The crowd fooling around in the hallway crashed into Chi Qingya, making her stumble and slam her back hard against the wall.
She suddenly went wild, running through the Library, the Convenience Store, and the Cafeteria Kitchen, before finally squatting down in the empty stairwell.
Sweat stuck her bangs to her forehead, and her knees ached painfully from the rough cement floor.
All of a sudden, she remembered the garbage bags piled at her door, remembered how Su Li would always silently carry four or five bags downstairs without a word, and finally, a wounded whimper slipped from her throat like a small animal in pain.
“Su Li… I miss you!”
Chi Qingya said aggrievedly. She suddenly recalled that, back when Su Li was around, she was happy every single day.
She had never suffered such grievances.
Just living together with Su Li had been so blissful, so joyful.
It made her forget, for a moment, the unhappy life she once led.
When someone is too deeply immersed in happiness, life can start to feel too ordinary.
She gradually forgot that an ordinary, peaceful life was something she once longed for but couldn’t have.
She was like this too…
What she used to crave most was a simple, uneventful life.
She just hoped she could live as an Ordinary Person.
But…
Why?
Why, after finally getting the life she wanted, did she fail to treasure it?
Why did she, with her own hands, let that life drift further and further away?
Her molars ached from clenching so hard, but she couldn’t stop the tears from welling up.
Curled up in the stairwell, Chi Qingya buried her face in her knees.
The air was filled with the scent of Strawberry Perfume from a girl in the class next door, so sweet it made her throat tighten.
Back then, Su Li always carried the sun-warmed Laundry Detergent Scent mixed with a faint, refreshing Mint. Now she realized that scent was a hundred times better than any perfume.
She didn’t know why, but now she just felt miserable, truly miserable!
Was she afraid Su Li would never appear again and vanish from her life forever?
Inside the Classroom, the three who were playing a Game hadn’t realized that Chi Qingya had already left.
“Qingya, I’m a little thirsty!”
Caixiangxiang, seeing that the teacher had no intention of coming down, spoke up.
Chi Qingya didn’t have a seat, so normally she should be standing behind the three of them.
It had always been this way.
Chi Qingya would sit beside them, eavesdropping on their conversations.
Watching them do all sorts of things.
Like a servant waiting to be called, always ready for their orders.
There was an upside, of course—whenever they wanted something to eat or drink, there was someone to run errands for them.
And they never had to pay.
“Qingya?”
When no one responded for a while, Caixiangxiang’s face showed a trace of embarrassment. Was Chi Qingya giving her the cold shoulder?
Did she still want to be friends or not?
Wasn’t it just that the seat Caixiangxiang saved for her was given to someone else?
Who told her not to come earlier?
Caixiangxiang started plotting how to quietly give Chi Qingya the cold shoulder later with her girlfriends, but then Chen Tangguan beside her said:
“Qingya isn’t standing behind us.”
“Not behind us?”
Hearing Chen Tangguan’s words, Caixiangxiang’s expression improved a bit. At least she wasn’t being slighted directly.
As Dormitory sisters, even if there were complaints in their hearts, they couldn’t show it openly.
Caixiangxiang knew that if she lost face in front of the others, she’d become the butt of their jokes.
Just like when she’d made fun of Su Li before.
“Yeah, I thought it was really quiet behind us just now, so I secretly glanced back. Qingya is already gone.”
Chen Tangguan continued, and at this moment, Wei Yanxi came over, using a book as cover as she whispered with them:
“Is it because of Su Li? Su Li didn’t come to class today, maybe Chi Qingya went to look for her.”
“Very possible.”
Caixiangxiang nodded in agreement, while Chen Tangguan added,
“If she makes up with Su Li, it’ll probably be hard for us to get her to come out with us again.”
“When we first got to know her, she never stopped talking about Su Li. It was like she had nothing else to say.”
“She even wanted to drag Su Li along when we ate together, totally killing the mood.”
“If they reconcile, and Su Li starts cooking for her every day like before, it’ll be even harder to get her to treat us to food.”
Chen Tangguan’s words made the other two look more serious.
The few of them had secretly observed Chi Qingya for a while and noticed that she didn’t get along that well with her Dormitory roommates, but she was definitely rich.
Even though Chi Qingya seemed plain, she was always generous with food, clothes, and daily goods.
Even her Game skins were maxed out!
So, they decided to cozy up to Chi Qingya, hoping to get some benefits out of her.
Sure enough, after becoming friends with Chi Qingya, their meals improved every now and then.
They’d also visited a bunch of shops they once only dreamed about.
But Chi Qingya herself was odd—she didn’t seem to know how to be a friend.
Whatever they asked, she’d do it.
And they were happy to keep someone like that around.
Until one day, someone new showed up at Chi Qingya’s side.
Su Li!
Caixiangxiang wasn’t quite sure how Su Li had joined their class.
There had been transfer students in high school, sure.
But this was university!
And as far as she knew, Su Li wasn’t even a transfer student from another major.
Su Li seemed cute at first glance, but everyone who tried to talk to her the first time had suffered for it.
After discussing with her girlfriends, Caixiangxiang reached a conclusion.
Su Li was a broke loser!
A broke loser didn’t deserve to be their friend!
But unexpectedly, Chi Qingya ended up hanging out with Su Li.
Even though they’d known Chi Qingya longer, it hadn’t been that long.
If Chi Qingya stuck with Su Li, maybe she’d even spend her money on Su Li.
Fortunately, thanks to their efforts, Chi Qingya and Su Li hadn’t grown all that close.
Talking about Chi Qingya and Su Li, Wei Yanxi complained in disgust,
“Every time Chi Qingya shares how happy she is with Su Li, it just makes me sick.”
“Why does Chi Qingya get to have a rich family and someone to wait on her?”
“She gets all sorts of delicious food made for her, someone to clean her room…”
“She doesn’t have to do anything, just whatever she likes!”
Chen Tangguan chimed in as well,
“Just thinking about it makes me sick!”
“And she keeps saying friends should share happiness together!”
“Who wants to hear about her happy life anyway?”
“If she really wants us to be happy, why doesn’t she just give out a few more hongbao of several hundred yuan each?”