Chapter 3

Once the beds were made up and the other two roommates still hadn't arrived, Su Louzhi's stomach chose that exact moment to grumble.

Qin Qingyan's eyes curved into crescents. "Come on, let's go eat. If we wait any longer, the cafeteria line's going to be out the door."

Su Louzhi nodded, and the two of them walked side by side across the sun-drenched campus, their conversation drifting from the sweet-and-sour ribs in the cafeteria to their bizarre homeroom teachers in high school, and from there to which clubs they wanted to join now that the semester had started. Su Louzhi typed, and Qin Qingyan leaned in to read, laughing as she did, her words coming faster than the text on the screen. By the end of the meal, Su Louzhi realized she now knew everything about her new roommate—right down to the Ragdoll cat named Tuantuan that Qin Qingyan kept at home.

After they finished eating, Qin Qingyan didn't rush back. "We've got nothing to do this afternoon anyway," she said with a wink. "Let's take a full tour of the campus. Save you from getting lost later."

Su Louzhi wanted to type, "My sense of direction is actually pretty good," but Qin Qingyan had already looped her arm through hers, like an enthusiastic little tour guide.

By the time they'd scouted out the library, the teaching buildings, the package pickup station, and the legendary grilled cold noodles stall behind the school's back gate, and finally pushed open the door to Room 302, there were already two new people inside.

The bed by the door was already made, and a short-haired girl was squatting on the floor, tidying up the power strip. On the bed across from her sat another girl with long hair cascading down her shoulders, a freshman handbook spread open on her lap.

Four people, eight eyes, all meeting at once.

"Oh, you're back!" The short-haired girl jumped up first, clapping her hands together and flashing a smile with two little fangs. "I'm Jiang Yi. Got here about half an hour ago—still haven't gotten my bed sorted."

The long-haired girl closed her book and gave a gentle, tight-lipped smile. "Liu Mengting. Nice to meet you."

Qin Qingyan picked up the thread smoothly, nudging Su Louzhi forward a step. "This is Su Louzhi." Then she pulled her campus card out of her pocket and handed it over naturally. "Here, take a look—our 302's resident beauty."

Jiang Yi glanced down at it, and Liu Mengting leaned in to look as well.

Su Louzhi clutched her phone, her fingertips tensing. That was her campus card. Earlier, they'd been chatting about ID photos, Qin Qingyan had asked to see how hers came out, and she'd handed it over—but then the conversation had pivoted to something else, and she'd completely forgotten to take it back.

Jiang Yi finished looking and handed the card back, beaming. "Great name. So, is the cafeteria food any good? I'm starving."

Liu Mengting nodded, her gaze shifting from the card to Su Louzhi's face. Her eyes curved gently, and she didn't ask a single thing.

Su Louzhi lowered her eyes and, character by character, deleted the sentence she'd typed in the chat box: "I can't speak."

—

The days that followed were a hundred times gentler than she'd imagined.

She'd worried at first—would they think she was weird for not being able to talk? Would nobody want to sit next to her at group dinners? Would she get quietly kicked out of the group chat for being too silent during discussions?

None of it happened.

The three girls in 302 were like three different breeds of small animal, all with equally good temperaments, and they'd automatically folded her into their territory.

Jiang Yi would pick the vegetables she didn't like off her plate in the cafeteria, muttering as she did, "Picky eating is bad, but it's fine—I can eat them for you." Liu Mengting would wordlessly set a little rechargeable desk lamp by her elbow when she stayed up late studying, saying nothing, just leaving it there.

And Qin Qingyan—Su Louzhi only found out later that this gentle roommate who ate with her every day in the cafeteria, unscrewed bottle caps for her, and had even outright paid for a hoodie that had been sitting in her shopping cart for three days because she couldn't decide whether to order it—was the only daughter of the Qin Group.

The sort you'd see in the news. Well, strictly speaking, the financial section headline sort.

【Qingyan,】 Su Louzhi slid her phone across the table, her expression complicated. 【You're a heiress?】

Qin Qingyan glanced at it, then cheerfully pressed the screen off. "Yeah," she said. "So what if I am? Even a heiress has got some arm strength when it comes to bottle caps."

Su Louzhi was speechless. She remembered a moment from the start of the semester. They'd been walking across campus, both of them tired, and she'd popped into the corner store to grab drinks. She'd handed one to Qin Qingyan.

Qin Qingyan took it, unscrewed the cap, and handed it right back to her. Then she reached over, took the unopened bottle from Su Louzhi's own hand, twisted the cap off, and took a drink herself.

Su Louzhi had stood there frozen, taking a full beat to process it. She'd wanted to say: I can't talk, but my hands still work. But Qin Qingyan was already looping her arm through hers and walking on, like nothing had happened.

After that kind of moment happened enough times, Su Louzhi simply gave up on protesting.

Time slipped by, and before she knew it, it was September 30th.

The first second Su Louzhi opened her eyes that morning, four words popped into her head: Today's the task.

She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, heart thumping like she was about to take her finals. There was no way around it. This task determined her progress in this second life, and someone who'd already died once knew better than anyone how precious it was to be alive.

She rolled over, buried her face in her pillow, and took a deep breath. It's fine. I just have to stand in an alley for half an hour. Thirty minutes. Treat it like detention—except detention never came with a "die if you fail" add-on.

