DLRAS Chapter 23

Chapter 23: I felt like I might have known you in a previous life.

The two of them faltered. “Maybe giving it directly to his own son would be too eye-catching, and he’d be afraid of being reported, so he gives it to the godson instead…”

You Ying looked doubtful. “That logic is so weak it’s hard to convince me. Who even comes up with this stuff? How boring.”

The group member gave a dry laugh. “Who knows? There’s always someone who’s closer to him, right? People like us just casually watch the gossip.”

“Doesn’t digging into people like this count as invading privacy?”

“Not really, right? It’s only being discussed on the internal forum. It wasn’t made public.”

“If a forum isn’t public, then what is? This still doesn’t count as invading privacy?”

“Well, if you put it that way… the admins didn’t delete it, so that means those posts are allowed to exist.”

You Ying gave an “oh,” her face showing that she could not be bothered to waste more words.

The other two found no fun in it and stopped talking, lowering their heads again to continue patching together the assignment.

You Ying clicked open the chat software on her computer and sent a message to a friend: “I have to say, men look really ugly when they’re jealous.”

Her friend replied with a string of hahaha’s and asked what had happened, and why she had suddenly arrived at such a precise life insight.

The two of them vented for a while.

But her friend browsed the school forum regularly and was a little closer to the front lines of gossip than You Ying:

“As for those posts picking apart Chen Wengang, I actually know about that. Honestly, I suspect he offended someone. Out of the whole student body, how many people get stomped on like that over and over? I even recognize a few usernames already. I’ve long felt like it’s the same group of people.”

“What kind of people? Isn’t that sick?”

“Maybe not sick. Maybe there’s bad blood.”

“You mean it’s deliberate? Then that changes the nature of it.”

“Eh, no proof. Just a woman’s intuition. But if someone really is targeting him on purpose, that’s pretty scary.”

You Ying fell into thought, then opened the forum on her computer too, as if intending to verify it for herself.

Just then, the café door announced in an electronic voice, “Welcome.”

She looked up.

The very person at the center of all those rumors pushed the door open and walked in.

Judging only by appearance, one could not know a person’s heart from their face. He looked refined, fair-skinned, gentle, and elegant—the kind of man many girls liked.

Chen Wengang ordered a drink at the counter, looked around, spotted their table, and soon walked straight over with his laptop tucked under his arm.

He admitted his mistake very sincerely and apologized, so You Ying found it hard to stay angry. She only urged him to hurry up and get the assignment done.

The other three made room for him. Chen Wengang sat down and plugged in his laptop.

In front of him, the two male group members wore a completely different face, warmly greeting him as if nothing had happened.

You Ying watched coldly from the side, wishing only that the three of them would hurry up and finish the assignment.

They dragged on until noon. The two male group members finished their parts first, sent the PPT to the group leader, and left.

As You Ying reviewed it, she sighed. “Our school counts as a well-known university, right?”

Chen Wengang looked up at that, not quite sure. “I guess so?”

You Ying said, “It’s only when I have to do group assignments that I realize how many people in a so-called prestigious university are just drifting through life.”

She was a sharp-tongued girl. Chen Wengang could only smile apologetically. He knew he was in the wrong, so all he could do was try to do more.

It took another whole afternoon. The two of them did not even eat, and together they finished the assignment. Only then did You Ying’s expression finally clear.

Actually, his attitude was much better than she had imagined. Chen Wengang also had solid professional knowledge and gave sensible opinions. Working with him was smooth. That made You Ying believe he had really just been too busy and forgotten, not that he had been deliberately messing with everyone.

Since that was the case, then the grievance could be laughed away. She finally gave him a smile.

The two of them packed up their things and went together to eat at the student cafeteria.

At the table, You Ying seemed to want to explain herself a little. “I know a lot of people don’t take large elective classes seriously. I don’t care what other people do. But this group assignment counts for 30% of the final grade, and my minimum requirement is that it not drag down my GPA.”

