Chapter 123

“Sick.”

Mo Yin made another judgment about Li Xiu in his mind.

In the darkness, he shifted away again, firmly drawing a line with Li Xiu.

“No smoking or drinking allowed in the dorm,” Li Xiu stated. “Violations lead to expulsion.”

Mo Yin looked at Li Xiu as if he were crazy. “Are you bored?”

“A bit,” Li Xiu replied casually.

Mo Yin lowered his head and continued washing his clothes.

“So, are you just going to leave it at that?” Li Xiu asked.

Mo Yin turned off the tap, turned to Li Xiu, and said coldly, “If you’re bored, go bother someone else. I don’t have time for you. Don’t talk to me anymore. You’re annoying.”

His attitude was extremely hostile and his tone icy, effectively pushing Li Xiu away.

Normally, such rejection would deeply wound the pride of a strong-willed teenager, enough to make them retreat and keep their distance.

A faint moonlight streamed in through the window, allowing Mo Yin to barely make out Li Xiu’s face. Li Xiu appeared calm, not showing any signs of anger.

Li Xiu smiled, said nothing more, and didn’t storm off indignantly. Instead, he calmly finished washing his clothes.

Mo Yin finished washing his clothes and carried the basin back to the dorm to dry.

The room’s lights were already out, with only a faint glow from the phones of others lying in bed in the dorm.

While hanging clothes on the balcony, Mo Yin heard faint knocking sounds from inside, as if someone was tapping their legs on the bed in dissatisfaction.

The dorm beds weren’t particularly soft, but Mo Yin was quite satisfied. It would be even better if he had the room to himself.

Suddenly, Li Xiu’s earlier proposal at the sink popped into his mind.

Mo Yin pulled the blanket over his face.

Buying cigarettes and alcohol would cost money, and executing such a scheme without leaving any trace would be challenging. Purchase records and school surveillance were issues. If they found out they were falsely accused, there would be arguments and endless investigations by the school. The cost-benefit ratio of such a plan was just too low.

Was suggesting this conspiracy not about teaching those three a lesson, but about causing trouble for Mo Yin himself? Perhaps Li Xiu had a personal conflict with Mo Yufan and his group and wanted to use Mo Yin as a pawn.

Mo Yin lay in bed with his eyes open, thinking deeply for a while before giving up. It was too exhausting to consider. His energy should be focused on more worthwhile pursuits.

The next morning, the atmosphere in the dorm was still tense. The three formed a small circle, ignoring Mo Yin, who in turn ignored them. Perhaps today they would complain to their homeroom teacher. What would they say? That he was disliked and dodged bus fares? His image with the teachers had always been good; complaining like this recklessly might only lead to criticism of themselves.

Mo Yin smirked coldly, treating them like clowns.

But shortly after leaving the dorm, Mo Yin saw Li Xiu coming out of Room 513. As Li Xiu passed by, he was about to close the door, giving Mo Yin a clear view inside—a single-person room.

Mo Yin was stunned, unable to believe Li Xiu had such good luck.

Li Xiu saw him and greeted, “Good morning.”

Mo Yin looked away, gripped his bag, and walked away with a cold expression.

After morning exercise, Mo Yin was called by the homeroom teacher.

The teacher subtly asked how he was getting along with his dormmates.

Mo Yin thought for a moment and said, “They don’t welcome me.”

The teacher sighed, patting Mo Yin’s arm. “They’re a class of their own, and you came in midway. You’ll have to try harder to fit in.”

Mo Yin wanted to say he didn’t want to fit in. He just wanted to peacefully occupy a quarter of that dorm, to ignore them as they ignored him. Wouldn’t that be better?

But he knew the teacher wouldn’t understand, so he stayed silent.

“I’ve already mediated for you. Besides grades, interpersonal relationships are also important. Try to be more proactive, okay?”

Mo Yin nodded slowly, as if his head were weighed down by gravity, devoid of meaning.

“Or,” the teacher tried again, “let me see if any student from our class is willing to switch dorms. Living with classmates might be better.”

Mo Yin kept his head down and said nothing, looking pitiful in the teacher’s eyes.

She was always especially gentle and tolerant towards this gloomy, socially awkward boy from a disadvantaged background. “Go back to the classroom. This will be resolved.”

Mo Yin walked out of the office, unable to completely place his hopes on the class teacher.

