Chapter 95: Rainstorm, Dormitory Night Talk

After evening self-study, the hallway was packed like a sardine can.

Jiang Nian didn't have time to look further; he casually closed the task panel. Following the crowd slowly downstairs, Xu Qianqian was already waiting on the third-floor corridor.

She stood there with her backpack, a neat high ponytail, cheeks pale and fair. Her thin school jacket hugged her well-proportioned figure, and passersby kept glancing back at her.

"Jiang Nian, I'm not returning your money."

"Why not?"

"Money between us ruins feelings—I've decided to give you a math Wu San book."

"Xu Qianqian," Jiang Nian's lips twitched as he reached for her, "come here, big brother's got something cool to show you."

She dodged and turned straight toward her classroom.

"What are you doing? You're hitting on me—I'm telling Li Yi!"

They chased each other around the door of Class Three, playfully wrestling for a while.

Xu Qianqian panted, her face suddenly flushed in a way that could be misunderstood. When she noticed his gaze was inappropriate, she called a halt.

"Unfair—my backpack's heavier."

"Then let's drop it," Jiang Nian suggested. Getting home was urgent.

"Fine."

Whether it was an illusion or not, Jiang Nian felt that since Xu Qianqian returned from her hometown, she seemed a little more cheerful, less…

Although she'd never been gloomy—after all, at seventeen or eighteen, hearts are naturally lively—before, she only became animated when Jiang Nian provoked her.

Catfish childhood friend and sardine childhood sweetheart.

Something like that.

Now, the lethargic sardine seemed to be evolving toward the direction of a koi king. But that was fine—being stuck in a gloomy rut all day was no fun either.

School life was inherently dull and heavy; the ivory tower stood too high, without gale-force winds. Most of the time, one could only find joy in hardship, catching breath between self-study sessions.

Like a goldfish bursting into a dream, spitting a bubble and leaving.

On the way, along the road home.

Jiang Nian looked up at the night sky. "Think it's really going to pour tonight?"

"Mm, heard it's going to cool down," Xu Qianqian tightened her backpack straps and quickened her pace. "In our class, when the power went out, some boys almost fought."

"Why?"

"Something about a flashlight shining in someone's eyes—boring stuff," Xu Qianqian said. "But they didn't actually fight. They just dismissed us early."

"No couples in your class?" Jiang Nian stepped forward, turning the corner. "Outside the corridors, couples hold hands, even sneak kisses. Even the top students are this bold."

"Why tell me? I never left the classroom!" Xu Qianqian was speechless.

Almost home, a low rumble rolled through the night, then fat autumn raindrops fell from the sky. From a single drop to a torrential downpour took only thirty seconds.

They darted and dodged through the old alley, neither willing to yield.

"Wait for me!"

"No way—my shorts'll get soaked."

Jiang Nian crashed into the pitch-black stairwell; the orange light flickered on in alarm. Xu Qianqian followed right behind, stumbling into the stairwell, and Jiang Nian caught her arm.

"It's all your fault—I'm soaked."

"What the hell, are you serious? You're short-legged, so it's my fault?" Jiang Nian shook water from his hair; the draft in the stairwell carried a faint smell of rain.

"Being tall doesn't make you superior—you walk like you're shaking. Why blame me? I told you to hurry, but you dragged your feet."

"Fine, you're amazing." Jiang Nian's eyes darted up and down, his mind struggling to catch up.

Though her school jacket concealed her figure, her wet hair dripped raindrops. Her eyes looked sharper, her lips pink and plump—visually appetizing.

Slish-slish.

Neighbor's got rain? No—neighbor's girl has grown up.

Xu Qianqian noticed his gaze and stepped back, wary.

"Has anyone ever told you…"

"You're handsome?"

"You're a pervert."

Xu Qianqian wanted to ask if he was this perverted in class too, but she held her tongue. She stomped up the stairs past him, clutching her backpack.

Inside her backpack were photocopies of Jin Taiyang's math papers—more valuable than Jiang Nian's life—she couldn't let them get wet.

She heard footsteps behind her. For the first time, she felt a jolt run down her back. When she reached the stair landing, she half-closed her eyes and glanced back.

All she saw was Jiang Nian's slender neck, his short sleeves clinging wetly to his body. His sharp collarbones and defined muscles were clearly outlined.

She suddenly remembered the fireworks from a few nights ago, and couldn't help calling out his name.

"Jiang Nian."

"Hmm?"

"I'm giving you a gift. You… you close your eyes." Xu Qianqian suddenly grew shy, her face flushed with an unusual, girlish blush.

