Chapter 1: My Roommate Was Exposed
There are four of us in our dormitory, and we are so close that we can wear the same pair of shorts - except me and Lin Yan.
It wasn't any deep hatred, it was simply a matter of syncing up. The three of them wished they were conjoined twins, playing basketball, playing games, and even bathing together.
As for me, I mainly follow the principle of "going with the flow". If the opportunity arises, I will join in the fun. If the opportunity doesn't arise, I will stay in my own corner, enjoying the aroma of instant noodles and takeout, and doing some keyboard and mouse exercises that are beneficial to my body and mind (mainly my fingers).
Lin Yan was the universally acknowledged oasis in the desert of our boys' dormitory. It was like a walking central air conditioner, incredibly powerful.
When you are thirsty, there is always extra mineral water on his table; when you are hungry, he will bring you lunch and he can accurately predict your casual mention yesterday that "the sweet and sour pork in the third canteen seems okay"; when your internet connection is disconnected in the middle of a game, he can make the network administrator downstairs rush up to fix it with just one phone call. His efficiency is so high that people wonder if he has some leverage over you.
The most amazing thing is that he can even treat me, a recognized "dormitory pollution source", in a gentle and gentle manner.
At that time, I was sitting cross-legged on a chair, fighting a desperate battle with the dead skin on the soles of my feet. My movements were a bit too big, so the smell might have drifted a bit.
The brother on the opposite bed screamed and almost vomited.
Only Lin Yan walked over calmly, took out a tissue with a faint lavender scent, and handed it to me accurately. His tone was as gentle as if asking, "It's a nice day today, right?" "Wipe it? Do you want a nail clipper?"
I was petrified on the spot, holding the fragrant paper, feeling that my rough soul had suffered a dimensionality reduction attack.
Lin Yan, this "living Bodhisattva", also comes with a bound pendant - his girlfriend, Zhou Xiaowei, the beauty of the Foreign Languages Department next door.
How should I put it about this girl? She probably put all her skill points into being "acting".
She called at three in the morning to complain that the air conditioner in the dormitory was too noisy and asked Lin Yan to comfort her, and Lin Yan really put on his coat and went downstairs to feed mosquitoes with her; on Valentine's Day, she was dissatisfied with the color of the limited edition lipstick Lin Yan gave her, and threw the box into his arms in front of hundreds of people in the cafeteria; Lin Yan saved money to buy her the latest mobile phone, but she used it for less than two months and replaced it with a new one because "there was a scratch on the frame and it was annoying."
There were three of us left in the dormitory, and we secretly felt a lot of sympathy for Lin Yan, wishing we could label him a "sucker".
"Brother Yan, what are you trying to do?" The fourth brother couldn't help it one time, and asked vaguely while gnawing on the chicken leg he brought back.
Lin Yan was slowly wiping the cups he had just washed. Hearing this, he just smiled. That smile was so gentle that it could melt the frozen soil of Siberia: "It's normal for girls to have a little temper. As long as she is happy, that's all that matters."
The sunlight shines through the window onto his face, and his eyelashes cast a small shadow under his eyes, clean and gentle.
The three of us looked at each other, lowered our heads and gnawed on the chicken legs in silence, feeling that the dirty thoughts deep in our souls were exposed under the shining holy light.
Tsk, at this level, he deserves to be a Bodhisattva.
Me? I'm Chen Rui, a bottom-of-the-food-chain creature in the dormitory. People nickname me "Brother Rui," but who knows how much of that is in jest and how much sincerity.
His biggest characteristic is laziness and roughness. The instant noodle buckets piled on the table can be built into fortifications, and the bed is so messy that you can use it for underground warfare.
The only thing that can be called a "hobby" is probably fighting in the canyon late at night, or showing off superb debating skills in front of the screen.
Love? That thing and I have a relationship that's probably like advanced mathematics and I—we know each other exists, but there's really no possibility of any intersection.
Time slipped to that fateful Friday. The other two dorm buddies had already gone out to enjoy the weekend, leaving me all alone.
The night outside the window was as thick as indissoluble ink. I put on my headphones and slaughtered everyone in the game world, my adrenaline soaring. After a few hearty (mostly brutal) battles, my bladder protested severely.
