Feng Siruo’s door was rapped. Inside, Huang Qi lazily asked who it was.
“Me. Your trusty arsonist.”
The room was dim, lit only by the flickering glow of the TV. Two girls were curled up on the bed watching a movie.
Feng Siruo was huddled in a blanket, trembling.
“What are you watching?”
Jiang Zhou’s eyes lit up. Now that was a good film where the protagonists, marked by Death, die in bizarre and gruesome ways.
It was definitely Huang Qi’s pick.
Feng Siruo looked scared out of her wits.
If it were up to her, she’d pick Teletubbies instead.
She nodded, but kept staring at the screen. A classic case of scared but still watching.
“You want to watch too?”
“Sure, I’ll rewatch it.”
Huang Qi gave him a look. “Take your shoes off and get up here.”
“Oh? I get to sit here too?”
“Don’t get ideas, it’s just a movie!”
He shrugged, kicked off his shoes, and climbed onto the bed. With a girl on each side, he started watching. Since he remembered most of the plot, it wasn’t long before sleepiness overtook him.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window.
Jiang Zhou stirred and found both arms pinned down.
“Huh… fell asleep watching a movie.”
On either side, the two girls were still fast asleep, curled close to him. One clutched his sleeve, the other hugged his neck.
Their sleeping poses were all over the place.
Jiang Zhou carefully eased them aside, got out of bed, and went to wash up.
Ever since his rebirth, he always woke early, even though he used to be a chronic late-sleeper.
As he brushed his teeth, Feng Siruo shuffled in, rubbing her eyes, dragging her slippers. Follow current novᴇls on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽
She stood there for a while, then grabbed her toothbrush and started brushing too.
In the mirror, the two of them brushed side by side.
Watching each other’s faces full of foam, they both burst out laughing.
But after a moment, Feng Siruo’s face flushed bright red.
They had slept side by side last night. And now, brushing their teeth together, they looked just like a pair of newlyweds waking up in the morning.
Embarrassed, she turned her face away, brushing quickly.
“We’re leaving at noon. Want to go for a walk later?”
“What about Huang Qi?”
“She’s a serious late-sleeper.”
“I’m a serious social-anxiety case.”
“…You’re really comparing that?”
Jiang Zhou rinsed his mouth, tapped her nose, and walked out.
Sleeping beside a beauty wasn’t bad at all. But now that he was fully awake, a question bothered him.
Where had Ding Yue gone last night? She didn’t even have a room.
Feng Siruo realized it too. She rushed out, checked Ding Yue’s suitcase.
It was untouched, clothes still damp from the rain. She hadn’t come back all night.
“Could she have found a boyfriend?”
Jiang Zhou knocked her head. “Hurry up and finish. I’ll take you to ask around.”
They quickly finished washing, changed, and went out.
By then, classmates were already up, some eating breakfast, others admiring the rainbow after the rain.
But after asking around, no one had seen Ding Yue.
“This is bad. Did she get lost?”
Just then, Zhang Guangfa came out of his room.
“Jiang Zhou, did you guys see Haodong yesterday?”
Jiang Zhou paused. “Isn’t Xu Haodong in your room?”
“I know he’s supposed to be in my room, but he never came back last night.”
“He didn’t come back all night either?!”
“Either? Who else are you talking about?”
At that moment, Jiang Zhou and Feng Siruo exchanged glances.
Both of their minds immediately conjured up scenes enough to stir up a storm.
It couldn’t really be like the joke they made yesterday, could it?
Just then, they heard noise from a nearby tatami room.
It was a space for guests to play cards, drink tea, and enjoy the view.
Last night, Jiang Zhou had even thought of bringing the girls over for a card game.
But since Feng Siruo got too absorbed in watching the movie, they never made it.
Jiang Zhou glanced at Feng Siruo, and she glanced back.
“Could they be in here?”
With doubt written all over his face, Jiang Zhou slid open the closet-like door.
Sure enough, inside sat Ding Yue and Xu Haodong.
The two of them sat cross-legged, facing each other, wide-eyed, with dark circles under their eyes.
“What… what are you two doing?”
Jiang Zhou, Feng Siruo, and Zhang Guangfa all froze in shock.
The pair inside looked half-dead. They were nodding off, swaying, but stubbornly refusing to collapse.
At the question, Ding Yue’s neck slowly turned, like a machine creaking to life.
“We talked it over. Based on yesterday, it looks like neither of us can find a partner anytime soon.”
Jiang Zhou blinked. “So?”
Xu Haodong also turned his stiff head. “Even if neither of us finds someone, there still has to be a winner and a loser.”
“…So the way you decided to settle it is… staying up all night?”
“Exactly. Whoever lasts longer wins.”
“Are you two insane?! You’ll kill yourselves!”
“I, Ding Yue, have never been weaker than anyone in my life!”
“I, Xu Haodong, have galloped across the world, never tasting defeat!”
Jiang Zhou turned to Feng Siruo. “Quick, get Ding Yue back to her room to sleep!”
Zhang Guangfa hurried over too. “Haodong, let’s go, hurry up and rest!”
“No! I can’t leave now. If I leave, I lose!”
“Aren’t you both pulling an all-nighter together? If everyone stops now, can’t you just call it a draw?”
At this, Ding Yue gave a tired little laugh. “He went to the bathroom nine times last night. I only went twice. That’s ten minutes lost for him. So even if we stop together, he still loses.”
Jiang Zhou was dumbfounded.
The calculations were that precise?
At this rate, with Haodong’s bladder, he could never win — not even if he tried for a lifetime.
He couldn’t even hold it through a forty-minute class.
“Knock them out if you have to, just get them to sleep.”
“Yes, yes, let’s go.”
Truth be told, the two of them were already at their limits. Staying up all night wasn’t unusual for modern college students but that was with phones to keep them occupied.
Staring at each other with nothing to do? Even three doses of adrenaline wouldn’t cut it.
So, after some persuasion, Ding Yue and Xu Haodong finally gave up.
But giving up didn’t mean the end.
They called it a pause, planning to continue the contest next time.
Ten minutes later, both were hauled back to their own rooms, snoring soundly.
Jiang Zhou, meanwhile, held Feng Siruo’s hand and took her out for a stroll.
“Honestly, pairs like those, bickering nonstop, are the ones that most easily end up together.”
Jiang Zhou nodded confidently. “From my experience, give it half a month, and they’ll start catching feelings.”
Feng Siruo’s eyes sparkled. “Ding Yue is going to fall in love!”