Starting Check-in Reward: Tomson Riviera

As the military training gradually neared its end, the last couple of days of drills had become increasingly lax. Though... it seemed like it had been pretty lax from the very beginning.

After the morning’s drills, Ye Ling and his roommates finished lunch and went straight back to their dorm to veg out.

The weather was just too damn hot!

Ye Ling was enjoying the air conditioning while chatting with Ning Ruoxi on WeChat, giving summer the respect it deserved.

"Holy shit!"

Just then, He Jian suddenly let out a classic curse word.

"Hey, I’m serious, He Jian. Can you not be so damn jumpy? I was just about to fall asleep, for fuck’s sake!" Yang Yu, who was next to him, shot up, glaring at He Jian with clear annoyance.

"Sleep my ass! I just found something incredible. Quick, check out the pinned post on the campus forum!"

He Jian shot up as well and blurted out his command.

Yang Yefeng and Yang Yu were both taken aback for a moment, then skeptically pulled out their phones. Ye Ling, however, paid the guys no mind...

Right now, he was busy admiring the selfies Ning Ruoxi had just sent him.

’Hmm, my girl seems to have lost some weight. I’ll have to fatten her up after the military training is over. Can’t let the pandas get any smaller, that’d be a huge loss!’ Ye Ling thought gleefully.

"Brother Ling! Brother Ling! You’re expecting! You’re expecting!"

Just then, Yang Yu suddenly pointed at his screen and yelled.

Ye Ling’s expression immediately darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

’What the hell does he mean, I’m expecting!?’

Ye Ling set his phone down, his gaze turning icy as he stared at him. "If you don’t give me a very good explanation, I guarantee you’ll get a lesson in ’delicate beauty.’"

"Er... about that, Brother Ling, don’t get mad yet, just look!"

Yang Yu couldn’t help but flinch, and a chill ran down his spine. He scrambled to his feet and handed his phone up to Ye Ling on the top bunk.

Ye Ling took it and glanced at the screen, his eyes widening slightly. At the very top of the campus forum was a pinned thread titled: [Modu University Freshman Campus Belle & Beau Poll].

"Brother Ling, tap on it and see. See if you’re on there!"

Yang Yu urged again.

Ye Ling did as he was told and tapped the link.

At the very top of the Campus Beau rankings was none other than Ye Ling’s name.

And underneath it were several photos of him.

’So this is what he meant by ’expecting,’ huh?’ For a moment, Ye Ling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He was incredibly popular. His vote count had already reached a staggering 5,210, leaving the person in second place behind by more than two thousand votes!

Ye Ling continued scrolling through the rankings, going straight to the Campus Belle list. Unsurprisingly, Ning Ruoxi was number one, and in second place was that Luo Yue girl.

"Heh, I didn’t think this little brat would be so popular."

Ye Ling muttered to himself as he looked at their vote counts.

Ning Ruoxi’s vote count was even higher than his, reaching 7,031 votes, while Luo Yue had 6,802. The gap between them wasn’t actually that large.

Clearly, in the eyes of the student body, Luo Yue was also a captivating little darling.

However.

’Still, Ye Ling didn’t get it. That little fool was so dense, what was there to like about her?’

"Tsk, tsk. The missus made the list too. Now that’s what I call a power couple," He Jian sighed from the side.

The number one campus belle and the number one campus beau are a couple—a match made in heaven! It’s like a plot straight out of a novel!

"Lists like this are just made by people who are bored out of their skulls. Nothing worth looking at." Ye Ling was completely unfazed after seeing it and tossed the phone back to Yang Yu.

Perhaps an ordinary person would be proud or excited by this little bit of popularity, but to him, it was hardly worth a mention...

"No, no, no! This wasn’t put together by some bored students. It’s an official university-sponsored contest!" He Jian said, shaking his head.

"The university?"

Hearing this, Ye Ling did a double-take, clearly surprised.

’He never would have thought the university would actually organize something like this.’

"Well, it’s a university, so things are naturally more open-minded. Plus, the school’s leadership has been replaced by people from the ’90s generation in recent years. They’re more in touch with the times, so they’ve added some of these more novel elements,"

He Jian explained.

As the ’90s generation, and even the ’00s generation, have gradually entered the workforce, all sorts of industries have gained a new sense of vitality from their presence.

Take this "Campus Belle & Beau Contest," for example. Previous generations of administrators would never have approved it. They always gave off such a rigid, old-fashioned impression.

But as the successors of a new era, the generations from the ’90s and ’00s are much more open-minded and aren’t afraid to innovate.

For instance, Modu University launched this "Campus Belle & Beau Contest" as part of the military training activities, something that’s never been done before.

"Well, that is pretty interesting."

Ye Ling said with a slight nod. However, it was clear from his expression that he wasn’t particularly invested.

He Jian and the others were left speechless. Forget everything else, his girlfriend had won first place in the campus belle poll! Shouldn’t he be showing off a little?

Talk about bragging rights!

Just then, Ye Ling got a new WeChat message. It was from Duan Lingfei.

[Duan Lingfei: Ye Ling, there’s something I’d like to ask you. The Computer Science department needs to put together a performance for the freshman welcome party the day after tomorrow. I was wondering if you might be interested in participating?]

Seeing the message, Ye Ling guessed that Duan Lingfei must have seen the pinned post on the campus forum.

He just didn’t expect it to attract the attention of his counselor.

To be honest, Duan Lingfei was in a tough spot.

Under normal circumstances, he naturally wouldn’t have approached Ye Ling...

The problem was, the university administration was requiring every department to contribute at least one performance, and their Computer Science department was full of future programmers. What kind of talents were they supposed to have?

Were they supposed to go on stage and write a block of code for everyone?

Clearly, that wasn’t going to work.

But then he happened to see the campus belle and beau rankings, and coincidentally saw Ye Ling in first place, which gave him an idea.

’Given how popular Ye Ling was, even if he just went on stage and did nothing—or even just recited a poem—the audience’s reaction probably wouldn’t be too bad, right?’

Meanwhile, Ye Ling replied to him.

Ye Ling himself had no real interest in this sort of thing, but considering this was the counselor he’d have for the next four years, he felt he should show him some respect. So, he agreed right away.

It was just a stage performance, after all. Our Brother Ling can do anything!