The Daily Life of a Foolish Roommate

It was getting late, and the window looked out on darkness.

Ning Qing came out to brush her teeth.

Zhang Suannai was still sitting on a little stool by the door. She had somehow acquired a bag of sunflower seeds and was using a delivery box as a trash can, cracking seeds while staring at the stairwell.

After brushing her teeth, Ning Qing glanced at her, returned to her room, and video-called Xiaoxiao again.

It took Xiaoxiao a long time to answer.

Their faces appeared on each other's screens at the same time. The sisters looked at each other, and neither spoke for a moment.

In the end, the older sister spoke first. "Did you do your homework?"

"Yes."

"Did you eat dinner?"

"Yes."

"Are Mom and Dad back?"

"No."

"Are you scared on your own?"

"No."

"What did you have for dinner?"

"Roasted potatoes."

"Didn't I tell you not to eat potatoes every day?"

"I told brother-in-law I had steamed buns."

"..."

"..."

Both sisters were expressionless. After that exchange of questions and answers, they fell silent and stared at each other again.

A few seconds later, Ning Qing asked, "Where's Peach?"

"She's fine."

"When does your school start?"

"Tuesday."

The girl glanced at her sister. "Do you want me to ship your little scooter over? You can just say it. I have things to do."

At that moment, a cat's cry came through the computer.

A long-haired white cat jumped up beside the girl. Its round eyes roamed about as though it were looking for something. The girl tried to put it down but failed. The cat soon spotted Ning Qing on the phone screen and pressed its face right up close.

Its face filled Ning Qing's entire window.

"Wuwa~

"Woof~

"Ahh~~"

Not one of those sounded like a normal meow.

Ning Qing watched the cat. "Besides shipping the scooter, send Peach over too. Use Beloved Pets Air. I'll pick her up. There are also a few pots of flowers to ship. I'll send you their names and photos in a minute. Don't mix them up."

"..." Xiaoxiao thought that sounded like such a bother. After a few seconds of silence, she checked with her sister. "The little scooter and a few pots of flowers."

"And Peach. Peach has to fly with Beloved Pets Air."

"..."

"?"

"Didn't hear that."

"?"

"Peach doesn't want to fly. She wants to stay with me."

"?"

"I'm going to bed."

"..."

Ning Qing watched the screen go dark. With more than four thousand kilometers between Bai City and the Jade Capital, there was nothing she could do.

Still, she sent Xiaoxiao a message—

Ning Qing: Dawn and Dusk, Queen, Daisy

Ning Qing: [image][image][image]

Ning Ji: Got it

Ning Qing shut her computer and went out again. Zhang Suannai was still sitting by the door, though she had switched from sunflower seeds to pistachios. Ning Qing showed no reaction. She quietly went into the bathroom to wash up before cultivating and going to sleep.

The emergency light by the door cast a dim green glow. Now and then someone came up the stairs and woke the motion-activated light, illuminating the doorway.

Zhang Suannai's eyes shone.

July nineteenth was still a registration day.

Zhang Suannai ran over to tell Ning Qing, "You win. You can keep a cat in the dorm, and I'll try not to bother you. So, what kind of cat do you want?"

"None of your business."

"I can recommend a seller!"

"Stop bothering me."

"But, but, but..."

Zhang Suannai scratched at her neck in frustration.

This was unbearable.

With nowhere to vent, she turned her attention to their new roommate. She muttered under her breath, her gaze growing determined. "Let's see when you finally show up..."

She picked up her little stool, opened the door, and sat down outside to wait.

As she waited, she imagined what she would say when the new roommate arrived, how she would introduce Ning Qing, their terribly aloof roommate, and how she would tell her about the bet she had made with Ning Qing yesterday, which she had lost because the new roommate hadn't arrived until the next day.

She couldn't just tell the story. She had to make it entertaining.

Then, as their senior, she would naturally take them around campus and out for a meal together.

At one particularly amusing thought, she even laughed to herself.

Ning Qing came out to get a glass of water. She saw Zhang Suannai but gave no reaction, then went back to her room, sat at her desk, and opened the venerable Lord Ouyuangong's On Planes.

