On bed number 6, Qin Yanping finally noticed something was wrong with Fang Yuan. She saw her hunched over, holding the quilt, frozen in place, motionless. Her eyes were a little shortsighted, and she hadn't noticed the black cat in the shadows.
"Fang Yuan, what are you doing?"
Fang Yuan didn't turn around, her eyes fixed on the black cat, and she slowly uttered two words: "Black, cat!"
Fang Yuan's voice was too soft for Qin Yanping to hear, so she asked again, "What did you say?"
Fang Yuan's waist ached, and she slowly stood up. The black cat remained crouched on the bed, staring at her. Its eyes followed Fang Yuan's gaze upward, its pupils narrowing to needle-like points, as if piercing Fang Yuan's heart. She shuddered, and a hint of cold sweat seeped into her palms.
Fang Yuan was no timid person. How could a girl who grew up in a small town in the south of the Yangtze River be afraid of a cat? Where she grew up, cats, dogs, and other animals were always around her. Even in the dead of night, when she was out alone, she never felt afraid when she encountered a barking dog or a yelping wild cat. Her father had long taught her that all animals, including carnivorous beasts, are afraid of humans. Unless desperately starving, no animal would attack humans, let alone common cats and dogs.
But this black cat was unlike any other cat she had ever seen. Its eyes held an indescribable emotion, filling Fang Yuan with awe. Her first thought was to run away from it. She seemed to have a premonition that this black cat would bring only disaster and misfortune.
Qin Yanping didn't hear Fang Yuan's answer. Naturally timid, she didn't dare ask further questions. Her heart pounded, and she stared at Fang Yuan nervously.
Fang Yuan turned to look at her and forced a smile. "Don't be afraid, it's just a cat that wants to sleep in my bed."
It would have been fine if she hadn't said it, but speaking out only frightened Qin Yanping even more. "Cat? Is that the black cat?!"
Fang Yuan smiled bitterly. "It seems so."
"Ah!" Qin Yanping tucked herself into the quilt, burying her head in it. She pulled the quilt over her with her backhand and said from within. "Go away!"
Fang Yuan retrieved a broom from behind the door, turned it over, and tentatively prodded the black cat with the handle. The cat dodged obediently, but refused to leave. It meowed softly, as if expressing its displeasure.
Xu Zhaodi entered. She wasn't as polite as Fang Yuan. She grabbed the broom and swept it directly at the black cat. This time, the black cat couldn't dodge and, with a strange cry, fell to the ground.
"Get out!" Xu Zhaodi's hair stood on end. The black cat sensed her anger and, fearing her, shrank back, hiding under the bed.
Xu Zhaodi crouched under the bed and thrashed around for a long time, but couldn't get the black cat out. Because the fluorescent light in the bedroom was broken and the candlelight was dim, she couldn't see the black cat's exact location. She just banged on it randomly, hoping to scare it out. But it mewed softly from under the bed and refused to come out, presumably determined to spend the night in girls' dormitory 441.
"Forget it! Let it be." Fang Yuan felt sorry for the black cat's pitiful cries. "It won't bite anyway. It'll go away naturally after dawn."
Xu Zhaodi was helpless with the black cat and grinned at Qin Yanping. "Qin Yanping, come out! I've avenged you."
Qin Yanping felt a little uncomfortable under the covers. She poked her head out and asked, "Did you chase the black cat away?"
"No..." Xu Zhaodi walked over and patted her head, then smiled. "I hit it a few times, and now it's hiding under the bed and won't come out."
Qin Yanping curled her lips. "I should have hit it hard. I don't know how I offended it. It must have been targeting me on purpose. It scared me."
Oddly enough, the black cat hid under the bed and stopped meowing.
"Did it go away? We didn't see it?" Qin Yanping listened for a moment but didn't hear the black cat's meow.
"Maybe. It's so dark, we can't see clearly," Fang Yuan reassured her. "Tao Bing'er's sleeping with you tonight, so there's nothing to be afraid of."
"That's true."
Speak of the devil. Tao Bing'er, having finished washing clothes, ran into the bedroom with a heroic spirit, like a hero who had accomplished a difficult task.
