With the money borrowed, Wang Jie was ready to leave.
Since he wasn’t sure how long he’d be staying with his girlfriend, he pulled out a suitcase and began packing. His movements were sluggish and hesitant, taking several minutes to decide on each item of clothing. He even paused in front of his desk, debating whether to take his laptop along.
Ning Chu couldn’t stand it any longer.
Striding forward, she shoved Wang Jie aside, glanced at the half-filled suitcase, and reached into his wardrobe. She grabbed a handful of clothes, yanked the power cord out of his laptop, and stuffed everything into the suitcase. She slammed the lid shut, zipped it up, and thrust the handle into his hand.
“All set. Now go,” she commanded.
Her swift, no-nonsense actions startled Wang Jie, leaving him blinking in confusion. “Huh?”
“Go on, get moving! Scram!” she barked, landing a firm kick to his backside. “And don’t forget to pay Wen Yang back soon! Fix things with your girlfriend while you’re at it!”
Wang Jie jolted from the kick, but his face remained a picture of hesitation and reluctance.
At that moment, Wen Yang stepped in, firmly gripping Wang Jie’s shoulder and steering him out of the dorm. “Go smooth things over with your girlfriend already.”
After shoving Wang Jie out the door, Wen Yang turned back. “That should do it, right?”
“Hopefully,” Ning Chu replied.
People like Wang Jie, with their habit of procrastination and indecision, needed a literal or figurative push to act. If given too much time to think, he’d likely back out again. It wasn’t that Wang Jie didn’t care about his girlfriend—this behavior stemmed entirely from his personality.
To prevent him from stalling on the way, Ning Chu turned to Zhang Shaoqing. “You drive him to the station and get him the earliest ticket.”
“You’re such a busybody,” Zhang grumbled, yawning as he opened his drawer to retrieve his car keys. “I’ll just drive him straight to his girlfriend’s school. Wen Yang, cover for me this afternoon.”
“That’s even better~” Ning Chu replied with a smile.
“Oh, what a hard life I lead~” Zhang sighed dramatically before storming out of the dorm with his keys. As expected, the moment he opened the door, Wang Jie was still lingering outside, hesitating.
Throwing an arm around Wang Jie’s neck, Zhang dragged him toward the stairs, grinning as he teased, “You don’t want Ning Chu looking down on you, do you? Let’s go! You made this mess; now clean it up. All you wanted was fun, and now look—couldn’t even bother with protection.”
“I wanted to use it...” Wang Jie mumbled.
“Damn, your bunny girlfriend must be wild. She doesn’t look it,” Zhang joked.
“...”
“Hey, bunny girls don’t give birth to entire litters, do they? How would you afford that?”
“Probably... not? And don’t call her a bunny girl...”
“Tch, if you don’t talk her out of this, you’ll have a whole soccer team in a few years.”
Watching Zhang and Wang Jie descend the stairs with their arms around each other, Ning Chu finally pulled her head back into the dorm. Several guys in the hallway had noticed the “girl” wandering in their dorm building, but this wasn’t uncommon and didn’t cause much fuss. Rules were far looser in the boys’ dorm compared to the girls’.
“It’s up to Wang Jie now,” Wen Yang said, settling into Zhang’s chair and turning to Ning Chu. “What are you still worried about?”
“Nothing...” Ning Chu replied, averting her °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° gaze guiltily to avoid his.
The word “guilty” was practically written on her face, her emotions so blatantly displayed that it was almost endearing in its clumsiness.
Wen Yang didn’t press further and turned his attention to Zhang’s game library. Despite Zhang’s cheeky personality, his game collection was surprisingly tame, with only one mildly risqué cat-girl game—a stark contrast to Ning Chu’s library, which was mostly filled with erotic games she had shared with Lily. Wen Yang’s own collection, on the other hand, was comprised entirely of freebies and gift games, pure freeloading.
Barely ten minutes into the game, Ning Chu couldn’t contain herself any longer. Dragging over a small stool, she sat beside Wen Yang and asked nervously, “We loaned Wang Jie 2,500—what if he doesn’t pay it back?”
“He will.”
“How can you be so sure?” Ning Chu raised her voice, grumbling with clear dissatisfaction. “When I was in high school, I couldn’t even afford to eat and ended up loaning friends a few hundred. They still haven’t paid me back!”
Wen Yang gave her a puzzled look. “Didn’t your aunt give you money?”
“Not that! I’m talking about my best friend back then!”
Frustrated, Ning Chu fiddled with the drawstrings on her hoodie, tying them into little knots. “Wang Jie only needed 2,000, and you gave him an extra 500. Why? If he’d asked his family, they’d have given him the money! Why did he have to borrow from you, making you look like you’re rich or something?”
“If he doesn’t pay it back, so be it.”
“Easy for you to say! You worked all winter break for that money. If you don’t care, I do!”
Despite having lived in the same dorm with Wang Jie for months, Ning Chu wasn’t naive about money matters. She knew plenty of stories about friends and relatives borrowing money and never paying it back. She had long since adopted a mindset of expecting loans to go unpaid.
She hadn’t said anything earlier in front of everyone but had silently watched Wen Yang act all generous, giving away the money without hesitation. He probably thought he looked suave, but she worried he’d just end up being seen as a fool.
“Don’t worry, Wang Jie isn’t like that,” Wen Yang said, chuckling. “And even if he doesn’t pay it back, it’s a cheap price to learn who he really is.”
Ning Chu glared at him, cheeks puffed up in anger. “It’s not like it’s just a few bucks! You’ll regret it when it stings later!”
“Alright, alright, next time I’ll consult you first.”
The two rarely argued. Whenever a disagreement arose, Wen Yang would quickly relent, leaving Ning Chu with no outlet for her frustration.
Unable to vent, she pursed her lips, scowling as she stomped toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Wen Yang asked, jumping up to follow her.
“To the girls’ dorm. Lily’s doing my nails, and I need to check on that octopus,” she replied irritably, pushing the door open. “Why are you following me?”
“Should I stay here and reflect?”
She glanced back at his sheepish grin, unsure if he truly understood his mistake or was just pretending to appease her anger.
“Take out the trash on your way out,” she said curtly before slamming the door behind her.
Left alone, Wen Yang sighed and returned to Zhang’s desk.
When it came to money, Ning Chu’s temper flared hotter than usual. Normally, a simple joke or apology would dissolve her anger, but not this time. Scratching his head in frustration, Wen Yang found himself losing interest in the game entirely.
Maybe he really hadn’t thought this through...
