Chapter 21: Pincers Attack

“Haaah~”

Su Cheng stretched on the balcony. She hadn’t woken up as early as yesterday, and her dark circles were quite noticeable.

“Wake up, lazybones.”

She woke her two roommates. Every time their alarms rang, they wouldn’t get up on time, always relying on Su Cheng, their human alarm clock, to remind them.

Sun Xiaochen and Chen Xi got up in succession, and Su Cheng’s mission was accomplished.

Having quickly finished washing up, Su Cheng had no time to delay. She hurriedly changed into her camouflage uniform and left the dorm.

There were still twenty-five minutes until the 6:30 AM morning drill started, and Su Cheng didn’t want to be late on the second day.

But her roommates were another story.

Opening the dorm door, Su Cheng cautiously looked left and right, but didn’t see Lin Shiyue’s figure, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

Calculating it this way, yesterday’s encounter was a coincidence, not Lin Shiyue deliberately staking her out.

This thought only went as far as the staircase landing.

“Su Cheng, good morning.”

“Oh! You startled me.” Su Cheng patted her chest, calming her suddenly pounding heart, quite frightened by Lin Shiyue’s sudden greeting.

Her previously drowsy state instantly became much more alert.

‘Goodness, you’re not playing fair, you’re playing dirty, aren’t you?’

Su Cheng gently patted her heart, grumbling, “Class Monitor, what are you doing? Why are you squatting in this corner? Are you being a lurker?”

Lin Shiyue gave an awkward smile. She hadn’t expected her sudden greeting to scare Su Cheng.

“Sorry, sorry, I just came out and heard your dorm door open, so I waited here for a bit. I didn’t expect it to be you.”

Lin Shiyue’s explanation was only half-believable to Su Cheng.

Su Cheng’s small, suspicious eyes, still a bit sleepy, scanned Lin Shiyue’s body a few times, trying to find any hidden clues on her face, which was composed with gentle apology.

Unfortunately, Lin Shiyue’s eyes were frank, and her smile was natural; there was no hint of her deliberately waiting.

“Alright, alright,” Su Cheng waved her hand, not wanting to dwell on it; time was short, “Class Monitor, let’s hurry up, we’ll be late if we keep dawdling.”

She sidestepped Lin Shiyue and sped up, rushing downstairs.

“Wait for me!”

Lin Shiyue immediately followed, her footsteps clattering crisply on the stairs, keeping pace with Su Cheng.

Her voice carried a barely perceptible urgency, as she tried to close the distance with Su Cheng.

Su Cheng didn’t stop, but she muttered inwardly: ‘Yesterday was a coincidence, and today is still a coincidence. The probability of such coincidences is too high, isn’t it?’

‘If this luck were used for gacha games, the game company would go bankrupt.’

‘Lin Shiyue is too suspicious.’

However, now that she knew Lin Shiyue was a reborn person, everything became rational again.

But if Lin Shiyue was a reborn person, that meant the other pink-haired girl was likely also a reborn person.

Otherwise… how would she appear at the dorm building’s main entrance?!

“Gotcha.”

Lin Shiyue smiled and grabbed Su Cheng’s hand. She hadn’t figured out why Su Cheng had stopped, but at least she caught her.

Su Cheng’s dazed gaze was fixed on the unusually conspicuous and stylish pink figure at the doorway.

The pink-haired girl was dressed in athletic wear today, seemingly waiting for someone’s appearance, staring intently at the dorm exit.

The pink-haired girl noticed Su Cheng the moment she appeared. And when another girl also appeared in her line of sight, the pink-haired girl’s newly formed smile suddenly froze.

Most importantly, she was still holding Su Cheng’s hand.

“Little Orange, good morning.”

Yin Xuelian still ran towards Su Cheng with an amiable smile, and as she greeted her, a fierce glint shot towards Lin Shiyue from her eyes.

Su Cheng’s heart skipped a beat, caught in the crossfire. That was the fierce gaze reserved for a love rival.

Su Cheng swallowed hard, her heart pounding. She suddenly remembered yesterday’s nightmare.

In the dream, Lin Shiyue and Yin Xuelian quarreled over her ownership, and the final outcome was that the two of them split her in half, one half each.

‘Just like Makoto from that anime.’

‘Oh my goodness, please don’t split me in half.’

Su Cheng looked nervously at Lin Shiyue, then at Yin Xuelian.

Lin Shiyue was glaring at Yin Xuelian with a determined look, tightly holding Su Cheng’s hand, not letting go.

Yin Xuelian secretly gritted her teeth, the smile on her face gaining a hint of chill, her icy gaze falling on their clasped hands.

