Seeing the deep, walnut-like wrinkles on the dormitory lady's face, Ye Qiu had the urge to turn and run.
"Auntie, don't worry, I really don't have any ulterior motives," Ye Qiu explained carefully. "I'm here to see Tang Guo in room 301."
"I don't care if you're looking for Tang Guo or an apple; this is a girls' dormitory, and boys aren't allowed. Rules, you understand? Go, go!" The dorm lady grabbed Ye Qiu by the arm and pulled him back to the entrance, pointing to a sign that read, "No Men Allowed." "You can't read those words?"
Of course, Ye Qiu could read the sign. But the boys' dorm also had a sign saying "No Women Allowed," yet girls seemed to stroll in and out as they pleased, either alone or in groups, all dolled up. Did this mean men were more trustworthy than women? That women entering the boys' dorm was safe, but men entering the girls' dorm was a risk?
"Auntie, this is urgent."
"Every guy who tries to get in says that."
Ye Qiu was getting frustrated. Was this woman in the throes of menopause? She was impossible to reason with. He was even considering knocking her out to sneak in when two girls dressed in shorts, jerseys, and baseball caps came up, laughing. They were holding rackets and had sweat-soaked faces, clearly just finished with some exercise.
Seeing a guy being stopped at the dorm entrance, they curiously glanced at Ye Qiu.
One of the girls, with an oval face, smiled and greeted the dorm lady, "Sister Wang, what's going on here?"
The dorm lady immediately beamed and pointed at Ye Qiu. "This boy tried to enter the girls' dormitory. For your safety, I'm stopping him."
Hearing the girl call her "sister," the dorm lady's mood brightened considerably. Ye Qiu realized his mistake—no woman likes being called "auntie."
"Giggle, Sister Wang, thanks for your hard work. We'll head up now," the oval-faced girl said as she pulled her friend toward the stairs.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Ye Qiu knew he wasn't getting in, and with Tang Guo's phone dead and Lin Bao'er unlikely to have a phone, his only hope was to ask these girls to help call down Lin Bao'er.
"What is it?" The two girls turned back, eyeing Ye Qiu with suspicion.
"Could you please ask Tang Guo in room 301 to come downstairs?" Ye Qiu said, putting on his best smile.
"You're looking for Tang Guo?" The short-haired girl scrutinized Ye Qiu and asked, "Who are you to her?"
"I'm her... brother." Ye Qiu couldn't exactly say he was Tang Guo's bodyguard. It wouldn't give a good impression if people knew a young woman had a bodyguard following her around at school.
"Kid, that excuse is so outdated. Since the class of '03, no guy has used that one," the dorm lady scoffed.
What was with this woman? It was like she had a grudge against men—everything he said seemed to annoy her.
"Oh, you're Tang Guo's brother? Giggle, we've heard about you. Guo Guo talks about you all the time... You're from the School of Management, right?" The oval-faced girl suddenly seemed to recognize him, winking at Ye Qiu.
Ye Qiu was confused—he didn't know these girls. The dorm lady was also puzzled by the girl's words.
"Sister Wang, it's like this. He's looking for Tang Guo, who's in our dorm. Tang Guo did mention she has a brother studying at the School of Management," the oval-faced girl explained to the dorm lady with a smile. Turning to Ye Qiu, she asked, "Why didn't you call her? Do you need something?"
"Her phone is dead. She's sick, so I came to check on her," Ye Qiu said, now understanding the situation. He hadn't expected to run into Tang Guo's roommates, so he quickly played along.
"Oh no, Guo Guo's sick?" The two girls looked genuinely concerned. They seemed to be on good terms with Tang Guo. "Sister Wang, could you let him in just this once? I promise nothing bad will happen." The oval-faced girl tugged at the dorm lady's arm, pleading.
"Fine. Since you said so, I'll make an exception this time. But don't make it a habit," the dorm lady relented, clearly fond of the girl.
"Thank you, Sister Wang." The oval-faced girl flashed a sweet smile.
Ye Qiu also thanked the dorm lady before following the two girls upstairs.
---
Building 7, Room 301.
"That stupid Ye Qiu, why isn't he here yet?" Tang Guo muttered weakly, lying pale-faced on her bed.
"Don't worry, Sister Tang. Relax, you're not pregnant," Lin Bao'er reassured her, sitting by the bed.
Tang Guo grabbed a stuffed bear from her bedside and threw it at Lin Bao'er. "You little brat! You're the one who's pregnant! I'm still a virgin; there's no way I could be pregnant!"
Tang Guo was too weak to put much force behind the throw, so the bear flopped down onto the floor. Lin Bao'er caught it and looked at Tang Guo with concern. "But according to Baidu, your symptoms are like those of early pregnancy."
Tang Guo rolled her eyes, feeling like she could die from frustration.
Thanks to Tang Buyi's influence, Tang Guo and Lin Bao'er had been assigned to the same dorm room despite being in different departments. That afternoon, with no classes scheduled, they were planning to go out and have some fun when Tang Guo suddenly felt dizzy, nauseous, weak all over, and even a bit like throwing up.
Lin Bao'er had panicked and immediately called Ye Qiu using Tang Guo's phone. But after waiting and waiting, there was still no sign of Ye Qiu, and with no medical knowledge, Lin Bao'er was at a loss.
Then she remembered a joke: "Ask Google for external affairs, ask Baidu for internal affairs, and ask Tianya for bedroom affairs." So she opened her laptop, typed Tang Guo's symptoms into Baidu, and was shocked to see that the most likely explanation was pregnancy.
If Lin Bao'er hadn't held her back, Tang Guo would have thrown the laptop out the window.
"Sister Tang, what if Ye Qiu doesn't come? Your phone's dead, so we can't call him again," Lin Bao'er said, picking up the dorm phone. The dorms had phones, but they required a phone card to make calls.
"Hmph, when that jerk gets here, I'm not letting him off easily," Tang Guo grumbled from the bed, her eyes growing misty. Within minutes, her face started turning darker, and it seemed like her condition was worsening.
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8