Chapter 561: Chapter 561

Yiyi said this not to elicit pity from others, but because she believed that learning survival skills at an early age was a wise choice, certainly stronger than those later generations of college students who, after going to school, didn’t know how to do laundry and always sent their dirty clothes home to be washed and returned clean.

The post-80s generation, mostly single children, being spoiled was expected. But given the average conditions of that era, there wasn’t really the means to spoil even if one wanted to. Then came the post-90s, there were some oddballs, but most kids were still pretty well-behaved.

So, she quickly changed the subject, not wanting to see pity for her in the boys’ eyes, which would make her feel like she was peddling misery.

After dinner, Yiyi helped Grandma clean up. The three of them chatted with the elderly for a while and prepared to leave around two or three in the afternoon, since they still had evening self-study to attend. Grandma wanted to stew fish for them, but they all found it troublesome, plus they were still full from lunch—how could they eat again?

So, under the watchful gaze of Grandma and Grandpa, they left Xiaoliu Village.

On the way back, Lin Mu offered to take her, but Zhou Mo pressed her directly onto the back seat of his bike and drove off without any extra words.

Lin Mu’s face looked a bit awkward, but, probably because of her presence, he didn’t say anything.

They rode straight to the school, and Lin Mu asked her to have dinner with him at the canteen at six before they each returned to their dormitories.

When the dinner time arrived, it was still the three of them, but Yiyi soon noticed something was off between the two boys—when one passed her some food, the other acted as if shot with adrenaline, also reaching to serve her; one bought her a drink, the other immediately bought yogurt, it was like they were on a mission to stuff her full.

One wouldn’t say, the other couldn’t care less to say, and since neither of them spoke, she didn’t bother to guess and just stood up to go to the classroom.

But she hadn’t been in the classroom for ten minutes when a classmate came running: "Yiyi, you better go to the sports field and see, Lin Mu and Zhou Mo are fighting."

Oh my God, what got into these two? Grown-ups and still fighting?

In her hurry, she didn’t notice her shoelace had come undone, tripped over it, and tumbled down from the third floor, crashing into the wall with a thud. She immediately saw black and passed out.

When she came to, she was in the hospital, with a mild concussion, a broken arm, and abrasions on her leg—obviously a nasty fall.

Zhou Mo and Lin Mu were both by her side. Seeing her wake up, they were extremely agitated. Zhou Mo moved his mouth but before he could speak, Lin Mu had already rattled off a whole spiel.

Yiyi didn’t catch a single word but instead asked them both, "Aren’t you guys good brothers? Good brothers also fight?"

"Who said we were fighting? We were just sparring, sparring, get it? Isn’t that right, Zhou Mo?"

Zhou Mo raised an eyebrow at Lin Mu, said nothing, but the look in his eyes towards her was deeply furrowed.

Yiyi looked left and right, and finally, with nothing else she could do, sighed, "Alright, you guys go back. I’m fine, a few days’ rest and I’ll be good."

"What do you mean a few days’ rest? It takes a hundred days to recover from a bone injury. The doctor said you need to stay in the hospital for observation tonight and you can be discharged tomorrow if there’s nothing wrong. But you’ll probably have to wear a plaster cast on your arm for a while. I’ll stay tonight to take care of you,"

Yiyi rejected without a second thought, "What’s the point of a guy staying to accompany the bed? You both leave. It’s just my left hand that’s hurt, and there’s still the nurse, isn’t there? No need, nobody has to stay. Go back. Haven’t you ever heard the saying ’men and women should not touch hands when giving or receiving objects’? Off you go, off you go, I’m fine!"

Under Zhou Yiyi’s strong resistance, they finally drove the two people out of the hospital. It was only after enduring until the next day when the doctor came to work, checked her over confirming everything was alright, and instructed her on post-hospital care, that they allowed her to go through the discharge procedures.

They were the two who rushed over after class to help her with the discharge procedures. When it came to the hospitalization fees, they told her not to worry about it and mentioned that it wasn’t a lot of money. Zhou Yiyi disliked being indebted to others, but since she was currently incapacitated and unable to argue, she did not protest. What’s more, not only did her roommates treat her like a panda needing care, but these two clung even tighter to her.

Taking care of her meals and copying notes for her was not enough; having two handsome guys as escorts certainly felt safe, but it invisibly added a lot of pressure, especially the jealousy from other girls. Those sour words could be brushed off with a laugh after hearing them once, but hearing them repeatedly would build up a resistance, the real fear was being isolated.

If even the roommates who usually took good care of you began to isolate you, it proved that the jealous ones had managed to sow discord quite effectively.

Zhou Yiyi was not someone who aimed to please others, nor someone who liked to explain herself. You don’t like me, fine, I won’t degrade myself to beg for your friendship. Even if roommates who I see day and night turn against me, I really don’t understand what I did wrong.

Is going to the bathroom inconvenient?

No matter how difficult, I’ll support myself.

Can’t wash clothes with my hands not being able to move properly?

No problem, I’ll soak them in the space’s pool and let it purify automatically.

Boys may not be as meticulous as girls, but their temper comes and goes quickly. She guessed her isolation might be due to that argument between two guys, which someone must have overheard, spinning off rumors.

As someone who has lived through many lifetimes, how could she not know what this meant?

But since those two had already made up, naturally, there was no need to dig up the past and talk about it.

So, after the third reshuffling of the class, the male-to-female ratio was no longer equal. Boys and girls were isolated on their own, and Zhou Yiyi volunteered to take a seat in the last row by herself.

The boys and girls sitting at separate desks are the unspoken rules; therefore, when the gender ratio is unbalanced, the two corner desks in the classroom become the remaining male and female students’ seats.

She picked up her backpack and sat down at the back, and the two people who were originally sitting behind her immediately sensed that something was amiss.

"Why are you sitting here? Can you see the writing on the blackboard clearly?"

"My vision is fine, of course, I can see. The last row is spacious, and my arms won’t get bumped, it’s pretty good."

Zhou Mo’s eyebrows were deeply furrowed, his face was solemn, and he seemed to sense that something was wrong, but he did not say anything, just switched seats with the boy next to her.

Their class had pairs on both sides, eight people per row, totaling six rows, which made forty-eight. The remaining two naturally took the corner seats in the last row, which were usually reserved for the more mischievous students. But in Class 1, it might be for the two students who finished last in exams.

When there were an even number of girls, a boy would sit in those seats. It was only when there was an odd number of girls that a girl would take up that spot.

She, Zhou Yiyi, hadn’t expected that one day she would take ownership of that seat. Thɪs chapter is updated by novel[f]ire.net

After sitting down, she realized it wasn’t as uncomfortable as she had imagined, and at least Zhou Mo and Lin Mu were once again seated diagonally in front of her, where she could see them just by looking up.