The Dormitory Rules

After leaving the office, Bai Yuze decided to check out the dormitory building and take a look at the room layout while he was at it.

As he walked, he thought about his plans for the future. Now that a peaceful life was behind him, he had no choice but to do everything he could to survive in the narrow cracks of a treacherous world.

Before long, the dormitory building came into view.

"Whoa! The school must be pretty rich. This dormitory building is impressive."

Since the opening ceremony was underway, no one was outside the dormitory building. Bai Yuze was about to step inside when he suddenly stopped.

He pulled his foot back from the threshold and turned to the wall beside the entrance.

Just as he expected, there was a notice posted there, covered in densely packed rules and reminders.

[Dear students, the dormitory building is currently undergoing renovations. To avoid unpleasant incidents, please follow the rules below.]

[1. The men's floors are in the lower half of the building, and the women's floors are in the upper half. Unless absolutely necessary, male students should not take the elevator to the women's floors.]

[2. The cleaners in the men's-floor corridors are male, while the cleaners in the women's-floor corridors are female. Cleaners usually do not wear masks or hats. If you notice a cleaner wearing a mask and hat, please do not leave your room casually, to avoid confusing their gender.]

[3. The cleaners employed by the school have eccentric personalities. If you feel unable to communicate with them amicably, please be polite and ignore them. Ignoring them is the greatest respect you can show them.] ＜The red writing was heavily emphasized＞ (Ignore them in every sense of the word.)

[4. The cleaners' duty is to keep the environment clean. If your room is somewhat messy, you may ask the cleaners for help. They will not refuse.]

[5. Your room must be messy before you can ask the cleaners for help.]

[6. Cleaners have no right to order students to help them. Students, please keep your compassion in check.]

[7. If you accidentally anger a cleaner, show them the points on your phone and pay them a fee.]

[8. If you accidentally anger a cleaner, sincerely and politely apologize to them. They will not hold it against you.]

[9. Male cleaners do not wander around at night, while female cleaners do not wander around during the day.]

[10. Remember to lock your door whenever you leave. When you return, check whether anything in your room has changed. Strict rules are no match for a human heart.]

[Those who believe in the survival of the strongest may do as they please.]

Bai Yuze breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had remembered the rules. Since the shopping mall had its own rules, the dormitory building was bound to have its own as well.

"Gender seems to be important when it comes to the cleaners. Looks like there are three kinds: male, female, and one with a strange gender."

Bai Yuze pondered the strange parts of the rules. They used different terms to describe the cleaners' genders, which showed how important the cleaners were in the dormitory.

After a moment's thought, Bai Yuze stepped into the dormitory building. The instant his foot touched the floor, he felt a prickling sensation all over, as if countless eyes were staring at him.

"Brr! This dormitory's a little chilly."

Bai Yuze hurried into the elevator and pressed the button for his floor.

The elevator rose slowly. As soon as the doors opened, Bai Yuze gave a wry smile.

"What are the odds? I just opened the doors and ran into one?"

At the far end of the corridor stood a male cleaner, mopping the floor. He noticed the elevator and glanced toward Bai Yuze, then went back to work.

Bai Yuze had no choice but to steel himself and step out of the elevator. As luck would have it, his room was right beside the cleaner.

"Damn! I can't get any unluckier!"

Unlucky or not, as long as he didn't break the rules, the cleaner couldn't do much to him. Bai Yuze calmed himself and tried his best to ignore the cleaner.

Bai Yuze reached his room without incident. He opened the door and stood at the entrance, looking inside.

Before him was a spacious single room, complete with a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and the like. The furnishings, however, were all basic.

Bai Yuze reached out and touched the shoe cabinet beside the entrance. Strangely enough, it was spotless, without a speck of dust.

"New here?"

The cleaner behind Bai Yuze spoke. If the cleaner hadn't been the only other person there, Bai Yuze might have thought he'd imagined it.

The cleaner was still mopping, even though the floor was already spotless.

Keeping the rules in mind, Bai Yuze didn't answer. He remained at the entrance, examining everything inside.

"Heh! A newbie, just as I thought."

The cleaner chuckled and shook his head, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth. Then he leisurely pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

At that moment, Bai Yuze lowered his head and typed out a string of characters. Without turning around, he leaned back toward the cleaner and sent him a message on his phone.

[Uncle, got a cigarette? Lend me one. I won't take it for free.]

"Heh heh! Craving a smoke, kid? Lucky for you, you ran into me. If you don't mind, you can have the one in my mouth."

The cleaner chuckled and placed the cigarette from his mouth in Bai Yuze's hand. The end was already soaked with the cleaner's saliva.

The burning tip singed Bai Yuze, but he endured the pain and moved his hand in front of himself.

With his other hand, he picked up the cigarette. Since no one was smoking it, it was about to go out.

"Good thing I made it in time."

Bai Yuze smiled as he stared at the cigarette in his hand, then flicked it into the room. It landed on the floor, leaving behind a half-burned cigarette and some ash.

[Uncle, my room's dirty now. Could you help me clean it?]

The cleaner saw the cigarette that the young brat had ruined and was about to lash out, but his body seemed to fall under someone else's control.

The cleaner replied blankly.

"Sure."

Then the cleaner went into Bai Yuze's room with his mop. Bai Yuze casually shut the door, and before long, sounds of fighting came from inside.

After a while, the room fell silent. The cleaner then came out, now wearing a mask and a hat.

Without saying a word, he picked up his mop and left Bai Yuze's side. Seeing that his room had been cleaned, Bai Yuze turned and walked inside.

He lay on the bed, thinking back over what had just happened.

He had noticed something was wrong from the start. The room had been too clean—unnaturally clean. And even though the cleaner had already mopped the floor until it was spotless, he had kept on mopping.

That meant that, in the cleaner's eyes, something in the room was still unclean. The cleaner's inexplicable attempt to talk to Bai Yuze confirmed it.

But even though the danger had passed, that feeling of being watched remained, as if the dormitory didn't welcome him.

Bai Yuze stood up, ready to head to the furniture store to buy some furniture and see if he could find a way to wash away his points.