Jiang Nian's heart leapt. He thought: Isn't this a forbidden 18+ light novel trope? Is this really happening to me?

A wet rainy night—this is a divine twist!

"Ah, okay." He swallowed hard.

Xu Qianqian's face turned redder. She whispered:

"You must keep this secret. Don't tell anyone. This is my first time…"

"My lips are tighter than industrial glue—you can trust me," Jiang Nian nodded, then added, "Can I make one request? Can I keep my eyes open?"

"Fine," Xu Qianqian pulled out a set of Jin Taiyang math papers from her backpack, her expression serious. "If you do poorly on the test later, don't go blabbing that I'm your teacher."

Jiang Nian froze, mechanically taking the ink-scented papers. He glanced at the densely packed questions: Given set A = {}, it was really just a test paper!

"Forgive me for asking, but the gift you mentioned—"

"Mm, our teacher gave it to me. Keep it secret," Xu Qianqian nodded, warning, "I hope you can reform yourself and become a new youth of the times."

"No, you—Xu Qianqian." Jiang Nian's anime protagonist dream shattered, "You're so positive, it's making me awkward."

Only Chinese youth drama could smash the saccharine daydreams of A-sa-ki with a punch from the golden sun.

Zhennan High School, North Dormitory Building.

Building 2, girls' dorm.

Tap-tap-tap—Wang Yuhe hurried into the dorm corridor, carrying two-thirds of a bucket of hot water. Her hair and clothes were inevitably soaked; she muttered bad luck.

Washing hair at night won't dry, so she'd have to find a way to wipe it dry.

Only fifty seconds remained until lights-out, yet the corridor was still packed. She carried the bucket expressionlessly, effortlessly riding the crowd up the stairs.

Girls weren't weak either; every time she saw girls struggling to lift even a quarter of a bucket, she felt puzzled.

Wang Yuhe estimated that a full bucket could only be carried in one breath to between the second and third floors before needing a rest—after all, the dorm was on the fifth floor.

Halfway up with the bucket, the dorm lights suddenly went out; a chorus of girls' curses erupted through the corridor.

"The dorm supervisor is an idiot!"

"Exactly! Don't they know it's raining? Why not delay it a few minutes!"

"Fuck, I give up."

Wang Yuhe took the chance to rest on the third floor, then pushed past her own limit. She felt her strength was nearly equal to a boy's—one punch could kill Dong Wensong.

Huh? Why Dong Wensong?

Because she also hated pretentious people.

Once her eyes adjusted to the dark, Wang Yuhe continued carrying the bucket upward. She wondered whether Chen Yunyun had returned to the dorm—she was responsible for filling two thermoses.

The hot water in the water room came in two temperatures: one row, from the greenhouse-area tap, delivered lukewarm water. Whether it was warm or scalding depended on luck; boarding students came with buckets to swipe their cards for water.

The other side was the boiling water inside the water room, filled into thermoses. Also swiped with a card; an old man sat there watching, charging three fen per fill.

She sprinted up to the fifth floor. The corridor was slippery and wet, reeking of strong fishy odor. Passing one dorm, the overpowering perfume made her nauseous.

Back in the dorm, she realized Chen Yunyun hadn't returned yet.

Sure enough, when Chen Yunyun finally trudged up with the thermoses, she was drenched. Her hair clung wetly to her forehead; she gave her roommate a weary smile.

"What a heavy rain."

"Dry off with a towel," Wang Yuhe said, also wiping her hair.

In the dorm, only a few girls who'd showered midday stayed dry; everyone else was equally soaked, changing clothes, drying hair, wiping glasses.

Waiting in line for water always took long; they usually paired up and took turns.

"Okay."

Chen Yunyun peeled off her soaked uniform jacket, then yanked off her pants; her loose short-sleeve shirt hung like a nightgown, covering her thighs.

Girls' high didn't walk around in just a bra—upper body mattered more than lower. Wearing only a bra on top was as good as running naked in girls' high.

Even in summer, if not wearing a shirt, you still had to wear a tiny strap top.

A couple of girls from the neighboring dorm came over to visit; the atmosphere in the room brightened again.

Someone opened the bed desk, pulled out a small desk lamp and homework.

When it was their turn to shower, Chen Yunyun pulled a pink bucket from the balcony, then a mysterious small basin and a pack of tissues.

The two girls tacitly split the bucket's water in half, keeping a little from the thermoses and dividing it further.

In the cramped private bathroom, they guessed they were nearly done.

Wang Yuhe suddenly said, "Yunyun."

"Hmm?"

"When I came upstairs, I broke through again—I feel I could punch Dong Wensong to death."

