Chapter 6: The ID Says Female

Lin Ci stared at the announcement on his phone screen and blanked out for a full three minutes.

Luckily, the same-city express delivery came through. At exactly noon on Friday, the courier knocked on the dorm room door.

Lin Ci tore open the cardboard envelope and clutched the brand-new second-generation ID card in his palm, flipping it over and over to examine it.

The person in the photo had cold, delicate features, slightly upturned eyes, and long hair resting neatly on her shoulders.

On the back, clearly printed: Female.

“Ugh, fate really plays tricks.”

Lin Ci slapped the ID card onto the desk and slumped into his chair with a sigh.

At exactly three in the afternoon, a clatter of high heels and voices came from the hallway.

Counselor Liu pushed open the door to Room 302, a thick stack of student rosters in her hand.

“Is Lin Ci here? Bring out your original ID for registration.”

Lin Ci quickly stood up from the chair and handed over the card with both hands.

Counselor Liu pushed up the black-rimmed glasses on her nose. She looked down at the ID first, then raised her head to study Lin Ci’s face. Her gaze visibly lingered for two seconds.

Lin Ci had deliberately worn a loose white shirt today, with the collar buttoned properly all the way to the top.

But this body’s waistline was too pronounced. Even in baggy clothes, its silhouette still drew the eye, and paired with that flawless, coldly beautiful face, it made a striking visual impact.

“So you’re Lin Ci?”

Counselor Liu snapped back to attention and made a check on the form.

“A senior in the foreign languages department. Why are you living in a sophomore dorm building?”

Lin Ci lied without changing expression:

“The men’s… I mean, the pipes in the previous dorm building were old and under repair. The academic affairs office reassigned me here temporarily.”

Counselor Liu flipped through the housing arrangement sheet in her hand and muttered under her breath:

“The administrative office is getting less efficient by the day. Mixing seniors and sophomores, aren’t they afraid of schedule conflicts?”

She handed the ID back to Lin Ci and turned to look at Gu Mianmian, who was huddled in the corner.

“Gu Mianmian, bring out your ID too.”

Gu Mianmian silently stepped forward and pulled a badly worn ID card from a faded wallet.

Counselor Liu glanced at it quickly, finished verifying, checked off the roster, and turned to the next dorm room.

The door closed, and her footsteps gradually faded.

Lin Ci tucked the ID back into his pocket and collapsed onto the bed.

That damned inspection was finally over.

He turned onto his side, ready to find a comfortable position and rest a while.

When his gaze swept across the desk opposite him, his eyes suddenly froze.

Gu Mianmian was bending over to tidy her bed. A thick hardcover book was pressed under the pillow beside her.

The pages were thick, and the black printed text visible on the side caught Lin Ci’s attention.

Criminal Psychology and Analysis of Behavioral Abnormalities.

Lin Ci froze for a moment, then let his gaze drift along the open pages.

Between the yellowed pages, a white sticky note folded into a triangle poked out.

One corner of the note was visible, with two characters written in a very fine black gel pen.

Lin Ci.

The handwriting was neat to the point of eerie. The strokes pressed deep, leaving clear raised marks on the back of the paper.

A chill inexplicably ran down Lin Ci’s back.

A socially anxious junior who barely spoke to anyone at school had a criminal psychology book under her pillow.

And tucked in its pages was a slip of paper with his own name on it.

‘What kind of grudge is this?’

‘Did she hate me forcing her to eat a chicken leg yesterday so much that she’s keeping an assassination list?’

Lin Ci sat up and cleared his throat.

“Mianmian, you read this kind of professional book too?”

Gu Mianmian paused, following Lin Ci’s finger to the book.

She calmly reached over and closed it, pressing the note underneath it as well.

“It’s for an elective.”

She kept her head down, voice calm.

Lin Ci leaned half his body off the bed and pressed further.

“Can a sophomore in finance even take a criminal psychology course?”

Gu Mianmian slid the book under her pillow, movements unhurried.

“I didn’t get in. I’m just auditing the third-year law school class.”

Her answer was watertight, not a trace of panic on her face.

