Xufang paused for a few seconds, as if he couldn’t quite grasp what she was saying. He furrowed his eyebrows and pinched her cheek, saying, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Lin Xi Chi glanced at him and pulled his hand away. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
“…” He didn’t understand what?
“Anyway, I’m sure my guess is correct.” Lin Xi Chi headed towards the direction of her dormitory and waved to him. “I’m going in now. You should head back too.”
Standing there with his hands in his pockets, Xu Fang watched her enter the dormitory building. He didn’t turn and leave as he usually did. He lazily yawned and checked his phone.
It was still early, just a little past 7:00 AM.
The sunlight filtered through the window, brightening up the slightly dim corridor, casting scattered beams of light on the ground. The corridor was quiet, with the occasional sight of a few girls walking quietly from upstairs to downstairs.
On the fifth floor, Lin Xi Chi turned left and arrived at the door of Room 518. She used her key to open it.
The dorm room’s curtains were tightly closed, making the room quite dark.
Lin Xi Chi wasn’t sure if Chen Han was still asleep on her bed, so she didn’t rush to turn on the lights. She placed her backpack on the desk, turned on the small desk lamp, and noticed the glass shards she had thrown into the trash can earlier.
After some consideration, Lin Xi Chi retrieved a campus newspaper she had received from the communal dormitory supplies and used it to wrap up the glass fragments before throwing them away again.
Having completed this series of actions, Lin Xi Chi looked at Xin Zidan’s desk. Her desk was always neat and tidy, with a pale pink desk pad, and the two cups were still in their usual position on the left side of the desk.
To be honest, it was her first time doing something like this, and it was impossible not to be nervous.
Lin Xi Chi then turned her head and looked at Chen Han’s bed. Chen Han had a transparent mosquito net hanging, which made her look somewhat unreal through the mesh.
Lin Xi Chi thought for a moment, put on her glasses, and climbed onto her own bed.
After confirming that there was no one on Chen Han’s bed, Lin Xi Chi cautiously called out a few times into the air, “Xiao Han, Xiao Han? Xiao Han!”
Lin Xi Chi breathed a sigh of relief when there was no response.
This was the first time Lin Xi Chi had experienced dormitory life.
During high school, she hadn’t even chosen to live in the dormitory during the third year. Although she had heard her roommate complain about her relationship with her dormmates not being good, she couldn’t empathize with the situation, so she didn’t express much opinion on it.
The usual approach was to endure and not make the dormitory situation more awkward. So, on the surface, her relationship with her roommates was still good, but internally, it was full of holes.
If it weren’t for Xu Fang mentioning this incident again, Lin Xi Chi probably would have done what her roommate did, treat it as if nothing had happened, and wouldn’t have even considered who might have knocked over her cup.
Or maybe she would have directly asked who did it, even though she believed the person responsible wouldn’t admit to it. Either way, the only impact on her would be a slightly increased sense of caution in future interactions.
But this time, for some reason, she really wanted to make an issue out of it.
Lin Xi Chi walked to Xin Zidan’s spot, thinking about reaching out to take that white cup. However, her actions paused for a moment. She pursed her lips, thought it over, and then returned to her own wardrobe. She took out the winter gloves and put them on.
With everything ready, Lin Xi Chi placed the white cup on the table and then, holding her breath, gently poked it.
The cup fell.
There was a loud clang.
Lin Xi Chi looked down and saw the cup rolling on the floor. When it reached the handle, it rolled back in the original direction. She picked it up and examined it, but not a single shard had broken off.
Lin Xi Chi repeated the process two more times.
Still no breakage.
She felt somewhat hopeless and sent a message to Xu Fang: “This cup is really something.”
Lin Xi Chi: “It’s harder than steel.”
Lin Xi Chi: “I’ve dropped it three times and it didn’t break.”
Lin Xi Chi: “What should I do?”
Xufang couldn’t help but think that this girl couldn’t do anything right, except for arguing. She needed someone to teach her even the simplest things.
Taking a deep breath, he replied, “Use more force, for God’s sake.”
After a moment’s thought, fearing that the fragments might fly and hurt her, he deleted his previous message and changed it to, “Just get a new cup.”
He waited for a while but didn’t receive a reply from her. Instead, he saw her in person. She was still carrying the same backpack as before, looking no different from earlier.
Seeing him still there, Lin Xi Chi was surprised. She ran up to him, panting.
“I had to run,” Lin Xi Chi said seriously. “After breaking it, you have to run.”
“…”
“I succeeded on the fourth try!” Lin Xi Chi made a hand gesture, smiling. “Don’t worry, I turned off all the lights and used gloves to touch her cup. There won’t be any fingerprints left.”
Her carefree attitude and triumphant expression made Xu Fang couldn’t help but smile. If he had known she would come out, he wouldn’t have said anything. He reached out and pushed her head with one hand.
“Let’s go eat.”
The two of them went to a breakfast shop outside the school.
