My roommate, Lily Kingsley, started stealing takeout, ballooning from ninety pounds to one hundred and fifty, turning into a veritable human blimp. Later, she wanted me to join her, but I refused. I told her it was wrong, but she just thought I was ungrateful. Eventually, the school caught on to her thievery and expelled her. She blamed me for reporting her. So, on the day she came back to pack her things, she pushed me from the top floor. She then claimed my job, the one I had worked so hard for, and promptly started dating my fiancé. I died consumed by hatred. But then I opened my eyes again. To my shock, I was back on the very first day Lily Kingsley started stealing takeout. 1 A rustle at the dorm door, and then it swung open. I watched as my roommate, Lily Kingsley, entered, juggling two large bags of takeout. She plopped down, opened the containers, and a delicious aroma wafted through the room. "What did you guys have for lunch?" she asked, oblivious. I stared at the bags in her hands, a chilling realization dawning on me. In my previous life, this was the day Lily started stealing takeout. Her first haul was two full meals. She got away with it—a roasted duck and a milk tea—and from that moment, she grew increasingly brazen. Soon, she was pilfering four or five meals a day. When no one pursued her, she started taking packages too. Her desk began to overflow with designer makeup, handbags, and jewelry. Later, she expanded her operations, stealing takeout across the entire campus, randomly snatching orders from under dorm buildings, grabbing whatever looked appealing. The takeout packaging grew increasingly luxurious: sometimes it was from a high-end hotpot place, sometimes a whole durian. Back then, I often wondered how she, a fellow scholarship student with an allowance of only $800 a month, could afford such lavish meals. It wasn't until we were working on a group project that she approached me. "If you help me with this part, I'll give you something good." I was curious what she meant by "something good," so I pressed her. "What kind of good thing?" she whispered, leaning in conspiratorially. "Whatever takeout you want, I'll steal it for you. No, I mean, I'll get it for you." She then watched my reaction, a smug look on her face. I quickly waved my hands, refusing. "No, no, I can do this part, it's fine. You don't have to do that." But she interpreted my refusal as disdain, and from that moment on, she silently resented me. 2 Later, whispers began in the dorm group chats. "Who took my takeout?" every now and then. "My package went missing, has anyone seen it?" I didn't know it then, but the thief was living right beside me. When our homeroom teacher asked if anyone's takeout had gone missing, Lily threatened me. She said if I dared to expose her, she'd claim I was her accomplice, dragging me down with her. The ridiculous part was, I actually listened to her then. I agreed to keep her secret. But this time, I’d make sure she got a truly "free meal" – courtesy of the justice system. I’d just returned to the dorm to find Lily coming in, laden with four or five takeout bags. My gaze fixated on her bags. Lily, noticing my stare, eyed me warily. "Don't even think about it. I'm not sharing. Stop looking." I plastered on a fawning smile. "Oh, what did you order? It smells amazing! How much was it? Can I see the receipt?" Lily hugged her bags tightly. "None of your business what I eat! Order your own food on the app, hmph." "I just meant you're eating so deliciously," I countered. Lily smirked triumphantly. "Of course. You, a poor scholarship student, could never afford such fancy food. Don't even dream about it." I spotted a takeout slip on her desk and snatched it. The name on it was Bethany Chase. I shouted, "This receipt says Bethany Chase's name, doesn't it?!" Lily snatched the slip back with a jerk. "What are you looking at? My friend ordered this for me. Don't be so dramatic." I narrowed my eyes at the faint blush on Lily's ear tips—her tell-tale sign of guilt. Bethany Chase was infamous in the Chemistry department for her explosive temper. Just last week, she'd verbally flayed a classmate for two hours straight in the hallway for using her laundry detergent without permission. I pulled out my phone, pretending to go get hot water, but actually hid around the corridor corner and started recording. "Where's my eel rice?!" Ten minutes later, Bethany's furious roar echoed from downstairs. She started bombarding the dorm group chat, accusing some "inhuman creature" of stealing her takeout. Seeing no one respond, she stomped towards the dorm supervisor's room, ready to demand action. At that moment, I strategically poked my head out from the water station, phone in hand. "I think I just saw someone carrying a bag with a neon Japanese restaurant logo. They went to the left side of the dorms, but I didn't get a good look at their face." Bethany immediately set out to knock on every dorm room door, but many chose not to open. She decided to simply sit by the trash cans and wait. I returned to the dorm to find Lily had finished her meal. "Lily," I said, "even though I can't afford such food, can I help you throw away the trash? Just to smell the aroma?" Lily looked at me condescendingly. "Fine, fine. I know someone like you will never eat such high-class food in your life. I'll be merciful and let you throw it away." I took her takeout bag and walked towards the trash cans. Bethany, who was guarding them, immediately spotted the bag in my hand and rushed towards me. "So, it was you all along! You thief! And you're playing the victim! I'm going to expose you, just you wait!" Bethany yelled. "If it were me," I said calmly, "would I have pointed you in that direction?" Bethany rolled her eyes. "Who knows what you were thinking at the time? I don't care. Either replace it with an identical meal right now, or pay ten times the price of this meal." I calmly replied, "Wait until you see this video." I pulled out my phone and handed her the video I had recorded from the hallway corner. Her face went from disbelief to absolute fury. Knowing Lily was a famous rich girl in our department, Bethany immediately wanted to confront Lily with the video. I quickly stopped her, saying conspiratorially, "If you go now, do you have any other evidence besides this video?" Bethany retorted, "This video is enough! I'll tear her mouth to shreds!" I gave her a stern look and analyzed. "Think about it: Lily usually presents herself as generous. Who would believe she steals takeout? It's just this one time, but where there's one, there's two. We just need to wait and see." Bethany scoffed. "Easy for you to say. Are we just going to skip class and sit here watching the building all day?" I looked at Bethany, my voice firm. "Actually, from what I've observed these past few days, she's no longer satisfied with just stealing takeout. Her desk is covered in designer bags and jewelry. Remember? She's on a scholarship, just like me." Bethany's eyes widened in realization. "Now that you mention it, I remember! At the beginning of the semester, she looked like a country bumpkin!" I continued, "Right now, she'd only get a verbal warning or be socially ostracized in the dorm chat. That's not a real punishment. So, listen to me..." Bethany's face lit up. "Okay! That's a good idea! But... what's your beef with her? You're so ruthless!" I looked at Bethany. "You'll find out later."
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