Chapter 22 Stress Response: Please maintain a good relationship with your roommates...
Di Qing twitched his lips and took a small step back.
Noticing Di Qing's subtle movements, Liang Jun still smiled and continued to follow at the same distance.
"You invited us to have dinner with you before, and we all went with you; now we just want to go back to the dorm with you on the way, you won't object, will you?"
I never expected Liang Jun to pull such a move.
Di Qing glanced at the crowd surrounding him and realized that everyone seemed to have tacitly approved of Liang Xun's actions. Even if he was unwilling, he couldn't directly refuse her.
"Oh well……"
Di Qing forced a smile, "Then let's go together."
The journey back to the dormitory wasn't too far, and the group tacitly refrained from speaking to each other along the way.
When they arrived at the boys' dormitory building, Luo Chuange and Song Ming left first.
Liang Xun and Gu Keke followed behind Di Qing and entered the girls' dormitory building once again.
The dormitory supervisor was sitting at the security post at the entrance, a teapot in front of her steaming as she leisurely poured herself some tea.
The scalding hot tea was a deep red, almost blackish-red.
Upon seeing the group enter the dormitory building, the dormitory supervisor walked towards Di Qing with a delighted expression.
"Isn't this Di Qing? Why are you back in the dorm so early today?"
Di Qing also warmly shook hands with the NPC, "Yes, Auntie, I came back with my roommate today."
She turned her head slightly, her gaze seemingly casually drifting towards Liang Jun and Gu Keke behind her.
The dormitory supervisor looked over and her smile widened.
She took two teacups from the table, filled them with hot tea, and walked over to the two of them.
"You two look a bit unfamiliar. Have you not lived in the dorms much?"
The dormitory supervisor placed teacups in the hands of the two people, saying, "Come and try the tea I brewed. Everyone who has tried it says it's good."
Liang Jun had no choice but to accept it, as she could not refuse.
The warmth emanated from her fingers. Several dark, lumpy objects were at the bottom of the teacup, but the tea was too dark for Liang Xun to see clearly.
Just as she was hesitating whether to drink it or not, Gu Keke picked up the teacup and smelled it carefully.
"Is it the finest hibiscus tea?!"
Gu Keke's eyes lit up immediately.
Hearing her say that, the dormitory supervisor's mood clearly brightened.
"Excuse me, what's your name?"
She picked up the roster from the table and searched through it with a red pen in her hand. "I didn't know you were so knowledgeable about tea!"
Although she didn't know whether it was good or bad, Gu Keke still answered seriously: "My name is Gu Keke, and I live in dormitory 544."
The dormitory supervisor's red pen quickly locked onto the target.
From Liang Jun's perspective, you can see that she marked a five-pointed star before Gu Keke's name.
Under the expectant gazes of the NPCs, Gu Keke and Liang Xuan drank the hot tea in one gulp.
It definitely tastes like roselle tea.
But perhaps because it was brewed with hot water, the tea had a sour and astringent taste when I put it in my mouth, with a faint fishy smell.
The dormitory supervisor stopped bothering them, and the two followed Di Qing upstairs.
The dormitory was still the same as before, with the doors of several rooms wide open. Liang Jun glanced inside curiously as she passed by.
Dark red marks were everywhere, indicating that no one had lived there for a long time.
Turning his gaze away, Di Qing stopped in front of dormitory number 544.
She took out her key from her pocket and unlocked the gold lock hanging on the door.
As the wooden door creaked open, Di Qing handed the key to Gu Keke, who was closest to him.
You keep the key.
Di Qing walked straight into the room and sat down at his desk. "Liang Xun used to have the key, and I've been living in the dormitory by myself lately—to be fair, you can take over."
Gu Keke didn't say much.
She closed the wooden door from inside the house and then prepared to hang the gold lock on the bolt.
The unusual sensation on her fingers made her more cautious.
Gu Keke carefully examined the gold lock in her hand, only to find that the originally smooth gold lock surface suddenly had two blood-red marks.
She instinctively checked her fingers, only to find that they were not stained with paint.
It looks like it was carved in there.
"What's this?"
Gu Keke turned around, holding the gold lock, and asked Di Qing, who was dozing at the desk, "Why are there these marks on the lock? I remember that when I first got the items, I didn't have these things."
Di Qing squinted, not getting up, but craning her neck to get a closer look.
"Oh, you mean that..."
She yawned widely. "After the lights were turned off last night, it seemed like something was banging on the door. Anyway, since I had this gold lock, I ignored it, and this is what it looked like when I woke up the next day."
Di Qing yawned repeatedly, unwilling to sit down there any longer, and prepared to climb the ladder to the bed.
"This lock is designed to withstand damage, so it's fine as it is. You can put it on... I'm so sleepy, I'm going to bed now..."
Di Qing acted as if nothing had happened, and simply crawled into the blanket and covered his head.
Not long after, her breathing could be heard coming from the upper bunk.
In contrast, Liang Jun and Gu Keke were not as carefree as her.
Liang Jun took the gold lock from Gu Keke's hand. "Hang it up first."
Her fingers touched the two marks as well, and the distinct feeling of being branded made Liang Jun uneasy.
