Chapter 124

Li Xiu’s laughter was the kind that made Mo Yin worry about the dorm’s soundproofing.

Mo Yin found this attitude unsettling.

“Is your solution for me to move out?” Li Xiu stopped laughing, but his expression still hinted at suppressed amusement.

“Not move out, just change dorms. Don’t you want to teach them a lesson? You’re bored, have too much time on your hands, and don’t study much anyway,” Mo Yin gestured towards his empty desk. “They don’t like studying either, so you can compete closely with each other…” Mo Yin searched for the right words, “compare notes.”

Li Xiu nodded. “You’re looking out for me.”

Mo Yin nodded too, with a slightly insincere smile. “We’re friends, after all.”

Li Xiu nodded vigorously, his shoulders shaking with it.

“Good suggestion,” Li Xiu said. “I’ll consider it.”

Mo Yin studied his face, trying to gauge how serious Li Xiu was. Unable to discern, Li Xiu’s expression seemed serious but upon closer inspection, his eyes and eyebrows hinted at jest.

“Think about it carefully,” Mo Yin said.

As he turned away, Li Xiu called after him.

“Why do you give me expired bread every day?”

“Huh?” Mo Yin raised an eyebrow, eyes widening. “Is the school bread expired?”

Li Xiu stared at Mo Yin, trying to figure out if Mo Yin was doing it intentionally.

“The school bread only lasts one day, it’s expired by the next.”

Mo Yin looked regretful. “I didn’t know, that’s wasteful.”

He did know, though. He’d learned about food expiration from a young age and knew which foods could still be eaten after their expiration dates.

The school bread was good, and he hated giving it away, but he didn’t want to cheapen Li Xiu. To maintain their living environment for another year, he saved a piece of bread for Li Xiu every day, but only after it had expired.

“No worries,” Li Xiu said. “I eat it all, no waste.”

Mo Yin widened his eyes slightly.

“Bread can be eaten even if it’s a day past expiration,” Li Xiu smiled. “It tastes fine.”

Mo Yin realized Li Xiu was teasing him.

Li Xiu laughed again, louder this time, then stood up from his chair. He was tall, naturally imposing, causing Mo Yin to step back slightly.

Li Xiu opened his cupboard and tossed something over.

Mo Yin instinctively caught it — a late-night snack bread from the school.

“Fresh for today, not expired yet,” Li Xiu said.

Mo Yin held the bread. “What’s this supposed to mean? You want me to take them all back?”

“No,” Li Xiu said. “Just reciprocating. I’m not your first friend, right? I’ll seriously consider changing dorms.” He emphasized “seriously,” lightening Mo Yin’s expression.

Leaving Li Xiu’s dorm, Mo Yin tore open the packaging in the hallway.

Li Xiu said he’d eaten all the expired bread, which Mo Yin found hard to believe, but also felt Li Xiu wouldn’t lie to him. Eating expired food wasn’t a particularly honorable act.

Mo Yin finished the bread, feeling somewhat better because a seventh of his bread investment had paid off, and Li Xiu indeed seemed interested in Mo Yufan and those three idiots.

The dorm was still noisy that night. Mo Yin grabbed his book, thinking, “Wait and see, let Li Xiu deal with those lunatics.”

He laid an English newspaper on the steps, folding his book over his knees. Before finishing a question, someone called him.

Mo Yin looked up. It was Li Xiu.

“Come to my room to write,” Li Xiu said.

Mo Yin disliked socializing. He hated forming close relationships because once they became close, they were likely to be intertwined, which would be troublesome.

He preferred to sit alone in the hallway reading, rather than ask anyone for help. Temporary comfort could lead to more entanglements. They might want more from him, but he didn’t want others’ kindness and didn’t want to waste his emotions on others.

Mo Yin hesitated, fearing he would completely break the illusion of “friends” between them. After all, he had just made a request to Li Xiu, and the conversation had been relatively friendly.

“Alright.”

