Automatic check-in? Was the student dormitory so advanced? Yue Xingwen leaned over, looked at the cute little child appearing in the tablet computer and could not help but said, “This library is so high-tech. They use tablets to get everything done, they also use smart computers to check-in for the dormitory?”
While operating the computer quickly according to the guidelines, Jiang Pingce replied, “The library has enabled fully AI management, with fingerprint-identified tablets in all areas. This library uses tablets for billing settlement in all areas such as student’s canteen and shopping plaza. In every function area underground from -1st to -5th, there isn’t any human employee in sight.”
This kind of cold smart building always gave Yue Xingwen the uncomfortable feeling that everyone was being monitored by a pair of eyes. It was as if they were experiment subjects that had been put into the library building, guinea pigs in cages.
Yue Xingwen frowned and tried to ignore this uncomfortable feeling as he continued to look at the tablet computer.
Jiang Pingce had opened the dormitory list, from area A to area H, there were a number of available dormitories marked, followed by the option of ‘random match’, and there were almost 100 or so available dormitories in each area.
“Which area do you like?” asked Jiang Pingce.
“I always choose C when I encounter questions I don’t know on the exam,” Yue Xingwen laughed, “I’ll choose area C.”
Jiang Pingce’s long and slender finger tapped at area C, and the dormitory distribution map of the entire area C appeared on the screen, from C1 all the way to C999. There were 999 dormitories in area C alone, how many people would there be in the entire dormitory area?
As if sensing Yue Xingwen’s doubts, Jiang Pingce quickly calculated in his mind and said, “With a total of 7,992 students’ dormitory in 8 areas, including 6,000 quadruple rooms and 1,992 double rooms, the number of beds in the dormitory areas is 27,984, which is not yet full.”
“More than twenty-seven thousand beds?” Yue Xingwen took a deep breath, it was hard to imagine that in reality, more than 20,000 university students had disappeared inexplicably. The whole society would be chaotic.
Jiang Pingce selected an available double room dormitory from area C. A text prompt box popped up on the tablet: “Confirm the selection of C-77 double room dormitory, 400 points have been deducted. Fingerprint door lock matching is successful, please record your roommate’s fingerprint.”
Jiang Pingce looked back at Yue Xingwen, who immediately cooperated by placing his thumb on the fingerprint recognition area.
A prompt popped up again on the tablet computer: “Hua’an University Chinese Department, Yue Xingwen, fingerprint entry successful. Your dormitory number is C-77, double room dormitory, roommate Jiang Pingce, confirm?”
Yue Xingwen tapped the confirm button.
A smile appeared on the Q-version Dormitory Manager, You You’s little face: “Student Jiang Pingce and student Yue Xingwen, welcome to the student’s dormitory. Before moving into the dormitory, please read the <Student Dormitory’s Regulation> carefully, those who violate the rules will be forcibly expelled.”
Yue Xingwen looked up at the large screen.
<Student Dormitory’s Regulation>
- It is forbidden to use any field-of-study skill books and props in the dormitory area;
- Strictly abide by the schedule, the access control will be closed at 11:00pm every night, the lights and networks will be off at 11:30pm, and the wake up alarm will be rang at 7:30am in the morning;
- Please do not make loud noises in the dormitory area;
- It is prohibited to exchange the room in private; To change the dormitory room, please go to the registration office to officially change the fingerprint lock;
- The use of illegal appliances such as rice cookers and electric blankets is strictly prohibited in the dormitory area;
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
We’ll invite all the students to develop healthy habits of going to bed early and getting up early.
Tef Wlcukfc: “……”
Ktf vbbg kjr mibrfv ja 11:00qw, atf ilutar jcv cfakbgxr kfgf mea boo ja 11:30qw, jcv atfs tjv ab kjxf eq ja 7:30jw. Ktfrf gfueijg gbealcfr wjvf atfw offi jr lo atfs kfgf yjmx lc eclnfgrlas jujlc. Ktfs ibbxfv ja fjmt batfg klat rbwf wlzfv offilcur.
