After finishing lunch and saying goodbye to her “new friend,” Qi returned to her dorm.
“Xiao Qiqi! You’re finally back!”
“Mhm, good afternoon.”
Qi politely returned the greeting to her roommate, whose voice usually arrived before she did.
After closing the dorm door and changing her shoes, Qi felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck from behind.
A phone screen was shoved into her line of sight.
“Look, Qiqi! You’re viral!”
Looking at the photo of herself, Qi sighed inwardly.
She had expected this would happen.
She took off the Sun Hat and hung it on the coat rack.
She didn’t actually have a habit of wearing hats, and it was a relief to finally be free of it.
“Waa~ my Qiqi has finally been noticed by the world. As your number one fan, I’m so touched!”
“Unless you’re holding a fan appreciation event, let go of me.”
“You’re so cold to me~”
The roommate acted heartbroken but obediently let go of the black-haired girl and stepped in front of her.
“And yet you were so passionate when you were with Jiang Wanli…”
Qi looked at her roommate.
Although the girl was miming the action of wiping away tears, her eyes weren’t wet at all.
Over the time they had spent together, they had become quite familiar with each other.
Her roommate’s name was Su Xiaoqie.
Since it was a double dorm, Su Xiaoqie was her only roommate, and effectively Qi’s first true friend at this school.
Su Xiaoqie’s personality was the complete opposite of her name.
She lived for entertainment and never seemed to get angry, no matter how much someone joked with her.
She treated everything with a playful sense of fun.
Qi couldn’t exactly say they were perfectly compatible, but at the very least, she didn’t feel any pressure when they were together.
“Am I really that cold toward you?”
The black-haired girl asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.
“It’s not exactly cold, you just don’t have many expressions.”
Su Xiaoqie suddenly made a fangirl face.
“But I love this side of Qiqi too! You’re like a cute, grumpy little kitten, ehehe~”
“You look like a creep.”
“Ah, I’m dead—”
The roommate closed her eyes and collapsed straight back into her gaming chair.
Ignoring Su Xiaoqie’s antics, Qi smoothed out her long hair that had been ruffled by the wind and headed toward the bathroom.
She closed the door, crouched against the wall, and opened her phone.
Looking at the contact she had just added for Jiang Wanli, she sent over a greeting emoji.
The light from the screen illuminated her delicate, small face.
If anyone had been watching her, they would have noticed her slightly furrowed brows, revealing her current mood.
Qi was still not entirely familiar with the school environment.
She hadn’t originally planned to associate with Jiang Wanli.
Staying near someone who attracted so much attention would draw gazes that shouldn’t be on her, even though she hadn’t expected a Sun Hat to keep her invisible forever.
Since she couldn’t stay under the radar and Jiang Wanli happened to be sitting right across from her, Qi decided she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
That was why she added her, even though she hadn’t quite figured out why she wanted to be friends in the first place.
‘Forget it, I’ll take it one step at a time. Being on good terms with someone popular shouldn’t be a bad thing.’
Qi shook her head slightly, put her phone away, and washed her face with cold water at the sink.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but marvel at how pretty she was, even after seeing it many times over the past few days.
Though her overall appearance was quite different from her past self, many details remained the same—such as the beauty mark under her right eye.
Qi raised her right hand and lightly covered the mole with her fingertip, staring blankly at her reflection.
After a long moment, a trace of bashfulness appeared on her face.
Then, her gaze shifted upward to a stray lock of hair sticking up.
She pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, wet her palm, and smoothed the hair down.
***
The next morning, the black-haired girl bought a steamed bun at the cafeteria and began walking toward her classroom.
The prices for most things at the school were ridiculously high, but breakfast was relatively cheap.
A single steamed bun only cost 2 yuan.
‘I wonder if I should just buy six buns and make do for the day? No, I’d definitely end up malnourished.’
Qi hoped her current body would grow a bit taller.
While it was unrealistic to expect to reach her previous height, she had to try.
According to her calculations, the nutrition provided by the healthy meal sets was just enough; she didn’t actually need an extra meat patty.
She also needed to start planning a way to earn money.
Entering the classroom through the back door, Qi sat in her seat and opened the paper bag to enjoy her breakfast.
However, she sensed that the atmosphere in the room was a bit off.
She looked up at a few boys in the front row.
They instantly averted their eyes and naturally mimed a basketball shooting motion.
She turned toward a group of girls, who instinctively covered their mouths, seemingly discussing an exciting topic.
Every gaze in the class was drifting toward her, intentionally or otherwise.
Oh.
She wasn’t wearing her hat this morning.
Well, since things had already come to this, she might as well eat.
Munch, munch.
While she was finishing the bun, her ears caught snippets of hushed conversations that weren’t quite quiet enough.
“So cute,” “How did I not notice her before?” and “She’s eating a steamed bun!” were among the comments.
Some people looked like they were on the verge of standing up to approach her.
In the end, none of them succeeded because the bell rang.
Qi’s timing for entering the classroom was very precise.
As she finished the last bite of the bun, the teacher walked in.
After tapping on the lectern to signal everyone to put their phones away, the lesson began.
Throughout the entire math class, Qi didn’t absorb a single word.
She had known for a long time that she wasn’t cut out for studying.
With nothing else to do during the break, she was about to browse the forums on her phone when she saw several girls walking toward her.
“Um, Student Qi, would you like some snacks?”
They took out various treats like candy, potato chips, and jelly from their pockets and placed them on the black-haired girl’s desk.
“Um, thank you, but I just ate a bun…”
Just as she was about to refuse, a dark brown wrapper caught her eye.
It was that incredibly expensive chocolate from the school supermarket!
Although Qi only lost control of her gaze for a split second, many watchful eyes caught her look of longing.
One of the girls picked up the chocolate and waved it back and forth in front of Qi’s eyes as if she were teasing a cat, trying to elicit a reaction.
Qi: “…”
“Here, it’s for you! Try it, it’s delicious!”
Looking at the chocolate placed before her, Qi felt conflicted.
She didn’t want to eat someone else’s food for no reason, but they did say it was delicious…
It wasn’t until the bell rang and the girls returned to their seats that the black-haired girl stared at the left-behind chocolate.
Ultimately, she couldn’t resist.
She quietly unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth.
It really was amazing!
Qi couldn’t help but show a satisfied expression.
It was only when she heard a few giggles that she realized the girls had been peeking at her.
It didn’t matter; the chocolate was already in her mouth.
Qi pretended as if nothing had happened and stared intently at the blackboard.
During the long break, the black-haired girl emerged from the school supermarket.
She stared down at the five chocolates in her bag and the 128 yuan she had just spent, falling into deep thought.