I'm back in 1990

Chapter 67: Please do me a favor

The two waited idly for Yu Xiang outside the dormitory supervisor's office downstairs. Then a man arrived, looking to be about twenty-two or twenty-three years old, shorter than Yu Wei, and fairly good-looking. However, he had clearly used a lot of styling gel in his hair; it was as stiff as a tortoise shell.

He asked the dormitory supervisor for help: "Hello, could you please call Yu Xiang from room 316 for me? Thank you!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei quickly exchanged a glance.

Yu Wei was wondering, "Who is this guy? My sister's suitor? Or her boyfriend? I've never heard her mention him."

Huang Xiaochuan's mind went into overdrive, thinking, "Who the hell is this guy? How dare he try to take advantage of my Xiang-jie?"

Just as the dormitory supervisor was about to call people over the loudspeaker, Yu Xiang and Ji Mei came downstairs.

Upon seeing the young man, Yu Xiang frowned slightly, and Ji Mei didn't even look at him directly.

Upon seeing Yu Xiang, the man immediately greeted her with delight: "Yu Xiang, I was just about to ask the dorm supervisor to look for you! I didn't expect you to come down so soon. How about I treat you to lunch, and then we go see a movie?"

Yu Xiang refused without hesitation: "Senior Lin, I've already told you, there's no future for us. Please don't come looking for me again."

Upon hearing this, Yu Wei realized that this guy had come to harass his sister. He was immediately annoyed and stepped between the man and Yu Xiang, protecting Yu Xiang behind him.

Huang Xiaochuan breathed a sigh of relief and then stood next to Yu Wei.

Seeing two handsome young men blocking his way, Senior Lin asked Yu Xiang with displeasure, "Who are they?"

Before Yu Xiang could answer, Ji Mei stepped forward and said, "Who they are is none of your business. Lin Jianren, aren't you out of your mind? Do you think we're that close to you?"

At this moment, Yu Wei pointed at the guy's nose and warned him: "I don't care who you are, my sister told you not to come looking for her. You better get lost, or I won't be polite to you next time I see you."

Upon hearing that it was Yu Xiang's younger brother, Lin Jianren's expression immediately softened, and he quickly tried to salvage the situation.

Unfortunately, the others didn't give him that chance. Yu Xiang pulled Yu Wei and Huang Xiaochuan away, and Ji Mei glared at Lin Jianren before following them.

Lin Jianren stood there watching their retreating figures, muttering to himself, "So it's my younger brother!"

Seeing that Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei had arrived by bicycle, Ji Mei also pushed a bicycle, and the four of them rode together toward a local restaurant.

Yu Xiang seemed completely unconcerned about what had just happened.

On the way, Yu Xiang asked Huang Xiaochuan, "Where did you get this bicycle?"

Huang Xiaochuan honestly replied, "I bought a used bike from a senior at our school for 85 yuan. I replaced some parts and tires, and it rides even better than a new one."

Yu Xiang was very satisfied with Huang Xiaochuan's answer. This kid had money, but he didn't show off by buying a new bicycle. He even knew to save money and buy an old one, which was commendable.

"That's good. From now on, we should save money wherever we can and not waste it. Yu Wei, you should learn from this, understand?"

Unexpectedly, Yu Wei said, "I don't have money, so isn't it cheaper not to buy it?"

To be honest, what this guy said actually makes a lot of sense.

......

Upon arriving at the destination, Yu Xiang asked Ji Mei to help Huang Xiaochuan find a table while she took Yu Wei to order food.

This restaurant was state-owned, and it was different from restaurants in later generations. You needed food coupons to eat here.

By 90, ration coupons had essentially been phased out, and their official abolition was less than two years away. However, state-run restaurants and grain and oil stores continued to use them; coupons for meat, cloth, and tofu had long since faded from residents' lives.

At this time, state-run restaurants were cheap, but the service was terrible. It was lunchtime and the restaurant was crowded, so Ji Mei and Huang Xiaochuan had to keep watch over the table in advance to see if they were about to finish eating.

