Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 28

After seeing off her parents, Baobao returns to the dormitory and happens to meet her two roommates, who have just returned from lunch.

The girl who lives in the lower bunk is named Lin Lan, and she is a local. Her father works for a state-owned enterprise, while her mother is a full-time housewife. She is the only child in her family. Lin Lan is very tall, with short hair that reaches her shoulders, and she has a cool, confident look.

The girl in the upper bunk on the opposite side is named Xu Hanyan. She has an older sister and a younger brother and is from the south. Petite in stature, she has a melon-shaped face and single eyelids. Her fair skin makes the freckles on her nose and cheeks more noticeable. She isn’t particularly beautiful, but she is quiet and well-behaved.

Xu Hanyan’s family is in business. Her father made a lot of money during the early years of the reform period, but competition has become fierce in recent years, and his earnings have decreased. However, thanks to the family’s savings, they are still very well-off.

According to Xu Hanyan, she has the best grades among her siblings, and no one in her extended family can compare to her. So when she is accepted into the University of Y Province, her father is overjoyed. He throws a three-day buffet in her hometown village and gives her 800 yuan as a reward—a sum that isn’t insignificant.

During their conversation, Xu Hanyan does most of the talking. It is clear that she is a girl eager to express herself and show off a little.

Chi——

The door opens, and Fang Xinxin enters. She has just overheard Xu Hanyan talking about how her father rewarded her with 800 yuan. To Fang Xinxin, that amount of money isn’t even enough to buy a decent skirt. Is it really worth boasting about?

She is about to make a comment, but when she sees Baobao sitting on the chair, turning the mineral water bottle in her hands, the words catch in her throat.

“Hmph.”

Fang Xinxin raises her head and walks over to her seat, moving like a proud little swan. It is unclear who she is humming for.

When Baobao sees the “foreign princess” return, she knows that the dormitory management at the provincial university must be quite strict. Clearly, Fang Xinxin has not succeeded in switching dorms.

Xu Hanyan and Lin Lan are unaware of the small dispute that has occurred in the dorm while they are gone. Xu Hanyan, assuming Fang Xinxin’s sneer is aimed at her, feels humiliated but doesn’t know how to respond. She simply pouts, her face turning red.

The originally harmonious atmosphere in the dorm has been disrupted by Fang Xinxin’s arrival.

“You must be Fang Xinxin, the last roommate in our dorm,” Lin Lan says, taking the initiative to smooth things over. “Hello, my name is Lin Lan, and this is Xu Hanyan. This is Sheng Baobao. From now on, we’ll all be roommates.”

Lin Lan is trying to defuse the tension. In truth, she feels a little nervous. How could there already be bad vibes on the first day when the four of them have just arrived? They are going to be living together for four years, after all.

“Hmm.”

Fang Xinxin responds with minimal effort. She lifts her chin slightly and glances at the three girls with her peripheral vision, clearly acting aloof.

“Do you have a stiff neck?”

Baobao doesn’t let her attitude slide.

“What? What do you mean?” Fang Xinxin looks at Baobao, perhaps in surprise, and raises her chin even higher.

“I think I saw your nose hair,” Baobao responds.

The room falls into complete silence.

“Puff–” Xu Hanyan, who has been a little embarrassed, can’t help but burst out laughing.

“You—You…” Fang Xinxin covers her nose, so angry she can’t find the words to reply.

Baobao breathes a quiet sigh of relief. Maybe she should be glad that this “Princess Fang” didn’t say “What qualities” like her mother did.

Fang Xinxin feels alienated by her roommates on the very first day. The delicate little princess doesn’t want to stay in the room anymore. Frustrated, she grabs the toilet paper from beside her and walks toward the bathroom, clutching her stomach in irritation. She feels like she might need to use the bathroom from the anger.

After Fang Xinxin leaves, Xu Hanyan’s expression returns to normal.

