Chapter 174: Almost Exposed
The girls’ dorm wasn’t as scary as Li Mu had imagined. At least for now, everyone in the dorm got along quite well.
Also, the three roommates were pretty good at keeping secrets. All afternoon, Li Mu didn’t hear anyone talking about her moving into the girls’ dorm.
Even her old roommates just thought she had gotten permission from the teacher to rent a place outside.
Leaving the music room, Li Mu followed behind Yang Ye and Yu Fan, feeling lucky. If even one of her roommates had been a gossip, she could have ended up socially ruined in no time.
“You two are singing better and better lately.”
Yang Ye had his hands in his pockets, walking casually without any teacher-like behavior. He smiled and asked Yu Fan, “Why does it always feel like Li Mu becomes a different person when she sings?”
“Maybe because she really loves singing?”
“What a shame. If I had known two years ago, I would’ve recommended her for the city singing competition.”
He turned around and looked at Li Mu, who seemed lost in thought.
“So, how was it getting along with your roommates at noon?”
“It was okay...”
He never asked why Li Mu used to be listed as male and now had a female ID. He just smiled and said, “Lin Yuanyuan is pretty caring. Yu Fan, you don’t have to worry so much about Li Mu anymore. You should move back to your dorm, right? Your dad’s been calling every day asking when you’re going home.”
When Yu Fan heard about his family, he looked a little annoyed. “Got it.”
They walked out of the main building, and Yang Ye turned toward the teacher’s dorm. But Yu Fan suddenly stopped and looked at Li Mu.
“What?” Li Mu felt a bit confused.
“Want to eat at the cafeteria together?”
"Don't we always eat together...?"
She mumbled as she followed behind Yu Fan.
On the way, they passed the small shop and bought two bottles of cola. Then they went to the cafeteria and found an empty seat.
There weren’t too many people around, but just as they started eating, Wang Ruoyan came over with Lin Yuanyuan, laughing and sat next to Li Mu.
“See? I told you the most handsome guy in our class has already been won over!”
Wang Ruoyan smiled as she held Lin Yuanyuan’s arm and teased Li Mu.
Yu Fan just felt a bit awkward and didn't reply, while Li Mu coldly glanced at Wang Ruoyan. The slightly softened icy expression she had when interacting with Yu Fan had now hardened again.
“By the way, Li Mu, do you want to have dinner together tomorrow night? It’ll be like a welcome dinner from our dorm.”
“A welcome dinner?”
“Actually, it’s just because Ruoyan wants to eat something nice,” Lin Yuanyuan joked with a smile.
“You don’t know how much she loves to eat. After every big meal, she cries about wanting to lose weight and forces us to join her.”
Hmm... She didn’t expect that. Li Mu glanced at Wang Ruoyan but couldn’t see any part of her that needed to lose weight.
She hadn’t really talked to Lin Yuanyuan before, but after today, she thought this girl had a pretty nice personality.
“Let’s go to that stir-fry place outside school tomorrow!”
Wang Ruoyan got really excited when she started talking about food.
“Their black pepper beef is amazing!”
Li Mu had a guess which place she meant...
She remembered it was the same restaurant where she had tricked Wang Chen before, and almost caused trouble.
“There’s also a good fried skewer place nearby.”
The two girls beside her were chatting away like sparrows, not stopping for even a second.
Li Mu looked up and met Yu Fan’s eyes. They both saw the same helpless look in each other’s gaze.
After dinner, Yu Fan returned to the boys’ dorm to pack his things and get ready to move out. Meanwhile, Li Mu walked back toward the girls’ dorm with the two girls.
Wang Ruoyan held onto Lin Yuanyuan’s arm, looking really close, while Li Mu walked quietly beside them.
Speaking of which… were those two girls a couple?
She didn’t know why, but when girls walk arm in arm or hold hands, it always looks like friendship. But if two guys did the same thing, most people would probably think they were gay.
Li Mu slowly followed the two girls to the entrance of the girls’ dorm. Just as she was about to walk inside, someone suddenly called out from behind.
“Li Mu!”
Her heart skipped a beat. She turned around and saw Zhao Pan and Chen Zhihao walking together from the direction of the small shop. Just in time to see her about to enter the girls’ dorm.
No way.
Was her luck really this bad?
She swallowed nervously and quickly stepped back out of the dorm doorway. Then she quietly said to Wang Ruoyan, “Something came up. You two go ahead without me.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I can handle it.”
Li Mu turned and walked toward Zhao Pan and Chen Zhihao.
Stay calm. She had been through worse.
“Brother Mu, Brother Mu!” Zhao Pan happily ran up to her. “Why did you suddenly move out? I heard you're living off-campus now?”
Chen Zhihao followed behind him, quietly looking at Li Mu, who now showed no signs of looking like a guy.
“Yeah, I rented a place in the urban village,” Li Mu said firmly. To make it more believable, she added, “It’s 500 yuan a month, and pretty spacious.”
“Then just now…?”
“I sneaked into the girls’ dorm with Wang Ruoyan, just to check things out.”
She tried her best to show a “guy-to-guy” kind of grin, the kind men would understand. But she really couldn’t force a smile at all.
Zhang Pan, on the other hand, revealed the lewd smile, hooked his arm around Li Mu's shoulder, and clicked her tongue in amazement.
“Well, with your looks, even if you walked into the girls’ bathhouse, no one would probably stop you. Too bad we don’t even have a bathhouse here.”
“Yeah, that’s a shame,” Li Mu nodded perfunctorily.
But then she noticed Zhao Pan and Chen Zhihao were looking at her in a weird way. Her heart sank, something didn’t feel right.
Did she overact? Was it too fake?
“Brother Mu, you don’t usually act like this...”
Even someone like Zhao Pan, who was a bit slow, could tell something was off, let alone Chen Zhihao.
Normally, Li Mu always looked cold and uninterested in everything. Sure, most guys are into girls, but Li Mu had never acted so obviously before.
Their suspicious eyes made her feel extremely awkward, like her toes were trying to dig a hole in the floor.
She tried to keep a straight face, but she was clearly nervous and couldn’t say a word.
Seeing how awkward things were, Zhao Pan tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
“Brother Mu, you’re not actually living in the girls’ dorm now, right?”
“......”
Li Mu took a step back, already feeling the urge to run away.
Chen Zhihao gave Zhao Pan a look like, "Are you stupid?" and sighed.
“She’s just close with Wang Ruoyan. Probably went in to help her with something.”
“Really?”
“Yes!” Li Mu quickly nodded.
She hadn’t thought much of Chen Zhihao before, but now she found him surprisingly smart and likable.
It felt much easier being around someone with high emotional intelligence.
Though Chen Zhihao’s face looked a bit more complicated now.
From Li Mu’s reaction, he was starting to realize…
So... she really is a girl?