Xue Rui walked back toward his dorm as boys dribbled basketballs and whooped with abandon, their shouts inspiring others to join in…
This was when the students were most relaxed. With most of the teachers gone for the day, it was as if the campus truly belonged to them.
"Heh heh." Qiu Mengze jutted his chin, shooting Xue Rui a meaningful look.
Xue Rui looked up and saw a couple ahead, strolling hand in hand at an exceptionally slow pace.
You could tell at a glance they were a new couple. Not knowing what else to do in the evening, they had slowed their steps, hoping the path back to the dorms would be a little longer so they could spend more time together.
As for their speed... if a turtle were placed beside them for comparison, it would probably have moved faster.
Xue Rui saw Qiu Mengze's mischievous grin and instantly got what he was thinking.
Qiu Mengze wanted to scare the couple.
Xue Rui stroked his chin, lowered his body slightly, and then shot forward in a sudden sprint. When he got next to the male student, he abruptly slapped his shoulder, yelling, "Holy shit! Holy shit! Run!"
"Run!" Qiu Mengze followed suit, acting as if some ferocious beast was hot on their heels.
The male student's adrenaline spiked. His body reacted faster than his brain; he instantly dropped his girlfriend's hand and instinctively sprinted after the two of them, leaving his partner behind, utterly bewildered.
After they had run a short distance, Xue Rui added with a cheeky grin, "Hurry up, or the snack shop's gonna close!"
"Xue Rui! You bastard!" The male student finally realized he'd been pranked. He turned back angrily, only to see his sweetheart standing under a streetlight, her face dark and her small fists clenched tightly.
"Why did you just let go of my hand like that?" the girl asked coldly.
"I... uh... I thought a teacher..."
The boy thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason why he had run after Xue Rui.
In reality, it was a primal instinct. When you see someone around you running away, you subconsciously run with them, especially since Xue Rui had purposefully slapped the boy's shoulder…
Of course, the naive boy didn't understand any of this.
And even if he had, the girl facing him wouldn't have listened to his explanation anyway.
That's how young love is. A boy just has to find different ways to make the girl happy, but the girl has far more to consider.
...
"Hahaha! Xue Rui, you should've seen that kid's face! I'm dying!" Qiu Mengze said, gasping for breath. He handed Xue Rui a small roll of cash. "You dropped your money back there."
Xue Rui felt his pants pocket. Sure enough, it was his money.
"I don't know what kind of moron designed these uniforms. They didn't even put a zipper on the pocket," Xue Rui cursed.
Students were only allowed to wear the school uniform, yet it was so impractically designed. The pockets were so baggy that anything inside would slide right out with any sudden movement.
"I think it's pretty stupid too," Qiu Mengze agreed.
...
"Yo, Weasel, where you off to?"
"Going to play some ball, Brother Rui."
"Da Zhuang, why's your face so swollen?"
"Don't ask. This afternoon some dumbass threw a basketball at a hornet's nest, and I was standing right next to it."
Over the course of the afternoon, Xue Rui gradually matched the familiar yet strange names with the youthful faces of his classmates. Even if he couldn't remember their real names, he could always recall their nicknames.
Walking down the dorm hallway, Xue Rui reflected on his first day since being reborn. He hadn't seen his family yet. 'Should I go home for a visit?' he wondered.
His home wasn't far from school, a walk of ten-odd minutes at most. 'So why wasn't I a day student?'
He tried hard to remember what his younger self had been thinking and finally came to a conclusion—school offered more freedom.
Xue Rui's family was well-off, but his mom was very strict with his allowance, afraid he would pick up some bad habits.
But living at the dorm was different. Not only was there no one nagging him to go to sleep at night, but he could also sneak out to internet cafes. Plus, he had a better excuse to ask for more allowance money.
Xue Rui had been reborn at sixteen. This body had very little dependence on nicotine. He didn't smoke or go to internet cafes, so he no longer needed this so-called "freedom."
He was debating whether he should switch to being a day student.
