"Damn, damn, damn, Aotian, something's off with you, damn..."
The first person to notice Long Aotian's unusual state was Xu Shuai.
His repeated exclamations of "damn" made it clear he'd stumbled upon something shocking.
His dramatic reaction drew Huang Fei and Li Longlong's attention to Long Aotian, who had just returned to the dorm.
At first glance, however, they couldn't spot anything different about him.
Long Aotian chuckled at Xu Shuai. "What's off about me?"
His question made Huang Fei and Li Longlong turn to Xu Shuai, waiting for an explanation.
"You're drained!"
The dorm fell silent at those words.
Seeing Long Aotian's momentary stunned expression, Xu Shuai knew he'd hit the mark."What's going on?" Huang Fei asked, playfully punching Long Aotian's shoulder.
His muscles felt just as firm as ever—if not more so.
"No, it's different. Really different," Xu Shuai insisted.
"Then spit it out already! What's different?" Li Longlong couldn't stand the suspense.
Xu Shuai sniffed the air before speaking. "First, his scent changed. Can't you guys smell it?"
Huang Fei and Li Longlong took a whiff and immediately noticed it too—Long Aotian now carried a faint, pleasant fragrance.
It wasn't heavy like cologne but more refreshing, like shampoo mixed with an indescribable freshness.
Seeing their realization, Xu Shuai smirked and continued. "Second, haven’t you noticed he seems a little worn out today?"
"Like he’s lost a lot of energy. Think about how he usually is."
Xu Shuai spoke with confidence—after all, he’d been in the same state not long ago, after getting together with Wang Lijuan.
There was a clear difference between a man who’d been with a woman and one who hadn’t.
Normally, no matter how late Long Aotian returned, he was always full of energy, sharp in his movements.
But today, his eyes held a lingering satisfaction, his face bore subtle exhaustion, and even his steps seemed less brisk.
All signs pointed to one thing—Long Aotian had definitely been up late, and only prolonged intimate contact could leave such a lingering scent.
Late nights, long hours of closeness—Xu Shuai would bet his life something had happened.
"Hey, now that you mention it, he’s got dark circles too!" Li Longlong exclaimed, as if uncovering something hilarious.
But his laughter died abruptly when the implications sank in.
Faint fragrance, dark circles, exhaustion...
What exactly was he laughing about?
For a moment, Li Longlong felt incredibly foolish.
Long Aotian didn’t deny it.
He had been putting in work these past two days. After the first inexperienced attempt, none of their sessions had lasted less than an hour.
At first, it was within his physical limits.
But then Hu Yuying teased, "Careful, Long-ge, or you’ll be too weak to walk when you’re old."
Given Long Aotian’s mature mindset, those words ignited his competitive spirit.
He had to prove himself—and though he’d thoroughly conquered the little girl in the end, it had cost him a significant amount of energy.
The truth was, no matter how strong a man was, his legs would still feel like jelly after such intense exertion.
"Yeah, I’ve got someone to take care of for the rest of my life now," Long Aotian admitted plainly.
Why hide it?
Was the little girl something to be ashamed of?
Of course not. So why not declare it openly?
"Take care of for the rest of my life"—those words carried immense weight.
Yet coming from Long Aotian, they sounded utterly convincing.
Not because of anything else, but simply because Long Aotian was a man of his word.
Huang Fei and the others immediately grew curious about the "little girl" Long Aotian spoke of.
They’d speculated before, but Long Aotian had always just called her "little girl."
"Show us a photo! Let’s meet our future sister-in-law."
"You really wanna know?" Long Aotian teased.
"Of course! We need to know who could make our Aotian say he’ll take care of her forever."
"Call me ‘Daddy’ first."
"Damn, since when does our dorm play games like this? Aotian, if you’re gonna be like this, you’re not treating us as brothers. Daddy, please, just show us already!"
Seeing their eagerness, Long Aotian relented. "Fine."
He walked to his bed, pulled out his backpack, and retrieved the photos the little girl had developed for him during his visit to A University.
He’d kept them carefully preserved ever since.
He handed them two photos.
One showed their fingers hooked together, their backs turned.
The other captured the moment they glanced back, revealing their faces.
The second Huang Fei saw them, he slapped his thigh. "Damn! I knew it! I guessed it was this girl because the way she looks at Aotian is the softest!"
"If a girl ever looked at me like that, I’d chase her like crazy."
"Careful, don’t crease my photos," Long Aotian warned.
He hadn’t preserved them so meticulously just for these guys to ruin them in excitement.
"Yeah, yeah, look at you, getting all protective over a photo."
But to Long Aotian, this wasn’t just any photo—it was the first one they’d taken together, a memory he treasured deeply.
In most things, Long Aotian was easygoing. But when it came to this, he was downright possessive.
Without letting them look any longer, he took the photos back.
"Alright, you’ve seen enough."
"Enough? You just showed us!"
"Let’s go. We still have class. If we don’t grab seats now, we’ll end up right under the professor’s nose." Long Aotian packed up, refusing to admit his pettiness, and deftly redirected his "sons’" attention.
At the classroom entrance, Shen Mengjie leaned against the railing, chewing gum.
Her gaze slid past Huang Fei and the others, settling on Long Aotian.
She stretched lazily and drawled, "Well, well, look who’s back—the busy man himself..."