Xia Huanao wasn't sure if he slept well or poorly that night. He dreamt he was on a date with Shen Yu, but halfway through, Xia Huanao turned to look, and Shen Yu's face was suddenly shrouded in mist. When the mist cleared, Shen Yu had turned into Zheng Xiaoxiao, startling Xia Huanao.
Although Xia Huanao knew he was dreaming, he stubbornly couldn't wake up. As the dream progressed, the girls around him kept changing. There was Tong Ruo, Chu Xiaodie, Guo Shuang'er, and even women he'd only met once, like Yu Linglong and Mu Zhishui, appeared.
Xia Huanao suddenly woke up as these girls swarmed him. He sat up and touched his sweat-soaked pajamas, "Should this dream be considered a nightmare or..."
Having woken up abruptly in the middle of the night, Xia Huanao felt rather disoriented when he woke up again in the morning. He rubbed his head and went to the bathroom. "System, I had a really bizarre dream last night. Do you know, I dreamt of several girls all at once."
The System replied without hesitation, "No matter how bizarre dreams are, they aren't bizarre. Because the Dream Weaver can make you have pleasant dreams, but she doesn't always want to control what dreams you have."
"Cresselia? She came last night?"
"Yes, but she didn't stay long before leaving."
...
Xia Huanao habitually went to the balcony. There was nothing there again today. After brushing his teeth and changing, Xia Huanao went out again. He had received a message from Zheng Xiaoxiao saying that he should go on a date with Xiao Yu today.
Xia Huanao was quite excited when he received the message, thinking that these two elder sisters were finally doing something sensible, knowing to leave him space for a date with Xiao Yu.
Xia Huanao casually combed his hair, clipped the Poké Ball to his belt, and looked at himself in the mirror. "Alright, handsome young man, let's go."
He tidied his appearance, opened the door, and saw a Mengmeng standing at his doorstep.
Xia Huanao blinked, then moved closer to Mengmeng. He first held up his hand to gauge her height, then poked Mengmeng's head with his finger, and then hugged Mengmeng tightly. "Didn't Xiao Yu say we were going on a date? Why are you dressed as Mengmeng again? This isn't date attire."
"What are you doing?"
This sentence brought Xia Huanao back to his senses. The voice was Shen Yu's, no doubt, but the location seemed wrong. The voice didn't seem to be coming from the Mengmeng in front of him. Moreover, the voice wasn't muffled; it was clear and crisp.
Xia Huanao followed the source of the voice and saw Shen Yu standing on the balcony watching him. Behind Shen Yu, Zheng Xiaoxiao and Tong Ruo were looking at him with smiles.
Xia Huanao was about to lose his mind. After seeing Mengmeng, he had been absolutely sure it was the Zhong Mengmeng. Given the Zhong Mengmeng's size, Zheng Xiaoxiao and Tong Ruo would have had to contort themselves into incredibly awkward positions to wear it. Therefore, the Zhong Mengmeng had to be Shen Yu. But now you're telling me Shen Yu is standing behind him, watching him?
Xia Huanao took two steps back and stared at the Mengmeng in front of him. "If Xiao Yu is over there, then who is this Mengmeng in front of me?"
"Coach Xia, I'm Yun Shu."
Hearing that this Mengmeng was Ouyang Yunshu, Xia Huanao retreated several steps. "Ouyang Yunshu? Why are you dressed as Mengmeng?"
Ouyang Yunshu, inside the mascot costume, said with a blush, "Work-study. The pay for this job is higher than working at the school supermarket."
Xia Huanao quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I thought you were Xiao Yu earlier, that's why..."
"It's okay. I was prepared."
"Ah?"
Hearing this, Xia Huanao looked directly at Zheng Xiaoxiao, who was watching the show on the balcony. "So that's how it is?"
...
After a bit of awkwardness, Xia Huanao finally arrived at Zheng Xiaoxiao's balcony. "Sister Ruo, you're not setting me up, are you? You arranged the 4.0 version of Mengmeng!"
Zheng Xiaoxiao laughed, "Look how interesting this is! But I didn't expect your emotions to be so intense; you actually hugged her directly. How was it? Did you touch her? How did she feel?"
"Do you think I'm Ouyang Yunshu? Xiao Yu, you can't be fooled by these two sisters."
Shen Yu leaned into Xia Huanao, "Alright, I know you. Let's go play."
Zheng Xiaoxiao and Tong Ruo saw Xia Huanao and Shen Yu off, reminding Xia Huanao, "Remember not to play too late. Send Xiao Yu back early; she has classes tomorrow."
To be honest, this behavior was very much like a pair of old parents worrying about their child. Xia Huanao looked at Shen Yu, "Xiao Yu, where should we go?"
Shen Yu shook her head, "I don't know. This is my first time in Liuling City. You decide."
