CHAPTER 275: CHAPTER 275 ROOMMATE (FIVE MORE UPDATES)

Li Yue came looking for Yang PeiMin and saw her sighing. She couldn’t help but ask, "Did Mr. Gao scold you?"

Yang PeiMin nodded her head, "Let’s go, I need to go back and write a report."

Li Yue: "..."

After dinner, they returned to the dorm, where everyone was studying under the lamp.

Yang PeiMin took her bucket to fetch hot water. The cafeteria charged one cent per bucket, and not many people bothered to solve their bathing issues in this weather, but she went to fetch water every day without fail.

She mixed half a bucket of hot water with half a bucket of cold water, which was just enough for a bath, and also filled her kettle with boiling water.

On her way back, she saw Zhu Qing, who was also carrying a bucket up the stairs. Zhu Qing gave her a faint nod, acknowledging her presence.

Yang PeiMin silently nodded back. Both of them, carrying their bath water, didn’t speak a word, yet they seemed comfortable, not the least bit awkward.

When they got back to the dorm, their roommates saw them enter together and couldn’t help but ask, "Did you guys plan to meet up today?"

Yang PeiMin said, "It was a nice coincidence."

Zhu Qing, whether in class or in the dormitory, always had an air of not deigning to join the group, always keeping to herself. Suddenly, the two beauties from different departments were seen together, which was quite a sight.

After Yang PeiMin finished her bath, Miao Ying, her lower bunkmate, leaned in and said, "PeiMin, I want to ask you something."

Yang PeiMin quickly wrapped herself in a quilt, feeling really cold after her bath, and nodded to show she was listening.

Miao Ying discreetly glanced around the dorm and noticing no one was looking her way, she took out a package of marinated duck gizzard from her bag, "My brother-in-law sent these from Y City, they’re really delicious, you can’t buy them here. Here, try some."

"No thanks, you have it."

"It’s fine, I have more."

Yang PeiMin still refused but asked, "Really, it’s fine. What did you want to ask?"

Miao Ying chuckled, put the duck gizzard back, and leaned closer, whispering, "PeiMin, since you’re close with Zhu Qing, have you noticed if she’s seeing anyone?"

Miao Ying sure dared to ask anything. Not to say she didn’t know, but even if she did, given how ’close’ she was supposed to be with Zhu Qing, why would she tell her? Does she really not know or is she pretending? Yang PeiMin immediately shook her head, "I’m not sure, I’m not close with Zhu Qing at all."

Miao Ying looked at her, a bit disappointed, "Really? I thought you two would have things to talk about since you’re quite similar and came in together. I didn’t mean anything by it, just wanted to look out for Yixin."

Yang PeiMin was not pleased, "Who says I’m like Zhu Qing?" Was that a compliment or a criticism? Zhu Qing’s notoriety for being difficult and distant was well-known throughout the Chinese department.

"You should probably ask her yourself."

Yang PeiMin threw down these words and climbed onto her bed, as she still had a report to write.

"Hey, PeiMin, are you going to sleep now?"

"No, I have homework today."

"You guys have so much homework in your department. Look at you, not writing in the afternoon, sleeping instead, and then rushing at night, really..." Miao Ying shook her head, feeling slightly annoyed for not getting any gossip about Zhu Qing, but then she looked up at her own bunk and smiled, "If I can’t gossip about Zhu Qing, I might as well gossip about PeiMin."

"PeiMin, where are you from? How many years have you been married? What does your spouse do?"

"Are you checking my household registration? I’m already working on my homework; we can chat about these things when I’m free."

Miao Ying then shut her mouth.

Wrapped up like a ball, Yang PeiMin sprawled on the bed and began writing her report.

She genuinely wrote it, detailing everything she had done and documenting the problems she encountered, marking them with her own question marks, hoping Mr. Gao could help her resolve them. In the end, she wrote about knowing that the multiple issues arose because she had little experience and no one to guide her, requesting him to let her do more practical experiments in the future...

The more she wrote, the more inspiration she got, slowly transitioning to flattering words mixed with her requests. It ended up being three thousand words and four pages long, nearly taking two hours. By the time she finished, her hand was numb, not to mention her back.

Straightening up, she went down to get some water to drink. Seeing her pouring water, Tan Yan spoke to her, "PeiMin, I’ve run out of hot water and was wondering if I could borrow some. Without hot water, I just can’t swallow this bun."

Yang PeiMin didn’t have a great impression of Tan Yan but wasn’t so mean as to refuse a cup of water; she filled her cup immediately.

Like this was a signal, others got the idea too. Guo Caixia, who had a child with her, also said, "I’m really sorry to bother you, but I’d like to borrow some as well. Xiao Lian’s throat is sore, and I wanted to make her some honey water."

And then there was Ge San Ni who hesitantly approached, "PeiMin, could I borrow some too? Just a couple of swallows will do. The hot water I got this morning is all cold now, and the last time I drank cold water, I had diarrhea for days; I really dare not drink it now."

Yang PeiMin nodded and filled her cup as well. Luckily, she hadn’t eaten salty food tonight and didn’t plan to drink more water, leaving half a kettle for washing her face tomorrow.

So when Liu Yilan came over to borrow some, she said, "I’ve only got a little left, you might want to check with someone else."

Liu Yilan seemed a bit upset, but she didn’t say anything bad. She just muttered a little about how it was petty not to lend to her when she was willing to lend to others, though Yang PeiMin didn’t care much. The semester was almost over, and it wasn’t her first day at school. Didn’t she know the rules of the school? The cafeteria had hot water available twice a day, morning and evening, getting a kettle for personal use was more than enough. If someone didn’t need hot water to wash their face, they could share it with others.

Miao Ying then said to Liu Yilan, "Why don’t you ask Zhu Qing? I saw that she got some too."

Her voice wasn’t low, and Zhu Qing, who was reading a book on her bed, could definitely hear, but she didn’t even flinch, completely ignoring the conversation as if she hadn’t heard.

Liu Yilan had eaten pickles at night brought by Ge Sanni, which were fried with small dried fish and chili, making them particularly tasty. She ate an extra bun because it was delicious, but it made her thirsty quickly. Since she had already drunk several times from the half kettle she had in the morning until now and it was empty, seeing that Yang PeiMin still had some water, she had intended to borrow some but hadn’t expected her to be so stingy.

So when she heard what Miao Ying said, she turned her gaze to Zhu Qing and asked her for water.

Zhu Qing, without even lifting her eyelids, coldly refused, "If you want to drink, why don’t you fetch it yourself? Don’t always think of taking advantage of others."