Early the next morning, a shout erupted from the upper bunk: “Damn!”
Wang Zhuang sprang up from his bed, hastily putting on clothes. “I forgot I have a class this morning—there are only five minutes left until the teacher comes to take attendance. What should I do, guys?”
Luo Sifang watched him from below. “Now, let’s enjoy the daily routine of a contemporary male college student rushing to an 8 a.m. class, showcasing the unique skill of putting on pants while climbing a ladder. Be careful, Zhuang, you’re almost airborne; don’t step on the pants legs.”
Yun Ci sat at the long table, twirling a pen in his hand, and coldly echoed, “Stepping on them would be fine.”
“It could get you sick leave,” he said, “Reason for leave: fracture.”
“……”
Wang Zhuang held up his trendy drop-crotch pants in despair, “Can’t you guys offer some constructive advice?”
Yu Xun wasn’t sitting at the table. He was curled up, keeping some distance from Yun Ci, sitting on the edge of the bed, reading a book. Yun Ci had no class, and being in the same major but in a different class, neither did he.
His study methods were completely different from Yun Ci’s; he wasn’t the type to constantly cram. Just like in high school, he worked part-time, slept in class, played basketball, and fooled around after school, but he would highly concentrate on organizing his study content during certain periods.
These certain periods were either during his free time or right before exams.
Right now, it was the former.
“I have a constructive suggestion. It’s not impossible to create a miracle in five minutes,” he said.
Wang Zhuang: “What do you mean?”
Yu Xun: “Call me ‘dage’ and I’ll tell you.”
Wang Zhuang couldn’t help but recall the three times he had called ‘dage’ when buying instant noodles during military training: “…Dage. By the way, were you the one who set that code for your dorm back then? Was it you?”
Yu Xun avoided the topic of the code, “Let’s not bring up old debts.”
Wang Zhuang: “But this involves my dignity.”
Yu Xun glanced at the time and said, “You only have four minutes left, Zhuang.”
Wang Zhuang: “Dage.”
He added, “Is one time enough? If not, I can call three times like before.”
“No need,” Yu Xun propped his head up and gave his constructive suggestion, “Young Master Peng is attending class for love. His classroom is close to yours, let him help you answer the roll call.”
Peng Yiyuan expressed his disapproval in the class group chat: [But when I get back to class, I’ll be late.]
Wang Zhuang: [Don’t worry, Yu-ge has considered that. He said, ‘What’s more attention-grabbing than being late, walking into the classroom, and having everyone’s eyes on you?’]
Peng Yiyuan: […]
Such a malicious thought. But he was tempted.
Wang Zhuang: [You have to lose a child to catch a wolf, Young Master Peng! It’s time to test your love!]
Peng Yiyuan: [I! I! I’m going!]
Yun Ci, who witnessed the whole process, rubbed his forehead, both crying and laughing.
What an idiot!
But on second thought, it really matched Yu Xun’s crazy logic.
After Yu Xun finished speaking, he lightly raised his hand to his lips, as if to cough.
Although Yun Ci was not sitting close, he still caught the sound and looked up from his book.
The textbook in Yu Xun’s hand was casually spread on his leg. His elbow was resting on his other leg, and he was holding a pen between his fingers. His eyes were half-closed as if he were very tired.
Maybe he hadn’t fully woken up; the redness at the corner of his eyes hadn’t faded. But his face looked a bit pale.
After that message on WeChat last night, the conversation had gone silent.
Until this morning.
The black profile picture received a reply but didn’t message back.
Yun Ci lowered his head and continued reading, thinking it was normal not to receive a message. Did he really expect this person to message him?
He should be happy that his WeChat was finally quiet.
After a while, his phone on the side vibrated.
Yun Ci swiped open his phone and glanced at the red notification dot.
Li Yan.
[Let’s have lunch together. Zhou Wenyu is treating us because he just broke up.]
Yun Ci replied with a question mark and an “Okay.”
The question mark was for the second part of the message.
At noon, in the cafeteria of Nanyang University.
“What happened?” Yun Ci got his food, put away his campus card, and sat down in an empty seat next to them. “Just a few days and you’re already broken up? That’s fast.”
Yun Ci often said some cold, ruthless truths in an icy tone that showed his concern.
Zhou Wenyu clutched his pained chest: “We just started dating, and I found out she hadn’t fully broken up with her high school boyfriend, so we broke up.”
“……”
Li Yan expressed understanding: “I totally get you. It’s tough dealing with this kind of situation. I hope treating us to a meal will ease your sadness. If one meal isn’t enough, I can let you treat me again tomorrow. If two meals still aren’t enough, I’ll make a bigger sacrifice and let you treat me for the entire semester!”
In college, where romantic freedom was common, it wasn’t rare for campus couples to either quickly pair up or break up.
Zhou Wenyu felt his heartache extend to his wallet, “Thanks, are you really comforting me?”
Li Yan: “Genuine comfort.”
