In the dorm, the aroma of food filled the air.
Song Qiuyu broke apart her disposable chopsticks and picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs, coated in sauce, bringing it close to her lips.
She pouted her lips, blowing on the hot steam, then slightly opened them.
Her slender, fair neck stretched out, and her two rows of pearly teeth took a bite of the rib.
Sauce overflowed her lips and teeth, and the taste of meat danced on her tongue.
She happily narrowed her eyes, smiling.
“The sweet and sour pork ribs at the Ten Thousand People Cafeteria are amazing!”
Song Qiuyu’s cheeks moved as she chewed, letting out an involuntary sigh of contentment.
Her stomach no longer hurt, and everything she ate tasted delicious.
Jiang Xiao turned his face just as she finished gnawing on a rib, her delicate pink tongue licking the sweet and sour sauce from her lips.
“The seaweed soup is good too!”
She lowered her head again, lifting the separate bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup with both hands to drink.
A thin piece of seaweed unexpectedly clung to the corner of her mouth, but she was completely unaware.
Jiang Xiao remembered that sometimes she would do this in middle school.
Back then, he would naturally remind her, but now, he felt he couldn’t.
“The advisor reminded us in the major group chat that every class will be electing class president tonight. If you’re interested in running for a class committee position, please let us know in the group chat beforehand.”
Lin An finished, then added that the dorm leader would also be elected.
Song Qiuyu’s eyes lit up:
“Class president? Dorm leader? Jiang Xiao, you were class president and dorm leader for all three years of middle school, why don’t you—”
Jiang Xiao silently pretended to be dead, burying his head in his food.
“Why don’t we let someone else have this opportunity in college?”
Song Qiuyu forcibly rounded off her sentence, turned around, and looked up at the other two roommates who had already climbed into bed.
“I just want to be dorm leader. What do you guys think?”
As expected, they supported her without hesitation.
As for the class committee, they had competitive ideas.
After eating, she tidied up her desk.
Seeing Jiang Xiao about to throw out the trash, she instantly shot up from her seat.
Jiang Xiao paused, somewhat startled by her sudden movement, and looked at her in confusion.
He seemed to guess what she would say next.
“Give it to me, I also need to throw out the trash, and I can help you throw yours out too.”
Song Qiuyu walked forward, reaching for the bag Jiang Xiao was holding.
“No need.”
Jiang Xiao was even more puzzled, and gently refused.
With that, he walked a few steps directly towards the dorm door but then suddenly paused, tightening his grip on the bag.
“Let’s go together.”
“Okay!”
Song Qiuyu smiled and followed.
There were three trash cans in the hallway of each floor of the dormitory building, which an auntie would process daily to ensure the cleanliness of the hallway.
“We have military training again in an hour. I don’t want to go~”
As soon as Song Qiuyu returned to the dorm, she heard Xie Zhuran’s wail, and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly along with him.
“By the way, Song Qiuyu, you should be able to take leave this afternoon, right?”
Xie Zhuran poked his head out from the head of the bed and suggested,
“Have the doctor at the infirmary write you a note or something?”
“No, no, I feel much better now.”
Song Qiuyu shook her head repeatedly.
“Are you silly? You can rest, but you still want to go to military training.”
Xie Zhuran was amused.
Song Qiuyu frowned, unconcerned:
“But the instructor is so strict. If you take leave today, you’ll only have to make it up more severely later.”
Xie Zhuran was convinced.
“Besides, military training is tiring, but it also strengthens our bodies and deepens our friendships!”
More importantly, she could also take care of Jiang Xiao.
“Jiang Xiao, you first, you go up first!”
Song Qiuyu nimbly picked up her phone and obediently gestured for Jiang Xiao to go up and rest first.
Jiang Xiao said nothing, but with the thought of understanding her less and less, he climbed the ladder and returned to his own bunk first.
Seeing Jiang Xiao pull his bed curtain shut, Song Qiuyu also took her small feet out of her slippers, lightly stepped onto the ladder rungs, and climbed back into her own nest step by step, pulling the curtain shut.
After making sure everything was secure, she took a deep breath, opened her phone, and switched to Shen Xi’s account.
Then she continued reading from the last unread message from last night.
After that, Jiang Xiao had clearly made messaging her a daily routine, but he wouldn’t bother her excessively, only sending one message at a fixed time each day.
The content was mostly amusing anecdotes he had discovered that day, along with things related to hobbies she had deliberately revealed to him during their online relationship.
Jiang Xiao had spent three years sending those messages, and she finished reading most of them in just over half an hour.