Mo Yin looked somewhat reluctant, visibly accepting Li Xiu’s kindness but feeling as if he had been taken advantage of.

It reminded him of the day Li Xiu saw Zhang Jiaming invite Mo Yin to lunch, and Mo Yin’s attitude had been equally bad.

Following Li Xiu back to the dorm, they passed curious classmates in the corridor, eyeing the odd pairing of the top two students in their year.

Li Xiu closed the dorm door. Mo Yin sat at the desk farthest from Li Xiu, wary that Li Xiu might tease him or start idle chatter. Instead of sitting at the desk, Li Xiu stretched out on his bed, Mo Yin noticed from the corner of his eye that Li Xiu was reviewing exam questions, his long legs propped comfortably at the foot of the bed, his feet looking large.

“Good nutrition,” Mo Yin muttered to himself, starting to work on the questions.

When the alarm clock rang, Mo Yin realized forty-five minutes had passed.

“Time to turn off the lights.”

Li Xiu also heard his alarm. “Haven’t you washed up yet?”

Mo Yin grunted, picked up his books and pen, walked to the door, and said, “Goodbye.”

With lightning speed, he washed up and changed clothes, then returned to his room. Mo Yufan made a few snide remarks, saying he was too late and disrupting their sleep.

Ignoring them, Mo Yin thought, “Just wait.”

Lying in bed, Mo Yin recalled studying in Li Xiu’s dorm earlier. Li Xiu had been surprisingly quiet, almost like he was dead. If Li Xiu were his roommate, Mo Yin might find it acceptable, despite his dislike for Li Xiu. He seemed easily fooled, and the social cost wasn’t too high.

Realizing he was contemplating another escape route, Mo Yin shook his head.

Every time he thought life offered a simpler choice, he ended up in deeper trouble.

As the saying goes, when two quarrel, a third benefits. He hoped to be that third person. After Li Xiu moved to room 508, who knew if Mo Yufan and the others would still cause a disturbance. It would definitely affect Li Xiu’s studies. If Li Xiu got into a fight with them, who knew how it would end.

Mo Yin imagined himself moving into Li Xiu’s dorm and fell asleep with sweet satisfaction.

The next morning, Mo Yin habitually packed the expired bread from last night into his backpack, leaving the zipper open. He hesitated, staring at the bread.

Because he had eaten Li Xiu’s bread last night and developed the habit over the past few days, he had forgotten to eat his own bread. Should he still give Li Xiu the bread?

Li Xiu had said he was considering changing dorms, so he decided to continue giving it to him, adding a weight to Li Xiu’s consideration.

“I forgot to eat it yesterday.”

After the second morning break, Mo Yin spoke to Li Xiu at the back door of Class 1, handing him the bread.

“It’s expired again,” Mo Yin said. “Will you eat it?”

Li Xiu took the bread from him, turned it over in his palm, and said, “Want to share it?”

The two stood on the balcony of the corridor, Li Xiu broke the bread in half and gave half to Mo Yin. The bread was dense and had a slight sweetness.

Mo Yin took a bite and glanced at Li Xiu. Li Xiu took a large bite, his jaw seeming a bit forceful as he chewed quickly, his prominent Adam’s apple rolling down as he swallowed. He took another bite and turned to Mo Yin. “I’ll give you my bread tonight, and yours can wait until tomorrow. We’ll share it after the morning break.”

Mo Yin ate his bread with his head down. After a few bites, he said, “I don’t want your bread anymore, and I won’t give you mine. Let’s eat our own.”

Li Xiu smiled. “Alright.”

Mo Yin finished eating and was about to return to class when Li Xiu stopped him again. “I’ve made up my mind about the dorm.”

Mo Yin’s eyes brightened.

Li Xiu said, “I can’t promise you.”

Mo Yin’s expression immediately changed. He stared at Li Xiu, suspecting Li Xiu had been playing him from the start. He argued, “I’ll give you bread tonight.”

