Chapter 13: Chapter 13: New Roommate, Estelle Goodman
The boy subconsciously tried to follow her in, but Estelle turned and raised a hand to stop him at the door.
"Don’t come in. The auntie downstairs said you have to leave within five minutes. Just give me my things."
The boy had fair skin and was dressed in a white shirt and gray casual pants. He wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses under a choppy, medium-length fringe, and the lenses were visibly thick, making him look a bit awkward.
He nodded expressionlessly, pushed the suitcase into the dorm, and then turned to leave.
Even though he was a guy helping her move her things, Cecilia could tell they weren’t a couple.
"My family’s driver’s son. He’s a math major."
Estelle explained casually.
Cecilia understood. Judging by Estelle’s appearance and demeanor, it wasn’t hard to guess she came from a wealthy family. She had the look of a pampered princess who’d been doted on since childhood.
Estelle walked over to the bed opposite Cecilia’s and sized it up, saying with apparent reluctance, "I guess I’ll take this one, across from you."
As she spoke, she suddenly tilted her head, a smile gracing her lips as she looked at Cecilia. "You’re really pretty."
Cecilia was taken aback for a moment, surprised that this rich girl’s train of thought could jump so unexpectedly. She had complimented her completely out of the blue.
"You’re very pretty too," she replied politely. And it was true—Estelle was beautiful, with a bright and stunning kind of beauty.
The next second, Estelle pouted. "This room looks like it’s been empty for a while. There’s a thick layer of dust everywhere."
"You probably don’t know how to clean, do you?" Cecilia asked, looking at her.
Estelle nodded without hesitation, looking at Cecilia with a troubled expression. "If I let you do all the cleaning by yourself, would that make me seem a little awful?"
"I can treat you to a big meal!" Estelle’s eyes lit up.
Cecilia couldn’t help but chuckle. ’My new roommate isn’t just pretty, she’s also kind of cute. I think I’m starting to like her.’
"Leave it to me," Cecilia said, pulling out her phone and fiddling with it.
Estelle leaned in curiously to look. She saw Cecilia open a group chat named "Lorcain Tech Dorm Cleaning Services."
"Deep clean for West District, Women’s Dorm C, Room 336. 3 spots available, 100 yuan per person. First come, first served."
Almost immediately, people in the group started responding to take the job.
Estelle blinked in surprise. "You can do that?"
Cecilia explained softly, "Everyone in this group is a student at Lorcain Tech, both guys and girls. Most of them come from difficult financial backgrounds, so they take on dorm cleaning jobs in the group to earn some spending money."
A classmate had invited her to the group when she first enrolled. Even though she received a monthly stipend as a special admissions student, she still occasionally took jobs in the group to earn extra cash. It was only after she got together with Shawn Lane that she stopped, because he didn’t approve.
But she had never left the group, and today it came in handy.
Before long, three girls carrying cleaning tools knocked on the dorm room door. They were all freshmen.
"Hello, seniors."
The young women were very polite. Cecilia took the lead and instructed them, "This is an empty dorm, so there are probably a lot of neglected corners. We’ll need you to do a deep clean, sorry for the trouble."
One hundred yuan per person was a very high price. Cecilia had taken into account that the dorm needed a deep clean when she set the pay, which was why she offered more.
Estelle quickly chimed in, "Especially the bathroom. Please make sure it’s spotless."
The freshmen nodded. "Don’t worry, seniors. Leave it to us."
The dorm cleaning would take two hours. Since they would only be in the way, Cecilia looked at Estelle and asked, "Should we go out for a walk?"
Estelle naturally had no objection. With all the dust flying around during the cleaning, the last place she wanted to be was in the dorm.
But after they left the dorm, Estelle was unusually silent the entire time, not saying a single word.
Cecilia was completely baffled. Just as she was wondering what was wrong, the other girl suddenly turned to her and shouted, "AH!"
Cecilia jumped, freezing in place with a startled expression. "Ah?"
"I finally remember! You’re Cecilia Sterling, right? I remember you!" Estelle said, looking at her excitedly. "You’re Shawn Lane’s girlfriend! Last year, when we were freshmen, someone took a picture of you and posted it on the school forum. I saw it!"
"Oh, I finally remembered! It was driving me crazy! I knew you looked familiar the moment I saw you, and after I heard your name, I was even more certain I’d heard it before. I’ve been wracking my brain this whole time and I finally got it."
Saying this, she let out a long sigh, an expression of immense relief on her face.
Cecilia was both speechless and amused. ’So that’s why she suddenly went quiet. She was trying to remember who I was.’
But judging from the way she mentioned Shawn Lane, it sounded like she knew him well.
"You know Shawn Lane?" Cecilia asked tentatively.
Estelle pouted and nodded. "Yeah. My dad and his dad are business friends. We met when we were really young, but we didn’t see each other often, so we’re not that close. We’d just run into each other occasionally when our parents met for social events."
"But I knew you two were dating. I was there when Shawn Lane confessed his feelings to you with a bouquet of roses below the girls’ dorm."
"I broke up with him." Fearing Estelle would say something about how wonderful or enviable it was, Cecilia quickly cut her off.
Estelle’s mouth fell open. "Huh?"
Cecilia gave a calm, faint smile and nodded gently at Estelle.
Estelle’s expression shifted slightly, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking, "Why?"
Cecilia pressed her lips together, looking like she wanted to say something but held back. In her past life, the incident where Shawn Lane plagiarized her thesis happened three years later, so she obviously couldn’t use that as a reason now.
She hesitated for a moment, then leaned close to Estelle’s ear and whispered, "He’s... not very good at... *that*."
"*That*? What *that*?" Estelle blinked blankly. But after noticing Cecilia’s meaningful expression, her face went WHOOSH, turning red all the way to her neck. "Th-th-th- *that*?"
Cecilia raised a finger to her lips, signaling for her to keep it down. "Don’t tell anyone else."
Noticing there was no one else around, Estelle’s shy expression instantly vanished. She lowered her voice and asked doubtfully, "No way. He... he looks like he’d be pretty good at it!"
Cecilia shook her head with a look of disappointment. "You can’t judge a book by its cover."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Estelle shook her head too. "All that height for nothing. And he’s over 1.8 meters tall."
Thanks to this topic, the two of them instantly grew much closer. They linked arms, crossed the west-side sports field, and left the campus. Estelle said she wanted to treat Cecilia to a "breakup feast."
In the end, they both turned up at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the food street behind Lorcain Tech.
Estelle couldn’t hide her disgust as she looked around. She picked up a napkin and wiped the table in front of her over and over, but no matter how many times she wiped, it still came away greasy.
"I said I’d treat you to a big meal, and this is where you choose?"
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