After The Beautiful Woman Moves Into The Jock's Dorm Room - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: “If It’s You, Of Course I Have Time.”…

During the final exam review week, Lu Xiao finally picked up a pen and started studying.

Shen Qingyu seriously doubted if this kind of last-minute cramming would actually be useful.

To Shen Qingyu’s surprise, Lu Xiao actually managed to pass by the skin of his teeth.

On the way home after the exams and packing, Shen Qingyu felt a little lonely. He had become accustomed to the lively dorm, where someone would respond whenever he spoke. It was hard not to feel lonely in the quiet of his own home.

For the first two days of the holiday, Shen Qingyu lived in a haze, too lazy to cook. He ordered takeout after waking up, eating twice a day, and occasionally strolling downstairs.

He even started considering finding a summer job.

That evening, Shen Qingyu was lying on the sofa watching a horror movie, the projector casting the eerie images magnified several times onto the wall.

But Shen Qingyu wasn’t scared; he had never believed in ghosts.

Thinking of the dorm group chat, which had been silent for several days, Shen Qingyu tapped out a message asking what they were all doing.

Cheng Che was the first to reply, sending a group photo of him and his family having dinner out. Shen Qingyu could feel the harmonious and warm atmosphere of their family through the screen.

Having grown up in a loving environment, gentleness and sunniness were Cheng Che’s core nature.

Shen Qingyu zoomed in on the photo. Cheng Che had both arms draped over his parents’ shoulders, the whole family looking joyful.

It was clear his features resembled his mother’s more, especially when he smiled. And his parents looked like the kind of friendly, easy-going elders.

This involuntarily made Shen Qingyu think of his deceased family.

Teary-eyed, Shen Qingyu replied to Cheng Che with an emoji.

Soon after, Song Yu also sent a picture. Shen Qingyu was a little surprised, as he had assumed Song Yu wouldn’t bother to reply.

It was a photo of frozen dumplings.

The sadness that had just welled up in Shen Qingyu was smoothed out by this picture.

Why does Song Yu seem even more miserable than me? At least he ordered a very lavish dinner, while Song Yu was only eating frozen dumplings?

Truly two “lone wolves.”

Shen Qingyu messaged him privately, sending him a comforting note.

The two chatted briefly. Shen Qingyu was about to ask him if he wanted to meet for a meal tomorrow when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Who could be looking for me at this hour?

Shen Qingyu instinctively paused the movie and shuffled over in his slippers.

He stared for a few seconds when he saw a familiar figure through the peephole. His eyes welled up, and after blinking hard to confirm it wasn’t his imagination, he slowly opened the door.

“You…” Shen Qingyu looked at him with a complex expression.

Lu Xiao was holding two bags of snacks and had an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. The moment the door opened, he awkwardly removed the cigarette and hid it in his palm.

“What took you so long to open the door?” Lu Xiao craned his neck, noticed the dark interior of the room, frowned, and said, “Did you have someone hiding in here?”

Shen Qingyu: “…”

“Why are you here?”

Lu Xiao said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Didn’t you miss me?”

Shen Qingyu: “?” Did Shen Qingyu himself even know about this?

“How do I not know that I missed you?” Shen Qingyu helplessly invited him in and found him a pair of slippers.

“Stop pretending,” Lu Xiao grinned teasingly. “You asked in the group chat what I was doing, isn’t that the same as saying you missed me in the group chat?”

It can be interpreted that way?

Shen Qingyu rolled his eyes. “I clearly asked ‘What are you guys doing,’ not ‘What are you doing.'”

Lu Xiao’s excuse was completely baseless. He coughed a few times. “Is that so? Then maybe I misread it.”

“So you came all the way here just because of that?” Shen Qingyu found it incredible.

“Yeah, you’re bored staying alone anyway.”

Though shocked, Shen Qingyu didn’t find this absurd coming from Lu Xiao.

“Why don’t you turn on the light at home?” Lu Xiao looked around, satisfied only when he confirmed there were no other men in the house. He plopped down on the sofa and patted the spot next to him. “Come sit.”

