Actually, She's Just an Idiot - Chapter 4

The events of that evening remained fresh in Wen Yue’s mind, yet she couldn’t for the life of her remember what she had replied at the time. All she recalled was that Jiang Yun had called her later, and she had ended up walking downstairs together with Lan Xi, who happened to be leaving in the same direction.

On the way back, Jiang Yun kept chatting with her about the interview. She mentioned that as a newcomer, she had been interviewed by the head of the department, but fortunately, the person was very kind and didn’t give her a hard time.

What exactly did it mean to be a “kind” person? And was “not giving someone a hard time” the same as the final, decisive verdict the beautiful girl had given earlier? Wen Yue really wanted to share her own experience with Jiang Yun. Unfortunately, she spent the entire walk trying to find the right opening, but she couldn’t find a suitable moment, so she finally gave up.

Since she couldn’t figure it out, she decided not to think about it at all. Originally, Wen Yue had just brushed it off as a strange, dreamlike encounter.

After washing up and lying in bed, she listened to Jiang Yun complain about her roommate, Dai Tong. It was then that she learned the reason Yao Xin had flaked on Jiang Yun was actually to accompany Dai Tong to watch a movie. The room was noisy, interspersed from time to time with Wang Qianqian’s witty remarks. It was right then, on an account that usually only received spam messages, that Wen Yue suddenly received a text.

[Congratulations, you have been accepted into the School Art Troupe. Please add the sender’s contact information to learn about the follow-up process.]

When she saw this message, she sat up in surprise. Not even two hours had passed since the interview. The efficiency of their department’s staff was perhaps a bit too high. She had initially planned to irresponsibly throw the matter to the back of her mind, but now that they had chased her all the way to her phone, wouldn’t it be a bit excessive to pretend she hadn’t seen it?

Her friends, who were deep in a lively conversation, noticed the sudden movement of her springing up from her “deathbed” and turned their attention toward her.

Wang Qianqian asked, “What’s wrong?”

The inexperienced girl looked helplessly at the hot potato on her phone and asked for help. “I… I just received an acceptance text from a department.”

“Oh, did Ah Yue go for an interview?” Jiang Yun stopped shaking Dai Tong’s arm and asked curiously, “Which department is it?”

“It’s… it’s…” Wen Yue squeezed the words out like toothpaste, her face turning bright red. “The point is, I don’t want to go.”

Hearing this, everyone understood. Ah Yue had a soft personality, and anyone could pull at her heartstrings with a sob story. They figured the recruiters must have been far too smooth-tongued, making it hard for her to decline, and she had just been dragged along to the interview.

Jiang Yun didn’t think it was a big deal. She leaned over to the edge of Wen Yue’s bed and said calmly, “If you don’t want to go, just pretend you never saw the text message.”

Wen Yue was conflicted. “Wouldn’t it be rude not to reply?”

“What’s the big deal?” Wang Qianqian laughed. “Usually, these messages are sent in bulk. If you don’t reply, it’s just taken as a rejection. No one is going to come over and ask you why you didn’t add them.”

“Is that so?” Hearing this, Wen Yue felt half of her burden lift. The School Art Troupe sounded very prestigious, so they must be recruiting a large number of people. It shouldn’t be a big problem if she were the only one missing, right? Thinking it through, Wen Yue tossed her phone aside and lay back down, feeling at peace.

But life is always full of ups and downs. Wen Yue had assumed that as an ordinary person, she wouldn’t have any further intersection with Lan Xi. No one knew how guilty Wen Yue felt the moment she saw Lan Xi in the formation during the first Taekwondo class. She was so terrified throughout the entire three-period session that she was afraid the other girl would come over to interrogate her about why she didn’t join.

Later, Wen Yue realized she had been far too self-absorbed. The beautiful girl was surrounded by people every day, how would she have the spare time to spare her a second glance? Meeting Lan Xi always seemed to give one the impression that they were special.

This is a sickness, it needs to be cured.

