EAY Chapter 25

Dorm Chief

Dorm Chief

26

Seeing that Shi Ran was about to misunderstand again, Qi Ye quickly waved his hand, “No, no, I’m not that particular, you can step on it however you want.”

“Really? You’re really not angry?” Shi Ran stretched his head closer, wanting to carefully discern if Qi Ye was telling the truth.

“Really not.” Too close, Qi Ye quickly lowered his head, found the zipper on the comforter cover, zipped it open with a “whoosh,” and skillfully started organizing it.

Li Tianyi, who was across the room, leaned against the bed frame of the upper bunk, looking over with a scrutinizing gaze, “Are you two really best friends? You’re still so polite when you talk.”

Shi Ran said, “This is respect. Even best friends need respect.”

“Bullshit, if my childhood buddies came over, they’d stomp on my bed until it collapsed and swipe all the things they liked,” Li Tianyi snapped his fingers. “That’s what best friends’ treatment is like.”

“You’re used to being extorted since you were little, huh?” Meng Nan suddenly said from below.

“You guys don’t understand the bond we have,” Li Tianyi said with infinite longing. “If those guys were here, I wouldn’t have to lift a finger myself.”

Shi Ran shattered his dream, “They can’t come. Hurry up and get it done, or you’ll be sleeping on the bare bed tonight.”

Li Tianyi really didn’t want to move. “Hey, uh, Qi Ye, my classmate?” He looked at him with a fawning smile. “After you’re done helping your best friend, could you help me out too? Please!”

“No way!” Before Qi Ye could say anything, Shi Ran had already rejected him outright. “Qi Ye needs to rest after he’s done with mine, he’s very tired.”

Li Tianyi still didn’t want to give up. “Just help me make my bed, I really don’t want to sleep on the bare bed tonight.”

Qi Ye was starting to waver, but Shi Ran seemed to have foreseen his thoughts, turning his head to hiss at him before saying to Li Tianyi, “Give up, do it yourself.”

Are you kidding? Qi Ye is so easygoing. If he gets taken advantage of right after school starts, who knows what he’ll be ordered around to do for the next four years of college?

Shi Ran currently has a decent impression of Li Tianyi, but he doesn’t really know him that well, so he can’t act too friendly.

Qi Ye also came back to his senses, nodding, “Try it yourself, it’s very easy.”

“Two people bullying one, there’s no justice!” Li Tianyi wailed, grumbling as he shook out the bedsheet.

Seeing how hopeless he looked, Shi Ran suddenly wondered if he was being too stingy.

Actually, helping him out wouldn’t be a big deal. Shi Ran could help him, as long as he didn’t mind the comforter core being sideways.

But Shi Ran didn’t want Qi Ye to help.

This kind of subtle thought suddenly surged up. Shi Ran couldn’t quite explain why, but he inexplicably felt a little embarrassed. To get rid of this feeling, he took the initiative and said, “Do you guys want to drink milk tea? I’ll go buy some.”

Li Tianyi immediately raised his hand cheerfully, “I want Coco!”

Meng Nan said, “Anything’s fine with me, thank you.”

Shi Ran said to Qi Ye, “Let’s go together, I want to grab something to eat too.”

“Okay.” Qi Ye folded Shi Ran’s quilt and put it back, following him as he stepped on the ladder and jumped down from the bed.

The weather was still hot and stuffy, and the campus was bustling with people. Everywhere you could hear the rolling sound of luggage wheels on the ground. Shi Ran told Qi Ye that his Grandpa Shi insisted on sending him to school this morning, but Shi Ran refused, which made the old man angry.

“How could I take him in my pre-booked carpool? There are so many people, and when I saw that the dorm was on the sixth floor and we had to climb stairs, I was even more glad I didn’t let him come,” Shi Ran laughed. “I’ll take him when I go back for National Day. By then, I’ll have figured out our school and won’t be running around like a headless fly.”

Qi Ye agreed that made sense.

“During summer vacation, Grandpa Shi asked about you several times,” Shi Ran glanced at him. “He kept wanting you to come over for dinner again.”

Thinking of this, Qi Ye felt a pang of regret, lowering his head guiltily, “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, no, wait, you should be sorry. Cutting off contact without figuring out the situation, that’s too awful,” Shi Ran said with his arms crossed, then bumped him to the side. “But I’ve always been very generous, so I’ll forgive you.”

“Thank you,” Qi Ye said sincerely. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Shi Ran waved his hand, “No need, you’ve helped me so much, I haven’t repaid you for anything yet.”

Qi Ye thought for a moment and said, “How about we just call it even? I won’t make it up to you, and you don’t have to think about repaying me for anything.”

Studying with Shi Ran had always been his own choice, and it was the happiest thing in his entire high school life. He didn’t need Shi Ran to do anything more for him.

“Feels like I’m taking advantage of you,” Shi Ran muttered.

“It’s really not,” Qi Ye chuckled. “From now on, we’re roommates, we can just get along well.”

“Okay,” Shi Ran nodded. As they walked, he suddenly asked, “I just said we were best friends in front of those two, you don’t mind, right?”

How could he possibly mind? Qi Ye told the truth, “I was a little surprised, but I’m very happy.”

After buying milk tea, the two of them chatted and laughed as they returned to the dorm. Shi Ran had a flash of inspiration and figured out the subtle thoughts he had in the dorm that made him feel embarrassed.

It was a possessiveness towards his friend.

Although Shi Ran had never lacked friends since he was a child, with many people always surrounding him, none of them were like Qi Ye, making him so concerned. Of course, Qi Ye was not just an ordinary friend, not someone who would just drag him out to eat, drink, and have fun, but someone who sincerely hoped for his well-being and did everything in his power to help him.

Shi Ran drank his milk tea, looking around at the beautiful campus environment. He couldn’t help but think that if he hadn’t met Qi Ye, how could he have come to such a good place? His state of mind wouldn’t be as hopeful as it was now, but rather he would be muddling through life with a group of equally clueless friends.

Although muddling through life wasn’t something to be criticized, as everyone had their own way of living, Shi Ran still felt that, after striving, going to see different scenery with friends was the way he wanted to live.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but exclaim how lucky he was to have become friends with Qi Ye.

Qi Ye also felt the same way, that Heaven was really taking care of him. He had made a stupid mistake before, thinking that his real youth was about to end. But who told him that the person he liked was Shi Ran, so generous and willing to forgive him and continue being friends with him?

How many people make an unrecoverable mistake with just one slip-up, but he was given a second chance. Thank God, thank Shi Ran.

If such inner thoughts were heard by others, they would definitely think he was silly, but Qi Ye didn’t care at the moment. Someone once said that happy people exude a kind of silliness.

Shi Ran turned to ask Qi Ye, “Let’s confirm one more time, we’re really okay now, right?”

Qi Ye nodded, but his expression seemed a little uncertain.

“Why do you look so hesitant? You still don’t want to make up with me?” Shi Ran pressed.

Qi Ye said, “I think it’s better for Shi Ran to still be angry. That way, I won’t feel so guilty.”

“Huh?”

“I always feel that making up as if nothing happened is a bit too shameless.”

Shi Ran helplessly rubbed his head, “What are you talking about? Didn’t we just say we’d call it even? Why are you changing your mind every second?”

Qi Ye hesitated, “Then, we’ll do whatever you like.”

“I think so too. You’re too willful. You seem to have no requests, but you always do whatever you want,” Shi Ran put his arm around his shoulder, which was a little difficult because he was shorter. “We’re not allowed to mention the past anymore, let’s just enjoy our college life.”

Qi Ye was nervous and uneasy, still bending over to walk with difficulty. “Okay, okay.”