Mu Changge pushed open the old wooden door of the dormitory.
She thought her roommates wouldn't be there.
It was 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon.
She assumed they had all gone out to play or were working part-time.
But she was wrong.
Zhong Ling was lying on the top bunk, scrolling through her phone.
Fang Jinse was sitting at the desk with a face mask on.
Su Banxia sat quietly on the lower bunk, holding a needle and thread, mending an old coat with a loose seam.
Three pairs of eyes turned simultaneously.
The dormitory was silent for a full two seconds.
Those two seconds of silence felt longer than the five minutes the zipper got stuck in the fitting room last night.
Zhong Ling slapped her phone onto the bed board.
Half her body leaned out from the top bunk railing.
Her scream could pierce through the entire hallway.
"Mu Changge!"
"You didn't come back all night!"
Mu Changge's expression management kicked in instantly.
She remained unfazed.
She recited the excuse she had rehearsed all the way back.
"The rain was too heavy last night, I couldn't get back."
"I spent the night at the McDonald's near the school."
Zhong Ling's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"You sat at McDonald's all night in that outfit?"
"Were you there to eat a Big Mac or to shoot a commercial?"
Fang Jinse couldn't sit still either, she reached up and tore off half of her face mask, revealing a face that was half white and green, looking both funny and serious.
She ran over in two quick steps.
She grabbed the sleeve of Mu Changge's trench coat.
Unceremoniously, she flipped out the label inside.
Fang Jinse stared at the label for three seconds.
Her mouth slowly opened.
Essence from the mask dripped down her chin.
She didn't bother to wipe it.
"This brand, my mom tried on the same style at the IFC Mall last month."
"The sales assistant quoted sixty-eight thousand."
"My mom pretended to take a call and dragged me out of there."
When Zhong Ling heard the words sixty-eight thousand.
She flipped off the top bunk in a flash.
Her speed was frightening.
The leg strength she developed from years of playing badminton was no joke.
She bounded over to Mu Changge.
Circling her, she looked her up and down.
"My God."
"The shoes are new too, look at that sole, that leather."
"The shirt inside feels off too, exceptionally smooth."
"Heh heh, Mu the campus belle, be honest, where did you really go last night?"
Mu Changge took half a step back.
Trying to make her tone sound natural.
"A friend really lent it to me, I'll return the clothes after wearing them."
Zhong Ling put her hands on her hips, striking a pose like she was interrogating a suspect.
"What kind of friend casually lends clothes worth tens of thousands?"
"Is this friend the daughter of Jack Ma?"
Fang Jinse nodded furiously in agreement.
"Exactly, if you said you borrowed a Uniqlo piece, I'd believe it."
"You can't afford to damage a single button on this outfit."
Mu Changge opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She realized the more elaborate her lie, the less believable it became.
Zhong Ling saw her hesitation.
Immediately seized the opportunity, showing a mischievous grin like a seasoned driver, she leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"Did you figure it out last night? Heh heh, did you... get enlightened?"
"Is he handsome, is he good?"
"Tell me the truth, we'll keep it a secret for you."
Fang Jinse also tore off the other half of her face mask and leaned in.
The three heads nearly bumped together.
"Yeah, yeah, we're roommates, there's nothing you can't tell us."
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Mu Changge retreated to her bed, her cheeks already flushed red, waving her hands like a ripe tomato:
"No, nothing like that! Stop guessing, there's no enlightenment or anything..."
"Tsk tsk tsk, you're stuttering, and you say there's nothing?"
Zhong Ling raised an eyebrow, wearing an "I know it all" expression, and plopped down on Mu Changge's bed.
"Changge, we're all adults, what's there to be shy about?"
Fang Jinse rolled her eyes, then dropped a bombshell:
"Take my ex, for example, he looked decent, over six feet tall with muscles, but what happened?"
"Every time, even with foreplay, it didn't last half an hour, I said goodbye right then and there!"
Zhong Ling laughed so hard she nearly fell over, quickly chiming in:
"Exactly! Jinse's ex is a textbook example of what not to do."
"Hurry up and spill the beans, you weren't back all morning, don't tell me you couldn't get out of bed?"
"You, you guys..." Mu Changge was dumbfounded, her ears buzzing.
These two roommates, who usually looked so pure and pretty, how did they turn into speed demons behind closed doors?
Mu Changge grabbed a pillow to cover her burning face, muffling her voice:
"Stop asking! Nothing happened! You bunch of hooligans!"
"It's just a junior I know, his family is well-off, it was raining and I couldn't leave, so he let me sleep in his guest room for the night."
"It was just a place to stay, really nothing happened."
She regretted it as soon as she said it.
Zhong Ling's expression became even more gossipy.
"Junior? When did you meet him, how come we don't know?"
"His family is well-off?"
"You just met and spent the night at his place, wearing clothes he bought worth sixty-eight thousand, and you tell me nothing happened?"
Fang Jinse added from the side.
"Alone with a guy, with your charm, and nothing happened."