Chen Wengang smiled and showed that he understood.

His understanding was not the perfunctory kind. It was more like the mutual recognition of one top student toward another. A GPA of 3.8 and 3.9 did not look that far apart, but the gap between 3.9 and a perfect 4.0 was qualitative. He himself was the type who stood at the top with a 4.0.

And having an excellent record was only the first step. People like that usually had even higher goals.

So Chen Wengang knowingly asked, “Is that GPA because you’re planning to apply for overseas study?”

You Ying really was aiming for the Ivy League. “I want to study business. The competition is too intense, so I’m trying to polish everything as beautifully as possible.”

Chen Wengang nodded. He understood that too. Professional grades were only one factor in success. Language ability, awards, projects, personal statements, even the academic weight of one’s recommenders could all influence the final result. The pressure was indeed huge.

You Ying asked in return, “What about you? Going abroad too? Have you chosen a country yet?”

Chen Wengang smiled. “I’m applying for a research program at our own university.”

You Ying let out a small sound of surprise. “Why don’t you want to go out and see the world?”

Chen Wengang joked, “My roots are planted in these few acres of Jincheng, so I can’t go very far.”

For some reason, that reminded You Ying again of what those two group members had said—something about a godfather, a godson, and his unclear relationship with the young master of the Zheng family. Put together, how should one understand words like that?

Was it that he could not go far, or that he did not want to?

She did not know whether she ought to keep talking about it.

To change the subject, You Ying seriously told Chen Wengang a cold joke related to their major.

After the meal, one of them was heading back to the dorms, the other to the parking lot. Both needed to go toward the east gate of the school.

They took a shortcut. As they passed behind the engineering teaching building, they were stopped by an old man who looked like a retired staff member and asked for help.

The old man was panting heavily. Chen Wengang rescued him just before he threw out his back. “Professor Huang, what are you doing?”

This Professor Huang was short and thin, frail with age. He was trying to move a large paper box full of books, but had clearly overestimated his own strength. Had the two of them arrived even a moment later, You Ying seriously doubted whether his old arms and legs would still be intact.

“I’m old now. Can’t do it anymore. Young people still have strength.”

“These books are…?”

“The students are graduating soon, and they don’t want them anymore. I was passing by and saw that the janitor from this building had gathered together so many.”

The old man picked up a book and wiped the cover with his sleeve. “Respect written paper, students. Look, they’re all still perfectly fine.”

In front of him on the ground were books piled up like little hills, and at his feet lay three cardboard boxes. The books inside had clearly been picked out one by one from the pile. Under the yellow streetlight, the old man seemed to wear a faint scavenger’s halo.

You Ying crouched beside the book pile. Using the streetlight and the light from inside the teaching building, she barely managed to read the words on some of the covers.

To her it all looked like a random mess of everything. There were also quite a lot of blank draft papers and drawing sheets.

Chen Wengang bent over too, hands on his knees, and looked into the boxes. He seemed familiar with Professor Huang and suddenly asked, “Could you give me these draft papers?”

“You can use them?”

“I have a younger sister preparing for exams. She might be able to use them.”

“Take them, take them.” Professor Huang scooped them up and stuffed them all into his arms. “If they’re useful, then take them. As long as they’re not wasted.”

In You Ying’s eyes, the two of them had overlapped in a weirdly stingy frequency.

Since they were already there, it would be awkward to pretend not to have seen anything, so they stayed and helped Professor Huang sort through the books.

With two young people joining in, efficiency naturally shot up compared to an old man working alone. Soon the boxes were full to the brim.

Books that were badly damaged, along with used draft paper, were gathered into one corner to wait for the janitor to collect and treat as scrap.

The three of them worked until they started sweating. Professor Huang held a torn notebook in one hand and used it like a fan to cool himself.

After the sorting was done, You Ying was still crouching on the ground, hugging her knees, and looked up to ask, “What are you going to do with all this?”

