Chapter 345: Roommate (2)
Chapter 345: Chapter 345: Roommate (2)
To be honest, although Su Qing didn’t have much of an impression of the educated youth at Lihua Village’s Youth Training Institute, she knew they were a contentious bunch. The female educated youth, in particular, were notorious for their intense backstabbing and scheming. The brigade leader and village party secretary had often rushed over to the Youth Training Institute to mediate their disputes.
She had also heard Aunt Zhao complain that more than half of the conflicts the brigade leader had to mediate in the village all year round came from the Youth Training Institute. In other words, the place was just too much trouble. Because of this, the villagers all consciously or unconsciously kept their distance from the educated youth, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire one day.
This bit of information, gleaned from the original owner of her body, combined with the incident involving Tan Qingjuan, was enough to give Su Qing a poor impression of the educated youth from the Lihua Village Youth Training Institute.
Naturally, Su Qing had no intention of getting too close to this Xu Xianhui, who had also come from the Youth Training Institute.
Su Qing had no intention of getting close, but Xu Xianhui thought differently. She could tell at a glance that Su Qing was living a very comfortable life. Although Su Qing’s reaction to her was a bit cold, Xu Xianhui wasn’t discouraged in the slightest. ’Friendships are built over time, after all,’ she mused. ’Sure, Su Qing got into Beijing University, but she’s still just an ignorant little girl from the village. She must’ve hit some dumb luck to be living so well now. But a girl like that can only be so worldly. If I just put in a little effort, I’m sure I can get her to trust me completely.’
Thinking about the massive debt she owed, Xu Xianhui pursed her lips slightly. When she later saw Su Qing exchange a hundred yuan for meal tickets all at once, her resolve hardened.
After getting the meal tickets, Su Qing and her two friends got an order of braised pork, an order of pork ribs stewed with green beans, an order of scrambled eggs with tomato, and an order of stir-fried greens from the cafeteria window. They also got four bowls of rice and found a table to eat at happily.
During the meal, Li Huan brought up Xu Xianhui. "Qingqing, that Xu girl is so annoying. I just can’t stand her."
"It’s fine. I don’t know her well, and we’re not in the same year. We probably won’t see each other much anyway." Su Qing didn’t give Xu Xianhui much thought. She was just an irrelevant stranger, their only connection being that they had once stayed in the same village.
Sun Xiaowen, who was beside them, nodded. "Yeah, it’s best to stay away from her. I feel like the way she looks at Su Qing is like..."
Li Huan quickly asked, "Like what?"
"Like she’s looking at a plate of braised pork." After a moment’s thought, Sun Xiaowen offered what she felt was the most fitting analogy.
"PFFT HAHAHAHA! Oh man, Qingqing, just how tempting are you?" Hearing Sun Xiaowen’s analogy, Li Huan burst out laughing and grabbed Su Qing’s shoulder. "Let me see, what part of you looks like braised pork?"
Amused, Su Qing swatted Li Huan’s hand away. "Even if I were a plate of braised pork, she’d still need the ability to take a bite."
Actually, Su Qing quite agreed with Sun Xiaowen’s analogy. Her intuition told her that Xu Xianhui wanted something from her, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t a pushover.
The three of them finished their lively meal, strolled around campus for a while, and then headed back to their dorm.
Before they even reached the door, the three of them heard arguing inside the dorm room.
"This is someone else’s bed! You can’t just switch beds without their permission. That’s going too far! No, you can’t do this," an indignant voice said.
"What’s the big deal? It’s just a bed, and it’s not even yours, so why are you so worked up? I have poor health and need to breathe more fresh air. This room is so small. If you don’t let me switch and I have trouble breathing and get sick, are you going to pay for my treatment?"
"How can you be so unreasonable?" another girl’s voice said. "Even if you’re not well and need to switch beds, you should at least talk to the person first! Who just goes and switches someone’s bed without saying anything?"
"None of your business. What’s it to you?"
Hearing this exchange, Su Qing and her friends quickened their pace and opened the dorm room door. They saw a girl trying to lift the mattress pad off Su Qing’s bed while two other girls were trying to stop her. Su Qing’s quilt and pillow had already been moved to the bottom bunk on the right side of the door.
It was clear that everyone assigned to the room had arrived. Except for the bottom bunk to the right of the door, all the other beds were already made with bedding. However, only these three girls were in the room at the moment.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Li Huan was the first to rush over, slapping away the hand of the girl who was pulling at the mattress pad. "Is this your bed? What do you think you’re doing, touching it?"
Caught off guard, Song Yufang’s hand was slapped away by Li Huan. She said angrily, "What are you doing? Hitting someone as soon as you walk in."
"You deserve it for moving someone’s things without their permission," Su Qing said coldly, taking two steps forward.
The two girls who had been blocking Song Yufang breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the others return. One of them asked, "Is this bed one of yours?"
Su Qing nodded at the two girls who had intervened. "Thank you for what you did just now. This is my bed."
"Your bed?" Song Yufang frowned as she looked at Su Qing’s clothes. The other girl was dressed quite well. Her original plan had been to switch the beds and then give the owner a little money to settle the matter. ’Once she takes the money,’ she thought, ’how could she have the nerve to ask to switch back?’
But clearly, this girl wasn’t short on cash.
"I’m not in good health and need fresh air. My bed is a bottom bunk. Let’s switch with your top bunk, okay?"
Song Yufang wore an expression as if Su Qing were the one getting the better end of the deal. In reality, it had nothing to do with her health or needing fresh air. She just despised the bottom bunk right by the door, where people would be constantly coming and going, and everyone would surely sit on her bed. Su Qing’s bed, on the other hand, was a top bunk by the window. You could even see the lake at Beijing University from there. The view was great, which was the real reason she wanted to switch.
"No," Su Qing refused flatly.
"Hey, how can you be like that? Have you no compassion?" Song Yufang grew anxious. "Can’t you see that I’m a sick person?"
"I can’t." Who was Su Qing? Her Wood Ability was now at the Fifth Rank. She could tell how healthy a person was just by sensing their life force. And this supposedly "unhealthy" girl in front of her was as strong as an ox.
"I have a doctor’s diagnosis certificate," Song Yufang said. "You’re not a doctor, so of course you can’t tell."
"I don’t care if you have a diagnosis certificate from God himself," Su Qing retorted. "I’m not switching, and that’s final. Put my quilt and pillow back exactly how you found them."
Thankfully, Sun Xiaowen was diligent. When she had made the beds earlier, she had wiped down all the bed frames in the room, so there was no dust on them. Otherwise, Su Qing’s quilt and pillow would have had to be taken apart and washed.
Song Yufang was so angry she shouted, "You have absolutely no spirit of unity and camaraderie!"