Xia Huanao coughed, "Uh, I'm not very familiar with Liuling City either."
This was awkward. Although Xia Huanao had been working at Liuling University for several months, excluding the winter break and the more than two-month-long university Pokémon competition, Xia Huanao hadn't spent much time in Liuling City. Moreover, he had spent most of his time holed up in Liuling University...
Seeing that Xia Huanao had no ideas, Shen Yu decisively decided that they would have their date at Liuling University. It would be like Shen Yu getting a preview of university life.
The two of them wandered aimlessly around Liuling University, mainly chatting. The location of their conversation didn't really matter.
As they turned a corner, they saw Zhong Mengmeng being pestered by a group of girls.
Xia Huanao called out, "Hey, what are you guys doing? Have you taken a liking to the mascot Mengmeng?"
The girls turned around and saw Shen Yu standing next to Xia Huanao. They crowded around and asked, "Teacher Xia, is this your girlfriend? She's very beautiful."
"Thank you for your compliment. But what are you all doing here? Why are you blocking Mengmeng?"
"Because today's Mengmeng seems to be a size smaller than yesterday's Mengmeng. And we want to see who's inside Mengmeng."
Girls being curious is a good thing, but curiosity can kill a cat. Although in the current situation, Ouyang Yunshu, covered by the Zhong Mengmeng costume, was more like a cat.
"You're curious about Mengmeng? Okay, I'll reflect this to Sister Ruo and arrange for you to take turns dressing up as Mengmeng sometime."
Xia Huanao distracted the girls while gesturing for Ouyang Yunshu to leave quickly. After Ouyang Yunshu had left, Xia Huanao also found a topic to end the conversation.
"Well, Teacher Xia, you continue your date. We'll be going. Huh? Where's Mengmeng?"
Watching the girls look for Mengmeng, Shen Yu looked at Xia Huanao, "Should we protect Sister Yun Shu? After all, we prepared very lightly to prevent heatstroke."
Xia Huanao nodded, "That's true. I used to be the one preventing the person inside from getting heatstroke, so no one really cared who was inside. But if that's the case, we can't continue our date today."
"It's okay. Not having a date won't affect our relationship. But I have a question. You said earlier that Sister Yun Shu is the 4.0 version of Mengmeng, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"Who were the two Mengmengs before me?"
Xia Huanao looked around and, finding no one, whispered, "It was Sister Xiaoxiao and Sister Ruo."
Shen Yu said "Oh" and then looked at Xia Huanao slyly. "So it was you before?"
"What was me?"
"Taking people out of the gel."
Xia Huanao quickly shook his head. "No, I've never taken anyone out of gel, nor have I ever used gel to tear someone's clothes."
Xia Huanao felt guilty, so he immediately sold himself out. Hearing Xia Huanao's words, Shen Yu leaned in. "So who was it?"
"No..."
"Hmph, I'll let you off the hook. But do you want to? I heard you bought quite a lot of cooling gel."
Before Xia Huanao could respond, Shen Yu said, "Let's go, quickly! If we don't chase now, we won't find Sister Yun Shu."
Xia Huanao looked at Shen Yu's retreating back, wanting to cry but having no tears. "How could this be..."
...
At four in the afternoon, Xia Huanao and Shen Yu accompanied Ouyang Yunshu, who had finished her day's work as Mengmeng 4.0, back to the small house by the lake. It was almost time for Shen Yu and him to part ways. Xia Huanao had wanted to say something to Shen Yu, but Shen Yu pulled Ouyang Yunshu aside and chatted about something, deliberately not letting him know.
Xia Huanao scratched his head. "Ever since Xiao Yu helped Yun Shu change clothes at noon today, their relationship has progressed by leaps and bounds."
After a brief chat with Xiao Yu, Shen Yu got into Tong Ruo's car and waved goodbye to Xia Huanao from the window. "I'm heading back now. See you during the summer break!"
Watching Tong Ruo's car leave, Ouyang Yunshu walked up to Xia Huanao. "Coach Xia, do you want to know what Xiao Yu just told me?"
Xia Huanao countered, "If I ask, will you tell me?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me."
Ouyang Yunshu smiled mischievously. "Xiao Yu said that because you touched me randomly this morning, she wants you to take responsibility for me."
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Don't joke, this isn't funny at all."
"This isn't a joke. You can go ask Xiao Yu if you don't believe me."
Seeing Xia Huanao actually take out his phone to ask Shen Yu, Ouyang Yunshu smiled. "Coach Xia, I was joking. Actually, Xiao Yu asked me what brand..."
...
After a surprise visit from Shen Yu over the weekend, Xia Huanao refocused his main efforts on the Liuling University team selection trials. After more than ten days of publicity and hype, the team selection trials officially began on July 1st.