Dorm Inspection

"How long has Shi Su even been in the Student Council? He's so busy at night he doesn't even have time to play games with us..."

As Ding Yiheng spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the extra person at the table.

Seeing that the person had his head down, drinking soup, he hurriedly poked Cen Xia and whispered, "Holy crap, why did you bring him to eat with us? Didn't you say you barely knew him?"

Cen Xia slapped his hand away. "Talk all you want, but don't touch my waist."

"We didn't know each other before, but now... we're friends." He followed Ding Yiheng's gaze. Lin Jiandu was sipping the soup in his bowl.

After classes ended at noon, Lin Jiandu had asked where he was, and he'd casually replied that he was on his way to the cafeteria. Then... lunch for two had become lunch for three.

Ding Yiheng: "...Fuck, they all seem to be looking at our table."

Cen Xia looked around. Quite a few people were indeed sneaking glances at Lin Jiandu.

Seeing Ding Yiheng looking so uneasy, as though he were sitting on pins and needles, Cen Xia reassured him, "It's fine. We're just background scenery. No one will notice us."

"...Why do you sound so used to this...?"

"Because this world is one giant melodramatic novel. They're the protagonists, and we're all NPCs."

Plenty of people believed lies, but when someone told the truth, people took it as a joke. So Ding Yiheng looked as though he'd heard a joke.

Still, Ding Yiheng really was comforted by his words. He even picked up his chopsticks and flashed a peace sign at the cameras taking sneaky photos.

"Does this count as riding the protagonist's spotlight?"

"It's fine. They'll crop you out."

"They'd crop me out when I'm this handsome?"

"...It's people like you they're cropping out."

Lin Jiandu hadn't noticed the undercurrents swirling around him. After finishing his soup, he raised his face and smiled at Ding Yiheng.

Ding Yiheng: "...Quick, quick, get my emergency heart pills!"

Cen Xia ignored him and used his chopsticks to put the last chicken drumstick from his own bowl into Lin Jiandu's. "Eat it."

The corners of Lin Jiandu's eyes drooped. "I'm a little full."

He'd thought Cen Xia had just been saying it casually last night when he said he'd help him exercise. Who would have thought he'd actually keep his word and already be pushing him to put on weight?

Cen Xia showed no mercy. "Hurry up." It was only one drumstick. How much room could it take up?

Looking aggrieved, Lin Jiandu set about gnawing on the drumstick.

Ding Yiheng watched with his mouth agape. It took him a long moment to find his voice. "Are you... raising a child?"

Cen Xia thought for a moment and nodded. "Pretty much."

Raising someone delicate and soft into a "brawny" man like him really was much like raising a child. Both were long processes.

Lunch took longer than usual because they had Lin Jiandu, who didn't like eating, with them.

On his way back for his midday rest, he received a message from Ding Yiheng, whom he'd only just parted ways with.

Ding Yiheng: Bro, the two of us are on the forum.

A link followed. Cen Xia clicked it and was taken to a post on the forum.

The post contained sneaky photos of Lin Jiandu, with the two of them appearing in a few.

Cen Xia: ...You call this being on the forum?

Ding Yiheng: We're basking in the protagonist's halo (worship.jpg)

It was hard to imagine that Kanlitel had dorm inspections too.

There had never been any before.

Cen Xia had just finished showering when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to find four or five people with golden badges pinned to their chests.

Shi Su waved to him from the back of the group.

The person in the lead said, "Dorm inspection."

Cen Xia was baffled. "Dorm inspection? Since when?"

The Student Council member sighed. "Since this morning."

Cen Xia stepped aside to let them in. As Shi Su passed him, he whispered, "I'll tell you guys later."

Once inside, the group gave the place a cursory look around.

Someone asked as a matter of routine, "Are you Cen Xia?"

"I am."

"Are you the only one here?"

"...Yes."

The person nodded. "All right, let's go."

The group went on to knock on the door next door.

Cen Xia was completely bewildered. What on earth had happened?

