Dorm Room Revelations and a Sister’s Suspicions

Xi Ruo had been facing some difficulties lately.

Primarily, these revolved around her own state of mind.

The day before yesterday afternoon, after bidding farewell to her beloved fiancée, Xi Ruo returned to her dorm room, where several friends immediately swarmed around her.

“Ruo-jie, you dashed out early this morning and are only just returning now. What were you up to?”

Xi Ruo responded with calm composure, “I attended the student council election ceremony.”

The surrounding girls chuckled, one of them pulling out her phone, scrolling to a forum post, and handing it to Xi Ruo:

[Goddess Xi Ruo Allegedly Leaves Early, Dissatisfied with Election Results!]

The comments within were all lambasting the clickbait title, as Xi Ruo had long stated she wouldn’t participate in the elections, and her departure wasn’t truly ‘early’ since everyone was already heading out.

However, Xi Ruo’s attention was drawn to the photo in the post; fortunately, due to the lighting and the timing of the snapshot, the large-chested girl beside her wasn’t particularly conspicuous.

“Ruo-jie, you left before noon and only came back this afternoon. You couldn’t have spent three or four hours just eating lunch, could you?” the girl beside her said with a grin. “Were you on a date with your girlfriend?”

The photo’s clarity didn’t allow Xi Yao’s appearance to be seen clearly, and for others unfamiliar with Xi Ruo, they wouldn’t even consider such a possibility, simply assuming she was a junior student walking in the same direction.

Yet, her friends knew Xi Ruo had a close friend, and now they knew it was her girlfriend.

“I suppose so.” Xi Ruo wasn’t one to deny it; once exposed, she readily admitted it.

In fact, she felt a small thrill inside.

While she was still on the path of ‘climbing the snowy mountain’ (TL Note: A metaphor for a long and arduous pursuit, often romantic or personal), societal recognition had already been laid, which was quite good.

“That’s wonderful, Ruo-jie! No wonder you didn’t bother with the elections; you were on a date with your girlfriend.”

“From morning until now, tsk tsk.”

“You must be so happy.”

Her friends playfully teased her, some even making suggestive jokes, which made Xi Ruo’s face flush.

At that moment, a girl suddenly asked, “Ruo-jie, do you two only see each other once a week?”

Xi Ruo paused slightly, then nodded, “She’s in the high school division, and I’m in university, so of course, it’s only once a week.”

“Then, after finally getting to see each other, you only spent a few hours together?” the girl analyzed calmly. “And from the looks of it, you didn’t seem to do anything… particularly intimate.”

Xi Ruo raised an eyebrow indignantly, thinking, ‘How is that not particularly intimate? Doesn’t a lap pillow count?’

She recalled that before the lap pillow, all they had done was hold hands, and even that had taken two and a half years. That’s how relationships were; one needed patience.

‘Surely no one actually gets past hand-holding without waiting two and a half years, right?’

However, Xi Ruo soon noticed that as soon as the girl spoke those words, her friends around her fell silent, as if they had understood something profound.

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked aloud.

“Ruo-jie, it’s just that you only see each other once a week, and there isn’t much intimacy,” another girl remarked. “From a generally sensible perspective, that’s quite risky.”

Xi Ruo’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

With one person starting, the others also chimed in, discussing the matter animatedly.

“Ruo-jie, what you have, it’s almost a long-distance relationship.”

“You need to be extra careful with long-distance relationships; there are many things to be wary of.”

Yet, there were differing opinions: “But then again, who in the high school division could be as outstanding as Ruo-jie, capable of stealing Ruo-jie’s girlfriend?”

As she said this, the others also found it reasonable, as if it were indeed the case.

However, while the speaker had no ulterior motive, the listener took it to heart. Xi Ruo knew there was someone in the high school division nicknamed “Little Xi Ruo.”

Crucially, she happened to be Xi Ruo’s roommate!

