Chapter 1 — Two-Face Roommate

My roommate eats my rice every day, then turns around and accuses me of using electrical appliances against regulations. I bought a small electric cooker and sometimes cook more in the dormitory. Every time I smelled food, my roommate would run over: "Wow, you're a really good cook! I want to taste it too!" Over time, she often took the initiative to buy the ingredients, and I was in charge of cooking. There was a time when I really thought we were very compatible friends. Near the end of the semester, someone accused me of using electrical equipment against regulations. The accuser was my roommate. I was disciplined, had my eligibility for emulation and titles revoked, and she conveniently entered the scholarship list. I stood in front of her desk and couldn't help but ask why. Without looking up, she turned the book in her hand and said: "The school has regulations against using illegal electrical equipment. I'm doing it for your own good." Then, when her living expenses were almost exhausted, she begged me to cook a few more meals. I didn't raise my head and coldly refused: "The school has regulations against using illegal electrical equipment." 1Tong Huynh stood behind me, his voice deliberately lingering and full of flattery: "On Tu, please help me. I've really run out of money recently." I didn't turn around, my fingers were still typing the last paragraph of the literature review on the keyboard. The cursor on the screen flashes several times. I pressed save, closed the computer, then turned around, leaning against the back of the chair. "Tong Huynh, do you have a problem with your ears? Didn't I say it clearly enough just now?" The smile on her face stiffened for a moment. The corners of her lips pursed, then quickly turned into a more considerate smile: "I know you're still angry, but you can't stand by and watch me starve forever, right? I'm really not used to eating food at the cafeteria." I glanced at three boxes of self-boiling hot pot with different flavors piled on her table, next to it was half a bag of peeled nutritional seeds. "You're really special when you're hungry like this." Tong Huynh choked on his words. Her eyes rolled around, she changed tactics, sat down on her bed and sighed: "Okay, then I'll think of a way." "But On Tu, you really don't need to make our relationship so tense. We all live under the same roof, we have to face each other every day." "You made it tense first." I pulled out the desk drawer, took out a warm pad, tore off the cover and stuck it on my belt. In November, the dormitory had not yet turned on the heating system, and the room was as cold as an ice cellar. Tong Huynh continued to mumble: "I know I was wrong about what happened before, but I really did it for your own good. The school checks illegal electrical equipment so strictly, what if something happens?" I stopped my movements and slowly turned my head to look at her. "Tong Huynh, when you accused me, did you ever think about the consequences?" "You use that pot so often, I'm worried that..." "Are you worried?" I asked. laughed. "Are you so worried that you had to wait exactly two weeks to denounce me? Waited until one day before the emulation list was announced to file a complaint?"Tong Huynh's eyes moved slightly. She didn't say anything more, took the phone and went out. The door was slammed so hard that the hook on the wall vibrated twice. After Tong Huynh slammed the door and left, the dormitory was quiet for less than ten minutes. My phone vibrated. It was a message from a senior in the same research group, Phuong Ninh: "Tu Tu, have you heard? Tong Huynh said in my group that I'm not in a good mood lately, telling everyone to pay more attention to my feelings." I stared at that text for three seconds and then saved the screenshot of the conversation. Bad mood. This phrase is actually used

clever. It wasn't enough to constitute defamation, but it just covered me in a layer of dirt. I exited the chat interface, opened the research group, and pulled up a few pages. Tong Huynh sent a message to the group. "Everyone had a hard time meeting today. Lately, On Tu's pressure seems to be quite big. I saw him sitting alone in the dormitory for a long time, feeling a little worried about him. If you have some free time, please take care of him a little." Below are three answers, all of which are spoken by seniors, let me ask. The attached photo is my profile lying face down on my thesis writing desk. The angle taken from behind makes me look like a pile of mud. I leaned back in my chair, holding my phone up to the ceiling. The light leaking through the edge of the screen made my eyes sting. Tong Huynh is very smart. She never directly attacked me. She only has the task of planting a seed in the hearts of others: Wen Tu is an emotionally unstable person, perhaps mentally problematic. Once the seed has been planted, it is enough to wait for it to take root on its own. She doesn't need to water it herself. The group meeting took place on Thursday afternoon. I arrived at the meeting room ten minutes early, plugged the USB into the computer, opened PowerPoint and checked again. Quy Lang Han, a member of the research group, walked in. She looked at me and then sat down two seats away from me. In the past, every time she walked in, she would sit right next to me and even give me half a cup of milk tea. "Lang Han." I called her. She paused, her expression a bit unnatural: "Um, what's going on?" "You've had a hard time avoiding me lately, haven't you?" collapsed." "The scholarship thing." I repeated those five words, feeling so absurd that I wanted to laugh. "She took my place, and I was the one who had a mental breakdown?" Quy Lang Han's expression changed. "What do you mean? He took your place?" I didn't explain further. The time is not right. Saying these words now, in the ears of others, just sounds like the complaints of a loser. I just took my phone out of my pocket, opened the notes, found the previously saved screenshots and brought them in front of her. "This is the original copy of her denunciation. I got a copy from the consultant." "In the signature section, the accuser wrote the name Tong Huynh, the date was one day before the announcement of the emulation list." After looking at the photos, Quy Lang Han's expression gradually changed. "Did he really mean it?" "Not just intentionally denouncing the competition." Two weeks before the complaint, she started taking the initiative to please me, buying ingredients and telling me to cook. Every time I used the electric cooker, she was there and took photos. "I took the phone back. "Do you think she took photos for souvenirs?" Quy Lang Han was silent for a long time, then finally reluctantly said: "Sorry, I should have asked you first." "It's okay, now you know." The meeting room door was pushed open. Tong Huynh and two people in the group walked in. Seeing me and Quy Lang Han sitting together, her steps stopped, then immediately smiled and walked over: "What are you two talking about so happily?" "Talking about you." I raised my head, my voice calm as if saying the weather was very nice today. Tong Huynh's smile stiffened for half a second, then quickly appeared again: "What are you talking about me?" "Talking about the photos you took of me cooking. I don't know how many photos you have saved." The atmosphere in the meeting room was immediately tense. The smile is still on Tong Huynh's face, but it's wrinkled

