Chapter 4: Swapping Dorms Part 2

With legends clustering together, even the plain name “Xu Yinian” at the end of the list began to look extraordinary. It was no wonder everyone assumed Xu Yinian was part of their circle.

Looking at the countless guesses about what kind of “big shot” she might be, Xu Yinian was at a loss for words. It was purely the power of the original plot that forced these three together; she was just the tool meant to be sacrificed!

The heiress was too mysterious. Aside from the feat of donating a building, no one knew anything else about her.

Refusing to give up, Xu Yinian scanned every reply but still came up empty-handed. She only knew that the girl hadn’t arrived at the dorm yet. In fact… she might not come at all. It was highly likely she would function like the fourth “tool” roommate in the original book.

Xu Yinian sighed and gave up for now. Just as she was about to close the forum in disappointment, a post caught her eye:

#Seeking a kind-hearted Junior Sister who likes first-floor garden views and isn’t afraid of bugs to swap dorms with me.#

Swapping dorms?!

Wasn’t this exactly the “get out of jail free” card she needed to stay away from the plot? It was practically being delivered to her doorstep!

Suppressing the excitement in her heart, she clicked on it.

It turned out the person was a Senior Sister who was deathly afraid of insects. After being forced into a first-floor room, she had been plagued by all sorts of bizarrely shaped bugs. She had used every pesticide available, but nothing could solve the root of the problem: the garden right next to her external balcony.

Applying for a room change through official channels was difficult because her reason wasn’t considered an “unavoidable hardship.” The Counselor had simply told her that dorms were in short supply and she would have to find someone to swap with on her own.

X University frequently had students changing majors, so the management of dorms was relatively relaxed. Aside from freshmen who were required to live on campus, inter-major and inter-grade swaps were permitted for all other undergraduates.

Once people heard her reason, they avoided her like the plague. Who would want to swap with her? Consequently, she had been persistently posting on the forum for almost a year, right up until the new students arrived.

At the end of the post were her contact details and a promise of a “generous reward.”

It wasn’t that Xu Yinian wasn’t afraid of bugs, but compared to the “wolf in front and tiger behind” situation in Room 503, she suddenly felt like she could handle a few insects.

Wasting no time, she added the Senior Sister. Everything went smoothly. The other girl was as enthusiastic as parched earth receiving rain; every sentence was filled with polite honorifics, as if she wanted to worship Xu Yinian as a savior.

However, the Senior Sister suggested they meet for dinner to discuss the details. She wanted to take Xu Yinian to see the room in person before she made a final decision.

Desperate to move, Xu Yinian completely forgot the “I’m not eating dinner” excuse she had used to brush off Shen Ruoshuang. she immediately agreed to the Senior Sister’s invitation.

Perhaps Xu Yinian had spent too long on the balcony reading the forum. When she tiptoed back inside, she found that Shen Ruoshuang was no longer in the room. She didn’t know where she had gone.

It didn’t matter. As long as she successfully swapped dorms, Shen Ruoshuang, Ji Yan, and all that drama would have nothing to do with her! With that thought, her courage swelled to unprecedented levels.

X University was vast, and the number of cafeterias was a staggering thirty. For convenience, they chose the North Courtyard Main Cafeteria, which was closest to the dorm area.

The Senior Sister was very nice, just as funny and approachable as she had seemed in her post. Fearing that the new freshman might not know her way around, she even went out of her way to wait at the bottom of North Courtyard Building 5 so they could go together. Despite Xu Yinian’s repeated polite refusals, the Senior Sister insisted on swiping her card to pay for the meal.

“Junior Sister, your Building 5 is a newly renovated building this year. It has the best conditions on campus. Why would you give up such a good place to swap for my crappy room?”

The moment they sat down, the Senior Sister couldn’t wait to ask out of curiosity.

Xu Yinian’s hand holding her chopsticks paused. She pulled out the excuse she had prepared. It was mostly about being a socially anxious, ordinary person who wasn’t used to living with famous roommates and couldn’t stand the attention and gazes of outsiders.

Understanding dawned on the Senior Sister. Her attitude toward Xu Yinian shifted to sympathy as she patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. Your Senior Sister here is a social butterfly. I can definitely handle that ‘suffering’ for you.”

Xu Yinian had never dealt with someone so familiar so quickly. Although it was just a pat on the shoulder, the physical contact made her a bit uncomfortable, and her cheeks flushed pink.

However, what she never expected was that this scene would be witnessed by the one person she least wanted to see.

Shen Ruoshuang stood holding a tray, her dark, deep gaze crossing the crowd to land squarely on the two people eating intimately across from each other. The hand on the shoulder and the cheeks flushed like rosy clouds scorched her senses and emotions.

In the next second, she walked straight toward them.

“Hello. I’m Xu Yinian’s roommate. Is this seat taken?”

Nearly everyone nearby was stunned into a daze by her beauty.

The Senior Sister, who had just called herself a social butterfly, struggled to move her mouth before barely managing to answer, “No…”

Shen Ruoshuang didn’t even wait for the full answer. She set her empty tray and an exquisite box she was carrying onto the table right next to Xu Yinian’s elbow.

The familiar voice exploded in her ear, and Xu Yinian was so startled she dropped her chopsticks. They hit the metal tray with a sharp clack.

This only drew more of Shen Ruoshuang’s attention. Her slender fingers elegantly picked up the chopsticks. She took out a napkin, meticulously wiped away every speck of oil that had splashed onto them, and handed them back to Xu Yinian.

“Why so careless? Thankfully, I saw you.”

She stared directly into Xu Yinian’s guilt and fear, her voice as calm as usual. However, those peach blossom eyes no longer suppressed the sparks of obsession within them.

Only the two of them knew what those words really implied.

Fortunately, the face that had been flushed from another’s touch had now turned deathly pale. This allowed a sliver of Shen Ruoshuang’s rationality to return.

“Junior Sister… This, this is?”

The Senior Sister’s voice sounded like a death knell to Xu Yinian. If Shen Ruoshuang found out she was trying to swap dorms…

Even though Xu Yinian didn’t understand what Shen Ruoshuang was thinking, she could clearly sense that the consequences would be terrifying.

Because Shen Ruoshuang seemed to be nothing like the person in her memories anymore.