Su Yuan, of course, had no idea what Ling Chendong was thinking. If she had, she would've banged her head against the wall. At that moment, she was carrying a bucket of water and muttering angrily as she walked. "What a weirdo. He actually said I was pretty—what kind of eyes does he have? I'm obviously handsome, and he called me pretty! Unbelievable!"
The lights along the ceiling slid past one after another. A fanciful thought suddenly popped into her head. "Am I really pretty?" She pictured herself in the mirror, then shook her head. What's pretty about me?
Back in the dorm, she quickly hung up all the clothes in the bucket. Then she tiptoed to her bed and quietly slipped under the covers.
Eyes open, she listened as droplets fell from the clothes outside the window, pattering like a melody in the lonely midnight, lulling her to sleep.
In the moonlight, the drying clothes swayed back and forth. Their dark shadows drifted outside the window like clusters of ghosts, giving her a sudden, cold sweat.
Drowsiness washed over her beneath the covers. Su Yuan wrapped her arms around herself, her palms touching the coolness of her arms. Her jade-like skin seemed even more delicate now, soft and tender, warm and smooth. Beneath the gauzy fabric, through the thin, loose clothing, one of her arms rested against her body, feeling the softness of her little belly.
Caught up in the alluring sensation, Su Yuan, as if possessed, slipped a hand beneath her collar and gently stroked her abdomen. Then she moved it up to the slight swell of her chest. She gave it a squeeze; it was soft and delicate, and seemed almost to spill over her hand.
It had only been a few days, yet her chest had already grown this much. She hadn't paid attention when she'd looked in the mirror earlier, only noticing that she wasn't as flat as before. Now that her hand covered it, it seemed to spill out a little. Was she already an A cup?
She stared blankly at the ceiling, her thoughts hazy and indistinct. Her fingertips unconsciously teased a tiny raised point. A faint tingling sensation came over her, and the little nub stiffened strangely. Only then did she realize something was wrong.
She pulled her hand back from beneath her collar, rested it lightly on her abdomen, and went to sleep fully clothed.
The next dawn came, sunlight shone down, and it seemed like another day just like all the others.
Student life was both interesting and monotonous, repeating over and over as the school's timetable played out its familiar routine...
After class that day, Ji Yehao and Gao Jun were discussing the dorm basketball tournament. The School of Biochemistry had organized it to enrich students' extracurricular lives. Each dorm would enter a team in the friendly tournament, sending out three players at a time, with the fourth as a substitute.
The rules were the same as in a regular basketball game, but the matches would be half the usual length.
Su Yuan wasn't very interested in basketball. She yawned all the way back; she hadn't slept well the night before and just wanted to go back and catch up on sleep. As for the tournament, Ji Yehao, Gao Jun, and Yang Xiaowei were enough. Without a doubt, she'd become the substitute, a mere benchwarmer at best.
"Ye Hao, tell Xiaowei to come over. The first game's the day after tomorrow, so let's get together and discuss our strategy!" Gao Jun's attitude was the complete opposite of hers; he took the friendly tournament very seriously.
Basketball was one of Dorm 330's strong suits. Apart from Su Yuan, who was rarely seen on the court, Ji Yehao, Gao Jun, and Yang Xiaowei were all regulars, and every one of them was good. Anyone who knew them knew that Dorm 330 was a strong contender with a real chance of winning the championship.
Maybe they were already being used as a subject for tactical analysis.
"Su Yuan, were you out stealing last night? You look completely worn out."
Ji Yehao noticed Su Yuan walking alongside them without saying a word. Seeing that she looked unwell, he asked curiously.
"I didn't sleep well last night. I'm so sleepy." Su Yuan yawned, her eyelids heavy with fatigue. She couldn't contribute to Ji Yehao and Gao Jun's basketball talk, and she was too tired to bother trying.
They were walking along.
The three of them turned from the stairs into the hallway. Just then, someone came sprinting from the other end. He was rather thin, but moving very fast. Su Yuan didn't have time to dodge before he slammed into her shoulder. She cried out and staggered to the side.
"Careful!" Ji Yehao reacted quickly and caught her. When they looked for the person who'd hit Su Yuan, he had already disappeared around the staircase.
Still shaken, Su Yuan thought of how close she'd come to cracking her head open, and a chill ran through her. Relieved she'd escaped injury but furious all the same, she shouted toward the stairs, "Damn it! What's the hurry, are you racing to your grave?"
"Yeah! He hit someone and didn't even apologize. What terrible manners!" Gao Jun said, sounding surprised.
The man had already vanished at the stairwell. Through the little window at the end of the hallway, they could see he'd run over to the flower bed beside the dorm building. Su Yuan snorted. "He sure can run!"
"That guy looked unfamiliar. He probably doesn't live in this building."
"Probably. But even if he was just visiting someone, there was no need to run that fast!"
It was only a minor incident, but Su Yuan was still fuming. Even though she knew there was nothing she could do about him, she wasn't willing to let him off so easily. When she reached Dorm 330 and took out her key, she suddenly turned around in surprise. "Why isn't the door locked?"
Ji Yehao looked. The door really was ajar. He asked Su Yuan in confusion, "Could you have forgotten to close it when you left this morning?"
"Impossible. I pulled it shut when I left."
Su Yuan had been the last one to leave for the past few days, so if the door hadn't been shut, it would've been her fault. But she remembered clearly that she'd definitely closed it.
Ji Yehao and Gao Jun exchanged glances. Thinking of the man who'd just rushed past them, they suddenly realized what might have happened. "Oh no, we've been robbed!"
"No way." Su Yuan was startled too and hurriedly pushed the door open.
The balcony was directly in front of them, its pale green curtains swaying in the breeze. Inside the dorm, the wardrobes and desks were still as neat and familiar as ever, without the slightest sign of disorder. Three laptops lay quietly on the desktop.
Seeing the laptops were still there, Su Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. The laptops are all here. We probably weren't robbed."
"Don't celebrate just yet. Check whether anything else valuable—or anywhere we keep loose change—has been searched." Ji Yehao went straight to the space beneath his bed, opened his drawer, and checked his wardrobe.
Su Yuan realized he was right. The laptops were so conspicuous that they'd be difficult to steal, but other valuables were another matter. Fortunately, she never kept money in the dorm. The most valuable thing she owned was the laptop on her desk.
The thought put her at ease, and she casually opened her wardrobe to check. But—
When the wardrobe opened and she saw what was inside, her heart gave a lurch.
"I checked. Nothing's missing," Gao Jun said from across the room.
"Same here. Su Yuan, how about you?"
Su Yuan: "..."
With a loud snap, she shut the wardrobe. Her mind felt like a thick, tangled mess. Nothing was missing, true, but it seemed like... there was something extra inside.
That's right—there were extra things, and quite a lot of them!
Colorful packages lay in the wardrobe, and at their open ends she could see something lacy...
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