Carrying My Senior's Coffin (GL) - Chapter 7

Fang Yiyi was stunned, remembering the ambulance that was surrounded by people earlier.

The person who needed medical help… was Nancy?

She bit a strip of pickled vegetable, lowered her head, and took a sip of the millet porridge. The savory flavor mixed with the perfect rice aroma enveloped her taste buds, lifting her mood slightly and making her willing to spare some attention for the conversation at the next table.

They seemed to have been discussing it for a while. Fang Yiyi couldn’t follow everything, but it wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened.

Nancy suddenly went crazy around 5:30 a.m., waking up with screams that startled students in several adjacent dorms. After that, she acted like a lunatic, pointing at everyone and calling them a ghost. She was highly aggressive, grabbing anyone who came near. She even tore her newly bought bed curtain into strips, acting like a zombie from a Western movie. No one dared to approach her. Out of desperation, they called an ambulance and the police. When Fang Yiyi left the building, Nancy had just been given a sedative and was being loaded into the ambulance.

That was the general sequence of events. The students at the next table didn’t notice her. They ate quickly and left together. Fang Yiyi stood up with her empty bowl, spoon dangling from her mouth, ready for another serving.

The Buddhist beads hung down onto the back of her hand, radiating a persistent, unyielding coolness, making their presence felt strongly.

No one bothered her, and she was so hungry she felt silly. Fang Yiyi drank four bowls of porridge for breakfast, her small belly bulging, completely satisfied.

Her classes for the day were all in the afternoon. After eating, Fang Yiyi went straight to the dorm manager’s office.

The dorm manager had a good impression of Fang Yiyi, finding her simple and introverted. She took out a sign-out sheet for her to register and personally selected a heavy, substantial-looking set of broom and mop to give her.

A quick glance at the sheet, however, showed that Fang Yiyi had registered for dorm 404. The smile on the manager’s face instantly disappeared.

“Child, are you living in 404?”

Given the dorm’s infamous reputation in rumors, Fang Yiyi didn’t find this reaction strange. She nodded obediently: “Yes.”

“I was away for two days because of some family matters, and I didn’t check the rooms. How did someone move into 404? How could the school arrange for someone to live there? Young lady, why don’t you move out? Take an auntie’s advice, that room isn’t clean…”

Fang Yiyi sniffed, her eyes stinging slightly. Everyone else had been pushing her into a pit, but only this auntie warned her, “The pit is dangerous, don’t go down,” even if it ultimately wouldn’t change anything.

Fang Yiyi held up the broom in her hand and smiled: “It’ll be clean once I sweep it. Thank you, Auntie.”

With that, she left the somewhat bewildered dorm manager, who was still on a different page, and hurried up the stairs.

The moment she stepped back into the dorm, Fang Yiyi felt the unyielding coldness on her wrist disappear, and Li Ting, dressed in a large red gown, appeared beside her.

Fang Yiyi said: “I need to clean the room.”

Li Ting glanced at her without speaking. She drifted to the side of the bed, leaning against Fang Yiyi’s quilt as if boneless, one arm propped under her head, watching her.

Fang Yiyi met her gaze and, from those lifeless eyes, somehow read the three words: Go ahead and sweep.

Fang Yiyi actually wanted to ask if she could open the curtains, as many movies and novels say ghosts can’t see sunlight. But on second thought, this ghost had already followed her outside for a stroll, so she probably wasn’t afraid. She didn’t ask further.

Her whole body was still aching. If she finished cleaning quickly, she could still squeeze in a nap before lunch.

Then, reality told her she was incredibly naive.

The small room produced four dustpans full of dirt. The “small dark room” wasn’t a mysterious area at all—it was just a doorless bathroom. It was a pleasant surprise that the plumbing still worked normally after being abandoned for so long. However, the bathroom’s mirror had been detached and placed at the entrance, for reasons unknown.

Sweeping the floor, wiping the floor, wiping the desk, dusting the walls…

Even though Fang Yiyi was a domestic whiz who had been doing chores since childhood, it took a full four hours to finish cleaning.

During this time, Li Ting continuously floated around her. When Fang Yiyi wiped the desk, Li Ting sat on the back of the chair. When Fang Yiyi wiped the chair, Li Ting sat on the desk. When Fang Yiyi washed the rag, Li Ting stood behind her, gazing thoughtfully at the spot on the wall where the mirror used to hang.

Fang Yiyi couldn’t guess the ghost’s intentions and didn’t think too much of it, continuing with her work.

When she finally finished cleaning and hung the mop on the balcony, Fang Yiyi was light-headed, her entire body aching. She felt like she could sleep for three days and three nights. She walked to the bed, buried her face in the quilt, and decided not to get up again.

“You’re disgusting. Go take a bath,” Li Ting called out, floating by the head of the bed.

Fang Yiyi painfully lifted her eyelids, her voice muffled through the quilt: “So tired… I’ll sleep first.”

“No. You’re too dirty.”

“Ugh…” Defeated, Fang Yiyi tried to get up, but she lifted her arm, and it fell back weakly.

She spoke sincerely: “I can’t move. I’m so tired. Let me rest for a bit.”

