Wen Dong: “…A new roommate?”
He glanced back at Ke Lin with a complex expression.
Ke Lin, puzzled: “Auntie! Did you inform the wrong room? Our dormitory doesn’t have extra bed spaces, and no one is transferring.”
The dormitory auntie seemed to ignore Ke Lin’s question, not even looking in that direction. She said to Wen Dong, “Yes, your dormitory has an empty bed, right?”
Wen Dong: …
Ke Lin, frowning, stood up. “Where did we free up a bed? We’re all here, four of us. Did you make a mistake…”
Wen Dong immediately reacted, ushering the dormitory auntie out and closing the door behind him. Ke Lin got up, wanting to follow. However, Wu Mabo quickly realized the situation, grabbed Ke Lin, and hoarsely said, “Don’t go. It must be a mistake.”
Tong Xiaosong bit his lip and said, “Yeah, it must be a mistake. Don’t worry about it. Tell me about your place. I haven’t seen much, so could you describe it to me?”
Wu Mabo pushed Ke Lin to sit back in the chair. “Right! Tell Tong Xiaosong about your place. You have a game room, right? Tong Xiaosong definitely hasn’t seen that. Tell him!” Ke Lin, still a bit unwilling, looked outside. However, with these two insisting, he could only start explaining to them.
***
Outside the door:
Wen Dong and the dormitory auntie went downstairs together. He asked, “Auntie, just now in our room, how many people did you see?”
“Aren’t there three?” The dormitory auntie seemed a bit uncertain. She asked, “Did I see it wrong?”
Wen Dong choked up a bit, his voice hoarse. “In our dormitory… the one who didn’t come, what happened to him?”
The dormitory auntie chuckled, “How would I know? You all live together, don’t you know?”
Wen Dong took a deep breath, barely managing a few words, and then went back upstairs.
***
Wen Dong opened the door and entered the dormitory, forcing a smile. “I just asked, the dormitory auntie made a mistake, it’s not our dormitory.”
“I knew it.” Ke Lin breathed a sigh of relief. “But that dormitory auntie is really impolite. I asked her so loudly, and she didn’t even respond.”
Wu Mabo quickly livened up the atmosphere, “That’s probably because Dongzi is more handsome than you. The dormitory auntie likes his type.”
Tong Xiaosong pursed his lips and said softly, “I’m tired. I’ll go to bed first…”
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.
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Wu Mabo patted Ke Lin and laughed, “I’m going to bed too.”
Wen Dong said, “Da Lin, you should sleep early too. Tonight, I’ll continue to keep an eye on you. You slept quite honestly last night. Let’s see if anything happens tonight.”
Ke Lin yawned, “Then I’ll go to sleep too. Get into bed early; in case I really disappear in the middle of the night, you can discover it sooner.”
***
Late at night, sleep continued to elude them.
A rhythmic dripping sound echoed in the room.
Everyone saw it – water droplets falling from beneath Ke Lin’s bunk.
The dripping water seemed like a signal. Ke Lin lifted the blanket, revealing a corpse-like figure drenched in water. He got up, stiff and lifeless, and left.
At dawn, he returned once again, covered in corpse spots and thoroughly soaked.
***
When Ke Lin saw that it was Zhi Xian who had come to pick them up in a car, he was momentarily stunned.
Wu Mabo’s hand rested on Ke Lin’s shoulder as he chuckled, “Wherever Tong Xiaosong goes, Zhi Xian goes, really sticking close, huh?”
Ke Lin nodded absentmindedly and followed everyone into the car.
Tong Xiaosong sat in the front passenger seat, while the other three occupied the back. Fortunately, Zhi Xian had rented a business van with enough space.
Ke Lin’s home was in the neighboring city, a journey of over four hours by car.
Throughout the trip, everyone’s mood remained heavy. Zhi Xian, however, maintained a cheerful demeanor, occasionally making light conversation to ease the atmosphere, preventing Ke Lin from catching on.
***
As they approached Ke Lin’s home, he became increasingly silent. It wasn’t until the car passed by a lake that Ke Lin spoke up, “Do you guys really have to come to my house?”
Everyone was unsure how to respond.
Zhi Xian raised an eyebrow, “Why? Don’t want us to come?”
Ke Lin remained silent for a few seconds before saying, “Well, I’d rather you didn’t.”
Tong Xiaosong took a deep breath, looked into the rearview mirror, and deliberately asked, “Ke Lin, is it because of me? Do you think we’re not close enough, so you don’t want me to come to your house?”
