Chapter 28: Conflict Between Women

Ryan sat up slowly, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on without any rush. He looked at them with a neutral expression and said, "What are you doing here?"

Tina walked over gracefully, placed a takeout box on the table, and said, "I heard you were sick, so I came to check on you. I brought you some food."

Heavens, this was the first time in three years she’d bought him anything. Before, she hadn’t even offered him a single drink.

Ryan suddenly understood why his roommates hadn’t brought food, Tina must have told them ahead of time.

Three years, and finally a response. Even though it was clearly one of those cheap 8-dollar meal sets from the fourth cafeteria, Ryan felt a mix of emotions - mostly awkwardness rather than flattery.

"Thanks. You didn’t have to go through the trouble."

Ryan said flatly, not rushing to open the box.

Linda looked around curiously. Seeing how shabby the place was, she couldn’t bring herself to believe what Tina had said yesterday.

The dorm was messy with nowhere to sit. Tina frowned slightly and sat down on a nearby chair, speaking softly, "Didn’t Anna come to take care of you?"

Anna... that thunderous name left Wester and Jason momentarily stunned. The image that came to mind was that ethereal, otherworldly beauty.

When she asked, Tina’s expression was serious, almost interrogating, still maintaining her usual haughty demeanor.

Ryan felt a bit awkward at her question. He shrugged and said, "I don’t need anyone to take care of me. It’s just a cold."

As soon as he finished speaking, another wave of commotion came from outside the hallway. In a guys’ dorm, that usually only happened when a woman showed up.

Wester and Jason stared in utter disbelief. Since when did the school’s campus beauty have any connection with their roommate???

The commotion outside was clearly louder than before. A girl entering a guys’ dorm, especially in broad daylight, was rare enough, and causing a stir was even rarer.

Especially beautiful women and rich guys all moved off campus, so this kind of excitement was particularly precious.

Linda asked, "Ryan, they said this morning you went to work at the cafeteria. Why didn’t you reply to my message?"

It had to be admitted that Linda was petite and cute, with a sweet smile, a pretty girl at the class beauty level.

She was completely used to Ryan’s old simp behavior. To put it bluntly, she didn’t think much of him either, but she was happy to take advantage of this so-called "bestie’s" perks.

Tina was used to being simped over, and suddenly being neglected made her very unhappy. From her perspective, it was the same. Before, she only needed to drop a hint in a message, and this simp would show his devotion by caring about her circle.

Even her bestie saying "Sweetie wants to eat watermelon" would have Ryan climbing over the wall at midnight to buy chilled watermelon, though Tina never actually ate a single bite.

But Tina enjoyed that feeling of being above it all. Her other roommates were happy to benefit too. They’d been taking advantage of this for three years.

So not getting breakfast that morning, the whole dorm was somewhat dissatisfied. Tina felt embarrassed but had expected it, so she wasn’t angry, what annoyed her was Linda sending that message on her own.

"I finished work, felt awful, and came back to sleep. I didn’t see it."

Ryan’s response was neutral, but Linda snorted and said, "If a man truly loves you, he’d crawl out of bed to care about you even if he were dying."

That was pure internet toxic feminist talk, showing how deeply she’d been influenced. Of course, she’d only say such things to mock Ryan.

Ryan didn’t bother responding, just gave a small shrug.

Just then, another stunning, almost breathtaking figure appeared at the doorway.

Her hair was simply tied back, with a touch of light makeup that was almost bare-faced, yet it couldn’t hide the impact of her otherworldly beauty.

Plain jeans perfectly outlined a pair of nearly flawless long legs.

A cartoon-patterned T-shirt, not a brand name but seemingly tailor-made for her, highlighted her slender waist and the curves threatening to burst from her chest.

She dressed simply, yet exuded pure temptation. A beauty like her could wear a burlap sack and still be irresistibly charming.

Tina turned and her eyes reddened. The only thing she noticed was the bag Anna was carrying.

Most people probably wouldn’t recognize it, but she knew instantly, it was the only limited-edition LV bag in Videl, that 58,000 dollar bag from last night.

Dressed in cheap clothes but carrying that bag, it was clearly a provocation.

Wester and Jason’s jaws nearly dropped. They never expected Anna to actually show up here.

"Hello, I’m Anna!"

Anna walked in and greeted them very generously, even smiling, "Brother Wester, Brother Jason, Ryan has mentioned you both often, said you’re like real brothers. He’s always thankful for your care."

The two nodded hurriedly, too nervous to know what to say.

"Tina, Linda, you’re here too!!"

Only then did Anna act as if she’d just noticed them, greeting them cheerfully as she fluttered past like a butterfly.

Unlike the two girls sitting on chairs nearby, she directly adapted to, or ignored, the mess of the guys’ dorm.

Or rather, the guys’ dorm wasn’t even that messy, since guys don’t have much stuff. Real girls’ dorms were way messier, most girls aren’t as clean as men imagine.

But with smoking, drinking, and the sweat of adolescence, there was indeed a strong odor. From the moment they entered, Tina and Linda’s brows had naturally furrowed.

Anna, however, showed no reaction. She sat right down on Ryan’s bed, perching naturally on the edge, and said with playful reproach, "Ryan, you really are something, making me so worried!!!"

"I, what did I do?"

Ryan’s mind was already buzzing at this unexpected confrontation.

Both Tina and she were here, and in the dorm no less, this situation was clearly a battlefield.

Anna said tenderly, "You were sick and didn’t tell me. I got out of class early to wait for you, but didn’t see you. I asked your advisor Teacher Yana and found out you’d been hospitalized for three days."

"And now, just as you’re recovering, you’re working yourself so hard. You don’t care about your own health, but other people do, you know."

As she spoke, Anna looked pitiful and worried, while sneaking a cold glance at Tina.

Tina asked instinctively, "Why were you hospitalized???"

As soon as she said it, she felt it was inappropriate, because she could tell that both of Ryan’s roommates had slightly changed expressions.

You didn’t know he was in the hospital for three days? Weren’t you the one always ordering him around? Didn’t you notice he was gone for three days???

Tina and Linda weren’t pushovers either. Seeing their expressions and Ryan’s neutral face, they felt like they’d walked right into a trap.

That damn schemer...

"Ryan, you need to rest well now and get proper nutrition."

Anna then looked at the takeout box on the table, frowned, and said to Jason, "The 8-dollar meal set from the fourth cafeteria? Normally, if Ryan wants to be frugal, I wouldn’t say anything. But a sick person can’t eat something so lacking in nutrition."

She acted quite angry. Wester and Jason exchanged glances and didn’t bother defending themselves.

Tina’s expression turned ugly. She forced a laugh and said, "Anna, you seem very attentive. You sure know how to take care of people."