Another week passed peacefully, and Wen Yue thought the matter was settled and wouldn’t cause any more waves. As it turned out, Lan Xi brought it up out of the blue, leaving Wen Yue feeling inexplicably guilty.

Wen Yue fidgeted with her fingers, her gaze shifting restlessly due to her guilty conscience. “W-was that message sent to me by you personally, Senior?”

She didn’t expect that to be her focus. Lan Xi let out a dry laugh and teased, “It seems it was my oversight. Our little Teacher Wen doesn’t add strangers.”

Wen Yue could tell the other girl was mocking her. For the first time in her life, she had been caught red-handed when not being honest, and as if she had nothing left to lose, she raised her voice two octaves. “I… I don’t want to join the department!”

After saying this, Wen Yue shrank her neck, like a deflated balloon that had been poked. “I heard that once you join the department, you have to perform on stage…”

She paused at just the right moment. She didn’t finish the sentence, but Lan Xi understood. To her surprise, the other girl’s expression seemed to show a sense of relief.

She replied, “So that’s how it is.”

Wen Yue was stunned. She hadn’t expected the other girl’s reaction to be so much calmer than she had imagined. Logically speaking, having been left hanging for a week without reason, she should have been annoyed. But the girl didn’t seem to care that much about why she hadn’t joined the department, but rather, she seemed quite concerned about the fact that she hadn’t replied to the message.

Perhaps because the level of exercise tonight hadn’t been too intense, Lan Xi didn’t have her hair pinned up this time. Her smooth strands cascaded over her shoulders, falling slowly as she tilted her head slightly.

Lan Xi raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with a playful, spoiled complaint. “Little Teacher Wen is someone I really favor. I waited all night after sending that message.” She said this in a way that sounded aggrieved and pitiful.

Wen Yue was at a loss. “Then what should I do?”

Seeing the fish bite the hook, Lan Xi couldn’t hide the smile on the corners of her lips. “I am very easy to coax.” She unlocked her phone, opened WeChat, and looked at her with a hint of suggestion. “I am willing to give little Teacher Wen a chance to remedy the situation.”

Wen Yue stared at the phone screen handed to her and pondered for a long time. The “sweat droplets” from the water bottle made her palms damp. She tucked the bottle into her small crossbody bag, wiped her hands on her T-shirt, and then, as if she had an epiphany, took out her phone and scanned Lan Xi’s QR code.

Having finally achieved her goal after so much trouble, Lan Xi couldn’t contain her good mood. She lowered her eyes, gazing intently and steadily at the person beside her who was operating the phone. After fiddling with it for a long time, Wen Yue looked up and flashed a very sweet smile at the person who had been waiting for so long. She returned the phone and said, “I hope I will have this opportunity again next time.”

Lan Xi’s eyebrows twitched, and she looked at her own phone screen with suspicion. A new message notification had appeared on it.

You have received ¥4 via personal payment code.

It was nearly ten o’clock by the time Wen Yue returned to the dorm. Wang Qianqian said she was going to pick up a package and still hadn’t returned, leaving only Dai Tong, who was wearing headphones and listening to music. Hearing the sound of the door opening, Dai Tong took off her headphones and greeted her. “Why so late today?”

“Encountered a special situation.”

After hanging up her bag in its original spot, Wen Yue was just about to pull out her chair to sit down when her attention was drawn to something that had appeared on her desk on its own.

“What a cute little cake,” she turned to ask Dai Tong, “who gave this to me?”

The girl walked over, leaning against the ladder of her bed with her arms crossed. “Yao Xin bought it.”

Wen Yue understood. She suddenly thought of what had happened earlier and couldn’t help but smile. “You two went out to play again.”

Dai Tong got a headache just talking about it. “Jiang Yun kept nagging me about it for days, so when we went out, I just bought that ancestor a cake as an apology.”

“Then why is there a share for me?”