Lin Xi Chi looked at the menu and considered their appetites. She ordered two bowls of soy milk, three fried dough sticks, and five meat buns. Most of this was Xu Fang’s portion.
But for some reason, Lin Xi Chi had a particularly good appetite today. She finished her own portion and still felt hungry. After sitting for a while, she quickly grabbed one of Xu Fang’s meat buns and took a bite.
Xu Fang glanced at her and didn’t say anything.
After finishing the meat bun, Lin Xi Chi patted her stomach and felt that she could eat another one. She seized another one of Xu Fang’s meat buns when he wasn’t paying attention and took a quick bite.
First come, first served.
This time, Xu Fang couldn’t bear it any longer. He stared at her with a cold expression and said, “Do you want to starve me to death?”
Hearing this, Lin Xi Chi’s movements paused, and she silently put the meat bun back.
There was only one meat bun left on the plate, which happened to be the one Lin Xi Chi had returned. The bite mark where a piece was missing was particularly noticeable.
“…”
Xu Fang pulled a small smile, picked up the bun, and saw her gaze shift back to him, almost pleadingly. It reminded him of a stray dog he had seen on the street a few days ago.
“Open your mouth.”
Lin Xi Chi, not understanding what he meant, exclaimed, “Huh?” But the next moment, he forcefully pushed the bun towards her mouth. The action wasn’t gentle; it was as if he wanted to stuff the entire bun into her mouth at once.
“…” Lin Xi Chi almost choked.
She took a big bite, swallowed the bun, and looked at him in disbelief. It took a long time before she reproached him, “You almost killed me with two buns.”
Xu Fang, who hadn’t controlled his strength well, said, “…”
After finishing breakfast, it was just a little past 8:00 AM.
Feeling that Xin Zidan probably wouldn’t return so early, Lin Xi Chi didn’t want to wander around alone outside. She dragged Xu Fang along with her to explore.
The school had many shops, and considering that most of the customers were students, the prices were generally reasonable.
Lin Xi Chi entered a boutique shop. She had bought her previous cup from here because the prices were reasonable, and the products were attractive. Since they weren’t in a hurry, they strolled leisurely.
When they reached one of the small grids, Lin Xi Chi suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Xufang followed her gaze as they approached the display.
Inside, there were several sets of cups, all designed for couples. Lin Xi Chi’s gaze settled on the middle set—pastel-colored, one pink and one blue, cylindrical in shape, with both cups shaped like they were hugging.
They looked cute.
Lin Xi Chi picked up that set of cups and turned to ask him, “Do you think these are cute?”
Without an immediate response from him, Lin Xi Chi looked at the cups in her hands. After a while, Xu Fang’s deep voice finally broke the silence, “They’re okay.”
“Great, then I’ll buy these,” Lin Xi Chi exclaimed happily. “They’re so cute…”
Before waiting for his response, Lin Xi Chi proceeded to the cashier to make the purchase.
She didn’t even consider that these were designed for couples or think about who the other cup was for. She only thought that if she had two cups, she could use one for water and the other for milk. Even if she only used one, she could have a spare in case someone else broke it next time.
When the cashier put the cups in two square boxes, secured them with foam padding, and placed them in a bag, Lin Xi Chi accepted the bag and went out with Xu Fang, starting to wander aimlessly through the streets.
They continued to stroll until it was time for lunch, and then they returned to the dormitory after finishing their meal.
Back at the dormitory building, Lin Xi Chi waved to Xu Fang and was about to head inside with the bag in her hand.
Before she could turn around, Xu Fang had already taken the bag from her hand. He lowered his head to look at it and, through the transparent plastic film covering the two boxes, handed her the pink one.
Lin Xi Chi received it inexplicably and asked, “What are you doing?”
Without looking at her, Xu Fang appeared somewhat uncomfortable, as if he didn’t like her question, and his tone was not pleasant.
“I also need a cup, is that not allowed?”
After returning to the dormitory, Lin Xi Chi realized that the situation was more serious than she had imagined.
The other three roommates had already returned, and no one had cleaned up the scattered shards. Xin Zidan was sitting on a chair, her eyes red from crying, while the other two were trying to comfort her.
Lin Xi Chi entered with the cup in her hands and pretended, “What’s going on?”
Nie Yue and Chen Han seemed a bit confused.
But Xin Zidan looked at her, her eyes and nose red, her expression cold, and tears flowing freely. She choked out, “Someone broke my cup, and I don’t know who did it.”
Her tone was sharp, as if she had already concluded that it was Lin Xi Chi who had broken it.
The other two also looked at her with some hesitation.
Until this moment, Lin Xi Chi hadn’t been genuinely upset about the situation.
But at this moment, her anger was inexplicably ignited.
“Oh, really?” Lin Xi Chi also stared at her, her lips slowly flattening. She spoke softly, “Funny, my cup got broken too.”
Lin Xi Chi paused for a moment, and her smile gradually disappeared. She said in a low voice,
“I’m curious too. Who could it be?”
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