I Fell in Love With My Cold-Hearted, Flirtatious Roommate (GL) - Chapter 2

Rong Ting didn’t feel the girl was strange until she entered the dormitory building and looked out the window on the side of the stairs towards the courtyard gate. The place was already empty.

She just felt that this girl was so peculiar.

A little special.

At 10 o’clock at night, the nocturnal life of college students had just begun. Girls returning from study rooms and the library were shoving each other in the corridor, and even the washing room was full, with a line already formed.

However, she was completely unable to immerse herself in this cheerful atmosphere. Walking to the dormitory door, Rong Ting took a deep breath.

She could clearly hear laughter inside the dorm before she entered, but the moment she opened the door and stepped in, it suddenly fell silent. There was a rustling sound from the bed where Wan Sang was, and the bed curtain was quickly drawn.

It was followed by a suffocating silence.

Chen Saiyu was standing by the desk pouring hot water, her eyes darting away, wearing a hesitant expression as if she wanted to speak but couldn’t.

Rong Ting simply put down her backpack, changed into her slippers, and pretended that everything was normal. After taking her basin out to wash up, she returned, climbed onto her bed, and drew her curtain.

Her curtain was fully enclosed, and only in this cocoon-like space did she feel a slight sense of safety.

The white light outside remained bright, and there were rustling sounds of girls walking on the floor, making it hard to sleep. She waited quietly for the lights to go out.

Just a few minutes later, her phone suddenly chimed.

Rong Ting suddenly had a bad feeling. She opened her phone, and WeChat displayed: [Beauties of Dorm 342].

There were two messages in total.

Rong Ting tapped to open it.

A flood of text occupied the entire page.

It was sent by Wan Sang.

[@Rong Ting: I really can’t hold it in anymore. Have you been busy lately, or do you have an issue with us? Everyone is discussing seriously; no one wants to just muddle through. Everyone’s time is precious. What, is your time the only one that can’t be wasted? Why are you sighing? You sigh once every three or four sentences I say. Are you short of breath or do you have some illness?]

[Also, did we provoke you? Are the features on your face incapable of moving? You never have any expression. This group project was voluntarily joined by you, wasn’t it? Are you feeling wronged? If you don’t want to, go find another group!]

This matter wasn’t over. As if wanting to vent everything in one go, another message arrived two seconds later.

[Finally, a friendly suggestion: Do you think I’m your secretary? I ask you when you’re free, and you send me a timetable and tell me to look at your spare time myself?? That’s ridiculous. Anyway, I say what I think, and this isn’t the first or second time you’ve been like this.]

As Rong Ting read these, images flashed quickly through her mind. She had felt something was off before coming back today.

Her schedule was usually quite full; she had to set aside time to study in the library, learn German, and tutor. So, she occasionally forgot to reply to messages in the group chat.

That day, Wan Sang seemed to have asked her when she was free. Rong Ting found it troublesome to check times back and forth, so she outlined her available slots on her timetable and sent the whole thing over. There was no response from the other side.

She initially thought Wan Sang saw it and forgot to reply, but now, upon reflection, it wasn’t that simple.

Then, that afternoon, close to evening, Wan Sang notified the group that they needed to discuss. While rushing back, Rong Ting asked her for the location. Wan Sang replied with a voice message, and her tone was very unpleasant.

Perhaps the problem had already begun then.

The dorm was now eerily quiet, with only the sound of fingernails tapping on a phone screen.

Rong Ting slowly sorted out her thoughts, forcing herself to think positively. Perhaps Wan Sang simply misunderstood her.

After a delay of a second or two, she slowly replied.

[When you asked me when I was free, my schedule was too messy, so I marked out my available time to make it convenient for you to adjust flexibly. Also, your tone when you spoke to me this afternoon was very sharp. I don’t know where I offended you. I wasn’t sighing just now; I have a slight cold, and my nose is a little blocked.]

One of the lines inside must have enraged Wan Sang, as she immediately sent another long string of messages.

[@Rong Ting: Are you kidding me? The tone I spoke to you in was sharp? That’s just how loud my voice is! It’s you who sounds quite passive-aggressive. Can you stop throwing mud at me! If I were going to be rude to you, I wouldn’t have told you where we were discussing at all. Don’t avoid the main issue; we are discussing your problem right now!]