“Oh my, it’s early morning, and Student Lin is holding Little Orange’s hand. What a close relationship.”

Su Cheng didn’t dare to speak much. She clearly felt the hidden anger beneath Yin Xuelian’s calm tone.

Don’t let Yin Xuelian’s usual gentle demeanor fool you; if something she fancied was snatched away, the other party would surely face severe misfortune.

But Lin Shiyue was just that kind of hard nail; she became stronger when faced with strength.

“Upperclassman Yin, why are you not sleeping in early morning and running to our freshman dorm? Are you staking out Su Cheng?”

‘That’s not right, girl, you’re also part of this,’ Su Cheng muttered inwardly.

Yin Xuelian maintained that chilly smile, her steps unwavering, walking straight towards Su Cheng and Lin Shiyue. Each step seemed to tread on an invisible string, making the air grow tauter.

Lin Shiyue moved a step forward, tightening her grip on Su Cheng’s hand, facing Yin Xuelian’s fierce expression directly, taking on a stance as if facing a formidable enemy, without the slightest hint of backing down.

Her gaze was sharp, like a small beast guarding its food, silently declaring ownership.

Yin Xuelian snorted coldly, then directly grabbed Su Cheng’s other hand, giving Lin Shiyue no chance to take her away.

Yin Xuelian’s gaze fell directly on Su Cheng’s startled, pretty face. Seeing her dark circles, a hint of concern arose in her eyes, and her tone softened.

“Little Orange, didn’t you sleep well last night? Your dark circles are so heavy.”

Yin Xuelian seemed to completely ignore Lin Shiyue’s presence, not to mention the talking passersby.

She focused only on Su Cheng, her tone filled with concern.

“I-I’m fine…” Su Cheng stammered in reply, her mind racing to find a way out, “Sister Lian, we’re in a hurry, or we’ll be late for the morning drill.”

Su Cheng tried this move to extricate herself, otherwise, if these two really started arguing, the consequences would be unimaginable.

“Yes, Upperclassman Yin,” Lin Shiyue immediately interjected, her tone urging, “It’s getting late, we need to hurry to the sports field to assemble. Upperclassman, please feel free to do as you wish.”

As Lin Shiyue spoke, she pulled Su Cheng, intending to walk around Yin Xuelian.

But Yin Xuelian had already firmly grasped Su Cheng’s other hand. If Lin Shiyue wanted to take Su Cheng away, she would have to get past her first.

“I’m also heading to the sports field for morning exercise, it’s on my way, let’s go together.”

Su Cheng’s heart shivered; the situation she least wanted to see had come to pass.

And so, a bizarre scene appeared on the campus path, becoming the focus of passersby.

Yin Xuelian walked in front, holding Su Cheng’s hand. Su Cheng was in the middle, and Lin Shiyue was behind.

Two forces tore at her body. Su Cheng truly felt like she was about to fall apart into two halves, her face grimacing as she was pulled along.

“Upperclassman Yin, you’re pulling Su Cheng so fast like that, you’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?” Lin Shiyue said, annoyed.

Yin Xuelian turned back and gave Lin Shiyue a cold glare: “You’re the one who should walk faster. Do you want to waste time and make Little Orange get punished?”

Hearing this, Lin Shiyue still sped up, not letting Su Cheng stay in the middle to be pulled.

But Su Cheng was displeased. ‘She couldn’t live like this anymore!’

‘How could she endure being tormented by them like this every day? She wasn’t some weak girl who was easily bullied.’

Su Cheng decided to resist! To fight! To stand up!

She simply stopped walking.

“Wait a minute! You two…” Su Cheng’s tone was filled with extreme displeasure, making the two stop. “Neither of you considers my feelings, only your own! This is too much!”

As soon as she finished speaking, taking advantage of the moment the two were stunned, Su Cheng immediately shook her hands, simultaneously breaking free from both their grasps.

In a blink of an eye, Su Cheng, who had been caught between the two, had vanished.

Su Cheng ran incredibly fast, the hem of her camouflage uniform fluttering. She completely disregarded her image, running like mad.

Only one thought was in her mind: ‘Escape this deadly love triangle!’

What Yin Xuelian, what Lin Shiyue, she didn’t care about them.

She just wanted to live this life peacefully.

“Stop!”

Lin Shiyue and Yin Xuelian quickly ran after Su Cheng, but in the end, they still couldn’t catch her before she reached the sports field.

During the rest of the morning drill, neither Lin Shiyue nor Yin Xuelian could do anything to Su Cheng.

But Su Cheng knew that this temporary reprieve would only last until the morning drill ended.

After the morning drill, she would face the two of them again.

Su Cheng only felt exhausted and helpless.

‘Oh, it’s so tough, buddy…’