The hot air kept blowing.
Lin Ci combed through Gu Mianmian’s long hair, his fingers weaving between the strands.
Gu Mianmian kept her eyes lowered.
Both of her ears burned red-hot.
Her fingers stayed tightly clenched on the hem of Lin Ci’s clothes and did not let go.
Lin Ci did not notice the movement at the hem at all.
He kept changing the angle of the dryer and added offhandedly.
“If you’re not pretty, then ninety percent of the girls at our school would have to reincarnate.”
The instant the words left Lin Ci’s mouth, Gu Mianmian’s body trembled.
The tips of her ears grew even redder.
She shrank into herself.
She did not dare say a single word.
Her head dropped even lower.
After a while, Lin Ci switched off the hair dryer.
The room went quiet.
“Done. It’s all dry.”
Lin Ci ruffled Gu Mianmian’s head.
“Hurry up and get in bed. We still have to get up early for class tomorrow.”
Only then did Gu Mianmian release her fingers and stand up.
She kept her head down and trotted up onto her bed.
Then she pulled the quilt up and covered herself all the way over her head.
It was pitch-black inside the covers.
Gu Mianmian buried her face in the pillow.
Her chest rose and fell hard.
In the dark, the corners of her mouth curved up, revealing a trace of a smile.
Lin Ci put the hair dryer away and switched off the main dorm light.
He climbed onto the opposite bunk and lay flat on the mattress.
Lin Ci stared at the ceiling and started inspecting himself internally.
This isn’t right.
Really not right.
He was clearly a straight guy.
When he used to talk with the guys in the dorm, every other sentence came with a curse word.
How had the words praising a girl’s looks just now come out so smoothly?
What was this supposed to be?
Flirting?
But he was a girl now.
Lin Ci lifted a hand and scratched his forehead, feeling his masculinity draining away at high speed.
He flipped over in irritation.
The thin quilt slid down off his shoulders.
The foreign weight on his chest pressed in at once.
Lin Ci sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly yanked the quilt back, wrapping himself up tight.
“This is fucking ridiculous.”
He could not help cursing under his breath.
Hearing Lin Ci’s movement, Gu Mianmian’s voice immediately came from the opposite bed.
“Senior?”
Lin Ci went completely stiff under the covers.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
Gu Mianmian asked softly through the mosquito net.
Lin Ci forced two dry laughs and made something up on the spot.
“Nothing. Just had a nightmare. Dreamed I failed an exam.”
“Oh.”
Gu Mianmian answered.
“Don’t be scared, Senior. You can make up a failed exam.”
Lin Ci buried his face in the quilt.
Am I fucking scared of failing an exam?
I’m scared my little brother is never coming back.
He tossed and turned until the second half of the night before finally drifting off in a daze.
Early the next morning.
Sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains and landed on his face.
Lin Ci yawned and sat up.
The dorm was empty.
There was no sign of Gu Mianmian.
Lin Ci looked down.
The schoolbag on the desk was already gone.
On the nightstand sat a towel folded neatly into a perfect square.
It was the one he had casually tossed over the back of the chair last night.
The four corners were aligned.
It had been placed extremely neatly.
Lin Ci picked it up and glanced at it.
He subconsciously leaned in and sniffed.
The towel carried a faint clean scent mixed with the cold, clear air that clung to Gu Mianmian.
The smell lingered strongly.
Someone had clearly held it against their chest for a long time.
Lin Ci did not think much of it and stuffed the towel back into the cabinet.
The little girl liked things clean.
Helping fold a towel on the way was normal.
After two morning major classes, Lin Ci was starving.
He went to the second cafeteria, ordered a braised chicken-leg rice, and casually added a two-meat-one-vegetable combo.
Carrying the two hot meals, Lin Ci strode back to Room 302.
He pushed the door open.
Gu Mianmian was indeed sitting at the desk.
On the table sat a shriveled white steamed bun.
Beside it was a bowl of the free seaweed-and-egg-drop soup the cafeteria provided.
