Tan Wenbin entered the affordable store when Run Sheng and the others were still busy checking the inventory.
He walked to the beverage shelf, intending to grab a drink, but remembered he didn’t put any money in his pockets after changing into sports shorts. Adhering to the principle of not causing them trouble, he still went to the counter, picked up a teacup, and "glug glug" drank several mouthfuls of water.
Yin Meng, holding a pen and notebook, shook her head: "No need, almost done counting, we’ve got a lot of goods."
Yin Meng pointed to the shelf with daily necessities, saying: "We need to stock up on a batch of daily necessities before school starts."
Aunt Sun said with a smile: "It’s every year."
Yin Meng: "We should bundle mats, mattress pads, quilts, basins, cups, towels, and such into a set, then put a discount sign up and sell them together."
Aunt Sun paused for a moment, originally wanting to show off her experience, but at that moment, she found herself unable to speak.
Tan Wenbin shrugged: "Not bad, looks like you’ve gotten into the groove."
Yin Meng regretfully said: "Normally, we could collect a fair amount of second-hand goods from graduating students. Clean them up and then sell them cheap to the new students at the start of term. Didn’t you collect any at the end of the last semester?"
Aunt Sun shook her head: "We’ve never done that before."
Yin Meng nodded: "Then let’s start doing it, most students are from ordinary families."
Tan Wenbin leaned against the counter and teased: "Indeed, it was the coffin shop that held you back."
"If we’re going to do it, we’ve got to do it right. I’m also planning to open a hot food section here; get some hot pot broth, add in some meatballs and tripe to cook inside, sell them separately, like hot pot skewers."
"Good idea, but don’t cook it yourself."
Yin Meng looked somewhat indignant at Tan Wenbin.
Tan Wenbin reminded very seriously: "This is a school, if a collective food safety issue arises, it could be very serious."
Yin Meng didn’t argue, just shook the pen in her hand: "Alright, I got it."
Run Sheng finished putting up the goods at his feet, then clapped his hands and looked towards Tan Wenbin: "You went fishing?"
"I met someone shouting at me by the lake, but when I turned around, there was no one there."
Run Sheng expressed surprise: "Really?"
Aunt Sun asked: "Was it the lake on the west side? There indeed are many people who like to jog there regularly, and couples like going there too."
Tan Wenbin curiously asked: "Aunt Sun, you’ve been at this school a long time, do you know any ghost stories?"
"Yeah, we’re quite interested in that stuff."
"There aren’t any ghost stories, just some idle talk. If you’re talking about deaths, indeed, the school has had quite a few, every semester. There are those who jump off buildings, drown, die from overdoses, and even choke to death."
Once an area’s population reaches a certain threshold, someone dying is nothing out of the ordinary.
But Tan Wenbin wanted to hear more than just that, and continued to ask:
"There’s nowhere that’s considered cursed?"
"Cursed place?" Aunt Sun covered her mouth and laughed, "This is a school, where would we have a cursed place? Although, I did hear from a sister a while back, that there are often troubles at General Mountain at night."
"It’s all hearsay, nothing to be taken seriously."
"Alright, Run Sheng, Yin Meng, continue with your work. I’m heading back, Brother Xiao Yuan is still by himself in the dorm."
Tan Wenbin walked back to the dormitory building. As he passed the dorm manager’s Aunt Office’s window, he saw the aunt writing something while eating an egg sponge cake.
"You startled me, you rascal." Tan Wenbin had just helped her move something before going for a night run downstairs; the two had gotten acquainted.
Aunt Ran picked up a piece of egg sponge cake and offered it to the young man.
Tan Wenbin didn’t reach out to take it but opened his mouth instead: "Ah..."
Aunt Ran could only laugh and put the egg sponge cake into the young man’s mouth.
"What are you busy with?" Tan Wenbin asked while chewing.
"Writing a letter to my daughter."
"Can’t you call her?"
"Do you know how expensive phone calls are?"
"Use the office phone for personal calls."
"Hm?" Aunt Ran was taken aback, then realized what he meant, and laughed as she scolded, "You rascal, you seem to know quite a bit; looks like your family hasn’t been shy about doing such things."
"Injustice, my dad is very principled. When I was little, I always wanted my dad to drive me to school in his police car, but he never did."
"Your dad sounds nice, truly."
"That’s right, and whose dad would he be?"
"Hehe." Aunt Ran put down the pen and rubbed her wrists: "Whew... done. Actually, even if I made a call, once I pick up the phone, there isn’t much to say."
"Let me see, I’ll help you check for any typos."
"Off you go, back to your room."
"Goodnight, you rascal."
Once Tan Wenbin left, Aunt Ran took out a matchbox, struck a match and lit the envelope. When it was half burnt, she placed it into a large teacup at her feet.
Next to the teacup sat a shoebox with half-torn packaging, revealing black high heels inside.
After entering the room, Tan Wenbin turned on the light and found Li Zhiyuan already lying in bed.
He quickly turned the light off again.
"Brother Binbin, you’re back."
"Did I wake you, Brother Xiao Yuan?"
"Oh, you’re sleeping really early today."
"It’s not early anymore, look at the time."
"Okay, then I’ll try to come back earlier at night from now on." Tan Wenbin picked up a basin and a towel, planning to go outside to the sink to take a shower.
After having dinner, he had already been there with Xiao Yuan to wash.
There are baths within the campus area, but firstly, they are quite far, and secondly, they are currently not in service. Even when they do open, Tan Wenbin felt he’d be too lazy to go - after all, for a boys’ dorm, simply taking a basin, filling it with water, and splashing it on oneself by the sink is more refreshing. Plus, after rinsing off, he’d just strut back to the dormitory.