Once everyone left, the spacious dorm instantly felt empty. The other three roommates had also been called over to move out. Though they didn’t know exactly what had happened, they were smart enough not to ask questions.
“Are you missing anything?”
Wei Zhi walked around the room, looking things over.
Wei Heng shot him a look, reminding him not to forget why they had come. Wei Zhi shook his head slightly, signaling they could talk about that later.
Of course, Song Chutong knew that the commotion she caused would eventually need an explanation to the family. Luckily, it was her third and fourth cousins who came—they were younger and less meticulous. With a bit of careful explanation, she could probably brush it off.
If it had been her eldest cousin Wei Qi or second cousin Wei Lin, that wouldn’t have worked—especially Wei Lin. He always looked easygoing and smiling, but he was incredibly sharp. Even the smallest details never escaped him.
Whenever Song Chutong was under his gaze, she felt completely exposed, like he could see through everything.
So, she decided to make her requests first:
“Third Brother, since I’ll be living alone now, can you have these extra beds removed? It’s kind of scary at night. One single bed is enough—and not too big.”
“And also… I have a lot of things. Can I get a few extra shelves? Otherwise I won’t have enough space.”
She walked around the room, mentally noting she’d need to buy some daily necessities later. That, she decided, she wouldn’t mention—she could just go out and get them herself in the evening.
Wei Heng raised an eyebrow at Wei Zhi. Without hesitation, Wei Zhi said, “Sure. That’s easy—I’ll have someone come move everything shortly.”
Song Chutong beamed. “Fourth Brother is the best!”
Seeing her only praise his younger brother, Wei Heng felt a bit left out.
“What, I’m not good enough? I just went to talk to your second uncle—I got scolded pretty badly for it.”
“But in the end, he agreed,” Wei Heng added quickly, seeing her anxious expression and not wanting to tease her further.
Song Chutong tilted her head and smiled. “Third Brother is great too!”
“What reason did you give?” she asked curiously.
Wei Heng replied, “What else? That you were being isolated by your roommates, and they chose to move out on their own.”
That was more or less what they had witnessed anyway—though the second half was slightly embellished. In his opinion, it was already letting those girls off easy. If his father hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve gone straight to the troupe leaders to have them disciplined.
A bunch of brats—how dare they bully his sister?
Frowning, Wei Heng asked, “How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell us? Didn’t you even tell Ranran?”
Wei Zhi, who had been helping tidy up, immediately became interested too.
“I’ve noticed you’ve been acting unusually mature lately. You’ve been here in the army for a while but hardly come to us—what, trying to avoid suspicion? Even if you didn’t want to tell us, Ranran is here, isn’t she? You could’ve told her. She’s more sensible than you—if she knew you were being bullied, she probably would’ve come to us already.”
Song Chutong’s first instinct was anger—she wanted to expose everything Song Weiran had been doing behind the scenes.
But not yet.
Song Weiran had built her image too well. Like a delicate but resilient white flower—gentle, kind, and strong. Anyone who met her would naturally be drawn to those qualities.
Even Song Chutong’s own dislike of her had once felt irrational—just a gut feeling that she was fake, overly pure, putting on an act.
Only after waking from that “dream” did she realize her instincts had been right.
Even she, as a girl, needed foresight to see through Song Weiran—how could her straightforward, clueless brothers and uncles possibly figure it out?
Take it slow. Reel in the big fish. She repeated the thought over and over in her mind.
If she said now that Song Weiran had a hand in her being bullied, Wei Zhi and Wei Heng would probably just think she was picking a fight with her again.
No—worse. They might think she was the one bullying Song Weiran.
So she spoke softly:
“You both know my relationship with Song Weiran isn’t good… and I can be a bit prideful, so I didn’t want to tell her these things. But I’ve gotten used to it. Honestly, aside from them, most people in the dance team treat me the same way. No one really walks with me.”
She sighed lightly. Beneath her long lashes, her beautiful eyes carried a faint trace of sadness. Then she smiled, pretending not to care.
“It’s fine, Third Brother, Fourth Brother. I know my own personality. Since trying to please them didn’t work before, I just won’t bother being close to them anymore.”
After saying that, she turned her back to them—but quietly watched their reflections in the mirror.
Just as expected, their expressions had changed.
She had just said she never told Song Weiran about any of this, yet also claimed she was isolated by the entire dance team. Song Weiran wasn’t stupid—there was no way she hadn’t noticed.
Her brothers might be straightforward, but they weren’t fools either—they could definitely pick up on the inconsistency.
Wei Zhi and Wei Heng exchanged a quick glance, both sensing something off, but neither said anything outright.
After all, the relationship between Song Chutong and Song Weiran was already strained—they didn’t want to make things worse with baseless suspicions.
Wei Heng stepped forward and draped an arm over Song Chutong’s shoulders.
“It’s alright, Tongtong. There’s a saying—geniuses are always lonely. What’s wrong with walking alone? If you feel bored, just come find us. Don’t forget—you’ve got four brothers. If each of us spends a bit of time with you, you won’t be lonely at all.”
Wei Zhi nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Those girls aren’t worth your trust.”
Song Chutong smiled and nodded. “Alright! But you’re not allowed to get annoyed with me!”
“That won’t happen.”
Wei Zhi’s tone suddenly shifted as he brought up the real reason they had come.
“But Tongtong… have you heard the recent rumors? That’s actually why we came—to find out what’s going on.”
Wei Heng’s expression turned serious as well.
“Yeah. Weren’t things going well between you and Jiang Zhixing? Why did this Jiang Sheng suddenly appear? Are people spreading rumors about you? Tell me—I’ll deal with it right away.”
Song Chutong’s chest tightened.
As expected… the real issue had finally arrived.