Chapter 108: Phone Call

When Su Min returned to the dormitory, the heater was already on.

He took off his jacket. Li Wenxin who was huddled in bed was startled awake, “You’re back. Have you eaten?”

Su Min said: “Not yet.”

Li Wenxin suddenly became excited. He pointed at the small rice cooker on his table, “I made congee. Do you want some too?”

Su Min glanced over, “Your life sure is simple.”

“It’s winter. I don’t even want to go out and get takeaway.” Li Wenxin laid back in bed, “It should be done soon. If you’re hungry you can eat first. I have also bought some preserved vegetables to eat with it.”

Su Min made a sound of affirmation.

With great timing, the rice cooker was done less than a minute later. It quickly changed its settings to ‘keep warm’.

But Su Min wasn’t hungry yet. He turned on the computer first and quickly reviewed the contents from his last lesson and then paid his phone bill.

When that was all done, quite a lot of time had passed.

Su Min finally opened the rice cooker.

Li Wenxin knew how to enjoy life. There wasn’t just one type of rice used in this congee, there was even purple rice. He had also added peanuts and dates to give it a strong flavour.

Su Min filled a bowl and started to eat.

Hearing the noise, Li Wenxin poked his head out: “How is it? Aren’t my cooking skills pretty good? Does it taste good?”

Su Min said: “Good. Very good.”

Li Wenxin was pleased. He said dreamily: “If I can’t find a job in the future, maybe I should just go and be a chef.”

Su Min suddenly remembered something. He asked with curiosity: “Li Wenxin, let me ask you about something that happened in the past. Don’t be angry.”

Li Wenxin was curious: “What is it?”

Su Min rearranged his words mentally before saying: “About that crossdressing man you met online during your freshman year, do you still keep in contact?”

There was silence in the bedroom.

Wang Di who sat on one side suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter.

Li Wenxin threw a pillow directly at Wang Di’s head. “What’s so funny? I’ll bust your head in.”

“It is pretty funny.” Wang Di said: “I still remember you bragging about it the day before you went to meet up. You were boasting that she was a cute little loli.”

He had bragged about this for several months saying that she was cute and gentle and had even gone out of his way to dress up in order to meet her, but he ended up getting baited. Not only that, he remembered that something else very strange also happened.

Li Wenxin snorted and said to Su Min: “Of course I’m not keeping in contact.”

Wang Di moved over and said: “Actually, I know quite a lot about it. At that time, you weren’t very concerned about it Su Min so you didn’t know but Li Wenxin was quite upset by it.”

Li Wenxin, “Scram you idiot.”

Wang Di held him down, “Don’t hide your embarrassment with anger.”

Li Wenxin decided to cover his head with his blanket and turn his back to them. With himself facing the wall, he played on his phone and pretended not to hear them. “Don’t let me hear your discussion about this.”

Having received consent from the person involved, there no longer was a problem talking about it.

After listening to Wang Di’s explanation, Su Min realised that things weren’t as simple as he had imagined. They didn’t split after that initial meeting.

While they played the game, Li Wenxin and that person had flirted with each other continuously. Soon, it reached the stage where they video called each other.

The other party was a long haired loli. He was very happy.

Afterall, most people’s online dating history were rather dark. Li Wenxin felt that he was fortunate enough to meet a beauty like her instead of encountering the horror stories he had heard plenty of.

A few months later, the two of them met up in real life.

When Li Wenxin went to pick her up at the airport, he was stupefied. The other person was taller than him. It seemed that she was a long-haired tall sister. Although she looked the same as she did in the video calls, she wasn’t loli at all.

Although he was shocked, he felt that a tall sister was still quite okay.

Li Wenxin took her around to play for an entire day. During the middle of it, he felt that something wasn’t right. The clues hinting that she was a man were quite obvious.

The other party wasn’t deliberately hiding it from him. When Li Wenxin asked, he immediately admitted to it. In fact, he had mentioned it to him in the past, but Li Wenxin only took it as a joke.

They later stayed overnight at a hotel.

Li Wenxin had mentally prepared himself. In order to be able to take him around to play for a few days, he had requested for Wang Di to help cover it up for him at school.

Probably because his cover was blown, he no longer wore women’s clothing. In any case, he was much more handsome than Li Wenxin. Li Wenxin even felt that instead of him taking him around, he felt like he was the one being led around.

He had never been in a relationship before and he didn’t know whether he liked men or women. This persisted until that incident happened later at night.

…….

While Wang Di didn’t personally witness that scene, he was able to describe it very vividly. It was on par to reading a little yellow book.

Su Min who heard this was stunned.

“……..And later, it became like that.” Wang Di drank some water, “I spoke until my mouth went dry. Our roommate’s life is very spectacular.”

Li Wenxin lifted away his blanket, “Wasn’t it just once?”

Wang Di: “Was it just once?”

Li Wenxin immediately admitted, “Twice! Fine, it was twice!”

Su Min was shocked by this exchange. He suddenly said: “Was it that time when I saw you two outside the school?”

Wang Di quietly nodded.

Su Min couldn’t help but say: “That was only last semester…….You’ve been in contact for so long. Amazing.”

He thought everything was over.

“We haven’t been keeping in contact.” Li Wenxin noticed that he was misunderstanding something and quietly explained himself: “We ran into each other by accident.”

Su Min let out an “oh”.

Li Wenxin said: “Why do you have that expression?”

Su Min shook his head and said: “I just felt that I really didn’t know much about it. I was too oblivious………”

Li Wenxin snorted. He felt like he was being ridiculed and said: “At least the person I met was human. Your ones were all ghosts.”