Aljcu Ulcumf aegcfv boo atf ajyifv jcv rjlv, “Jbwf bc, ifa’r ub ab atf vbgwlabgs.”
Upon entering the C-area, there was another more open space, and once again divided into many corridors with dormitory room numbers like C1-C50 marked above them. Both of them entered the second corridor and found dormitory C77 without incident.
Jiang Pingce tapped his finger on the smart lock door, and with a ‘click’ sound, the dormitory door was opened.
They walked into the dormitory one after another. This double room dormitory was about 20 square meters, with a bed on each side, a writing desk and wardrobe beside the bed. The dormitory had its own bathroom, which was very spacious, with a separate wet and dry bathroom and a very large wash basin. There was a balcony in the innermost part of the room to hang clothes, but the balcony windows were still covered in paint and they could not see the world outside.
There was a tablet computer on each desk that connected to the school’s network. An electronic clock hung on the wall opposite the bed, displaying in red letters: “Friday, 19:30pm, room temperature 27 degrees.”
The day Yue Xingwen came to the library, he wore a very thick down jacket and cashmere as it happened to be snowing heavily. However, his down jacket was missing when he took the Faculty of Medicine’s course. At this point, wearing a beige cashmere sweater with thermal underwear underneath made him hot and sweaty in this 27 degrees temperature, and he could not see where the air conditioner remote was.
“There should be an isothermal system in the dormitory area.” Seeing the fine beads of sweat on Yue Xingwen’s forehead, Jiang Pingce turned around and said, “Let’s go to the shopping plaza to buy some clothes first, the bathroom is empty and we also need to buy daily necessities.”
“Okay, I’d like to go to the other places around the library too.”
Both of them walked out of the dormitory and went to the elevator that could take them straight to any floor of the library at the end of the corridor.
Yue Xingwen could not help but complain, “ This library is like a maze, and the scene changes as we walk through every door. If there are no signposts, I will be confused.”
Jiang Pingce replied, “There is a separate space inside each door, the dormitory is divided into 8 areas, just like the game that is divided into 8 servers. The students from different dormitory areas may not be able to meet. The library building has more than 20,000 students, but it does not seem crowded because of the partition.”
Yue Xingwen nodded thoughtfully, many things in the library could be explained better in many terms of the game? He did not dwell on these anymore, and they took the elevator together to the shopping plaza on the -5th floor.
This -5th floor was like a large commercial center with a wide range of clothing stores, food, daily necessities supermarkets, cosmetic stores, and there were also KTV and cinema?
Yue Xingwen looked in the direction of the cinema and asked, “Who would have the leisure to come here to sing at KTV and watch a movie?” But on second thought, when the students were tormented by various exams, maybe they could also watch a movie to relax?
Jiang Pingce glanced at the price in the shopping area and said, “The prices are pretty cheap.” He led Yue Xingwen to the entrance of a clothing store, “Change your clothes first. It’s too hot to wear the sweater.”
Yue Xingwen replied with a helpless expression, “I was still wearing my down jacket when I came in, and I don’t know where it’s gone to.”
There were no sales clerks in the clothing store, it was all self-service shopping with points, and the rows of clothes were neatly hung on the hangers according to the size.
Yue Xingwen followed Jiang Pingce into a men’s clothing store, and picked out a 185 white short-sleeved t-shirt and thin jeans. Then, he went to the fitting room to change into his new clothes. He had fair skin, with such a simple and refreshing outfit, coupled with his sunny and handsome face, he was really full of vigor and vitality when he smiled.
Jiang Pingce stood next to the mirror and looked at him, nodding his head. “Not bad. How about buying another set?”
Yue Xingwen thought for a moment, then turned around to pick out a light blue sportswear, and conveniently picked out the same dark blue sportswear and a pair of black sneakers for Jiang Pingce, compared the size of the outfit, and then he smiled and said, “This one looks good. You should buy a sportswear too, how inconvenient it is to run in a shirt and leather shoes when you encounter an escape course later.”