Lord Ouyuangong had been a professor at Ling'an Academy for many years. At over three hundred years old, he was someone even the academy's president would probably have to address with utmost respect as a venerable senior. Born in the Spirit Sect, he was now the world's foremost authority on research into their universe. Ning Qing had applied to Ling'an Academy because of him.

The vast, unfathomable universe, full of unknown mysteries, drew her in like a black hole.

So did this book.

Before long, she was engrossed.

She read straight through to noon.

Ning Qing had set an alarm.

Chen Shu had said she needed to eat lunch on time.

When she opened the door, Zhang Suannai was leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded, like a door guardian.

Ning Qing meant to walk past her, but hesitated as she drew near and stopped. "Going out for lunch?"

"I'm waiting for the new roommate."

"Wait this afternoon."

"That's true. Even if she's here to register, she'd go eat lunch at noon, right?"

Zhang Suannai quickly convinced herself, sprang neatly to her feet, and followed Ning Qing out. "When do you think this new roommate will get here?"

"I don't know."

"I'm not stopping until she shows up!"

"..."

Ning Qing said nothing more.

She figured it would probably take until tonight or tomorrow, perhaps even several days, for Zhang Suannai to realize no one else was coming to this dorm room.

July's heat began to ebb.

On July twentieth, after a night of heavy rain, the weather finally began to cool.

Registration had officially ended the day before.

Yesterday, Meng Chunqiu had taken Chen Shu and Jiang Lai on a long tour of the campus. They had found the sports field, the Martial Cultivation Hall, and the Body Cultivation Hall. He had also shown Chen Shu the Ancient Cultivation Building, where the Traditional Cultivation College usually held classes, though sometimes its classes met elsewhere, and other colleges sometimes used the building too.

Chen Shu joined a class chat group.

Spell Principles Studies had an official intake of forty students, but judging by the group, there seemed to be fifty or sixty people in it.

The group had been chattering nonstop since morning.

It was noisy as hell.

Chen Shu read through their messages one by one. While he was doing so, the class assistant posted an announcement.

It said formal classes would begin tomorrow. Today, their college would hold a unified entrance test from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., but there was no need to assemble and go together. Each student only had to bring a campus card or ID, enter Martial Cultivation Hall No. 2, and line up on the left. They could go any time within that hour.

There would also be a class meeting tonight in Room 105 of the Ancient Cultivation Building. They would receive textbooks, go over a few matters, and elect a class representative to make it easier for everyone to stay in touch. There was no mention of a class committee or anything like that.

It was much more relaxed than university management in his previous life.

"What a hassle."

Chen Shu still thought it was a hassle.

The entrance test was the worst part.

Just thinking about it was exhausting. He couldn't dodge it, and with how much of a genius he was, what if he caused a sensation?

"Ah..."

Better relax.

Chen Shu stretched long and hard.

He went to sit in the living room, only to find Meng Chunqiu pacing there in traditional clothes, folding fan in hand. His mouth opened and closed now and then, but no sound came out. He looked for all the world like a man trying to recite poetry and failing to find a verse.

Forget it...

Chen Shu went back to his room.

But he had barely sat down when a tap-tap came from the balcony door. Through the frosted glass in its upper half, he could make out a figure in traditional dress.

"Brother Chen, are you there?"

"What is it?"

"Autumn seems to have arrived today. How refreshing! Why don't we come out and each compose a poem on autumn? Wouldn't that be lovely?"

"I'm already asleep."

"What unfortunate timing."

The fan-waving silhouette moved away from the frosted glass.

Chen Shu scratched his head and wondered if he should have picked a different room. His balcony connected directly to Meng Chunqiu's.

He soon dismissed the thought.

For he heard Meng Chunqiu tap on Jiang Lai's balcony door too, followed by a gentle call:

"Brother Jiang, are you there?"

"Brother Meng, I'm a simple man..."

"Ah..."

Meng Chunqiu sighed and returned to the living room.

Of course. Jiang Lai's balcony didn't connect to Meng Chunqiu's, but it did connect to the living room balcony.

Chen Shu decided he would go bother him later too.