Chapter 27: Tina Is Here!

"Ugh..."

Anna mumbled and covered her head with a pillow.

Ryan quickly got up and grabbed his phone to turn off the alarm. He saw it was 5 AM, normally, this was when he’d get up and head to the cafeteria for his part-time job.

He might as well see it through to the end, do one more day and then go explain things to them. After all, they’d been the ones looking out for him to get this work.

Ryan yawned, reluctant to leave, and glanced at Anna’s delicate back and graceful figure lying sideways.

He bent down and kissed her on the face, then got out of bed. In the bathroom, there was no toothbrush, so he just rinsed his mouth and splashed cold water on his face a few times.

Sensing the movement, Anna turned around and said groggily, "Ryan, it’s not even light out. Where are you going???"

"Be good, I have to go to the cafeteria for work. We’ll see each other at school later."

Ryan kissed her on the face.

Hearing that Ryan was going to work in the cafeteria, Anna was so startled her drowsiness vanished. She remembered that Ryan was famously down-to-earth at school.

She gave him a sweet kiss, and after a lingering goodbye, she went back to sleep. Ryan tiptoed out.

Of course, during the farewell kiss, he wasn’t well-behaved, he groped her chest and licked her nipples again.

So by the time he walked out of her place, his pants were pitching a tent, and it took a while to go down.

At five in the morning on campus, the sky hadn’t even begun to lighten.

The streetlights had already been turned off, making it somewhat dark. Only the sports majors were up early for their morning runs.

The school had five cafeterias spread across different areas. Ryan’s part-time job was at the second cafeteria, which was relatively close.

What classmates mocked was that Ryan had to help haul slop every day. What they didn’t know was that before the cafeteria opened, he also had to come in and help with other work.

"Brother Fatty!"

He greeted the cafeteria contractor, Brother Fatty, and then got to work along with the other financially struggling students who also worked part-time.

Every morning was like this. While other students were still asleep, the cafeterias were already preparing breakfast. After breakfast was done, they had to quickly prepare ingredients for lunch.

College students were cheap labor, and even more naive than workers out in society. The five cafeterias competed with each other, so the food quality was pretty good.

Ryan and the other guys unloaded the meat and vegetables from the truck, then carried them to the kitchen, all physical labor.

The girls helped the aunties wash and chop vegetables, then steamed the premade buns and dumplings.

After a busy stretch until seven, everything was ready. Only then did Ryan tell Brother Fatty that he wouldn’t be working there anymore.

Brother Fatty didn’t try to keep him, after all, on campus there were plenty of other students. He chuckled and said, "Alright, I’ll calculate your wages later and transfer them to you."

"Thanks, Brother Fatty. I’ll head off then."

He had a bowl of beef noodles and packed breakfast for his roommates.

Back in the dorm, Wester and Jason had already gotten up, yawning. When they saw the hearty breakfast, they immediately cheered: "Thank you, Ryan."

Beef pies, beef buns, those were the top sellers at the second cafeteria, usually sold out every day.

Along with tea eggs and a bowl of fresh mutton soup, it made for a day full of energy.

After eating, they went to class. Their advisor, Yana, had given Ryan a few days off, so he was the only one left in the dorm. He took a shower with the fan on, then lay back in bed and fiddled with his phone.

From last night, Tina’s messages and all those missed calls, just looking at them gave him a headache. He didn’t know how to reply.

Then there was Linda’s recent message: "Ryan, are the beef buns steamed yet? The line must be really long, right?"

This used to be part of the daily routine. If Linda sent a message like that, you had to be smart about it.

Normally, Ryan would get all pumped up like he’d just hit a jackpot, his moment of glory was coming.

Beef buns, beef pies, beef siu mai, plus tea eggs and the sweet soy milk that girls loved.

He’d pack up a huge load and march straight to their dorm, treating the whole room to breakfast. To put it nicely, it was a way of showing love for her by caring about her people.

They’d accept it without any qualms. Especially Tina, having such an attentive simp made her quite proud.

But now, Ryan didn’t even want to reply. He pulled the curtains closed and started thinking.

Currently, he only had two bound targets. With Anna, he needed to find opportunities to spend more money and push her affection to 95 to see what the reward was.

As for Yana, that was tricky. She was a teacher and they didn’t interact much, she was rarely around.

Honestly, Ryan was neither a top student nor a troublemaker, just a background nobody. He didn’t know much about Yana either.

Spending money on her seemed hard to figure out, he didn’t even know where to start.

Thinking about it made him drowsy. He hadn’t been getting enough rest before, and although he didn’t stay up late last night, he’d woken up too early. Soon enough, he drifted off to sleep.

He was woken up later by noise in the dorm.

Junior year was relatively light. Afternoons were mostly electives, optional to attend.

Students either worked part-time, did club activities, or went to the library. But most chose to stay in the dorms and play games.

Jason walked in and said with a grin, "Ryan, you weren’t in class today. Tina and Linda came by asking what was up."

"What did you tell them?"

Hearing Tina’s name, Ryan felt a tightness in his chest but kept his expression neutral.

"I said you were sick, resting in the dorm, and that you probably had your phone on silent since you didn’t answer."

Jason studied his face for any reaction.

Wester said with a mischievous grin, "Linda said she wants to come see you."

"Is Tina coming?"

Ryan asked flatly, without any of the old eagerness.

Wester said slyly, "Guess!!"

Ryan laughed and cursed, "I guess your grandma. Also, you guys didn’t grab me any food after class? That’s brutal, man."

"We came back first. The cafeteria is packed right now. Every time class ends, it’s like a stampede of wild dogs."

The three of them were smoking and chatting when suddenly a loud shout came from outside, followed by a bright and charming figure appearing at the dorm doorway.

Entering the guys’ dorm, Tina looked a bit shy and embarrassed. She poked her head in and said, "So you live here? I had a hard time finding it, had to ask several people."

Three years, and she didn’t even know Ryan’s dorm number. This was her first time visiting, it showed how cold she’d been before.

The lively and clever Linda followed behind her. Seeing Ryan lying on the bed in just boxers, she yelped, "Why aren’t you wearing clothes?"

Ryan sat up slowly, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on without any rush. He looked at them with a neutral expression and said, "What are you doing here?"