The old man turned to look at her.

Helping was one thing, but she spoke bluntly anyway. “Do you just pick up books whenever you see someone throwing them out? Even if you collect them, you don’t have anywhere to put them, right?”

Professor Huang was not offended. He lowered himself onto the step, supporting himself on his knees. “That’s right. I saw them while passing by today and couldn’t resist meddling.”

He was still smiling cheerfully, though he also looked a little troubled. The two expressions mixed on his face into something slightly comical.

You Ying scooted closer and rummaged through the box of teaching materials. “The school activity center has a flea market. A lot of people sell textbooks there. You could send these over. I don’t have time myself, but we can give them to the staff there. However much they sell for, or however little, goes to them. What do you think?”

Professor Huang praised her. “Very smart. You haven’t made other people’s labor go to waste.”

Chen Wengang, who had been standing to the side playing with his phone, suddenly said, “Give me the rest. I can handle them.”

The old man and the young woman both looked at him.

He smiled. “I volunteer at a welfare home. Since last year, the director has wanted to get a new batch of books for the reading room, but there’s never enough funding, so the matter has been dragged on a long time. I just asked her, and she said she wants them. I can deliver them there.”

You Ying stared at him wide-eyed, as if she had many questions. “Those kids can understand them?”

“The older ones can,” Chen Wengang said.

Professor Huang smiled cheerfully. “Exactly. Opening a book is always beneficial.”

You Ying gave a quiet “mm.”

Chen Wengang went to the parking lot, and not long after, drove his Lexus over.

He loaded the three cardboard boxes into the trunk. The box of textbooks was to be delivered to the student activity center. Since You Ying was the student union president and had the key, she could open the door for him. The other two boxes Chen Wengang would take away and deliver to the welfare home.

Professor Huang, bent at the waist, happily waved goodbye to the two of them and said how lucky he was to have run into these two young classmates today.

The speed limit on campus was low, so Chen Wengang pressed lightly on the gas. You Ying lowered her head and looked through messages in the class chat. When the car rolled over a speed bump, she suddenly heard Chen Wengang ask, “By the way, do you know who Professor Huang just now was?”

“I don’t know him. Never seen him before.” She shook her head. “Which college is he from?”

Chen Wengang prompted softly, “He is Huang Yanhong.”

You Ying nearly jolted out of her skin. “Are you serious?”

“It really is him.”

In the dark like that, failing to recognize an unfamiliar staff member was completely normal. But if one brought up that name—

Anyone preparing to apply for overseas study would have done their homework. Who would not have heard of a major figure in their own field?

You Ying immediately rolled down the window and twisted around to look back. But there was nothing behind them except rows of roadside trees receding into the distance.

Chen Wengang laughed. “Alright, stop looking. We’ve driven too far already. There’s no way you’d find him now.”

“No way…” You Ying nearly wanted to jump out of the car and run back. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“It happened too suddenly just now. I didn’t have time to tell you quietly,” Chen Wengang explained. “Professor Huang taught in Europe and the U.S. in his earlier years, and now he’s settled back in China. Although he no longer teaches due to health reasons, he carries a lot of weight in the field and is still one of our school’s board members. Aren’t you applying for business? I think you could try asking whether he’d be willing to write you a recommendation letter.”

“All that does is remind me what an enormous chance to cling to a powerful leg I just missed.” You Ying finally recovered from the shock. “Right now my whole head is full of one thought—if I’d known who he was even half an hour earlier, would my life be different?”

“It’s not quite that exaggerated.”

“Hard to say. If I’d gotten his contact information, then there’d be a story between us. I could ask him academic questions, then I’d have a reason to consult him about my thesis, and once we got more familiar I could naturally ask him to be one of my recommenders… Do you know how much the weight of a recommender affects the level of school you can apply to? God, how could I fail to recognize someone that big?”