“I was watching a movie,” Shen Qingyu pointed at the projector screen opposite.

Lu Xiao suddenly had a bad premonition. “What movie?”

“A ghost movie,” Shen Qingyu said flatly.

Lu Xiao fell silent.

Shen Qingyu sat cross-legged on the sofa, hugging a cushion.

The movie resumed, and Shen Qingyu watched intently. This was his second time watching it, so he wasn’t scared at all.

Eerie wails occasionally echoed in the pitch-dark living room. Lu Xiao’s Adam’s apple bobbed several times. He dared not look at the screen but was afraid of being mocked by Shen Qingyu if he found out, so he could only sneak glances at Shen Qingyu with his peripheral vision.

He never thought the normally delicate Shen Qingyu would be so brave, watching a horror movie alone in the dark!

Shen Qingyu’s image in Lu Xiao’s mind instantly grew taller.

Lu Xiao had carelessly set the snacks he bought on the floor. Shen Qingyu bent down to feel for them, accidentally bumping Lu Xiao’s thigh.

“!!!” Lu Xiao shuddered all over, nearly jumping up from the sofa. “What are you doing!”

His voice broke several times at the end, and the shaky pitch made Shen Qingyu find it a little amusing.

“I’m getting something to eat. Why are you reacting so strongly?” Shen Qingyu ripped open a bag of chips. “Want some?”

Vivid, thick blood mysteriously oozed from a rotting corpse. Lu Xiao’s stomach churned just from a quick glance.

“I don’t want any,” his voice was somewhat weak.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Shen Qingyu was eating chips, making a loud crunching sound. Combined with the movie playing, it gave Lu Xiao the chilling feeling that a cannibal was right beside him.

“W-What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re acting strange.”

Lu Xiao fell silent again.

The movie reached its climax, and Lu Xiao’s entire heart was suspended in mid-air.

Shen Qingyu tilted his head to look at him, vaguely noticing that his body seemed to be shaking.

“?”

A thought flashed through Shen Qingyu’s mind.

Wait a minute!

Could Lu Xiao be afraid of ghosts?

Shen Qingyu quietly turned up the volume of the movie a bit.

Sure enough, amidst the waves of screams, Lu Xiao’s body shook even more violently.

Shen Qingyu even noticed his upper body tilting towards him.

He smirked inwardly. He never thought Lu Xiao, an almost six-foot-three “hunk,” would be so scared by a horror movie that he was shrinking next to him.

The more Shen Qingyu thought about it, the harder it was to hold back his laughter. Finally, after Lu Xiao’s arm pressed tightly against his side, he burst into sharp laughter.

Lu Xiao was startled by the laughter. His arm immediately wrapped around Shen Qingyu, his body trembling. “What are you laughing at!”

Shen Qingyu pressed the pause button and turned on the lights. “Are you scared?”

Lu Xiao sneered dismissively. “Me, scared? That’s hilarious.”

“Not really scared?” Shen Qingyu smiled with ill intent. “Then I’ll turn off the light and continue watching.”

Lu Xiao’s hand blocked him. “Wait!”

“?”

“Don’t watch it.”

“Why? Aren’t you not scared?”

“This one isn’t good.”

Shen Qingyu nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Well, alright then…”

Lu Xiao thought he was listening, and his tense upper body was about to relax, when he heard Shen Qingyu continue, “Then let’s switch to another one. I’ve seen one that’s even scarier!”

Lu Xiao felt like he was about to have a heart attack!

“That’s enough!” Lu Xiao yelled in exasperated frustration.

This low roar made Shen Qingyu find him even more amusing.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingyu widened his innocent eyes, staring straight at him.

Under the gaze of those eyes, Lu Xiao was speechless. He turned his head away awkwardly, his ears flushed, and then whispered, “I’m not scared. I just think the movie’s sound effects are too loud. It startled me. Just turn the volume down a bit…”

“Ooooh~” Shen Qingyu’s eyes were full of playful teasing.