“This roommate seems really hard to get along with. Do you know what brand of dress she’s wearing? Oh my god, a casual top from that brand costs one or two hundred yuan. Her family must be really rich.”

“Her parents must spoil her a lot, or else she wouldn’t act like such a princess,” Xu Hanyan says.

When she says this, she probably doesn’t realize that her expression is tinged with a bit of envy.

Baobao and Lin Lan don’t respond, which makes Xu Hanyan feel a little embarrassed. She feels like she is performing a one-woman show.

The dormitory suddenly becomes much quieter.

Dormitory 306 is located on the left side of the stairs, closest to the bathroom on the east side. Fang Xinxin grabs the toilet paper and heads straight to the east bathroom without thinking.

As soon as she enters, she sees two men standing inside. She almost screams in shock.

How could adult men be in a girls’ dormitory, especially in such a private place as the bathroom?

“Excuse me, classmate, the faucet in this bathroom is broken. Why don’t you use the bathroom on the west side for now?” The two men also look a little embarrassed when they see Fang Xinxin standing at the door with a bewildered expression.

It turns out they are maintenance workers. Fang Xinxin’s expression softens.

“The faucet here is broken again?” she asks.

A few girls enter the bathroom behind her. When they see what is happening, they seem to be used to such situations.

“Yes, it’s really strange. The faucet that was replaced not long ago is already rusty. And with the new student registration, many parents have reported problems with the turbid tap water. The logistics department told us to replace this section of pipes and faucets,” the two workers sigh helplessly.

This bathroom on the east side of the third floor is particularly problematic. Normally, water pipes and faucets last for several years and don’t rust easily. But here, the pipes and faucets have to be replaced every month, otherwise, the tap water turns yellow and brown. There have even been a few times when the girls use the bathroom at night, and because of the dim lighting, they mistakenly think blood is coming out of the faucet, which terrifies them.

“There must be something wrong with the pipes inside. Replacing just the faucet and exposed pipes is only a temporary fix,” one of the girls suggests.

The frequent maintenance visits to the women’s restroom on the third floor are very inconvenient, and many girls are dissatisfied.

“The wall needs to be torn down, and we have to check the entire pipeline. But that would cost a lot of money, and the logistics department is reluctant to spend,” the worker continues, smiling. In his opinion, the logistics staff are short-sighted. Over the years, the cost of replacing faucets and pipes has added up enough to completely renovate the water system in the building.

Fang Xinxin grows impatient listening to them, and her stomach grumbles loudly. She decides to grab the toilet paper and head to the west bathroom instead.

Princess Fang’s home is in the neighboring city. After staying for a few days, her mother leaves, and the nanny who has been helping to clean Fang Xinxin’s house also returns home.

Perhaps sensing that her roommates aren’t too fond of her, Fang Xinxin feels much more at ease in the days that follow. The people in the dorm are from different backgrounds and aren’t yet familiar with each other. After a few days of getting to know one another, they start to understand each other’s personalities and temperaments. Naturally, they know who they can get along with and who they can’t.

Baobao and Lin Lan have developed a relatively good relationship, but since they haven’t known each other for long, they are still just ordinary friends.

Fang Xinxin starts a silent cold war after several confrontations with Baobao on the first day. She doesn’t speak a word to her after that. Surprisingly, despite having had a heated argument on their first day, Xu Hanyan and Fang Xinxin grow closer over time. The two are often seen eating together at a small restaurant outside the school.

Xu Hanyan’s birthday is in early September, and Fang Xinxin gives her a dress she has never worn. When Xu Hanyan checks the tag, she sees it is from the brand she had highly recommended.

Unlike Fang Xinxin, Xu Hanyan still talks to Baobao and Lin Lan occasionally. However, due to Fang Xinxin’s cold attitude, the dormitory starts to divide into two camps.

On one side is the “Princess Alliance,” and on the other, the “grassroots class.”

