Chapter 344: Roommate (Part 1)
Chapter 344: Chapter 344: Roommate (Part 1)
The dorm room wasn’t very large. As soon as you walked in, you could see two old-fashioned, all-wood bunk beds on either side. The aisle between them was just over a meter wide, and a desk was placed right against the windowsill, making the space feel even more cramped.
On either side of the door, there was a metal rack for things like meal containers and toiletries, and a cabinet divided into eight cubbies for students to store their personal items.
Li Huan surveyed the dorm and said with relief, "Good thing we only need to come back here to sleep at night."
’If I had to stay in a dorm like this all day,’ Li Huan thought, ’I’d go crazy.’
Su Qing smiled and patted Li Huan’s shoulder. "Alright, enough sighing. Let’s hurry up and make our beds. After we’re settled, we still have to go to the cafeteria to get our meal tickets."
"Oh, right," Li Huan said, nodding quickly.
The two of them each chose a top bunk by the window. Just as they finished laying down their mattress pads, the door opened. A girl with thick eyebrows and big eyes walked in. Seeing Su Qing and Li Huan, she smiled and said, "Well, hey! I thought I was the first one here, but it turns out some people were even earlier. Hi, I’m Sun Xiaowen. Looks like we’re roommates."
"Su Qing."
"Li Huan."
Su Qing and Li Huan nodded back at Sun Xiaowen. She looked at the remaining bunks, chose the bottom one under Li Huan, then looked at Su Qing and smiled. "So you’re Su Qing?"
Su Qing was a little baffled. ’Am I that famous?’
Seeing Su Qing’s confused expression, Sun Xiaowen laughed. "When I was registering just now, the student in charge mentioned that our economics department has this year’s top scorer from the college entrance exams, someone named Su Qing. I can’t believe I’m actually in the same dorm as you! This is great!"
Before Su Qing could say anything to Sun Xiaowen’s words, Li Huan spoke up proudly, "Of course! My Qingqing is super smart."
"’My’?" Sun Xiaowen asked curiously as she started unpacking her luggage, glancing between Su Qing and Li Huan.
Su Qing smiled. "Li Huan is my cousin."
"Oh, so you’re cousins," Sun Xiaowen said, the realization dawning on her. Then she added with envy, "You two are amazing, both getting into Beijing University and even ending up in the same dorm. That’s so great."
Sun Xiaowen’s words made Li Huan beam. She started chattering away with Sun Xiaowen, and the two of them hit it off quite well.
Through their conversation, Su Qing learned that Sun Xiaowen was from Yun Province. She originally had a job back home, but after getting into Beijing University, she gave it to her new sister-in-law. Her family was well-off; they were all factory workers, and her parents and older brother treated her very well.
When she found out Su Qing and Li Huan were from Beijing, Sun Xiaowen was very envious. "That’s so nice. You can go home on weekends. If I want to see my parents, I’ll have to wait for winter break."
By the time the three of them had finished making their beds, the other five roommates still hadn’t arrived. Sun Xiaowen said, "I’m going to the cafeteria to get some meal tickets. Do you guys want to come?"
"Sure! Qingqing and I were planning to go anyway. Let’s go together," Li Huan said, nodding eagerly.
The three of them headed to the cafeteria together, talking and laughing along the way. The line at the meal ticket window was very long, filled mostly with this year’s new students.
The trio got in at the back of the line. Li Huan craned her neck to look at the queue ahead of them and said, "I estimate it’ll be at least twenty or thirty minutes before it’s our turn."
Su Qing smiled. "That’s perfect. It’s almost noon anyway. We can get our meal tickets and have lunch right here in the cafeteria before heading back."
Li Huan grinned. "Good point."
Sun Xiaowen also smiled. "Speaking of food, I’m starving. I saw on the blackboard earlier that they’re serving braised pork belly today, plus a few other hearty dishes. Su Qing, Li Huan, why don’t we order some nice dishes to celebrate our first meeting? What do you think?"
"Yeah, sounds good!" Li Huan was the first to raise her hand in agreement.
Su Qing, naturally, had no objections.
Just then, a female student standing in front of them overheard and turned to look at the group. She studied Su Qing closely and asked with some uncertainty, "Are you Su Qing? The Su Qing from Lihua Village?"
Su Qing hadn’t expected to run into someone who knew her in the Beijing University cafeteria, especially someone who knew she was from Lihua Village. She couldn’t help but size up the female student before her.
’Uh, I don’t recognize her.’
"You are..." Su Qing racked her brain for a long time but still couldn’t recall who this person was.
"It really is you, Su Qing! You’ve changed so much! If it weren’t for your eyes and hearing your name just now, I wouldn’t have dared to recognize you on the street," Xu Xianhui said, staring at Su Qing’s face in astonishment. "Your scar... it’s healed? There isn’t even a trace of it. How did it heal?"
Xu Xianhui was utterly shocked. Back in Lihua Village, this Su Qing had been the most pitiful person around. Not only was she living under someone else’s roof, but she was also disfigured. She had endless chores to do every day, never got enough to eat, and was so sallow and emaciated she looked like a refugee. She was so thin it felt like a gust of wind could blow her away.
But the Su Qing before her now was like a completely different person. Not only was the scar on her face gone, but she had also become so beautiful. And that outfit—she had seen it in the department store, and it wasn’t cheap.
’How strange. How did a poor little thing from a village in the Northeast suddenly change so drastically and even get into Beijing University?’
It was impossible not to be curious.
"What, someone gets injured and they’re not allowed to heal? Besides, who are you? My Qingqing doesn’t even know you." Hearing Xu Xianhui’s words, Li Huan immediately got defensive. All the Li family members knew about Su Qing’s past. Although Su Qing didn’t seem to mind, the family was always careful not to bring up those matters—firstly, for fear of upsetting Li Wan, and secondly, because they didn’t want Su Qing to feel self-conscious about it.
As the person closest to Su Qing, Li Huan might have seemed carefree and thoughtless on a normal day, but when it came to Su Qing, she was fiercely protective.
Li Huan’s words made Xu Xianhui’s expression stiffen for a moment before she forced a smile. "Oh, I’m sorry. I was just so surprised. Su Qing and I were from the same village. I was one of the sent-down youths there."
With that, Xu Xianhui turned to Su Qing. "You remember the Youth Training Institute, right? My name is Xu Xianhui. I don’t know if you remember me. I went back to the city last summer."
Su Qing gave a faint smile. "Sorry, I don’t recall."
Before she transmigrated, the original owner of her body had been busy with chores from dawn to dusk, so much so that she barely knew the villagers, let alone anyone from the Youth Training Institute. The only sent-down youth she remembered was that Tan Qingjuan, and that was only because the girl was always showing off in front of her. As for after she arrived, most of the youths from the institute had already left, and she had only really dealt with Tan Qingjuan.
As for anyone else, she truly had no impression of them.
Su Qing’s words left Xu Xianhui feeling a bit awkward. She quickly laughed it off. "No problem! If we weren’t familiar before, we can get familiar now. We’re both from the same place, so we should keep in touch. I’m a year ahead of you, so if you need help with anything, just come find me."
"Thanks."