Chapter 73: A Roommate’s Suspicion
At first, it felt kind of fun to have a secret identity out of nowhere. Using the excuse of this so-called “sister,” Li Mu managed to score a free meal and also played a prank on Wang Chen, a guy he’d had problems with before.
However, being lusted after by other men...it's kind of disgusting.
Once the singing contest was over, this “sister” identity needed to completely disappear from everyone’s mind.
For now, he had to find a way to make people stop paying so much attention to it.
When he got back to the dorm, his mind was still full of thoughts, how did things get to this point?
Why had he started acting more feminine?
When did cross-dressing stop feeling like such a big deal?
Why did he end up with this "sister" identity in the first place?
Thinking about it carefully, it was probably all Lin Xi’s fault, right?
“Li Mu, that person was your sister, huh?”
For some reason, Li Mu noticed that Chen Zhihao had been acting friendlier lately. Before, with his usual cold expression, he never got this kind of attention from Chen Zhihao.
There were six students in their dorm, including Li Mu. The short guy, Zhao Pan, was the one he was closest to.
Zhao Yu, Chen Zhihao, and the recently tricked Wang Chen didn’t talk much to him.
There was also a roommate who never showed up, Liu Menglong.
That guy had no interest in studying. He’d sleep through morning classes and go straight to the internet café after school.
Because he got along well with the dorm manager, he didn’t even have to show up for the nightly roll call.
“Yeah,” Li Mu replied.
“She said she was your girlfriend at first,” Chen Zhihao said with a laugh. “I thought she looked a lot like you.”
Li Mu didn’t respond. He just sat down, took out the test paper handed out earlier that day, and started working on it.
Normally, they were supposed to finish these test papers during night study sessions, so they could ask the teacher questions if needed.
But after slacking off for a while, Li Mu had gotten lazy and didn’t even bother going to class at night anymore.
Luckily, their school wasn’t too strict. In most other schools, third-year students weren’t just doing night study, they had full-on evening classes.
Li Mu had only done two questions when he suddenly noticed a shadow behind him, blocking the light. He looked up and saw Chen Zhihao standing there.
“What are you doing?” Li Mu asked.
Chen Zhihao looked around like he was doing something sneaky. After making sure none of the other roommates were there, he leaned in and asked in a low voice.
“Your sister... she’s not actually you in girls’ clothes, right?”
“What are you talking about?” Li Mu lowered his head and kept writing, but goosebumps had already popped up on his back.
Yeah, there were lots of holes in the story, but how could he figure it out so fast?!
Can’t he just pretend not to know?!
If he said it out loud, how were they supposed to keep living in the same dorm?!
Li Mu tried to hide his panic by pretending to focus on the paper, but his legs were already shaking a little.
“It’s not true?” Chen Zhihao asked, scratching his head awkwardly. “It’s just... your sister showed up so suddenly. And at the time, the door was locked...”
“Yeah.” Li Mu knew he had to say something now.
His brain raced. After a few seconds, he calmly replied, “I went to the bathroom at the time. I don’t know why she locked the door, maybe she felt unsafe being alone in a boys’ dorm.”
That explanation... should work, right?
Li Mu’s pen quietly stopped as he listened carefully for Chen Zhihao’s response.
But just then, the dorm room door opened. Zhao Pan and Zhao Yu walked in, laughing and chatting. Chen Zhihao didn’t say anything, he just turned around and went back to his bed.
Maybe… he believed the story?
Li Mu finally relaxed.
“Brother Mu,” Zhao Pan came over, calling him in a friendly way. “The Top Ten Singers contest is coming up, want us to go cheer for you?”
“No need…” Li Mu shook his head, then quickly remembered and added, “Someone else is going instead. I’m not going.”
“Oh yeah, Yu Fan said he’s going with your sister,” Zhao Pan muttered, a little disappointed. “I’ve known you for so long and never heard you sing. I thought I’d finally get the chance.”
“There’ll be other chances.”
Li Mu answered casually. Then, he noticed a familiar smell of smoke in the room again.
He sighed. Even though he was used to the smell by now, he still worried that secondhand smoke might harm his health.
And just because he was used to it didn’t mean it smelled any better.
He looked back at Chen Zhihao, who was smoking, but didn’t say anything. He simply went back to working on his test paper.
The room quieted down a little. The only sounds were from Zhao Yu and Zhao Pan playing the mobile version of Minecraft.
The four regular dormmates weren’t loud people. But the peace didn’t last long. Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the door.
All four of them turned to look.
Wang Chen walked in with a miserable look on his face.
“Brother Wang, not going to the gym today?” Zhao Pan asked. He was short and had a soft, gentle personality, but he got along well with most of their classmates and roommates.
No one bullied him just because he looked a bit feminine or acted kindly.
But Wang Chen didn’t answer. Instead, he walked up to Zhao Pan, rolled up his sleeves, flexed his biceps, and asked, “Cool, right?”
Zhao Pan looked impressed and even reached out to pinch the muscles. “Brother Wang, when will I have muscles like yours?”
But that didn’t make Wang Chen happy. He turned to Zhao Yu and asked, “What do you think of my muscles?”
“They’re great,” Zhao Yu replied, confused. “What’s wrong with you today?”
The room went quiet for a moment. Then Wang Chen pulled over a chair and sat down between them with a long sigh.
“I sent some photos to a few girls in our class.”
“Is your 'harem protagonist' aura activating?” Zhao Yu teased. He was into anime and had a quiet but cheeky personality. He gave a mischievous grin and added, “Did lots of girls want to go out with you?”
Zhao Pan looked curious too.
But Wang Chen sadly shook his head. “Most of them said my muscles are too big… very gross…”
Li Mu, who had been eavesdropping, almost burst out laughing.
“So working out only attracts men?” Zhao Yu laughed out loud. “Who told you to eat so much protein while working out? You've built up such exaggerated muscles, people probably think you’re training for a competition!”
Wang Chen saw how they were reacting, pulled out a cigarette, and sighed deeply. “I’m quitting the gym. I’m going to start losing weight.”
“Brother Wang, what happened?” Zhao Pan asked.
“For love,” Wang Chen said seriously. He stood up and walked over to Li Mu, then took a few snacks out of his pocket and tossed them onto the desk. “Here, have some snacks while you study.”
Li Mu took them without hesitation. Then, without looking up, he said calmly, “My sister doesn’t like guys who smoke.”
Wang Chen’s smile froze.
“Alright! I’ll quit!” he said, and immediately shoved his cigarette butt into the Coke bottle Chen Zhihao used as an ashtray.
Seeing him give up so easily for love, Chen Zhihao hesitated, unsure of what to say.