He was feeling somewhat restless. Instead of going directly back to the office, he went to the men’s restroom and entered a stall, closing the door behind him.

Why did he have to fit in there? He simply disliked having any relationships with people. Wasn’t that okay? He detested others approaching him and didn’t want to approach anyone else. Everyone seemed strange to him, completely different from him. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone just minded their own business without bothering each other?

He truly wished everyone else in the world would disappear, leaving only him.

When such extreme thoughts flashed through his mind, Mo Yin felt conflicted. On one hand, he felt these thoughts were reasonable; on the other, he questioned if he was normal or if he was beginning to go mad.

Mo Yin shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. Then he thought of a perhaps feasible solution.

“Are you looking for me?”

Li Xiu sounded somewhat surprised, though his expression didn’t show much astonishment. He habitually smiled.

“Yeah,” Mo Yin had already prepared his words before approaching, “I’m sorry for saying you were annoying yesterday.”

Li Xiu didn’t expect Mo Yin to suddenly apologize to him like this. His face began to show surprise, but he smiled, “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

That was the truth; Mo Yin’s cold words hadn’t stirred any waves in Li Xiu’s heart.

“Can we be friends?”

Mo Yin lifted his face. He was half a head shorter than Li Xiu, slender in build, looking a bit younger.

Li Xiu looked at him playfully, “Sure.”

Mo Yin nodded, “Thank you.” After saying this, he walked away. Li Xiu watched his departing figure, then turned around and took a bread roll out of his pocket, offering it to Li Xiu, “Here, take this.”

Li Xiu took the bread roll, recognizing the packaging from last night’s school-provided snack — it expired that day.

Things didn’t turn out the way Mo Yin hoped they would.

Mo Yufan and the others probably failed in their complaint. As Mo Yin expected, they received criticism from the teacher during lunch break when they returned to the dormitory.

Mo Yin didn’t mind this. However, when he returned to the dormitory after evening self-study, Mo Yufan and the others were loudly chatting and playing music, making it impossible for Mo Yin to concentrate on his studies.

Mo Yin endured for a while and said, “You guys are too noisy.”

The three ignored him and continued as if nothing happened.

Mo Yin clenched his fists and, after a while, left the room with a book.

It seemed he could only rely on himself to solve the problem.

Mo Yin sat on the stairs and read, clenching his pen between his teeth.

Small conflicts among students wouldn’t escalate to the point where teachers would intervene. Even if he were moved to another dormitory, he might encounter similar issues again.

He had to solve this himself, either by making them fear him or by repairing relationships to gain acceptance. Only then could he peacefully live the life he desired, though it would involve much more social interaction than he preferred. He had to force himself to chat with them, eat together, and even tutor them.

Either way, it would consume a lot of his energy. He had to choose the most efficient path.

Mo Yin lowered his head to study, wishing time would speed up so he could graduate from university in one breath.

Over the next few days, Mo Yin gave Li Xiu an expired bread roll almost every day, awkwardly trying to get closer to him against his own will.

The two experimental classes were next door. Li Xiu stood at their class’s back door, talking to Mo Yin. When the bell rang, Mo Yin ended the conversation with relief and returned to his own classroom.

During competition training, Mo Yin sat next to Li Xiu by default but didn’t discuss any problems with him.

Li Xiu didn’t find Mo Yin’s sudden change of attitude very surprising. Instead, he observed him from a bystander’s perspective, speculating about Mo Yin’s motives.

Mo Yin also knew Li Xiu was observing him. He acted sincerely, “I think we might be similar types of people. Talking to you makes me less annoyed.”

“Oh,” Li Xiu rested his chin on his hand, “because we’re both quite clever?”

“Could be.”

Li Xiu nodded, blinking and smiling, “Next time, teach me how to sneak past the ticket inspector too.”

Mo Yin scratched his notebook with his finger, unsure if Li Xiu was mocking him or something else.

Seemingly sensing his mood, Li Xiu added, “I find it quite interesting.”

Mo Yin felt like grabbing his notebook and smacking Li Xiu with it.

To Li Xiu, was this kind of thing done simply because it was interesting?

Li Xiu asked, “Are you angry?”

Mo Yin quickly released his grip on the notebook, chuckling, “Not at all.”

Li Xiu also smiled, “Looks like you wanted to hit me.”

Mo Yin half-playfully raised the notebook towards the back of Li Xiu’s head and lightly tapped him, laughing in a teasing manner.

