Tong Xiaosong stayed at home for three days, and for the remaining time, he had to catch a bus. Before leaving, he secretly left some money under his sister’s pillow.
As he departed, his mother waved to an imaginary figure, saying they would come back together next time.
Tong Xiaoyan bid him farewell with a bitter smile.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at his mother, whose mind was unclear, and his sister, who had suffered so much. With red eyes, he left.
Walking once again on the path leading out of the mountains, he felt as if his sister’s figure was beneath his feet. Every step he took was soft but piercing.
Countless times he wanted to turn back and rush back, but reason told him it was impossible.
If he really went back, his sister would be completely ruined, with no hope for a better future.
***
The principal, upon seeing him return, mentioned that the subsidy had been applied for and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be approved next month. The principal then accompanied him to pack up his belongings in the dormitory and personally escorted him to the new dorm.
As it was the weekend, all three roommates were in the dormitory. The principal helped him arrange his bedding and turned to caution the other three, “Get along well, don’t bully the new roommate.”
The three of them nodded without much expression, their eyes revealing some curiosity as they assessed Tong Xiaosong.
The principal looked at the four and said, “Come on, introduce yourselves. Play nicely together in the future.”
“Wu Mabo.”
“Wen Dong.”
“Ke Lin.”
“Tong Xiaosong.”
The principal smiled, “You guys chat, I’ll leave. Get along well!”
As the principal left and closed the door, the atmosphere became somewhat quiet. Tong Xiaosong smiled somewhat awkwardly at the other three. He opened his bag and took out the sweet potatoes his sister had given him.
“Do you guys eat this? I brought it from home; it’s delicious.”
“Thanks.” Wu Mabo reached out first, took one, and flipped up to the upper bunk across from him, showing agile movements that indicated a good athletic aptitude.
Ke Lin took two and smiled, “This is a good treat; I like it.”
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.
It was the first time Tong Xiaosong had encountered such friendly people, and he was pleasantly surprised. He hurriedly said, “If you like it, take more!”
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The dormitory was the same as before, with two bunk beds arranged side by side, and four desks placed by the window.
The difference was that the new roommates seemed… very friendly.
Even though they were currently doing their own things, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward, there was no malice.
He looked at his bed curtain; the other three didn’t have bed curtains, only he did.
In the previous dorm, he used the curtain to block the view, and Zhu Fan and the others would mock him, calling him effeminate and afraid to be seen.
At that time, he insisted on having the curtain because those three often bullied him. Although the curtain couldn’t hide much, it gave him a sense of security.
Now, with such friendly new roommates, he probably didn’t need to block it anymore…
***
At night, Tong Xiaosong lay on his bed, and the other three, after finishing their wash-ups, quietly got into their respective beds. There was no arguing, no noise.
In the darkness, they lay quietly for a while.
Suddenly, Wu Mabo spoke up, “Hey, Tong Xiaosong, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
Tong Xiaosong was startled, quickly sat up, and anxiously said, “You, go ahead.”
Wu Mabo turned over on the upper bunk across from him, lying on his side and looking at Tong Xiaosong. He asked, “Do you really not know how those three people in your dorm died?”
With that statement, the dormitory fell silent once again.
Tong Xiaosong widened his eyes, and his heart gradually sank.
He slowly lowered his head, the slightly curled hair naturally falling over his eyes. In a low voice, he said, “I… I don’t know.”
“But I heard you guys played the ghost game. Was it because of the ghost game?” Wu Mabo’s voice was full of curiosity. “Are there really ghosts? Ah… I really want to try it. What are ghosts like?”
Tong Xiaosong’s breathing became increasingly rapid. Ghosts are frightening, and people… are also frightening.
He said in a frightened and low voice, “N-no, don’t try it. Don’t try it.”
At this moment, Wen Dong’s voice came from the upper bunk, sounding somewhat helpless, “Da Bo, you scared him. Don’t be so casual. I heard those three people died quite miserably. You haven’t seen it, so, of course, you’re not afraid. Tong Xiaosong lived in the same dorm with them before. You’re just looking for trouble!”
Tong Xiaosong snapped out of his thoughts, feeling a bit uneasy. Was Wu Mabo really not intentionally bringing up those matters?
Wu Mabo insisted, “What’s wrong with that? Those three deserved to die. I heard they bullied Tong Xiaosong, poured water on him in the restroom, and even beat him up. Now that something happened to them, shouldn’t Tong Xiaosong be happy?”
“I… I’m not happy!” Tong Xiaosong hurriedly clarified, speaking seriously, “Death is not a good thing.”
Wu Mabo sneered, “You’re just too kind. If it were me, I wouldn’t need a ghost game to kill them. I’d smash their heads directly. People who dare to bully me haven’t been born yet!”
Ke Lin questioned, “Bullying? Tong Xiaosong, you’ve been bullied before? Don’t worry; our dorm is very friendly. No one will bully you. Da Bo can be a bit rough in his words sometimes, but he means no harm.”
