Chapter 79

The two of them shook hands and chatted for a long time downstairs before finally parting with reluctance.

When Tang Tianman headed upstairs, she bounced along with small steps, but she was afraid of disturbing the others’ rest, so her bounces were slow and light—like a sneaky, joyful little thief.

By the time she hopped up to the fourth floor, she looked up and jumped in fright.

Ruan Ruan stood at the entrance to the hallway, feet planted wide apart and arms crossed over her chest, glaring down at her with an imperious air, as if she had drawn her sword and was ready for battle.

Tang Tianman: “…”

All her joy came to an abrupt halt. Her mind hadn’t even processed what was happening when her body reacted first.

Tang Tianman turned and bolted.

But how could she outrun Ruan Ruan, the little sports enthusiast she was these days?

She hadn’t even descended a few steps before Ruan Ruan was right in front of her. With a lift of her hand, Ruan Ruan grabbed the back of Tang Tianman’s collar, yanking her like an eagle snatching a chick.

“Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan, I was wrong…” Tang Tianman begged frantically, overcome with the urge to drop to her knees before her good sister.

Ruan Ruan said nothing. She simply dragged her upstairs, turned a corner, and hauled her into the dorm hallway.

The hallway was filled with the tantalizing aroma of fried chicken. By now, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, looking thoroughly satisfied.

After all, one’s mouth grows soft after eating another’s food. Seeing Tang Tianman, they all thanked her profusely. Tang Tianman smiled on the surface, but inside, she was on the verge of tears.

Ruan Ruan dragged her straight back to the dorm room. The door slammed shut, and silence fell over the space.

Ruan Ruan: “Where should we start settling accounts?”

Tang Tianman: “Um, she specially bought you vegetable soup and a salad. Did you eat them?”

Ruan Ruan: “Why did you lie?”

Tang Tianman: “Well, I still have two chapters I haven’t read carefully. That part about Raphael—have you memorized it?”

Ruan Ruan: “I’m giving you one chance to explain. If you think you can trick us without even bothering to come clean, you can apply to change dorms next semester.”

“Ruan-jie, I was wrong! Hear me out!!!” Tang Tianman let out a howl.

Li Tong, jolted awake on her bed, clapped her hands over her ears. “I don’t wanna hear it! What kind of opera are you two singing in the middle of the night? Has studying fried your brains?”

Ruan Ruan: “Her breakup with Zheng Xiyu was fake.”

Li Tong shot upright and yanked back her bed curtain. “What???!!!”

Well, now if she didn’t have a solid excuse, a convincing reason, or enough emotion to back it up, she was absolutely getting kicked out of 4520.

Tang Tianman had gotten good at acting lately. With a wail, she burst into tears. “I had no choice! Don’t yell at me! If I wasn’t completely out of options, how could I hide it from you all? That damn… fuck, I don’t even know who to curse. Anyway, our poor Xiyu…”

Ruan Ruan pulled over a chair and sat down. “Talk properly.”

Tang Tianman sniffled. “Her dad won’t let us be together.”

Li Tong flipped down from her bed, threw on some clothes, dragged a chair over, and sat right in front of her. “What happened? Did he offer you five million to leave my daughter?”

Ruan Ruan shoved her. “What are you saying? If anyone’s giving money, it’d be Tangdou’s dad, okay?”

Li Tong: “You have a point.”

Tang Tianman slapped the table. “Hey, are you gonna listen or not!!!”

Li Tong: “Listening, listening! But damn, it smells so good. Who’s the jerk ordering fried chicken in the middle of the night?”

Ruan Ruan: “…”

Tang Tianman: “…”

Explaining the facts didn’t take much time, but laying bare her feelings was another story.

Tang Tianman felt like she’d been bottling things up for days, building up a huge pile. Once she started talking, it was like spilling the beans—she held nothing back.

Ruan Ruan and Li Tong listened to every detail without missing a beat. Li Tong clapped her hands. “This is straight out of Jinjiang Literature City’s yuri channel—like some over-the-top story about a domineering campus beauty falling for me.”

Tang Tianman: “Who’s the campus beauty?”

Li Tong: “You two. Both of you.”

Tang Tianman: “Oh.”

Li Tong: “So what’s the plan now?”

Tang Tianman: “Zheng Xiyu said she’ll talk to her family.”

Ruan Ruan: “When?”

Tang Tianman: “Not set yet. She said her dad’s really busy and might not have time to see her.”

Ruan Ruan: “But he had time to run off to another city just to talk about you two?”

Tang Tianman defended Zheng Xiyu. “What she meant was, her dad might not want to see her.”

Ruan Ruan waved her hand irritably. “Then call him or text. It’s the modern world—there’s always a way to get her point across clearly.”

Tang Tianman grabbed her hand. “Okay, I was wrong. I just panicked and messed up. It won’t happen again.”

Ruan Ruan stood and climbed straight onto her bed. “Like I’d care about your mess.”

Tang Tianman clung to the bed frame and peered up at her. “You’re not studying anymore?”

Ruan Ruan: “Nah. First place is all yours now.”

Tang Tianman giggled. “I knew you were the best to me.”

Li Tong gaped at her. “Tang Tianman, you’ll say anything to get forgiveness.”

Tang Tianman: “Go to bed, you.”

Li Tong: “I’m not human! I don’t deserve your forgiveness, right!!!”

Tang Tianman turned and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I know you won’t stay mad no matter what I do. Mwah.”

Li Tong: “…”

She touched her cheek. Damn, getting smooched by a girl felt amazing. That little mouth was so soft.

Tang Tianman: “What’s with that look?”

Li Tong: “Heh heh heh. You’re cutest when you’re acting all cutesy.”

