CHAPTER 419: CHAPTER 302: A CLASSMATE’S REQUEST

When class was over, Uesugi Sakura took out his phone to check the new message he had received.

It was a Line message from Chiaei, who sent a picture of Aei in her new outfit, along with a thank you note for Hanabi and brother.

Aei was smiling in the photo too.

He thought to himself, doesn’t Aei have a pretty smile?

Clearly, she’s just at an ordinary age, but she says some strange things to get others’ attention.

"Your sister?"

"Sort of." After sending a reply, Uesugi Sakura put away his phone.

Todaka Keichiro didn’t plan to ask more, "The second language test is coming up soon too, can you tell me how you learned Chinese?"

"You have to practice from a young age."

"No tips?"

"None."

Todaka Keichiro immediately turned to him, "Then let me see how my pronunciation is?"

"Okay, give it a try." Uesugi Sakura listened intently.

Todaka Keichiro coughed twice, "Cough, cough, ni hao—"

"Stop." Uesugi Sakura immediately interrupted, "Ni hao xie xie xiao long bao, right? Whether the professor will pass you or not, I won’t give you any leeway."

"So what should I do?"

"Aren’t there many international students at school? You can make friends with them."

"International students, huh, I don’t have a way to connect with them, and it feels awkward to approach upperclassmen."

Most of the international students are in the graduate school.

In the undergraduate department, like their class, most are locals from Tokyo.

"Todaka, where is your hometown?"

"Um, Hokkaido."

"Are there bears there?"

"Every Tokyo person asks that," Todaka Keichiro shrugged helplessly, "There are, but I’ve never seen one."

"The snow there is very thick, though." Uesugi Sakura recalled his impression of Hokkaido.

"It’s really thick, enough to block the door so you can’t get out," Todaka Keichiro also fell into the memories of his hometown, then suddenly realized, "Wait, weren’t we talking about the second language test?"

"There’s nothing much to say; my advice is to communicate more with international students, they’re happy to make friends."

"Uesugi, your Chinese is so good, how about we speak Chinese every day? That way, I don’t need to bother others."

"Sure, no problem for me."

This sentence was said in very proper Chinese.

"...?"

Todaka Keichiro was stunned, "What does that mean?"

Uesugi Sakura: "Ok."

Todaka Keichiro: "Is Chinese this complicated? It feels like you said a lot."

Uesugi Sakura explained: "It’s not complicated, I just simplified it a bit, the ’ok’ earlier can be translated as ’sure’ or ’alright’."

Umezu Nana, who liked to sit in the last row, had already packed up her class materials, noticing the two in front still chatting, she asked curiously:

"Aren’t we going to have lunch?"

Todaka Keichiro asked Uesugi Sakura: "How do I respond in Chinese?"

"In a casual tone, you can say ’eat,’ more formally ’I am going to eat,’ the colloquial way omits the subject and verb."

Then Umezu Nana saw Todaka Keichiro turn to her and say awkwardly:

"Eat."

She couldn’t help but laugh, "If you’re going to eat, hurry up, it’ll get crowded later, Seisa has saved us a spot."

Todaka Keichiro looked up at her, "You understood that?"

Umezu Nana smiled: "Look down on me? I can say ’ni hao xie xie xiao long bao’ too."

Actually, everyone in their group chose Chinese as their second language.

They all attended the classes, so they know a bit.

Todaka Keichiro was just following Uesugi Sakura’s lead, trying to cram at the last minute.

"Let’s eat first."

After packing up their laptops, the three of them walked out of the lecture building, heading to the Central Cafeteria beneath the Yasuda Lecture Hall.

The cafeteria has two floors; upstairs is a coffee shop, and downstairs is the Central Cafeteria which has a library-style decor.

As soon as you enter the underground level, you can hear the noise from the crowd.

"There are still so many people, every new school year the cafeteria’s numbers double, it’s such a hassle." Todaka Keichiro sighed helplessly seeing he had to line up again.

Umezu Nana gave him a glance, "We are the freshmen."

"Where’s Seisa?" Uesugi Sakura asked.

"Over there." Umezu Nana pointed to a four-person spot in the right corner.

"Mm," Uesugi Sakura saw the bespectacled, literary-looking Seisa Takeshun, "Todaka, you go line up, we’ll wait for you."

"Hm...?"

Todaka Keichiro glanced at the long queue, which included not only students but also outsiders from off-campus.

There were so many people, it was going to take a long time.

"Why? Why am I the only one lining up?"

"Seisa ordered meals for us."

"Then why didn’t you order one for me too! With so many people."

Umezu Nana: "You usually don’t eat at school."

"Fine... alright..." He could only slump off to join the line.

Afterward, Uesugi Sakura first sat down at the spot to eat.

The beige chairs, goose-yellow floors, stark white ceiling columns, a commendable feature of the cafeteria at Tokyo University is its size—the entire underground is brightly and transparently decorated.

For the lighting on the floor, the second level isn’t fully utilized.

To get to the second-level coffee shop, you have to pass through a very narrow corridor.

That corridor is completely white, with a height very close to the ceiling, walking above gives you a very romantic comedy-like feeling of the male and female leads meeting on a bridge.

"Uesugi-kun, how’s that light novel coming along?"

"’The witch is a Fox Demon’?"

"Yes."

"It’s still in preparation, expected to be published in early July." Uesugi Sakura initially thought Umezu Nana wouldn’t be into light novels.

"Won’t it be serialized online first?" Umezu Nana had read the author’s previous work, which was indeed good but niche.

"No, it seems this time they plan to publish one volume first, the Library Company and publisher are both optimistic about this author’s second work. By the way, thank you guys for your help, how about I treat you to Matsukawa Cuisine? You have to book three months in advance, but I have a way to move the reservation up a bit."