“Pei Chongxi, do you think I could choose not to live at school?”
“I can take on a few more part time jobs and just rent a small place near the school.”
An Rong buried her entire head under the covers. In the darkness, she tugged at the nightgown of the girl beside her. “I’m not picky, any tiny place will do.”
Another flash of lightning and a crash of thunder sounded outside.
Pei Chongxi pulled the blanket up a bit higher. The two girls were squished together on a very narrow single bed.
They were bunkmates, with Pei Chongxi on the top bunk. Whenever a thunderstorm hit, Pei Chongxi would climb down to huddle under the covers with An Rong.
“Sigh, you’re so timid. If I move out to live on my own, what will you do?”
Although An Rong wasn’t actually afraid of thunder, her head was buried even deeper than Pei Chongxi’s at that moment.
From beneath the blanket, An Rong gently patted Pei Chongxi’s back and asked softly, “How much do you think it costs to rent a place outside?”
Pei Chongxi replied softly, “I’m not afraid of thunder.”
An Rong didn’t believe her for a second. “If you’re not afraid of thunder, then why do you crawl into my bed every time it rains? It’s so cramped, neither of us can sleep well.”
Hearing this, Pei Chongxi shimmied outward a bit, leaving half her body almost dangling in the air, only to be yanked firmly back by An Rong.
The two girls lay on their sides, facing each other, hugging beneath the covers to keep warm.
“I really am not afraid of thunderstorms.”
A previous misunderstanding had led An Rong to believe that Pei Chongxi was afraid of thunder. In reality, she wasn’t, she simply used it as an excuse to be close to An Rong.
Pei Chongxi paused thoughtfully for a moment, then asked, “Why do you suddenly want to move out?”
An Rong pouted. “I’m just not used to living in the school dorms.”
Knowing that An Rong wasn’t normally a capricious person, Pei Chongxi wanted to ask more, but An Rong fell silent.
A few minutes later, An Rong let out a huge yawn.
She was already exhausted from the daytime, and now, unable to stay awake much longer, she dazedly drifted off to sleep.
An Rong pressed her forehead against Pei Chongxi’s chest, while Pei Chongxi rested her chin on top of An Rong’s head.
“Alright, alright. I’ll figure something out,” An Rong mumbled in her sleep. “When the time comes, you can move in with me, and we’ll split the rent.”
She said it as if Pei Chongxi was getting a total bargain.
The corners of Pei Chongxi’s lips curled up slightly. “Alright.”
At first, Pei Chongxi thought it was just a passing thought of An Rong’s. Although she kept it in mind, it didn’t seem urgent.
Pei Chongxi had excellent grades, ranking near the top of the entire grade, and was always treasured by the teachers.
“Excuse me, student, are your class notes for sale?”
Just a few steps out of the school gates, Pei Chongxi’s sleeve was suddenly yanked by a parent with perm curled hair.
The older woman looked quite embarrassed, while the student behind her tried to say something, only to be glared at fiercely by the mother.
“If your chemistry grades weren’t constantly failing to improve, would I need to go buy someone else’s class notes?”
“Mom, my grades are actually okay…”
“That’s enough, say less.”
The girl wanted to argue further, but under another glare from her mother, she had no choice but to bow her head sullenly and shut up.
Pei Chongxi’s arm was held firm by the woman, but she didn’t pull away.
Recalling what An Rong had said to her while lying on that creaky dorm bed, Pei Chongxi said softly, “I can sell them, but the school actually doesn’t allow private transactions like this.”
Though young, Pei Chongxi already possessed a knack for business. She pondered briefly before adding, “I won’t give you the original notes, but if you really want them, I can make photocopies.”
“I understand all of that,” the woman said, patting her chest reassuringly. “We’ll read them quietly and keep it to ourselves. I know the owner of a print shop, just one set of photocopies will do.”