Tong Xiaosong pursed his lips, feeling more at ease. “Yeah.”
Wen Dong asked, “Why didn’t you tell the teacher or school leaders when you were bullied?”
Tong Xiaosong whispered, “I did, but I couldn’t change dorms, and I got beaten up again.”
Wu Mabo pounded the bed indignantly, “Then fight back! If it were me, I’d break their heads. If anyone dares to bully you, come and tell us. We’re not afraid of being expelled. We’ll help you fight back! Damn it, there’s no law and order!”
Tong Xiaosong couldn’t help but laugh, and after the laughter, even he was surprised.
So, this is what happiness feels like.
Wen Dong exclaimed, “Did Tong Xiaosong just laugh? I thought you never smiled.”
“Yeah.” Wu Mabo didn’t mince words, “I thought I had a particularly gloomy roommate. Tong Xiaosong, why don’t you cut your hair? It’s so long that I can’t see your eyes. As the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. With them covered, you seem a bit strange, and I feel like you’re particularly gloomy.”
Tong Xiaosong tugged at the slightly curly hair on his forehead and swept it aside with his hand, saying, “I… I’ll go cut it tomorrow. Do you guys know where it’s cheap to get a haircut? I used to get it done in the village.”
The dorm fell silent for a moment. Ke Lin hesitated before speaking, “Actually, you don’t have to go outside. I can do it, but it won’t be as fancy as those shapes they make in the shops.”
Wu Mabo chimed in, “Let Da Lin do it for you. Tong Xiaosong, Da Lin’s pretty good. If you don’t trust him, I’ll go with you tomorrow. We can have him cut both of our hair, even if it turns out ugly, we’ll be ugly together.”
Tong Xiaosong couldn’t help but smile, feeling grateful for Ke Lin’s consideration to save him money, and Wu Mabo’s offer as well.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, he said, “Thank you, it’s okay. Let Ke Lin do it. Tomorrow, could you help me cut it a bit?”
Wen Dong joked, “My hair is also long. Da Lin, help me cut it too.”
Ke Lin teased, “Fuck, my hair is long too. Who will help me cut it aswell?”
Wu Mabo volunteered, “I’ll help you!”
“I don’t trust you!” Ke Lin said, “Dong Zi, can you help me? I don’t have high expectations, just enough to go out.”
Wen Dong readily agreed, “Sure, that’s settled then. It’s pretty late; let’s get some sleep. We have classes tomorrow.”
Tong Xiaosong lay back in his bed, feeling so happy that he found it hard to fall asleep.
The new roommates were even friendlier than his upperclassmen, who, though not hostile, were distant and rarely spoke to him.
These new roommates were really good; not only friendly but also caring for him.
At this moment, Wu Mabo sniffed and asked, “Tong Xiaosong, I’ve been wanting to ask since you arrived, why is there a smell like something burning on you? I’m not discriminating, just genuinely curious because I’ve noticed that the smell seems to have intensified, and it doesn’t really seem like body odor.”
Tong Xiaosong’s face turned pale, and he stammered, “I-I have? There’s a smell of burning on me?”
Ke Lin kicked the upper bunk and said, “Why do you talk so much nonsense?”
Wu Mabo hurriedly explained, “I’m just curious. He’s wearing new clothes, and it’s not a foul odor. It actually smells quite nice. It’s no big deal…”
Tong Xiaosong, with a pale face, muttered, “I don’t know…”
Wu Mabo said, “Well, if you don’t know, you don’t know. It might not be the smell on you; it could be the smell in the dorm. Maybe Da Lin and Dongzi got tired of studying and decided to burn their books.”
The upper bunk, Wen Dong, turned around, smiled, and replied, “How did you know? We just burned the physics book today.”
With laughter and jokes fading away, the gentle sounds of breathing filled the dormitory as one by one, its occupants drifted off to sleep.
Tong Xiaosong, wide-eyed and uneasy, dared not sleep because he knew where that smell was coming from.
Carefully, he shifted his body to the edge of the bed and lowered his head to look underneath. There, the gleaming copper basin was unmistakably placed beneath.
He covered his mouth, then lay back down.
When packing up, the principal had asked about the basin. Did he still need it?
He said no, and he watched as the principal disposed of the basin.
Now, this copper basin had unexpectedly reappeared.
That’s the wedding gift. Yo ur scaring ur baby dude!. Thanks for the translation ^0^
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
I’m so glad the new roommates are nice!
Time to give up trying to throw the copper basin away haha
I don’t know why there is such less comments. Anyway I feel like our ML is burnt in the old school when there is fire two years ago. So the burning smell on our Songsong’s body cause he is always with him, just hope our songsong can be happy soon
it might be more than that, Gu Xuan said the something about the paper effigy the basin and that the old building was the source, he was also raised in an orphanage, so how does he have all the money to throw around and a house of his own now? its like the ghost brings good luck and Gu Xuan had the ghost before and was using the good luck to be an asshole.