Lin Ci stared at her for two seconds, then swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

‘Forget it, forget it.’

‘With his carefree, straight-guy brain, he shouldn’t try to guess at a young girl’s sensitive, fragile thoughts.’

The sky gradually darkened.

At 10:30 p.m., the dorm’s main lights went out on schedule.

The hallway fell completely silent, save for the occasional night wind outside the window.

Lin Ci lay flat on his bed, just about to close his eyes, when a very soft voice came from the bed opposite.

“Senior.”

Lin Ci opened his eyes.

“What is it?”

Gu Mianmian’s voice sounded especially clear in the darkness.

“I’m starting an off-campus part-time job tomorrow.”

Lin Ci turned over to face her.

“What kind of job? Aren’t you already working at the library during the day?”

“Waiting tables at a charcoal grill place on the back street off campus.”

Gu Mianmian paused, then added:

“From six in the evening until midnight.”

Lin Ci’s brow furrowed immediately.

“Midnight? The dorm gates close at eleven. How are you getting in that late?”

“The boss said I can climb in through the small side door on the back street. The dorm auntie doesn’t check that door at night.”

Lin Ci couldn’t help but retort.

“You’re a young girl walking through an unlit alley on the back street at midnight. Are you out of your mind?”

The other bed went quiet for a few seconds.

After a while, Gu Mianmian’s voice drifted over faintly.

“Is Senior worried about me?”

Lin Ci choked on the question, his straight-guy temper flaring immediately.

“Of course I am. We’re roommates under the same roof. If a dog didn’t come back at midnight, I’d still worry a little.”

In the darkness, a faint murmur came from the opposite bed.

“That’s enough.”

The voice trembled slightly.

Lin Ci didn’t understand. He muttered ‘Crazy’ into his blanket and turned to face the wall.

But he couldn’t sleep at all.

As long as this body lay on its side, the two weights on his chest pressed together, making it hard to breathe.

If he lay flat, the slightest slip of the blanket let cold air pour in at his collar.

Lin Ci tossed and turned irritably, pulling the blanket up and kicking it off.

After twenty-two years as a man, he’d never known sleep could be this torturous.

On the other side of the dorm.

Gu Mianmian hadn’t closed her eyes at all.

She lay with her dark eyes open, quietly watching the restless figure on the opposite bed.

By the faint moonlight coming through the window, she could just make out Lin Ci’s snow-white neck exposed outside the blanket.

Gu Mianmian’s hand slipped out from under the covers.

A long, thin black strand of hair was tightly wrapped around her fingertip.

Her expression focused, her fingers moved nimbly.

The hair wrapped around her index finger once, twice, three times.

The tip of her finger turned slightly white from the pressure, but she couldn’t bear to loosen it at all.

A faint milky scent drifted from the opposite bed.

Gu Mianmian brought her finger to her nose and inhaled gently, the corner of her lips curving into a tiny smile.

‘As long as Senior was still in this room, everything was fine.’

The next day, 5:30 in the evening.

Gu Mianmian changed into slightly loose old black clothes and tied a dark red apron around her waist.

She slung a shoulder bag over one shoulder and went to the door to change shoes.

Lin Ci was sitting at the desk gnawing on an apple. Watching her thin back, he still felt uneasy.

The back street was a mixed bag, full of drunk thugs late at night.

With Gu Mianmian’s small frame, she wouldn’t even have a chance to yell for help if something happened.

Gu Mianmian grasped the door handle, about to pull it open.

Lin Ci chewed his apple and called out.

“Gu Mianmian.”

Gu Mianmian stopped and looked back at him.

Lin Ci tossed the half-eaten apple into the trash and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

“Open WeChat on your phone and send me your location when you get to the shop.”

Gu Mianmian froze in the doorway.

“Keep in touch at all times, and message me at midnight sharp to let me know you’re safe. Got it?”

Lin Ci added irritably.

Gu Mianmian gripped the strap of her crossbody bag.

She fought to keep the corners of her mouth from lifting, and nodded firmly.

“Mm! Okay, I’ll do whatever Senior says.”

With that, she pushed open the door and walked lightly into the twilight of the hallway.

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