New possibilities

Yu Min wasn't feeling all that great at this moment; she hadn't felt any better in the past few days either. Always having been able to easily manage her interactions with other people, especially her peers, the current stalemate with Xu Jiao is not only quite puzzling to her but it also increased the absurdly unsettling feeling that had been stirring in her gut for the past few days.

"Minmin… What do you think of this dress? Do you think it's matching with this handbag?"

"Hmm?"

"Minmin…" Tang Xuan's whiny voice forcibly dragged her out of the rather unpleasant reflections, but Yu Min wasn't relieved. She had this niggling doubt…

"Minmin… Stop daydreaming about this and that! Aai… Quickly tell me if this is matching!"

Yu Min suppressed the irritation she was feeling inside and forced out a smile, "It looks fabulous… You are really good at matching outfits!"

Tang Xuan's haughty face broke out into a proud smile and she rather imperiously ordered the shop assistant to help her friend to select another bag as well. Yu Min of course refused her goodwill politely, but after some back and forth, finally accepted it in a gracious manner, ignoring the envy and contempt that flashed in the eyes of the salesgirl.

Anyway, who'd be fool enough to truly reject this kind of free-of-charge gift? So, what if others look at her contemptuously because she's accepting scraps from others? Aren't they just jealous because they don't have even that luxury?

[One day, I'll stand at the peak and surpass everyone… So what if I don't have anything now? I'll just trample on others and reach a height above all of them!] Yu Min's eyes when she looked at Tang Xuan who was paying the bill using a credit card seemed gentle and friendly, but the cashier suddenly felt an unexplainable chill when she looked directly at their black depths.

At that time, she, Yu Min, would like to see how many people would still dare to laugh at her. The future has so many possibilities; so why not make use of the present to turn it into something that is even more fabulous and bright?

***

After the rather embarrassing episode that happened a few days ago, Xu Jiao had found Wu Man secretly glancing at her when she thought she wasn't looking, the expression in her eyes being one of understanding and sympathy. Feeling speechless at this behavior, she had wanted to question her roommate on what the heck is she really thinking inside that head, maybe a few dozen times, but after some further thinking she gave up on that idea.

[Not worth the trouble! Anyway, I don't think she'll understand it no matter how much explaining I do…]

Sighing, Xu Jiao hastened her walk to a sprint since the class will be starting soon. The only things she could do for now is to wait for Wu Man to forget all about this -which is kinda unlikely, considering she's in the same department as that person- or sincerely pray to whatever god is still there in existence -preferably the one that sent her back in time- to make her roommate forget all that nonsense.

[Yeah… Fat chance!]

Xu Jiao sat her butt down after finding a seat in the middle and quietly waited for the class to start while playing 'snakes' on her rather old model phone.

[Need to buy a new phone too..] She sighed. It's really hard being poor, especially after spending a long period of time among considerable riches.

"Excuse me, Are you saving this seat for someone?" Hearing a pleasant and polite female voice by her ears, Xu Jiao looked up to see a girl wearing a light blue Shirt-waist, which has dark green vines embroidered on the top part.

"If not… Can I sit here?"

"Ah, yes, it's ok. Please sit."

Xu Jiao looked at her new desk-mate with an interested expression on her face and probably seeing her stare, the other politely introduced herself with a slight smile gracing her lips and showing no apparent discomfit whatsoever due to the probing in her eyes; which of course only increased the impression she got about the other by another notch.

"Hi, I'm Feng Xinyuan… I'm a second year in the language and literature department."

"Oh, I'm Xu Jiao… I have seen you in main course classes before."

"You-you're also a second year?" Seeing the other look flustered for the first time after she started talking, Xu Jiao smirked inwardly but only nodded her head shyly in affirmation. She wouldn't blame this girl though; she really had a rather forgettable presence in the past, especially during this period of her life.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know, sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"It's fine, it's fine… Why should I be uncomfortable?."

She vaguely remembers seeing this person the past few days as this girl would usually sit in the first few rows where only a few people like to sit; you have got to be quite studious if you are going to sit in the front rows. At least, that's what the majority of the students think anyway.

[But… Feng Xinyuan]

[This name… ]

The class started while she was immersed in thinking so she focused her whole attention on the opening lecture of this course, 'Secretarial studies'. In the past, she had selected to study the 'normal' module of their major, all because of Yu Min's endless whining and complaints about her fears of studying the rather difficult 'secretary' module, even though it was what Xu Jiao actually wanted to do.

[And got nothing but a truckload of trouble for all my efforts.] She scoffed inside while jotting down the important points of the lecture.

Well, this time around, it's such a relief that she doesn't have to cater to Yu Min's whims and demands. Her decision to distance herself from that woman and Yang Jian just might turn out to be the best choice she made after chancing upon this whole rebirth business, right next to her decision to join Xuri.

[Ah, such relief!]

And she was so sure that she could totally distance herself from those two after spending some effort and time on her part, and going out of her way to avoid them. It might be a bit of a hassle, but since her peace of mind that might be the final result is more important, she can force herself to exert this bit of effort. As for revenge… Aai… you can't have the cake and eat it too, right? Let's just forget it for now.

***

Having a rather tasteless lunch at a small cafeteria on a corner of the university grounds, which Xu Jiao is hundred… no, two hundred percent sure that Yu Min nor Yang Jian never had set a single foot upon, she sat under a shade while looking up how her novel was doing using the old laptop she had decided to lug along with her after much thought.

[It seems ok… Especially for a novel that is sort of a new trope.] But, her chapter stock was depleting rather fast and she needed to utilize all the time she could muster amidst all this studying to supplement it with new ones. After all, her workload is only going to increase further as the academic year progresses, instead of decreasing.

One mustn't think that Xu Jiao is not interested in her studies as she had already done them in the past. The truth is that she hadn't studied her university courses that well back then since her focus had been mostly on other things, and the fact that she even achieved what she did at that time can be attributed to her natural talents.

This time though, she's determined to reach bigger heights, and not just in writing. Plus, she hadn't learned in the direction of the rather difficult secretary module at that time; but then, humans are creatures who receive a sense of satisfaction from their achievements and chase after success.

[I need to find a quiet place to write while I'm on campus.]

It's quite a hassle to go back and forth between the university and her lodgings since there's quite some distance and Xu Jiao doesn't entirely feel comfortable about letting Wu Man know about her writing career, not just yet anyway.

And to be honest, waiting until her roommate goes to sleep -which can be quite late since Wu Man can be considered as half a night owl, even though she's not quite there yet- and then staying up even late while simultaneously writing and fighting the sleep that threatens to overcome her senses; all the while acting like a thief can be quite draining, not only on one's body but their mind as well.

[Hmm… that place I saw during… when was it?]

[Was it a sports festival? Aai… I can't remember well, only that it was very noisy and bustling that day.]

Anyway, as long as she could write in peace, what does it matter if the prospective location is deserted or not?