Volume 1 Chapter 18

Volume 1 + Chapter 18: No Title

We hadn’t been talking long before both Qian Zexing and I started feeling sleepy.

As Qian Zexing spoke, her eyelids began to droop, and her little mouth yawned sleepily. Maybe the dorm’s air conditioning was set a bit low because her body instinctively moved closer to mine seeking warmth, and she pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

“Xiao Li, goodnight…”

Her eyes, half-open and half-closed, finally shut completely, and her mouth let out adorable little snores.

I should sleep too. Goodnight.

Patting her head, I closed my eyes.

The next morning.

We woke up under the watchful eyes of Shuo Yan and Su Guo.

They were standing on tiptoes on chairs, just tall enough to peer from the side of the bed and see Qian Zexing and me sleeping in an embrace.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Qian Zexing rubbing her eyes sleepily, and then two pairs of eyes blinking at me from the side of the bed.

Stare~

Stare~

“Wah! Boss, Old Four, what are you doing? You scared me.” My morning drowsiness was instantly scared away.

“You two slept in the same bed last night, huh? Stare~,” Shuo Yan said.

“And you were hugging while sleeping,” Su Guo added.

Only then did I realize that Qian Zexing was curled up in my arms like a kitten, her head tucked into the crook of my neck, her blue eyes still hazy with sleep, as if not fully awake.

“N-no, it’s not what you think! Let me explain.” I flusteredly pushed Qian Zexing away from me.

“Oh ho~ Old Two, you had a sleepover without inviting me? How sneaky,” Shuo Yan said teasingly.

“I… I also want to be with everyone…” Su Guo said somewhat shyly.

“Seriously, listen to my explanation!”

And so, I told them exactly what happened with Qian Zexing coming to talk to me last night.

“What! That Nalan Xia dares bully Old Three like this? We have to get back at her for sure.”

After hearing the reason, the boss, Shuo Yan, spoke indignantly.  

Shuo Yan was the dorm’s big brother. In the past, whenever anyone in the dorm felt wronged, she was always the first to gather people and reclaim face, making sure her “brothers” paid back any grievances. When trouble arose, she was also the first to help brainstorm solutions.

“Boss!” Qian Zexing, sitting nearby, looked at her with starry-eyed admiration.

“But… Can we beat Nalan Xia now? Rumor has it the presidents of the Taekwondo Club and the Martial Arts Club couldn’t last a single round against her,” I raised my hand to voice my opinion.

“Then we’ll seek legal aid!” Shuo Yan proposed another great idea.

“I heard Nalan Xia is a fair skinned, rich, beautiful girl (Bai Fu Mei). Buying the whole school wouldn’t be a problem for her. Even if we hire a lawyer, we might not win.”

Shuo Yan was shot down by Yu Li before it could officially take off.

The confident, energetic aura around the boss deflated. It’s true, our fighting skills aren’t as good, and we don’t have as much money. We really can’t win.

“W-what if we try to run away?” The little academic genius Su Guo timidly voiced her opinion at this point.

“Run away?” x3

The boss suddenly seemed to have an idea and said happily, “We can run away! Why didn’t I think of that? Xiao Su Guo is so smart~ Hugs~”

“Don’t bully Old Four, Yan-ge. Hurry up and tell us your plan.” I grabbed her mischievous hand.

“Ahem, don’t forget, my house is very close to the school. Old Three can hide at my place. Also, I have two phones. I can lend one to Old Three. Old Three can just leave her own phone in the dorm. Without phone tracking, there’s no way she’ll find Old Three.”

“Plus, it’s finals season now. Classes are almost all over, only some exams are left, about one to two weeks away. Old Three hardly needs to come to school and can study at my place.”

I thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.  

As expected of the boss.

Then Qian Zexing weakly raised her hand. “There’s one more problem. I’m penniless now. Can you guys lend me some money?”

Perhaps because the blonde loli was too adorable, Shuo Yan couldn’t help but tease, “Sure, just let me hug you and squeeze you a few times. Hehe.”

“Eek! Boss, you really do like guys!”

“Just kidding, seriously. I’m a true straight man among straight men.” Shuo Yan put her hands on her hips, defending herself.

Then she took out two cards from her pocket and turned to look at me and Su Guo. “Alright, let’s talk business. Last time, didn’t Nalan Xia give us two cards? I checked, there’s six thousand yuan total. I’ll transfer it to Old Three later. Do you guys agree?”

“Do you even need to ask? That money should belong to Old Three anyway.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

Last time, we were too optimistic, thinking Nalan Xia was a girl and wouldn’t do anything to Qian Zexing, so we accepted those cards. That’s why it was so easy for Qian Zexing to be taken away.

This time, we’ll protect Old Three properly. No one in this dorm gets bullied by outsiders!

“I don’t want that kind of thing, that woman’s money. I don’t even want to touch anything of hers.” Qian Zexing stared at the two cards on the table with disgust.

She had never hated a woman as much as she did now, detesting even her belongings.

“Then I’ll transfer six thousand to Old Three. I’ll take these two cards. That way, it won’t count as using Nalan Xia’s stuff, right?”

I smoothed out Qian Zexing’s disheveled blonde hair, comforting her.

Qian Zexing hesitated, then nodded. She felt bad causing everyone so much trouble.

After discussing the plan and details, Qian Zexing packed a few changes of clothes and some daily necessities into a backpack. She left her own phone in a drawer for safekeeping and put her SIM card into the phone Shuo Yan lent her.

Once everything was packed, before Nalan Xia could show up, we quickly set off for Shuo Yan’s house.

Shuo Yan’s house really was quite close, just a few subway stops away.

However, the stares from people on the subway were really piercing. Many pretended to be on their phones but kept sneaking glances at us. Others didn’t even bother hiding it, staring straight at the four of us, from head to toe. It felt extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, there were still kind-hearted older sisters who stood in front, shielding us from these perverted gazes.

But for some reason, these older sisters also liked to be hands-on, taking candy from their pockets and asking if we wanted some.

Although the older sisters were all very pretty, my intuition told me it was better to refuse.

After more than ten minutes, we finally exited the subway station and, led by Shuo Yan, headed towards her house.

Shuo Yan’s family was fairly well-off. The house was in a nice residential complex.

Along the way, many amiable uncles and aunts greeted Shuo Yan. It seems the boss was also very popular in the neighborhood.

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