After The Beautiful Woman Moves Into The Jock's Dorm Room - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: “An ex-boyfriend doesn’t need to stay in the dorm and be a nuisance…”

On the day school started, the weather warmed up, and the snow from the previous period had mostly melted. Shen Qingyu returned to school with two suitcases.

Wenda University had changed quite a bit since last semester. Not only had the main road been repaved, but even the dining hall Shen Qingyu frequented had been renovated. The entire hall looked brighter, all the tables and chairs had been replaced, and there were even many new food stalls that hadn’t been there before.

After having lunch in the dining hall, Shen Qingyu went back to the dorm to organize his things.

When he arrived at the dorm, no one was there. He was surprised that after just eating a meal, Song Yu had already arrived. It had been so long since he’d seen him in the dorm that Shen Qingyu felt a bit dazed.

Song Yu was standing with his back to the door, quietly and meticulously tidying his bed. After making the bed, he picked up a broom and began sweeping the floor. When he looked up, he saw Shen Qingyu kneeling on his bed struggling with the bedsheet. His movements looked clumsy, and the sheet was wrinkled and bunched up, impossible to flatten.

Song Yu put down the broom and walked to his bed, his voice calm: “Do you need help?”

Shen Qingyu hesitated for a moment. “Could you hold the sheet for me?”

Song Yu nodded. His slender fingers pinched the two corners of the sheet. They both shook it hard at the same time, and the wrinkles instantly smoothed out. Shen Qingyu quickly tucked in the edges and softly said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Song Yu looked at him. “Should I help you with the duvet cover too?”

“Yes!” This time, Shen Qingyu agreed quickly.

The two coordinated to put on the duvet cover, the atmosphere extremely harmonious. Shen Qingyu remembered the snacks he brought in his bag, so he leaned over the railing of his bed and said to Song Yu below: “There’s a bag of jelly on my desk. Could you grab it for me?”

Song Yu handed it to him. Shen Qingyu took it, quickly pulled out a few individual packages from the large bag, and tucked them back into Song Yu’s hand: “Here, consider it a thank you gift.”

Without waiting for Song Yu to respond, he tore open one package and sucked the jelly into his mouth. The cold, sweet, and smooth sensation melted on his tongue, and he satisfiedly narrowed his eyes. Song Yu’s gaze unconsciously fell on his lips, which were glossy from the jelly juice, lost in thought.

“Squeak—”

The dorm door was pushed open, breaking the quiet in the room.

Cheng Che stood at the doorway, immediately seeing the oblivious atmosphere between them.

Shen Qingyu was lying on the bed, his lips wet. Song Yu stood below the bed, looking up at him. There was a faint smile on Shen Qingyu’s face, suggesting that he and Song Yu had been chatting happily just before Cheng Che arrived.

After some time apart, Cheng Che thought Shen Qingyu seemed a little thinner, but his complexion was good. He tried hard to suppress the surging, burning gaze in his heart, but the perceptive Shen Qingyu still noticed it.

Shen Qingyu swallowed the jelly in his mouth, casually tossing the wrapper into the small storage basket hanging by the bed. He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath them, neither looking at anything in particular nor thinking about anything specific. Although they had only been separated for less than a month and had no contact, Cheng Che felt that his feelings had not only failed to cool but had become even more intense and bitter during their time apart.

“Give me the trash, I’ll take it out for you,” Song Yu said, seemingly unaware of the rapidly cooling air, breaking the silence. His voice was very soft and light, but it sounded jarring to Cheng Che.

In the past, how could Song Yu possibly have had the chance to show such attention? Cheng Che’s lips curved into a bitter smile. It truly was a changing of the guard, ridiculous and pathetic.

Shen Qingyu shook his head, got out of bed to throw the trash himself, and then continued organizing his belongings. He kept his back to the two of them, as if avoiding them or unwilling to face the situation, silently folding his clothes neatly and putting them into the closet.

Lu Xiao was the last to return, carrying two bags of barbecue skewers, which he naturally placed on Shen Qingyu’s desk: “I bought these for you. Eat them while they’re hot.”

Shen Qingyu glanced at the steaming barbecue. Although he wasn’t hungry, he was polite enough to eat one skewer.

“How is it? Good, right? I waited in line for an hour,” Lu Xiao said with a hint of pride.

“It’s very tasty,” Shen Qingyu said sincerely.

Hearing this, Lu Xiao’s eyes darted around, and he pressed his luck, saying: “Since it’s so good, promise me one thing.”

Shen Qingyu narrowed his eyes, looking at him warily: “Tell me what it is first.”

“It’s definitely nothing difficult. Just promise first,” he said mysteriously.

“No, you can take the skewers back. I won’t eat them.”

Lu Xiao pouted, looking a little frustrated: “Come on, don’t be so heartless. I just wanted to say that your birthday is coming up soon, and I want you to celebrate it with me.”

Shen Qingyu was slightly surprised. He had almost forgotten his own birthday was approaching. He lowered his eyelashes and was silent for a moment.

“I’m asking you so far in advance, surely you have time?” Lu Xiao was very confident that he was definitely the first one to invite Shen Qingyu. “Well, are you going to say yes?” As he spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at Cheng Che and Song Yu, noticing that their gazes were vaguely fixed on Shen Qingyu, confirming his suspicion.

“I don’t have time,” Shen Qingyu lied. Of course, he hadn’t made plans with anyone, but he was also very clear that he couldn’t agree to any of these three.

“I want to spend that birthday with Yang Yu, and I’m going to my aunt’s house in the evening,” he paused, then continued: “So I don’t have time to go out with you. Sorry.”

