How I Accidentally Bent My Best Friend - Chapter 21

After Lu Wei finished her meal, Chen Yushu returned to the dorm to grab her books and headed to class with her roommate.

The afternoon schedule was even tighter. Once classes ended, they hastily ate dinner before rushing off to evening self-study.

On the first night, under the guidance of senior students, everyone took turns introducing themselves. Watching person after person step onto the stage, Chen Yushu felt that every face was unfamiliar.

Out of their uniforms, everyone looked entirely different. Moreover, during military training, Lu Wei had often come over to hang out with her. As a result, aside from her roommates and those standing near her in the formation, Chen Yushu hardly recognized anyone else.

However, while she didn’t know others, many people knew her.

The reason was simple her appearance was far too striking. With an intensely cold and aloof aura, she gave off the impression of a pristine, untouchable snow-capped mountain just by standing there. One glance was enough to make people feel intimidated and hesitant to approach.

As the number of people left to introduce themselves dwindled, Jiang Yuran beside her urged, “Go on. It’ll be even more awkward if you get called up later. Just get it over with in one breath.”

Chen Yushu clenched her fists under the table, took a deep breath, and stood up to walk toward the podium.

From that moment on, she developed a lifelong hatred for self-introductions!

As soon as she took her place, the room below stirred with murmurs.

Though she was incredibly nervous inside, her icy expression made her appear exceptionally calm. Chen Yushu picked up the microphone and recited her script expressionlessly, “Hello everyone, my name is Chen Yushu. I’m from Nanyang. My hobbies are, I hope we can look out for each other in the future. Thank you.”

“Woo ”

Applause immediately erupted from below. A few girls in the front row huddled together, whispering in admiration, “Oh my gosh, she’s so fair-skinned! She looks this stunning even without makeup absolutely unreal!”

Chen Yushu gave a slight bow and stepped down after her introduction.

By the time the whole class had finished their self-introductions, it was almost time for evening self-study to end.

The moment the bell rang, the entire building sprang to life.

Chen Yushu packed her things and followed the crowd out of the classroom.

Just as she reached the corridor, she heard someone calling her name from behind. She turned around, and a boy nearly bumped into her shoulder. She frowned almost imperceptibly.

“Are you Chen Yushu? Can I add you on WeChat? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

Chen Yushu recognized him as one of the senior students from earlier. She nodded and pulled up her QR code.

Lu Wei’s evening self-study was in the neighboring building. She had already messaged Chen Yushu earlier, asking her to wait. But when Lu Wei arrived downstairs and didn’t see her after a while, she decided to go up only to witness this scene.

The senior said, “Alright, thanks.”

Chen Yushu nodded and was about to put her phone away when a shadow suddenly fell over her.

“Who was that just now?”

Chen Yushu looked up to see Lu Wei leaning against the wall, her gaze fixed intently on her phone. She replied truthfully, “A senior. He said he had something to discuss with me.”

Lu Wei pressed further, “What did he say?”

Chen Yushu answered, “He hasn’t said anything yet. We just added each other on WeChat.”

Lu Wei pouted, “So that’s what you were doing just now adding him on WeChat.”

“You saw?” Chen Yushu looked at her in surprise.

Lu Wei hummed in acknowledgment. “Let’s go.”

By now, most people had left the teaching building. The two walked one behind the other, their footsteps echoing alternately in the hallway.

Puzzled, Chen Yushu watched her back and suddenly explained, “I saw your message. I was planning to wait for you, but then the senior stopped me, so I got held up for a bit.”

“Hmph, that’s more like it,” Lu Wei said. Yet, despite Chen Yushu’s explanation, she still felt a bit unsettled inside, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

Chen Yushu took a few quick strides to catch up and walked alongside her, asking, “What did you do during evening self-study today?”

“Just self-introductions,” Lu Wei replied lazily, her expression clearly showing she found it boring.

When they reached the entrance of Dormitory Building 7, Lu Wei didn’t stop and continued walking straight ahead. Chen Yushu turned her head in confusion, grabbing her hand, “Your dorm is here.”

Lu Wei spoke with a hint of impatience, “Can’t I walk you back?”

“It’s just a few steps.” Chen Yushu wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but the next moment, Lu Wei simply tugged her hand and kept going forward.

Chen Yushu followed, puzzled, “Alright, I’m here now. You should head back.” As she spoke, she tried to pull her hand away but felt resistance.

Lu Wei turned around, looking slightly awkward. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but after a moment, she seemed to change her mind. “Remember to call me for dinner tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Lu Wei let go of her but didn’t move.

