After Becoming Roommates with an Obnoxious Wealthy Heiress - Chapter 27

It’s as if I’ve seen her somewhere.

Qin Shuyue froze for a moment, hurriedly hiding the hand she had used to wipe her sweat behind her back. She apologized to the young man, “No, I am truly sorry. It is just too hot in here, I…”

“Too hot? If you think it’s too hot, then don’t do the job.”

The boy muttered under his breath, snatching the plastic bag containing buns and soy milk from Sister Yu’s hand with indignation.

He gave a sharp roll of his eyes and turned to leave.

Inside the bag, it was unclear whether it was steam from the buns or the sweat wiped from the back of Qin Shuyue’s hand—or perhaps both. At the thought of such a possibility, the boy felt an endless wave of disgust. As he walked past a trash can, he tossed the bag inside with a forceful throw.

“The hygiene is terrible. I’m never coming back here again.”

Seeing this, several students waiting in line behind him turned away one after another toward a different wrap shop.

The business plummeted visibly.

Sister Yu was so livid her face twisted. She walked ferociously to Qin Shuyue’s side, grabbed her by the ear, and roared, “Qin Shuyue! Can you do the damn job or not? If you can’t, then get the hell out!”

Qin Shuyue stood helplessly by the steamer. A sharp pain shot through her ear; she let out a soft cry, kept her head bowed low, and curled her body inward.

“Acting pitiful, acting pitiful… What on earth are you pretending for?! If you want to put on an act, go home and do it for your parents! Don’t embarrass yourself here! If we don’t meet the sales quota, both of us are finished!”

Sister Yu gave her ear a vicious twist before finally letting go.

The pain caused a momentary wave of dizziness for Qin Shuyue. A burning heat radiated from her ear, pulling at the base of her skull and extending to the back of her head.

She spoke in a soft, timid voice, attempting to explain, “No, it’s not that… It’s because I’m the only one busy in the kitchen, and I can’t keep up. The air conditioning isn’t working… I was so hot, that’s why…”

“Don’t give me excuses.” Sister Yu cut her off abruptly. She asked unpleasantly, “What? Are you blaming me for not doing anything, for not helping you?”

Qin Shuyue bit her lower lip hard. Lacking confidence but still lifting her head, a flash of stubbornness appeared in her eyes. “The cold air hasn’t worked since last year. I’ve raised this issue with you more than once, but you ignore it every time. Today, when I arrived at 5:48, you hadn’t even started steaming the buns.”

“Is all of this supposed to be my job? When we divided the labor, it was clearly agreed that I would be at the front register and you would be in the back. Not only did you take my spot, but today, with so many people, I was run off my feet. You saw it—why didn’t you come to help me for a moment…”

Slap. A crisp sound echoed as a palm struck Qin Shuyue’s face.

Qin Shuyue’s head was whipped to the side. She gasped for air, her entire body trembling—whether from anger or something else.

Sister Yu held her head high, shaking her hand which felt slightly numb from the strike. She looked down at her imperiously. “Do it or get out.”

Every time these words were spoken, Qin Shuyue had to surrender.

She couldn’t leave this place.

If she left, she wouldn’t be able to work for Sister Wu either, leaving only the restaurant owner’s side… That pittance of a salary simply wasn’t enough to pay for her mother’s medical treatments.

Therefore, every time—whether it was fair or unfair—she had to swallow it. No matter how bitter, she had to chew it up and force it down her throat.

She had to save her mother.

She had to work hard to earn money to save her mother.

The trembling, clenched hands leaning against the iron table slowly relaxed. Her emotions shifted from agitation to a slow, numbing calm.

She stood up stiffly and touched her reddened right cheek. Suddenly, a wave of moist heat welled up in her eyes. Sister Yu stood before her, arms crossed, staring at her with impatience.

She took a long, deep breath and held it tight, trying to force the warmth in her eyes back down.

Hot tears blurred her vision. She turned her head toward the ceiling; the tears escaped the corners of her eyes and rolled into her hair.

She hid the two drops of salt water she couldn’t hold back.

Then, she turned back, let out a long sigh, and slowly—stiffly—forced her lips into a smile.

“Sister Yu, I’ll do it.”

Hearing this, Sister Yu finally lowered her arms. She let out a cold snort. “That’s more like it.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the sweat on Qin Shuyue’s forehead and then at the air conditioner.

“We have to bear some of the electricity costs every month. If you think the A/C is useless, then turn it off. At least it saves some money.”

Her tone sounded like a suggestion, but her hand was already reaching for the remote on the cabinet under the register. With a beep, she pressed the power button.

The air conditioner sputtered its last breath of cool air and stopped rotating.

The already cramped and sweltering space was now completely devoid of air circulation.

Seeing Qin Shuyue’s ashen expression, Sister Yu sneered.

“Trying to fight me? You think you’re worthy?”

She continued, “Today’s losses will be deducted from your wages. Any objections?”

Qin Shuyue gritted her teeth and shook her head.

“Good.”

The commotion in the bun shop was not small, and some students eating in the cafeteria couldn’t help but notice.

Upon catching sight of the girl behind Sister Yu, one boy let out a confused sound.