Li Xiu smiled. “It’s not about the bread. Come to my dorm tonight, and I’ll tell you.”

Hope suddenly seemed distant. Mo Yin spent the afternoon feeling listless; Li Xiu’s road was probably blocked. That left him only to confront Mo Yufan and the others. But it would take a lot of energy. Just thinking about wasting his time on such meaningless things made him want to make Mo Yufan and his friends disappear.

“Why must they target him? Just because he’s different from them? Lower in rank, far behind them—shouldn’t they just ignore him completely?

Even if they see him as a rival, Mo Yin never did anything strange to Li Xiu, only cursed him silently in his heart.

If they don’t like him, they could silently curse him too.

No, they must make him accept their kindness, only feeling satisfied when he’s grateful. No matter how well he studies, in their eyes, he’s just a poor student. This strange sense of superiority comes solely from their family backgrounds, which Mo Yin can’t understand.

Seeing his visibly downcast spirit, Mo Yufan became quite pleased, thinking their targeting was effective.

The three of them had discussed whether their actions toward Mo Yin constituted bullying. Mo Yufan said they were just ignoring him, doing their own thing in the dorm. Did that count as bullying? Even if Mo Yin complained to the teacher, he wouldn’t accept it. Besides, as the saying goes, there’s something despicable about the poor; he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong.

Mo Yin had already lost hope, but he still knocked on Li Xiu’s dorm door that evening.

As soon as he entered, Li Xiu handed him bread. Mo Yin said, “I don’t want it.”

“It’s to repay you.”

Mo Yin accepted it.

The plan failed; he had to cut his losses.

“My parents strongly oppose me living in the dorm.”

Li Xiu’s manner of speaking suggested he was about to start a long story from a long time ago. Mo Yin’s eyelashes fluttered, hesitating whether to walk away.

“My dad specifically requested this single room from the school.”

Mo Yin was momentarily stunned, then immediately asked, “You can request a single room?”

Li Xiu propped up his chin, smiling and nodding without hesitation, “If you use connections and go through back channels.”

That meant it was impossible for Mo Yin.

He wasn’t completely ignorant of these matters, but deliberately trying to understand parts that would never concern him would only increase resentment.

Mo Yin’s expression was indifferent, showing no envy.

“They oppose me living here, worried it will affect my studies. They want me to live alone. If I change dorms, the homeroom teacher will probably inform them.”

Mo Yin wasn’t interested in Li Xiu’s affairs. “Oh,” he said, indicating he understood, and started to leave.

“So I’m not deliberately avoiding exchanging with you,” Li Xiu said leisurely. “I can’t decide on my own in many things.”

Mo Yin nodded absentmindedly, his steps already preparing to leave.

“But I have considered it. If possible, why don’t you move in with me?” Li Xiu suggested.

Mo Yin looked up. Li Xiu’s expression was calm and casual. “It’ll be quieter here.”

Mo Yin actually started to consider the proposal. Indeed, last night he had thought that compared to Mo Yufan and the others, Li Xiu might be a more suitable roommate.

“You said you wanted to live alone, didn’t you? You can’t decide on your own,” Mo Yin countered.

Li Xiu raised his thick eyebrows. “I think if it’s you, they shouldn’t object.”

Mo Yin didn’t quite understand.

“With your grades, my parents shouldn’t have any concerns about affecting my studies.”

Mo Yin thought that made sense.

But Mo Yin still didn’t agree immediately. He asked Li Xiu, “Why do you want to share a dorm with me?”

Li Xiu seemed to be pondering. Mo Yin found this serious attitude from Li Xiu rare and felt a sense of respect, something he rarely felt from someone like Li Xiu.

“Because…” Li Xiu drew out his words, smiling with his eyes, “You’re quite interesting.”

As soon as Li Xiu finished speaking, Mo Yin did something he had wanted to do but never dared— he threw the bread in his hand at Li Xiu’s face.