“Xuan Xi?” a familiar voice came from her side.
She turned her head and saw Elsa standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, holding a steaming hot drink in her hands.
Her signature short brown hair had been trimmed a little, revealing the tops of her ears, and her cheeks were slightly flushed from the wind.
Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Xuan Xi, and she scurried over with her cup in hand.
“When did you get here? Why didn’t you let us know beforehand?”
She stood in front of Xuan Xi and looked her up and down, “You’ve lost weight.”
“Have I?”
“You really have, I’m not lying to you.” Elsa leaned in closer. “Your face has gotten sharper. If you don’t believe me, ask Reggie—did you not eat properly during winter break?”
“How could that be? Of course I ate properly.”
“You ate and still got this thin?” Elsa furrowed her brows and glanced behind Xuan Xi, only to find no one there. “Where’s Sige? Didn’t she come back with you?”
“She had some personal matters to deal with, so she didn’t come with me.”
Elsa nodded and didn’t press further. Reggie walked out of the cafeteria, holding two cups of hot drinks, and handed one to Xuan Xi. “It’s still warm. Here.”
Xuan Xi took it and took a sip—it was hot black tea, neither too strong nor too weak, and it tasted wonderful. The three of them stood at the entrance of the cafeteria and chatted about everyday things for a while—nothing more than Elsa fighting with her older sister again, or Reggie encountering something amusing at home.
As they talked, Elsa suddenly asked, “Which dormitory are you in again?”
“Room 404, why?”
“Then go back and get settled first. Don’t waste time—we’ll have a meal together later.” Elsa gave her a push.
Xuan Xi bid the two farewell and walked along the path toward the dormitory building. She climbed the stairs, arrived at the door of Room 404, pulled out that familiar set of keys, and unlocked the door. Sunlight rushed in from the other side, illuminating the entire room.
In the dormitory, the blanket had been folded neatly before she left, and the pillow was resting against the headboard. There wasn’t as much dust on the desk as Xuan Xi had imagined—it seemed the school had arranged for someone to clean during the break.
Xuan Xi leaned her suitcase against the wall, pulled open the curtains, and enjoyed the view outside the window. Inside the room, SigrdrÃfa’s bed sat quietly there, empty, as if no one had ever lain in it. After resting for a moment, Xuan Xi decided to start cleaning the dormitory.
She took out a towel and wiped down the desk first, then swept the floor, and of course she didn’t skip the area under the beds. After finishing the dormitory cleaning, Xuan Xi still had to take each piece of clothing out of her suitcase one by one and hang them in the wardrobe, while her personal items went into the drawers. By the time she finished all of that, she was drenched in sweat. She pulled out the handkerchief Sige had given her from her inner pocket, wiped the sweat from her forehead, folded it up, and placed it beside her desk.
After doing all of this, she sat on her bed, breathing slightly heavily, and couldn’t help but glance toward SigrdrÃfa’s side. Students occasionally passed by in the hallway outside, most of them returning with their roommates, chatting until they stopped in front of a dormitory door, opened it, and went inside, their voices fading away into the corridor.
Xuan Xi suddenly felt a little lonely. She picked up the communication stone tablet, found Sige’s avatar, and sent her a message: “When are you coming back?”
The communication stone tablet lay quietly in her palm, and after a few minutes, the screen gradually dimmed. The words Xuan Xi had sent received no reply, as if they had sunk into the depths of the sea.
She waited for a while, then sent another message: “I’ve already cleaned the dormitory. You can rest as soon as you get back.”
Still nothing. Sige, who had replied almost instantly every time before, seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth today.
Maybe Sige was just busy. That was the only way Xuan Xi could think about it. She placed the communication stone back on the nightstand, casually picked up a book from the shelf, and tried to divert her attention. But after reading two or three pages, her gaze began to wander, and in more than ten minutes, she hadn’t absorbed a single word. The sound of footsteps in the corridor gradually grew louder over time, then gradually faded again—most students had gone to the cafeteria for dinner. It wasn’t until dusk that the communication stone finally vibrated. She picked it up quickly, thinking Sige had finally replied to her, but it turned out to be a message from Elsa: “The cafeteria is serving dinner. Are you done cleaning your dormitory? Want to come eat together?”
“I’m coming.” After replying, Xuan Xi stood up, patted the nonexistent dust off her pants, tucked the communication stone into her pocket, and pushed open the door.
The lighting in the cafeteria was a warm yellow, looking very cozy and whetting one’s appetite. Elsa had already saved a seat for Xuan Xi, with Reggie sitting beside her and Veralis sitting across from them.
Xuan Xi set down her tray and placed her spoon on the edge of the plate. Elsa glanced at the communication stone she had placed at the corner of the table, its screen dark and lifeless. “Sige still hasn’t replied?” she asked, her voice a little lower than usual, carrying a hint of caution.
Xuan Xi gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
Elsa didn’t ask again. She simply pushed a dish toward Xuan Xi while speaking words of comfort. “Then let’s eat first. Maybe Sige has something urgent to deal with. I’m sure Sige wouldn’t want you to lose your appetite over this.”
Xuan Xi nodded at her words, picked up a piece of bread, and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly. But she never would have imagined that without Sige’s company, even the most delicious food would taste like chewing wax in her mouth.
There was far less conversation at the table than usual. Elsa wasn’t chattering away like she normally did, Reggie kept his head down and ate, having decided not to say anything, and Veralis sat across from them, occasionally looking up at Xuan Xi to confirm she was all right before turning her gaze back to her own plate. After the meal, the four of them walked out of the cafeteria and went their separate ways.
It was already getting late. Xuan Xi returned to the dormitory door, and as she reached into her pocket for her keys, she accidentally brushed against the communication stone. She took it out and glanced at it—Sige’s avatar was still dark, with nothing on it.
She pushed the door open and walked inside. Tonight’s moonlight was very bright, so she didn’t bother turning on the light. After washing up, she walked to her bed, sat down, and lay back. The room was so quiet that Xuan Xi could hear her own breathing, one breath at a time, overlapping with the sound of her heartbeat—the only two responses in this room.
She didn’t send Sige any more messages, because she didn’t know what else she could say. She felt a little lonely, and a little worried. The moon hung in the sky outside the window, silvery white, just like the color of someone’s hair.