RCJM Chapter 5

 Chapter 5

"What are you doing here?"

When Du Ruo heard it was Jing Ming, alarm bells rang in her head. Thinking he was talking to her, she turned her head reflexively.

The light from inside the dormitory shone out, like backlighting.

Jing Ming stood in front of the beautiful girl with his hands in his pockets, his expression was very indifferent, his brows were slightly raised, but it would make people’s hearts tremble.

Du Ruo had experienced it before. He was the best at making subtle expressions. He could reject people from thousands of miles away without saying a word. The mocking of his eyes and brows were a lethal weapon, more harmful than punching and kicking with vicious words.

Fortunately, he didn't see her. Du Ruo breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Wei hurriedly moved behind a big tree to avoid them. He whispered to Du Ruo: "That’s my roommate and also my high school classmate."

Du Ruo pretended not to know Jing Ming nor show any interest: "Oh."

Disregarding Jing Ming's indifferent expression, Min En Zhu smiled and reached out her hand to pull him: "Have you had dinner yet? I haven't—"

Jing Ming resolutely avoided it, taking a step back: "Speak quickly if you have something to say, then leave."

"Why did you block me?" 

Min En Zhu was not angry, tilting her head she said in a charming voice: "I say a few words, and you get angry. Why such a bad temper?” She stepped forward and poked his chest with a finger to show her intimacy. 

But he waved her hand away impatiently: "I have a bad temper, so what?"

He wasn't that easy to win over.

Min En Zhu took another step forward, raised her head and whispered something only Jing Ming could hear.

At this end, Du Ruo took the stack of books from Li Wei, saw a piece of paper sandwiched in the first book, and asked: "What's this?"

"Oh, the books I received are the required textbooks. On the paper are the recommended reading materials listed by the teacher." Li Wei opened the paper to show her a long list of books, and they were not cheap.

"Do you want to buy all of these?"

"That’s for sure. How can I learn enough with just these few textbooks?" Li Wei refolded the paper and put it back into the book.

Du Ruo was sweating inside, but luckily the Jing family gave her extra money to buy clothes, otherwise her living expenses would be stretched.

The dark night perfectly concealed her fluctuating emotions. As she was thinking, there was a big commotion nearby.

Jing Ming stood for a while, got annoyed, and turned back to the dormitory.

Min En Zhu rushed forward with a big stride and hugged him from behind.

It was the time people went to shower, and quite a few students were carrying toiletries in and out.

Jing Ming was taken aback, and immediately released her hand.

Min En Zhu staggered but didn't let go, and shouted: "I said something wrong, okay? I was wrong, okay?"

A tinge of red appeared on Jing Ming's fair face, and he became angry from embarrassment: "Min En Zhu, what are you playing at?"

Min En Zhu: "Being shameless."

Jing Ming: "Let go!"

Min En Zhu: "No!"

Jing Ming: "Are you a dog?"

Min En Zhu: "Woof!"

Jing Ming: "......"

Jing Ming looked up at the sky with a sullen face. He didn’t know whether to hold back a laugh or hold back his anger. 

Min En Zhu put her arms around his waist and giggled.

Li Wei watched all of this and couldn't help but laugh as he walked over: "Alright, you two, stop flirting."

Jing Ming's face slightly paled: "Who's flirting?"

Min En Zhu loosened her grip.

Li Wei said: "You two used to mess around like this in high school, and you're still messing around in college."

Min En Zhu shot Li Wei a look, pleading he wouldn't provoke Jing Ming.

Li Wei blinked in understanding.

Min En Zhu smiled and changed the topic: "I thought I saw you from a distance, but you didn’t come say hi."

"I had something to take care of." Li Wei turned back, "This is our class—"

On both sides of the road, trees covered the sky. The scattered street lights shone on the ground.

"Hm? Where did she go?"

Du Ruo had already carried the stack of books, sneaked into the crowd through the darkness and fled.

"Left so quickly." Li Wei scratched his head and said, "I wanted to introduce you to our class flower."

Jing Ming let out a snort with not the slightest interest in whoever Li Wei was talking about, and walked down the steps.

Li Wei: "Where are you going?"

Jing Ming: "To have dinner, want to come?"

Li Wei: "I already ate."

Jing Ming waved his hand and left without looking back.

Min En Zhu took his hand, turned back and smiled at Li Wei: "Let's meet up next time."

……

Du Ruo carried the books back to her dormitory, her heart was pounding, and she was covered in sweat.

So hot!

She grabbed the collar of her T-shirt and fanned herself. The other three people in the dorm had disappeared. That was probably for the best. She was not in the mood to share gossip about Jing Ming with everyone.

She didn’t rush to read the books, instead took out the piece of paper and added up the prices of the books she needed to buy.

436 yuan. 

Du Ruo's living allowance was 1000 yuan per month. Fortunately, before the semester started, the Jing family had given her another 600 yuan to buy clothes, which was enough to cover the book fees.

But, how long will it last? There would always be a time when she needs money urgently.

Could she go to the Jing family and ask for more? She couldn't do it. Especially when she thought of Jing Ming's face.

There was only one lamp turned on in the dorm room. She sat at her desk, chin resting on her hand, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and He Huan Huan rushed in with a basket of toiletries: "It’s too much! The bathhouses in the north are too hot!"

Du Ruo quickly closed her calculator and asked, "What happened?"

He Huan Huan turned on the main light, and put the basket on her desk, catching her breath. "People in the north are so bold! There are no partitions in the bathroom, let alone curtains!"

Du Ruo widened her eyes: "Huh?"