This is something Fang Xinxin once says while chatting with Xu Hanyan. She has always been well-off, and Xu Hanyan’s family isn’t too shabby either. After all, in this day and age, very few families would reward their daughters with hundreds of yuan for getting into college.

Fang Xinxin can eat out every day, which shows that her living expenses are substantial.

As for Lin Lan and Baobao, it is hard to tell the brand of their clothes or belongings. They usually eat three meals a day in the cafeteria, appearing to come from ordinary families.

There seems to be a significant gap in the living standards between the two sides.

However, many dormitories are like theirs, where groups form soon after the school year starts. After all, students come from all over, bringing with them different living habits, hobbies, and even religious beliefs, all of which lead to conflicts. Some people try to tolerate these differences, while others think there’s no need to accommodate each other. It’s normal for conflicts to arise.

The situation in the dorm next door is somewhat similar, but with a twist: there, it’s two against one. One of the roommates is a top student, focused on studying and indifferent to the other three in the dorm. As a result, the third person is somewhat isolated, forced to seek friendships outside of their dormitory.

This girl is Fang Xiao. Her personality is just like her name—curious and eager to know everything. In just a few days since the start of school, she learns a lot of gossip from some seniors. She becomes good friends with Xu Hanyan, so whenever she hears any juicy details, she rushes to their dorm to share it.

“The dorm manager in our building isn’t just anyone. When the school was expanding, they needed to requisition her house. She was so stubborn, she refused to move for two years. Later, I don’t know who convinces her, but she finally agrees to give up her land to the university. But she makes some strange requests. The most bizarre one is that she asks the school to hire her as the dorm manager and let her live in the dormitory building that is built on the land where her house used to be,” Fang Xiao says, chewing on an apple. She doesn’t understand why the woman works so hard at her age. Being a dorm manager nowadays is a decent position, but generally, it’s a logistical role given to the family members of school leaders or teachers. The job is easy, with an acceptable salary, and it’s a way for them to stay close to the academic environment. However, at her age, the dorm manager should be enjoying the demolition money rather than working so hard. “I hear she didn’t ask for a new house after her old one was expropriated. She just lives in the dormitory duty room now. She’s probably pretty wealthy by now—an old lady with money.”

Homes in the old city aren’t cheap. Based on house prices over the past two years, the old lady probably receives more than 100,000 yuan in compensation. She’s basically a rich woman.

“Do you know why she insists on having everyone call her Xu Linshi? Where is her husband? She lives alone in the dormitory duty room. Don’t her children care about her?”

Fang Xinxin complained about the dorm manager on her first day at school, calling her an old fossil. So when Fang Xiao mentions her, she is quite curious.

“Ah?” Fang Xiao looks a bit stunned by the question. “I haven’t heard that she has children. Her husband probably passed away a long time ago,” Fang Xiao thinks for a moment.

Xu Linshi… wasn’t that her surname Lin and her husband’s surname Xu? She hasn’t heard any details about the old lady’s family life from the seniors, but given the way the woman lives now, it’s likely that her family members have passed away long ago.

“Let’s talk about something else.” Fang Xiao, who likes to gossip, doesn’t want others to think that’s all she is interested in. So she quickly shifts the topic. “Do you know the legend of the east bathroom on our floor?” Her expression turns mysterious, and as she lowers her voice intentionally, it gives off a creepy vibe that sends chills down anyone’s spine.

Fang Xiao really has a talent for storytelling, and even those who aren’t particularly interested in gossip, like Fang Xinxin, find themselves intrigued. She remembers the bathroom on the east side. When Hua’s mother helps her clean the house, she mentions that the tap water there is of poor quality and recommends that she get water from the west bathroom. She has been at the school for a while but has never used the bathroom on the east side. Since the two bathrooms aren’t far apart, it isn’t worth going out of her way.

“There…” Fang Xiao stretches the word, then suddenly stands up. “Someone has died!”

“Ah—!” Xu Hanyan, who is sitting closest to her, jumps in fright. Fang Xinxin also feels uneasy and instinctively hugs the doll in her arms tightly.