Chen Wengang advised her, “Don’t panic. Didn’t you meet him today? There’ll be another chance next time.”

That evening’s episode felt like a regrettable little interlude. You Ying only sighed over it once or twice and did not really take it to heart.

After all, in the end, she had not really done much—just some physical labor. It was not as if she could claim credit and demand repayment.

Even if she had recognized Huang Yanhong that day, there was no guarantee the benefit she wanted would have come true—not to mention that she truly had not recognized him.

Who could she blame for that?

Unexpectedly, there was a twist.

During their Introduction to Economic Law class, after they had finished presenting the group assignment, You Ying received a notification from the faculty advisor telling her to attend a meeting.

When class ended, students streamed out of the lecture hall in a dark flood.

She pushed through the crowd and hurried toward the student activity center, only to see Huang Yanhong there again in the meeting room.

The old man was chatting and laughing with several school leaders. Chen Wengang sat to the side and smiled at her.

She understood immediately and went over to sit nearby.

The faculty advisor introduced her to the leaders. “This student, You Ying, is the current president of our student union.”

Huang Yanhong smiled with narrowed eyes and leaned over to shake her hand. “We’ve already met. She really is excellent.”

As it turned out, after returning home that day, Huang Yanhong had reflected and felt that donating books to welfare institutions was a meaningful act, so he proposed that the school hold a book donation event during graduation season. As a board member, his proposal was also very positive and could help promote the school’s image, so naturally the principal supported it.

The moment You Ying heard this, her mind moved fast.

This was more than heaven dropping a pie into her lap.

This was heaven personally chasing after her and trying to feed her.

The principal’s idea was to run the event once first. If the publicity effect was good, it could become one of the school’s traditions in the future, with graduating students donating their idle books every year. This year the books would go to local welfare organizations; next year they might be donated to more remote areas.

For the school, it was a good thing. For her, as the student union president, it was also something very worthy of a bold line on her résumé.

After the meeting, it was naturally decided that the matter would be handed over to the student union. You Ying accepted the task and set off.

Chen Wengang walked back with her. The two of them passed by the school’s artificial lake.

Suddenly You Ying heard Chen Wengang call her name.

When she turned around, he slipped her a business card.

She froze for a moment, then pressed down the corners of her mouth that were starting to lift. “Professor Huang’s?”

Chen Wengang looked at her expression and almost laughed too. “Mm. Good luck. He said if you ever need anything, you can contact him at any time.”

You Ying was delighted. “Don’t worry, I understand. This time I really do have to thank you.”

But as she held the card and kept looking at it, somehow she no longer felt quite so much like smiling.

She gave a small cough. “Actually… you’re not quite like I imagined.”

Chen Wengang laughed. “What kind of ‘not like’?”

You Ying said, “Maybe I subconsciously thought you didn’t seem like the kind of person who ‘likes meddling in other people’s business.’ Don’t misunderstand though—I mean that as a compliment.”

She put the card into her wallet, paused, and still said, “To be honest, before this I hadn’t completely avoided thinking it—how come you had the chance to get so familiar with Professor Huang? Having background really is lucky… But then you go and do something like this, and it makes me feel embarrassed.”

Chen Wengang only smiled. “He already likes dealing with students. The reason you were able to seize the opportunity is because you’re outstanding yourself.”

The two of them said goodbye beneath the student dormitory building.

You Ying took this matter very seriously. That very night she drafted an event proposal and submitted it to the faculty advisor.

Normally, student activities required time for approval. But because this one had the support of school leadership, the process was compressed to a very short period.

After all, every step had to be completed before summer arrived. If they waited much longer, the graduating students would all have left campus.

And so, in less than a week, the school’s various bulletin boards had already begun posting the first version of the “Graduation Season Book Donation Drive” poster.

The student activity center even set aside a dedicated classroom to temporarily serve as a simple warehouse.