This time, Li Ting didn’t call her again. Fang Yiyi was satisfied, and on the verge of falling asleep in that half-dream state, a basin of hot water suddenly poured over her head. Fang Yiyi instantly jolted awake and was alert.

Fang Yiyi: “!!!”

“Wh-what happened!”

She opened her eyes too quickly, and water inevitably flowed into them. The temperature wasn’t hot, but it was enough to scare her.

She wiped the water from her face and realized she was in the bathroom she had just cleaned. The showerhead above was pouring water, drenching her head, and her clothes had vanished.

…What in the world?

“Awake?” Li Ting’s voice came from above.

Fang Yiyi looked up blankly. Li Ting was floating overhead, her red dress billowing, blending with the water vapor as if they were merging. “Since you’re awake, wash yourself clean.”

Fang Yiyi thought: This one means what she says. She resigned herself to the situation and obediently picked up the soap from the sink.

“Um… Senior Sister,” Fang Yiyi sat on the floor, hugging her knees, curled into a ball, and looked up at the ghost overhead. Her face flushed as she whispered, “Could you please go out first…”

“Hmm?” Li Ting’s eyebrows shot up, about to get angry. “Are you trying to kick me out?”

“No, no,” the surrounding atmosphere grew cold. Fang Yiyi’s heart sank, and she hastily explained: “I’m bathing. I’m just not used to having someone else here.”

Li Ting was unconvinced: “I’m not a person.”

“I mean, I’m shy. I get shy.”

Li Ting paused, scanning Fang Yiyi up and down. Her expression didn’t soften, but the coldness disappeared. “What’s there to be shy about? Everything you have, I have too.”

Fine…

Fang Yiyi rubbed her nose and cautiously started to apply soap bubbles to her arms.

She truly had never bathed in front of anyone. Even though her protest had been violently suppressed, the strange feeling of being watched couldn’t be ignored. Fang Yiyi could only wash bit by bit, finishing one arm before moving to the next. When she was covered in soap suds, she heard Li Ting “tsk” in apparent impatience. Then, a hand covered her eyes, followed by a body, the same temperature as the water, pressing against hers.

…

At two in the afternoon, Fang Yiyi was woken by her alarm clock. She hit snooze and, looking up, saw Li Ting sitting on the desk. The déjà vu told her she had missed lunch again.

Fang Yiyi rubbed her temples, waiting for the dizziness from waking up to pass.

She used to feel dizzy upon waking, but only occasionally. Since moving to 404, she had been dizzy every time she woke up. Fang Yiyi knew this was due to her rapidly deteriorating physical condition.

Everything came with a price. To survive under a malevolent ghost, she naturally had to pay an equivalent cost.

Fang Yiyi had a low presence and was practically invisible in her class. The professor hadn’t taken attendance yesterday, so almost no one knew she had skipped a class.

An entire class period lasted two hours. Halfway through, Fang Yiyi started to feel drowsy and doze off, something that had never happened before.

Fang Yiyi was alarmed. She sat up straight, forcing herself to concentrate on the lecture, and wondered if she should start running on the track at night to exercise.

Just getting by was one thing; failing a course was another.

Due to her own state, the lecture’s efficiency was extremely poor. Fang Yiyi turned the Buddhist beads on her wrist and decided to go to the study hall to read a bit more. However, as soon as she stepped out the door, her class counselor called her name.

“Fang Yiyi.”

Fang Yiyi turned around: “Teacher.”

The young counselor seemed to have run over: “Fang Yiyi, I wanted to ask you about changing dorms. Nancy’s parents just came to withdraw her from school, and her spot in that dorm is now vacant. Would you like to…”

“Teacher,” Fang Yiyi interrupted her, smiling with pursed lips: “Thank you, Teacher, but I’ve already cleaned 404. Let’s not switch, after all.”

Everyone who knew anything about the rumors of 404 expected Fang Yiyi to be eager to leave. The counselor was utterly surprised by the refusal. However, on second thought, the haunting rumors were probably just hearsay. There are no ghosts in this world. These students are being superstitious and scaring themselves. Didn’t Nancy just scare herself insane? The counselor was annoyed by the thought and didn’t dwell on it. She was in a hurry to deal with Nancy’s situation.

“Uh, alright then. Fang Yiyi, if you need anything, remember to find me. I have something to do, so I’ll be going now.”

“Goodbye, Teacher.” Fang Yiyi bowed her head, her eyes hidden beneath her bangs, making her expression unreadable. Once the counselor walked away, she turned and headed to the study hall.

The study hall at Zhengling Women’s University, if not overcrowded, was certainly never sparse. Besides the rustling of turning pages, the only sound was the friction of pen on paper, making people unconsciously tread lightly. The atmosphere for studying was intense.

Yet, even in this environment, Fang Yiyi couldn’t finish studying the lesson. For the first time in her 18 years, she experienced what it was like to have an attention deficit.

She couldn’t help it; her thoughts kept drifting uncontrollably to Nancy’s situation.

The ambulance this morning, the classmates’ gossip in the cafeteria, and now the counselor mentioning her withdrawal—truthfully, every piece of information shocked her.

Her shock was mixed with a bit of schadenfreude.

She wanted to ask if Li Ting was responsible, but Li Ting had no logical reason to target Nancy, since Fang Yiyi was acting as a substitute for more than just Nancy.