"Finally finished washing! Living on campus is so hard! I used to have my family wash my clothes in the fully automatic washing machine." Tao Bing'er complained as she climbed onto the bed and squeezed into Qin Yanping's covers. "My dear wife, I'm here! Come and serve your husband!"
Tao Bing'er scratched and touched Qin Yanping, tickling her until she giggled. Just then, the lights-out whistle blew outside. Fang Yuan and Xu Zhaodi extinguished the candles and got into bed.
Qin Yanping grabbed Tao Bing'er's groping hand and said, "Stop it, Tao Bing'er! Let me ask you, what is a man to a woman?"
Xu Zhaodi immediately replied, "It's clothes! Sisters are like brothers, men are like clothes."
Fang Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "I think it's a collar. A collar that holds a woman captive with a ring and a promise."
Tao Bing'er disagreed, "Men are like sanitary pads. I'd still consider it dirty if I changed them only once a day!"
Qin Yanping's answer was even more striking: "I say, men are like tampons for cleaning your ears. You stick them in, poke them, and then throw them away!"
Everyone was stunned, then burst into laughter.
A cold voice, untimely, pierced the girls' ears: "Boring!"
The door had opened at some point, and Su Ya's tall figure emerged from the darkness. She sneered into the dim moonlight of the bedroom, "Is it fun?"
Su Ya's appearance suddenly darkened the atmosphere in girls' dormitory 441. It was unknown how long she stood behind the door. She seemed to dislike the crowds, intent on ruining the relaxed atmosphere they had worked so hard to create.
The girls were somewhat listless, and since they hadn't rested well the previous night, no one spoke, and they quickly fell asleep.
Fang Yuan dreamed again. This time, she dreamed of her childhood, happy and joyful, nurtured by her loving parents. Lush green grass, fragrant red flowers, a clear blue sky, and drifting white clouds—everything was so peaceful and leisurely. This time, she knew she was dreaming, but even if it was a dream, she wanted to fully savor this lost innocence and didn't want to wake.
Still, she was awakened, conscious of deep melancholy. What woke her was an eerie, soft cry, coming from the hallway. It sounded very much like a girl's.
How could a girl's cry be heard here? Fang Yuan bit her finger twice, feeling the pain continuously, confirming that she was truly awake, not just a dream within a dream. Outside the window, the autumn wind rustled, a chill biting. The sky was almost starless, the few that occasionally flickered dimly. Strange black clouds slowly gathered, drifting with the wind, soon obscuring the waning moon. A black curtain quickly fell, leaving the window drenched in darkness.
The eerie sound of crying assaulted Fang Yuan's ears, leaving her distraught. Who would cry out in public at this hour? And so heartbrokenly?
Fang Yuan got up, threw on her clothes and slippers, walked out of the bedroom, and into the hall. She found the fluorescent light switch and flipped it on.
The hall was empty, so the crying couldn't have originated there. It seemed—it seemed—to be coming from the bathroom.
How could it be the bathroom? Fang Yuan initially thought it was a girl from another dormitory crying, but she was surprised to find the sound originating from her own bathroom. She listened carefully for a moment, and it was indeed coming from the bathroom.
The crying didn't sound like that of any of the girls in Dormitory 441, but that wasn't entirely certain. Crying always made a different sound. Perhaps it was one of them?
Fang Yuan took a few steps back and suddenly ran back to the bedroom. She slowly approached the beds and carefully examined them. Tao Bing'er, Qin Yanping, Xu Zhaodi, and Su Ya—all four were there, sound asleep.
The crying continued.
Fang Yuan steeled herself, grabbed the broom behind the door, and walked back to the hall, to the wooden door of the bathroom. She remembered the scene from her dream last night: a coffin, a dead person who looked just like her, resurrected from a dead body.
Could it be that the dream would come true? Was there really a female ghost luring her there, then resurrecting in her body?
Fang Yuan's heart was pounding, and she remembered Hamlet's classic monologue: To be, or not to be?
She stretched out her delicate hand and gently pushed open the smooth wooden door of the bathroom.
The door creaked open slowly.