The originally quiet atmosphere picked up a strange edge. It was obvious everyone in the dorm had their ears pricked. They were all eavesdropping, dying to know how this would play out.
Dong Yin was being way too brazen. That straight ball she’d thrown was practically rocketing into the stratosphere.
The bathroom, the “I’ll learn anything you like,” the “whatever you want me to learn”…
It was filthy. And kind of hot.
Her roommates were completely stunned, all curious how Xie Mingjun would react.
Unfortunately, Xie Mingjun didn’t push Dong Yin away. She just sat there steadily.
She was sitting with her back to the door, and Dong Yin’s bunk was up against the washroom area, so no one could see Xie Mingjun’s expression—only Dong Yin, who was perched on her lap.
Xie Mingjun had been visibly shocked for a few seconds, but the surprise flashed quickly across her face and then turned into interest. Her gaze fell on Dong Yin and stayed there, scrutinizing her.
This time, instead of asking “are you serious or not,” she asked curiously:
“What can you do?”
Dong Yin had been running purely on guts when she started talking. Now shame flooded over her from head to toe, enough to raise a full body of goosebumps.
She secretly glanced around and met the eyes of two roommates.
Forcing herself to swallow her embarrassment, Dong Yin leaned closer to her ear and whispered:
“I can kiss.”
“Hm?”
Xie Mingjun hadn’t caught it.
Dong Yin raised her voice a little.
“I’m really good at kissing.”
Xie Mingjun let out a soft laugh and looked straight at her.
This time, she really was mocking her.
“Since you’re saying it with such sincerity, then I…”
She looked at Dong Yin.
Dong Yin immediately straightened up, full of expectation, waiting for her move.
Just like that day she almost kissed her, Xie Mingjun first took her time and studied her carefully.
Dong Yin secretly hooked her bangs back behind her ear, revealing her whole face. She tipped her head up just a little and inched her lips closer to Xie Mingjun’s, much bolder than she’d been the first time she was under that gaze.
She pressed her lips together, then said softly:
“I’ve also been doing yoga lately.”
“With whatever it is you’re doing, calling it yoga is generous,” Xie Mingjun said with a bite in her tone. “It looks more like some harpooned fish…”
“Next time I’ll show you how I practice, okay?”
Dong Yin had been talking too fast, too eager to show off, and didn’t quite catch what she’d said.
“What did you just say?”
“I only say things once.”
Xie Mingjun didn’t repeat herself.
Dong Yin sighed regretfully, but she could clearly feel Xie Mingjun’s hand squeeze her waist, like she was weighing how slim it really was.
Dong Yin thought:
Was she… just complimenting how small my waist is?
She mumbled, “Right? I think it’s pretty slim too. I can do a lot of poses really properly.”
Xie Mingjun stayed silent for a long time.
She pinched Dong Yin’s chin, held it for half a minute, then asked:
“So what else do you want to learn? What can you learn?”
Before Dong Yin could answer, she grabbed Dong Yin by the waist, lifted her up, and set her on the floor.
“Come out with me.”
Dong Yin didn’t plant her feet properly and stumbled back a step.
When Xie Mingjun stood up, the chair scraped loudly across the floor.
Dong Yin was still in the same clothes as before, a pink tracksuit. Going out like this felt humiliating.
“Can you wait for me a second?”
Xie Mingjun didn’t respond.
Dong Yin hurried to open her locker and rummaged inside for a change of clothes. Her clothes were all more or less the same style, nothing particularly pretty, so there was nothing to agonize over.
She grabbed a set and ran into the washroom.
She changed quickly into a plain black T-shirt and a pair of black leggings.
By the time she came out, there was no sign of Xie Mingjun.
Meng Mochou was eating watermelon. She spoke up casually.
“She left. Didn’t wait for you at all.”
A little panicked, Dong Yin didn’t even look at Meng Mochou’s expression. She just muttered a quick thanks, hurried to save her paper, grabbed her bag, and ran out to look for Xie Mingjun.
Xie Mingjun walked fast and never waited for anyone. Sometimes she didn’t even walk; she just got in a car and left.
Dong Yin was genuinely worried she wouldn’t catch up.
Luckily, when she rushed out, Xie Mingjun hadn’t gone far yet. She had only just walked into the small grove next to the dorm building.
The midday sun was blinding, and the ground was scorching hot. The grove, with its thick green leaves, blocked out the light and cast patches of shade, looking almost cool.
