Chapter 10 A-10

Chapter 10: A-10

Three tall, long-legged, and distinctly handsome men strolled across campus, making their surroundings feel like an idol drama set.

Passing students frequently stole glances.

Having grown accustomed to attention since childhood, the trio remained unfazed by the stares.

Yun Qian had heard his younger brother changed dorms this semester and was rooming with unfamiliar people, which made him worry Yun Xiu might get bullied.

Hearing his concern, Yun Xiu laughed, "Second Brother, you're overthinking it. Our dorm is a mixed-gender dorm, so there won’t be any clique bullying like you’re imagining!"

Yun Qian muttered, "You never know."

Back in middle school, his good looks and popularity with teachers and classmates had led a few troublemakers to try ganging up on him with off-campus thugs. Fortunately, he had a growth spurt and, leveraging his physical advantage, won the fight.

In Yun Qian’s eyes, his younger brother wasn't in great health, wasn't particularly tall, and might not speak up if bullied. He decided he would carefully observe whether there were any narrow-minded individuals in Yun Xiu’s dorm.

Unaware that his second brother’s worries had shifted to him, Yun Xiu noticed the elevator was about to close. Seeing it wasn’t crowded, he hurried over and pressed the button.

With so many students on campus, missing this elevator could mean a long wait for the next one.

Z University, a long-established institution in City A, might not surpass S University in overall rankings, but it was still among the top five universities nationwide. Zhao Limei's hasty dismissal of it as a "lesser institution" was merely to belittle Yun Xiu and elevate Yun Qian.

A university of this caliber naturally boasted excellent accommodation.

Room 10529 was a quad, with a loft bed and desk in each corner. It was equipped with air conditioning and fans, and on the right side of the balcony were two private bathrooms.

As soon as they stepped inside, the three felt the light was slightly harsh—sunlight streamed in from the balcony, reflecting off the tiled floor directly to the entrance.

Through the balcony window, they could see someone diligently scrubbing something.

Yun Xiu looked down at the gleaming tile floor and felt hesitant about where to step. It seemed his dorm had a rather remarkable roommate.

Noticing the commotion, Fang Zicheng sat up from his bed. Seeing who it was, he beamed. "Come on in, Xiu Xiu. We’ll clean it again later."

Since they had to enter eventually, Yun Xiu stopped hesitating and moved his luggage toward the last unoccupied bed.

This bed faced Fang Zicheng’s, both situated near the corridor door. From Yun Xiu’s observation, the roommate on his side was likely the one on the balcony.

It seemed one roommate hadn’t arrived yet, but their belongings were already packed on the bed, unlike the other side which was already set up.

Yun Xiu introduced them to Fang Zicheng: "This is my brother, and this is my eldest brother."

"Brother" referred to Yun Qian, and "eldest brother" was Yun He.

Hearing this, Yun Qian’s usually impassive expression lit up with a smile. He casually made eye contact with his eldest brother before climbing up to help Yun Xiu make the bed.

Yun He: "…"

Childish.

Yun Xiu didn’t notice the silent exchange between his brothers and quietly asked Fang Zicheng about the other two roommates.

They had been friends for a while and were fairly familiar with each other, but since Yun Xiu hadn’t lived in dorms much before, he wanted to learn more about his other roommates to ensure a harmonious living situation.

Fang Zicheng said, "The one who hasn’t arrived yet is Cheng Zhu from the sports department. He’s easygoing and straightforward, but he’s an athlete on the national youth team, so he has to train. The school gave him special permission to live off-campus. He probably won’t stay here more than a few days each semester."

He paused, glancing back toward the balcony. "The one out there is Jiang Tinghan, a math major and a real academic prodigy. He’s cold on the outside but warm inside. If you have any trouble with math problems, you can ask him. But he has one flaw—he’s a bit particular about cleanliness. He says it’s mild OCD, but I think it’s almost moderate."

Yun Xiu pondered this.

The commuter application process was complicated, and Yun Xiu hadn’t bothered applying since he found it troublesome. Besides, with consecutive classes, going home for lunch breaks was too rushed. Staying in the dorm allowed more rest time. If he wanted to go home, he could just request time off through DingTalk.

Classes started the day after tomorrow, and he planned to spend tomorrow getting used to campus life instead of returning to the Yun family home.

This was something Yun Xiu hadn’t discussed with Yun He in advance. Yun He assumed he would come home for one more night and planned to take Yun Qian to the station in the evening, leaving the next day open to resolve the conflict between the two brothers.

But plans often change. Yun He, who never lost in business, consistently failed to predict Yun Xiu’s next move, which left him feeling somewhat frustrated.

Judging by Yun Xiu’s demeanor, it seemed unlikely he could persuade him to come home.

Yun He had no choice but to abandon his mediation plan and wait until Yun Xiu came home on the weekend.

Whether intentionally or not, as soon as Yun He and Yun Qian left, Jiang Tinghan stepped inside from the balcony.

Fang Zicheng, who had been chatting effortlessly with Yun Xiu and the others earlier, toned down his enthusiasm slightly when Jiang Tinghan entered. He avoided looking around and continued the previous topic.

They had been discussing games, but with a new roommate present—one Yun Xiu hadn’t greeted yet—he was only half-listening.

When he saw Jiang Tinghan take out a cloth to wipe the stairs, Yun Xiu quickly stood up. "Let me do it! It was my brother who stepped there—sorry!"

Their dorm beds didn’t have ladders for climbing up and down. Instead, there was a five-step staircase placed between the two beds.