She suggested that Gu Keke first check if there was anything unusual about her bed.
The two women searched their beds and desks as quietly as possible. After confirming that there were no extra items, they tiptoed into bed.
The exhaustion surged as soon as I touched the pillow.
No matter how vigilant Liang Jun was, she could not resist the overwhelming drowsiness.
Liang Xuan opened her eyes again, awakened by a gust of cold wind.
She vaguely felt cold in her sleep, so she subconsciously reached out and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.
But she soon realized that her efforts were in vain—the wind was clearly blowing from above her head.
Liang Yan felt a headache and dizziness from the wind.
She groggily propped herself up in bed and looked toward the drafty area.
The dilapidated wooden door of the dormitory had been opened at some point, but it wasn't closed tightly, leaving a small crack.
The golden lock hung halfway on the doorknob, remaining firmly in place even when the wind blew.
Liang Jun's drowsiness dissipated by more than half.
She threw off the covers, ignoring the chill that rushed through her body, and jumped down the escalator in two steps, decisively and quickly closing the wooden door tightly.
Liang Jun fastened the gold lock back onto the doorknob, checking it several times until she was sure the locking process was complete.
After doing all this, Liang Jun climbed up the escalator to Gu Keke, stepped onto the middle half, and shook Gu Keke, who was still asleep.
"Um?"
Gu Keke opened her eyes groggily; her two buns had already come undone and were now obscuring her face.
"What's wrong?"
Liang Jun asked sternly, "Where's the key? Where did you put the key to the door lock?"
"In the small drawer of my desk..."
After getting the answer, Liang Xuan rushed to Gu Keke's desk.
Their tables were all empty, but Liang Jun immediately spotted the open drawer.
The drawer, which should have been closed, was pulled open, and the golden key lay conspicuously in the middle of the drawer.
It has been taken by someone.
A thunderclap flashed through Liang Jun's mind.
She hesitated for two steps back until her view encompassed the bed next to Gu Keke—
The blankets were piled high together, and the wrinkled sheets were empty.
Where is Di Qing?
Liang Jun felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
Still dizzy, Gu Keke struggled to get up from the bed. She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked in the direction Liang Xun was looking.
"Where has she gone?!"
While the two were still feeling uneasy, there was a sudden knock on the wooden door of the dormitory.
The force and arrogance of the knocking caused Liang Jun, who was standing on the ground, to involuntarily take a few steps back.
What is knocking on the door?
Gu Keke was fully awake and quickly climbed out of bed.
Seemingly seeing no response from the people in the dormitory, the knocking sounded again.
"Open the door! It's me, Di Qing!"
Liang Jun and Gu Keke exchanged a glance.
Judging from the sound, it was indeed the familiar voice of Di Qing.
But everyone else was taking a nap, so why was she the one who ran out?
Gu Keke mustered her courage and asked towards the door, "Where did you go?"
"Aren't people allowed to use the restroom?!"
Di Qing seemed to be grumpy when he woke up, his tone extremely impatient, "A bunch of lunatics, open the door right now!"
Gu Keke coughed twice. "Open the door. Judging from her attitude, it should be her."
Liang Jun touched the tip of her nose, then picked up the key and unlocked the gold lock.
As soon as the door was unlocked, Di Qing pushed it open forcefully. Luckily, Liang Xun reacted quickly, otherwise her forehead would have hit the edge of the door.
"You guys are really sick," Di Qing said, seemingly out of her mind with anger, as she sat down at her desk and began gulping down water. "I just went to the bathroom, is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"
"That's all?"
Hearing her words, Liang Jun felt a surge of anger rising within her.
"Don't you know what's going on? There are other people in the dorm, yet you just swagger out without closing the door. Do you think this is a trivial matter that doesn't require much attention?"
She wanted to continue complaining, but the system notification suddenly interrupted Liang Xuan's thoughts.
[Hidden rule triggered.]
6. The dormitory is a community; please maintain a good relationship with your roommates.
Liang Jun rolled her eyes twice.
Fine, she'll endure it...
However, since he didn't pursue the matter further, Di Qing suddenly became agitated.
"You were all asleep at the time. Did you expect me to shake you all awake and tell you to open the door for me?"
Di Qing sneered, "I don't need to take the key with me to the toilet, do I? What if I don't hold the key properly and it falls into the toilet? Which of you two will go retrieve it?"
Liang Jun and Gu Keke remained silent.
"Besides, the toilet is right next to our dorm, you all know that. How much time can it take me to go to the toilet?"
Di Qing suddenly slid his chair backward, the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound causing the other two to frown.
"I've always been like this while you guys aren't in the dorm, and nothing strange has happened!"
She climbed the ladder and went back to bed.
The dark circles under the eyes were even more noticeable under the light.
"Have you all experienced too much stress and are now becoming overly sensitive?"
Di Qing crawled into bed and simply covered his head again. "Otherwise, why would I overreact to everything I see?"
Seeing Di Qing angrily preparing to go back to sleep, Liang Xun took a deep breath.
"Yes, you're right."
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Author's note: I don't know if it's because I typed too hard, but my wrist hurts so much ToT
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