It had to be said, Zhuang Chi had now found one benefit of attending St. Blaisedon: the dormitory conditions were excellent.
It was a two-person room with a large interior space and rather exquisite decor—perhaps a bit over the top, but after the day’s baptism, Zhuang Chi found she had more or less gotten used to this opulent style. Human adaptability was a scary thing.
“I heard some of the more special students get single rooms,” said Lu Man, who seemed to know a lot about the school’s inner workings. “Like Ling Jing, whom you’ve met. I heard that because she’s an A-class Alpha with a bad temper, and her pheromones can suppress other Alphas, she lives in a single room by herself.”
“Hmm…” Zhuang Chi responded with understanding, thinking that, as expected, Ling Jing and An Chen were both A-class Alphas, truly well-matched competitors. She then asked another question, “Is Ling Jing’s bad temper well-known throughout the school?”
“Yeah.” Lu Man nodded. “Even though she’s only a sophomore, she’s already quite famous. You see, isn’t she quite pretty? And she’s the principal’s daughter. I heard she was actually very popular when she first enrolled, but it wasn’t long before all those people who used to flock around her were driven away by her—they all say she’s very difficult to get along with. There are also rumors that she gets into fights with people from outside the school.”
“I was originally thinking that it’s not good to judge a person based on rumors, but today…”
As Lu Man spoke, she pointed to Zhuang Chi’s wrist and shrugged. “To actually let her hawk injure a new student on the first day of school… it seems the rumors aren’t baseless. Zhuang Chi, you should be careful too.”
Zhuang Chi was taken aback and listened as Lu Man continued with no small amount of worry, “Today’s incident has spread widely, and many people are using it to mock Ling Jing. Whether you intended it or not, public opinion has already pitted you two against each other. I don’t know if that Senior Ling Jing’s temper is bad enough that she’d hold a grudge and deliberately retaliate against you for this… It’s probably better to be a little careful.”
…Alright, in short, she now understood that Ling Jing’s reputation at this school seemed to be truly terrible. Zhuang Chi wondered with some bewilderment if she had really put so much ink into this aspect of her character back then—or perhaps it was just a natural consequence of Ling Jing’s personality type. Sigh. With that thought, Zhuang Chi thanked her kind-hearted roommate. Lu Man waved her hand dismissively and returned to the task of unpacking her things.
The two of them were currently organizing their dorm room, an unavoidable hassle for new students. Zhuang Chi was fine; she had only brought one suitcase with necessities, and the rest of her things were being shipped from home. So, there was a limited amount she could unpack now, and she was basically finished before long. But Lu Man’s side looked like a massive undertaking, and Lu Man herself was working listlessly and without motivation. After seeing Zhuang Chi next to her stop, she quickly followed suit, flopped onto her seat, and said decisively, “That’s enough work for today. I’ve already done a lot.”
…Aside from making her bed, all she had done was take out her laptop and connect it. Yet, she looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion. Zhuang Chi looked at her dazzling array of luggage and tried to extend a friendly hand: “…Do you need my help?”
“Eh,” Lu Man’s eyes lit up for a moment, and she seemed tempted, but she quickly calmed down and shook her head. “…Better not. Making an injured person help me unpack… that would make me too useless. You should get some proper rest. On the contrary, if there’s anything you find inconvenient because of your injury, just let me know.”
Although she said that. Zhuang Chi obediently sat back down in her seat and looked down at her hand. For the time being, she hadn’t discovered anything that was inconvenient to do because of this injury. After all, it was only her wrist that was hurt. The only thing she could think of that might be affected was—
The phone on the desk suddenly lit up, displaying a message notification on the screen. Zhuang Chi picked it up and her eyes first scanned the content of the message.
【The wound can’t get wet. Will it be inconvenient to shower by yourself?】
“…”
The message was from Gu Ximian, whom she had just added as a friend not long ago. It was as if she’d timed it perfectly, sending such a message just as Zhuang Chi was thinking about the very same thing.
…Although it just looked like simple concern, and it was true that it might be a bit troublesome… but if she were to answer that it was inconvenient, could Gu Ximian possibly come up with a way to come over and help her—
Okay, stop. Zhuang Chi forcibly cut off her train of thought, smoothly sent a reply of 【It’s no problem at all, I’ll be very careful】, and then placed her phone face down on the desk, leaning back in her chair to take a silent, deep breath.
Time for a shower. Zhuang Chi thought. Right now.
No sooner said than done, Zhuang Chi quickly gathered her things, rushed in and rushed out. Lu Man, still slumped in her chair, didn’t even have time to react. “Eh, you’re already done? I was just thinking of reminding you not to get your hand wet. Is it okay?”
Zhuang Chi quite proudly extended her right hand, which she had painstakingly protected the whole time, and lifted her head. “Not wet!”
Lu Man let out an “ooh” of admiration and applauded for her. Feeling refreshed, Zhuang Chi sat back down at her desk, inexplicably feeling as if she’d won a battle. She excitedly picked up her phone again and saw that Gu Ximian had sent two more messages expressing concern after her reply, but had stopped when she didn’t receive a response.