Although Yun Qian had taken off his shoes before going up to make the bed, he’d kept his socks on. Given the roommate's cleanliness standards, wiping the stairs was understandable.

Jiang Tinghan didn’t say anything, handing him the cloth before returning to his seat.

Yun Xiu thoroughly wiped every inch of the steps, confident there wasn’t a single spot missed. Just as he thought it was clean enough, Jiang Tinghan came over with a bottle of disinfectant spray.

Yun Xiu: "…"

He stood there hesitating for a moment before asking uncertainly, "Do I need to wipe it every time I go up or down? That seems really troublesome. How about we divide up the steps? I won't cross into your area!"

Then, worried he might be misunderstood, he added, "Not that I mind you cleaning! I just don’t want to trouble you!"

Someone else might have found Jiang Tinghan too particular and decided to let him wipe as much as he wanted without bothering to cooperate.

But Yun Xiu believed OCD was a genuine psychological condition. When dealing with someone affected, he tried to be patient and find a solution acceptable to both.

"Bacteria spread," Jiang Tinghan said.

His way of speaking was unique—each word pronounced with deliberate care, resulting in a slow pace that gave the listener an impression of a gentle, measured tone.

Yun Xiu first thought Jiang Tinghan’s gentle voice didn’t match his cold appearance, then realized the point: drawing boundaries wouldn't help—bacteria would spread regardless.

He felt a bit troubled.

Given his physical condition, he probably couldn’t vault directly from the floor to the bed. Would he really have to wipe the stairs every single time?

Seeing him deep in thought, Jiang Tinghan’s gaze flickered, and then he proceeded to sanitize the steps himself.

Back at his desk, Yun Xiu saw a message from Fang Zicheng:

[Want me to send you Cheng Zhu’s contact info? You could ask if you can swap beds.]

[I was first assigned to your bed, but I applied to move to the opposite side within a couple of days.]

Having a roommate with OCD isn't the scary part—what young people worry about nowadays is accidentally bothering others.

Fang Zicheng considered himself quite hygienic among guys and had initially cooperated with Jiang Tinghan in disinfecting the staircase. Once, he got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and, half-asleep, he forgot. After returning from the bathroom and lying back down, just as he was drifting off, he saw a dark figure moving near his bed, which nearly scared him to death.

Upon closer look, it was Jiang Tinghan doing the disinfecting.

That night, Fang Zicheng stared at the ceiling until dawn, repeatedly asking himself: Am I dirty?

He suspected Jiang Tinghan was part of the reason why Cheng Zhu didn’t come back to the dorm.

Yun Xiu felt tempted, but then he thought—Cheng Zhu didn’t often come back to stay, but he did occasionally. Pushing a difficult roommate off on another roommate wasn’t something he could do.

[Forget it, I’ll think of another way.]

Fang Zicheng shrugged, thinking Yun Xiu would eventually take his advice—he just hadn’t experienced the midnight scare yet. He shrugged again and brought up another topic.

[There’s a hotpot place at our school that’s really famous—even people from off-campus want to come try it. Want to go with me later?]

Come to think of it, Yun Xiu had never had hotpot at the Yun residence. He wasn’t sure if it was because Yun He came back late or because Mrs. Yun was into health-conscious living, but as soon as Fang Zicheng mentioned it, he agreed to go.

Fang Zicheng hadn't invited Jiang Tinghan, and Yun Xiu didn’t quite understand why, but he didn’t think Fang Zicheng was the type to exclude a roommate, so he asked why.

[Cheng Zhu and I invited him once, and he said:]

[The tables and chairs at the hotpot place haven’t been disinfected for a long time. Grease promotes bacterial growth, and the seats are too close together—sweat flying, saliva spraying, and he can’t stand it when people don’t use serving chopsticks for hotpot.]

[Correction: We do use serving chopsticks for hotpot!!]

After reading the message, Yun Xiu was stunned—that was definitely something Jiang Tinghan would say.

Hotpot is so delicious—it seems Jiang Tinghan is doomed to miss out on such delicious food his whole life. He’d have to find another chance to help the roommates bond.

His eldest brother helped set up the desk, his second brother helped make the bed—Yun Xiu had been taking it easy all day. At the hotpot place, he happily helped Fang Zicheng get bowls and chopsticks.

As for the dipping sauce, he had to mix his own. Yun Xiu never used dipping sauce for hotpot—he thought the broth was flavorful enough on its own.

Half spicy beef tallow broth, half tomato broth—the beef tallow broth was fragrant and numbing-spicy, the tomato sweet and tangy. The boiling broth bubbled away.

Watching the lively crowd at the next table, Yun Xiu couldn’t help but recall the message Fang Zicheng had sent him and unconsciously scooted farther away from that direction.

Fang Zicheng laughed. "Jiang Tinghan isn’t overly critical of roommates; he only cares about his own immediate surroundings. Usually, we don’t even notice these things—no need to change your habits for him."

Yun Xiu hadn’t thought that much about it. If anything, he felt it wasn’t them who were uncomfortable, but Jiang Tinghan.

He didn’t know much about people like that and couldn’t help but wonder—if they dragged Jiang Tinghan to the hotpot place, would he want to wrap himself in plastic to isolate from the outside world?

Yun Xiu’s chewing gradually slowed as an invisible lightbulb went off over his head.

Right!

If there are disposable gloves, there must be disposable shoe covers. He could totally buy a pack and see if Jiang Tinghan would accept them.

Yun Xiu resumed chewing, thinking proudly, "I’m such a genius!"