Chen Yunyun praised, "Amazing, amazing—I'd need a punch and a half. One punch probably won't kill him; you'd need another."

"Then you've got to work hard—only one year left of Gao San," Wang Yuhe said. "I heard universities have private bathrooms, no need to carry hot water. But northern universities don't seem to."

"Then I'll apply to southern universities—I want to get into Lu University."

On the bathroom windowsill stood a flashlight. Its faint glow flickered weakly, like a corpse on its last breath, offering only blurry illumination.

"The flashlight needs charging—take it to the classroom tomorrow," Wang Yuhe suggested.

"Okay."

After the scattered, mundane routine, the two girls finished washing clothes. Afraid they wouldn't dry by midnight, they didn't wash their hair—just dried it with absorbent towels and blew it with a small fan.

Like drying noodles, they hung limp over the iron railings at the head of the bed.

At this point, the girls' high day had reached its end. The shabby dorm environment was long accepted; the tight schedule still squeezed out fragments of free time.

At midnight, the girls in Room 512 gradually turned off their desk lamps and put away homework. One girl was still writing a test; only a single nightlight remained on.

"I think the dorm supervisor is a jerk."

That one comment sparked the dorm's seven girls to vent one after another. Words flew back and forth; once they confirmed everyone was awake, the conversation spiraled into Tiannanhaibei topics.

"There's a super hot guy on the third floor—I wonder which class he's in. So handsome, he must have a girlfriend already. Just thinking someone's flirting with him makes me ache."

"Holy shit!! You—"

"You're a pervert! That's so gross!"

"Exactly! I wish we could record that line and loop it on the campus radio."

"Hey, have you noticed the water card charges are getting faster?"

"I felt it too—seems like prices went up."

"Cheated! This school is heartless!"

Outside, rain pattered loudly, mingling with the sounds of falling asleep. Yet not a single girl in the dorm felt sleepy—each was wildly excited, beginning to talk about life dreams.

Ex-boyfriend, the romantic experience from middle school, dating.

She gave a well-reasoned analysis of the two boys' pure love and got the whole dorm involved. In the end, she concluded that those two guys had to be bent.

As they chatted, graduation next year came up, and a few of them grew sentimental again. They complained that Gao San was so painful, why time passed so slowly, Qian Bao was so cute.

"The biology teacher is pretty good-looking too, just way too stern in class. I've decided to call her Qingbao."

"Not as cute as Qian Bao. Last time I passed by the office, I saw her secretly eating snacks. Hahaha, you guys know? That scene was hilarious."

"Hey, during the power outage at evening self-study, I heard Sun Zhicheng confess to Yunyun."

"Don't talk nonsense, I didn't hear it," Chen Yunyun said. "We're in the same group, what could happen? Seeing each other every day is making me sick of it. You like him?"

"Don't drag me into it, I wasn't the one who brought it up."

"I know, Yunyun likes hanging out with Jiang Nian." In the darkness, a girl teased with that one line, and someone else added, "You don't have a crush on him, do you?"

"No way! Just chatting, that's all." Chen Yunyun retorted, "I chat with plenty of boys in class. With that many people, wouldn't I be unable to keep up with all the crushes?"

"What about Sun Zhicheng? Hahaha."

"Get lost!" Chen Yunyun denied it on the spot, explaining, "I just feel Jiang Nian is a pretty interesting person to talk to, just chatting casually."

At this point, Wang Yuhe, who didn't talk much, suddenly spoke up.

"That Zhang Ningzhi from Jiang Nian's group, she's pretty good-looking."

"Yeah, someone living in Nanjiang Bay must be rich," a girl chimed in. "Yao Beibei and the others brought her along to hang out, right? Her personality's pretty nice."

Chen Yunyun suddenly couldn't find anything to say. She felt inexplicably sad for a moment, then shook her head. Overthinking it, just casual chatting between friends.

The topic shifted again, and Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe couldn't help but gradually join back in.

In the small dorm room, soft laughter kept coming. There was always someone saying let's stop chatting, let's sleep. But time kept getting dragged out, and after a quiet spell, someone would always blurt out a line.

Like sparks flying out, cupped and exchanged with each other, the roommates' bond kept warming in that moment.

After a long while.

"Is everyone asleep?"

"Where did we just leave off?"

"Sleep."

"Anyway, I'm not giving birth."

Chen Yunyun was half-asleep, her eyelids growing heavier. Perhaps because the late-night chat had brought up Jiang Nian, or because the scene of the evening self-study power outage had left too deep an impression, she dreamed of Jiang Nian again.