As he walked deeper into the building, familiar sights assaulted Xue Rui's senses.
The hallway was filled with the greasy smell of various cheap spicy snacks and steaming instant noodles, mixed with the stench of smelly socks. Xue Rui felt a wave of nausea.
Entering dorm room 203, the first thing he saw were four bunk beds. To the left was a pile of thermoses. There wasn't even an air conditioner on the ceiling…
'An eight-person room? This fucking place isn't fit for humans!'
The terrible environment of the dorm solidified Xue Rui's resolve to become a day student.
"Yi Bing, let me borrow your phone. I need to call my mom," Xue Rui said to a boy with a huge, round face sitting nearby.
This was his roommate. He was pudgy, weighing at least two hundred and twenty pounds, with an exceptionally large and round face, which was how he'd earned the nickname "Yi Bing."
At that moment, Yi Bing was holding a Coolpad phone, playing the popular game of the time, Temple Run.
"In a sec, in a sec, I'm about to break my high score," Yi Bing said, his eyes glued to the screen.
"Stop fucking playing." Xue Rui unceremoniously snatched the phone and dialed his mom, Ren Qunfang.
"Hey! My score was about to beat the dorm next door!" Yi Bing pounded the bedframe in frustration.
As the phone's ringback tone started playing, Xue Rui felt a little apprehensive.
In his past life, he almost never dared to call his mom on his own, fearing she would hound him about blind dates. But now he was only a sophomore in high school, so he didn't need to worry about that problem. Even so, he was still a little nervous.
"Yi Bing."
Xue Rui was a little confused. 'How does Mom know whose phone this is? She even used his nickname?'
"Mahjong!"
"Are you that desperate? You're calling mahjong on a One Tile?"
"I was waiting on a one and four tile! And you just had to go and kong the four-tile..."
...
Hearing the crisp, solid clatter of mahjong tiles, it all clicked for Xue Rui.
"Hello? Who is this?" Ren Qunfang's voice came through the phone.
"Mom, it's me, Xiaorui. I want to become a day student. The dorms here are terrible," Xue Rui said, getting straight to the point.
"Then how did you manage last year? Why can everyone else live there but you can't?" Ren Qunfang sounded impatient.
"Mooom~ I miss you. I just want to live at home," Xue Rui said, deciding to play the sympathy card.
"It's no use missing me. Your sister's in her third year of junior high this year. You coming back will affect her studies. Just stay put at school. If there's anything you want to eat, just call Mom and I'll have someone deliver it to you."
Xue Rui retorted, "How am I supposed to live in an eight-person room? There isn't even an AC. It's boiling hot. Are you going to send over an air conditioner?"
"In your dreams. You called and made me discard a winning tile for someone. You're ruining my luck. Hanging up." Ren Qunfang ended the call.
Listening to the BEEP BEEP BEEP of the busy signal, Xue Rui looked as if he'd lost the will to live.
'Become a day student? Fat chance!'
Xue Rui handed the phone back to Yi Bing and suddenly noticed a lit cigarette held between the fingers of his left hand. He had no idea where it came from.
He looked back at Qiu Mengze, who was sitting on his bed, puffing out clouds of smoke. "Didn't you quit?" he said. "Why'd you take it when I gave it to you?"
"Fuck's sake, who pays attention to what you're sticking in their hand when they're on the phone?" Xue Rui laughed in exasperation.
Qiu Mengze must have lit it with a few puffs himself, then secretly stuck it in his hand.
When a person is on the phone, their brain is working at high speed, and their body seems to enter an "autopilot mode." No matter what someone hands them, they'll subconsciously take it.
"Damn, just smoke it. It's all-natural, pollution-free," Qiu Mengze said. He didn't want Xue Rui to quit smoking, or he'd have no one to smoke with. He wanted to drag Xue Rui back down with him.
The dorm room was hazy with smoke. Just then, Xue Rui noticed a male teacher standing outside the door, staring straight at him.