Jiang Pingce did not like to wear sportswear, but Yue Xingwen was right so he did not refuse. Taking the clothes, he looked at the size and then turned to the tablet computer at the door to scan and pay with his points.
All of these clothes only cost 100 points, which was not too expensive. Yue Xingwen walked over to the tablet computer, watching him skillfully swipe the points. He smiled and patted Jiang Pingce’s shoulder. “Thanks brother. I’ll spend your points first, and then I’ll make it up to you later when I earn more points.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jiang Pingce looked back to the other party and asked, “Is there anything else you want to buy?”
“Let’s buy some toiletries, there’s no need for anything else. It’s not like we’re staying here permanently.”
Then, they walked into the nearby daily necessities supermarket and picked out cups, toothbrushes, slippers, towels, and shower gels. Jiang Pingce also picked up two sets of pajamas along the way.
Yue Xingwen pushed the shopping cart from behind, and seeing Jiang Pingce seriously putting things into the cart one by one, he could not help but sigh, “*sigh*. It’s really like when we first started our campus life. I remember you came to the campus to report with only a suitcase, no bed sheet, quilts or anything like that, and the campus didn’t give them out either so I took you to the supermarket to buy them.”
In their freshman year, they had just met at the hometown meeting after the new students orientation. Yue Xingwen took the initiative to be friends with Jiang Pingce so they exchanged their phone numbers and WeChat. Then, Yue Xingwen, as a friend, enthusiastically took Jiang Pingce to the campus’ supermarket to buy daily necessities.
At Hua’an University’s supermarket, Jiang Pingce pushed the shopping card while Yue Xingwen walked in front to help pick something for him, and sometimes turned back to ask him if he needed this or that.
The sunny and bright smile of the 18-year-old made an extraordinarily deep impression, as Jiang Pingce traveled thousands of miles away to a strange city, leaving his hometown for college, so far from home for the first time, but because he had a friend like Yue Xingwen, his heart was no longer lonely.
After all these years, it was like the past had reoccurred to them and they had bought daily necessities in the supermarket again. The difference was, this time in the library, Yue Xingwen became his roommate.
The corners of Jiang Pingce’s lips were slightly curved as he said, “Thanks to you. I didn’t know where to go shopping when I walked into the dorm at that time and saw the empty wooden bed.”
“I guess you didn’t prepare the bed sheets and quilts, because I didn’t prepare that either. I remember that night, both of us ran to the supermarket three consecutive times before we bought everything, in big and small bags, just like moving house.”
Recalling the past events of a few years ago, Yue Xingwen smiled joyfully. However, when he thought of the fact that both of them were now in the library, his smile faded and he coughed lightly, saying, “Just buy something cheap, we still need to save the points.”
“En.” Jiang Pingce quickly bought the daily necessities. When passing by the snack area, he grabbed a bag of potato chips and put them in the shopping card, which was Yue Xingwen’s favorite flavor.
These daily necessities cost a total of 100 points.
Fortunately, cups, toothbrushes, shower gels and the like could be used for a long time, and there was no need to buy them again later.
They returned to their dormitory room with their big bags and cooperated to lay out the bed sheets and quilts.
Jiang Pingce arranged the cups, toothbrushes and other things neatly in the bathroom, and by the time they finished, it was already 9:30pm. Yue Xingwen slumped on the stool, dropped his head and said, “So tired… Since the library is so smart, can’t it prepare the sheets, quilts, toothbrushes and such ready for us? Do we have to spend points for it?”
Jiang Pingce said calmly, “The library wants us to re-experience the ritual of new students. Have you noticed this library building is like a university that exists in another world?”
Yue Xingwen nodded, “En, I also think it’s strange. What tutors, research groups, credit systems, as well as compulsory courses, elective courses. If these courses were not too perverted, it feels like coming to a strange magical university.”
