Ch 32: Those who wronged me are now begging me for mercy

Rong Ziyin Everywhere

As is well known, birds exhibit imprinting behavior, and geese are a classic example of this. However, this particular gosling, despite seeing the department head first, ignored him completely, turning instead to cling to Rong Ziyin’s finger, closing and reopening its eyes as if to imprint on him anew—quite a strange reaction.

“Pfft.” A female teacher in the office couldn’t help but laugh.

Goslings are very sensitive to sound, so when it heard the laugh, it lifted its head. The little black eyes flashed with a hint of excitement.

“So gentle, Miss!” A little heart appeared above the gosling’s head in a thought bubble, floating toward the female teacher. Then it opened its beak and let out a soft chirp as if to greet her, before going back to snuggling against Rong Ziyin’s finger.

“But I love Dad the most! Dad is the most handsome!” it thought, sending a string of cute hearts toward Rong Ziyin. As it nuzzled against Rong Ziyin, it even closed its eyes in contentment, its little eye lines curving into what looked like a smile, making it irresistibly adorable.

Anyone in the veterinary field would have a hard time resisting anything fluffy.

The gosling was so endearing that even the department head couldn’t help but lean closer to try and capture its attention.

However, as soon as their eyes met, the gosling expressionlessly turned its little head away.

Too… too ugly, couldn’t bear to look.

“So, Director, it seems the gosling doesn’t like you,” the female teacher teased with a laugh.

“No way! There must be something wrong with this gosling. How could it not follow the usual imprinting behavior?” The department head refused to admit defeat and insisted that the gosling must not have seen him clearly when it first hatched, which is why it turned to Rong Ziyin instead.

Determined to prove his point, the department head focused on the other eggs.

“Are all these eggs from the same clutch?” he asked Rong Ziyin.

“Yes,” Rong Ziyin nodded. “They all hatched on the same day!”

“Then if one has hatched, the others should be soon,” the department head said seriously, squatting down in front of the goose eggs, ready to be the first thing the next gosling would see.

And so, after about ten more minutes, the other eggs began to show signs of hatching.

As the second gosling broke through its shell, the department head quickly brought his face close to the little bird.

The scene from the first gosling’s birth repeated itself with the second one.

The department head watched helplessly as the newly hatched gosling, upon opening its eyes, immediately shut them again.

Gosling #2: Damn, that’s ugly as hell.

This one seemed to have a fiery temper, completely different from the first cute and cuddly gosling.

Rong Ziyin was speechless and tapped the gosling lightly on its head, but it only grabbed onto his finger even tighter.

Gosling: Dad, save me! Look at this ugly middle-aged man trying to kidnap your gosling!

Rong Ziyin: …Such a drama queen?

Rong Ziyin was momentarily stunned by how dramatic the gosling was.

However, the department head still wasn’t giving up. When the second gosling also rejected him, he persistently camped out for the third.

But this gosling was timid and, in its panic, ended up pecking off the department head’s poor-quality toupee, revealing his long-hidden bald spot.

Gosling #3: Waaaah, what the heck is this egg thing?!

Embarrassment Level +2000

The female teacher in the office quietly looked away, pretending she hadn’t seen anything, to preserve the department head’s already shattered dignity.

But Rong Ziyin, standing across from the department head, couldn’t let it slide.

After thinking for a moment, Rong Ziyin offered an earnest suggestion: “Sir, you should go to bed earlier after midnight instead of staying up late on Zhihu reading gossip.”

Rong Ziyin still remembered receiving a system notification about the department head staying up late reading gossip about him, which had provided a fair amount of resentment points. Seeing the department head’s utterly defeated look, Rong Ziyin added sincerely, “Sir, don’t worry. Hair… can always grow back!”

“…” Rong Ziyin’s words hit the department head like a bolt of lightning, leaving him wide-eyed and speechless. All he could think was: How did Rong Ziyin know about that?!

In the end, the department head, devastated by his exposed hairstyle, hastily told Rong Ziyin to take his goslings away and agreed to temporarily house them in the veterinary department’s vegetable garden.

And so, Rong Ziyin, along with 13 goslings and a Muscovy duck, strolled toward the garden.

Along the way, the waddling goslings following behind Rong Ziyin caught the attention of many passersby.

These drama queen goslings didn’t miss the opportunity to flaunt themselves, proudly raising their little heads, with thought bubbles above them: “Of course, our dad is the best-looking, so we’re good-looking too! All these foolish humans are captivated by us!”