Zhuang Chi’s heart tightened, and she felt a little guilty. She quickly sent a belated reply: 【Sorry, I just went to take a shower and only saw the message now. It’s really no problem! I was very careful and didn’t get the bandage wet at all!】
She looked at it and felt she needed to provide evidence, so she took a picture of her right wrist and sent it over. Feeling it was perfect, the message she sent carried a hint of seeking praise: 【See, it’s perfectly dry!】
But perhaps because their messaging times were staggered, this time it was Gu Ximian’s side that went silent for a while. Zhuang Chi went to check other messages and played on her phone for a bit. About ten minutes later, she finally received a reply from Gu Ximian.
【Oh, so you went to take a shower】
Zhuang Chi’s heart skipped a beat. She felt she could read the subtext in these few words: “I thought you weren’t replying because you didn’t want to talk to me.” It left her at a loss for what to say. Fortunately, Gu Ximian immediately replied to her previous message, the content full of praise: 【It really doesn’t look like it got wet. That’s amazing.】
Just looking at these words, she could almost imagine the gentle tone she would use to say them. Zhuang Chi blinked, only now belatedly realizing—huh? Had she suddenly started chatting with Gu Ximian? Like friends. Was this okay?
While she was still dazedly wrestling with this, she saw Gu Ximian casually toss out a new question: 【I mean, it looks pretty much the same as when we parted ways. Did you really take a shower?】
I did! Not expecting to be questioned on this, Zhuang Chi instantly cast aside her nascent indecision and sat up straight, righteously indignant. Just as she was about to argue with the doubting Gu Ximian, she saw Gu Ximian follow up with: 【I’ve seen the proof that the bandage is still dry, so you should probably send proof that you’ve showered too, right?】
“…”
What was that? “Proof of showering” sounded so bizarre. Why was this person saying it so seriously? Zhuang Chi was a little confused and asked blankly: 【…What’s proof of showering?】
【Who knows.】
…What a casual reply. Zhuang Chi was momentarily speechless. Just then, a drop of water landed on her phone screen, dripping from her not-quite-dry hair. Zhuang Chi subconsciously wiped it away, then suddenly froze.
Proof of showering…
Zhuang Chi looked at the trace of water on her fingertip, and a flash of inspiration struck her mind.
…Could Gu Ximian… possibly want her to send a selfie with her hair wet?
This… this was too weird! Zhuang Chi was startled by her own thought and shook her head vigorously, splashing her phone screen with water. As she frantically wiped the screen, her eyes darted towards Gu Ximian’s message on the screen, as if it were a hot potato she didn’t know how to handle.
A selfie was out of the question. Zhuang Chi silently put a big cross next to that option in her mind. Who sends a post-shower selfie to someone they just met on the first day! It sounded like something an incredible narcissist would do! But then how could she prove it—no, why on earth had she followed Gu Ximian’s lead and pushed things to a point where she had to figure out how to prove she had actually taken a shower…!
Finally coming to her senses, Zhuang Chi took a breath, preparing to launch a small rebellion against Gu Ximian and righteously declare that there was no need for her to lie and that she should be trusted. But just as she was halfway through typing her reply, she received a new message from Gu Ximian.
【Just kidding. I believe you. You need to be careful like this until the wound is fully healed.】
“…”
The breath she had gathered deflated with nowhere to go. Zhuang Chi silently stared at the message, the words on the tip of her tongue now impossible to say. In the end, she could only sullenly send a single 【Okay, I know】 as a hint to end the conversation.
Really… Zhuang Chi grimaced and rubbed her damp hair. Her naturally slightly wavy hair was only this docilely plastered to the back of her head after a wash, brushing coolly against her palm.
…It really felt like she was constantly being led around by Gu Ximian.
It was a strange feeling. She was undoubtedly a character she had created, yet when face to face, she couldn’t completely see through her, and she hadn’t been able to take the lead from the very beginning.
How to put it. Zhuang Chi thought, Gu Ximian was indeed a little different.
Perhaps it was just her preconceived bias, but Zhuang Chi felt that other characters like Ling Jing and even An Chen seemed to have a kind of one-dimensional, stereotypical flatness, and their actions and expressions had places that weren’t so smooth or reasonable. But Gu Ximian showed none of this. No matter how she looked at her, she seemed incredibly real. She would laugh, get angry, and even tease people a little, like just now.
The phone screen, which had just gone dark, lit up again. It was another message from Gu Ximian.
【Sorry, did I make you unhappy?】
…See, she could even sense her mood changes.
It was because of this, Zhuang Chi pursed her lips slightly, that when she was with Gu Ximian, there were times when she “didn’t know what to do.”
The unspeakable secret led to a fractured identity. Rationally, no matter how she thought about it, it was better for her to stay away from the female protagonist. But emotionally, she couldn’t simply treat Gu Ximian as just the protagonist of a book—she was so clearly real. If someone distanced themselves from her for no reason, she would surely feel sad.
It was like two little figures were constantly arguing and fighting in her mind, leaving Zhuang Chi unsettled. And it felt like this dispute wouldn’t reach a conclusion anytime soon. In that case, she could only, could only—
…Right, I’ve already thought about a lot of things. Zhuang Chi thought, putting what she just learned from Lu Man into practice as she opened the reply box to type 【I’m not unhappy】. Today’s thinking ends here. Court is adjourned for now.
Okay, send.