After reading, Song Qiuyu pursed her lips, the aftermath hitting her quite hard.
If it were her in middle school, she might have screenshot those chat logs and posted them elsewhere as gossip for others…
Those forgotten chat logs might have already become online memes during that past time.
Jiang Xiao disliked surfing the internet in middle school, and he surely disliked it even more now.
He wouldn’t know that in the online world unfamiliar to him, he had become a “dead virgin clown monster” in memes, fantasizing about female netizens.
She guiltily peered through the bed curtain at Jiang Xiao in the bunk next to her, then timidly looked back at the latest message.
Today, at 2:46:58 PM, Jiang Xiao would also send her a message.
He had been consistently sending messages at this time for three years; Shen Xi had almost become his spiritual pillar!
If Jiang Xiao knew that the “good girl” he liked so much was actually just a rotten male roommate, she would most likely be dead.
But she deserved to die.
Song Qiuyu clutched her phone, her conscience uneasy, her body instinctively afraid.
Then she closed her eyes and took two deep breaths.
Let Shen Xi remain a memory forever; she would help Jiang Xiao find the best girl!
Speaking of which, it would only get hotter in the afternoon, and Jiang Xiao’s eyes would be uncomfortable when he sent messages…
She’d buy a parasol on the way later.
While military training at the Nanfeng Academy of Drama was strict, they also considered the new students’ faces, so they allowed new students to bring umbrellas.
But they could only be used during breaks.
At 2 PM, the sun emitted even harsher rays, and the loud counting of various formations on the parade ground rose and fell.
Instructor Bian Lianhai, seeing that Song Qiuyu was feeling better, asked about her condition.
She naturally answered truthfully, then followed the main group, obeying commands and beginning to practice goose-stepping.
Time slowly flowed by during the practice, gradually approaching Jiang Xiao’s fixed messaging time.
Jiang Xiao clenched his fists, already somewhat distracted.
Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but feel nervous.
She was several times more nervous than Jiang Xiao.
In these three years, it was impossible for Jiang Xiao to have time to send messages on time every single time, but Jiang Xiao had done it.
What a terrifying obsession.
Hopefully, Jiang Xiao could still send his message smoothly today.
“Stop! You’ve forgotten everything you practiced this morning after just one lunch break?” the instructor yelled, stopping them.
Jiang Xiao’s expression turned ugly.
Song Qiuyu took a breath; now she could only pray.
However, the instructor had no intention of letting them rest.
He then frowned and shifted his gaze to Jiang Xiao.
“Jiang Xiao, fall out!”
“You’re the best one practicing among everyone. Now, you’ll give them a demonstration!”
Jiang Xiao didn’t want to fall out; he just wanted to get to his phone.
Song Qiuyu, of course, immediately understood Jiang Xiao’s thoughts.
She gritted her teeth and raised a hand: “Reporting, Instructor! I’m confident I practice better than Jiang Xiao. Let me do it!”
Upon hearing this, the instructor took a final look at Jiang Xiao, who hadn’t moved at all, his frown deepening, and sighed through his nose.
“Alright, you do it then.”
“Yes, Instructor!”
Song Qiuyu formally saluted the instructor, then stepped forward, putting on her best spirit and energy, and began to demonstrate with full effort.
Xie Zhurangjokingly whispered, “This is too considerate. Could Song Qiuyu be gay?”
“It’s better to confirm that with Qiuyu directly.”
Lin An adjusted his glasses, smiling as he spoke.
Xie Zhuran shut his mouth.
“…”
Beside them, exclamations of admiration rose like waves, one after another.
Jiang Xiao’s lips moved slightly.
“Not bad!”
“You all need to learn from Comrade Song. Now you have five minutes of free activity time to reflect on why you can’t walk properly.”
As the instructor’s words fell, those who had just been standing rigidly all slumped to the ground like eggplants hit by frost.
Jiang Xiao immediately took out his phone, about to use one hand to block the strong light, when suddenly he was entirely enveloped in a shadow.
He looked up and saw a parasol held above his head!
“Looking at your phone in strong light hurts your eyes!” Song Qiuyu pointed to the sun covered by the umbrella, believing her reasoning was sound.
“Right, right, right!” said Lin An and Xie Zhuran, who had already hidden under the umbrella playing on their phones since it opened.
Jiang Xiao lowered his eyes, looking at his phone screen, silently editing his message.
Song Qiuyu suppressed her nervousness, handed the umbrella handle to Xie Zhuran to hold temporarily, and took a sip of water from her cup.
Just as Jiang Xiao sent the message on time, her phone in her pocket vibrated without warning, emitting a “ding.”
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