Outside the dormitory building, several couples were cuddling and openly showing affection, making the two of them stand out awkwardly in the atmosphere.

The trees rustled loudly as the wind swept between them, carrying something away into the distance, leaving it unclear for a moment.

Back in her dorm room, the senior she had just added greeted her, asking if she had made it back.

Chen Yushu politely replied and asked if he needed anything.

[Tomorrow’s evening self-study will have class committee elections. I checked your college entrance exam scores they’re the highest among all the students in our major.]

[So, I wanted to ask if you’re interested in running for class academic monitor.]

Due to her excellent grades, Chen Yushu had almost always been the academic monitor in every class. Although she was used to the role, the thought of having to interact with all the teachers again made her a bit nervous.

After thinking for a moment, she was about to type a refusal when the senior sent another message.

[Serving as a class committee member can add points to your overall evaluation at the end of the semester, which is very helpful for awards, graduate school recommendations, scholarships, and more.]

Chen Yushu’s eyes lingered on the word “scholarship.” Before starting college, she had checked, Yun University’s national scholarship was 8,000 yuan per year. Add that to academic scholarships and special project scholarships.

Doing the math, Chen Yushu immediately became fixated on the money, her resolve visibly wavering. In less than two seconds, she deleted her previous message and replied with an “Okay.”

The senior continued enthusiastically listing the benefits of being a class committee member, such as better access to teachers, opportunities to participate in research projects, and winning competition awards.

Chen Yushu took the chance to ask, [How much are the competition prizes usually?]

[It depends on the competition’s prestige. Some are a few hundred yuan, others can be over ten thousand.]

Chen Yushu licked her lips, feeling a surge of excitement as if she had stumbled upon a secret to making money.

The senior: [Is there any difficulty at home? You can apply for financial aid later on. If needed, I’ll keep an eye out for you.]

Chen Yushu quickly replied: [No, I just want to earn some extra spending money.]

The senior immediately sent a crying-laughing emoji and started chatting with her. [I noticed your scores are quite high, you could have gotten into Tsinghua or Peking University. Did you not fill out your preferences properly or something?]

Chen Yushu bit her lip lightly, not really wanting to answer that question.

Perhaps sensing her displeasure, the other person immediately replied: 【Sorry, junior, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just feel like your score is a bit wasted here.】

Chen Yushu: 【It’s fine. I just really like the environment here.】

After sending the message, Chen Yushu stared at her phone, momentarily lost in thought. Her mind involuntarily drifted back to the night she received her college admission results.

She had been even more nervous then than when checking her exam scores.

Fortunately, the outcome was good.

She remembered how Lu Wei had hugged her shoulders, crying tears of joy upon seeing the results. She remembered the two of them running wildly through the alley, holding two identical admission letters.

The sweltering evening breeze fanned the flames in her heart, spreading like wildfire in an instant.

Like grass growing again with the spring wind, it could never, ever be extinguished.

But in this world, how many coincidences are truly coincidences? They are merely the result of careful planning.

Unfortunately, perhaps by the time she received those two admission letters, she had already exhausted all her luck. The distance between her and Lu Wei was destined to stop there.

【Alright, junior, feel free to ask me if you have any questions.】

Snapping back to reality, Chen Yushu replied with a thank you and exited WeChat. The next moment, a notification popped up in the QQ class group: the class committee elections would be held the following evening, conducted through self-nomination and democratic voting.

The dormitory residents began discussing it.

“I think Dawǎn would be perfect for the role of life committee member!”

As soon as Jiang Yuran spoke, she was hit square in the face by a pillow thrown by Ye Chiwan. “I already act like your nanny in the dorm are you trying to push me into a fire pit now?”

“Hahahaha, I’m just fully acknowledging your capabilities, Public Servant Ye!”

“Jiang Yuran, I really misjudged you! I used to think you were a harmless sweet girl, but you’re actually a wicked woman!”

Chen Yushu found herself drawn into their conversation and asked Xia Ke, who was on the opposite bunk, “What do you think?”

“If I run, probably no one would vote for me. I’d better not,” Xia Ke shook her head and sighed.

Ye Chiwan retorted, “How could no one vote for you? Are we all ghosts or something?”

Her remark made all three of them burst into laughter.

Gradually, they opened up and chatted until the lights went out.

Lying in bed, Chen Yushu couldn’t help but reflect. She had initially resisted the idea of living in a shared dormitory, yet in less than a month, she had miraculously integrated into it.

In that moment, she suddenly felt an infinite surge of courage and hope for the future.