As she walked in, she could hear the cicadas screaming, as deafening as always.
While walking, Dong Yin was seriously thinking:
Should she tell Xie Mingjun what she planned to “learn”?
Should she recommend herself?
She honestly hadn’t thought it through completely, but she felt that as long as she worked hard, she could learn anything.
Panting, she looked at the figure ahead and called out with a smile:
“Xie Mingjun.”
Xie Mingjun stopped and turned around to look at her.
“What I did back there in the dorm, teasing you—that was just a minor punishment.”
She said it very directly, without sugarcoating.
She didn’t sound like she was joking at all. In a cold voice, she continued:
“I brought you out here so I could leave you a bit of dignity. Don’t chase me anymore.”
Dong Yin let out a muffled “oh.”
She was so different from just now. In the dorm she’d been fine, even pretty easy to get along with.
Why was it completely different the moment they stepped outside?
What psychological process had she gone through?
“Do you feel embarrassed?”
Xie Mingjun asked.
Honestly, it was mortifying.
Dong Yin had confessed so seriously, so full of pounding excitement.
And Xie Mingjun had rejected her without even thinking, as if it barely caused a ripple.
It stung Dong Yin’s pride.
Xie Mingjun lowered her voice.
“If you keep pestering me, I’ll make you even more humiliated. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Dong Yin blinked.
Her eyes were very bright and wet, like they were filled with water. One look made you want to reach out and rub, squeeze, press down on them.
Back in the dorm, Xie Mingjun had only taken out her lighter.
This time she pulled out a cigarette as well, thin and elegant.
The cigarette itself looked nice, and the way she held it was downright sexy.
Dong Yin watched her and said:
“Xie Mingjun, don’t smoke.”
The motion of her hand with the lighter paused.
“You really love meddling, huh? Sticking your nose in everything. Weren’t you just saying you’d do whatever I told you?”
“But…”
Dong Yin said, “you told me not to bother you, so what you said earlier doesn’t count anymore.”
When she finished, she could tell that didn’t sit well with Xie Mingjun, so she hurried to add:
“Smoking is bad for your health. You really shouldn’t.”
On purpose, Xie Mingjun shoved the lighter into her hand and brought the cigarette to her own lips.
“Light it for me.”
Her lip shape was beautiful, painted a seductively bright red, the inside a deeper, dark red.
She pressed her lips together once, and the filter grew slightly wet.
She bit down on the cigarette and leaned toward Dong Yin.
Dong Yin held the lighter, about to light it for her.
She looked so bad in the best way. No one wouldn’t be attracted to that.
Dong Yin’s fingers rested on the lighter’s lid, stroked it, flipped it open, then snapped it shut again with a click.
She rose a little on tiptoe, leaned close to her ear, and whispered:
“Xie Mingjun, smoking really isn’t healthy. How about… we kiss instead? That’s healthier.”
The teasing light in Xie Mingjun’s eyes turned into genuine confusion for a second.
Then she started laughing.
She took the cigarette out and held it between her fingers.
No one knew how much time passed, or how long they walked, but eventually they stopped in front of a restaurant.
With all the turns they’d taken, Dong Yin was completely disoriented. She had no idea what restaurant this even was.
Once they went in, she checked her phone and realized that, without noticing, they’d walked out of the campus. She hadn’t even felt it.
As soon as they sat down, the first thing Xie Mingjun said was that she wasn’t used to being treated to meals.
Then she ordered all the dishes herself.
Dong Yin had no idea how much it would cost and didn’t dare ask. If it was too expensive, there was no way she could afford it.
There were only a few people in the restaurant, so the food came quickly.
The dishes were plated beautifully, each portion tiny.
Dong Yin picked at them slowly with her chopsticks.
Xie Mingjun only ate one dessert.
The rest of the time, she was playing on her phone.
In the middle, she got a call from Zou Yuxi. Her voice was gentle as she asked if she’d eaten yet, and if she wanted to grab something together.
Dong Yin watched her closely.
Xie Mingjun glanced back at her before answering.
“I’m already eating. Having dinner with your little tagalong.”
“You’re eating with Dong Yin? Why are you two eating together? Which restaurant?”
Zou Yuxi didn’t sound nervous, more helpless than anything.
“Dong Yin doesn’t have much money. What are you doing going out to eat with her?”
Everyone knew Dong Yin was poor.
But hearing it said that bluntly made the food in her mouth suddenly tasteless.
“She can’t afford the bill, is that it?”
