Chapter 240: Pure Trash, Just Slap Yourself

At the same time, in the North District girls' dormitory.

Chen Yunyun hesitated over the clothes in her storage box, unsure what to wear tomorrow. After all, clothes make the man—and she was going off-campus.

"Bath time." Wang Yuhe leaned in from the balcony, urging.

"Oh, okay, coming."

Chen Yunyun picked up her underwear and pajamas and headed for the bathroom; the dorm lights had already been scheduled to turn off. Dorm inspections weren't frequent—just once or twice a week.

After a rustling sound, water began to run in the bathroom.

Wang Yuhe had already tied all her hair back with a hair clip, to keep it dry during the bath. This was one of many small gadgets Chen Yunyun had given her—convenient and practical.

With the dim glow of a flashlight, the girls washed themselves in the cramped bathroom using buckets.

Chen Yunyun's mind was blank, still pondering what to wear tomorrow. As she washed, water accidentally splashed onto Wang Yuhe beside her; she looked up, dazed.

Under Wang Yuhe's stunned gaze, Chen Yunyun, as if soulless, wiped her chest with a towel.

Something's off.

"Yunyun, what's wrong? You're distracted."

"Huh?" Chen Yunyun snapped back, blinking. They were too familiar to apologize, "Oh, sorry, I just spaced out."

"I know—you're hungry." Wang Yuhe thought for a moment, certain, "You barely ate anything this afternoon, just a few bites."

"I just don't have much appetite," Chen Yunyun brushed it off.

Sure enough, Wang Yuhe was just a simple-minded little student.

"Oh, okay, let me tell you something."

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun paused mid-bath, her expression slightly surprised.

"What is it?"

"Let me tell you something"—this opening was usually the starter phrase for girls' gossip, followed almost always by someone's name.

She never imagined one day this phrase would come from Wang Yuhe's mouth.

Had she grown up?

"During fourth-period evening self-study, I saw Chai Muying sewing the curtains," Wang Yuhe whispered, then giggled at her own words.

Chen Yunyun: "?"

Chai Muying shared their dorm—always spaced out. Last month, she forgot to bring her quilt home for National Day, and her father had to have a fellow villager deliver it.

After bathing and washing clothes.

Chen Yunyun sat cross-legged on the top bunk, once again agonizing over what to wear tomorrow. While hesitating, she turned to look at Wang Yuhe, who was just about to hang up her clothes.

Both girls wore pajamas; a soft hook had been nailed to the wall above the top bunk for hanging clothes. She casually hung two items—no different from her usual school attire.

Fine, she'd keep agonizing.

On the other side of the girls' dormitory.

Yu Zhiyi had just finished bathing and opened her phone to a flood of messages.

The psychological committee member couldn't refuse classmates' consultations—not on her first day. Giving up now would be too premature; she'd at least have to last a few days.

So she mustered her energy and read each message one by one.

Sun Zhicheng: "Psychological committee member, is my hair really that ugly? (crying)"

She thought for a moment, then replied.

"Yes."

Sun Zhicheng replied instantly: "I feel so bad! (crying!!)"

Yu Zhiyi: "(Congratulations on your wealth) Don't feel bad—go get a haircut."

Three seconds later, Sun Zhicheng replied again.

"Why is it only one yuan?"

Yu Zhiyi leaned back against her pillow, saw his message, and rolled her eyes.

She thought: What a loser—do you really expect me to pay for your haircut?

But she couldn't say that—she was the gentle psychological committee member, so she typed:

"Even my family doesn't have extra grain. The sentiment is what matters."

Sun Zhicheng replied: "What if it still looks bad after the haircut?"

Yu Zhiyi frowned, thinking: Sometimes the problem lies within yourself.

"Classmate, don't let pressure weigh on your heart. We must stay positive and optimistic. Here's a suggestion: take a leave of absence."

Sun Zhicheng: "Huh?"

Yu: "Here's how it works—I checked on UC. Hair grows back in two months. Tomorrow, submit your application, I'll approve it—take two months off, then come back."

She exited the chat and saw Lin Dong's message. That jerk had been deleted by her, but for some reason, she'd had to add him back.

Let's be clear—Lin Dong was a complete idiot.

Lin Dong: "Psychological committee member, I feel bad inside."

She replied: "Pure trash. Slap yourself."

Lin Dong: "Feels worse now."

She: "Jump off a building."

After replying, Yu Zhiyi thought the people in Lin Dong's group were clearly mentally unwell. Compared to them, messages from other classmates were perfectly normal.

After replying to everyone, it was nearly midnight.

She swiped down from top to bottom, completely ignoring Li Hua's message.

That guy was abstract too, but his messages could be safely ignored—replying would be a waste of life.

She looked and looked, but something felt missing.

Yu Zhiyi tapped into the class group chat and scrolled through the member list for a while.

Only then did she realize she didn't have Jiang Nian as a friend at all—to be precise, he had never added her.

No wonder everything felt so smooth tonight, her replies so effortless—it turned out the heaven-defying one wasn't around.

Should she add him?

Of course not. Adding him would be pure self-degradation.

The next day.

Jiang Nian got up very early. Although he slept late, he never lingered in bed.

Generally speaking, sleeping a few extra minutes only made him more drowsy, so he was used to catching up on sleep in the classroom.

