou Cheng.

“Zhou” was “Z” – the mysterious Mr. Z was Zhou Cheng… wait, that name sounded familiar.

What did Auntie just say about where her son worked that prevented him from meeting Xiao Lan often? And that braised chicken they had at the market during military training break – it didn’t take much deductive ability to connect these dots.

Su Jing stammered, “Xiao Lan, is Auntie talking about Instructor Zhou?”

That over-1.8-meter-tall Instructor Zhou with his overwhelming presence?!

After the initial shock, Su Jing’s eyes clearly said that Xia Xiao Lan was amazing – just half a month of military training and she’d started dating the Chief Instructor? Not only quick to act but also brave. Though Instructor Zhou was handsome, his cold face and strict training style weren’t exactly approachable, yet Xia Xiao Lan had won him over. No, perhaps Instructor Zhou couldn’t resist Xia Xiao Lan’s charm.

“What are you thinking? Zhou Cheng and I met last year – he just happened to become our military training instructor!”

Room 307 had spent so long guessing Mr. Z’s identity but never considered Zhou Cheng.

If Guan Hui E hadn’t been present, Xia Xiao Lan would have faced an “interrogation.”

Guan Hui E didn’t take them anywhere fancy, just finding a clean small restaurant near the school gate. These students needed proper nutrition, and since Guan Hui E earned a good salary and wasn’t short on money, she generously ordered meat dishes for them.

The roommates felt embarrassed and had to tell her “It’s enough” several times before she stopped ordering.

While waiting for the food, Chen Yi Yi, the quietest one in the room, asked softly: “Auntie, did the department say how they would resolve Xiao Lan’s trouble? Ji Jiang Yuan is from America – his family must be influential, right?”

Guan Hui E smiled, “Good child, thank you for caring about Xiao Lan. The department wants Ms. Ji to promise not to harass Xiao Lan anymore, but I think that’s too light a consequence for her arbitrary harassment. I want her to apologize to Xiao Lan… Of course, this is still under negotiation. If it’s resolved well, Xiao Lan will be the first to tell everyone.”

How they would “negotiate” didn’t need to be explained in detail – that was adult business. The students at the table were all innocent, and Guan Hui E didn’t want to spell everything out.