Since the only two transmigrators were both willing to play along, the plot progressed smoothly.
Two hours later, Bai Xingyu publicly declared on the confession wall that she was still single.
Her single status announcement immediately caused an uproar at Jing Da. Almost everyone was discussing it, except for Qiao Man’s dorm, because—
“Darling Manman~ Yuanyuan and I are having dinner together tonight and won’t be back. Could you clean the dorm? Mwah, love you!”
Qiao Man stared at the message from her roommate Jia Xin, speechless.
Considering students’ adjustment needs, Jing Da had mostly kept original roommates together during the campus relocation, with only a few dorm assignments changed. Qiao Man was no exception.
The advantage was that while most dorms housed four students, theirs had only three—fewer people meant fewer conflicts.
The downside was… the female side character’s public image was that of a pure, kind-hearted innocent girl who got along with everyone. To ensure the plot proceeded smoothly, she’d better not break character.
Qiao Man glanced at the book she’d re-borrowed, “Appreciating Chinese Ancient Temple Caisson Ceilings,” and resignedly picked up the broom.
The newly occupied dorm wasn’t particularly dirty, but it was dusty. By the time Qiao Man finished cleaning and collapsed onto her bed, it was already past 10 p.m.
The central air conditioning at Jing Da blew soft, non-clinging breezes. Bundled under her thin summer quilt, Qiao Man fell asleep relatively satisfied.
Half an hour later, the door banged open as two girls entered, giggling loudly.
“Did you see the forum? Not only did Bai Xingyu announce she’s single, but she also gave that guy a check—basically telling him not to even try.”
“Bai Xingyu is way too harsh. She didn’t leave any face at all. I heard the guy who confessed was really handsome. Poor thing.”
“Everyone knows Bai Xingyu is the heiress of New Ship Technology! They’re not even in the same social class. He probably just failed at gold-digging. Nothing pitiful about that.”
As they chatted, the two girls dissolved into laughter and roughhousing. Qiao Man, abruptly awakened, sat up furiously. “Hey.”
They both froze, turning to look at her in surprise.
“Darling Manman, you’re asleep already?” Jia Xin asked cheerfully, showing no remorse for waking her roommate.
Suppressing her irritation, Qiao Man forced a smile. “Cleaning wore me out, so I turned in early. Weren’t you two staying out tonight?”
Jia Xin’s eyes darted away. “Well… we changed our plans last minute and came back.”
“Y-yeah! We came back early to keep you company!” Yi Yuanyuan quickly added.
The truth was, they didn’t want to clean the dorm or pay for a hotel, so they timed their return accordingly.
Though Qiao Man looked 20, she was actually 27. Seven years might not seem like much, but it represented the gap between a working adult and a student.
At least now, she could instantly tell what they were guilty about.
“Aww, darling Manman, I missed you so much!” Yi Yuanyuan bounced over and pulled a wrinkled plastic bag from her designer purse worth over twenty thousand. “Look! I brought you some treats!”
The bag was crumpled, its contents meager—clearly leftovers packed to go.
Qiao Man maintained her smile. “No need, I’m not hungry.”
“Have a little, this place is super expensive.” Yi Yuanyuan blinked and directly placed the bag beside her pillow.
Qiao Man stared at the plastic bag that had been outside for most of the day, now resting on her freshly made bed. After three seconds of silence, she still said nothing, merely lying back down and sending Jiang Sui a message: Being a delicate white flower is too hard.
Jiang Sui replied instantly: ?
Qiao Man ignored him.
But Jiang Sui’s second message quickly followed: Can’t be harder than being a failed live-in son-in-law.
This time it was Qiao Man’s turn to send him a question mark.
Jiang Sui: You didn’t know? Jing Da’s failed live-in son-in-law [smile.jpg]
Qiao Man: “…”
Only then did she remember to check Jing Da’s forum. As soon as she opened it, she saw a post thoroughly dissecting Bai Xingyu and Jiang Sui’s family backgrounds.
The post rambled on for over a hundred replies before concluding: Some guys really overestimate themselves.
Qiao Man was speechless for three seconds, suddenly feeling that being a delicate white flower wasn’t so bad after all.