Little did they know, to everyone else, they were just a bunch of short-legged, fluffy yellow ducklings—not imposing at all.

Finally, Rong Ziyin arrived at the veterinary department’s vegetable garden. As soon as they entered, they spotted a cozy and warm straw nest.

Despite his seemingly dull demeanor, the department head had thoughtfully prepared the goslings’ nest in advance. The goslings were very pleased, immediately rolling around before settling down to sleep.

“This was all prepared by the department head. Next time you see him, make sure to thank him. Don’t be rude!” Rong Ziyin instructed the goslings.

The goslings tilted their heads, “Alright! We’ll do whatever Dad says!”

Instantly surrounded by a flurry of little hearts, Rong Ziyin made sure the goslings were settled in before heading back to his dorm with the rest of his luggage.

It had been nearly two months since he last returned, and standing outside the dorm building, Rong Ziyin suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

System: Feeling nervous now that you’re back?

Rong Ziyin shook his head: “This place really isn’t my hometown.”

It felt more like a hotel he had stayed in for three years. Sighing, Rong Ziyin carried his luggage into the dorm.

Unlike the quiet atmosphere when he left, this time, Rong Ziyin was greeted with enthusiastic welcomes as soon as he stepped into the dormitory building.

Especially after reaching the fourth floor, where all the veterinary students lived, several familiar faces approached him to say hello as soon as they saw him return.

“Ah, the top student is back!”

“Yeah, it’s been so long since we’ve seen you.”

“You all seem to be doing well lately?” Rong Ziyin patted the shoulder of the person closest to him. But he was immediately met with complaints.

“Not at all, the graduation thesis is killing us. Rong, it’s been so hard without you.”

Rong Ziyin thought for a moment: “Don’t exaggerate. Isn’t it the lack of games that’s making it hard?”

Confusion Level 1000.

It seemed that there was no point in continuing the conversation. The classmate looked at him with a face full of sorrow.

Rong Ziyin casually pulled a salted duck egg from his pocket and handed it over, “Want one?”

The classmate wiped away his fake tears and took the salted duck egg firmly.

“Sure!”

It’s two and a half yuan, after all! Not eating it would be a waste.

After greeting everyone, Rong Ziyin smiled and headed toward his dorm room, only to be stopped halfway by someone. He looked over and saw it was his class monitor.

“What’s up?” Rong Ziyin asked, puzzled.

“Those four are still inside. Maybe you should come to our room! We have a spare bed,” the monitor suggested, understandingly.

But Rong Ziyin shook his head, “No worries, we’ve lived together for over three years. I’m used to it.”

Rong Ziyin spoke so lightly that the others, seeing he didn’t mind, didn’t press further. So, Rong Ziyin knocked on the door and entered the dormitory with his luggage.

When Rong Ziyin walked in, the other four were lying in bed under their covers, pretending to be asleep.

The worst part was that, likely because he hadn’t been around lately, Rong Ziyin’s bed was piled with miscellaneous items.

System: They did that on purpose! With all the noise outside, even a fool would know you’re back!

But Rong Ziyin didn’t seem angry at all. Instead, he calmly took out a lunchbox from his backpack.

System: What the heck! Calm down, don’t tell me that’s filled with salted fish!

Rong Ziyin: Don’t worry. After we eat, we’ll go check on the goslings.

System: …

Half a minute later, the pungent smell of fish filled the entire dormitory. The four couldn’t continue pretending to sleep and sat up, ready to give Rong Ziyin a piece of their minds.

But before they could say anything, there was a loud knock on the door. Rong Ziyin opened it to find the class monitor standing there.

Right now, the monitor’s gaze was fixed on the lunchbox in Rong Ziyin’s hand, filled with salted fish, his tone almost accusatory.

“Rong, that’s too much! I wondered why you were in such a hurry to come back to the dorm. Turns out you wanted to eat alone!”

Following closely behind, other classmates who had caught the scent joined the monitor, all giving Rong Ziyin disapproving looks.

Overwhelmed by the anger of the crowd, Rong Ziyin reluctantly handed over the lunchbox, agreeing to share.

Suddenly, the angry enemies turned into friends, and they all ran back to their rooms, grabbing instant noodles and chopsticks to join Rong Ziyin for a meal.

Watching the chaos unfold, the four in the dorm were on the verge of collapse. They couldn’t believe how everyone was so oblivious to the overwhelming smell. And the guy who brought in the stinky tofu—he was the worst of all!

They couldn’t stand it anymore. The four stormed out of the dorm in frustration. But no one paid them any attention.

