Chapter 2

Su Jiarui was silent as we walked. After a long time, she suddenly said, “Qin Huan, don't you feel as though nothing's been going our way lately?”

“The man in the security room, our adviser, the gate guard.”

Frowning, I nodded uncertainly.

“It does seem that way. But... why?”

She stared at me as though she badly wanted to say something.

In the end, she didn't.

“Forget it. Let's try the campus clinic first. I really don't feel well.”

“Okay.”

The woman at the clinic had an odd way of examining patients. She used both a Western stethoscope and a traditional pulse diagnosis.

“You're clearly very weak, with insufficient qi and blood. Have some nourishing soups and take good care of yourself.”

I blinked.

“Doctor, is there nothing else wrong?”

She gave me a puzzled look.

“No. She's just very run-down. Everything else is normal.”

Jiarui suddenly asked, “I'm not pregnant?”

“What are you talking about?” The doctor looked even more surprised. “You're anemic and weak. What has that got to do with pregnancy?”

No one spoke.

I stared at the doctor's face as wave after wave of cold swept down my back.

Wrong.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but by now everything felt wrong.

“Jiarui, maybe we should still go to the hospital.”

We walked back along a narrow campus path. Peach blossoms were fading on the branches.

“I'm so sleepy. I just want to go back and lie down.”

I could only help her along. When my palm touched her arm, I felt an icy chill.

Back in the dorm, Jiarui climbed into bed by herself. I sat at my desk, not knowing what to do.

After finally pushing the tangle of thoughts aside, I opened a book.

A small slip of paper fell out.

Its edges were ragged, as though someone had torn it off in a hurry.

Surprised, I picked it up.

[Sun Lin and Su Jiarui won't get away. If you move out right now, there's still time.]

Cold spread through me again.

I recognized the handwriting. Li Meng's—the fourth girl in our room.

But hadn't she rented a place off campus at the beginning of term?

I stared at the note. Fear reached me slowly, then closed around me.

The writing looked so fresh. It had clearly been written not long ago.

“Huan, could you get me some water?”

“Ah!”

I leaped out of my chair, then stammered, “Sure.”

As I poured, I couldn't stop myself asking, “Jiarui, has Li Meng been back lately?”

“Her? Hasn't she taken a leave of absence? She doesn't even come to campus anymore.”

She accepted the cup and took a sip.

“Come to think of it, our room's really quiet now. Sun Lin moved out last week too. It's just us.”

I swallowed, my scalp prickling.

“Oh, right.” Jiarui leaned closer. “Do you think Sun Lin's been acting strange?”

I went rigid.

Sun Lin too? Was there nobody normal left in this room?

Jiarui didn't notice my stiffness.

“When she left, her lower belly was sticking out quite a bit. And she kept looking as though she wanted to throw up. She looked more pregnant than I do.”

“Though I don't even know whether I'm pregnant anymore.”

I frowned and tried to recall Sun Lin before she moved out.

I hadn't noticed her belly, but she'd certainly been unnaturally pale and terribly haggard.

I couldn't stand this eerie atmosphere any longer.

“Enough guessing. I'll just call and ask her.”

“She was at the auditorium last month too. We ought to be able to find out something.”

I irritably took out my phone, opened my contacts, and tapped Sun Lin's name.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, I—”

Then I realized the voice was wrong.

“Who is this?”

“Qin Huan? Sun Lin's in the bathroom. If you need her, wait a moment.”

The woman's voice was cool and clear, like a pebble dropping into a clear lake.

My heart sped up.

“Li Meng? Is that you?”

“Yes. Long time no see.”

“Sun Lin lives with you?”

“She happens to live downstairs. We get together sometimes.”

Li Meng's even voice came down the line.

Gripping the phone, I walked slowly onto the balcony.

For some reason, I instinctively wanted to ask her in private.

“Li Meng, I found a note in my book. It looks like your handwriting.”

I sounded her out.

Silence.

After a long while, her lowered voice reached me.

“If you've seen it, leave now. Otherwise—Oh, Sun Lin, you're out?”

“Yes, it's Qin Huan calling for you.”

The phone rustled as it changed hands.

“Qin Huan? What's up?”

Nervous, I tightened my grip.

“Oh, well, we were cleaning just now and found some clothes you left behind. Do you want to come and get them sometime?”

Sun Lin was silent for a moment.

“Forget it. Throw them out for me. I don't want them.”

“Sun Lin.”

I hesitated, then persisted.

“You didn't seem very well before. Is something wrong?”

This silence lasted even longer.

Just when I thought she wouldn't answer, she spoke.

“I'm fine. Perfectly well.”

“Oh. Right.”

I couldn't think of anything else.

“That's good.”

Then she suddenly added, “Come over sometime when you're free, Qin Huan.”

“I'll stew a pork hock next weekend.”

Uneasy as I was, I said, “Sure.”

“Then... if there's nothing else, I'll hang up...”

Just before I did, I heard a faint sigh from her end.

Su Jiarui stopped attending classes.

