Chapter 17: Being Disdained

Chapter 17: Being Disliked

"Oh, okay, sure." The group still couldn't quite wrap their heads around it.

The cafeteria became very quiet. Chi Xingcun didn't care how many people stared, but he'd get nervous whenever someone came up to talk to him.

He was scared someone might try to start a fight, and if that happened, he wouldn't know what to do. But if they just talked to him like this, he was fine.

After they finished eating, Chi Xingcun and Xie Yean left together.

"Why did you introduce me like that?" Once they were somewhere private, Xie Yean asked what was on his mind.

Chi Xingcun explained, "I just didn't want to get into it with them, so I said that. Do you mind?"

He figured Xie Yean wouldn't care, since he hadn't said anything at the table earlier.

Xie Yean looked away. "Suit yourself."

They weren't actually heading home. Xie Yean had class, so Chi Xingcun walked him over to the science university next door, then went back to his own dorm.

When he got back to the dorm, only the class monitor was there.

The monitor was doing homework. When he saw Chi Xingcun come in, he turned and gave him a soft smile, his voice gentle: "Aren't you going home?"

Chi Xingcun blinked, surprised. "How did you know I was going home?"

Xue Tianye said, "I went to the cafeteria a little late. When I got there, I saw you leaving with your brother, and I overheard them saying you two were going home for lunch."

"Oh..." Chi Xingcun smiled and walked over to sit next to Xue Tianye. "I was going to, but then it felt like too much hassle, so I didn't."

"So that guy's really your brother?" Xue Tianye's expression showed he could see right through Chi Xingcun's lie, but it was still full of fondness.

Chi Xingcun bit his lip, embarrassed, then gave a shy smile. "He's actually my friend."

"Then why'd you say he was your brother?"

"Because if I said he was my friend, they'd ask how we met... It's too much of a hassle. I didn't want to answer." Chi Xingcun's long, thick lashes lowered slightly.

"I see." Xue Tianye looked understanding. "I get it."

Honestly, he'd been looking forward to class today. He kept wondering if Chi Xingcun would still sit next to him, if they'd go to the library to study together. But he never expected Chi Xingcun to show up with someone else—let alone sit next to him, he hadn't even said hi.

He kept going back and forth on whether to text Chi Xingcun, but then again, maybe Chi Xingcun hadn't changed at all and was still the same as before—wouldn't that just be setting himself up for embarrassment?

Chi Xingcun smiled and handed a bottle of milk tea to Xue Tianye. "Here, this is for you."

Xue Tianye glanced at it—it was the most popular brown sugar pearl milk tea from the shop at the school gate. He said thanks and took it. His heart gave another little jolt as he looked up at the smiling young man—how had he changed so much? So little time had passed, and nothing particularly special had happened.

Could Fu Chenzhan not giving him a birthday gift really make him change his attitude toward everyone?

Chi Xingcun set the other two bottles of milk tea on the desks of the other two roommates.

Xue Tianye watched him, even more confused—why was he trying to win them over?

Was it because he wanted to get along with them too?

"Why are you suddenly buying us milk tea?" Xue Tianye asked.

Chi Xingcun said, "Because... I want to get along with you guys. I caused you trouble before."

On the first day of school, Chi Xingcun had come to check out the dorm, but right in front of his roommates, he'd said it was too shabby and run-down, asking if it was fit for dogs.

The roommates' faces had turned sour on the spot.

If Chi Xingcun hadn't had a butler with him, he probably would've gotten beaten up.

But what he didn't know was that the other three had long forgotten about that. It was the rumors going around school that had made their impression of Chi Xingcun worse and worse.

Their dorm wasn't bad at all—clean and spacious, not cramped in the least. It had a washing machine, AC, and even a bathtub. Plus, they didn't have to clean it themselves; someone came every day to do it. It was one of the best dorms in the country.

Chi Xingcun came out of the bathroom, and the other two roommates had just gotten back.

Seeing the milk tea on the table, one of the roommates asked Xue Tianye, "Whose is this?"

Chi Xingcun smiled and said, "It's for you guys."

Li Qing was already in a bad mood. Seeing Chi Xingcun standing there made him even more annoyed—who did this guy think he was, being in the same dorm as him?

He tossed the milk tea straight into the trash can and said coldly, face blank, "Thanks."

That was clearly a deliberate provocation.

The other guy, Chen Shu, who had a more honest-looking face, saw this and put the milk tea back on Chi Xingcun's desk, saying, "No thanks."

Chi Xingcun stood there without much reaction, then climbed into bed after a moment.

Xue Tianye saw that Chi Xingcun had pulled his curtain shut. He lowered his eyes and picked up the milk tea Li Qing had thrown in the trash.

"It's wrong to trample on someone's kindness like that."

Li Qing rolled his eyes in disgust. "Depends on whose kindness it is."

Chi Xingcun realized he really couldn't win those two over, so he decided to give up.

He'd just wanted to get along with his roommates.

......

That afternoon, the class monitor held a meeting and said the sports meet was coming up soon, encouraging everyone to sign up. Their school had an especially large number of events, so basically the whole class could take part.

Chi Xingcun started to feel conflicted when he heard this. Aside from kindergarten, he'd never taken part in a sports meet. He had no athletic skills, and his physical condition wasn't great either.

His mother said it was because he'd had a high fever as a kid, and after that, his health had become very fragile.

His mother had arranged for people to help him exercise, but every time he ran about two hundred meters, his face would turn bright red, he'd get dizzy, and feel like throwing up.

His mother couldn't bear to see him like that, afraid he'd push himself too hard and something would happen. Plus, his physical exams were normal, so she didn't push him to exercise.

In their circle, he was the only one who'd taken thirty seconds to run a hundred meters in elementary school, and he'd only passed the PE test because his parents pulled strings.

After the meeting, the class monitor walked over to Chi Xingcun and said very gently, "It's okay. Since your health isn't great, you don't have to participate."

Everyone knew Chi Xingcun didn't go to PE class because of his poor health.

Just then, Li Qing walked past him and sneered deliberately, "So high and mighty usually? Can't handle it now? Isn't your health check normal?"

The class monitor heard this, and the smile on his face instantly vanished. He shot Li Qing a cold glare.

Then he smiled at Chi Xingcun again. "Don't worry, you don't have to listen to crazy people. Everyone's body is different—it's totally normal. You're not the only one in the class sitting out the sports meet."

After class, Chi Xingcun slung his backpack over one shoulder and walked toward the school gate, lost in thought.

His health really wasn't great, but it wasn't beyond improvement.

In his previous life, his head was somewhere else, and he'd never truly integrated into the group. He'd never really taken group stuff like class pride events seriously.

He'd spent three years in college, and when he died, his biggest regret was that he'd never really joined in on class activities or gotten along with his classmates.

So now, he really wanted to get in on the sports meet.

He didn't want to be an outsider.