Yu Xiang had to look at the small blackboard to order the dishes. After paying and giving her food coupons, the cashier would give her a few bamboo tokens, which she would then hand to the food pick-up window.

Then you wait there for the food to be ready, and then you bring it to the table yourself. So don't talk about service here, but the food is indeed made with high-quality ingredients and is of the highest quality.

While waiting for a table, and with Yu Xiang not around, Huang Xiaochuan subtly inquired about Lin Jianren with Ji Mei.

Ji Mei was a chatterbox to begin with, and when someone asked her, she was happy to give a general account of what had happened.

The matter wasn't complicated at all. This Lin Jianren was a well-known dating expert in their medical school. He was a year ahead of Ji Mei and the others, and was a fifth-year student this year.

This guy is famous in medical school, not for how outstanding he is, but for how many years he's been there. It's unclear how much medical knowledge he's acquired, but he's certainly had several girlfriends.

Thanks to his privileged family background, he attracted quite a few gold-digging women. It was like a willing buyer and a willing seller situation. The school doesn't care how many relationships you have, as long as you don't cause trouble. It's a matter of mutual consent, and the school certainly won't interfere.

Unexpectedly, after this guy met Yu Xiang while interning at the same hospital, he was attracted by Yu Xiang's unique intellectual beauty and started to pester her relentlessly.

Yu Xiang had no liking for this man at all and had clearly rejected him many times, but Lin Jianren was persistent and would come to bother her every now and then, which gave Yu Xiang a lot of headaches.

After learning about Xiang Jie's attitude towards this person, Huang Xiaochuan's mind started working again.

The meal consisted of four dishes and a soup for four people, plus three bowls of rice. The rice here is served in large bowls, and since Yu Xiang and Ji Mei have small appetites, one bowl is enough for the two of them.

Yu Wei and Huang Xiaochuan each got a bowl; if they needed more, they could just go buy more. Anyway, there was no need to queue to buy food; they could just use their bowls to get their own.

Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei ate in the cafeteria for two weeks. When they ate in a different place, they were like two starving ghosts. They devoured four dishes and a soup, plus a bowl and a half of rice each. You should know that the bowl was a huge bowl!

Watching the two of them eat, Ji Mei felt her appetite improve considerably. Normally, to control her weight, she only ate a small bite each time, but today she finished half a large bowl of rice. Afterwards, she even complained that Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei ate so deliciously, which had aroused her appetite.

After lunch, Huang Xiaochuan and Yu Wei escorted Yu Xiang and Ji Mei to the school gate. Yu Xiang didn't let them take him to his dormitory, urging them to hurry back to school, especially Huang Xiaochuan, who still had to ride his bike for more than forty minutes to get back to his own school after dropping off Yu Wei.

For the first part of the journey back, Huang Xiaochuan let Yu Wei ride the bike while he lazily sat on the back seat, and thus took Yu Wei all the way to their dormitory building.

After saying goodbye, Huang Xiaochuan slowly rode his bike away, but before he even left the school gate, Tang Yuan jumped out from the roadside and stopped him.

Fortunately, he was riding slowly and had good brakes, otherwise he would have crashed head-on, which almost caused Huang Xiaochuan to fall.

Fortunately, he had long legs, and with a quick squeeze of his hands and a powerful push of his feet, he stopped less than five centimeters from Tangyuan, almost wearing out the soles of his shoes.

At first, Huang Xiaochuan couldn't see who was blocking his way. He was about to curse when he realized it was Tang Yuan. He swallowed the curse he was about to utter.

"What's going on with you?" Huang Xiaochuan was confused. Why are you blocking me at the school gate instead of keeping an eye on your Yu Wei?

Tang Yuan looked at Huang Xiaochuan with a fawning expression: "I need your help!"

Huang Xiaochuan looked wary. He knew all too well the girl standing in front of him; she was no pushover.

"How can I help you? Tell me first."