Chapter 177: The Roommates
Li Mu had already figured out her new roommates' personalities.
Wang Ruoyan was like an energetic husky, full of energy and a bit wild.
Lin Yuanyuan was a bit shy, but still easy to get along with and had a good sense of humor.
Chen Li was quiet and gentle, and often got teased by Wang Ruoyan.
"So, you had a good time staying in the girls’ dorm last night? I was actually quite worried you'd be bullied." Yu Fan asked with curiosity.
"How could I possibly be bullied?"
Even though Li Mu wasn’t as strong as a grown man anymore, she was still 170 cm tall. A tall height among girls. Honestly, it was already good that she didn’t pick on the others!
She and Yu Fan were standing in the hallway outside their classroom, leaning on the railing and chatting casually.
"How was it when you got home? How did your family react?"
Li Mu knew that Yu Fan had some issues with his family. But normally, it was hard to notice. He always hid his darker feelings behind that warm, sunny smile of his.
"It was okay, pretty much the same as before."
Yu Fan stretched and yawned. "Doesn’t really matter. After the spring exam, I’ll go help Uncle Chen Yi deal with ghosts. And then in September, I’ll start college anyway."
"What are you going to do after the spring exam?"
"Stay at home, I guess?" That was Li Mu’s honest thought. She just wanted to spend some quiet time with Xiao Jing, for a while at least. After all, Xiao Jing had once been her younger sister.
"Mm."
"You don’t look too well today. Didn’t sleep much?"
When he said that, Li Mu’s face immediately dropped.
Last night, Lin Yuanyuan and Wang Ruoyan were gaming together until 1 a.m. Even though they tried to keep it quiet, it still kept Li Mu awake.
Maybe it was also because she wasn’t used to the new environment. But either way, she didn’t sleep well at all.
The class bell rang. They both walked into the classroom, one through the front door, one through the back.
So far, it seemed like no one had found out she was living in the girls' dorm.
Well... except for Chen Zhihao. That guy had probably guessed already, but he didn’t say anything and kept quiet about it.
The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, when Wang Chen, who was sitting in the back, suddenly spoke up.
"Li Mu, Chen Zhihao says our dorm should all go have a meal together."
"A meal?"
"Yeah. Since you and Yu Fan moved out, Chen Zhihao thought it’d be nice to have a dorm reunion."
Li Mu didn’t really feel like going, but since they had once shared a dorm, it would feel a bit rude not to join.
"Okay, sure. When?"
"After class tonight."
"Can we change the time? I have plans tonight." She had dinner plans with her new roommates, to help fit in better.
The teacher arrived just then, so the conversation about dinner paused. The teacher began handing out test papers, starting the usual boring routine of answering questions.
They didn’t have to hand in the papers after finishing. In the next class, the teacher would give out the answers and go over the harder questions.
Li Mu was now more focused on studying. Even though she still didn’t know how to solve a lot of the problems, she could always ask her deskmate, Wu Lei, and usually get an answer.
Wu Lei could be a bit stubborn sometimes, but he was both smart and kind. Rumor was, if he didn’t get into his dream university, he planned to join the army.
On Tuesday afternoons, Li Mu didn’t have to go to the music room.
As soon as class ended, Wang Ruoyan came over and said, "Let’s go, let’s go! If we don’t leave now, there won’t be any seats left!"
Hey, don’t act like we’re super close when we’re in class, okay?
Lin Yuanyuan and Chen Li were walking over, chatting and laughing as they waited for Li Mu to pack her things so they could go out for dinner together.
Li Mu quickly finished packing up, just about to leave, when she suddenly felt Wang Chen tug on the corner of her shirt.
She turned around and saw him looking at her with eyes full of envy.
“Since when did you start hanging out with the girls?”
She paused for a second. “We’ve always gotten along pretty well.”
Before she could finish her sentence, Wang Ruoyan suddenly hugged her arm and started pulling her out of the classroom. Lin Yuanyuan and Chen Li followed right behind them.
Wang Chen stared blankly at Li Mu's back as she left, and muttered to himself, “So looking kinda girly has this kind of benefit?”
“Since when did Wang Ruoyan and Li Mu become a thing?” Wu Lei was also curious and turned to Wang Chen. “Are they dating or what?”
“How should I know?”
Wang Chen had thought Li Mu was probably in some kind of “bromance” with Yu Fan, but now suddenly “he” was surrounded by pretty girls like a normal guy in a relationship.
Well, he didn’t even count Lin Yuanyuan, but both Wang Ruoyan and Chen Li were among the prettiest girls in class.
No wonder Li Mu said “he” couldn’t come to the dorm dinner tonight. “He” was actually going out to eat with a bunch of girls.
And now it made sense why “he” rented a place off-campus. If you have a girlfriend, of course living off-campus is way more convenient than staying in the dorm.
………………………………………………
“Can you please stop hugging me like that?”
Li Mu looked helplessly at Wang Ruoyan. “Look, Yu Fan is up ahead, go hug him instead.”
“I'm afraid you'll be jealous later.” Wang Ruoyan laughed and grabbed Chen Li’s arm with her other hand.
Walking on the side, Lin Yuanyuan, who had managed to avoid getting grabbed, caught the hidden meaning in Wang Ruoyan’s words and asked in surprise.
“Wait, are you saying Yu Fan is Li Mu’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah, didn’t you know? He doesn’t even play games with us much after class anymore, just keeps hanging around Li Mu.”
“True... I always thought Li Mu was a guy, so I never thought about it that way.”
Li Mu kept a straight face, showing no emotion as the girls openly talked about her private life.
At least, this girl Chen Li was better. She was quiet, gentle, and not too nosy. She just seemed... easy to get along with.
“Chen Li, didn’t you write a story about Li Mu and Yu Fan? Let Li Mu read it!”
“A story?”
Li Mu turned to Chen Li with interest, but saw the girl’s face turn red as she shook her head again and again.
So cute.
If Li Mu’s mind was still fully male, no matter what body she had, she probably wouldn’t be able to resist the idea of dating Chen Li. But now, she just thought Chen Li was adorable.
“Well, now that we know what Li Mu really is, there’s no need to write that kind of romance story anymore.”
Any nice feelings she had toward Chen Li just disappeared instantly.
What a cruel girl!
Lin Yuanyuan, still walking beside Li Mu, added, “Chen Li is actually a popular web novelist for girls! She writes on her phone every night.”
“No one really reads it... I’m not popular.” Chen Li replied in a soft voice.
The four of them kept chatting as they walked to a restaurant in the nearby urban village. When they looked inside, Li Mu spotted their homeroom teacher, Yang Ye, again.
He seemed to really like this restaurant. Last time she came here with Wang Chen, she also ran into him.
“Hey! Girls’ dorm dinner party, huh?” Yang Ye greeted them with a smile. “Come sit with me, I’ve got space here.”
Wang Ruoyan happily walked over and used a disposable chopstick to grab a piece of meat from a plate on his table.
“Li Mu hasn’t been doing well in her studies lately. You three are doing great, so help her out when you can,” Yang Ye said, still smiling as he watched them all sit down, clearly still keeping an eye on Li Mu’s grades.
“Okay.” Chen Li nodded quietly and sat down obediently.
Wang Ruoyan ran off to order food, while the others didn’t hold back and started eating from the dishes on the table.
Yang Ye didn’t mind. He was always easygoing. He even let students come to his office to eat and drink for free if they wanted to.