Su Min wanted to say that it wasn’t true but he stopped himself.

***

Winter always goes by very quickly.

Three days later, Su Min received a text message.

Again, it was going to be rereleased but because he was busy with final exams coming up next month, he didn’t have the time to go and watch the movie, so he declined the invitation from the cinema.

Instead, Li Wenxin and Wang Di went together.

The two of them sat in the last row and would occasionally give Su Min real time updates on the situation. It annoyed Su Min so much, he directly asked them to turn their phones off to avoid having them disturb the other viewers’ watching experience.

It was very disrespectful using a phone while watching a movie.

It wasn’t until the day was almost over when Su Min came out from the library. The school break was pushed forward this year so that they could take their exam which would go on for a month. By the time he finished all his exams, almost an entire month would have gone by.

His course wasn’t something that could be passed just by reading the textbooks a few times.

After eating at the cafeteria, Su Min returned to the dormitory. Li Wenxin and Wang Di had not returned yet. They were probably hanging out outside.

He got ready for bed and suddenly remembered something about the movie.

He should be able to find posts and photos of the movie online by now.

Compared to watching the rerelease, he wanted to read the audience analysis of the movie more. It was interesting looking at the movie through a different angle and perspective.

Su Min searched the title “New Unknown Prison” and as expected numerous search results appeared.

They had analysed various aspects of the movie but few discussed the movie plot.

Su Min scrolled down and read through the real-time comments on Weibo.

“I just came out from the cinemas. I only realised after watching it that it starred the same person as last time. His success rate really is high. In any case, it was much better than the original ending and I was smiling most of the time.”

“I was smiling the entire time. There were also scenes in there that were hilarious. It’s my first time encountering a horror movie like this. This was especially the case when the child at the end helped them out. It was so cute.”

“It was nice watching the intimate interactions between the original protagonists HAHAHA. Finally, I’m not the only one watching the movie through my filters.”

“When Su Min was being visited, why wasn’t the scene released?”

“I wanted to know who visited Su Min. Sure enough, it’s exciting watching romance between a human and a ghost. It’s a shame we couldn’t see their interactions when they’re alone together.”

“………..”

Su Min watched them go through the entire movie plot once again.

However, there was something in the above comments that made Su Min curious. He thought for a moment and sent a message to Li Wenxin.

Li Wenxin responded quietly, “No, was there another scene? That scene didn’t appear in the movie, so I thought nothing happened.”

Su Min: “It was probably cut out.”

Li Wenxin: “Now that you’ve asked about it, I’ve curious. They probably wouldn’t release it online either. How disappointing.”

Su Min ignored him.

He had a vague understanding of the situation and didn’t take it to heart. To him, it was enough for just himself to see it. It didn’t matter whether or not the audience could see it.

The week before the final exams, classes were over.

Snow hasn’t fallen at school yet and the weather was still quite good. Su Min got a bit tired after studying for a long time and decided to visit his grandmother.

He didn’t tell his family and went there directly.

The nanny recognised him and let him in.

The old lady was about to be taken outside to bask in the sun. With Su Min’s return, he took over and took his grandmother out around the neighbourhood.

Probably because the old lady was in a good mood, she also said a few things to Su Min.

Su Min also casually responded back to her comments.

Very soon, when it was about time for him to take her back, he sat her down on a nearby chair and asked her about Xiao Su.

It was something that had constantly been on his mind since last time.

Su Min said, “Grandmother, do you remember Xiao Su?”

The old lady patted her legs and said excitedly: “I remember. Remember.”

Su Min felt that he would be able to find out something and pushed: “Do you do Xiao Su’s full name?”

The old lady looked at him and shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Su Min was a little confused.

Despite clearly knowing the other party’s name and even calling it in such a familiar manner, why was she saying that she didn’t know him now? There was a contradiction here. What was going on?

He asked: “You don’t know? Then have you met him before?”

The old lady again said: “I haven’t seen Xiao Su.”

Although the tone of her words sounded childish, Su Min focussed on the words she said.

She hasn’t met him. Then why did she ask why Xiao Su wasn’t visiting her last time?

Su Min didn’t quite understand the connection between these two sentences. He asked directly: “You really haven’t met Xiao Su before?”

The old lady waved her hand, “I haven’t seen……..haven’t seen…..”

Su Min asked again: “If you haven’t seen Xiao Su then why do you know him?”

A strange thought appeared in his mind. Could his grandmother be amazing enough to become acquainted with Xiao Su through the internet? Technology wasn’t this advanced back then so that would also explain why she would have never seen his photos.

The old lady turned her head around and patted his head. She then caressed his face and smiled. The wrinkles under her eyes were clearly visible.

She said slowly: “It’s you. It’s you. It’s you.”

The old lady repeated the same two words three times.

Su Min didn’t know what she meant. Just as he was about to ask, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. The ring tone surprised the old lady.

He took it out, “Mum.”

Very quickly, Mother Su’s voice travelled over from the other end, “Su Min, did you go visit your grandmother?”

Su Min glanced at the old lady. She was quietly sitting there eavesdropping on their conversation. It was quite cute.

Seeing Su Min look at her, the old lady sat upright again.

Su Min asked: “Did someone tell you?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Mother Su avoided the last question and said: “I thought you were coming home.”

Su Min said: “I said yesterday that I’m not going home.”

Mother Su said: “You should also tell me if you’re not coming home. Since you’ve gone to your grandmothers, you might as well come back for a visit too.”