Ke Lin opened his mouth, appearing somewhat flustered, “No, it’s definitely not that! How could we not be close when we share a dorm? I just don’t know how… Well, just come in!”
Ke Lin’s family ran a small business, and while it was a standalone house, it wasn’t luxurious—just ordinary.
The car parked in the yard, and everyone headed towards the entrance.
Ke Lin walked at the back, staring at the entrance of his home. For some reason, he felt a strong resistance inside, although upon careful consideration, he couldn’t pinpoint any valid reason for it.
Taking a deep breath, he approached and briskly unlocked the door. As the door swung open, what met their eyes was a funeral hall in black and white.
No one had expected to see such a scene as soon as the door opened, and they all stood frozen in place.
***
The funeral hall was striking, as it occupied the entire living room.
There was nothing redundant in the living room; the black and white interwoven silk fabrics were glaring. Funeral wreaths solemnly lined the walls, adding a touch of sorrow.
In the center of a raised platform, black and white photographs were displayed, freezing Ke Lin’s smiling face in the frames.
Beneath the platform, layers of chrysanthemums spread out like waves.
The chrysanthemums seemed to want to cover the entire living room, almost overwhelming the photographs with their abundance.
***
When they came to their senses, Ke Lin was already gone.
Wu Mabo’s hot tears rolled down, and he knelt at the doorway with a thud, shouting, “Da Lin!”
Wen Dong’s tears couldn’t be stopped as well. He gritted his teeth and knelt beside Wu Mabo, saying, “I’m sorry, Da Lin. I shouldn’t have forced you to come back.”
Tong Xiaosong stood still, staring tearfully at the photo, trembling with every sob.
Zhi Xian sighed. He embraced Tong Xiaosong, gently patting his back, while observing this somewhat strange funeral hall.
Wu Mabo wailed, “Da Lin, come out! Let’s go back to school! Da Lin, come out, let’s go back to school, Da Lin…”
At this moment, a woman’s voice echoed at the door.
“Who are you…”
With tearful eyes, they turned around to see a middle-aged couple standing at the door, looking at them with a mix of sadness and confusion.
Zhi Xian said, “They are Ke Lin’s roommates. Ke Lin didn’t go to school, so we came to find him during the break. Your door was open, so we came in, and we didn’t expect…”
Upon mentioning Ke Lin, the couple’s expressions became even more sorrowful.
“We are Ke Lin’s parents.” Ke Lin’s mother wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes. “Your timing is quite coincidental. If you had come one day later, this home would have been empty.”
“Empty? Why empty?” Wu Mabo, with tears streaming down, exclaimed, “If you move, what will he do if he wants to come home in the future!”
Wen Dong bit his teeth and hugged Wu Mabo tightly, with a choked voice, saying, “Don’t speak nonsense, Da Bo.”
Seeing them like this, Ke Lin’s parents also welled up with tears. Unable to speak, they quickly lowered their heads to calm themselves.
Zhi Xian asked, “May I ask, did something unexpected happen to Ke Lin?”
Ke Lin’s father steadied his emotions and said, “During his break, he went fishing by the lake. He encountered children drowning and went in to rescue them—the six children, were all saved except him…”
The sentence was left unfinished as tears began to fall.
No wayyyy!!!😭 Why die so suddenly?!💔
I know right just so suddenly ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽
Thanks for the update.
Wow that was a huge sucker punch to my heart 💔🫀Brb, I’m just gonna go and lie down somewhere in fetal position and cry my eyes out🥲😭ಥ‿ಥ (•́ ‿ ,•̀)
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
😢broooo😭😭😭😭😭😭
I am crying at 1 am because I am so sad this was sooo unexpected I never thought the other would suddenly make someone die. 😭😢😰
Wth so he’s really dead??? 😭😭 But the parents didn’t even bother to announce it to the school? Something feels off, I’m still hoping Ke Lin is alive and well 😭😭
WHAAAAAAA
Noooo!! 😭😭😭
No no no no. Absolutely not! I refuse!!
He cannot die. Zhi Xian is finding something strange . Do something
NOOO DA LINNN PLSSS COME BACKL NOO WHATT WHY DID HE DIE SO SUDDENLYY
So THAT was the emergency……
I seriously cried. Ke Lin is my favorite side character in this novel, he’s just so gentle and kind. I can’t believe the author killed him smh. My tears wouldn’t stop flowing 😭
So sudden? 🥹🥹 Rest in peace Ke Lin 😭😭🩷
Thanks for the chapters 🩷