“You’re terrible! You almost scare me to death!” Xu Hanyan pats her chest, glaring at Fang Xiao.

“Oh, it’s just a joke. I won’t scare you again. But let me tell you the real story about the bathroom,” Fang Xiao laughs, clearly pleased with the effect her words have had.

“I hear from a senior who’s in her junior year that the bathroom has had problems ever since the dormitory building was first constructed, and they were among the first to move in. A girl in her class goes to the bathroom late at night and finds that what comes out of the faucet isn’t water, but foul-smelling blood. She is so frightened that she becomes mentally ill and has to take a year off from school.”

Fang Xiao notices everyone’s attention is on her, and she feels a little proud of the effect her story is having.

“Legend has it that the original site of our dormitory building used to be a brothel. A woman, forced into prostitution, hanged herself the night before she was supposed to receive a client. She dies on the third floor of the brothel, which is now where our east bathroom is.”

Fang Xiao lowers her voice, narrowing her eyes slightly for dramatic effect.

“That woman cuts her wrists more than a dozen times. When the madam finds her, there’s blood all over the floor. Those seniors, who see blood flowing from the faucet in the bathroom late at night, don’t realize it’s just rust-colored tap water. They mistake it for blood. But that isn’t the real reason—it’s the woman’s lingering resentment, the blood she shed in that brothel.”

It is late at night, and the only sound outside the dormitory is the cicadas chirping. Fang Xiao deliberately controls her voice to create a more eerie atmosphere, and it works—everyone feels the chill.

Lin Lan can’t sit still anymore, so she lies back on her bed with a book in her hands and wraps herself tightly in a towel blanket.

Fang Xinxin clutches her doll tighter, and Xu Hanyan, who is in a suspender nightgown, holds it with both hands, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms.

“But…” The baby doesn’t feel scared, but she finds a flaw in the story. “Didn’t you just say that the dormitory was built on the original land of the dorm manager’s house?”

How could it have been a brothel now? Baobao thinks the background of this campus legend doesn’t quite add up—it seems like it’s made up.

“Our dormitory building is so big that it’s likely that several plots of land were requisitioned. Also, the ‘flower building’ in the story could have been the former residence of the dorm manager. Maybe the brothel was demolished after the reform and opening up, and then the dorm manager’s house was built after that.” Fang Xiao is momentarily stunned but quickly finds a few plausible explanations.

“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” Baobao mutters, conceding.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Fang Xinxin says with a slightly trembling voice. “Xu Hanyan, do you want to go with me?”

She feels a little scared after hearing the campus legend, and she doesn’t want to go to the bathroom alone at night.

“Well, I’ll go with you.”

Xu Hanyan doesn’t really want to, but she thinks if she doesn’t go now, she might be stuck going alone later, and Fang Xinxin’s pleading look doesn’t leave her any choice but to agree.

It’s getting dark, so Fang Xiao decides it’s time to return to her dormitory.

Fang Xinxin and Xu Hanyan stand at the door of the dormitory and instinctively start heading toward the west bathroom without thinking.

“Baobao, do you think there are really ghosts in the world?” Lin Lan, who is left behind in the dorm, sounds a little scared. She seems to be affected by Fang Xiao’s ghost story.

“Of course, there are no ghosts in this world!” Sheng Baobao, the daughter of a taoist, confidently tells a little white lie.

“Yeah, I think so too.”

Lin Lan sighs in relief and chuckles inwardly, thinking how could she—an excellent student who has received a scientific education—be frightened by a little ghost story?

But still, she probably won’t visit the east bathroom again anytime soon.

“Little girl, do you want to buy a peace bracelet?”

Fang Xinxin and Xu Hanyan are walking down the road when an old man in a headscarf suddenly stops them.

He is holding several colorful thread bracelets, each with a strong ethnic flavor, and they look quite beautiful.

