Dorm Life and Culinary Delights

The dorms at Tian Du University were all clustered in the upper right corner of campus, over a dozen buildings in total.

It was about the size of a small residential community.

“Ridiculously extravagant” was the only评价 Huang Xiu could give.

Outside the dorm area, Huang Xiu received her housing assignment sheet and key from a volunteer upperclassman.

She glanced down to confirm her dorm: Building 3, Room 406.

According to the map on the sheet, it was near the entrance of the community, saving her from a long trek.

The floor was neither too high nor too low, just right.

Even if the elevator was packed during peak times, she could take the stairs.

What pleased her most was that it wasn’t a multi-person dorm, but a single room within a suite.

Each suite had three single rooms with private bathrooms, plus a shared living room and kitchen.

“Not bad.” Huang Xiu nodded happily.

This setup was incredibly satisfying.

It perfectly avoided the housing worries she’d had before coming to school.

After all, although her body was now female, her soul was still unequivocally male.

Living with girls, she couldn’t imagine how awkward that would be.

“My body wouldn’t be able to take it! No way!” Huang Xiu shook her head.

“Xiu Xiu, looks like we’re not in the same building.” Chi Xue looked at her own housing sheet, disappointed.

The school hadn’t placed all freshmen in the same building as they’d imagined.

Instead, they were scattered throughout the community.

Some unlucky freshmen were assigned to Building 10, the farthest in.

From that spot, walking to class would probably take ten minutes.

“I wonder if we can swap dorms. I want to live with you.”

Chi Xue was a bit fixated on not being able to live with Huang Xiu, but Huang Xiu herself didn’t mind.

In fact, Huang Xiu didn’t care who she lived with.

Since they were all private rooms.

Given her tendency to survive on just a computer and food, she’d rarely leave her room unless necessary.

“Maybe we can. We’ll ask later.”

As she spoke, she looked at the sheet to check who her other two roommates were.

One familiar name jumped out immediately.

— Ying Zhiyu.

“Huh, it’s her?” Huang Xiu hadn’t expected her seatmate from the train to become her roommate.

She could only sigh at the wonderful unpredictability of fate.

She read on, and another name appeared, this one unfamiliar.

“Jia Qianrou? That’s a rare surname.”

Huang Xiu rubbed her chin.

Just from the name, she guessed it belonged to a soft, cute girl.

If both roommates had gentle personalities, she wouldn’t have to worry about dorm relationships.

She remembered that before she left, her mother had held her hand and repeatedly reminded her to get along well with her roommates.

In a girls’ dorm, she absolutely couldn’t act the same way as in a boys’ dorm.

“Xiu Xiu, I’m off!” Chi Xue had already found her own roommate. After saying goodbye, she headed toward her building with her roommate.

Watching Chi Xue’s figure disappear around the corner, Huang Xiu turned to Ying Zhiyu, who was standing nearby.

“Let’s go too!”

Huang Xiu said with a smile, but before she finished, her stomach let out an unusually loud gurgle.

“…”

Damn, she was too hungry!

“Ahem!”

A red flush crept up her cheeks. The girl forced herself to stay calm and coughed lightly. “Just a normal bodily reaction. No need to make a big deal.”

With that, she pulled her suitcase and walked into the community.

Ying Zhiyu covered her mouth and chuckled, the hem of her white dress swaying as she laughed.

‘Xiu Xiu is so cute,’ she thought, and followed with her own suitcase.

Choosing a room was a skill. One too close to the corridor would be easily disturbed by outside noise.

One too close to the kitchen would be affected by油烟.

It was best to face north-south, to enjoy the warm morning sunlight. So Huang Xiu chose the innermost room.

Ying Zhiyu picked the left room, closer to the kitchen.

Only the right room remained for the as-yet-unseen Jia Qianrou, who was presumably part of the second group of freshmen.

As the upperclassmen had said, tonight’s dinner was already on the dining table in the common area.

A double-layered, well-insulated stainless steel lunchbox and a brandless but elegantly packaged carton of milk.

The school had even prepared after-dinner fruit like blueberries and peaches, along with dessert.

“How nice!”

Huang Xiu dropped her luggage in her room and immediately opened the lunchbox with her name tag on it.

The first layer held vegetables, the second layer rice.

But she was a bit surprised to find that the school had prepared specialty dishes from her home province, Yunshang.

Stir-fried pork with chili, a large fish head with chopped chilies, braised pork belly, and two green vegetables.

“Hey, mine’s different!”

Ying Zhiyu on the other side of the table tilted her lunchbox so Huang Xiu could see.

Her dishes were completely different, featuring specialties from Yunxia Province.

“The school must be worried we won’t be used to the food!” Huang Xiu said while biting on a disposable chopstick.

As a true Yunshang native, her love for spicy food was ingrained.

She could go a day without it, but any longer felt like ants crawling all over her body.

“But there are thirty-four provinces and ten major cuisines. Does the school really have that many chefs?”

Ying Zhiyu’s mouth hung slightly open in surprise.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Huang Xiu smiled. “Going to university and being able to eat food from all over the country without leaving campus.”

But thinking about it… could she complete her entire food wishlist just at the school cafeteria?

No, her list also included foreign dishes. Surely the school didn’t have a Western chef!

Huang Xiu shook her head. Completing her food bucket list was certainly her dream.

But if a dream was too easily realized, it made one feel insecure, as if the dream was cheap.

Such is the peculiarity of human nature.

The food was exceptionally delicious and authentic. Huang Xiu even wondered if the school had hired a specialized Yunshang chef.

And the portions were generous. Even with her appetite, she was only about sixty percent full after finishing.

After eating, she packed the lunchbox back into the bag.

These containers needed to be returned.

According to the note on the table, she just had to leave them outside the dorm, and cafeteria staff would collect them.

But since one roommate hadn’t arrived yet, they had to stay on the table for now.

“Pretty convenient.” Huang Xiu lightly brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear with one hand.

Ordering delivery probably wasn’t an option at Tian Du University, since it was quite far from the city.

People often said online that a college life without ordering delivery and holing up in the dorm to game was incomplete.

But now it seemed the school cafeteria could deliver too, and the taste far outclassed delivery, so that regret was compensated.

She walked toward her room while eating dessert.

“Delicious!” Savoring the sweetness in her mouth, Huang Xiu closed her eyes in satisfaction.

She hadn’t been a fan of desserts before, but after her transformation and the increasing need for energy, she’d grown to love these high-calorie treats.