Li Xiu knew he had just been hit, though lightly, and besides his hair fluttering a bit, he didn’t even blink, smiling contentedly at Mo Yin.

Class ended, and the two walked together again.

Zhong Jiaming packed up his pencil case from behind, his gaze somewhat unwillingly following the two as they left together.

If Mo Yin ignored everyone and treated everyone with such hostility, Zhong Jiaming could have said it was just Mo Yin’s personality. But Mo Yin seemed to get along well with Li Xiu. It was Li Xiu who had always been compared with him since childhood…

Zhong Jiaming felt a sense of defeat. Unlike the frustration of gradually falling behind in grades since entering high school, this defeat carried a deeper sense of fate. Was there nowhere he could surpass Li Xiu?

The situation in the dormitory remained unchanged. Mo Yufan knew exactly how to exploit Mo Yin’s weaknesses. Whenever Mo Yin tried to study in the dormitory, they would deliberately make noise, forcing him to study in the hallway.

As students passed by in the corridor and witnessed this scene, some wanted to intervene, but were pulled away to converse elsewhere.

The strange and gloomy personality of the poor student, coupled with some morally questionable behaviors, had long been spread by word of mouth. Everyone consciously avoided him. It was better to mind one’s own business. Even if there was an excess of kindness, there was no need to waste it on someone unappreciative.

Mo Yin actually enjoyed the feeling of quietly doing exercises alone. It was just that people passing by occasionally disturbed him. If he could study alone in the dormitory, it would feel great.

Mo Yin bit his pen again and calculated on the scrap paper clipped from the question bank.

He had sent Li Xiu seven loaves of bread.

God took seven days to complete the creation of Genesis. Seven days should be enough, right?

He had already shown enough friendliness and pity.

From childhood to adulthood, Mo Yin had never had any concrete interpersonal relationships. His family situation didn’t allow for it, and he didn’t like it himself.

Generally, it was others who took the initiative to socialize with him, like Zhong Jiaming wanting to be friends with him, or Zhou Ren wanting to have a relationship with him.

For such clear-cut intentions, Mo Yin’s mind could quickly formulate responses, almost like a talent of his. He felt that if he wanted to, he could be friends with Zhong Jiaming or make Zhou Ren fall head over heels for him. But he felt it was meaningless and uninteresting. He didn’t want to.

“As for Li Xiu, Mo Yin didn’t really know why he was getting close to him.

From Li Xiu’s proposal to teach Mo Yufan a lesson and wanting him to show him how to sneak past ticket inspectors, Mo Yin vaguely sensed that perhaps Li Xiu was just looking for some excitement.

There were people like that.

Because life had been too smooth sailing, with nothing better to do.

So he might as well give him something to do.

“What do you want from me?”

In the dormitory shared by the four of them, Li Xiu occupied a large desk alone, stuffing the other chairs around it. He leaned back in the chair closest to the window, his long legs stretched out towards Mo Yin.

The dormitory door was closed, allowing Mo Yin to converse freely with Li Xiu.

“You’re my first friend.”

Mo Yin’s eyes widened his tone of voice similar to what Li Xiu had heard him use when talking to teachers.

Li Xiu crossed his arms, fingers elegantly resting against his face, and gave a meaningful “Hmm.”

Mo Yin guessed Li Xiu probably knew he was about to make a request of him.

But wasn’t this how it was supposed to be? The essence of human relationships is exchange—what you have for what I have, what you want for what I want.

“Aren’t you bored?”

Li Xiu nodded, “Yeah, it’s quite boring.”

“You’ve had issues with Mo Yufan and them, right?”

Li Xiu chuckled, “Why do you say that?”

“Didn’t you mention wanting to teach them a lesson?”

Li Xiu responded with a thoughtful “Oh,” without denying it. “Yeah.”

Mo Yin nodded firmly, “Then how about…”

Li Xiu thought to himself, after all these days of getting close, there must be an ulterior motive, just like his soft approach to teachers, hoping for their protection and favor. He thought that would be enough in school, but now the teachers couldn’t solve his problems, and he seemed afraid of trouble, so—did he want to move in with him?

“…Let’s switch dorms,” Mo Yin said, taking a deep breath to finish his sentence.

“You move to Room 508 with them, and I’ll move into your room,” Mo Yin gestured back and forth, mimicking an exchange. “You go hang out with them.”