"Everyone is naked, completely exposed. You look at me, I look at you, each rubbing their own bodies. Their chest, their butt, water splashing everywhere... As soon as you enter, it's all bodies! Naked bodies! White, naked bodies! It's so shocking!" He Huan Huan used her storytelling abilities to the extreme.

"Where’s Xia Nan and Qiu Yu Chen?"

"They said that's how the bathhouses are like here. I can't believe it! I haven't even shown my bare butt to my mother! You get me, right, Xiao Ruo?"

“I do… Are there really no partitions and curtains?”

“None!... Why don’t you go and have a look?”

Du Ruo shook her head vigorously: “No. It’s hard for me to accept your description.”

The two were silent for a while, sat facing each other sadly, not knowing what to think. 

After a long time, Du Ruo asked, "Then where should we go to take a shower?"

"..."

"There seems to be a shower room behind the washroom."

"But no hot water."

"well..."

"well..."

Both sighed at the same time.

University life had not yet started, and there were already a lot of worries and problems. 

Before going to bed that night, Du Ruo sat at her desk and reviewed everything that had happened in Beijing since she arrived. She thought about it and finally wrote down the most important sentence on a sticky note:

"Study well."

Stuck on the wall above her desk.

Study well. Other than that, there was no other way.

Studying would begin two weeks later, because freshmen had to receive military training before school started.

In September, the heat in Beijing was still hot.

The sky was clear blue without any clouds.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, the sun was scorching. As dazzling as a broken mirror, shining sharply into people’s eyes.

On the training ground, freshmen dressed in camouflage uniforms were divided in square formations one after another according to their departments, lined up neatly in military stance.

On Du Ruo's side, the silence lasted more than half an hour.

Finally, the instructor released them: "At ease!"

"Sit down where you are and rest for fifteen minutes."

There were sighs and moans through the group. Everyone was sweating profusely and fell down one after another.

There were very few girls in the academy, so Du Ruo and the others stood in the first row, with all the boys behind them.

Du Ruo crossed her legs and took off her hat to fan herself. Her hair was half wet, her face and neck were covered with sweat.

He Huan Huan was sneaking candies and handed one to Du Ruo. Seeing her like this, she was surprised. "Du Xiao Cao, why are you sweating so much? Yu Chen, look at her."

Qiu Yu Chen handed her a tissue: "So afraid of the heat?"

"It’s not that." Du Ruo wiped her whole face with the tissue, troubled: "I am prone to sweating.” As she spoke, she went around Qiu Yu Chen and crawled aside to get her water bottle.

Qiu Yuchen patted her butt.

Du Ruo: "..."

She squatted by the edge of the track and raised her head to drink water. After drinking most of the bottle, she turned around inadvertently and almost choked.

Jing Ming was at the top of the penultimate row. He glanced at her distressed look, and continued talking to his friends in a blink of an eye.

Du Ruo held her breath inexplicably.

At this moment, she looked sloppy, while he was wearing a camouflage uniform, looking very handsome. He seemed to be fine even after standing in military stance for half an hour.

After a week of military training, she had tanned several degrees, but he was still so white.

Not even the UV rays were fair.

She screwed up her water bottle, exhausted after mentally beating the villain in her heart. She returned to her place listlessly and sat down, letting the hot track scald her bottom.

Xia Nan took out the rose spray and sprayed it on her face.

A bit of the mist drifted onto Du Ruo's face. It felt cool, but she dodged unconsciously.

Xia Nan pointed the spray at her: "Why are you hiding? You need to stay hydrated, too."

Du Ruo closed her eyes and turned her head: "No. The more you spray, the more dry it will be."

"How can that be? It's hydrating."

"With the temperature so high, and being exposed to the sun, it evaporates instantly. When it evaporates, it will quickly absorb the moisture from the skin," Du Ruo explained.

"..."

Xia Nan was at a loss, and silently put away the spray.

The track was filled with students enduring torture.

Du Ruo was wilting like a vegetable, and turned around to avoid the sun’s rays.

She was fanning herself with her hat absentmindedly. At a certain moment, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that on the straight line from her to the other corner of the line, every row of obstructing boys moved at the same time. Suddenly, her line of sight became unobstructed, and Jing Ming was sitting at the end.

Almost reflexively, Du Ruo put her hat on her sweaty hair in an instant to save her ashen image.

Jing Ming was chatting with someone with a light smile. Not sure if he had noticed something, his gaze swept in her direction.

Du Ruo was startled and hurriedly turned her head to avoid it, but Jing Ming's gaze stopped midway, and in the end, his gaze never reached her. Instead, he frowned, lowered his head, and took out his phone from his pocket, had a glance, then looked back at the stands.

Du Ruo breathed a sigh of relief, and strangely followed his gaze.

Min En Zhu was sitting in the stands with her chin resting in her hand. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses, which made her face as small as a palm.

Jing Ming smiled and raised his chin towards his girlfriend in the stands.

Min En Zhu smiled and waved at him.

There was a burst of booing from the group of boys.

"Don't make trouble!" He scolded with a foolish smile.

Du Ruo looked away, remembering that night from a week ago. The way Min En Zhu wrapped her arms around Jing Ming and acted coquettishly. It was a touching scene, but made her heart itch. A very strange emotion.

She had never been in love since she was a child, not even a crush.

The life she walked was all associated with books. But it turns out girls could be like that.

Love...

What is it like?

She didn't know,

And was a little curious.

But this feeling only lasted a fleeting moment, as inconspicuous as a breeze blowing across a lake, and was quickly forgotten.

Translated by evienRose

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