On the first day of the donation event, You Ying naturally had to stay throughout the whole process and arrived early to prepare.

The faculty advisor was there overseeing things. School leaders and Huang Yanhong both came by. Campus media reporters carried cameras and snapped away nonstop.

The children’s foundation collaborating with the school sent over a representative named Ma Wen, a middle-aged man with a full beard. What surprised everyone was that Chen Wengang knew him very well too. The two chatted fluently as if they had known each other for years.

Watching from a distance, You Ying suddenly had a thought. No wonder he did not often socialize with other students or appear on campus much.

There was a kind of experienced maturity about Chen Wengang. Compared with the greenness of students, he seemed more like someone who had already been weathered by society. He had a lot of experience and knew many people. His network could not possibly be due only to the support of his background. It was obviously also because of the way he treated people and handled things.

She had no time to think further, because more students dragging suitcases full of donated books had arrived.

You Ying came back to herself.

The event had only recently been publicized, and although the number of students donating books that day had not reached the point of trampling down the threshold, there was still a steady flow of them, and it was lively enough.

But the work of receiving the books was much harder than imagined. You could not just toss them all into a pile at random.

The volunteers had to inspect each book one by one. Teaching materials were directed straight to the flea market for consignment sale. Other categories had to be checked for damage and missing pages. Only those in seventy to eighty percent condition or better were suitable for donation. Then they had to be checked, counted, registered by hand, and moved into storage.

At first, the students were still in the process of finding their rhythm, and things were rather chaotic.

After a while, the faculty advisor and the others left. Chen Wengang walked over. “Do you still have one of those vests?”

He meant the volunteers’ vests—the bright red ones worn over clothing to distinguish staff.

You Ying’s hand paused. She stared at him blankly for a moment. “There are some. Why do you want one… Are you going to help?”

Chen Wengang smiled and asked, “Would that be inconvenient? Because it looks like you don’t have quite enough people.”

“Not enough? We’re far from enough!” You Ying reacted quickly, agreed at once, and found a vest for him. “But the volunteers this time were selected from among student union members who signed up. Our members can count this toward social practice credits. But for you…”

She wanted to say she would do her best to help him fight for it too, but was not completely sure. In the end it would depend on what the school teachers thought.

Chen Wengang did not make things difficult. Smiling, he said, “It’s alright. I’ve already completed my social practice credits.”

So he was doing pure unpaid labor.

And for a person like that—of course the students could only welcome him enthusiastically. Boxes of books weighed like huge stones, and moving them around was exhausting physical work. To have one more diligent, conscientious, hard-working laborer was practically the kind of blessing people could only dream of.

For nearly a month after that, whenever Chen Wengang had time, he often worked with You Ying and the other student union members.

Actually, he had not needed to do any of this at all. Professor Huang and the school’s faculty advisor had spoken already. At most, Chen Wengang had only been entrusted with acting as an external liaison, coordinating with the institutions receiving the donations. No one could have said anything if he had refused to do the physical labor.

But Chen Wengang was willing to do it.

And he was used to doing it.

Sometimes, while wearing gloves and counting books, he would vaguely feel as if he were still in some warehouse of the Niansheng Foundation from his previous life.

Harley would sit nearby with his tongue hanging out, and with a single order from him the dog would turn around and fetch the registration form he needed in its mouth.

Many tabloids had said he was putting on a show. Even some of the foundation’s own employees had not fully understood him. They came up with a reasonable explanation among themselves and told new hires that the boss was leading by example.

Only Chen Wengang himself knew what it really was.

He was using work to numb himself.

This was the road he had found for himself. If a person never stopped moving, then there was no time to drown in sorrow and grief.

People always said time would take everything away. They also said time could make anything into a habit.

He had to find some way to “go on living well.”

After spending more time with him, this group of students gradually became familiar with him and relaxed around him. Chen Wengang was unexpectedly popular.

A few junior student union officers even ran over full of expectation and asked You Ying, “Is Senior Chen planning to join us?”