Rubbing my sore eyes, I slipped on the pair of flip-flops that I had almost worn into slippers, with my hair tangled like a bird's nest weighed down by the headphones, and staggered as I pushed open the dormitory door, ready to go to the bathroom.
The corridor was empty, two of the ceiling lights were broken, the light was dim, and I could barely see under my feet.
Just after turning the corner of the stairs, the heavy green iron door of the fire escape in front was ajar, and it was pitch black inside.
A suppressed, sticky sound of water floated out faintly.
What the hell? Is this a rat spirit?
I admit I'm a bit of a handyman. Or maybe it's just that I've been staying up late and my brain is short-circuiting.
I held my breath and, like a thief, quietly put my eyes to the crack of the door.
The pale green light from the emergency lights in the fire escape outlined two figures that were almost overlapping.
I was so familiar with Gao's back, and that washed-out gray hoodie, with the indelible mark on the back collar from a drop of chili oil I accidentally splashed on it last time.
Lin Yan! And the person he was holding tightly in his arms was definitely a man! The man's hands were even bold enough to insert into Lin Yan's soft black hair, pressing him towards himself.
My brain buzzed, as if a grenade with a fuse was stuffed into it.
The chaos of staying up late and the excitement of gaming were instantly blown away, leaving only the harsh white noise and the impactful image before my eyes.
Lin Yan? The Lin Yan who was always obedient to his girlfriend and as gentle as a ball of cotton? Was he with a man... in the dormitory fire escape?!
My stomach was churning and I subconsciously wanted to step back, but my feet seemed to have taken root and I was frozen in place.
At this moment, Lin Yan seemed to have eyes on his back and suddenly turned his head!
Through the narrow gap in the door, his eyes caught me accurately.
Those eyes, which usually always had a gentle smile on their faces, were now like two bottomless cold pools, surging with something that I had never seen before and that was so frightening.
It was cold and sharp, like a poisoned needle, piercing straight towards me.
The person in his arms seemed to notice it as well and froze.
Lin Yan's movements were incredibly fast. He pushed the person in his arms away almost instantly, raised his hand, and used the tip of his thumb to forcefully and slowly wipe the corner of his wet mouth.
His eyes never left me, and the temperature in them was cold enough to freeze my bones.
"Don't look." His voice was low, almost inflectionless, but it pierced my eardrum like an icicle, carrying a chilling warning. "It's dirty."
I screamed "Ah!" and my body reacted ten times faster than my brain. I turned around and ran, crawling and almost throwing one of my slippers away.
My heart was beating wildly in my chest, causing pain in my ribs, and the cold sweat on my back instantly soaked through my T-shirt.
He rushed all the way back to the dormitory, slammed the door, pressed his back against the cold door, and gasped for breath.
In the darkness, only the sound of my own violent heartbeat roared in my ears.
It's over, it's over! Lin Yan's eyes... he must have seen me! Will he silence me? After all, I saw a side of him that no one knows.
Countless horrific scenes I've seen on legal channels flashed through my mind uncontrollably.
In the next few days, I completely turned into an ostrich, wishing I could disappear right in front of Lin Yan.
Whenever he was in the dormitory, I would curl up in my chair, pretending to be a background board, with my eyes glued to the screen, not even daring to glance at him.
Strangely enough, Lin Yan acted as if nothing had happened. He still brought lunch to the dormitory, spoke to us gently, and even handed me a pack of wet wipes when I spilled instant noodle soup on my keyboard again.
"Be careful." He said in a normal tone.
But I jumped back as if I was pricked by a needle and almost overturned the keyboard.
The fingers he used to hand me the wet wipe were long and clean, but what lingered in my mind was the way he used the same hand to wipe his lips in the fire escape, and that cold word: "dirty."
These days with seemingly calm but turbulent undercurrents are driving me crazy.
No, I have to do something! An idea popped into my head: Tell Zhou Xiaowei! Regardless of whether Lin Yan is single or not, he's having an affair behind her back (and with a guy!), Zhou Xiaowei has the right to know!
Even though this girl was being unreasonable, it was better than being kept in the dark, right? Just consider it... just consider it as enforcing justice!
Anonymous! Must be anonymous! I don't want to be stared at by Lin Yan's freezing eyes.
