“You seem a bit too happy today. That’s not like your usual self.”
Boss Pan called at just the right time. Her voice, pleasant yet a little childish, sounded almost criminal in Su Qingqing’s ears. She moved awkwardly as she struggled to lift her suitcase with two slender arms, clamping her phone between her shoulder and neck. The position made it hard to exert force, but she didn’t seem to care.
“You wouldn’t understand. Every identity has its role, and it should play it well.”
Su Qingqing’s tone was calm, neither joyful or sorrowful, but there was a trace of irritation. After all, she’d planned to rope in some unlucky senior as her porter, but in the end, she still had to do everything herself.
“Frustrated you couldn’t find a pack mule?”
Su Qingqing flinched. The suitcase in her hands suddenly tilted and slammed against the railing, scaring her half to death. That suitcase held her lifeline—her laptop—which she depended on to make a living every month.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“I guessed. If I didn’t understand you, why would I have picked you to be my playmate? Heehee,” Pan teased mischievously. “You’ve got a weird temper, but what a coincidence, mine’s even weirder.”
Su Qingqing pouted. Her neck was starting to ache. “You can do all these magical things, so why are we still talking on the phone? I checked yesterday—it’s actually deducting my phone balance! International long-distance, too!”
“I like this down-to-earth way of communicating,” Pan replied awkwardly, then quickly changed the subject. “Actually, you should feel relieved and lucky you didn’t find anyone to carry your stuff.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you think... you’ve always been the porter? You help others carry their suitcases, and then they spit you out like stale chewing gum from the ninety-ninth floor. Okay, that floor bit was exaggerated—but being the porter? That part’s real~”
“Psycho.” Su Qingqing finally reached the fifth-floor corridor. She carefully set her suitcase down and leaned against the freshly painted white wall, panting heavily as she freed her hand to hang up the expensive international call.
Porter? More like a simp—why beat around the bush? Su Qingqing agreed with most things Pan said, but not this one. She believed she and Yu Zhongmeng at least had a shred of mutual understanding. They’d both shower after the rain, boil water, take medicine.
But now that she thought about it, maybe that kind of understanding was ultimately meaningless.
Su Qingqing patted her sweat-drenched face. When she stood outside dorm 520 with her suitcase, her expression once again bloomed into a sweet, innocent smile.
The moment she opened the dorm door, she froze.
This wasn’t what she’d seen online. Where was the standard four-person bunk-desk combo?
This was a double!
Two wooden beds lined each side of the room along the wall. At the head of each bed were wardrobes and desks. A sliding glass door separated the sleeping area from the washroom, and beyond that was even a small half-meter balcony.
Sunlight streamed across the wash area. This was a college life Su Qingqing had never imagined.
She couldn’t help but start imagining her future roommate. She knew that with Pan’s twisted nature, there was no way this double room was random. So this roommate... was probably the reason Pan picked her?
A sudden suspicion rose in her heart, and her body trembled slightly. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then fetched a broom from the bathroom and began cleaning.
When she had tidied the already decent dorm to spotless perfection, noise finally stirred outside the door.
A key clicked into the lock, and the door was shoved open roughly with great force.
Su Qingqing had been bent over sweeping under the bed. She straightened up.
At the door stood a young man in a suit, hair neatly combed in a way that didn’t match his age. His hands, back, and feet were burdened with oversized suitcases that looked painful just to look at. His face was flushed red—he must have carried everything up five flights in one go and nearly died doing it.
The moment Su Qingqing saw him, her pupils shrank. She stood upright, her fists quietly clenching behind her back.
She knew this man—Lu Yuan.
Su Qingqing’s little nose twitched. Now that she looked overly cute, even her angry expression resembled shyness.
Lu Yuan’s scowl vanished the instant the door opened. He maintained his gentlemanly demeanor, pulled a business card from his pocket, and offered it up with an air of flamboyance. “Hello, classmate. You must be Mengmeng’s roommate.”
Su Qingqing smiled—just a tiny, dazzling smile that lit up the entire dorm. “And you are?”
“Lu Yuan. Lu, as vast as the land. Yuan, as distant as the sea and sky. May I know your name?”
“I’m Su Qingqing,” she replied without a single crude word this time. She looked him over with narrowed eyes full of disdain. “So Mengmeng is my roommate? What’s your relationship with her?”
Lu Yuan glanced past the doorframe, then replied confidently, “We’re just ordinary friends. By the way, could I add you on WeChat? Maybe we could go out for drinks sometime.”
Su Qingqing’s eyes grew even more disdainful, though her smile grew ever brighter. “I don’t drink. But thanks.”
Lu Yuan wanted to say more, but the sound of suitcase wheels rolling down the corridor silenced him. He stepped aside and opened the door wider with a courteous tone. “Mengmeng, I brought your things up. You can start unpacking now. Let’s talk more on WeChat if anything comes up.”
Before leaving, he flashed Su Qingqing a look he thought was charming. “Qingqing, let’s hang out sometime~”
Su Qingqing had imagined many possible scenarios for meeting Yu Zhongmeng again, but none of them looked like this.
A cool girl in minimalist clothing stood at the dorm doorway, surrounded by five enormous suitcases.
Su Qingqing had also never expected her own emotions to be so... still. Would it be anger? Humiliation? Nervousness?
But when her gaze met Yu Zhongmeng’s, she felt nothing but calm. She withdrew her smile and said, “You must be Mengmeng, right? I’m your roommate, Su Qingqing. You can call me Qingqing—please take care of me.”
“Yu Zhongmeng,” the girl replied. She wasn’t good with strangers. She turned her head slightly, thinking for a second before repeating Su Qingqing’s words. “Please take care of me.”
“Do you want help with your luggage? Looks like you’ve got a lot.”
“No, thank you.”
The words thank you stung more than they should have. Su Qingqing took a deep breath—so much for staying calm.
“Alright then,” she said.
Outside, the blazing sun was briefly covered by drifting clouds. The golden light in the dorm faded, replaced by a shadow laced with coolness.
With a whoosh, Su Qingqing opened her suitcase, pulled out her dismantled laptop, and began assembling it on her desk piece by piece.
By the time she was done, Yu Zhongmeng had only unpacked one and a half suitcases. She stared at the almost-full wardrobe with a hint of helplessness, then hung a plain black camisole on a hanger and turned to Su Qingqing.
The sun returned at that moment, bathing the earth once more in its light. Su Qingqing, satisfied with her work, smiled as she admired her machine.
“Classmate, are you good with computers?” For some reason, Yu Zhongmeng’s every movement reminded her of someone else. Her brows furrowed. That person tangled in her mind made her feel incredibly annoyed.
“Not really. But I make a living off this thing, so I’ve learned a bit.” Su Qingqing stood up, clapped her hands, and strolled into the washroom to wash up. Tilting her head, she looked at Yu Zhongmeng through the glass door.
Yu Zhongmeng bit her lip. A flicker of emotion sparkled in her eyes. In her usual cool tone, she asked, “Su-classmate, can I borrow some of your wardrobe space? Mine’s too full.”
If this had been before, all Yu Zhongmeng needed was one glance and Su Qingqing would have emptied her whole wardrobe for her. She might’ve even pulled up her bedsheets and given the bed itself to Yu Zhongmeng to use as storage.
But today, without the slightest discomfort, she responded naturally, “Nope. That’s mine.”
“But I saw you haven’t put anything in it.”
“It’s still mine.”
Her cheerful, adorable smile stood in stark contrast to Yu Zhongmeng’s stunned expression. Like the scorching air of the washroom clashing with the icy water running from the pipes—hot and cold, sharp and clear.
(End of Chapter)