Lu Xiao waited and waited, but Shen Qingyu didn’t turn off the light or continue the movie.

He saw Shen Qingyu close the unfinished horror movie and switch to a stand-up comedy variety show.

“Let’s not watch it. Let’s watch something funny instead,” Shen Qingyu said.

Lu Xiao felt his heart being hit by something, becoming soft.

He thought, Shen Qingyu is so good to me.

With Lu Xiao there, Shen Qingyu felt much livelier.

Only…

Shen Qingyu glanced at the time and said, “It’s ten o’clock. Aren’t you leaving?”

“What’s the rush? Are you going to sleep?”

“Is whether I’m sleeping the main point?” Shen Qingyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “The main point is that it’s ten o’clock.”

Lu Xiao turned to him, heavily pressing his hand on his head, his tone dangerous. “What, use me and then run?”

Shen Qingyu: “?” Where did that come from!

“I mean, it’s ten o’clock. If you don’t go home, won’t your family worry?” Shen Qingyu patiently explained.

Lu Xiao’s expression flashed with a touch of unnaturalness. “Who would worry?”

“Your dad,” Shen Qingyu said, remembering the house conflict he overheard at the hospital.

Lu Xiao snorted coldly. “He won’t worry about me. He gets home later than I do.”

“…Alright.”

“But you,” the corner of Lu Xiao’s mouth curved into a faint arc, “care about me.”

“Yes, yes, yes. That’s right.”

“I’m leaving now. Don’t you go crying alone.”

Shen Qingyu was startled and retorted, “When did I cry…”

Lu Xiao just smiled without answering.

Shen Qingyu felt his cheeks heating up. He lightly touched his face, then quickly urged Lu Xiao to go home.

It wasn’t until the door closed and the entire living room returned to silence that Shen Qingyu tilted his head back, biting his lip.

Shen Qingyu thought, so he saw it when he came in.

…

Shen Qingyu’s Summer Jobs

Shen Qingyu found two summer jobs.

The first was teaching English to primary school students on weekends. He initially hadn’t considered tutoring, mainly because he found dealing with young children challenging. However, the parent was a colleague of Shen Qingyu’s aunt. Hearing that her nephew was studying English at Wenda University, the colleague praised him highly. His aunt couldn’t refuse and asked Shen Qingyu if he was willing.

Since his aunt asked, Shen Qingyu couldn’t easily refuse, so he agreed.

Fortunately, the child was relatively well-behaved and polite, which relieved Shen Qingyu of a lot of stress.

The second job was at a clothing store in a shopping mall.

Initially, Shen Qingyu just planned to try when he saw the job posting. To his surprise, he passed two rounds of interviews. He later looked it up online and found that the store loved to hire good-looking college students. He worked three days a week, a maximum of five hours a day, at twenty yuan an hour. Aside from not being able to look at his phone during work and having to stand constantly, it wasn’t particularly difficult. Plus, he could buy clothes at the employee discount.

Shen Qingyu wasn’t very interested in the discount, as the store’s clothes were a bit too trendy and not his style.

Life working at the clothing store was quite monotonous, but Shen Qingyu met a new friend there.

Xu Niansheng was Shen Qingyu’s meal buddy, a freshman at the Academy of Music next door to Wenda University.

The two hit it off immediately.

Xu Niansheng was an absolute social butterfly; after just a few days of working at the clothing store, he was chatting with the cleaning lady.

Their shifts were often similar, so they frequently ate lunch or dinner together. They got along well, and Shen Qingyu could eat a few extra bites just listening to Xu Niansheng’s gossip.

On this day, Xu Niansheng wasn’t working, and Shen Qingyu found the five hours particularly tough.

Close to Shen Qingyu’s knock-off time, he saw Jiang Yan push the door and walk in.

The clothing store wasn’t very crowded on a weekday. Shen Qingyu wanted to avoid talking to him, so his first reaction was to turn his back to him and pretend to organize clothes. He didn’t expect to be recognized right away.

Jiang Yan happily patted him on the back.