You Ying lifted her head from the forms and knowingly asked, “You want to chase him?”

The younger girls pushed each other around, giggling. “No, it’s just that he’s such a nice person. We want to recruit him into the organization.”

“Kids, let me remind you of one thing. Next year our whole cohort will be graduating. Who would join the student union only now?”

“Ah…” They dragged out their disappointment in a long whine. “That’s true…”

But You Ying could not quite bear it. “Still, your Senior Chen said he’ll stay at this school for graduate study. So it’s still possible for you to see him.”

Only then did the drooping little officers perk up like wilted grass being watered, full of new life.

Chen Wengang was satisfied with the state of his life now. At the very least, he was calm.

Even though Huo Niansheng had previously said he would give him the pocket watch, then deliberately kept him hanging and had not contacted him once in over a month.

Ever since that seven million had been smashed down, ever since the sky garden had given him that answer which was not really an answer, Chen Wengang had actually stopped feeling anxious.

Compared with the previous life, the time had not arrived yet. If Huo Niansheng was not ready to love him yet, then he could wait.

He had already waited ten years. One more month, two months, half a year—none of that was unacceptable.

Jincheng was Chen Wengang’s territory. Altogether, before and after, he had lived on this land for several decades. He knew every blade of grass and every tree on it. As long as Huo Niansheng remained safe and sound within this territory, his heart felt at ease.

This day, when Chen Wengang came to the student activity center, he had not even reached it yet when he saw a small group of younger students gathered at the entrance teasing a large dog.

The moment he saw that German Shepherd, he froze.

A younger girl immediately said, “Senior, don’t be scared. Xiaohei doesn’t bite.”

Another younger boy laughed. “Looks cool, right? But actually he’s super rowdy. He’s basically a husky wearing a German Shepherd’s skin.”

Chen Wengang walked closer and asked, “Whose is he?”

As it turned out, the dog belonged to a family member of a staff household living nearby, and they sometimes brought it onto campus on a leash for walks.

This large wolfdog called Xiaohei had all the body of a big dog, but a completely peace-loving personality. Supposedly, it once had the glorious record of being so frightened by a big white goose in the countryside that it broke free of its chain and ran wildly all over the village. It was also very affectionate and clingy, and students familiar with it regarded it as a campus mascot.

After receiving the owner’s permission, Chen Wengang went up and patted its head.

The German Shepherd raised its head with a happy pant and nudged his hand.

Chen Wengang crouched in front of it and stroked it, softly calling out a name in a volume no one else could hear.

“Harley.”

The dog opened its innocent eyes wide, rested its chin in his palm, and turned its pointed ears once or twice.

Naturally, there was no response at all.

Chen Wengang smiled and scratched under its chin.

Xiaohei narrowed its eyes in comfort, thoroughly enjoying the scratching, only to have the moment interrupted by the sudden vibration of Chen Wengang’s phone.

Chen Wengang yielded the dog-petting position to the other students, stepped aside from the crowd, and answered the call.

“Wengang, long time no see.” Huo Niansheng used his usual teasing tone to joke with him. “Do you still remember who I am?”

The sky was a clear, washed blue. Suddenly a bright shaft of sunlight struck his eyes.

Chen Wengang looked up. It turned out the light had reflected off the windows of the building opposite and fallen across his face.

Dazzled by it, his thoughts drifted. The smile still hung on his face, but his voice unconsciously carried a touch of longing.

He held the phone lightly to his ear. “Niansheng.”

He spoke the name with deep tenderness.

But the other side gave no reply, as though the signal had suddenly cut out.

Only the call timer on the screen kept ticking forward second by second.

After a long while, Huo Niansheng finally laughed softly. “For a second just now, I felt like I’d known you in a previous life.”

This time, it was Chen Wengang who could not speak.

Huo Niansheng said, “I mean it. You feel very familiar.”

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