The moment Rong Ting saw this, she couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Very good. What she said made Rong Ting lose the desire to continue explaining to her.

Things were already bad; it didn’t matter if they got worse.

Rong Ting deleted the words she had typed one by one and tossed her phone aside.

Someone seemed to have returned. Someone turned off the lights, and the room became completely dark.

Lying on the bed, Rong Ting forced herself to sleep, but her heart pounded faster and faster, seemingly out of control.

She turned onto her side, gasping in distress, yet still feeling like she was drowning.

Being in a crowd, the trivial interpersonal relationships scared her, and a feeling of suffocation surged from her heart.

Rong Ting quietly tapped on her conversation box with her mother: [Mom, I feel a little short of breath.]

The next day, Rong Ting received a call from her mother halfway through class.

She then saw the messages on WeChat, immediately packed her things, and ran out of the school gate after the first class ended.

Rong’s mother stood at the school gate, showing the fatigue of a long journey on her face. There was a small suitcase beside her, indicating she had rushed over immediately after receiving the call.

Rong Ting’s eyes instantly welled up. She cried out “Mom” and threw herself into her arms.

After they hugged for a long time, Rong’s mother examined her face. Her complexion was pale, her lips were chapped, and her naturally gentle almond eyes were dull. She quickly asked, “Why are you short of breath?”

Later, the two sat in McDonald’s, and Rong Ting slowly recounted the recent events.

Her emotions were too sensitive and easily disturbed by the outside world. First, she noticed the strange atmosphere in the dorm; Wan Sang had started isolating her a long time ago. Then, another roommate who was close to Wan Sang also began to ignore her.

Chen Saiyu neither mediated their relationship, and sometimes Rong Ting even felt the need to deliberately** curry favor** with her to win over the neutral force in the dorm.

This kind of dorm dynamic exhausted her.

As a result, symptoms of chest tightness gradually appeared.

The arrhythmia began when Wan Sang “yelled” at her over the phone. At first, she thought it was a normal reaction of her heart being stimulated, but last night, she realized it wasn’t that simple.

They registered at the hospital, and after a series of examinations in the afternoon, the doctor looked at the results and said it was chronic cor pulmonale. She needed to focus more on emotional management and exercise, otherwise it would cause symptoms like fast heart rate, chest tightness, and shortness of breath.

Rong’s mother was still worried and took her to the psychosomatic department. Rong Ting took a half-hour test in front of a computer, and the result came out as moderate depression, requiring attention to emotional regulation.

Holding the results, neither of them said anything.

Rong’s mother knew she had to stay with her for a few days and booked a hotel in advance, while Rong Ting simply skipped the afternoon class.

It was difficult to hail a taxi in the capital, and they waited for a long time.

As the car headed southeast, Rong Ting watched the scenery outside the window flash by, growing increasingly unfamiliar. She had never even seen the scenery three kilometers away from the university.

For the first time, she felt that she had never understood this city.

Or rather, she had never felt a sense of belonging.

The hotel Rong’s mother booked was located in a courtyard house in a hutong (alley), and the price was also cheap, just over a hundred a night, which was quite good compared to others that cost four or five hundred.

The only drawback was that it wasn’t close to U University, so Rong Ting would need to take a taxi to school these days.

Big red lanterns hung in the courtyard. The front hall was decorated with retro-colored glass, and even the lights in the room were dim and yellow. A screen separated the bathroom from the two beds.

After washing up, the two sat on the bed and chatted.

Rong’s mother understood that her child’s nature was too soft, making her easily manipulated and bullied. Even so, she didn’t blame her but asked her straightforwardly, since the dorm relations were bad, if she wanted to rent an apartment.

It wasn’t that Rong Ting didn’t want to rent, but housing in the capital was too expensive, especially since there weren’t many rentals near their university. Renting a single room would cost $3000 RMB and up per month.

Rong’s mother was an elementary school teacher, and her monthly income back home was just enough to reach six or seven thousand. Rong’s father ran a private business with a few friends in Shanghai, which was dependent on market conditions. In good times, he could earn over ten thousand a month; in bad times, he wouldn’t bring much money home for the whole year.

She didn’t want to burden her parents too much.

Rong’s mother was quite open-minded. “Some money is always going to be wasted. Otherwise, why do we earn money? Isn’t it just for you to have a better life?”

