Yun Yue had always been obsessed with divination and the study of the occult, spending her days in the dorm fiddling with various tarot cards, star charts, and talismans.
Qiao Zhen probably knew it wouldn’t be a good result, so she gave a soft hum and obediently nodded. “Go ahead, tell me.”
Yun Yue adjusted her glasses and let out a sigh. “The result is that if you two get together, it won’t end well—it might even seriously affect your career.”
After a moment’s thought, she added, “But my readings aren’t 100% accurate, you know. It’s all pretty mystical. Believe it or not.”
Chen Meixiang hugged Qiao Zhen and lifted her chin. “I think Yueyue’s readings are pretty accurate. Last year she said my boyfriend and I wouldn’t end well, that the relationship would be a failure.”
“I didn’t believe it back then, but later, that piece of trash ex-boyfriend of mine really did cheat on me, hehehehe…”
Chen Meixiang rolled her eyes as she spoke.
Qiao Zhen pressed her lips together and said softly, “I believe it.”
No wonder her roommates had all been against her pursuing Ji Xian before, telling her to love herself properly.
In her past life, her career really had been a mess—just a lukewarm singer who got dragged through the mud with all kinds of scandals and slander. Not exactly a success.
Suddenly, Sheng Lulu curiously poked her head in, staring at the reversed High Priestess on the tarot card, her eyes wide open.
“Sis, do one for me too, please? Can I find a boyfriend in my freshman year? When will I meet my one true love, wuwuwu!”
Yun Yue happily agreed, shuffled the deck thoroughly, and did a reading for her.
Sheng Lulu’s little face was tense as she asked, “So? So?”
Yun Yue looked at the cards, pressed her lips together, and patted her shoulder in comfort. “Girl, you might… have to stay single.”
The moment those words fell, Sheng Lulu clutched her heart in utter devastation and quickly grabbed a bag of chips like she was slitting her wrists. “They all say if you can’t find someone in freshman year, you’ll be single all four years of college. Four years, wuwuwu, I’ve been single my whole life…”
Chen Meixiang burst out laughing and quickly comforted her. “What’s so great about men anyway? Being single is so comfortable—being alone is amazing~”
Sheng Lulu wailed loudly and devoured a whole bag of Lay’s tomato-flavored chips.
People who have never been in love still hold a sense of longing and anticipation for their first relationship.
Qiao Zhen was silent for a long time, then gently tugged at Yun Yue’s clothes and said in a sweet voice, “Yueyue-jie, can you do one more reading for me? For someone else?”
The girl’s eyes sparkled like stars, and when she smiled, two little dimples appeared at the corners of her lips. How could Yun Yue resist her? Her heart instantly softened. “Of course~”
Qiao Zhen gave her all the information about Qin Yichi, including his birthday and such, in full detail.
She pressed her lips together and waited nervously.
Yun Yue’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. “Wait a second, this one… let me try a different divination method.”
Tortoise shells, bamboo sticks, cards, star charts… Eastern and Western divination methods were all brought out.
After more than ten minutes, her expression grew increasingly serious. “Qiao Zhen, you…”
The other three all leaned in with their heads, curiously perking up their ears.
Yun Yue: “You and Qin Yichi are destined for each other, made in heaven. And in your past lives, this life, and even your next lives, there’s a very high probability you’ll be together.”
Qiao Zhen: ?
Yun Yue added quietly, “In other words, he’s your one true love~”
Qiao Zhen: ??
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Immediately after, she was surrounded by her three roommates, who interrogated her under “torture,” demanding to know everything about Qin Yichi—his height, weight, family background, personality, grades, social circle… all of it.
Qiao Zhen’s voice grew softer and softer as she hemmed and hawed, until finally she just flopped her head down on the desk.
Bunny playing dead.jpg
I’ve learned my lesson. Please spare me.
The conversation in the dorm room eventually drifted from “men” to “money.”
It started when Chen Meixiang received her monthly allowance of 3,000 yuan from her dear mother and gleefully placed an order for cosmetics—that was the spark that ignited the topic.
Sheng Lulu was green with envy, her eyes practically shooting flames: “Ahhhh why do I only get two thousand a month?! Damn it!”
Yun Yue was silent for a moment, then gave a stiff smile that didn’t reach her eyes: “Me with my 1,500 a month might as well just off myself—might as well jump straight off this sixth floor.”
Basically, by the end of the month, they all became instant noodle champions.
At that, Qiao Zhen’s eyes flickered slightly, her lashes fluttering gently.