Zhou Wenyu: “…That idiom sounds really strange the way you use it.”
Li Yan: “You can’t have a stereotype about me just because I’m not good at Chinese.”
Speaking of being bad at Chinese, Zhou Wenyu had something to say: “Last time, I still had to write your self-criticism for you, even though I wasn’t involved in your fight.”
Li Yan sighed and patted Zhou Wenyu’s shoulder: “That was to make you feel included. We’re all brothers; we face difficulties together.”
In a few words from his mischievous friends, Zhou Wenyu’s heartache from the breakup was significantly intensified: “Thanks a lot.”
Li Yan: “You’re welcome.”
Yun Ci didn’t say anything. He was focused on eating, and his bowl was almost empty.
Zhou Wenyu: “You’d be better off being like Ci-ge, quietly eating and saying less, giving silent support to your brothers.”
Li Yan couldn’t bear to burst his bubble: “—From what I know of him, he’s probably just focused on eating and isn’t silently supporting you.”
Zhou Wenyu: “…”
“Not sure what to say,” Yun Ci had almost finished eating. He wiped his hands with a wet napkin and finally said, “It’s over, so mourn.”
Li Yan wore an expression of “I told you so”: “You can’t expect someone who spent three years in high school under his father’s strict control, focused on being the top of the grade, no, strictly speaking, focused on competing with Yu Xun for the top spot, and didn’t even know what a first love was, to talk to you about your emotional issues. For him, graduating from college without being single would be a miracle.”
Yun Ci was inexplicably pricked: “? What about me?”
Li Yan looked at him and shook his head.
Li Yan remembered that after getting a bit closer to Yun Ci in high school, a girl from the neighboring class once asked him to deliver a love letter to Yun Ci. The next day, he couldn’t help but be curious about Yun Ci’s response.
It turned out that this newly acquainted friend of his finished solving a problem, looked up, and asked him: “Love letter?”
“?
“A white envelope, no name. The student council had some materials for me. The timing was a bit coincidental.”
“So where’s the love letter now—”
“Oh, Mr. Yan took it.”
“…”
Most people would be embarrassed if their parents found out.
But his brother was directly caught by the dean himself. Since then, he had no further curiosity about Yun Ci’s personal emotional issues.
Zhou Wenyu also only heard a bit about Yun Ci and Yan Yue’s relationship after starting college: “I really didn’t expect Dean Yan to be your dad.”
As he spoke, he shivered: “If my dad were the school dean, I definitely wouldn’t survive. Not to mention three years, I’d go crazy in three days.”
Yun Ci didn’t say anything, seemingly indifferent to others talking about him and Yan Yue. He finished wiping his hands, and by then, Li Yan had already changed the topic 180 degrees, saying, “Damn, why do I see Liu Zi?”
The Nanyang University cafeteria had several floors. They were on the third floor, in a corner with only three or four rows of tables and fewer people. So, among the crowd, two figures carrying trays stood out as they turned the corner.
Liu Zi noticed them too: “…”
But it wasn’t appropriate to turn around and leave at that moment.
The two sides were rivals, and they couldn’t show any sign of fear.
Even if they arrived later, they could still display the momentum and confidence of a late arrival!
“Yu-ge,” Liu Zi didn’t stop walking. He walked over to their table and said while putting down his tray, “We’ll sit here!”
Yu Xun walked behind him.
He seemed indifferent to where he sat, still carrying that drowsy look from the morning. He had a scarf around his neck, just covering his chin, a white one, the same one from last night.
The same scarf he had worn last night.
Yun Ci had finished wiping his hands and was collecting the disposable chopsticks when he accidentally broke one with a “crack.”
Li Yan and Zhou Wenyu, sitting on either side of him, each held one of his hands: “Calm down! Don’t start a fight yet!”
Yun Ci: “…”
Li Yan: “We’ve got the upper hand with numbers; we’ve got this in the bag.”
Zhou Wenyu: “That’s right. Three against two. We need to stay calm.”
Yun Ci didn’t know what to say: “…Let go.”
Li Yan: “No way. I’m afraid if I let go, the next thing to break won’t be the chopsticks but Yu’s nose.”
“…”
Yun Ci helplessly explained, “I wasn’t going to fight.”
Li Yan: “I know. You’ve been very restrained, not starting a fight right away, just breaking the chopsticks.”
Even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn’t be able to clear his name.
Yun Ci put down the accidentally broken disposable chopsticks and resigned himself to silence.
Their table wasn’t far from Yu Xun’s.
From Liu Zi’s perspective, it looked like a prelude to a fight.
“Why do I hear them saying something,” Liu Zi stared at the activity across from them while eating, “…about breaking your nose.”
Yu Xun didn’t react much. He took off his scarf and carefully folded it into a neat square, placing it on the empty seat next to him.
Liu Zi: “And they said three against two, directly starting a fight.”
“Pretty arrogant of them.”
