Chapter 13: Extending Your Life

Does she speak in any particular way?

How could he recognize her at a glance?

Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to argue, so she simply turned off her phone and ignored the message.

“It won’t work in the boys’ dormitories. Their first-floor washrooms and shower rooms are connected, and there’s a risk of seeing naked men.”

“…Then let’s just wait in line,” Zheng Xinyue said.

"Hmm." Peng Chengyi nodded and offered Chen Wei a solution, "Why don't you go around the tap? Maybe someone will see how miserable you are and let you rinse off first. After all, the laundry isn't in a rush."

"I'll give it a try..." Chen Wei sighed helplessly and walked to the front row.

Fortunately, there were still many good people at the school, and Chen Wei soon returned with her wet hair.

She glanced down at her watch and asked the two of them, "It's almost dinner time, do you want to go eat first? Maybe the water will be back on in the dorm after we finish eating."

Peng Chengyi glanced at the growing crowd behind her, worried that there wouldn't be water when she came back from dinner and she would have to queue for even longer: "I still want to wash my clothes first and hang them up to dry as soon as possible, so that they can be dry by tomorrow morning."

Zheng Xinyue rubbed her empty stomach: "I'm a little hungry. How about I take a gamble and go eat first?"

Seeing that his two dining buddies were about to leave, Peng Chengyi wavered a little again.

She really wasn't used to eating alone in the cafeteria.

As if sensing the struggle in her expression, Zheng Xinyue said warmly, "What do you want to eat? We can pack some for you to take back to your dorm later."

Peng Chengyi immediately expressed her gratitude: "Ah! What do you need to get for me? Just bring me whatever you like. I eat everything except green peppers and carrots."

After Zheng Xinyue and Chen Wei left, Peng Chengyi waited again, holding a washbasin.

But less than five minutes later, whispers broke out behind them: "Look at that boy by the teaching building, isn't that Chen Yubai?"

"Really? The podium was too far away yesterday, I didn't really see his face clearly, and the photos on the forum were blurry too..."

"Probably. He's so handsome, he's the only one in the first year of high school."

"Seriously, he looks even more handsome up close. He's definitely good enough to debut as a celebrity right now."

Peng Chengyi was taken aback and subconsciously turned her head.

And sure enough, Chen Yubai was seen casually walking around the teaching building with his hands in his pockets.

Uh... debuting on the spot?

Why don't you listen to what you're saying?

Are all fangirls these days so indiscriminate in their food choices?

Peng Chengyi frowned as she listened, then glanced at Chen Yubai, who seemed to be walking in her direction.

He had changed out of his camouflage military uniform and casually put on a loose black T-shirt, revealing his muscular calves beneath his athletic shorts.

The setting sun fell on his shoulders, and the wind tossed the stray hairs on his forehead, making his facial features even more striking.

It seems so, all show and no substance.

But I don't know what he's planning to do, since the cafeteria is clearly in another direction.

As he drew closer, Peng Chengyi suddenly had a bad feeling.

Could it be that he couldn't handle her on WeChat, so he came to settle the score with her in person?

Thinking of this, Peng Chengyi quickly averted her gaze, pretending not to see him, and started scrolling through her phone.

But a moment later, a tall figure loomed over her head, and a boy's languid voice sounded in her ear: "Peng Chengyi."

really.

Peng Chengyi's breath hitched. Amidst the curious or envious gazes of the girls around him, he chuckled and looked up, "Brother, what brings you here?"

Chen Yubai narrowed his long, narrow eyes: "What do you think?"

Peng Chengyi blinked and continued to play dumb with him: "Do you miss my Feng?"

"..." Chen Yubai's lips twitched slightly, his gaze falling on the phone in her hand. "Why are you always on your phone and not replying to my messages?"

Peng Chengyi: "Because, I've gone blind again."

"..."

Perhaps seeing that she would never admit to that reply, Chen Yubai tilted his head and chuckled, his gaze shifting to the basin she was holding: "How long are you going to wait in line? Are you even going to eat?"