The boy sitting across from him looked in that direction, but the drama had already settled, and everything had returned to peace.

He took a bite of his wrap. “What’s wrong?”

“Hiss… that girl looks a bit familiar… like I’ve seen her somewhere.”

“Seen her?” Hearing this, the other boy turned back to observe carefully for a good while.

“Wait… she actually does look a bit familiar.”

The boy sitting across took another look, then lowered his head to take a sip of soy milk.

“By the look of her, she must be a student, right?”

“Just a work-study student, earning some pocket money in her spare time!”

The boy drinking soy milk still felt she was very familiar; he just couldn’t remember where he had seen her.

“How strange. I clearly don’t know her, but it’s like I’ve seen her somewhere.”

The boy opposite him hummed in agreement. “I seem to have some impression of her too…”

It was already 7:50 AM when Qin Shuyue left the bun shop.

She pulled her canvas bag from under the counter, slung it over her shoulder, and immediately began running out of the cafeteria.

She had an 8:00 AM class today, though she had no classes in the afternoon.

She really didn’t know how the school arranged things—clearly, after this one class, she was free for the rest of the day, yet they insisted on scheduling it at such a sensitive time as 8:00 AM.

Qin Shuyue didn’t have a single moment to rest.

Hurrying as fast as she could, she finally pinched the time and arrived at the classroom.

Ring—

Accompanied by the school bell, Qin Shuyue stepped into the classroom.

Professor Han was already at the podium, arranging the materials for today’s lecture one by one on the desk.

He tapped the microphone, preparing to speak, just as Qin Shuyue dashed in from outside.

Professor Han paused with his mouth half-open, looking at her with some surprise.

The students sitting in the classroom covered their mouths, their eyes collectively snapping toward the panting Qin Shuyue at the door, their expressions and whispers filled with mockery and oddity.

Then, holding the microphone in one hand, Professor Han used his other hand to gesture toward a row of seats, saying warmly, “Student Qin, please come in.”

With Professor Han’s permission, she quickly ran to her usual seat and sat down.

As soon as she sat, a slip of paper fell out from her desk drawer.

Qin Shuyue initially intended to ignore it, but to her surprise, the more she pretended not to see, the more slips of paper fell out, nearly burying her feet.

These people…

What on earth were they doing!

In the past, when she ignored them, they would find it boring and stop pestering her.

Today, despite her silence, they seemed even more arrogant.

What did they want!

Suddenly, Qin Shuyue’s phone screen lit up.

It was a temporary message notification.

‘You sure know how to suck up. Didn’t expect you to act so cold and lofty on the surface, but be so slutty behind the scenes.’

Another one came.

‘Qin Shuyue, you are so shameless.’

‘Qin Shuyue, you’re so cheap.’

More and more messages bombarded Qin Shuyue like artillery shells. Because she rarely received messages, she hadn’t set her phone to silent.

Suddenly receiving so many messages, the dinging notification sounds were exceptionally clear in the quiet classroom.

One after another, they even interrupted Professor Han’s lecture multiple times.

After a brief moment of being stunned, Qin Shuyue immediately pulled out her phone and set it to silent.

Her eyes accidentally grazed the first message on the screen.

‘200 for a night, you selling?’

Upon seeing that sentence, Qin Shuyue’s fingers trembled violently.

What did that mean?

Who was this person?

Why would they say such things to her?

Without thinking, she immediately clicked into the chat.

To her horror, a long string of people who weren’t even on her contact list were launching temporary chats at her.

Bombarding her phone.

The language was filthy and disgusting.

What were they talking about?

What exactly had happened?

Her gaze shifted, catching a message amidst the screen full of obscenities. Someone had sent her a video clip.

Qin Shuyue’s finger twitched; she had a very bad premonition.

She clicked the video. In the footage, Qin Shuyue was disheveled, crouching in front of door 601. Not long after, Gao Yin appeared and dragged her into his dormitory. With the video sped up to 5x and edited, it quickly jumped to the next morning.

Qin Shuyue knocked on the door of 601, bowing and apologizing to the servant inside. Even after being coldly rejected and having the door slammed in her face, she remained persistent and refused to leave.

The recording stopped there.

It didn’t record where Qin Shuyue went after she left, but it was enough to make people’s imaginations run wild.

Qin Shuyue’s eyes widened in disbelief.

How could they have this video!

Qin Shuyue bolted upright from her seat and immediately rushed out of the room.

She couldn’t care less about the rest of the lecture.

She had to find Zhu Lingyi and ask her what was going on!

A commotion broke out in the classroom. Professor Han looked up at Qin Shuyue’s retreating back. He curled his long fingers and tapped the podium twice, neither too hard nor too soft.

“Quiet.”

Qin Shuyue ran down the road, the wind whistling past her ears. There weren’t many people in the corridors or on the school paths as she sprinted back toward Heqing Villa.

She rushed like a gust of wind past two boys walking leisurely toward her.

Those two boys were the same ones from the cafeteria who had been eating wraps and drinking soy milk.

Suddenly, the “wrap guy” let out an “Ah!”

“I remember who she is now!”

The person beside him gave him a confused look.

The wrap guy pulled out his phone, went to the school forum, and clicked on the video currently ranked number one in popularity.

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