Shen Qingyu had no choice but to turn around and force a friendly smile. “What a coincidence.”

“Are you… working here?” Jiang Yan looked around, saw no one was paying attention, and lowered his voice. “Is it a good time to talk?”

Shen Qingyu thought, You’re already talking to me, so why are you asking if it’s a good time! Can I possibly say no?

Considering Jiang Yan was a customer, and the customer is god, he patiently said, “Yes, do you need me to recommend some styles for you?”

Jiang Yan froze, a little embarrassed. He scratched his neck and said, “I’m sorry, am I interrupting your work? I just came to browse, I didn’t expect to see you here. I will buy clothes later.”

Why does it sound like I’m forcing you to buy something before leaving?

“That’s not what I meant,” Shen Qingyu explained. He wasn’t the type of unreasonable person who would force a sale.

Besides, as a summer temp worker, he didn’t get a commission from sales.

Jiang Yan casually hung up the clothes Shen Qingyu had draped over his forearm and noticed a denim jacket behind him. “What do you think of this jacket? Does it suit me?”

Since he asked, Shen Qingyu had to seriously observe him. He nodded. “It’s nice.”

Jiang Yan was tall and refined. Honestly, the jacket should look good on him.

“Then I’ll see what pants go well with it.”

With Shen Qingyu’s emotionless compliments, Jiang Yan ended up buying all the pants and jackets he tried on.

When checking out, Jiang Yan purposely asked, “When do you get off work?”

Shen Qingyu became wary. He was all too familiar with this kind of overly attentive behavior and didn’t have the energy to deal with it right now.

“What’s up?”

“Can I ask you to eat dinner together after you get off work?” Jiang Yan carried a few bags, avoiding looking Shen Qingyu in the face.

“It might not be convenient. I have plans after work.”

Shen Qingyu knew he wasn’t good at lying and felt he must have given himself away. So, he decided to just stick to it and not bother explaining further.

Jiang Yan bit his lip in frustration. He could tell Shen Qingyu was avoiding him, which was normal since they had just met. He figured he had been too aggressive and scared him off.

“Alright then.”

Shen Qingyu immediately felt relieved.

“Then we’ll talk about it next time you’re free.”

Shen Qingyu felt the tension immediately return.

After finally seeing Jiang Yan off, Shen Qingyu felt exhausted.

Why is someone so persistent?

Shen Qingyu grumbled secretly.

He didn’t like Jiang Yan’s type of guy, so his advances felt like harassment to Shen Qingyu.

The thought that he had even added Jiang Yan’s contact information made Shen Qingyu regret it and gave him a headache.

…

Cheng Che found out Shen Qingyu was working at the clothing store in the second week of his employment.

Shen Qingyu hadn’t specifically told him, but during one of their chats, Shen Qingyu didn’t reply for a long time, so Cheng Che asked if he was too busy.

Upon learning he was working at a clothing store, Cheng Che came to pick him up from work that very day.

He hadn’t told Shen Qingyu, intending to surprise him.

He ended up arriving just as Jiang Yan came looking for Shen Qingyu.

“I really do have plans later,” Shen Qingyu couldn’t stand being pestered anymore. He even gave him a cold shoulder, but it didn’t deter Jiang Yan.

Shen Qingyu was generally soft-tempered. Aside from arguing with Zhao Zhiwei in the class group chat, he rarely had conflicts with others.

“You said you had plans last time, and you have plans again today,” Jiang Yan was getting annoyed. It was hard for anyone to smile after being rejected repeatedly.

Xu Niansheng, observing the atmosphere between the two, decisively rushed forward, pulled Shen Qingyu behind him, and said, “Sir, do you need something?”

Xu Niansheng wasn’t tall and had to look up to meet Jiang Yan’s eyes.

Jiang Yan glared at him irritably. “What does it have to do with you? I’m talking to him.”

His poor attitude made Shen Qingyu even angrier.

Jiang Yan thought Xu Niansheng was in the way and bypassed him, approaching Shen Qingyu step by step.