It wasn't just Cen Xia's building. People in the other buildings were inspected too.

In the group chat for the four of them:

Ding Yiheng: Did you guys get a dorm inspection? If they hadn't been wearing badges, I would've thought it was some new way to prank people.

Fang Sheng: Yeah. When they got to mine, they asked where my roommate was... I said he'd gone to inspect dorms too, but they didn't believe me and insisted I call him.

Shi Su: I've only got two more to inspect, then I'm done. Wait for me!

Cen Xia: They're just going through the motions, and not even putting much effort into it.

Ding Yiheng: No, my roommate brought someone back to stay the night, and the Student Council took both of them away.

Fang Sheng: ?

Cen Xia: ?

Ding Yiheng explained: That special-admission student he's fucking...

Shi Su: ...

Once Shi Su had finished inspecting the dorms, he explained in the group chat.

"There was a meeting this morning. It wasn't just the Student Council; people from the Disciplinary Group came too. I heard that the head of the Disciplinary Group doesn't get along with the president and often puts obstacles in our Student Council's way. Our department head also said that the head of the Disciplinary Group had been busy with something else for a while, but now that it's done, he's going to start making trouble for our Student Council."

"He not only complained to the higher-ups that the president hadn't supervised things properly and that lots of people were secretly breaking the rules in the dorms, but also said the president was abusing his power for personal gain... Anyway, the gist is that he wants to remove the president from his position. Right after the meeting this morning, the school board made the decision to add dorm inspections at night. From now on, the Disciplinary Group will be stricter with its approvals too."

After listening to the two voice messages, Ding Yiheng wailed in the group chat: No! Why are they doing this to us!

Cen Xia: Will they inspect every night?

A while later, Shi Su replied: Probably not. The Student Council doesn't have enough people.

The next second, Shi Su: The department just called a meeting...

Ding Yiheng: Good thing my cousin didn't manage to talk me into joining. You're way too busy.

After Shi Su sent a crying sticker, he didn't reply in the group again. It was obvious he wasn't allowed to use his phone during the meeting.

Kanlitel was in chaos everywhere that night.

When Cen Xia woke up, he saw that Ding Yiheng had sent a message to the group after three in the morning: My roommate's back, but he doesn't look too happy.

Everyone had been asleep by then, so no one had replied.

At class that morning, Cen Xia noticed the dark circles under Ding Yiheng's eyes.

"Didn't you sleep?"

"As soon as my roommate got back, he threw a fit. He was on the phone in the living room, cursing the whole time..." Ding Yiheng whispered, "Cursing the president."

"He made so much noise that I didn't really fall asleep until after five."

Cen Xia whispered back, "Wasn't it the school's decision? Why was he only cursing the president? Not the Disciplinary Group?"

Ding Yiheng coughed twice. "My roommate's from that upper circle, on the second level of the pyramid. His family's company works with that person from the Disciplinary Group."

Cen Xia nodded in understanding. It was another matter of taking sides.

"Then how did they deal with his situation?"

"You mean him and the special-admission student? I'm not sure about that, but from what I heard him cursing about on the phone, he probably had to write a self-criticism." At that, Ding Yiheng couldn't hold back his laughter. His roommate went around with his nose in the air every day and found fault with everything he did. Who could have guessed he'd see a day like this?

"They kept him in the Student Council until he'd written a self-criticism of over a thousand characters. Otherwise, would he only have come back at three in the morning?"

It wasn't until after one class that Ding Yiheng found out why his roommate was so angry. Clutching his phone, he laughed so hard his features disappeared.

"Yesterday, the Student Council asked him what his relationship with that special-admission student was, and he insisted they were dating. If he hadn't admitted it, the punishment would've been worse. Now he's practically a laughingstock in their circle, hahahahaha."

Cen Xia was puzzled. "Why didn't he say they were friends?"

"Hmm..." Ding Yiheng thought for a while. "Maybe because friends don't take their pants off and hold each other."

Cen Xia was deeply shocked.