Reborn: I'll Never Fail My Childhood Sweetheart Again-Chapter 187 - 91: The Unexpected First Snow and Delivering a Down Jacket to Qin Shiqing

The day after the team-building was a Sunday, and there wasn't much to do.

Freshman year is relatively relaxed, with not much academic pressure.

Constantly going to internet cafes had become tedious, so it was time to find some other entertainment.

Su Zelin and three male students from the next dorm played "Landlord," betting a dime each time, starting with seven cards.

Cai Wensheng and the co-op dorm's Popcorn went to study, while Hou Yongjin stayed on the top bunk holding his book "Thick Black Theory." Who knows how many times he'd flipped through it, as if deciphering the "Muscle/Tendon Change Classic."

Zeng Kaiping was still a teenage internet addict, being a simp on QQ.

Even though the gambling stakes were just small enough for fun, after half a day of playing, the guys next door were nearly down to their underwear.

Su Zelin was simply too good at the card game; he had a good memory, never forgot things he'd seen, knew how to count cards, and could deduce plays, while the others just played carelessly, barely able to remember their cards, so how could they possibly be a match for him?

This was after he'd been playing half-heartedly for quite a while; otherwise, the others would have already been sweating bullets from losing so much.

"No more, no more!"

One of the guys smiled bitterly, "Class monitor, your card skills are too amazing!"

"Exactly, if we keep playing, I'll lose my whole month's living expenses, boo hoo hoo..."

Another guy complained tearfully.

The third guy was fine; his family was well-off, and he had more pocket money. Although he lost quite a bit, it didn't bother him much.

Hou Yongjin and Zeng Kaiping expressed great sympathy upon hearing this.

Playing cards with Su Zelin, no amount of money would be enough for you to lose.

Since the slacker played once, being too flamboyant and forgetting to act, he was protested against collectively by others from Room 302 and never got another chance to join the card games.

The guys from the other dorms didn't understand that this guy was like a resurrected gambling god, yet still sought him out to play "Landlord," which was no different from just handing money over to him.

"Ha ha, just lucky today, had some good cards, that's all. Alright, alright, stop complaining, just give me half!"

The slacker waved his hand, with a demeanor befitting of pardoning the world.

An old hand like him knew that playing cards with classmates was just bullying, and Su Zelin wasn't short of money either, so he generously offered a 50% discount to the three guys.

Winnings and losses were tallied first, and settled after the game ended.

The guys couldn't help but be overjoyed.

"Thanks, class monitor, you're a generous boss!"

Winning back half was better than losing down to their underwear.

The card game had just dispersed when Old Feng returned to the dorm, tossing a package slip to Su Zelin.

"Old Three, there's something for you at the mail room, take the time to pick it up!"

The life committee member could help with mail, but package retrieval required personal ID and the actual person to pick it up, so Old Feng was powerless here.

"Okay, got it!"

As Su Zelin took the slip, he guessed a bit about it.

There was no Taobao yet, and online shopping hadn't risen, so parcels for college students were generally sent by family or friends.

The only close friend from high school was Rat, studying in the same city, so even if he sent something, he wouldn't bother with a courier.

There were only two possibilities for someone sending him a package.

Either Huang Panpan or family.

Just received a package from the junior two days ago, so it couldn't be her this time.

If no surprises, it should be the two down jackets his mom bought.

Being in the same province, the city was 300 kilometers away, yet it took quite a few days — that was the speed of postal EMS in 2000, no complaints. Even in later times, it would probably take two days in the same province.

Then he brought his ID and the slip, heading quickly to the mail room near the school gate.

He picked up the package, opened it to find two independently packed bags inside, each containing a "YaYa" down jacket.

This was Xia Country's earliest down jacket brand, started in the early '70s.

The company started as Gongqing Down Products Factory, initially formed as a waterfowl farm established by a batch of educated youths from Shenghai at the side of Poyang Lake.

Thanks to the farm, Gongqing accumulated a lot of feathers, later turning trash into treasure by making down jackets.

The larger jacket was undoubtedly Su Zelin's, as the slacker's figure was even more robust and taller, plus the colors differed — his was sapphire blue, while Qin Shiqing's was apricot, clearly more feminine.

Granny Su had quite an eye — Su Zelin could feel the excellent fabric and down content of these two jackets, and since one was for Qin Shiqing, Zhao Lixia was even willing to spend more.

The weather forecast predicted that a cold wave would arrive soon, with temperatures expected to drop sharply. These down jackets arrived just in time and would soon be put to good use.

Oh, right, since it's Sunday and he's free today, why not deliver it to Qin Shiqing with free time!

But it's best to take Rat along.

Thinking of this, Su Zelin pulled out the Nokia 8210 and dialed Lu Haoran's dorm landline number.

After two rings, someone answered, politely saying, "Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hello, is Lu Haoran in the dorm?"

Su Zelin asked.

"He is, please hold on!"

The person shouted over there, "Lu Haoran, your call!"

Soon, the honest voice came through the receiver, "Hello?"

"Rat, it's me!"

Su Zelin got straight to the point, "Are you free this afternoon? I want to run over to Zhejiang University to give something to Qin Shiqing. How about we go together?"

"This afternoon? Zelin, I'm sorry, I just signed up for a volunteer activity, so I'm afraid I won't be able to make it!"

Lu Haoran said apologetically.

Because his best friend always said he needed to toughen up and stop relying on him so much, the honest guy recently signed up for today's volunteer activities, trying to have more interactions and participate in social practices.