"Zheng Xinyue and the others will take care of it for me, you don't need to worry about it." Peng Chengyi snorted lightly, under the pressure of the gazes of the people around her, she just wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible.

"Alright, I was thinking of taking your clothes to my dorm to wash since you called me 'brother'." Chen Yubai shrugged and turned to leave.

Peng Chengyi was taken aback. After weighing the long wait in line against the brief embarrassment, she quickly reached out and grabbed his hem.

"Brother! I still need you to take care of me!"

She gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly shoved the washbasin into his arms: "Thank you, big brother, I'm going to the cafeteria for lunch!"

After saying that, she quickly fled from the group.

Chen Yubai was left alone, holding a washbasin, silently watching her fleeing figure under the gaze of a group of girls.

Peng Chengyi, panting as she ran into the cafeteria, quickly spotted Zheng Xinyue and Chen Wei.

The two had just finished getting their food and were looking for seats.

She quickly raised her hand and waved at Zheng Xinyue, who was looking around.

Zheng Xinyue, who caught sight of her, paused for a moment, then smiled and walked towards her: "You've given up queuing too?"

"I caught someone to help me wash," Peng Chengyi said, catching her breath.

"Who's so kind? Can I go and catch them?" Zheng Xinyue asked curiously.

Peng Chengyi: "Chen Yubai. How about I ask him again for you? I'll just call him 'brother' a couple more times."

Zheng Xinyue was startled, and said with an awkward laugh, "...Let's forget about it."

-

After dinner, there was still no water in the dormitory.

It's said that a pipeline broke, and the school's property management couldn't fix it; they're still waiting for the repair team to arrive.

However, quite a few girls, probably inspired by Peng Chengyi, started asking familiar boys to help them take their clothes to the boys' dormitory to be washed.

The number of people queuing at the water taps decreased significantly, and the previously quiet boys' restroom became lively again.

But young men who have just started living independently have no idea how much laundry detergent to use or how many times to rinse the clothes.

Chen Yubai alone skillfully completed all the steps, picked up the basin, and prepared to leave.

Ling Baizhou, who was still washing clothes, quickly called out to him, "Wait a minute! How much laundry detergent should I use?"

Chen Yubai glanced at his washbasin and said, "That's enough, no need to pour any more."

"Oh, okay." Ling Baizhou quickly stopped the car, then couldn't help but ask, "How come you're so skilled?"

“I used to wash them often,” Chen Yubai said casually.

Chen Jianye rarely goes home. When Lin Qingying comes home from work at the hospital, she just throws her clothes into the washing machine. No one cares about how he changes his clothes every day.

He would collect his coats and pants and throw them directly into the washing machine.

But he still chooses to hand-wash small items like underwear and socks while showering.

“You wash clothes often…” Ling Baizhou was taken aback, thinking that Peng Chengyi used to use his position as the boss to force him to do the laundry. He couldn’t help but sigh and say, “Dude, it’s not easy having a childhood friend like this.”

Seeing that he was thinking the wrong thing again, Chen Yubai was too lazy to correct him and went straight back to his room, where he hung the clean short-sleeved shirt next to his bed.

In the evening, the school was quite considerate, organizing boarding students to watch a movie together in the classroom.

Everyone temporarily put the troubles of the water outage behind them.

When the movie ended at 9:30, people went back to their dorms and found there was still no water. Everyone upstairs and downstairs cried out in despair.

“This is the time to test who is more resourceful,” Zheng Xinyue said, taking two bottles of mineral water out of her bag. “Come on, friends, use them sparingly, at least enough to brush your teeth.”

After barely managing to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth, Peng Chengyi received a message from Chen Yubai: "Go downstairs and get your clothes."

Peng Chengyi quickly put on a shirt over her tank top and hurried downstairs.

"Thank you, brother. You're so kind to come and deliver it in person." Peng Chengyi chuckled as she took the basin from his hands.

“I’m afraid if I let you come and get it, you’ll just sneak in and knock on my dorm door,” Chen Yubai said with a smile.

"..."

This dog, she can't stand not hurting her for a moment, right?