Three benefits: he got breakfast on time, nourishing his body; he caught up on sleep, healing his spirit; he out-competed his classmates, gaining happiness. Jiang Nian's success today! All thanks to exceptional talent and hard work.

He washed up while checking messages on his QQ alt account.

Zhou Yuting and Yu Tongjie had both given different responses, though the two of them had rambled on about a bunch of nonsense.

Probably panicked, a little rattled.

Jiang Nian wasn't in a hurry. Catching a big fish required playing it out.

Being too eager would easily desensitize them. If it really escalated to the reporting stage, for Jiang Nian, it wouldn't exactly be unprofitable, but at the very least it would be more effort than it was worth.

He planned to reply in the evening, let them stew a while.

After washing up, he headed out.

The classroom lights were on in the morning; looking around, there were only a scattered few people.

"Morning." Huang Fang looked up and greeted him.

Eat from someone's mouth and you're short-tongued; take from someone's hand and your hand goes soft. Having drunk his beverage, it was hard not to greet him.

But if she were to treat him back, Huang Fang felt it would be a bit too deliberate.

In short, even Empress Fangfang, who devoted herself solely to her studies, would fret over small matters.

"Morning, Fangfang." Jiang Nian tossed his bag aside, bent down to fish out his water bottle from the desk cubby. "You come this early every day and still look this good."

"Do I?" Huang Fang was, after all, a girl, and after all, did care about her complexion. She reached over and grabbed her deskmate Wu Jungu's mirror to take a look. "What would looking bad even look like?"

Jiang Nian said, "Like Ceng You."

Huang Fang immediately thought of Ceng You's face, pale as paper every day, and couldn't help but laugh.

Jiang Nian took Baby Zhizhi's thermos along as well, and ambled off to the corridor to get hot water.

These days even male models have to compete—wanting a drink means putting in the labor.

"Forget Jiang Nian's success, never mind."

Gurgle gurgle, the hot water machine let out a lewd whine.

Then a wave of heat hit—kind of nauseating. In short, the shady school never bothered to get the stupid boss to fix the hot water machine.

All it knows is selling water cards and taking money. Stupid.

Jiang Nian suspected this machine, from the factory to being put into use, and even until it was scrapped someday, would never be cleaned.

Sometimes when you drank from it, there was a rusty taste.

Damn, he's even drinking iron-supplementing calcium from a blue bottle.

"You're getting water too?"

A familiar voice came from behind—a girl's.

Jiang Nian was slightly surprised. He turned around and saw it was Ji Jiayu, who had transferred into Class 2.

Although her name had a bit of "jade" in it, in reality her mindset was super solid.

Even when she'd argued with her boyfriend in broad daylight, it had made the local headlines.

It even alarmed the grade-level office into issuing disciplinary action, which in turn forced her to transfer into Class 2.

Now, seeing a former classmate, knowing full well the other person knew about her dark history, she could still be so calm and composed, even taking the initiative to greet him.

Her expression and demeanor were like a girl just awakening to love.

One had to admit, extraordinary people do extraordinary things.

Ji Jiayu herself did have a few tricks up her sleeve—at least in terms of mindset, she had beaten ninety-nine percent of Gao Zhongsheng.

Jiang Nian had always respected people who had real ability.

After all, Ji Jiayu had already transferred classes, and the little noon-break conflict between them was over.

With this kind of person, as long as you didn't get too close, they were pretty good as ordinary friends.

"Oh, morning. When did you get here?" Jiang Nian smiled. "How come you walk without making any footsteps? You scared me."

Ji Jiayu found it a little hard to keep a straight face. After a moment's hesitation, she said,

"While you were banging on the hot water machine to vent your anger, I was already here."

"Huh?" Jiang Nian was a tiny bit embarrassed. He scratched his head. "No wonder I didn't hear footsteps, haha. But I wasn't venting—I was swatting bugs just now."

Ji Jiayu tilted her head and said with a smile,

"Oh, well, I believe you."

Jiang Nian switched to another cup to fill with water and asked casually,

"How did you end up in Class 2?"

"Hmm?"

"Class 2's teachers and our class's teachers—well, basically overlap." Jiang Nian made small talk. "You went through all that effort, isn't it the same as not transferring at all?"

"You want me to transfer to Class 1 or something?" Ji Jiayu shot him a look.

"No, just curious."

"Because the grade-level head is my uncle, so of course he wouldn't transfer me to Class 1." Ji Jiayu's eyes curved into a smile, then she suddenly covered her mouth, looking like she'd let something slip.

"I've only told you, so don't tell anyone else, okay?"

Jiang Nian had already filled the cups, and turned around holding two of them, looking at her. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Your boyfriend doesn't know either?"

Ji Jiayu looked up, her gaze meeting Jiang Nian's, smiling sweetly.

"Then do you want to know?"

Jiang Nian didn't blink, the smile fading from his face, and brushed past her shoulder as he walked by.

"You guess."

Ji Jiayu froze for a moment, then turned her head to look.

Jiang Nian had already walked far away.

The corridor stretched deep and long, leaving only a thin, solitary figure from behind.

Morning self-study was approaching, and people gradually filled the classroom.

Li Hua slid in through the front door of the classroom with a sweeping tackle, and opened his mouth with a bombshell statement.

"Damn, I'm feeling depressed."

Begging for votes

(End of chapter)