But how can I notify them anonymously? Should I just go up to them and tell them? No, that's too reckless. Should I call them? My voice might give them away.
After much deliberation, I decided the safest approach was to take photos of the evidence myself, then email it anonymously from an internet cafe! I was even impressed by my own cleverness.
I heard that Zhou Xiaowei often went to a bar called "Midi" in the city center on weekends. I guess Lin Yan would also be around nearby.
On Saturday night, I wrapped myself in a hooded jacket with the hood pulled low, like a stalker ready to commit a crime, and waited in the shadow of the convenience store across from the bar.
The neon lights at night were bizarre, and the air was filled with the sweet smell of cheap perfume and alcohol.
At around nine o'clock in the evening, the target appeared.
Zhou Xiaowei was dressed like a luminous body, wearing high heels, and walked into the "Midi" gracefully.
I hurried to catch up, my heart started beating wildly again, and my palms were full of sweat.
The music in the bar was deafening, the lights were dim and ambiguous, and the figures moved like ghosts. I was like a headless fly, struggling to find Zhou Xiaowei's shiny outfit in the crowd.
Finally, I found her in a relatively quiet corner of a booth. I quickly took out my phone, hid behind a pillar, and observed the surrounding area. With trembling fingers, I clicked the camera and pointed it in that direction.
As a result, the camera showed Zhou Xiaowei being surrounded by two men.
The boy with dyed yellow hair on the left put his hands dishonestly around her waist and whispered something in her ear, which made her giggle and lean over to her with her body as limp as if she had no bones.
The more mature-looking man on the right was holding a wine glass, his fingers rubbing against her exposed thighs intentionally or unintentionally, his eyes sticky.
Instead of dodging, Zhou Xiaowei laughed so hard that her body shook. She picked up the wine glass and clinked it with the man's, then tilted her head back and took a big sip. A few drops of wine slid down her fair neck.
Holy shit! This… this is even more exciting than Lin Yan's! At least Lin Yan turned off the lights in the fire escape. Is she having a threesome in broad daylight?!
I was so shocked that I forgot to hide my feelings and even forgot to turn off the camera on my phone. I just stood there in a daze.
At this moment, a cold breath came over me without warning, like a slippery snake, instantly wrapping around my neck.
"Click." A slight, almost teasing shutter simulation sound rang in my ears.
My hair stood on end and I turned around suddenly!
Lin Yan was standing just one step behind me.
The psychedelic light in the bar cast strange shadows on his well-defined face. There was a faint curve at the corner of his mouth, and the smile was so cold that there was no warmth at all.
He also had a cell phone in his hand, and the screen was on, showing me secretly taking pictures of Zhou Xiaowei hugging people left and right!
When did he come?! How much did he see?!
A huge fear gripped me, the blood rushed to my head in an instant, then disappeared completely, leaving my hands and feet cold.
I subconsciously wanted to run, but my legs felt like they were filled with lead and I couldn't move.
Lin Yan's gaze slowly moved from my pale face to the "evidence" frozen on the screen of my mobile phone, and then fell back to my face.
He took a step forward, and the invisible pressure he felt almost suffocated me.
The deafening music and voices around me seemed to be instantly removed, leaving only his low, magnetic voice, like a venomous snake spitting out its tongue, clearly drilling into my ears:
He tilted his head slightly, looking past me and at Zhou Xiaowei, who was smiling happily in the booth, completely unaware. His tone was filled with undisguised sarcasm and a hint of... knowing amusement.
"Are you here to catch an adulterer too?"
Catching someone cheating? Whose cheating? My mind completely shut down, a blank.
He knows! He knows everything! He knows I discovered his secret, that I was following him! It's over, I'm doomed!
Lin Yan leaned forward again, and the distance between us was so close that I could smell the clear and familiar scent on him, but at this moment it only made me feel cold to the bone.
He raised his hand, and his cold fingers gently pinched my chin with irresistible force, forcing me to raise my head and look into his bottomless eyes.
The dim light of the bar danced in his eyes like a will-o'-the-wisp in a dark pond.
There was no anger, no surprise, only a knowing, eerie calm, and a hint of...hunting interest.
I ran away like crazy.
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