When Yun Yue asked how much allowance she got each month, she paused, then said softly, “I don’t get an allowance.”
That much, Sheng Lulu actually knew.
Qiao Zhen had worked all kinds of part-time jobs before. After starting college, she began tutoring—on weekends or evenings when she had no classes, teaching middle schoolers Chinese and English. She managed to earn enough to live on each month.
Her mother wouldn’t give her any money.
Chen Meixiang’s heart ached for her. She reached out and hugged her tightly, gently nuzzling against her back.
Poor little Zhenzhen.
Yun Yue also felt a bit awkward. She’d just been complaining up a storm, only to find out there was someone even worse off.
How could anyone actually treat a fragile college student like some kind of super soldier…
Qiao Zhen was long used to it. She showed no emotional reaction.
She calmly washed her clothes, then lay down on the bed, curling onto her side and hugging her teddy bear, her cheek gently rubbing against its head.
At home, she had always been the extra one.
When she was seven, her biological father cheated, divorced her mother, and didn’t want his biological daughter either.
Her mother also found her a burden and dumped her at her grandmother’s place in the countryside.
Her grandmother favored boys over girls. She always bullied her—wouldn’t give her meat, wouldn’t give her blankets, made her do all kinds of dirty, exhausting chores, and constantly cursed at her in the local dialect.
Little Qiao Zhen was dazed, unable to understand what those dialect words meant.
But from her grandmother’s disgusted expression, she knew they couldn’t be anything good.
Her grandfather, on the other hand, was very kind to her. He would secretly give her meat and chocolate, hold her patiently, soothe her, and tell her not to cry.
Back then, Qiao Zhen’s favorite relative was her grandfather. She’d cling to him every day, asking for candy.
It wasn’t until later that she began to feel something was off.
Her grandfather was always touching her—patting here, stroking there. He’d press down on the door handle while she was showering, trying to get in. Or he’d sneak into her room in the dead of night, appearing and disappearing like a ghost that wouldn’t leave her alone.
His eyes looked like they wanted to devour her.
Little Qiao Zhen was terrified. She ran out crying, grabbed her grandmother’s hand, and tattled on him.
But her grandmother flew into a rage, cursing her for being shameless, and hit her with a broom while spewing dialect:
“You little slut! Always trying to seduce people! Just as brazen as your mother…”
She tumbled down the stairs, in so much pain she went numb.
When she lifted her head, all she saw was blood on the floor, slowly spreading.
Little Qiao Zhen had a hole in her head. She held back her tears and called her mother.
She said she was a good girl, she was obedient—please don’t abandon her.
Don’t abandon her!
After begging and pleading for someone to make the call, her mother finally softened and brought her back to the city.
Qiao Zhen was filled with joy and excitement—until she saw her mother’s swollen belly and the unfamiliar middle-aged man in the house. Only then did she understand.
It turned out that her mother was going to have a new home…
Winter passed and spring came. Over all these years, she had learned to read people’s moods, to humble herself and please others, to know exactly how to make herself likable.
During the National Day holiday, she went home and saw a photo frame on her mother’s bedside table.
The background of the photo was the newly opened amusement park, with a beautiful, dreamy castle.
Her mother, her stepfather, and her half-brother—a happy family of three—were cheerfully flashing peace signs, their smiles bright and radiant.
Everyone looked so happy, so content.
Beside the frame lay a thick photo album with cartoon patterns on the cover, apparently newly bought at the amusement park to hold old photos.
Qiao Zhen held her breath, pressing her lips together, a faint glimmer of hope and nervousness hidden within. She flipped through it from the first page to the last, over and over again.
Nothing.
She couldn’t find herself anywhere.
Qiao Zhen’s throat tightened, her long lashes trembling uncontrollably. A sour, aching feeling crept over her like a shadow, impossible to shake off.
Her heart felt hollow and empty.
Looking at the warm, picture-perfect family photo before her, Qiao Zhen felt like a dark, filthy rat.
Peeking from a corner at someone else’s happiness.
An amusement park… in all her eighteen years of life, she had never even been to one…
At eleven o’clock, the dormitory lights went out.
Qiao Zhen curled up under her blanket, put on her earphones, and quietly listened to music. Suddenly, a WeChat notification popped up:
[“Chi” patted my head]
A question mark slowly materialized above Qiao Zhen’s head: ?
She had no idea what Qin Yichi wanted at this ungodly hour, so she politely patted him back.
[I patted “Chi” on the shoulder and said: “Big brother~”]
Qiao Zhen: “…” You’d better have a good reason for this.