Bedding Trouble, and Yun Tian the Busybody

The fight came to an end, and Room Seven gradually returned to peace.

Wang Sheng led several work-study students in cleaning up the tables, chairs, and benches that had been knocked over during the fight. Tang San sat on the edge of his bed, his head lowered as he wondered what he was thinking about.

Xiao Wu sat cross-legged on another empty bed, puffing out her cheeks as she sulked. Every so often, she shot Yun Tian a murderous glare.

Yun Tian sat meditating with his eyes closed, utterly unmoving.

He had long grown used to being watched like this. Let alone the resentful glare of a hundred-thousand-year rabbit spirit, even if a Titled Douluo stood before him and glared, he would not so much as blink.

About a quarter of an hour passed before someone knocked on Room Seven's door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A middle-aged male teacher pushed open the door and walked in, carrying a brand-new set of bedding. His gaze swept across the dormitory before finally settling on Tang San.

"You're Tang San?"

"I am." Tang San stood up.

The teacher handed him the bedding. "The Master asked me to bring this to you. He said you were his disciple, that you'd just enrolled and hadn't brought any bedding, so he asked me to get you a set."

Tang San accepted the bedding, and a surge of warmth suddenly welled up in his heart.

He had only arrived in Notting City today, and he had indeed come empty-handed. Aside from a few changes of clothes and the Tang Sect's hidden weapon tools, he had brought nothing else.

He had originally planned to make do by sleeping on the bare bed boards tonight, but he had never expected the teacher to have considered even such a small matter for him.

"The teacher... where is he?" Tang San asked.

"The Master is in his office."

"Oh, and there's also the work arrangements for you three new work-study students. Let me explain them to you..."

After giving a few instructions, the teacher turned and left.

Tang San held the bedding in his arms, his eyes reddening slightly.

He lowered his head and silently spread the bedding over his bed. He secretly swore to himself that the teacher treated him like a son, and that one day, he would repay the teacher's kindness in nurturing him with his utmost efforts.

So what if he had Blue Silver Grass?

With the teacher's guidance, Tang San would surely forge a path of his own on the road of a soul master.

Once the bedding was laid out, Tang San sat down and ran his hand over the soft quilt, an unconscious smile curling at his lips.

Everyone else in Room Seven had more or less settled in as well.

No one else would be coming later.

"I'm sleepy, I'm sleepy. I'm going to sleep and rest for a while."

Xiao Wu yawned and stretched lazily.

The battle just now had drained her badly.

Her lively eyes spun around before she jumped straight down from her bed, hugged her pillow, and walked toward Tang San.

"Hey, Tang San, let's sleep together. Your bed is bigger."

Tang San froze. Before he could answer, Yun Tian, who had been meditating with his eyes closed all this time, suddenly opened them.

"No."

The two words were crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.

Xiao Wu stopped short and turned to glare at him. "Why not? Neither of us has a problem with it. What business is it of yours?"

"Exactly." Tang San frowned as he looked at Yun Tian. "Xiao Wu didn't bring any bedding. What's wrong with her squeezing in with me? I don't mind..."

He sounded unconcerned, but he did not actually dislike the idea of sleeping with this cute little girl.

Xiao Wu had a somewhat fiery temper, but she was adorable and spoke her mind. Compared to someone like him, who had grown up in the mountains without many companions his own age, she gave him an indescribable sense of familiarity.

If he could sleep in the same bed as her...

The thought had barely surfaced in Tang San's mind before he hurriedly suppressed it, his ears warming slightly.

But before his ears could turn fully red, Yun Tian had already risen to his feet and walked over to them. He crossed his arms, his expression calm but his resolve unquestionable.

"Boys and girls should keep their distance. Once they're six, they shouldn't even share a seat."

"You may both be young, but rules are still rules."

"Room Seven is a work-study dormitory, not your home."

"You're a girl, yet you want to sleep in the same bed as a male classmate. What would people say if word got out? How would either of you face people in the academy afterward?"

He spoke with absolute confidence and righteous severity, placing especially heavy emphasis on the word "rules."

Tang San opened his mouth, wanting to say there was no one else here and that word would not get out, but he swallowed the words before they left his lips.

Yun Tian did have a point. There were still Wang Sheng and several other work-study students in the dormitory. Rumors could twist anything, and who knew what today's events would become by tomorrow?

He himself did not care, but Xiao Wu was a girl. Matters of reputation could not be taken lightly.

Even though he really was disappointed...

Tang San lowered his eyes and unconsciously clenched a corner of the quilt. His resentment toward Yun Tian quietly rose another notch.

Damn Yun Tian.

Fine, don't let me sleep with Xiao Wu if you don't want to, but why did you have to say it so loudly? My ears are practically ringing.

Xiao Wu had already bristled.

She flung her pillow onto her own bed, planted her hands on her hips, and stormed up to Yun Tian. Tilting her head back, she glared at the boy half a head taller than her. "Why are you such a busybody?! I said I don't mind, Tang San doesn't mind either, yet you just keep yammering on and on! Are you my father or my mother? What right do you have to tell me where I can sleep?"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, her cheeks puffing into two round little balls.

"Fine! You insist on meddling, right? Then give me bedding! I don't have money to buy any, so if you won't let me sleep with Tang San, solve my bedding problem! If you can't solve it, then stop standing there talking like it's none of your problem!"

Xiao Wu stomped her little foot, making the ground tremble.

She was feeling smug inside. Let's see how you stop me now!

If you can't give me bedding, I'll be perfectly justified in sleeping with Tang San. What can you do about it?

Everyone in Room Seven turned their eyes toward Yun Tian.

Wang Sheng muttered quietly, "What are we going to do now, Boss...? We can't really let her sleep with Tang San, can we? But if she sleeps in an empty bed, there's no bedding for her. It'll be so cold in the middle of the night..."

Tang San also looked at Yun Tian, thinking, Now you've got nothing to say, right?

Then they saw Yun Tian's lips slowly curve upward into an unreadable smile.

He turned and walked back to his bed, bent down to rummage through the bundle beneath it for a few seconds, then straightened up with a neatly folded, brand-new set of bedding in his hands.

"Here."

Yun Tian casually tossed it. The roll of bedding traced a beautiful arc through the air before landing steadily in Xiao Wu's arms.

Xiao Wu instinctively caught it and looked down. It was a clean cotton quilt and pillow. Though they were nothing particularly valuable, they would be more than enough to keep her warm through the night in Notting City at this time of year.

She froze in place, wearing the expression of someone who had swallowed a fly whole.

"Y-you... where did you get bedding?"

"When I left Yun Family Village, Grandpa Village Chief stuffed an extra set in my luggage. He said Notting City was cold in winter and was afraid I'd freeze at night."

Yun Tian spread his hands. "I was planning to keep it as a spare, but I didn't expect it to come in handy on the first day."

Xiao Wu hugged the bedding, opening and closing her mouth over and over, unable to say a single word for a long while.

She had thought she could corner him with that move, yet he had been prepared all along, as if he had been waiting for her to try it.

The frustration lodged in her chest, unable to rise or fall, nearly making her choke on it.

Tang San sat beside them, watching the scene as the last trace of hope in his heart was completely shattered.