After folding the scarf, Yu Xun made a move. He broke his chopsticks and started eating, his voice a bit hoarse: “You heard wrong.”
Liu Zi: “I clearly heard your name and nose.”
Yu Xun was indifferent: “Oh, maybe they envy my high nose bridge. Eat your meal.”
“…”
Liu Zi was skeptical. He shoveled a mouthful of rice, his other hand resting on the table, fingers clenched into a fist, ready at any moment: “I definitely didn’t hear wrong about three against two. They’re waiting for the right moment to strike.”
On the other side, Li Yan released Yun Ci’s hand, looking like he wanted to roll up his sleeves: “Damn, what’s Liu Zi muttering about over there? Waiting for the right moment to strike. They’re coming straight at us.”
Yun Ci: “…”
This world is hopeless.
He had fought with Yu Xun like this back in high school, and it was hard to change people’s perceptions now.
They were separated by just one row of tables and an aisle, and even the sound of their conversation could be vaguely heard.
He wasn’t that familiar with Yu Xun. The black avatar had once told him what he liked and disliked to eat and his dietary restrictions, but eating together was something that only happened during group activities or when they happened to be in the dorm and pressed for time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t happen between the two of them.
Yun Ci thought about the WeChat conversation from last night that didn’t continue and wondered if, given their current relationship, he should go over and say hello to Yu Xun.
In the past, Yu Xun was always the one to initiate. Now that this person wasn’t as proactive, he found himself confused.
…Forget it.
Yun Ci finally thought, even if he went over to say hello now, Liu Zi would only see it as a provocation.
So, seeing that Li Yan and Zhou Wenyu had almost finished eating, Yun Ci picked up his tray and said, “Let’s go when you’re done.”
As he passed Liu Zi’s table, he made eye contact with Liu Zi, who surprisingly started to smile.
The smile sent a chill down Yun Ci’s spine.
After they left, Liu Zi put away his smile and asked, “How was that? Polite enough?”
Yu Xun was silent for a moment and then said, “Don’t be polite. Just be normal.”
*
In the afternoon, the two law classes had two big lectures back-to-back. Yu Xun curled up in the back of the classroom and slept through both classes, being called out several times: “Absent for exams, late to class, sleeping during lectures.”
“I don’t need to name who I’m talking about, right?”
The whole room was silent.
“What were you doing last night? The dorms cut off power at curfew, but nothing seems to stop you from engaging in your activities,” the legal history teacher said. “The one sleeping, get up and tell me, where did I leave off?”
Yu Xun propped up his head and barely sat up straight: “You left off at the ‘Six Codes System,’ declaring the basic completion of the modernization of Chinese law.”
“…”
He indicated that he was only lying down but not really asleep and added: “Five minutes ago, you went off-topic about your daughter getting into the top ten of her grade, and her birthday coming up, not knowing what to get her. I think for a girl, you could get a stuffed toy.”
As Yu Xun spoke, the atmosphere in the classroom lightened, and others couldn’t help but laugh.
The legal history teacher was also amused: “Sit up straight and listen properly. If I catch you again next class, you’ll have to stand for the whole session.”
Yu Xun indicated no problem.
But with each sentence he spoke, his voice sounded hoarser than before. He replied in a raspy voice: “Understood.”
Yun Ci, looking at his book, thought about the scarf and open coat from last night.
And the cough from this morning.
…
This person who claimed to be in excellent health might have caught a cold.
In the evening, in dorm 608.
Yun Ci carried half a box of fruit into Li Yan’s dorm, pushing the door open. The dorm was unusually quiet, without the usual sounds of the internet addict Luo Sifang playing games.
He remembered that apart from their law major, the other dorm mates had evening classes.
He put the fruit on the table, planning to share it with his roommates later. As he walked past the lower bunk, he noticed that someone was actually on Yu Xun’s bed. He was covered with a blanket, his thick dark hair messily covering his face.
Yun Ci stood by his bed for two seconds, initially intending to walk past, but finally, he stopped with his hands in his pockets and called out, “Hey, Mr. ‘I’m always healthy’.”
“…”
No response.
Yun Ci changed his approach and called again, “Hey.”
No response.
“Surnamed Yu.”
Still no response.
He paused for two seconds and finally called out, “Yu Xun.”
This time the person on the bed moved a little, then opened his eyes to a slit and responded with a voice hoarse beyond belief.
“Got a cold?” Yun Ci asked, then worried it might be more than just a cold, “Is your forehead hot?”
Yu Xun opened his mouth and managed to make a sound: “Don’t know, can’t feel it.”
…
Is it that hard to feel?
Yun Ci stood there for a long while, then awkwardly and irritably, as if about to start a fight, bent down—his hand stopped in front of Yu Xun’s eyes. Although the posture was quite forceful, he didn’t directly touch him.
Then he lightly pressed the back of his hand to Yu Xun’s forehead.
His temperature was burning hot.