Seeing Yue Xingwen hanging his head, fighting the sleepiness, Jiang Pingce walked over and said gently, “Don’t think too much. You can go to take a shower first and get some sleep. There are no classes tomorrow on Saturday, so we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Yue Xingwen was indeed very tired. When he heard this, he got up and went to the bathroom, opened the shower and took a hot shower.
These five days in the cardiovascular ward, not to mention taking a shower, they had a battle royale every night, and it was really exhausting.
Now that the hot water washed away his exhaustion, Yue Xingwen changed into his newly bought pajamas, randomly choose a bed and sat down, glancing at the clock on the wall and said, “It’s almost ten o’clock, I’m so sleepy, I’ll sleep first ah.”
Jiang Pingce handed him a new towel and said, “Dry your hair before you sleep, or you’ll get a headache.”
Looking at the other party’s serious look, Yue Xingwen had to helplessly take the towel and said, “Okay, okay, okay, I listen to you.”
He quickly wiped his hair, not caring if his hair was messed up or not. Then, after his black hair was rubbed into a bird’s nest, Yue Xingwen got under the quilt and yawned, saying in a daze, “Pingce, I’ll sleep first, you should sleep early too.”
“En, good night.” Jiang Pingce said softly.
It had been a tiring five days of four consecutive days thriller night battle royale, and analyze the murderer during the day. His tight mind finally relaxed, Yue Xingwen closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep within a minute.
Jiang Pingce sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him, his gaze gradually softening down.
Yue Xingwen was at the top in the debate. Last year, he also led the Hua’an University’s team to win the championship at the National College Debate Competition. He stood on the stage and spoke eloquently, often catching his opponent’s loophole in a sentence and chasing the opponent down so hard that his opponent became speechless.
Such a radiant person, when he fell asleep, had a very well behaved appearance. His soft black hair fell down to cover his forehead, his long, thick eyelashes gently covered his eyelids, and his body nestled in the quilt, without moving.
Jiang Pingce thought that he would roll over and kick the quilt, but he did not expect him to be so well behaved in his sleep.
Jiang Pingce saw him shrink into a ball in the bed, and a smile could not help but surface on his lips as he stepped forward to help him tuck in the corner of the quilt, turning off the dormitory’s headlamp with his hand and turning on only the desk lamp on his side.
Being able to live with him as a roommate was the only thing worth being happy about since arriving at the library.
In high school, they had been each other’s strongest rivals, competing with each other for the first place for a whole year. After the division of liberal arts and sciences, they never collaborated at any activities due to the fact that they rarely saw each other.
But Jiang Pingce knew in his heart that Yue Xingwen had always cared about him, just as he had always cared about Yue Xingwen as well. Every time the scoreboard was announced, they would subconsciously look for each other’s names next to them.
This time, both of them met in this crisis-ridden library, for the first time, they joined hand and stood by each other’s side as ‘teammates’.
thanks for the chapter!! 💕
Both of em r so cute
My boys 🤍 Then Pingce with Xingwen, he talk so much, I wait moment when they start communicate with other people and Ping e will just “…”
Thank you for new chapter
Thanks for the chapter ~
Thank you for the chapter ❤️❤️❤️
Ahhh I’m so excited; they’re actually teammates!!! They are going to be way to op lmao
Ty for the chapter ❤️
So cute
Thank you for the chapter!
omg they act like an old married couple reminiscing on the first time they moved into their house 😭😭 this domesticity is killing me i cant
Pleaseeee! Why are they so freaking sweet I’m gonna die😭❤💀this reminds me a bit of Card Room(one of my most favorite books)
it’s by the same author! great book
They’ll be soon boyfriends fr fr
I am surprised nobody make the “they are roommate” joke lol
And they said they were roommates~
I’m glad to see that Pingce shares the same sense of camraderie to Xingwen, just as he does to him! Their friendship is truly strong :]
IM CRYINGG THEYRE SO FLUFFFYYY !!! GOOD THING THEY BECAME TEAMMATES <333