Xie Mingjun said. “I think she’s eating pretty happily. Doesn’t seem to feel poor at all. What are you worrying about?”
Zou Yuxi let out an awkward little laugh.
“I’m just saying. Send me your location. I’ll come over and pay.”
Dong Yin watched as she talked on the phone.
After two or three minutes, Xie Mingjun hung up, looked at Dong Yin, and asked:
“Are you full?”
“Full… almost.”
The dishes looked very expensive.
Dong Yin felt that no matter who ended up paying, the least she could do was finish them. Otherwise, it would be too wasteful.
So she kept eating. And ate quite a lot.
From time to time, Xie Mingjun would glance her way.
Dong Yin always ate very slowly, carefully savoring each bite, as if she could taste the price back out of it.
But the moment she sensed that Xie Mingjun was looking at her, she would immediately start chewing faster, her cheeks puffing up a little.
Once, without thinking, Xie Mingjun’s hand twitched and moved the chopsticks.
When Dong Yin finally set her chopsticks down and was about to go pay, Xie Mingjun walked straight out the door.
A waiter stopped her and told her the bill had already been paid online by Xie Mingjun.
When they came out of the restaurant, it was even hotter than before.
The trees lining the street here had no cicadas resting on them, so there was none of that noisy screeching, just relative quiet.
Dong Yin hurried to catch up and walk beside her.
After a few seconds, she stepped ahead and started walking backward, facing her.
She always had a fresh batch of little moves like this.
Xie Mingjun stopped, watching to see what she was up to.
Dong Yin took out her phone and offered it with both hands, very carefully.
“Xie Mingjun, can I add you on WeChat?”
A frown creased between Xie Mingjun’s brows.
Dong Yin kept holding out the phone. Head lowered, she tapped at the screen, her voice going soft.
“The food today seemed… really expensive. I don’t have enough cash. Could I… leave you a contact so I can pay you back bit by bit? I can transfer it to you on WeChat…”
Xie Mingjun stared at her very seriously.
Dong Yin wasn’t short, so she didn’t have to crane her neck.
She only leaned in slightly, arms folded.
The heat of midday rose off the pavement, steaming Dong Yin’s face red.
She watched as Xie Mingjun’s lips parted slightly and her teeth bit the tip of her own tongue. She looked like she’d been pushed to her limit with annoyance.
After holding it in for a moment, Xie Mingjun finally spoke.
“Dong Yin, there’s really something about you.”
Half an hour later.
Dong Yin trudged back toward the dorm.
The campus was too big, and the bus never seemed to come, so she could only walk faster herself.
By the time she got back, she was covered in sweat again.
She lifted her hand, just about to knock on the door—
—and heard voices inside.
Meng Mochou’s voice was sharp.
“Did I hear wrong, or did Dong Yin actually confess to Xie Mingjun? She wants to chase her? Is she kidding me?”
“I remember she used to always hang around with Zou Yuxi.”
The one chiming in was Ying Qiongxue, who slept in the bunk across from Dong Yin.
Ying Qiongxue had gone to the same high school as Dong Yin, but Dong Yin was in the science track and she was in the liberal arts, so they hadn’t had any interaction back then.
Their dorm building was all six-person rooms.
Aside from Dong Yin being in a different class, the other five were all classmates.
The dorm assignment itself had been a bit complicated.
Dong Yin majored in Japanese, and their class had thirteen girls. One of them had to be sent to another major’s dorm, and that one had been Dong Yin.
In freshman year, everyone still didn’t know one another well, and now that they were adults, their tempers had all mellowed out. Everyone got along harmoniously.
Later, a few roommates decided their major didn’t suit them and applied to transfer, moving to the dorms assigned by their new department.
The newly moved-in Ying Qiongxue, who’d been at the same high school as Dong Yin, had always found her an eyesore.
It didn’t take long before all of Dong Yin’s high school history became dorm gossip.
Dong Yin tugged at the strap of her schoolbag and lifted her hand again to knock—
Only to hear someone inside say:
“Dong Yin really kept it hidden, huh? I thought she wanted to be a homewrecker, but turns out she actually went after Xie Mingjun.”
“The main thing is, the way Xie Mingjun acted was weird too.”
There was a few seconds of silence. Then Ying Qiongxue suddenly said:
“…Yeah. Dong Yin really has something.”
Dong Yin also felt that she really had something.
She pressed her lips together in a happy little smile, skipped knocking altogether, and simply pushed the door open and walked in.
