They Dumped Me—Now They’re Reincarnated and Obsessed? - Chapter 8

Tonight went much like the night before. As soon as evening self-study ended, Li Yuyang darted back to the dorm under Yan Ze’s watchful gaze.

Xie Tingxue, who couldn’t turn in Mei Jian’s homework on time, returned ten minutes later than usual.

Once in the dorm, she went through her routine washing up, not noticing anything unusual—until she pulled back her blanket just before lights-out.

Her bedding was soaked.

Frozen in place, Xie Tingxue turned and glared furiously at Li Yuyang, who was curled up under her own blanket across the room.

“What’s wrong?” a roommate asked.

Clutching her wet quilt, Xie Tingxue stood in the middle of the room and asked, “Who got back first today?”

The girls gathered around. “Whoa! Tingxue, how did your bed get wet?”

Xie Tingxue, burning with rage, stared at Li Yuyang and repeated her question. “Who was the first one back?”

One roommate glanced at Li Yuyang, then at Xie Tingxue, hesitating. “I… I don’t know. I came back with Yinglan. When we arrived, the door was open and the lights were on, but we didn’t notice if anyone was inside. Anyway, we weren’t the first.”

Yinglan quickly chimed in, “Yeah, we came back together. Someone was already here—maybe in the bathroom? We didn’t check.”

The rest of the roommates all claimed the same.

Xie Tingxue knew the others had arrived around the same time as she did. They had been chatting and washing up—none of them had time or privacy to sabotage her bed.

Suddenly, the top bunk across from her rustled. Li Yuyang threw off her blanket, hair wild, and snapped, “What’s that supposed to mean, Xie Tingxue?!”

“I’m just asking when you got back. None of them would’ve done this. So was it you, Li Yuyang?”

Li Yuyang’s face darkened as she shrieked, “You’re disgusting, Xie Tingxue! AHHHH!”

It was like someone had flipped a switch—she covered her ears and started screaming hysterically.

“Li Yuyang!” Xie Tingxue threw the soaked blanket at her. “Give me your quilt.”

Li Yuyang jumped down, yanked her bedding off, and hurled it to the floor. She stomped on it a few times, then stood hands on hips and shouted, “Xie Tingxue, stop pretending you’re so innocent! You think no one can sleep tonight? Fine! You shameless b1tch—let’s go!”

Tears welled on Xie Tingxue’s lashes. Her breathing was shallow, lips pale. “Watch your mouth.”

Li Yuyang spat, “Slut! Don’t think getting cozy with Yan Ze means you can whore around! Someone’s gonna teach you a lesson—you just wait!”

With that, she shoved a roommate aside, cursed everyone in the room, and stormed out. “All of you are trash!”

Just then, the female dorm inspector knocked and walked in, puzzled to see the tension in the room. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you asleep? Where’s the dorm leader?”

“Um… She just had a fight… She left.”

“What happened?” The teacher looked distressed. “Where is she now?”

The others quickly followed the teacher out to find Li Yuyang.

Xie Tingxue sat on her bare mattress, taking deep breaths, swallowing her sobs.

She hugged herself, trying to stop shaking—but it was useless.

She couldn’t stop thinking about her family. The tears came hard and fast.

Back when things were normal, everyone was friendly. But ever since the start of 11th grade, word had spread that her mom worked as a housemaid and her dad was a deadbeat drunk. Overnight, everything changed. Suddenly, she no longer belonged in this class.

Her mother had always told her: “Don’t steal, don’t cheat—every job earned with hard work is honorable. Don’t let poverty make you hang your head.” And she believed it. She thought her classmates wouldn’t judge her background.

But reality was brutal.

Her mom worked as a maid for Mei Jian’s family. That made her the maid’s daughter. Her dad was a violent, unemployed bum. Once her classmates had labeled her, a normal school life became impossible.

Smile at a boy, and the girls would call her a slut. Don’t smile, and they’d say she was stuck-up, acting like a princess when she was nothing more than a servant’s daughter.

That night, a month of bottled-up pain burst free. Xie Tingxue wept until she couldn’t anymore.

“I hate this…” she sobbed, ashamed of her tears but unable to stop them.

The whispers, the exclusion—she could handle those. But last month’s incident with her dad had sealed her fate.

He had come home drunk, showed up at the Mei family’s house and started banging on the door. Her mom rushed out to stop him, afraid of disturbing the neighbors and embarrassing Mei Jian’s family. But he slapped her across the face and screamed like a madman.

Xie Tingxue wiped her tears hard and drew a deep breath.

She was terrified.