Since in the original novel, the female supporting character’s second appearance was during a public lecture three days after school started, Qiao Man didn’t need to follow any plotlines during these three days. She only had to attend classes on time.
Returning to campus life without having to attend meetings or review reports, Qiao Man spent her days eating, drinking, and lounging in her dorm with the air conditioning. Her life was quite leisurely.
The only downside was her roommate, who constantly tested her patience.
“Manman darling~”
The moment that saccharine voice appeared, Qiao Man immediately put down her phone and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
“Manman darling, Manman dar…” Yi Yuanyuan’s cheerful voice cut off abruptly when she saw Qiao Man’s closed eyes. “Asleep already?”
Qiao Man didn’t respond.
“She was probably already asleep earlier,” Jia Xin chimed in.
Yi Yuanyuan sighed: “Alright then. I was hoping she could help me pick up a package. What’s up with Manman darling lately? She seems to love sleeping so much.”
“Not sure. She doesn’t look sick though. We can ask her to get it when she wakes up,” Jia Xin comforted.
“Guess that’s our only option. I really don’t want to go myself—it’s too hot outside,” Yi Yuanyuan said reluctantly.
Jia Xin suddenly remembered something: “Oh right, I saw Gu Hantian today.”
“Really?” Yi Yuanyuan asked in surprise.
Jia Xin nodded: “Yeah, near the library.”
“Gu Hantian is just perfect. Handsome and studious—he’s already hitting the library right after school started,” Yi Yuanyuan said with yearning.
Jia Xin: “He didn’t actually go inside the library though. Seemed like he was waiting for someone.”
“Waiting for someone?” Yi Yuanyuan immediately became alert. “Who was he waiting for?”
Jia Xin: “No idea. Apparently he’s been waiting since orientation day. Goes there every day recently.”
“He wouldn’t be waiting for someone he likes, would he? The great young master Gu descending from his pedestal for love, waiting miserably every day for his true love… Please no!” Yi Yuanyuan wailed.
Qiao Man: “…” Don’t worry, he’s not.
“Probably not. Gu Hantian’s roommate said he doesn’t have anyone he likes,” Jia Xin reassured.
Though they attended the same school, someone like Gu Hantian felt worlds away. Yi Yuanyuan wasn’t genuinely heartbroken—after a couple of dramatic wails, she eagerly waved Jia Xin over.
“Come here quick, I want to show you something.”
“What is it?” Jia Xin asked curiously as she leaned in.
“Ta-da!” Yi Yuanyuan proudly displayed her phone, showing a photo of Gu Hantian.
“Gu Hantian!” Jia Xin exclaimed. “So handsome! Where’d you get this?”
“Bought it from one of his friends. Cost me a thousand bucks,” Yi Yuanyuan said triumphantly.
Jia Xin immediately expressed envy: “So cheap.”
Qiao Man, who had been pretending to sleep but heard everything: “…”
She didn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend, couldn’t figure it out.
But if one photo could sell for a thousand yuan, maybe after she got familiar with Gu Hantian according to the plot, she could consider developing a side business?
The moment Qiao Man thought of Gu Hantian, she recalled the books she mistakenly took that day and the way Gu Hantian looked at her as if she were a pervert, giving her a headache.
Jia Xin and Yi Yuanyuan’s conversation ran wild like an unleashed dog. In the brief moment Qiao Man zoned out, the two had shifted from discussing Gu Hantian to Jiang Sui.
“I saw that Jiang Sui today too. He’s really quite handsome, but still falls short compared to Gu Hantian,” Yi Yuanyuan said.
Jia Xin: “That’s normal. No one can be handsomer than Gu Hantian.”
Qiao Man, who had been pretending to sleep but heard everything, disagreed.
Although her ex-husband was sharp-tongued, lazy, and heartless, he had never lost when it came to looks. Even during his short phase at 150 cm, he was famously known as the handsome short guy in the neighborhood.
As for Gu Hantian… he was good-looking with sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and distinct features, but he was too intimidating and excessively outstanding academically.
Qiao Man tended to feel competitive around such people, making it hard for her to simply appreciate his appearance.
“Jiang Sui seems to have changed majors. Now he attends classes with Bai Xingyu every day,” Yi Yuanyuan continued sharing gossip.