Tang Tianman: “…”

Li Tong scrambled back onto her bed. Unable to hold back, she fired off a message to Wang Tingxi: Captain, have you ever dated?

It was five-thirty the next morning when Wang Tingxi replied: No.

No matter what earth-shattering drama had unfolded the night before, the exams scheduled for the next day weren’t going anywhere.

Finals week was the quietest time across the whole university. Tang Tianman stepped out of the Western Literary History exam hall and immediately dove into reviewing Classical Chinese for the Aesthetics exam the next day.

“I’m dying.” That was the universal refrain from Chinese majors these past couple of days.

When the last exam was finally over, it felt like they’d crawled out of hell, shedding a layer of skin.

Back in the dorm, Tang Tianman pulled out her review notes from her bag and, without a second thought, tore them to shreds.

“Hey hey hey, what are you doing?” Li Tong lunged to grab them. “How long did you spend on these? If I score high, I can sell them to underclassmen next year and make a killing!!!”

“What a sacrifice for a business whiz like you.” Tang Tianman yanked off the stapler and flung the pages everywhere like confetti from the heavens. “Why study Chinese? Go to the School of Economics and Management!”

The white sheets of paper shot upward before drifting down in a lazy cascade.

Tang Tianman burst out laughing. Ruan Ruan, sitting behind her, laughed too.

Li Tong crumpled two sheets into balls and tossed them precisely into the trash can. “If my family was like yours, I’d definitely go to Economics and Management.”

Ruan Ruan poked Tang Tianman’s waist. “Didn’t your uncle tell you to apply for an MBA or something?”

Tang Tianman: “He did. I didn’t want to.”

Ruan Ruan leaned over. “And then?”

Tang Tianman: “Then I came to N University’s Chinese department and met two perfect roommates.”

Ruan Ruan: “…”

Li Tong: “Tsk tsk tsk.”

Tang Tianman turned to Ruan Ruan. “What are your winter break plans?”

Ruan Ruan: “Nothing special. Our school’s break isn’t long anyway. I’ll just chill at home like usual.”

“I I I…” Li Tong raised her hand. “I wanna go traveling.”

“Where to?” Tang Tianman asked.

Li Tong: “Y City? They’ve got ice sculptures, and the hot springs sound perfect.”

Ruan Ruan: “Isn’t that right near your house? Just an hour and a half by car?”

“One and a half hours for a kid from a broke family with no financial power— that’s a real trip.” Li Tong pouted.

“Y City’s great. Ice and snow everywhere.” Tang Tianman said. “Should we all go together?”

Li Tong: “Yes! Yes!!!”

Ruan Ruan was sharper and zeroed in on the key point. “Who’s this ‘we’?”

Tang Tianman: “You, me, Tongzi, and Zheng Xiyu.”

Ruan Ruan: “Rolls off the tongue easy with Zheng Xiyu, huh.”

Tang Tianman: “She can be our bodyguard and pack mule!!!”

Ruan Ruan: “Her dad agree?”

Tang Tianman: “…”

The cheerful mood ground to a halt.

Tang Tianman fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I told her she can’t hide family talk from me anymore. The day before yesterday, she said she’d talked to her dad once.”

Ruan Ruan: “And?”

Li Tong nudged her. “You can tell from Tangdou’s face.”

Tang Tianman pursed her lips. “Of course it didn’t go well. How could getting past the elders be easy? She said she’ll talk again. Winter break’s long—plenty of time for it.”

Li Tong: “Tall One’s tough.”

Ruan Ruan: “And you?”

Tang Tianman: “Me what?”

Ruan Ruan: “You’re just thinking about fun. What about your family? If hers doesn’t approve, will yours?”

Tang Tianman: “Zheng Xiyu told me to hold off. Once she sorts her side, I’ll handle mine. No rush.”

Ruan Ruan: “Whatever she says, you just go along.”

Li Tong: “Tall One’s the best. She took on all the risky stuff first so you wouldn’t get hurt.”

Tang Tianman stared down at her toes and said nothing.

Lately, besides exams, this was all she could think about.

Zheng Xiyu had come out to her family. Should she do the same?

Her parents doted on her, sure, but this wasn’t something a little spoiling could fix.

What if Zheng Xiyu’s side cut her off completely, and then her own dad froze her bank card in retaliation? The two of them would be drinking the northwest wind for real.

Truth be told, Tang Tianman would be perfectly happy scraping by on nothing but noodles alongside Zheng Xiyu. But Zheng Xiyu would never allow her to suffer like that.

Rationally speaking, it made sense for her to take things slow—at the very least, it would preserve one steady source of income. Yet deep down, subconsciously, she had already begun preparing early for the day she came out of the closet.

For instance, her grades this year were sure to be the highest she’d ever achieved on any exam. That way, when the results came out, she could at least tell her parents that dating a girlfriend wouldn’t hold her back from her studies or her future. On the contrary, it would only make her work harder and shine even brighter.

Tang Tianman gave herself a silent pep talk in her heart. She reached out and patted Li Tong’s shoulder with particular resolve. “I’ll definitely head to Y City,” she declared firmly. “You can be my tour guide when the time comes, okay?”

Li Tong blinked. “Why are you so certain? I’m not even sure I’ll go myself.”

Tang Tianman grinned. “Because I’m planning to sign with City Photography. I’ll need to get out there and do a lot of on-location shoots if I want to build up a portfolio.”

Ruan Ruan tilted her head. “Bringing Xiyu along?”

Tang Tianman pressed her lips together. “If it’s convenient for her, sure. If not, I’ll go by myself.”

Li Tong’s eyes went wide. “By yourself??? You’re the clingy little imp who can’t even hit the bathroom after class without dragging one of us along!”

“The little imp’s all grown up now.” Tang Tianman spun in a quick circle, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “For love—let’s do this!”