Chapter Thirty-Five: On the Distribution of Resources

“Tiantian, can you stop being so sweet? My teeth are about to rot!” Dong Yanyan hooked her arm through Tiantian’s, complaining with a pout, “You’re so late coming down, I’m not happy anymore!”

“I’m sorry, Fifth Sister! I know you’re all just looking out for me!” Lu Tiantian followed her out of the classroom, her little mouth pouring honeyed words into Dong Yanyan’s ears, “Fifth Sister, please don’t tell the others about tonight, or I’ll be doomed!”

Dong Yanyan was utterly helpless: what kind of dormitory had she ended up with? The youngest girl here had swapped boyfriends four or five times in four years; the other six, not a shadow of a boyfriend to be seen. The distribution of resources was seriously unbalanced!

“Tiantian, let me tell you, you can’t be too accommodating with boys. It’s good to be passionate about love, but you need to draw some boundaries. You’re a girl—you need to know how to protect yourself.” Though she knew Tiantian seemed naive on the outside but was actually quite shrewd, seeing today’s situation still made her anxious.

“I know! I really admire you, you even managed to get Ren Jiaxuan to run errands for you. You’re amazing! If the girls in their class knew, they’d hate you to death!” Lu Tiantian giggled sweetly, “Fifth Sister, spill the truth—how did you hook up with him~~~~~”

“Tiantian, handsome guys can be flirted with, but words shouldn’t be tossed around carelessly. Really, there’s nothing to it, just happened to meet by chance. Besides, your sister already has someone in her heart, no need to fight those drama queens over their limited resources.” Dong Yanyan said, half in jest.

“Really? Who is it? Tell me!” Lu Tiantian shook her arm, pestering her.

“Tiantian, if you keep acting coy with me, I really can’t handle it. No more questions! Go back to the room and sleep!” Dong Yanyan protested, unable to bear it.

Lu Tiantian just laughed again, two dimples dancing playfully on her cheeks. This girl, even her laughter was laced with sweetness. Dong Yanyan felt that if she didn’t keep her distance, she’d get cavities.

*

Ms. Yang’s politics class was basically nap and chatting time for the students. The course wasn’t technical, nor was it a major requirement; not just the students, even Ms. Yang herself didn’t care much. The first twenty minutes were spent dutifully teaching new content, then she outlined the midterm exam scope, and finally dragged a chair over to sit next to Dong Yanyan.

“Yanyan, the red date and white fungus porridge you made for me last time was really good—simple and delicious. See how much better I look now? I brought you some too, eat it when you have time. Your face looks so pale, clearly you haven’t been resting well.” Ms. Yang fished out a packet of golden dates from her delicate handbag and handed them to her.

Dong Yanyan accepted them with both hands, smiling until her eyes curved. “Teacher, you really have an eye for picking dates.”

“Of course! And look at this new sweater I bought—pretty, right?” Ms. Yang took off her trench coat, draped it over the chair, and struck a pose, full of her own flair.

Faced with her glamorous teacher’s impromptu fashion show, Song Mingcheng, sitting nearby, wisely pretended not to see, staring straight ahead without even blinking.

No denying, Ms. Yang had a figure to die for, and great taste. Dong Yanyan could only drool in envy.

“It’s beautiful! If you paired it with that ethnic-style necklace, it’d be even more striking. The long jade necklace you wore last time—I think it goes perfectly with this sweater!”

“Really? I thought the gold necklace was a bit conservative, totally forgot I had that other one! Yanyan, you have such an eye for style!” Ms. Yang lifted her lovely phoenix eyes, nodding in agreement.

“It’s thanks to your good foundation, Teacher—on anyone else, it wouldn’t look nearly as good.” Dong Yanyan praised with a smile.

“That’s true!” Ms. Yang lifted her chin, smiling modestly, “Yanyan, your Mandarin is actually quite good, no regional accent, though it’s similar to the local dialect here. You learn things quickly.”

Dong Yanyan didn’t think she learned quickly. She’d lived in this city for over ten years; it would be odd not to have the local accent.

“In fact, the accent here isn’t exactly the same as Mandarin, so I envy your class’s standard broadcast pronunciation.” She replied modestly.

“That’s true. Your pronunciation still needs a little work. By the way, our class is doing voice exercises for the next two periods—you can come and listen.” Ms. Yang checked her watch, “This class is almost over. Next period, I’ll bring you two straight over. Liu Siying, come here!”

Ms. Yang had always had a soft spot for Liu Siying, never forgetting to call her for anything.

“Teacher, I love you so much! This midterm, I’ll try to get a hundred in politics, so you can show off a little too.” Dong Yanyan beamed; normally, she had to sneak into the broadcast class when her own class was free or encroach on the language teacher’s time. This time, Ms. Yang was giving up her own class for them—so generous!

“No need for a hundred, ninety will satisfy me!” Ms. Yang laughed.

Liu Siying skipped over from the front row, Ms. Yang hugged her and whispered a few words in her ear. The girl nodded, smiling shyly.

So, for the second period, the two girls moved over to the broadcast class to listen in.

Joy turned to misfortune: that afternoon’s basketball game, their class lost to the 97 broadcast class. It was a bitter humiliation for the engineering class.

Back in their classroom, Leng Haoyang slapped the desk and cursed the two of them for being traitors. Liu Siying was scolded to tears and ran back to the dorm crying.

Seeing him reduce Liu Siying to tears, Dong Yanyan’s anger flared. She jumped onto her chair and shouted, “Why are you taking it out on us girls after losing? We didn’t lose! If you hadn’t kept fouling and holding everyone back, would we have lost? Don’t think just because Lin Feng and the others don’t blame you, you’re off the hook!”

“What do you know? That was strategy!” Leng Haoyang retorted.

“Strategy? Pulling wool off the same sheep over and over counts as strategy? You, the main player, got benched at a critical moment—how could they not exploit the opening? Don’t blame others for your own mistakes!” Dong Yanyan shot back without backing down.

“It’s not like I had a choice! Zhang Lei was injured, Lin Feng and I were tightly guarded, Liu Qiang was off his game, every pass to him was a turnover... just wait, I’ll deal with him later!” Leng Haoyang grumbled.

Dong Yanyan rolled her eyes, “What about Song Mingcheng? Did any of you ever pass him the ball? And you complain he can’t shoot—everyone knows he’s more accurate at long shots than close ones, but you make him fight for rebounds alone. He finally gets the ball and doesn’t know who to pass to. Coordination? Who coordinated with him?”