Trouble never comes alone.
Evelyn felt that truth deep in her bones.
Yesterday, Emily had told her she’d accidentally become the new campus BBS goddess.
Today, after class, she checked the bulletin board.
She’d passed the preliminaries.
She was in the second round.
For Evelyn, this was a bolt from the blue.
She didn’t want to enter the semi-finals at all.
The preliminaries had already drained her.
Another round meant more stress, more exhaustion.
But reality didn’t care about her feelings.
She passed.
The semi-finals were scheduled for Saturday.
Evelyn wanted to cry.
She had no tears left.
“Evelyn, I told you that you’d make it,” Emily said, beaming. She didn’t notice Evelyn’s pained expression. “You’re amazing!”
“You jinxed me,” Evelyn muttered bitterly.
Emily turned to look at her. Then she got excited, planning out loud. “You represent the honor of our whole class! You have to win glory for us! Now that you’re in the second round, you must keep going. Fight for the finals. Surprise the entire school. Let our class’s prestige spread far and wide!”
“I’d rather go back to studying,” Evelyn said, patting Emily on the shoulder. She turned and walked toward the dormitory.
“Wait for me!” Emily ran after her. “If I had your talent, I would have fought for our class long ago!”
“Easy to say now,” Evelyn replied, tilting her head.
“The only thing I’m good at is calligraphy, and I can’t even show that outside our dorm. You’re different. You surprise the audience every time you perform. Look at your photo on BBS. It caused a sensation. You’re the campus goddess now...”
“Stop, stop. Keep going, and I’ll be Lin Qingxia or Cecilia Cheung,” Evelyn interrupted, trying to shut her up.
If Emily kept flattering her, she’d float away.
“If you keep at it for a few more years, maybe you will be! With your beautiful face—” Emily continued, rambling.
Evelyn sighed.
She should have said she was Xi Shi or Diao Chan. That would have matched Emily’s idiom better.
When they returned to the dormitory, Stella was still lying in bed. She didn’t look like she planned to get up.
She had no class in the morning.
“Stella, I have good news!”
“What good news? Are we having something delicious for lunch?” Stella asked excitedly.
“Think bigger!” Emily rolled her eyes.
Evelyn went back to her desk and sat down. She didn’t say anything.
For her, this wasn’t good news at all.
Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.
“What’s the good news?” Stella asked curiously.
“Evelyn made it to the second round,” Emily announced.
“I knew she was good. She was definitely going to make it,” Stella said with a smile. She turned to Evelyn. “Congratulations, Evelyn!”
“Thanks,” Evelyn replied bitterly.
“What’s wrong? You’re not happy?” Stella asked, still smiling.
“Would you like to switch places with me?”
“If it were me, I’d be honored,” Stella said.
Evelyn felt like she couldn’t communicate with these two abnormal roommates.
She held her chin, thinking about what she should do for the second round.
Could she play and sing that same song again?
“Evelyn, you don’t need to worry. You play and sing so well. There’s no reason they wouldn’t let you into the semi-finals,” Emily said.
“But there’s so much pressure,” Evelyn replied.
That was what she hated most.
“It’s easy. Just treat everyone under the stage as turnips and cabbages.”
“If it’s that simple, you should do it.”
“It’s too simple. There’s no technical challenge. It’s not my chance to shine. Why use a bull’s knife to kill a chicken?” Stella answered smoothly.
Evelyn stared at Stella and finally laughed.
Her dormitory only had bad friends, not comrades in arms.
“Evelyn, I was just joking. Seriously, if you don’t use your talent to help our class win glory and make our school life better, that’s just natural,” Stella continued.
Evelyn pointed at her chin and looked at them. “So I’m stuck on a tiger’s back?”
“It’s called ‘those who can do more work,’” Emily and Stella said in unison.
Evelyn looked at them and shook her head.
Now she had to settle down.
She couldn’t just play and sing again.
“Stella, Emily, did you finish all the homework assigned last week?”
“What homework?” Stella and Emily asked again in unison.
“The short paper on international finance,” Evelyn said.
The next second, she heard them scream at the same time.
They really forgot.
After that, the dormitory was quiet.
