He turned his head and weakly put his hand inside his pockets. “Only Fang Li’s dorm is liveable. The rest on this floor is uninhabitable.”
The boys wailed. “Ruan-ge, what do you mean? Do you mean this floor is full of ghosts?”
Someone suddenly slapped Ruan Qingmu’s back and resentfully approached him. “Where is the ghost? Our fourth floor is full of masculine men and there’s plenty of yang* energy. Do you think it’s cold like on the first floor?”
*T/N: The yang aspect of yin-yang represents the sun: It’s light, expansive, and somewhat reckless at times. It is associated with masculine energy.
Ruan Qingmu slowly turned back and expressionlessly looked at the fierce boy who wore flashy big floral underpants. “Okay, got it. I’ll tell Qin Yuan that you said his dorm had heavy yin* energy.”
*T/N: The yin aspect of yin-yang represents grounded Earth energy: It is receptive, cool, and dark and tied to the moon, the oceans, and the shade. It is associated with feminine energy.
Fu Songhua fiddled with his just-washed hair with ease and was stunned as he heard this. “You… you’re an evil slanderer! I only said it was cold there. Who was talking about yin energy?”
“Why don’t you guess whether Qin Yuan will believe in you or me if I tell him?” Ruan Qingmu sneered.
Fu Songhua blankly looked at him. He didn’t know why, but he truly felt that his class monitor would believe in this guy more after he thought things through.
He depressingly shouted, “Fuck! You’re so sinister. How can the class monitor put up living with you? You should hurriedly return and harm the people in your own class!”
***
Ruan Qingmu circled the fourth floor for a while. He didn’t have any good options and could only painstakingly enter Bai Jing’s dorm. He sat in front of the only empty bed and sighed.
The several boys in the dorm were thrilled and happily surrounded him. “Ruan-ge, you’ve decided to live here?”
Ruan Qingmu stared at the dirty table full of stuff. “This is your trash table?”
A boy hurriedly threw himself and stuffed all the instant noodles and Wang Wang snow crackers* into his embrace. “It used to be, but it’s not anymore since you’re here.”
*T/N: A famous cracker brand: https://imgservice4.suning.cn/uimg1/b2c/image/-C-wij5btqg7vzAGEBz5Kg.jpg_400w_400h_4e
Bai Jing also patted his chest. “Ruan-ge, give us a little time. Today is Friday. We will finish tidying up tomorrow and you can move in next week. We guarantee to give you a clean and beautiful new dorm!”
Ruan Qingmu coldly looked at him. “Isn’t it supposed to meet the hygiene inspection by the time Monday rolls around?”
“Hahaha. It’s the same, the same. The goal is the same.”
Ruan Qingmu helplessly sat down with dispirit written all over his body. “Let’s make an agreement first. We will take turns to do the hygiene daily. It can’t be this dirty.”
Another boy enthusiastically said, “There’s already daily hygiene, ah. Today is Bai Xiaosheng’s turn!”
Bai Jing scratched his head. “It’s still good, ah. Our room can’t be that dirty…”
Ruan Qingmu wordlessly looked at him.
“Well, it’s just a little messy…” Bai Jing embarrassedly corrected. “We’ll manage it well after you move in.”
Ruan Qingmu reached out and grabbed his neck, speaking gently and somberly. “Manage it like Fang Li’s dorm. Otherwise, I’ll choke you. Do you understand?”
Bai Jing pulled a long face as he was strangled. “Ruan-ge, they always get the first place on dorm hygiene. Are we going to snatch it too?”
There was a sinister look on Ruan Qingmu’s handsome face. “Yes. I have a hobby of collecting the first rank.”
Several boys inside the dorm: “O(≧口≦)O…”
Huhu. It could definitely be seen that Ruan-ge had huge ambitions for himself.
The several boys being threatened weren’t choked to death. On the contrary, they enthusiastically and persistently pulled the ambitious student and pressed him down on the card table.
According to Bai Jing, a dorm with only three people was inherently crippled and incomplete. They usually had to call someone from the next dorm over to play cards and could not accomplish self-sufficiency. Now that Ruan Qingmu was here, it was like a gift from heaven!
“Do you know how to play guandan*?”
*T/N: Guandan: a poker game popular in Jiangsu and surrounding areas. The game uses two decks of 108 cards, which are played by 4 players, and the opposite two are on one side.
“No,” Ruan Qignmu said with a cold face.
“You can learn if you don’t know it. It’s very easy. It’s a mix of passing cards* and 80 points*,” Bai Jing enthusiastically explained. “Come, Ruan-ge. We will teach you and you’ll master it just like that.”
*T/N: Passing Cards: A board game famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The goal of the game is to find ways to play the cards in your hand as quickly as possible. Whoever runs out of cards in his hand first wins and the remaining three opponents score negative points at this time.
*T/N: 80 points, a card game in which four players play two decks of cards with small and large kings, their own house and their opponent’s house, with the player running out of points and the player scoring points.
Ruan Qingmu stood up to leave. Huang Ya, who came to watch, hurriedly blocked his way. “Don’t be afraid, Ruan-ge. We know you’re short on money and we won’t gamble using money.”
Ruan Qingmu stopped and his peach-blossom eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked at each of the boys. “Who did you just say is afraid?”
Just as he rolled up his sleeve and sat down, he heard Fu Songhua’s scream from outside the door. “Class monitor, why do you come upstairs?”
Ruan Qingmu was stunned and turned his head to look, only to see someone standing in the corridor. His upright figure stood amidst the chaotic corridor, indifferently saying, “Mm, I’m looking for you so that I could compare your physics homework with mine.”
Fu Songhua: “???”
Qin Yuan was from the physics competition class. Why would he look for him from the advanced class to match the answer? Their homework wasn’t the same, right?
“Boss?” He looked at the slightly weird class monitor in confusion. “Math, right? We have the same math homework.”
Under the bright light, the cool-faced class monitor seemed a little distracted. “Oh, it’s also fine to compare our math homework.”
Fu Songhua: “…”
The class monitor’s purpose was so random.
Ruan Qingmu picked up a handful of cards and looked at Qin Yuan outside the door. He was half-leaned and twisted to a specific posture. He didn’t turn back after a long time either.
Qin Yuan seemed unintentional as he turned around. His gaze met Ruan Qingmu’s and then quickly skimmed over the boys inside the dorm.
Bai Jing and the others held their breath and inexplicably watched as the two people looked at each other across the dorm room. Someone finally couldn’t help but say, “Ruan-ge, how about you open a card first?”
Over there, Fu Songhua also called out loudly, “Class monitor, here’s my homework. You can take a look at my homework now.”
Ruan Qingmu looked at the doorway and finally waved his hand at Qin Yuan, saying brashly, “Do you want to play cards?”