“Are you avoiding me?” Jiang Yan asked.

You know the answer, why ask? Shen Qingyu rolled his eyes internally. “I really do have plans.”

“Again with the plans, are you really that busy?” Jiang Yan pressed. “Unless you tell me what those plans are.”

Damn it! Even Shen Qingyu, with his good temper, couldn’t stand his tone, which was like interrogating a criminal.

His patience depleted, Shen Qingyu felt there was no need to speak nicely to him anymore.

“He’s going on a date with me. Do you have a problem with that?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Shen Qingyu paused, then quickly broke into a brilliant smile. “Cheng Che!”

Jiang Yan recognized the joy in Shen Qingyu’s voice instantly, which was completely different from the coldness he used with him.

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw the man who had left with Shen Qingyu at the school celebration gala that day.

Due to the lighting that day, he hadn’t clearly seen what the man looked like, but now he could.

The man had a sunny, handsome, and youthful face, yet his expression was extremely grim.

“Who… who are you…” Jiang Yan asked guiltily.

Seeing a familiar face improved Shen Qingyu’s mood, and he felt a sudden urge to deliberately provoke Jiang Yan. He took Cheng Che’s arm. “He’s my friend. I’m going out to eat with him later.”

Xu Niansheng, who was frozen, ready to call the store manager in case of a fight, stiffened.

Wait, Shen Qingyu, didn’t you say you were eating with me after work today? Who is this???

Xu Niansheng, being an art student from the Academy of Music, quickly picked up on the intimate atmosphere between Cheng Che and Shen Qingyu.

From a friend’s perspective, he thought this newly introduced guy was pretty good.

Tall and handsome, he looked like he provided a great sense of security.

So, Xu Niansheng hummed a little tune and retreated gracefully, leaving the battleground to them.

…

After work, Xu Niansheng slipped away alone, deliberately leaving the two to their private time.

Shen Qingyu and Cheng Che looked at each other.

“Is that your friend?” Cheng Che asked.

“Yes, a new friend. He’s a student from the Music Academy next door.”

Cheng Che hesitated. “Am I that scary?”

“?”

“Why did he run away when he saw me?”

“Should I ask him tomorrow?” Shen Qingyu chuckled.

Seeing him laugh cheered Cheng Che up a bit.

“Did you come specifically to find me?”

“What do you think?” Cheng Che joked intentionally. “Would you believe me if I said I came to buy clothes?”

Shen Qingyu noticed the fleeting smile in his eyes. “Maybe.”

“I came to find you, so…” He paused, drawing out the suspense. “Do you have time now?”

“Yes, if it’s you, of course I have time.”

Cheng Che froze.

This was probably the first time he had heard such a direct statement from Shen Qingyu.

Shen Qingyu was always reserved, so Cheng Che usually observed his expressions more closely. After all, a person can be silent or dishonest with words, but their micro-expressions won’t lie.

The two ate dinner upstairs in the mall.

“Why did you want to get a part-time job?” Cheng Che asked.

Shen Qingyu gently set down his chopsticks. Cheng Che immediately offered him a napkin. He wiped his mouth and said, “I was too bored staying at home, so I wanted to find something to do.”

Cheng Che had been enjoying his break, either playing basketball with friends or going out with family, so he found it hard to relate to Shen Qingyu’s “boredom.” But he knew where Shen Qingyu’s boredom came from.

Thinking of how Shen Qingyu had spent so many years in this “boredom” without family companionship, Cheng Che’s heart ached slightly.

“Do you want to come over to my place and hang out?” Cheng Che blurted out. “I have a game console and stuff.”

Shen Qingyu paused. He appreciated Cheng Che’s kindness, but he really didn’t like being a guest in other people’s homes. Even though he said he didn’t feel pitiful, he still felt lonely in the warm family environment of others.

“Maybe not,” Shen Qingyu quickly refused.

Cheng Che wasn’t disappointed. He knew Shen Qingyu wouldn’t agree immediately, but it didn’t matter; he had plenty of patience.