Chapter 67: Someone Wants to Go Back Home

“Come on, tell me—did you sneak out with Xu Nian?”

Ye Qingchang grabbed the dorm leader’s cheek, who was sitting at her desk, and pulled it to the sides after seeing the braised pig’s trotter rice Yang Shuli had left on her desk.

The pained dorm leader struggled, “That’s slander! Which eye of yours saw me going out with Xu Nian?”

“You still won’t admit it?” Ye Qingchang let go of Yang Shuli’s cheek, then pointed at her own desk. “Tell me, how did this braised pig’s trotter rice get here?”

“That’s your takeout,” Yang Shuli said, eyes darting around nervously.

Ye Qingchang laughed bitterly, “You mean to say that my 3.9-yuan discounted combo meal somehow turned into a fully loaded Longjiang Braised Pig’s Trotter rice?”

“Uh, maybe there’s a promotion going on recently?” Yang Shuli slapped her head. “Maybe it’s all some business competition—just enjoy it quietly.”

Then she watched Ye Qingchang point again at her own desk. “So how did the braised pig’s trotter rice on your desk get here? Buy one, get one free?”

“Well… uh…” Yang Shuli scratched her head, “I stole someone else’s takeout. Haha, I’m so rude, haha.”

“The receipt?”

“I was hungry and accidentally ate it.” Yang Shuli looked at Ye Qingchang with absolute sincerity.

Though the truth was probably only in the first half of that sentence.

In fact, when Ye Qingchang was starving on her bed and called the dorm leader who didn’t pick up, she had already guessed pretty much what was going on.

Her innocent, naive dorm leader had most likely been swept away by Xu Nian, who always seemed to pop up by her side randomly.

Whenever the dorm leader was missing, Xu Nian was the prime suspect; if she wasn’t in sight and not with Xu Nian, something must have happened.

So Ye Qingchang immediately messaged Xu Nian.

Xu Nian sent back a photo—one that was pretty incriminating.

The main focus was on the small belly of Yang Shuli, and besides the hand holding the camera, the other hand was slipped under the hem of Yang Shuli’s white shirt.

From the shape of the fabric pushed outward on her abdomen, it looked like that hand was caressing the girl’s soft skin.

Yang Shuli’s hands gripped Xu Nian’s wrist—unclear if to resist or shyly accept.

When Ye Qingchang sent a question mark, Xu Nian replied saying that Yang Shuli refused to accept the reality that she might be gaining weight, so she grabbed his hand to feel if there was any fat on her belly.

If it had been anyone else, Ye Qingchang wouldn’t have believed a single word of this ridiculous explanation paired with that photo.

But this was her gluttonous dorm leader’s gluttonous partner.

Honestly, even if the two ended up kissing one day, Ye Qingchang would only suspect her dorm leader caught the other stealing food and was trying to snatch it back by force.

So she asked questions while already knowing the answer.

“Nope.” Yang Shuli rubbed her cheek, and after a moment, realized, “I brought you something delicious back, so you don’t have to eat that combo meal. Shouldn’t you be grateful to me?”

After hearing that, Ye Qingchang looked away and glanced at her desk. “This desk is really a desk.”

Then Yang Shuli rammed a playful headbutt into her lower back.

Begging for mercy, Ye Qingchang watched Yang Shuli return to her seat looking smug.

After taking a few bites of the braised pig’s trotter rice, Yang Shuli suddenly looked up.

“Third sister, don’t you think it’s kind of depressing to spend all seven days of the holiday cooped up in the dorm? Aren’t we supposed to go out and enjoy our youth?”

The tiny dorm leader said this with righteous indignation.

Ye Qingchang chewed her rice and felt annoyed.

Here we go again—those sudden bursts of passion mixed with ongoing laziness.

“So, what’s your brilliant idea?” Ye Qingchang decided to humor Yang Shuli; it was kind of pitiful for the kid to be talking to herself.

“Second sister went home, she won’t be back until tomorrow or the day after,” Yang Shuli twirled her chin. “But isn’t Xiaoniao still here? She can’t go home for the holidays, right?”

“Try to remember why Second Sister always said yes to entertainment events before but then cancelled them because Xiaoniao wasn’t online,” Ye Qingchang sighed helplessly.

“Oh, almost forgot she’s working part-time,” Yang Shuli lowered her head.

Then she looked up again. “Wait, didn’t the job Xiaoniao recently found give her weekends off? There’s no way she wouldn’t have the holidays off too, right?”

Ye Qingchang raised an eyebrow.

Maybe because Zhu Niao’s previous jobs were basically no different from picking cotton on a plantation, she had subconsciously overlooked this point when Zhu Niao got a better job.

If that was the case, wouldn’t that make Yang Shuli smarter than her?

Impossible. She wouldn’t admit it.

“Did Xu Nian feed you some brain-dead pills just now?”

Yang Shuli’s face immediately fell. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I feel like you’re insulting me.”

Ye Qingchang breathed a sigh of relief seeing her dorm leader’s reaction.

She almost thought the girl was getting smarter.

“Okay, I’ll just ask Xiaoniao if she’s free. But just so you know, if she’s not available, then there’s nothing we can do. If you still want to go out, I can help you call Xu Nian.”

“And Xiaoniao had a fever a couple days ago and might not be fully recovered yet. Be prepared for a wasted trip.”

Ye Qingchang went through her entire disclaimer before making the call.

“Got it, got it,” Yang Shuli muttered. “But come to think of it, Xu Nian did ask me if I wanted to go eat out.”

The girl wearing glasses was too lazy to care about the banter between the two gluttons and simply reached out to dial Zhu Niao’s number.

【Ding dong ji ding dong ji…】

“I’m so sick of this ringtone already.”

Yang Shuli, the first in the dorm to use this ringtone, quietly averted her gaze.

Soon enough, the call connected.

The familiar male voice answered, “Hello?”

Neither Yang Shuli nor Ye Qingchang were surprised that Gou Yu answered again while holding Zhu Niao’s phone.

“Is Xiaoniao still sick?” Ye Qingchang asked, suspecting that if Gou Yu was answering, something must have prevented Zhu Niao from picking up.

“Oh no, she’s just taking a bath. I heard the phone ringing and came over,” Gou Yu said. “She’s mostly recovered, probably just needs a bit more time.”

Ye Qingchang sighed in relief and turned to see Yang Shuli signaling her repeatedly with her eyes.

“Uh, right, can you ask Xiaoniao if she’s free to hang out during the holidays?”

“Um, probably not,” Gou Yu answered bluntly. “She’s going home for a visit.”

“Huh?” Ye Qingchang vaguely knew Zhu Niao’s resistance to family. “She’s going home? Did something happen?”

“No, not her home. Mine.”

Ye Qingchang breathed easier. “Oh, it’s your place then.”

There was a two-second pause.

“Wait, didn’t you just say something else? Whose home?”