The corners of Pei Chongxi’s mouth lifted slightly. “Mm. There are also a few exercise workbooks that I personally find very helpful. If you need those…”
Pei Chongxi maintained the image of a cautious, quiet, and well-behaved star student, far from looking like someone who had struck a private deal with the local bookstore owner near the school.
The small bookstore owner made money off students and had initially wanted to negotiate hard on prices with Pei Chongxi. However, knowing that a bad reputation could ruin the bookstore’s business, they reached an agreement.
Pei Chongxi pulled out an old mobile phone from her pocket, even running QQ on it looked like a struggle.
“Let’s exchange contact info.”
“Ah, yes, wonderful!”
The woman pulled Pei Chongxi over to a secluded spot and hinted eagerly with her eyes, “So, do you have time for private tutoring?”
Pei Chongxi fell silent for a long moment, looking hesitant.
The mother immediately added, “I definitely won’t make you travel for nothing! I know study time is crucial for good students like you, so just one or two hours on weekends would be fine.”
“Please add my contact info first. I need to think about it, a lot of people have been asking me, so I’m really sorry.”
Pei Chongxi gave a shy, embarrassed smile.
Parents always favored quiet, polite girls who excelled academically. She hurriedly added Pei Chongxi’s contact details and stuffed a handful of chocolates from her bag into Pei Chongxi’s pocket.
“Student, it’s a deal then!”
Pei Chongxi nodded quietly in agreement.
In the past, she rarely engaged in things unrelated to her studies, as taking on part time jobs outside would disrupt her academic progress.
A week passed like this. Pei Chongxi was counting a stack of cash in her pocket.
She deftly counted the money, standing with her hands in her pockets in front of a utility pole at dusk, looking at the handwritten rental notices posted on it.
A student could only earn a limited amount of money, but landlords wouldn’t lower the rent just because she was a student. Furthermore, paying a one month deposit plus three months’ rent upfront was non-negotiable.
Pei Chongxi rubbed her temples, counted the stack of bills in her pocket again, and finally closed her eyes for a moment.
Rents near the school were high, and the places were all old houses.
Pei Chongxi had checked several locations, but couldn’t find anything suitable.
There still wasn’t enough money.
Pei Chongxi snapped off a small piece of chocolate and placed it on her tongue. She didn’t taste any of the remaining ones, instead leaving one piece by An Rong’s pillow every day.
Thursday evening’s self-study session was no different from usual.
Taking advantage of the teachers’ favor toward top students, Pei Chongxi left the classroom early, crossing the dark playground toward the dormitory building.
An inexplicable sense of unease gnawed at her heart along the way. She checked her bag to ensure nothing was missing, and there were no new messages on her phone.
Yet, the sense of foreboding grew stronger, until she pushed open the dormitory door and realized something was wrong.
An Rong hadn’t attended the evening self-study. She had been called to do cleaning duty, but it was already very late, and she was still nowhere to be seen.
Pei Chongxi’s breathing hitched for a moment. Her thoughts raced as she sprinted toward her dorm room.
With a clack, she slammed the door open.
The bunk that uniquely belonged to An Rong was an absolute disaster.
The blanket was tossed onto the floor, the mattress was soaked with water, and her exercise books and test papers were shredded and scattered across the ground.
The window was wide open. A gust of cold wind blew past, sweeping a page from an exercise book right to Pei Chongxi’s feet.
Out of the six people in the room, only An Rong’s bed had been vandalized.
The clothes stored in her closet were all dumped on the floor, and even her underwear had not been spared.
Pei Chongxi swept her eyes across the chaos. She put down her backpack and began frantically searching through the mess with her hands.
Two pieces of An Rong’s underwear were missing.
Neither she nor An Rong owned many clothes, so they were both intimately familiar with what the other possessed.
The night wind howled outside the window, carrying with it the faint, sharp cry of a female voice.
“Ah!!! Help!”
Soon after another gust of wind swept by, the scream dissolved back into the boundless darkness.
It was An Rong’s voice.