“Fifty cents a bracelet, not expensive. They ward off ghosts and evil spirits to keep you safe,” the old man smiles as he promotes his wares.

At first, Fang Xinxin hadn’t planned on buying such a “low-end” trinket, but when she hears the old man say the bracelet can ward off ghosts and evil spirits, she can’t resist the temptation.

“I’ll take them all!”

The old man holds about four or five bracelets in his hand, and Fang Xinxin buys them all for 50 cents each.

“Here, for you.” Fang Xinxin picks out the ugliest one and hands it to Xu Hanyan, then slips the rest onto her own wrist.

It isn’t just that wearing so many thin strings on her wrist looks messy—it actually looks quite unique.

Fang Xinxin raises her arm with satisfaction and admires it carefully in the sunlight.

Wait, it seems like there’s a bad smell!

Fang Xinxin frowns and brings her wrist closer to her nose.

The stench that had flashed by seems to be just her imagination. There’s no bad smell. The bracelets smell faintly of dried flowers, giving off a soft, pleasant fragrance.

The old man with the headscarf watches them leave, tossing the few banknotes in his hand onto the ground carelessly, a dark, smug smile creeping across his face.

Fang Xinxin has a dream. In the dream, she is desperate to pee but can’t find a public toilet. Eventually, she wakes up, realizing she actually has to pee in real life too.

She turns on her flashlight and checks the time on her watch—it’s already 1 AM. The others in the dormitory are sound asleep, and she can’t bring herself to wake any of them up to accompany her to the bathroom.

Fang Xinxin hesitates, thinking about the legend of the east bathroom, but the urgency of her need to pee is stronger.

She steps outside with the flashlight. The light in the west corridor seems to be broken, and standing at the dormitory door, all she can see is a dark void. Her flashlight isn’t very powerful, and she hesitates.

After all, campus legends aren’t always true, right?

She tries to reassure herself and touches the safety rope bracelets on her wrist.

Finally, after another round of hesitation, she chooses the east bathroom, which is lit more normally at night.

Everything seems the same as usual—except that once she steps into the east bathroom, the safety ropes on her wrist seem to stir, emanating an eerie energy, as if they have awakened something.

She lowers her head and enters the outermost squat toilet stall, then closes the door behind her.

The squat toilets in these girls’ dormitories have no doors at first—just partitions made of bricks and cement. Once, a man climbs the wall to peek into the bathroom on the first floor of a female dormitory. After that, the cubicles are equipped with wooden doors for more privacy.

In such a closed-off space, Fang Xinxin doesn’t feel safe. She just wants to finish quickly and return to the dormitory, where there are other people.

However, perhaps because she has been holding it in for so long, her relief feels unusually long this time.

Dong—Dong—dong—

Someone knocks on the door!

Fang Xinxin’s hair stands on end.

“Who—who is it?” she shouts at the top of her lungs.

The knocking grows more frantic.

“Who is it? Who’s playing a prank?”

She doesn’t even bother wiping herself properly. She hastily pulls up her pants and shrinks into the corner.

Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong!

The knocking gets faster and faster, as though the person is about to break down the door!

Fang Xinxin is nearly scared out of her mind.

Baobao wakes up in the middle of the night and notices that the lower bunk next to her is empty. At first, she doesn’t think much of it—going to the toilet in the middle of the night is normal.

She had planned to use the west bathroom, but just as she is about to head that way, she thinks she hears some noise coming from the east bathroom. She strains her ears and listens.

It sounds like Fang Xinxin’s voice.

The other girl is so timid—is she really daring to go to the east bathroom in the middle of the night?

Curious and a little concerned, Baobao turns and heads toward the east bathroom.

“Fang Xinxin, is that you?”

Once inside, the faint sound that seems muffled by something becomes clearer. She hears Fang Xinxin’s voice screaming from one of the squat toilets.

And then she sees…

The entire wall of the washbasin is covered in blood, with the strong smell of it seemingly dripping from the wall…