Her next sentence left Rong Ting speechless.

“If you don’t spend money on rent now, what if you have to spend it on treating an illness later? It’s not worth the loss.”

Rong Ting was momentarily speechless. She slowly took out the fruit box and tanghulu (candied haws on a stick) from her bag and handed the fruit box to her mother.

Their dorm didn’t have a refrigerator. The sugar coating of the tanghulu had melted onto the paper overnight in her bag, and the glutinous rice paper tore when she pulled it out.

“I’m asking you a question, and you’re eating.” Rong’s mother was even more exasperated and amused when she saw the item in her hand. “How old are you, buying tanghulu.”

Rong Ting pouted, “I’m not old, I’m still a child.”

Rong’s mother smiled helplessly and went to find a plate for the fruit box. Rong Ting bit into the tanghulu. The softened sugar coating melted directly on her tongue, sweet, followed by the sourness of the hawthorn fruit.

To be honest, she had been at U University for two years and hadn’t even noticed the fruit shop nearby, let alone what food they had inside.

She paid attention to her studies. She occasionally knew about a new dish in the cafeteria and ate whatever seasonal fruit the cafeteria provided. The fruit store at the entrance was always crowded, which deterred her.

She recalled the girl’s familiar action of opening the refrigerator. She must frequent this area near U University.

Rong Ting recalled her cool, aloof eyebrows and the slight streak of green dye in her hair, which was slightly faded but added more charm.

She didn’t seem to have seen such a bold hair color on campus.

After deciding to rent an apartment, Rong’s mother extended their stay at the hotel for a few more days. Rong Ting spent most of this time with her mother, only returning for her specialized courses.

Fortunately, the school’s dorm management wasn’t strict, and she hadn’t contacted any of her roommates these two days.

That night, after her specialized class, Chen Saiyu stopped her. “Where have you been these past two days? Everyone is looking for you.”

Rong Ting showed no expression. “Who is this ‘everyone’ you’re talking about?”

Chen Saiyu choked. “That… anyway, Wan Sang has always been like that. If she’s unhappy, she snaps at everyone. Don’t take it to heart.” She leaned closer and said, “Besides, with you gone, they’re even more blatant about talking bad about you.”

Rong Ting smiled coldly. “I didn’t think they were any less blatant before.”

Rong’s mother seemed very happy that day. As soon as Rong Ting returned, she pulled her aside, saying she had found a good rental.

It turned out to be introduced by the hotel proprietress. One of her friends lived in a residential area near U University, and the tenant she was sharing an apartment with had just moved out a few days ago, leaving a room vacant.

The proprietress was enthusiastic and told Rong Ting, “You two were born close to the same year. She’s about two years older than you, and she’s quite… unique. But don’t worry, she mainly works outside and is very quiet, so she won’t disturb you.”

“Her mother asked me to look out for her, and I just found out a few days ago that her flatmate left. She originally planned to live alone, but since I saw you were looking for a place, I told her about you. You’re so well-behaved, there shouldn’t be a problem with you two living together.”

Rong Ting didn’t particularly mind, but her mother suddenly asked, “If they are close in age, this child should also be studying, right? Graduating soon?”

The proprietress’s smile froze, and she said lightly, “She originally studied law at J University but chose a major she didn’t like and dropped out in her freshman year.”

Rong’s mother hesitated now. “Then what is she doing now…”

“She has her own job; it won’t affect your daughter,” the proprietress added, her tone much cooler. “I just mentioned the rental; whether you rent it or not is up to you.”

Rong’s mother was about to ask more, but Rong Ting interrupted her in time, shaking her arm to signal her to stop.

J University’s law department ranked first nationally. Many graduates went on to work in prestigious law firms, and even those who didn’t pursue law could choose career paths in selected positions or civil service. Anyone who could be admitted to J University’s Law Department was clearly a remarkable person.

Rong Ting was already curious about the reason this person dropped out.

Did she really dislike the major? Then why did she choose it in the first place?

To choose it and then drop out—that was too self-willed.

After all, good rentals were hard to find. Rong’s mother hesitated for a long time but finally agreed to take a look first.

Rong Ting got the person’s WeChat ID. The profile picture only showed a green wizard’s hat.

She clicked on Moments, which only displayed a horizontal line.