The wrinkles at the corners of my eyes had tightened, like a bowstring being pulled to the limit. "On Tu, what are you talking about? I just conveniently took a few photos to save my life." "Save my life." I nodded, pulled out the USB from the computer. "The night you took photos of me cooking, you posted a post on your personal page, writing that my roommate's food was so delicious, I felt overwhelmed with happiness." "But three days later, you took those photos away." denounce me. Don't you remember?" The two people sitting next to each other looked at each other, their expressions becoming indescribable. Tong Huynh's ear began to turn red. She immediately pulled her chair down, opened the notebook, and pretended to look at documents, but her voice was tense: "Don't mention it anymore. Is there any meaning in talking about these things now?" "There's no meaning." I closed the computer. "But if you think it's interesting to post things about me behind your back, then I'll play with you." When instructor Luc Hoai Can pushed the door open and walked in, the meeting room immediately became quiet. Luc Hoai Can opened the file and looked at the people present. His eyes stayed on my face for more than half a second before leaving. "In today's group meeting, first check the progress of each person's documents." In the meeting room, the sound of flipping books and tapping on keyboards was heard. Tong Huynh bowed his head, his pen continuously scratched on the paper but could not write any words. From the corner of my eye, I saw her secretly take out her phone, type a few words and then put it back in. More than ten minutes later, the group meeting ended. Luc Hoai Can closed the document. Before leaving, he looked at me: "On Tu, you stay." 3 The others took turns packing up their things and went out. When he stood up, Quy Lang Han nodded slightly at me, with an indescribable emotion in his eyes. Tong Huynh's movements of carrying his briefcase are very slow. She deliberately dragged it out until the end. Before leaving the door, she turned to look at me, the corners of her lips pursed into a straight line. The door closed. Luc Hoai Can took off his glasses and wiped them, his voice calm: "Just received the news, someone wrote a letter of complaint to the department, saying that during the group meeting you spoke in an unusually excited state of mind, suspected of using stimulants." I was stunned for a second. "...Who wrote?" "Anonymous." Luc Hoai Can put his glasses back on and looked at me. "But the time the letter was sent was ten minutes ago, right during the group meeting." Ten minutes before. I took out my phone and looked at it, just as Tong Huynh bowed his head and typed. I laughed. "Do you think I look like someone who just used stimulants?" Luc Hoai Can did not answer this question. He was silent for a moment and then said: "For the time being, I have kept the letter, but something has happened to you recently. I know that you were disqualified from emulation. Do you think this is related to the person who accused you?" "The accuser is Tong Huynh. I have a copy of the denunciation in my hand." Luc Hoai Can's expression did not change, but I noticed his finger on the table curled slightly. He was silent for a few seconds then said: "Let me see the copy." I found the photo on my phone and gave it to him. After watching, he returned the phone to me, didn't say anything else, just nodded slightly: "I know." Luc Hoai Can stood up, patted my shoulder: "You go home first. I will handle this matter." When I walked out of the meeting room, at the end of the hallway there was a person standing. Tong Huynh leaned against the wall, crossed his arms across his chest. Seeing me leave, her face immediately filled with a smile: "What are you looking for?" "Nothing." I walked over. As I passed her, I deliberately slowed down. “Just discussing a little about the letter you sent during the group meeting.” The smile on her face froze.