My roommate always seems to bully me

Chapter 1

I suspected I was being bullied at school, so I tearfully called my mom for help.

"Mom, my roommate buries his face in my clothes every day and sniffs them for a long time. His expression is really weird—he must be disgusted that my clothes aren't clean enough."

"He keeps listening to my voice messages over and over, laughing strangely. Is he making fun of my southern accent?"

"He also randomly pinches my cheeks and throws a basketball at my butt... It hurts!"

"Mom, I really want to come home..."

After a moment of silence, my mom responded in a serious tone:

"Son, don't sleep too soundly at night, and remember to close the door when you shower."

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The phone call was filled with background noise, clattering sounds typical of my mom playing mahjong at the village entrance.

“If you’ve got something to say, hurry up and spit it out. If you’re asking for money, forget it.”

I whimpered twice and shakily said, “Mom— I think I’m being bullied at school…”

After saying that, I instinctively held the phone farther away from my ear.

Sure enough, there was a sharp intake of breath before she erupted in a thunderous roar.

"Everyone shut up! Be quiet!"

I hadn’t held the phone far enough—it still left my ears ringing.

My mom, now serious and concerned, asked, “What? Are you being bullied?”

Thinking of what had happened these past few days, I felt my eyes starting to sting.

My roommate, Qi Shang, seemed to have a problem with me.

Several times when I returned to the dorm, I caught him burying his face in my clothes, sniffing them. When he saw me come back, he would throw the clothes at me with a look of disdain.

I anxiously smelled my clothes again and again. It’s true—they didn’t smell as good as when my mom washed them.

But our dorm faces north, with hardly any sunlight. It’d be a miracle if they smelled fresh.

Why does he only sniff my clothes? I never saw him do that with our other two roommates' clothes.

He’s targeting me!

I also have a bit of a southern accent, with my words slurred and drawn out. I’d sent a few voice messages in the dorm chat, and last night, when I couldn’t sleep, I heard him replaying those messages repeatedly, laughing as he listened.

He’s mocking me!

After hearing my tearful complaints, my mom fell silent.

“That’s it?”

I quickly added, “And! He also hits me!”

My mom's voice instantly raised. “What?! He’s hitting you? Don’t you have hands? Hit him back! Qi Xia, I raised you all these years and sent you to college, not to be some weakling!”

Hearing my mom get worked up too, I felt a bit more confident.

“He’s always pinching my cheeks until they’re red! And he keeps throwing basketballs at my butt—it really hurts. He’s taller than me, I can’t beat him…”

There was a long silence on the other end.

I wondered if the village’s signal was bad, so I checked my screen—it was still connected.