That night, to avoid being around Rong Ziyin, the four headed to a nearby internet cafe to spend the night.

Breathing in the relatively fresh air of the internet cafe, they finally relaxed a little.

Just then, someone walked into the cafe carrying a familiar lunchbox, setting it down next to the guy eating instant noodles. “The top student brought this back. It was fried at noon, super crispy!”

“Wow! You’re the best, man. You even snagged me a portion!” The guy happily opened the lunchbox.

Rong Ziyin’s four roommates suddenly had a bad feeling, and sure enough, the familiar smell of fish hit them again.

“Ugh!” One by one, the four rushed to the bathroom to vomit.

Frustration Level 4000

Back in the dorm, Rong Ziyin sat in a chair, counting the orders his classmates had placed today, while sighing to himself, thinking, These roommates really do have a high output of frustration.

But speaking of high output, Rong Ziyin suddenly remembered that he seemed to have forgotten something, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall what it was.

Finally, the system gave him a hint.

“High output… Isn’t that Ji Shu?”

“Oh, right! It’s him!” Rong Ziyin suddenly realized that he hadn’t said goodbye to Ji Shu when he left.

However, when he opened his phone, Rong Ziyin realized that he hadn’t saved Ji Shu’s contact information, so he stopped what he was doing. He thought about asking the village chief for Ji Shu’s number, as Ji Shu had mentioned buying land in the village, so he must have exchanged contact information with the chief.

But after thinking it over, Rong Ziyin felt that his relationship with Ji Shu hadn’t reached the point where they needed to check in with each other when they were apart. So, he pushed the thought aside.

Around nine o’clock, after washing up, Rong Ziyin got into bed and noticed that someone had sent a friend request on Penguin. It was from an unfamiliar account, with an avatar of a cartoon white goose.

System: Omg! It’s a cute girl, a cute girl!

Rong Ziyin: Why does it not seem like that to me?

He clicked on the message that came with the request, which read: “Your big treasure is about to arrive. Get ready, handsome!”

System: Wow! So forward!

But Rong Ziyin quickly hit “Delete.”

System: ???

Rong Ziyin: Usually, when someone talks like that, it’s those people handing out flyers at the train station. Just when you think you’re going to meet up, you’ll find out it’s actually a burly guy waiting to scam you.

Rong Ziyin’s serious tone quickly convinced the system, which began to see his point.

But then the phone rang—it was an unfamiliar number.

As soon as Rong Ziyin answered, he realized it was Ji Shu.

“Why did you block me, Dr. Rong?” Ji Shu’s voice was soft and full of complaint, with a hint of cuteness, as if you could almost see the little tuft of hair sticking up on his head.

However, Rong Ziyin was as calm and self-assured as ever: “You didn’t leave your name.”

Ji Shu: “…”

Confusion Level 1000.

Luckily, the misunderstanding was cleared up, and Rong Ziyin pulled Ji Shu out of the blacklist, and they added each other as friends.

Ji Shu was good at keeping conversations going and knew how to appeal to Rong Ziyin’s interests. By the time they finished talking and were ready to sleep, Rong Ziyin was surprised to find it was nearly midnight.

He usually had self-control, and it was rare for him to spend most of the night just chatting.

System: That’s because you’ve got a little charmer now!

Rong Ziyin thought about it: Didn’t he call himself a big treasure?

System: … So you just went along with it because he called himself that?

Feeling flustered by Rong Ziyin’s response, the system refused to engage any further. And after a busy day, Rong Ziyin quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Rong Ziyin received a notice from the department, saying that the TV crew would come to shoot a teaser.

The department head specifically reminded Rong Ziyin, “It’s best to reflect the natural spirit of the veterinary department.”

Reflect the natural spirit of the veterinary department? Rong Ziyin went through his clothes, trying to find something appropriate, and realized he actually had an outfit that would fit perfectly. But the colors… Rong Ziyin hesitated for a moment and carefully asked the department head again, “Are you sure I should wear that?”

The department head confidently replied, “Of course! The more it represents the veterinary department, the better!”

Reluctantly, Rong Ziyin agreed, “Alright then.”

After hanging up the phone, Rong Ziyin opened his wardrobe and pulled out the special uniform that had been custom-made for the veterinary department’s military training presentation.

It consisted of baggy white wide-leg pants, paired with a bright red short-sleeved shirt with large green letters boldly printed on the front, reading “Nongda Veterinary Department.”

The back of the shirt also bore a slogan: Friendship First, Competition Second!

🍉🫐🍇🍒🥝