The finance department had class that morning, so Su Louzhi went about her normal routine: got up, washed up, packed her bag. She thought her expression management was holding up fine—until the moment she sat down in the classroom, and Qin Qingyan leaned over.

"Zhizhi," she whispered, her gaze fixed on Su Louzhi's face. "What's wrong with you today?"

Su Louzhi blinked and typed: 【Nothing's wrong.】

"Nothing?" Qin Qingyan raised an eyebrow. "You've sighed eight times since this morning. I counted."

Jiang Yi popped her head over from the side. "I noticed too—you keep spacing out in class. Liu Mengting can vouch for me."

Liu Mengting nodded silently.

Su Louzhi: "…"

Was this whole dorm trained in reconnaissance or something?

She had no choice but to type again: 【It's really nothing. It's just… maybe I'm a little nervous about spending the holiday alone?】

Qin Qingyan stared at the words for a couple of seconds. She didn't say whether she believed it or not. She just reached out and squeezed Su Louzhi's wrist. "If something's up, you tell us," she said softly. "We're here."

Jiang Yi and Liu Mengting nodded in perfect sync, like three mother hens protecting their chick.

Su Louzhi's eyes curved into a smile, warmth blooming in her chest.

Since the National Day holiday started tomorrow, the campus was already humming with the excitement of an upcoming break by the time morning classes let out. Most departments had no classes that afternoon, and students were already trailing toward the gates with luggage in tow. Jiang Yi and Liu Mengting had packed up the day before. Both of them were from out of town, with flights booked for the afternoon, so the moment classes ended, they had to head straight for the airport.

Qin Qingyan was a local, but her schedule for the break was even more packed than the school term. With the identity of the Qin heiress came endless receptions, family dinners, and clan gatherings—her calendar was full from the first to the seventh, not a single day free.

So during last night's dorm-room heart-to-heart, the four of them had worked it out: Jiang Yi and Liu Mengting went home, Qin Qingyan went home too, and Su Louzhi stayed on campus.

At noon, the four of them had a meal together, as a send-off for Jiang Yi and Liu Mengting. The cafeteria was packed with students eating while dragging their suitcases behind them, the atmosphere livelier than usual. Jiang Yi polished off the last piece of sweet-and-sour ribs, wiped her mouth, and stood up. "Ladies, I'm off! See you all in seven days!"

Liu Mengting slung her bag over her shoulder and waved at Su Louzhi. "Take care of yourself."

Su Louzhi nodded, smiling as she waved back.

The two figures walked off, luggage in tow, disappearing into the crowd.

At the table, only Su Louzhi and Qin Qingyan remained. Qin Qingyan didn't rush to leave. She sat with her chin propped on her hand, staring at Su Louzhi, the worry in her gaze practically spilling over. "Zhizhi, are you really going to be okay on your own?"

Su Louzhi typed and slid the phone over: 【I'll be fine. You should get going—don't keep your family waiting.】

Qin Qingyan read the words and frowned. "Send me a message if anything comes up, anytime." She added, still not convinced, "I don't live far from Capital University. I can be here in half an hour."

Su Louzhi nodded with a smile and typed again: 【I know. Go on, go on.】

Qin Qingyan finally stood, picking up her obviously expensive little bag. She took two steps, then turned back. "I mean it. Anytime."

Su Louzhi nodded hard. Only then did Qin Qingyan finally leave.

The cafeteria gradually grew quiet.

Su Louzhi sat alone at the table, watching the sunlight spill through the window and the occasional student pass by with luggage in tow. She let out a slow breath.

Finally… she was alone.

She knew deep down that Qin Qingyan and the others were just worried about her, but she had to do this task alone. She wasn't sure what would happen if someone else were there. The System hadn't said, and she'd never asked. But she didn't dare gamble.

Su Louzhi stood, collected her tray, and walked out of the cafeteria.

—

The task location was close to the school.

Qinghe Bar and Tasty Milk Tea Shop were right on the street outside the school gate. The two shops sat side by side, with a narrow alley squeezed between them.

The first time Su Louzhi had looked up the task coordinates, she'd frozen for a few seconds. It was *that* close?

Later, she'd made a special trip to scope it out. Qinghe was a proper bar, tastefully decorated, and plenty of students went there to chat over drinks. Tasty Milk Tea was a budget spot, with its signature taro balls in milk tea going for three yuan a cup—a student favorite. Both shops did good business, but the little alley wedged between them was almost never used.

Out of curiosity, Su Louzhi had once wandered in to explore. The alley wasn't deep, and it twisted and turned until it connected to other streets, but along the way, there was nothing—just an ordinary back alley with a few dumpsters. She'd stood there, spun in a circle, and thought: I guess nothing out of the ordinary will happen here until the day of the task itself.

Well, today was that day. Su Louzhi stood at the school gate, glanced at her phone.

Plenty of time.

She took a deep breath and set off down the street.

——————————

Author's Note:

In the ABO world, anyone whose heat and rut cycles last a full seven days must have physical strength and stamina far beyond that of ordinary people. So helping with luggage and unscrewing bottle caps is just good college-kid etiquette—the kind of small kindness people do when they see someone clearly weaker than them (and in their eyes, the female lead really does seem incredibly fragile).