"Right, can't have you getting eaten by a rogue problem set. Anyway – what's your name?" 

"a-Ning," Wen Qing says sharply, "you will do what your guards say."

"Yes, jiejie*."

*Sister, affectionate.

Oh, that's such a healthy sibling relationship. Even if Ching-hsia had the spine of a bowl of congee, he hopes he wouldn't speak to her like that. And then he remembers that he's never going to speak to her again at all and his stomach does something funny. 

 "I don't think I got your name either?" (She did, but since they aren't responding to Julian and it'd be rude to point that out.)

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Wen Qing."

"So – you must be Wen Ning?" 

"Yes, sir."

"You really don't have to call me sir." 

"Okay." There is a visible pause where he's not saying 'sir.'

"You also don't have to call me ma'am. So, I'll talk to Mei this evening, and we'll need a room number so we can coordinate what we're going to do about classes?" 

"64A."

"77B. I think that means we're close?" 

"I'm 555A and Mei is 700B, I don't think we're anywhere near." 

This is a solid point in favor of retaining Julian as a bodyguard.

"Julian, I am the favorite of the Shanghai zongzhu-- you can ask anyone-- and you should know that if my brother somehow makes it through graduation I will make sure the person who made that happen will have a place at the Shanghai enclave."

So he'd had better be just about the best damn bodyguard anyone's ever seen. Not that he expects this to work – that boy is definitely going to die – but hopefully he can build up some goodwill with Shanghai in the meantime. Unless they blame him when Wen Ning inevitably bites it. 

"Thank you. I'm very grateful to have been given this opportunity." 

"Thank you for protecting my brother."

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. 

"I promise I'll do everything I can." 

"Likewise."

When they look back, Lan Wangji has peeled off, Nie Huaisang is somehow still crying in the lap of Lan Xichen who has the patience of a saint, Meng Yao is lurking at Lan Xichen's shoulder like a particularly obedient servant, and the indistinguishable asshole Jins are playing cards.

Deep breaths, Julian Chan. If you're very very very very good, you'll be seeing a lot of these people. 

He turns to Wen Ning. "Do you have any friends in your year?" Anything to get him to stop cowering. 

"Wei Wuxian complimented my archery once?"

"Which one is he?" 

"He left a while ago, I saw him talking to an American."

"Well, you can introduce me to him later. Uh – I assume you want to eat with the rest of the Shanghaiers? Just let me know when you're done and I can walk you back to your room."