After calming herself down, Jin Ke’er’s expression turned cold again.
She stared at the number she still couldn’t reach and tried dialing once more.
“The number you have dialed cannot be reached at the moment. Please try again later.”
That voice came through again. Furious, she threw her phone to the floor.
It didn’t break, just bounced a few times before lying there.
“Ungrateful bitch.”
Jin Ke’er’s face twisted with anger as she spat out the words.
How could she not understand?
Even though Su Li always pretended not to care, she was surely cursing her in her heart countless times.
Just like those other filthy lowlifes before.
They took her money, and not only did they not show a shred of gratitude, they even avoided her like the plague when they saw her.
As if she were some kind of terrifying monster.
Sure enough, Su Li was no different from the rest of them.
How long had it been? And she dared to cut contact this quickly?
Had she been waiting to walk out that door just so she could celebrate the end of their “deal”?
Jin Ke’er was overwhelmed with irritation.
She tried to reach for her phone on the floor, but realized she couldn’t even get out of bed.
The helplessness made her clench her fists and slam them hard against the mattress.
“Damn it!”
She cursed, but then as if she’d suddenly remembered something, the corner of her lips curled into a slight smile.
Could it be that Su Li was just playing hard to get?
Trying to make her panic by pretending to cut contact?
Such pathetic tricks—absolutely disgusting.
She was nothing more than a cheap, lowly toy…
Even so, Jin Ke’er couldn’t help but let out a cold snort.
……
At seven o’clock, when Su Li got up, her head felt foggy and uncomfortable.
She even had a wave of nausea.
Only then did she realize she hadn’t properly covered herself with a blanket last night and had caught a chill.
She hadn’t even turned off the lights in her room.
Su Li went to the bathroom to freshen up.
She quickly noticed the toilet and the yellow stains still on the floor.
Used sanitary pads were carelessly tossed aside, and balled-up tissues littered the area near the trash can.
On the desk, there were leftover scraps of food and oily stains smeared everywhere.
Crumpled tissues were strewn across the tabletop.
It was obvious Chi Qingya had left quite some time ago—maybe even stayed out last night—and had already gone out early this morning.
But she hadn’t done anything to tidy up. All she left behind were traces showing she’d been there.
Su Li looked calmly at the mess on the table.
As usual, there was no breakfast for her.
Anyone unaware might even think the leftovers on the table were Chi Qingya’s idea of breakfast for her.
Even after seeing she hadn’t pulled the blanket over herself, Chi Qingya hadn’t done a thing.
Su Li had long grown used to this.
She just blamed herself for not doing better.
After all, no one else owed her anything.
Suppressing the discomfort in her body, she took her medicine calmly, then sat on the couch for a while to recover.
Once she felt slightly better, she gathered the clothes on the couch, cleaned up the trash on the table and the food crumbs on the floor, and got ready to leave for class.
There was a big lecture this morning, shared by several classes, held in one of the public lecture halls.
Since she didn’t really have friends to save her a seat, and didn’t know many people—
She simply headed straight for an empty spot in the front row.
Su Li didn’t particularly like sitting in the front, but there usually weren’t any free spots in the back.
As soon as she entered the classroom, she saw Chi Qingya at the center of a crowd.
A group of girls had gathered around her, all focused on her as they chatted animatedly.
“Yaya, is she the messy roommate you mentioned from home? She looks decent on the outside, but who knew she was that kind of person behind the scenes?”
One of the girls pointed at Su Li and leaned in close to Chi Qingya, trying to flatter her.
“Yaya, why do you even keep her around? If it were me, I would’ve kicked her out ages ago!”
“She’s not even emotionally supportive—more like an emotional black hole, draining our life energy every day. What’s the point of keeping her around?”
Another one of the girls chimed in, looking at Chi Qingya with sympathy in her eyes, then casting a resentful glance at Su Li, as if she wished she could take her place.
“Sigh, it’s not like I wanted this. I just couldn’t bear to see her looking so pitiful and homeless back then. I never imagined I’d be inviting a wolf into my home.”
Chi Qingya sighed with regret, like she truly regretted her past kindness.
“Honestly, if she’d just help out a little with the chores, or… at least not be so filthy, I wouldn’t even care if she didn’t help pay rent.”
“Even just—just picking up the takeaway trash after eating, or occasionally washing her own dirty clothes would be fine.”
Chi Qingya spoke with a sorrowful tone, and to her friends, she looked delicate and heartbroken—someone you just wanted to protect.
“Yaya, you’re just too kind!”
Su Li could feel multiple eyes falling on her, especially from the girls in Chi Qingya’s little circle.
Their gazes were full of hostility, like they couldn’t wait to drive her out.
She didn’t react, pretending not to hear a word, calmly flipping through the textbook in front of her.
Because Chi Qingya had said she didn’t want them to appear too close at school, Su Li had chosen a seat far enough from hers.
“What an act, seriously—who is she trying to fool?”
“She never reviews before class, and now suddenly she’s reading a few minutes before the lecture starts? Thinks she’ll win the teacher over with this performance?”
“Maybe she’s trying to impress Yaya. Yaya’s been so good to her, and since she’s such a slob, now she wants to act like she’s some hardworking student to get Yaya’s attention.”
“Total fake! Green tea bitch!”
Seeing Su Li reading, the girls around Chi Qingya started gossiping again.
“She doesn’t even study at home…”
Chi Qingya added weakly, looking oh-so-pitiful, her voice full of grievance.
And the moment she said that, her friends doubled down, gossiping about Su Li even more energetically.
Even though Su Li was sitting far away, she could still hear everything they said.
Some of them looked like they were whispering, but they were clearly trying to speak loudly enough for the whole class to hear.
Like old women bickering at the village gate…
A normal person might be angry in this situation, maybe even humiliated, or shrink under the weight of such nasty talk.
But Su Li wasn’t a normal person.