Jia Xin was surprised: “Really? Didn’t Bai Xingyu already reject him? Why are they still together?”
“Who knows? Actually, I think Bai Xingyu is a bit fake. She rejected him so publicly, yet now she tacitly allows him to hover around her as if to show off how charming she is.”
“Looking at it this way, Jiang Sui is quite pitiful.”
Pitiful.
Qiao Man had heard many people use this word to describe Jiang Sui.
She never expected to hear it again after transmigrating into this novel.
The central air conditioning dispelled all the summer heat. The two girls sat head-to-head, eating watermelon while whispering.
Qiao Man had been pretending to sleep for so long that she actually dozed off.
She dreamed of high school.
It was another hot summer day like this. Having stayed up late solving problems the night before, she slept like a log at her desk during morning reading class.
In her real-life key high school, summers were always as hot as the students’ enthusiasm. Despite two air conditioners, the frequently opened and closed doors couldn’t retain the cool air.
Afraid she might wake up from the heat, she asked her deskmate Jiang Sui to hold a small electric fan for her. Jiang Sui complained but did it anyway.
She slept soundly until morning reading ended. Only when hunger woke her did she realize Jiang Sui was still holding the small fan.
“Man Jie, my Sui Ge is so pitiful. He’s been fanning you the whole time, not daring to stop until you woke up,” the PE class representative sitting behind them said with a laugh.
Qiao Man glanced at Jiang Sui: “Are you pitiful?”
Jiang Sui shrugged: “A little.”
“You were clearly willing to do it yourself,” Qiao Man retorted.
Jiang Sui laughed in exasperation: “Just because I was willing doesn’t mean I’m not pitiful? What’s the difference between this and workers voluntarily working overtime?”
The dream ended abruptly there. Qiao Man opened her eyes and found herself still in the dormitory.
It was already dark. Jia Xin and Yi Yuanyuan were nowhere to be seen—she was alone in the entire dorm.
Qiao Man recalled Jiang Sui’s words in the dream and finally agreed after all these years… Jiang Sui, whom she had bossed around for so many years, was indeed somewhat pitiful.
And now, after finally gaining his freedom, he still had to endure the servitude of the female protagonist in order to return to the real world.
Qiao Man sighed as she opened the Jing Da forum, immediately spotting a post about Jiang Sui—
“Shocking! What charm does campus belle Bai Xingyu possess to make a coal-mining rich second-generation simp go this far?!”
Oh, poor Jiang Sui.
Qiao Man clicked into the post and saw a video.
The video was filmed in the cafeteria, showing Jiang Sui holding a tray and following leisurely behind Bai Xingyu like a loyal knight.
The two found a table and sat facing each other. As soon as they were seated, Jiang Sui began serving food to Bai Xingyu.
Qiao Man remembered this scene from the original novel—the first time the vicious simp male supporting character ate with the female protagonist, he excitedly gave all the best items from his plate to her.
The female protagonist didn’t want them, but he pleaded with her so humbly that she reluctantly accepted before he would continue eating properly.
Hmm, the novel also mentioned that some busybody secretly filmed this scene and uploaded it to the forum—probably this very footage.
If the plot remained accurate, Gu Hantian should currently be throwing a tantrum in his dorm.
“Poor Jiang Sui.” Qiao Man knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help feeling schadenfreude.
If Jiang Sui had any particularly major flaws, Qiao Man thought the first was being overly concerned about his height, and the second was being possessive about food.
Yes, the young master of the Jiang family, who never lacked for food since childhood, had developed an extremely possessive attitude toward his meals. Even she found it difficult to take food from his bowl.
Yet now, to follow the plot, he had to actively share his food with the female protagonist.
“Let me see what you gave her…”
Qiao Man maximized the video, straining to identify the items through the blurry footage.
A piece of onion, two pieces of green pepper, and three slices of… ginger?
She: “?”
Half an hour earlier.
Bai Xingyu looked at the additional items in her bowl, hesitating to speak.
“Eat more,” Jiang Sui said gently.
Bai Xingyu replied awkwardly, “But these aren’t edible?”
“I’m being laughed at by the whole school…” Jiang Sui sighed.
Bai Xingyu immediately straightened her attitude: “They’re edible. Thank you.”