“Still, Ruo-jie, it’s really not good for you two to only meet once a week and not ‘do’ anything.”

“Exactly… Oh, by the way, Ruo-jie, your girlfriend,” one girl made a suggestive gesture with her hand, “is her desire for ‘that’ strong?”

Someone beside her tugged at her, “What nonsense are you spouting? Be serious!”

While they were all mature adults, Ruo-jie’s girlfriend was still just a JK (TL Note: Japanese slang for ‘joshi kousei,’ meaning high school girl).

“I just casually thought that since Ruo-jie finally gets to see her on the weekend, she could do things a girlfriend should do, just in case the other person needs it too,” the girl said with an embarrassed laugh. “Just saying, Ruo-jie, don’t take it to heart.”

But having said all that, how could Xi Ruo not take it to heart?

For the next two days, Xi Ruo couldn’t stop thinking about the matter.

Was Xi Yao’s desire strong? Yes, it was incredibly strong; she’d ‘hit the jackpot’ (TL Note: A euphemism for sexual advances or intimacy) at home frequently during the summer.

How could it not be strong?

Yet, when she was with Xi Ruo, she acted so pure and innocent. Had she already satisfied her desires normally?

‘I just don’t know if she satisfied herself, or if someone helped her…’

The more Xi Ruo thought about it, the more wrong and suspicious it felt. She couldn’t wait until the weekend anymore. Nor could she slowly ‘climb the snowy mountain’; after her classmates’ reminder, she had to address Xi Yao’s ‘jackpot’ issue.

Otherwise, someone would eventually ‘help’ her!

Checking the class schedule, the only regular overlap between the university and high school divisions was Wednesday afternoon’s physical education class.

****

“Her name is Jiang Wan,” Jiang Li said, puzzled. “What’s wrong? Have you heard that name before?”

“No,” Xi Yao secretly wiped away a bead of cold sweat, a smile on her face. “I just didn’t hear clearly just now.”

The young girl’s heart was already pounding like a drum; fortunately, her ample chest muffled the sound, so others couldn’t hear it.

‘How could I not have thought of it? The gentle older sister, exactly like the description in the diary!’

The timing also matched. Even if the original owner’s health wasn’t good, she wouldn’t go to the infirmary frequently; once a month was just right.

‘I was too careless!’

“Good, no problem then,” Jiang Li said to herself. “My sister only arrived half a year ago, and the first half was just her internship.”

Xi Yao tugged at the corner of her lips, revealing a pure, innocent smile. “She must be really amazing then.”

‘Calm down, absolutely calm down, don’t panic. No one should know that the original owner liked Jiang Wan, and most importantly, Xi Ruo-jie doesn’t know about her existence.’

‘As long as I’m careful, composed, and take one step at a time, it should, probably, maybe… not be a problem.’

The girl’s breathing gradually calmed, though a light, fragrant sweat had broken out on her body.

“Yes, she’s very capable; it’s just that for personal reasons, she decided to stay on as the high school’s infirmary doctor,” Jiang Li said casually.

The light-haired, shoulder-length girl wondered which girl her sister truly liked. She had been busy with the new semester and then the Yun Caiyi ‘slander incident’ (TL Note: ‘泼脏水’ literally means ‘to splash dirty water,’ used metaphorically for slandering or defaming someone), so she hadn’t had time to pay attention.

Now that Aileen told her she didn’t have to do anything, Jiang Li suddenly became the most idle person on the team, perhaps free to begin her investigation.

“Oh, right,” she said to Xi Yao, “my sister asked me to tell you that the exercise schedule starts Wednesday afternoon, which happens to be during PE class.”

Xi Yao nodded her small head. “Understood, I’ll definitely be there.”

‘Wednesday is fine, as long as it’s not the weekend.’

‘Xi Ruo-jie won’t find out.’

“Also,” Jiang Li remembered something else, “Lao Ban (TL Note: A common informal term for ‘old class teacher’ or ‘head teacher’) wants you to go see them.”