Lu Xiao looked like a disappointed puppy, saying dejectedly: “Spending it with Yang Yu doesn’t mean you can’t bring me along.”

Shen Qingyu shook his head decisively: “No.”

“Stingy,” Lu Xiao muttered, his hand still very mischievously rubbing Shen Qingyu’s head. “But you’ll accept the gift, right? I guarantee you’ll love the gift I got you.”

Shen Qingyu pursed his lips. “Don’t send me anything too expensive.”

“How much is considered expensive?” Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow. In his world, price was rarely a factor that needed consideration.

Shen Qingyu was momentarily tongue-tied, finally drawing a rough line: “…Over one thousand yuan is considered expensive.”

Lu Xiao let out a very soft “Tsk” sound and didn’t respond.

“You’ve already bought it?” Shen Qingyu’s heart skipped a beat at his reaction.

Lu Xiao vaguely hummed in confirmation. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t think it’s expensive, that’s what matters.”

Shen Qingyu: “…” He felt a wave of helplessness.

Lu Xiao sat down smugly. When his eyes met Cheng Che’s, he rolled his eyes fiercely. Cheng Che returned the eye roll, not to be outdone. Lu Xiao then scoffed. His voice was neither loud nor quiet, but full of mockery:

“An ex-boyfriend doesn’t need to stay in the dorm and be a nuisance, does he?”

Cheng Che’s face instantly went pale. His hands were clenched into fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, looking slightly intimidating.

“Lu Xiao,” Cheng Che’s voice was practically squeezed out through gritted teeth, low and dangerous. “Say that again?”

“What, are you hard of hearing at such a young age?” Lu Xiao met his gaze without fear, even deliberately raising his voice, with a winner’s boast and provocation. “I said—ex-boyfriend! Since you’ve broken up, you should have some self-awareness. Stop lingering around. You’re annoying.”

He made sure to emphasize the words “ex-boyfriend,” intending to infuriate Cheng Che.

The air instantly became thick with tension, as if a single spark could cause an explosion.

It proved that he succeeded in making Cheng Che miserable, but Shen Qingyu’s folding motion completely stopped. His back was to the two of them, his shoulders imperceptibly tightening.

“Heh.”

A very soft, cold laugh sounded.

Song Yu rarely participated in their petty infighting. He felt that Lu Xiao was genuinely simple-minded and muscular, otherwise he wouldn’t say such things in this situation, which would only upset Shen Qingyu. The thought that his so-called competitor was this kind of person made Song Yu both excited and disdainful.

Excited because it meant his opponent essentially didn’t exist.

Disdainful because… such a person was simply not worthy of competing with him.

He masked his emotions and calmly met Lu Xiao’s gaze.

“What are you laughing at?” Lu Xiao asked testily.

Song Yu merely shook his head slightly, putting down the book in his hand: “This is the dorm room. If you want to argue, take it outside.”

Shen Qingyu immediately chimed in: “Yeah, take it outside if you want to argue.” He muttered softly, tossing the clothes in his hand into the closet, and his thigh accidentally knocked the stool as he got up, creating a jarring “screech” sound as it scraped the floor.

Song Yu subtly nodded, a calculating look flashing in his eyes, but perfectly concealed by his glasses.

…

The courses for the second semester of the second year were still busy, but Shen Qingyu had long adapted to this state. However, he suddenly realized no one was accompanying him for breakfast in the morning anymore, and he felt a little lonely. But the next day, when he woke up, there were several piping hot soup dumplings and a cup of soy milk placed on his desk.

Shen Qingyu was slightly stunned. His gaze swept across the other three people, unsure who was responsible for this gesture.

Lu Xiao rarely woke up this early, so Shen Qingyu couldn’t help but suspect he got up early with an agenda. Song Yu was always disciplined, and it seemed plausible that he might buy him breakfast after his morning run, especially since he had bought him breakfast last semester when he was still dating Cheng Che. As for Cheng Che… needless to say, they ate breakfast together every day before class when they were dating, but this time, the breakfast didn’t look like it was from their usual spot, leaving Shen Qingyu thoroughly confused.

Who could it be?

He tentatively reached out. As his hand touched the warm soup dumplings, he noticed that all three of them were looking at him simultaneously.

Shen Qingyu: “…” Who is it?!

“Who… who put this on my desk?” Shen Qingyu asked quietly, observing the expressions of the other three.

None of them spoke, as if they had agreed in advance to see if Shen Qingyu could guess the right answer.

Suppressing the strange feeling, Shen Qingyu relied on his intuition and looked at Song Yu: “Was it you?”

In the few seconds he took to think, Shen Qingyu quickly reasoned it out. Lu Xiao wasn’t the secretive type; if he had woken up early to buy it, he would definitely want Shen Qingyu to know he bought it, just like with the barbecue skewers yesterday.

As for Cheng Che… Shen Qingyu knew him. Given their current awkward status, even if he wanted to do something for him, he would fear Shen Qingyu’s displeasure, so he probably wouldn’t do this.

The corner of Song Yu’s mouth curved into a faint smile. He nodded: “Yes, it’s fresh pork bao from a new breakfast shop in the dining hall. It tastes quite good.”

Shen Qingyu immediately relaxed. Relieved, he picked up a soup dumpling and took a bite. The skin was thin, the filling generous, and the juice burst out with a single bite. Shen Qingyu quickly caught it to prevent it from spilling. The flavor was perfect, just the way he liked it.

He narrowed his eyes and praised: “Delicious!”

After breakfast, on the way to class, Shen Qingyu couldn’t help but feel grateful that he had guessed correctly. Otherwise, he dreaded to think what kind of storm a wrong guess might have unleashed.