Those who needed to catch up on homework did so.
Those who needed to be depressed continued to be depressed.
Evelyn took her phone and finally sent a text message to Alexander.
“Thank you. I made it into the school anniversary contest.”
Even though she wasn’t happy, she couldn’t deny that Alexander had helped her a lot that day.
So saying thank you was the right thing to do.
After a while, her phone rang.
Evelyn saw it was Alexander calling. She went to the balcony and answered.
“Hello?”
“Congratulations,” Alexander’s low voice came through.
“Thank you. You helped me,” Evelyn replied modestly.
“Is it worth celebrating?”
“Tonight?”
“No class?”
“No class. Okay, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”
“I’ll call you after work. It’ll probably be after eight.”
“Okay. You can be busy first. Call me when you’re free, and I’ll go out,” Evelyn said.
After making the appointment with Alexander, Evelyn returned to the dormitory.
Emily and Stella were still fighting in front of the computer.
While struggling, they didn’t forget to complain.
“Evelyn, why didn’t you tell us earlier?”
“Evelyn, you waited until now. Where can we piece it together?”
“...”
“It’s an eight-hundred-word essay. You can go to the library for one night and finish it. With your IQ, you can probably do it in an hour, not a whole night,” Evelyn said with a smile.
“Get lost,” Emily and Stella said in unison again.
Evelyn smiled but didn’t rub it in.
Let Emily and Stella experience her feelings for a moment.
Evelyn sat down in her seat, took a book, and looked at it.
After a while, her eyes fell on the empty upper berth next door.
Her thoughts drifted.
That year, they were the first freshmen to live in the new dormitory building. It was a standard four-person dorm with a private bathroom.
Their dormitory had four girls, all from Finance Class One.
Besides her, Emily, and Stella, there was a girl named Olivia Clarke.
She was very gentle and beautiful. When she checked in that year, she became the undisputed class beauty and school beauty.
But at the beginning of junior year, she suddenly dropped out without warning.
The counselor simply said Olivia was suspended for one year due to health reasons.
But privately, the reasons for her suspension varied.
Some said the real reason wasn’t poor health but that she had already gone through the procedures to go abroad. Others said she was hurt by love, got depression, and needed rest. Anyway, no one knew the specific reason.
Later, their dormitory went from four to three.
For Evelyn, Emily, and Stella, there seemed to be no big change.
Olivia was introverted and silent. She was always alone.
Although there was no discord with them, they rarely communicated.
Evelyn still remembered one time when she and Olivia were the only two in the dormitory.
Olivia rarely took the initiative to chat with her.
What impressed Evelyn deeply was that Olivia asked her, “Is first love unforgettable?”
Evelyn was stunned at the time. Then she responded, “I haven’t been in love. I don’t understand. But I think it should be. The first time is usually the most devoted. It should also be the most unforgettable.”
“We should find someone worth giving our first love to. That way, even if we don’t end up together, we won’t regret it when we look back.”
“Yes, but most of the time, we don’t know if the other person is worth it until later,” Evelyn replied.
Olivia didn’t speak. After a while, Evelyn thought she wasn’t interested in the topic anymore. Then she heard Olivia say leisurely, “You’re right. We always know if the other person is worth it until the result. But by then, it’s too late.”
That was the only time she talked with Olivia about a more private topic. Not long after that, when junior year began, Olivia suspended her studies.
They never saw her again.
Evelyn suddenly thought of her because she had just received Alexander’s call. Unexpectedly, she felt a kind of expectation and sweetness.
This feeling was a little strange. She had never experienced it before. But she seemed to vaguely understand. This should be the feeling of love.
If so, then Alexander was her first love in the true sense.
But this first love wasn’t optimistic.
Alexander was rumored to be gay. She didn’t think she had the ability to change him.
What’s more, mutual affection was the most beautiful state of emotion. But wishful thinking was a burden.
So Olivia’s words echoed in her mind.
We always know if the other person is worth it until the result. But by then, it’s too late.
The feeling was deeper now.
Evelyn sighed softly and looked away.
Better to guard her heart well.
If she knew there would be no result, she shouldn’t go through fire and water.