"Changge, do you believe that yourself?"
Mu Changge felt like every word she said dug the hole deeper.
She decided to keep quiet.
Su Banxia sat on her lower bunk the entire time, not joining in the questioning.
She still held the threaded needle.
The old coat with the loose seam lay across her knees.
She looked up at Mu Changge.
Noticing that despite her glamorous attire, Mu Changge's eyes were filled with exhaustion.
Completely different from the uncontainable pride of a girl being kept.
Su Banxia said nothing, putting down the needle and thread.
She got up to pour a cup of hot water from the water dispenser.
Gently placing it on Mu Changge's desk.
When Mu Changge saw the cup of water, her throat moved slightly.
She also noticed Su Banxia's earlier gaze.
A sudden, indescribable discomfort welled up inside her, knowing that Banxia's family had faced difficulties, and she was usually more frugal than herself.
They had always shared a mutual understanding, and now standing in front of Su Banxia dressed like this, it felt like showing off.
The old coat she was mending was a second-hand find from the night market behind the school during their freshman year, bought for thirty yuan.
Mu Changge picked up the cup of hot water, took a sip, the cup covering most of her face.
Zhong Ling, however, lacked such perceptiveness.
She was now in a state of extreme excitement, her gossiping spirit burning fiercely.
She grabbed Mu Changge's arm, dragging her onto the bed.
"Come, let me take a closer look, see if there's any evidence inside these clothes."
"Heh heh heh, inspection time."
Mu Changge was just about to run.
Fang Jinse quickly moved to the door and closed it.
In the girls' dormitory.
The two of them cornered Mu Changge between the wardrobe and the desk.
Zhong Ling's grip was strong, firmly holding her wrist.
The strength from playing badminton was no joke, and Mu Changge was experiencing it firsthand today.
"Zhong Ling, let go, what are you doing!"
"I'm just checking what you're wearing underneath, let me study it."
Zhong Ling shouted as she reached for the buttons of her trench coat.
Mu Changge desperately protected her collar, both hands clutching the front of her trench coat.
"Don't pull my clothes!"
"We're all girls, what's there to hide?"
The two of them tussled on the bed.
Su Banxia held her needle and thread, shrinking back onto her bed.
Watching the farce with a look of helplessness.
The trench coat was forcibly pulled open halfway by Zhong Ling.
Revealing the expensive silk shirt underneath.
The collar loosened a bit.
In her panic, Mu Changge raised her hand to block.
Her elbow hit the handle of the nearby cabinet.
The pain made her lean to the right.
The movement was so large that the second button of her shirt popped off.
Zhong Ling was still laughing.
Suddenly, her laughter stopped abruptly.
Her gaze fixed on the area below Mu Changge's collarbone.
There were two very clear red marks.
Starting from the skin above her chest.
The two red marks extended downwards, disappearing into the part covered by her clothes.
They were deep and red, stark against her pale skin.
A quick look at will leave you more fulfilled.
All sound in the dormitory vanished.
Zhong Ling let go of her hand.
Fang Jinse's smile slowly faded.
The needle in Su Banxia's hand pricked her left index finger.
A bead of blood appeared at the tip.
She didn't react at all.
All three pairs of eyes were locked on those two distinct red marks.
Mu Changge followed their gaze and looked down.
Her face changed instantly.
She quickly pulled her clothes together, wrapping her trench coat tightly.
But it was too late.
Zhong Ling's lips trembled.
Her voice suddenly became soft and small.
As if afraid of scaring Mu Changge.
"Changge."
"Did he do this?"
Mu Changge's mind buzzed.
She opened her mouth to explain.
Seeing the alarmed expressions of her three roommates.
Suddenly realizing what they were thinking.
"You've got it wrong."
"It's just from the clothes, the bra size was too small."
Zhong Ling looked into her eyes.
Her gaze filled with genuine concern.
"Changge, tell me the truth."
"If something happened, if you met someone bad, we'll go to the police together."
Fang Jinse's eyes were also red.
"Is someone forcing you?"
"Don't be afraid, my dad knows people."
Mu Changge looked at the three faces genuinely worried for her.
A wave of sourness washed over her heart.
She shook her head vigorously.
"It's really just the bra being too small, it left marks after wearing it all morning."
"What are you thinking?"
Zhong Ling stared at her for several seconds.
"Then why didn't you change it?"
Mu Changge was stumped by this question.
She couldn't possibly say she didn't bring a bra to Su Mu's mansion, forgot to mention her size, and ended up wearing the wrong size that someone sent over.
Later, at Plaza 66, the zipper got stuck while changing into a new bra, and it was Su Mu who helped her in the fitting room.
If she uttered a single word of this.
The dormitory wouldn't have peace today.
"It was too late, so I didn't change."
Mu Changge squeezed out this sentence.
Zhong Ling's eyebrows knitted into a knot.
"You spent the night at a rich junior's house, wearing clothes worth tens of thousands, and came back with marks on your chest."
"And you tell me it was self-inflicted?"