She always said she was tired. I didn't dare press her, so I went alone.

I was walking in a daze when a passing girl's voice reached me.

“Hey, have you heard about our campus beauties' dorm?”

“What about it?”

“It's so weird.” The girl raised a finger mysteriously. “Four girls, and three of them have stopped coming to class.”

Something chilled inside me.

They were talking about us.

All four girls in our room had taken the top four places in the previous academic year's campus beauty poll. Afterward, everyone started calling ours the beauties' dorm.

The girl went on.

“Tsk. I bet rich men are keeping them.”

“We wouldn't get that chance. They're gorgeous!” her friend joked.

Before they could say more, someone interrupted.

“What are you standing here chatting for? Don't you have class?”

A stern woman stood nearby with a badge on her chest. Clearly someone from the inspection team.

The girls startled, stammered apologies, and fled.

Frowning, the official seemed to recall what she'd just heard.

“Students these days. Can a pretty face feed you?”

My heart suddenly beat faster.

Should I tell her?

Would she help us?

I started forward, then hesitated.

After all, it was still only suspicion. What if this was all a misunderstanding?

I stopped again.

While I wavered, she noticed me and came over.

“Is something wrong?”

Thump.

I struggled to steady my racing heart and finally made up my mind.

“Ma'am, there's something I'd like to ask—”

“Qin Huan!”

I jumped. The rest of the words lodged in my throat.

A classmate hurried past.

“We're going to be late! Come on!”

The official glanced at me.

“If you have class, you'd better go.”

I stood there helplessly. In the end, I could only watch her back in silence.

I had no evidence. I couldn't even explain a basic chain of reasoning.

But I was so uneasy.

I thought that fruitless attempt was over. Then, that afternoon, our adviser suddenly called me to his office.

His face was almost expressionless.

“Qin Huan, your room's academic performance hasn't been very good lately, has it?”

“Yes,” I said hesitantly.

“Everyone has their own reasons. You should focus on yourself first.”

He spoke earnestly.

“Your studies are what matter most. Don't let other things affect you so much.”

I kept nodding, but finally couldn't help saying, “Sir, something really does seem wrong with our room lately...”

“What could be wrong?”

He waved a hand.

“Li Meng took leave some time ago to prepare to go abroad. Sun Lin's ill, so she's taken temporary leave too. As for Su Jiarui, you know about her. She's only been absent because she's unwell.”

“But...”

Again, the words stuck.

The real problem was Jiarui's belly. The clear ultrasound image. The campus doctor's absolute certainty. Her worsening condition.

Those were the strangest things.

But however worried or suspicious I was, it was Jiarui's private business. I couldn't simply tell someone else.

When I said nothing, our adviser seemed reassured.

“Don't overthink it. Concentrate on studying.”

Then he added, apparently casually, “Professor Mu saw you today and thought you didn't look right. He came to mention it to me.”

A light flashed through my muddled mind.

Professor Mu?

Our adviser was still talking.

“He saw you approaching one of the officials and thought something might have happened.”

The unease grew stronger and stronger.

I hurried out of the office. The afternoon glare struck my eyes painfully.

At last, something began to clear in my head.

People had been talking about our room for ages. Why had someone only called me in today?

What was different today?

Except...

I pressed a hand to my forehead, leaned against a tree, and crouched down.

Today, Professor Mu had seen me approach an official.

I looked up at the sky, a sudden helplessness rising inside me.

Was he using this to warn me?

Was our adviser one of them too?

Or was I overthinking everything? Was there really nothing wrong?

When I returned, Jiarui was standing downstairs.

A fairly handsome boy was talking to her, though there was something slick about him.

She still looked exhausted, and her dislike was plain. Yet for some reason, she didn't leave.

Only after he went did I approach.

“Jiarui, who was that?”

“A classmate.”

I thought he looked familiar.

“Someone who's pursuing you?”

“...More or less.”

“Oh, right.” She abruptly changed the subject. “Sun Lin just messaged. Pork hocks were on sale at the supermarket, so she's making the stew today. She invited us over.”

“I... that boy asked me to dinner. I agreed, so I won't go to Sun Lin's.”

I checked my phone.

“It's still early. I'll go. She mentioned it last week. It wouldn't be nice not to.”

“Okay.”

Jiarui nodded and gave me a strange look. Her lips moved for a long time before she said something that seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Qin Huan, when you get back to the dorm, take the USB drive from the bottom of my wardrobe. My paper's on it. Could you check the formatting?”

The sky was dark, heavy with the promise of rain.

Something about her look made me afraid and anxious.

But I agreed.

“Sure.”

Sun Lin lived in a little apartment not far from campus.

It wasn't large. Warmth from the kitchen spread through it, lending the place a faintly homely air.

“You're here, Qin Huan? Rest on the sofa. It'll be ready soon.”

She called from the kitchen.

I smiled and nodded, then asked curiously, “Where's Li Meng? Isn't she coming?”

“She's busy. Her application to go abroad was approved.”

“Oh, right.”

Soon, Sun Lin brought the pork hock to the table.