Dai Tong smiled without saying a word, and like a magician, pulled a large bag of potato chips from behind her back. “Of course, it’s because our Ah Yue is kindhearted and accompanied Jiang Yun to her interview.” Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been as simple as just getting nagged by that woman.

After the two finished chatting, Dai Tong went back to her own business. Wen Yue had had a full day of classes, followed by a strenuous session on the sports field that evening, and she was truly exhausted. After sending a thank-you message to Yao Xin, she slowly finished the small cake and quickly took a shower before heading to bed.

The feeling of lying down was truly cozy. Wen Yue stared at the top of her bed curtains and gradually began to drift off to sleep.

Ding-dong.

The sound of an incoming message alert rang out. Wen Yue’s body jolted, her foggy brain becoming much clearer. She fished out the phone tucked under her waist. It was a message from Wang Qianqian. It was a screenshot of a “Moments” post. The name in the caption was very familiar.

“Lan Xi…” Wen Yue squinted, muttering the name in her daze.

She was now completely awake. She couldn’t help but widen her eyes and begin to read the content of the screenshot carefully.

[I don’t want to drink water.]

Seeing this, Wen Yue paused, suddenly realizing. So Lan Xi didn’t like drinking water? No wonder that person’s expression had looked so strange after she transferred the money.

However, thinking about it now, her actions at that time had indeed been improper. She had let a beautiful older girl wait for such a long time, and all she had done to apologize was buy her a bottle of water, which was truly stingy and petty.

After reflecting on this, Wen Yue turned over, hugged the dinosaur plush toy beside her, and made a secret decision. The next time she saw Lan Xi, she would have to carefully prepare a proper apology gift.

But she didn’t expect that such an opportunity would come so soon. On Monday afternoon, the class representative sent out a sign-up draw in the class group for a lecture. Wen Yue had bad luck and was unfortunately selected. It was a theme related to innovation and entrepreneurship. The speaker was dressed in a suit, had his hair combed back, and looked every bit the successful person.

Unfortunately, the content was really lackluster, and it left Wen Yue feeling dizzy and bloated from listening. She let out a yawn, and out of boredom, plugged in her headphones to listen to music.

Just then, her phone sounded with a message alert.

Wang Qianqian: [Ah Yue, my friend gave me another ticket to the orientation gala. Are you coming tonight?]

Wen Yue zoomed in to look at the photo the other girl had sent. The start time was 6:30, which clashed with her usual running time. Although she wanted to join in the fun, Wen Yue was someone with ADHD. If she were forced to sit in one place and watch a show, she would be suffocated.

So she declined: [I have to go for a run tonight.]

The person on the other end of the phone tried to persuade her again: [You can run every day, but handsome upperclassmen don’t sing every single day.]

“…” Why did this person always want her to watch others sing?

Wen Yue finally brought out her trump card: [Let me see your activity record.]

Very well, this tactic was extremely effective. After the person on the other end of the phone stayed on “typing…” for a few seconds, she began to play dead.

In reality, the person who had started this running habit was this Ms. Wang herself. She had claimed that she was getting fat and needed to exercise to lose weight, and had enthusiastically dragged Wen Yue along with her. But after maintaining her activity log in her “Moments” for a few days, she had predictably become a lazy cat. On the contrary, it was Wen Yue who had kept it up until now.

The weather was great in the evening, with little wind or clouds. After a refreshing five-kilometer run, Wen Yue sipped her water slowly and shook off the sweat dripping down her face. She stared at the road ahead, but her mind was preoccupied with what she should do when she got back to the dorm. She should take a good, long shower, then finish the homework the teacher had assigned in the morning. Hmm… finding a movie to watch might also be nice.

After finishing her lovely plans, she remembered that she had forgotten to stop the timer on the app. She pressed and held to end it, and just as she was about to shove the phone into her pocket, she received a video that Sun Hui had suddenly sent over.

Wen Yue was multitasking. While sipping water, she randomly tapped to open it. But after seeing the content clearly, her breath hitched.