She feared those rowdy boys who didn’t study, who gave off the same violent, unpredictable vibe. She thought they might turn into monsters any second, just like her father—who would lash out without reason, destroy everything with his hands, and trample their dignity.

The girls came back to report that the teacher had allowed Li Yuyang to sleep in the next dorm for the night.

They shared their blankets with Xie Tingxue and reassured her, “Lights out soon, don’t cry anymore… We’ll talk to the head teacher tomorrow. She has to move.”

“She’s horrible!”

“I’ve hated her forever!”

“Tingxue, it’s okay. Get some rest—we’re on your side.”

Xie Tingxue nodded, forcing a hoarse thank-you through a shaky smile. “Thanks… Goodnight.”

—

Back in the boys’ dorm, Yan Ze had just fallen asleep when Feng Fei shook him awake.

“Bro? Yan Ze? Let’s go—weren’t we supposed to meet up at midnight for the game?”

Yan Ze cracked open an eye. “Huh? Where?”

“The internet café, remember? The one across from the sports school? It’s already 11:30.”

Yan Ze groaned, flipping over. “Too sleepy… Didn’t I study today?”

Feng Fei dragged him out of bed. “C’mon, we need you! We won’t beat those sports school guys without you!”

Still half-asleep, Yan Ze followed Feng Fei out, stumbling across the field toward the back wall of the school.

He looked up groggily. “High voltage… Danger…”

Right then, Feng Fei climbed right over the sign. “C’mon, bro!”

Yan Ze muttered, “Oh right, that’s just a scare tactic. They’re not live wires.”

Still, he turned back. “Forget it, I’m going to sleep.”

“WHAT?!” Feng Fei called from the wall. “What happened to you?!”

“You guys go ahead. I studied today!” Yan Ze yawned, waving him off.

Feng Fei was in disbelief. “Bro, are you possessed?!”

But then Yan Ze turned around and came back.

“YES!” Feng Fei grinned. “I knew you couldn’t ditch us!”

Yan Ze tossed a wad of cash over the wall. “Buy me a good facial cleanser and moisturizer. Expensive ones. Thanks.”

“…Huh?” Feng Fei was speechless.

—

The next morning, the school’s loudspeakers blasted “A Real Man Must Be Strong” at 6:00 a.m., waking Yan Ze up.

Everyone who had gone to the internet café was fast asleep, desperately making up for lost rest.

Feng Fei was sprawled on his bed, hugging a bottle of facial cleanser and a pack of cheap moisturizer.

Yan Ze stared for a long time, then sighed and took them.

The cleanser was a generic brand—“deep cleansing power” type.

“Great… sounds like it could strip paint,” Yan Ze muttered.

Still, better than nothing. He couldn’t keep washing his face with bar soap.

He dabbed some cold water on his face like a lazy cat, slapped on the moisturizer, and then realized—there was no mirror.

Their entire dorm was full of straight guys who lived to sleep and game. Who needed a mirror?

Even though they cared a little about appearances, their fashion sense was tragic. Like Feng Fei, they sported tacky, spiky hairstyles and wore saggy, low-rise pants with oversized tops. All of them looked like hip-hop disasters with horrible proportions—at best a 50/50 top-to-bottom split, usually more like 70/30.

At 6:20 a.m., the guy next door stared dumbfounded as Yan Ze borrowed his mirror, looked at himself, and screamed internally.

Yan Ze wanted to change clothes, but all he had were the same saggy pants and oversized shirts.

Worst of all, once he saw his reflection, he finally understood why Xie Tingxue had fallen for Mei Jian so easily.

His appearance was hideous.

He looked like a failed salon stylist with bleached blond hair, permed into limp curls, two long bangs drooping like cockroach antennae.

From afar, it looked like a dead bird’s nest sat on his head.

“…Damn it.”

No wonder Mei Jian had laughed at him in his heart. He definitely had!

Yan Ze wanted to dig a hole and bury himself alive.

He used to mock Mei Jian’s boring buzzcut. Now? He gave himself a hard slap.

“Miscalculated!”

Fully awakened, Yan Ze sprinted to the homeroom office.

The teachers were just arriving, ready to check on morning study.

He barged in, looking like the sky was falling. “Let me make a call! Please!”

Mr. Cai was alarmed. “What happened?”

Yan Ze cried out, “I need my mom to bring me something—now!”

“Is it urgent?”

“Life or death!!”

The phone rang for a while before someone picked up.

“MOM!! HELP ME!!” Yan Ze shouted. “Bring me NORMAL clothes—pants, shirts, everything! By lunchtime, please! Or I’ll die, I swear!”

Then he hung up.

His mom sat there stunned. “…What just happened?”

Did she dream that?

He… wanted what again?

Clothes? Normal ones??