The next day, 12:00 noon.

Lin Zichen carried four dishes and a soup out of the kitchen one after another and set them neatly on the dining table, waiting for Shen Qinghan and Li Chuxin to get back from class to eat.

Yes—Li Chuxin, too.

Just half an hour earlier, Shen Qinghan had messaged Lin Zichen on WeChat to say that Li Chuxin wanted to come over to mooch a meal and asked if that was okay.

Lin Zichen readily agreed, then made the four dishes and a soup now on the table.

Creak—

At 12:08, the dorm door opened.

Shen Qinghan and Li Chuxin came in from outside.

On Li Chuxin’s head perched a pair of fluffy purple beast ears—very cute.

Half a month ago, she had successfully fused an ordinary‑grade Shadow Nightcat Gene and had now become a lofty Gene Fuser.

Thinking cat‑eared girls were very charming, she would activate the Shadow Nightcat Gene whenever she went out so a pair of cat ears sat on her head.

“Why are you two carrying so many bags?”

Lin Zichen noticed their hands were full of shopping bags and asked curiously.

“They’re not bought,” Shen Qinghan said, “They’re gifts Chuxin brought from home for the two of us.”

“Gifts?” Lin Zichen said.

Smiling, Li Chuxin said, “Our family clothing shop just got a batch of new styles. I saw several couple outfits that would really suit you and Hanhan, so I brought them to give you.”

“Chuxin, you’re too polite,” Lin Zichen said.

“What’s polite about it? You two are my good friends—bringing gifts is only right.”

She smiled again and added, “Besides, I’m here to mooch a meal—can’t show up empty‑handed, can I?”

“True,” Lin Zichen smiled back.

Li Chuxin took out the clothes and said to them, “I’ve already washed these. Try them on and see if they fit.”

She even washed them—how thoughtful.

‘Having a girlfriend like this really was a blessing for Hanhan…’ Lin Zichen thought to himself.

Then he and Shen Qinghan tried on the clothes together.

“Come on, both of you, strike a pose. I’ll take pictures. I’ll use your couple photos as models for my online shop—sales will definitely boom.”

Li Chuxin pulled a camera from her backpack and said with a grin.

Shen Qinghan teased, “Sure, sis—so that was your plan all along. No wonder you specially came to bring us clothes.”

“Slander! Pure slander!”

Holding the camera, Li Chuxin said, “The main thing is giving you the clothes—photos are just on the side.”

Then she giggled and added, “Also, the food your Xiao Chen makes is too good—I couldn’t resist coming to mooch a bite.”

Shen Qinghan joked, “Hey, I cook really well too—why don’t you mooch off me? Some sis you are!”

“Who says I won’t?” Li Chuxin said, “From now on I’ll mooch your meals every day—just don’t complain I eat too much.”

“Of course I won’t,” Shen Qinghan said, “I’ll use my superb cooking to feed you into a pig!”

“You’re evil! Plastic (fake) sisters! We’re breaking up—for three seconds!”

Banter flew back and forth: they called each other plastic sisters with their mouths, but their feelings were great.

After a few minutes of photos, the three of them quickly sat down at the table to eat.

Halfway through the meal, Shen Qinghan complained to Lin Zichen, “Xiao Chen, on the way back to the dorm with Li Chuxin just now, we ran into a really awful senior. That senior, relying on being an upperclassman and stronger than freshmen, actually tried to snatch the shopping bags from our hands—really bullying. If someone hadn’t recognized me and said I was your girlfriend, she probably would have taken them.”

“There are people so brazen?” Lin Zichen was surprised.

He knew the school advocated survival of the fittest, but he hadn’t expected it to be this absurd—absurd enough that an upperclassman would dare snatch freshmen’s things in public.

‘Was this kind of campus atmosphere really good for students?’

It seemed hard to agree with.

Seeing Lin Zichen’s shocked face, Li Chuxin explained, “It’s not as exaggerated as you think. It’s not like just any upperclassman will rob a freshman. That senior is targeting me. She thinks I’m easy to bully and keeps picking on me. Hanhan just got dragged in by association. She’s the one I told you about before—the senior who borrowed my cosmetics and wouldn’t return them.”

Li Chuxin went on, “Zichen, you might not believe it: the senior who likes bullying freshmen is actually in the Student Union—she’s specifically in charge of dorm inspections.”

“Student Union people bullying freshmen really is a bit much,” Lin Zichen said.

“What’s worse,” Li Chuxin said with a wry smile, “is that she has the power to spin it—she can find a reason and call it ‘tempering the freshmen.’ As ordinary‑track, weaker freshmen, we don’t even know where to go to get justice.”

‘Freshmen had it this rough here?’

That took Lin Zichen by surprise.

He normally stayed in the dorm or the gym and rarely paid attention to these things on campus.

Hearing this now, he felt the school ethos had gone too far.

“That senior who borrowed your cosmetics—did she ever give them back?” Lin Zichen asked.

“Give them back, my foot,” Li Chuxin said, “Not only did she not return them, last month she came to my dorm and borrowed another item. It’s like she treats my room as a cosmetics counter.”

“She really is going too far,” Lin Zichen said, “Here’s what we’ll do—this afternoon you take me to her. I’ll get your justice back.”

Li Chuxin shook her head, “Forget it—she’s Student Union. Better not offend her.”

At first she had thought of asking Lin Zichen to stand up for her.

But when she learned the other girl was in the Student Union and even had a Student Union boyfriend with some position, she gave up on the idea.

Lin Zichen was indeed very strong, but in the end he was just a freshman; there were limits to how strong he could be.

She didn’t think a still‑developing freshman like Lin Zichen could stand up to Student Union people.

But Lin Zichen was far more confident than she imagined. He said to her directly, “It’s fine. If we offend her, we offend her. Even if we offend the entire Student Union, I don’t think anything will happen. I think upperclassmen bullying freshmen has gone too far. It’s time to rein them in. In short, I’ll handle this for you. You just lead the way.”

Offend the Student Union?

That didn’t worry Lin Zichen now.

Having completed second body‑tempering, he was confident he was the number one student at Shanhai University.

With strength that great, there was no need to tiptoe—be strong when it was time to be strong.

Now his friend had been bullied; it was time to act.

That was what great strength was for.

“Zichen, I still think we shouldn’t,” Li Chuxin said, “If she wants to use my cosmetics, I’ll just let her. The fewer troubles the better—no need to make a scene.”

She wavered—she didn’t want to do anything risky.

She worried Lin Zichen might fail to resolve it and with the best intentions, make things worse so the senior bullied her even more.

Compared with her, the usually timid Shen Qinghan was the brave one this time.

Holding Li Chuxin’s hand, she said earnestly, “Trust Xiao Chen’s strength—he’ll settle this for you.”

She knew how strong Lin Zichen was; a mere Student Union couldn’t touch him.

In the end, under Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan’s confident persuasion, Li Chuxin agreed, “Okay then. At four this afternoon, I’ll take you to find her.”