She had broken the bun into small pieces and was soaking them in the soup to swallow.
Lin Ci walked over in two strides and set the braised chicken-leg rice down in front of her.
He lifted the plastic lid.
The smell of meat spread through the dorm.
The chicken leg steamed.
Underneath it was a full portion of rice mixed with rich braising sauce.
Gu Mianmian stopped what she was doing and turned to look at the box.
“Eat this. That watery soup of yours has zero nutrition.”
Lin Ci pulled out a chair and sat down.
Gu Mianmian shook her head and declined in a small voice.
“I… steamed bun is enough. This is too expensive.”
Lin Ci did not say another word.
He picked up chopsticks, lifted the big chicken leg, and tossed it into Gu Mianmian’s soup bowl.
“I told you to eat, so eat.”
Lin Ci’s tone was firm.
“The cafeteria auntie’s hand slipped and she forced two portions on me.”
“I already bought them. I can’t finish two by myself. If I don’t finish them they’ll get thrown out, and wasting food gets you struck by lightning.”
Gu Mianmian looked at the chicken leg in her bowl, then at Lin Ci.
In front of Lin Ci himself there was only a portion of plain rice with greens and tofu.
“Senior, you gave me all the meat. What are you eating?”
Gu Mianmian pressed her lips together.
“Can’t I be on a diet?”
Lin Ci shot her a look and shoveled greens into his mouth in big bites.
“Eating meat every day makes you gain weight easy. If this figure of mine gets any fatter, how am I supposed to wear clothes?”
In truth he just could not stand watching this little girl gnaw steamed buns every day.
A few bites of greens to get by was enough for him.
Gu Mianmian’s hand holding the chopsticks froze in midair.
She kept her head down.
The chopsticks gripped the edge of the chicken leg and did not bite down at once.
Her slender fingers tightened hard.
The knuckles turned pale.
A tear dropped onto the rice without any warning.
Gu Mianmian quickly lifted a hand to wipe it away and nibbled the chicken-leg meat in tiny bites.
The meat was fragrant.
The sauce was rich.
This was the best meal she had eaten in her entire life.
Lin Ci finished eating, cleaned up the trash, and tossed it into the bin.
He stretched and slumped over the desk to take a noon nap.
His long black hair spilled across the throw pillow on the desk, covering a whole patch.
Gu Mianmian ate very slowly.
She finished every single grain of rice that had touched the meat juices.
At 1:00 PM, Gu Mianmian slung on her schoolbag, ready to go work at the library.
She walked to the dorm doorway and stopped.
Her hand rested on the doorknob.
Gu Mianmian did not open it right away.
Lin Ci was sleeping soundly at the desk, completely unguarded, back toward the door.
Gu Mianmian turned around.
Her gaze went toward the desk.
Her eyes landed on the long hair spilled across Lin Ci’s throw pillow.
Those deep black eyes held no extra emotion, only focus.
She just stood there and watched for nearly two minutes.
The doorknob turned softly.
Gu Mianmian pushed the door open and left without a sound.
Lin Ci rolled over and fell completely asleep.
This nap lasted until 3:00 PM.
The sunlight slanted west.
The dorm was a stretch of dull yellow.
Lin Ci rubbed his eyes and climbed up from the desk.
His neck ached badly.
He reached out on instinct to touch the throw pillow beside him.
The cotton of the pillowcase was a little wrinkled.
Along the edge of the sunken groove in the center were a few extremely faint finger-mark impressions.
The few stray long hairs that had fallen on it and looked messy seemed to have been pinched away.
More than half were gone.
Lin Ci reached out and ran his palm over the flattened fabric.
His hand touched the cloth and picked up a trace of coolness.
He scratched his messy long hair.
A strange, awkward feeling welled up in his chest.
It felt like he was missing a few strands of hair.
But then Lin Ci thought again.
Long hair shed easily anyway.
He scratched his head and tossed the matter straight to the back of his mind.