Jiang Yuan froze on the spot, as if immobilized by an invisible force, not moving an inch.
After a long while, a faint voice squeezed out of her throat, "Could this be my snoring?"
As if she couldn't bring herself to admit it, she stiffly reached out and clicked play again.
The snoring sound rang out once more.
It was indeed her own snoring.
Jiang Yuan flopped onto the bed, tossing her phone to the side. Staring at the ceiling of the dormitory, her eyes were empty and dazed, and the harsh and familiar snoring still echoed in her mind.
Woo woo woo. Why, oh why, did Chi Xu have to hear her snoring during their first voice call? And he even recorded it and sent it to her!
Jiang Yuan rolled over on the bed, covering her face with both hands. Her cheeks were so hot that they could probably cook an egg. The tide of shame completely engulfed her.
"Oh my god, how am I going to face people in the future!" Jiang Yuan wailed inwardly, tugging at her hair with both hands. The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt. She wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it.
It had been a long time since school started, and none of her roommates had ever mentioned that she snored.
Why had she forgotten to hang up the call last night? No, she clearly remembered clicking to hang up before going to sleep.
Jiang Yuan tried very hard to recall what had happened in the last second before she lost consciousness last night. She seemed to have vaguely said goodbye to Chi Xu and reached out to click hang up. After that, all consciousness had faded away.
Could it be that she had clicked the wrong button and failed to hang up, giving Chi Xu the chance to take advantage?
Jiang Yuan picked up her phone. The voice message of her snoring was preceded by the record of their voice call, which showed it had lasted for four hours.
[Prayer Must Come True: Chi Xu, why did you record my snoring!?!]
Chi Xu replied quickly.
[forikyy: Don't you think it's cute?]
Cute my foot! Jiang Yuan angrily turned off the screen and decided to give him the cold shoulder for the time being.
For the next few days, she would ignore Chi Xu. Did he think she had no pride?
For several days in a row, Jiang Yuan had been avoiding Chi Xu. She even kept her distance during their weekly elective course, deliberately choosing a seat with people on both sides.
On Thursday evening, Jiang Yuan went outside the school to buy some cold medicine. With the recent drop in temperature, she had been kicking the quilt in her sleep and naturally caught a cold.
It was just the time when school let out. After buying the medicine, Jiang Yuan rushed back for evening self - study, chatting with her mother on WeChat.
[Mom: I saw online that the dormitory you live in was newly built this summer. The formaldehyde might not have completely dissipated.]
[Prayer Must Come True: That can't be. If it hadn't dissipated, the school wouldn't have let us move in.]
When they first moved in, Jiang Yuan did hear about this, but she believed the school wouldn't do anything harmful, so she didn't think much of it.
[Mom: That's not necessarily true. There are so many students in your class, and the school has few spare dormitories. Even if the formaldehyde hasn't dissipated, you still have to move in.]
[Mom: Well, you should apply to the school to move out this semester. Find a rented room near the school first.]
[Mom: Move back next semester. I can't let my precious daughter live in a dormitory with excessive formaldehyde.]
Jiang Yuan was amused. Her mother had already made up her mind. After thinking for a while, she agreed.
There were no more messages to reply to, so Jiang Yuan turned off the screen and was about to put the phone in her pocket.
Suddenly, a little kid dashed across like a wild horse out of control. People around quickly dodged, and with a "thud", the kid bumped into Jiang Yuan full - force.
Jiang Yuan staggered. The phone in her hand, which was about to be put into her pocket, flew out instantly, drawing an arc in the air before landing with a heavy "thud" on the ground.
Her wrist went numb from the impact. Jiang Yuan gasped in pain and subconsciously frowned as she looked at the culprit.
The little kid also plopped down on the ground after the collision. Not far away, an old woman was rushing over in a hurry, shouting as she ran, "My grandson, my grandson..."
Jiang Yuan rubbed her bruised wrist and picked up the phone. Looking at it, she saw that the phone screen was broken. It must have hit a rock on the ground when the kid bumped into her.
The old woman rushed over and hugged her grandson. The little kid, who had tears welling up in his eyes, now burst into loud sobs.
While crying, he pointed at Jiang Yuan and said, "Grandma, it's her, it's her! She bumped into me. Look, my arm is all red. It hurts so much!"
The little kid rolled up his sleeve, showing his red - tinged arm.
Jiang Yuan was speechless. Just as she was about to explain what had happened, the old woman spoke first, staring at her accusingly with an unfriendly tone.
"What's wrong with you young people? Can't you watch where you're going? You're so reckless, bumping my grandson like this. What, can't you even say sorry? People these days don't even know how to behave."
Jiang Yuan was furious. The suppressed annoyance she had been feeling turned into a raging fire in an instant. Her eyes widened, and her voice rose several decibels.
"Grandma, I respect you as an elder, which is why I call you grandma. But you can't just blame people without knowing the truth!"
"Your grandson ran into me out of control and even knocked my phone out of my hand. Look, the screen of my phone is broken. How are you going to compensate me for this?"
"The broken screen is your own fault for not walking properly and playing with your phone instead. You can't blame this on me. Have you no shame? Judging from your appearance, you must be a student from Jing University. What's the use of reading so much? You don't even apologize after bumping into someone. You're disgracing your school."
The old woman was also enraged, her face turning bright red. She stamped her foot, her finger almost poking at Jiang Yuan's nose, spittle flying everywhere.
"You ill - behaved girl, how dare you talk back to me! I've lived for so many years. Do you think I'd wrong you? My grandson is so small. How could he possibly bump into you? You must be bullying him because you're young and strong!"
Jiang Yuan was shaking with anger, her hands clenched into fists so tightly that her nails were almost digging into her flesh. Her voice trembled with rage.
"How can you use your age as an excuse! Everyone has eyes. It's obvious what happened. You're deliberately distorting the truth. I respect you as an elder, but you can't go too far. You have to compensate me for everything. This is a brand - new phone!"
When the old woman saw the phone in Jiang Yuan's hand, which was the latest model released this summer and cost several thousand yuan, and replacing the screen would cost at least a few hundred, her expression changed.
She put down her precious grandson, put her hands on her hips, and confronted Jiang Yuan aggressively, with even more confidence. "Just ask the people around. Who saw my grandson knock your phone out? It's clearly you who tripped while walking and are trying to extort money from my grandson!"