"Tomorrow... school starts?" A Qing was stunned upon hearing this.
"Yes! It's a last-minute notice from the principal and the dean," the counselor sighed and said, "I won't say more, I need to inform the other students in our class, you inform your roommates."
She spoke with an obvious lack of energy, clearly feeling the pressure of notifying the students.
Not all students, like A Qing, would return to school early and plan a trip to a new city.
Based on the counselor's understanding of her class.
If they weren't late by a couple of days, and begging and crying for her to lie to the authorities, she'd be grateful.
Expecting them to return early is unrealistic, especially since the start of school was moved up by three days because of a peculiar migratory event in Qinling, which required the School of Animal Science to begin their semester observation activities early.
The observation activities were already planned, and both the institutes' students need to participate, as it's both a physical exercise and an opportunity for students to learn about local climate and environmental factors.
The activities were scheduled last semester, and arrangements were made with local security companies and tour guides.
Because the School of Animal Science's schedule changed, the Agricultural Research Institute's schedule had to sync accordingly.
"The school start date... moved up to tomorrow?"
Mo Yiqing, who was driving, could hear the voice from the phone on the passenger seat. She looked puzzled, "Our neighboring dorm's Xiao Lei and A Qiu haven't even come back yet. From what I know, there are at least a dozen who haven't returned."
"In such a situation, can people even make it back in time?"
It's understandable to start school early, but what's the point if there are so many absentee students?
Mo Yiqing found it completely baffling.
"I don't know, the counselor said they'd post detailed information in the Agricultural Research Institute's big group tonight," A Qing said.
The sudden start of school not only pressured the counselor but also left the students bewildered.
However, the decision to start early was made by the school and institute-level leadership and then communicated to the departments.
The official reason was that the change in the School of Animal Science's schedule caused it.
......
Mo Yiqing drove her electric car back to the parking garage of the Phoenix City District.
"Sister, does your boyfriend know we're spending the night at your place? Won't he be angry?" Lingren looked around, teasingly joking with a hint of sarcasm.
"...... He's got something going on in Mountain City." Mo Yiqing locked the car and walked towards the elevator, recalling the bear-like demeanor of her cousin who was pretending to be her boyfriend before leaving, causing the corners of her mouth to twitch slightly.
If not for her cousin, Mo Yiqing felt like she might never encounter the combination of words: men, lace, underwear, nine thousand eight, and baby talk.
Her cousin's way is wild, to say the least.
Now, he's probably devouring a chicken wrap.
On their way to Momo's home, the group passed by Old Master Fu Li's parking spot.
"Wow! More hammers and they're crooked," Lingren stood on tiptoe, exclaiming in surprise.
Previously, when they visited Momo's home, Lingren had seen the bizarre items on the black pickup truck and wondered what on earth justified such a dramatic giant hammer.
In just a few days.
The number of giant hammers +1
The handle of the original old hammer showed obvious bending and deformation.
Intrigued by Lingren's exclamations, A Qing and the others noticed the strange item on the black pickup truck.
Ansheng: "......"
Thanks for the reminder, I'll call grams hedgehog later to get that warranty.
"I remember someone in the owners' group said that parking spot over there was an extra one for the building king's house."
"Who knows what it's for?" Mo Yiqing glanced at the pickup truck and continued walking, saying.
Momo's home is right next to Ansheng's.
The elevator went up to the middle floors, two elevators serving two apartments per floor.
Mo Yiqing took out the key to open the door, raised her hand, and tossed the keys onto the shoe cabinet and turned on the lights.
The wooden floors greeted them, and Mo Yiqing took off her shoes and socks, stepping directly onto them as she headed inside.
Teak flooring adorned with a carpet, a set of minimalist black walnut sofas with padded backrests, and several casually placed leather armchairs occupied the living room area.
On the left was an open kitchen, separated by an island and a long embedded table, distinguishing the dining and living areas.
"Hey! The layout is almost identical to my place, it seems Momo didn't do much decorating either."
Ansheng landed on the wooden floor, curiously poking her head around Momo's house.
The big flats in Phoenix City District were all developer-decided refined decoration homes for the owners.
Ansheng's home didn't even have wooden flooring, they simply replaced the cabinets and furniture, with a significant portion of materials still aboard a cargo ship overseas.
Continuing forward, Ansheng saw the extensive mirrors from when Momo's house was being decorated.
They were neatly installed on the walls, creating a dance studio in the house, with mirrored surfaces hanging from the ceiling too.
Based on the wall thickness and her understanding of the complex's layout, Ansheng knew that there was space behind those mirrored walls.
"This is a dance studio! I heard from Momo that the former owner was a ballet private instructor, later dabbled in stock trading, got into debt, and switched to pole dancing...."
A Qing followed the little fox, accompanying Ansheng in exploring the house Momo rented.
Upon reaching the dance studio, A Qing crouched down, holding the little fox at the chest and abdomen, making him stand on two legs, then shook the fox's left hand in front of the mirror.
"Hehe! A fox of fortune—," A Qing grinned cheerily, using Xia Dong's homophonic pun.
"Goodness, truly Momo..." Ansheng was startled, even the fox was shocked.
From ballet to pole dancing is just absurd.
Continuing further in, they came across a bathroom and a semi-open entertainment room, presumably sixty to seventy square meters.
The room boasted gaming equipment and ashtrays, with a custom keyboard wall, luring Tang You's attention.
Opposite the keyboard wall, there was a set of couches and an empty floor-to-ceiling bookshelf lining one wall.
"What? Do you want to take a shower too?"
The little fox curiously explored, slipping into Mo Mo's bedroom, glancing at the glass partition that separated the bathroom and bedroom area, with Mo Mo's hourglass figure reflected on the partition.
Seeing her, Mo Yiqing also noticed the little fox wandering in from the bathroom.
"Sure, sure!"
Hearing Mo Yiqing's joke, Ansheng rolled his eyes without paying attention. Back at A Qing's house, Momo too would invite like this: the little fox would peek in, and the bathroom showerhead was like inviting foxes to drink.
Momo even once asked A Qing.
Could the fox serve as a bath sponge one wonders, but upon seeing the soaked fox shrink, the idea was quietly dismissed.
The fox is indeed more charming when dry.
Once wet, it turns into nothing but a large rat.
After wandering around the house, Ansheng returned to the living room and sprawled on a chair to catch a nap.
Momo's home was relatively simple, aside from the dance studio and omnipresent mirrors, there wasn't much to look at.
After showering, Mo Yiqing naturally went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, turned around, and asked A Qing and Lingren in the living room:
"I'll cook tonight, what do you guys feel like eating? I'll buy groceries on the delivery platform in a bit."
While speaking, Momo tiptoed to temporarily switch off the circuit breaker box above the fridge.
Although the house seemed normal, over 300 square meters of floor space contained more than twenty sets of visible and concealed surveillance.
Of course,
Momo didn't use them for snooping; she merely used them to record her various lovely poses at home and to deter thieves from stealing data from her database.
But with friends around, and considering bathing and other needs, Momo turned off the surveillance in the private areas.