Peng Chengyi's lips twitched slightly, and out of consideration for the fact that he had helped her wash her clothes, she swallowed the words she was about to say to him.

She then complained to him, "You know what? Our dorm still doesn't have water."

Chen Yubai: "Oh."

Peng Chengyi: "...Could you perhaps express some sympathy for me?"

Chen Yubai: "The clothes you couldn't wash because there was no water, I washed them. You expect me to pity you?"

Peng Chengyi: "Okay, I'll sympathize with you for two seconds."

Chen Yubai: "..."

Peng Chengyi: "Two seconds have passed, now it's your turn to pity me."

Chen Yubai: "...?"

Peng Chengyi: "I haven't taken a shower yet."

Chen Yubai: "Will you die if you don't wash for a day?"

"..."

True, what good can come out of a dog's mouth?

Peng Chengyi pursed her lips, picked up the basin, and turned to go upstairs.

Back in her dorm, she still felt a bit angry.

He knew perfectly well that she was a bit of a germaphobe and couldn't sleep well without showering, yet he still had such a sharp tongue.

He couldn't help but pick up his phone and type:

"Will die"

"You will lose your best friend, your henchman, and your former boss tomorrow."

After a while, Chen Yubai replied to her, "Don't worry, I'll burn more paper money for you."

Peng Chengyi: "..."

She's fine, why is she sending him this message?

Peng Chengyi took a deep breath and slammed her phone onto the bed.

In the dormitory, besides her, there were four other people who also couldn't take a shower.

People started discussing whether they should use a thermos to get some hot water from the boiler room and then wipe themselves down.

"I haven't bought a thermos yet..."

"I only have a small thermos, and I feel like one injection isn't enough."

Peng Chengyi glanced at her small thermos and leaned out of bed, saying, "Me too. Besides, we can't just fill it with hot water; we also need to fill it with cold water to adjust the temperature."

"Indeed, it feels like even if all the thermos flasks in the dorm were used, it would probably only be enough for one person to wash, and we would have to run back and forth to get water, which is too troublesome."

"never mind."

"never mind."

Everyone sighed and went back to bed.

Only Peng Chengyi glanced at her watch and began to seriously consider whether she could manage to take a shower before lights out if she went downstairs to fetch water, filled the thermos flasks in the dormitory with both cold and hot water, and then carried them to the bathhouse.

The conclusion is that it may be too late.

Because the tap for cold water is quite far away.

She has to make at least two trips back and forth.

Oh well, I'll just have to sleep here.

Peng Chengyi turned over, feeling sticky and uncomfortable all over.

I can only distract myself by watching "Lonely Rock" three times.

After looking at it for a while, a WeChat message suddenly popped up on my phone screen.

Upon seeing that it was Chen Yubai, Peng Chengyi didn't want to pay any attention to him and continued watching the animation.

Less than a minute later, he called.

Peng Chengyi paused, then answered the phone somewhat speechlessly: "If you need anything, just burn some paper money for me. Why call?"

Chen Yubai: "...Go downstairs."

Peng Chengyi: "It's almost lights out, I'm not going downstairs."

"Don't regret it if you don't come down. I'll only wait for you for 5 minutes."

Chen Yubai hung up the phone after saying that.

Peng Chengyi: "..."

As expected of her childhood friend, he knows exactly how to provoke her.

Although still somewhat confused, Peng Chengyi, afraid of missing something and regretting it, still got out of bed, put on a shirt, and hurriedly went downstairs.

In front of the dormitory building, under dim light.

She vaguely saw a tall figure, and there seemed to be a bunch of things around him.

As she got closer, she noticed that there were four thermos flasks at his feet.

Peng Chengyi paused, her eyes widening in disbelief: "What are you doing here?"

Chen Yubai, with his hands in his pockets, said casually, "To extend your life."

A note from the author:

----------------------

Please leave lots of comments, everyone! [Please][Please][Please]

Thank you Sunshine, 〇十七, 小绿江 (my precious little green river), and 79105248 for the nutrient solution! [heart emoji]