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Chapter 3: Xiao Ci
Xiao Ci.
This nickname even revealed a deliberately excessive and very annoying intimacy.
“…”
Yun Ci’s face immediately darkened.
He didn’t have time to think about why, in such a large school, the two of them could run into each other.
And why, when they did, would it be in such a stupid situation?
Was it because he didn’t check the almanac before leaving today?
No, it was because the school admitted a student with the surname Yu and had long become unclean.
The streetlight continued to change constantly, and suddenly, all the lights went dark, and when they lit up again, they started flickering. Like twinkling stars.
Zhou Wenyu patted Li Yan’s shoulder, “This scene looks familiar…”
Li Yan nodded, “Yeah, too familiar.”
Zhou Wenyu continued, his memories pulling him back to high school.
He recalled a scene.
The scene was a bit distant, probably a certain evening in the second year of high school, during self-study class.
Their high school self-study class was not strictly enforced. Those with daring hearts would sneak out, usually to the playground or the convenience store.
He wasn’t part of the daring group, but that day was purely coincidental. He took on a task to deliver something for the head teacher and happened to pass by the playground.
Before going, he thought it was just an ordinary errand.
Until he approached the playground and saw it crowded with people.
Dozens of people were standing on both sides, each side with about a dozen people.
There was an empty lane in the middle.
On the empty lane, a white dividing line was drawn.
……
He vaguely heard people from both groups speaking:
“What are we competing in?” someone asked.
“Basketball shooting,” Yun Ci’s voice came, “If I lose, don’t let me see you on the court for the whole week.”
Then came another voice, very unfamiliar. The person speaking was surrounded by others, standing at the forefront, the entire person engulfed by the lingering sunset glow. The voice was mocking, “What if I win?”
“I’ll make you meet me on the court every day. How about that?”
The scene gradually overlapped.
In the midst of the tense atmosphere, the cameraman broke the silence with a powerful word: “Uncle—?”
Yun Ci: “…”
Li Yan, watching from the side: “…”
All the dirty words that almost burst from Yun Ci’s mouth disappeared on their own, and he turned to look at the cameraman.
Cameraman: “What’s your relationship after all? I’m a bit confused. Aren’t you his uncle?” The cameraman pointed to the interviewee just now. “Then who is this person? Do you know him?”
Yun Ci: “Sort of.”
In certain specific contexts, a person’s mental state can sometimes be distorted to a certain extent. When speaking, he actually began to face the camera directly and continued, “Interview? Fine.”
“This person.”
Yun Ci paused for a moment, pointing to the opposite side. “Please give him a close-up shot; cut to him first.” The cameraman complied, and the lens cut to another person’s face.
Before he could marvel at how these two people’s faces could withstand such close-ups, he heard Yun Ci’s indifferent voice: “Yu Xun, searching for what’s sought after but never found.”
“Let me introduce him briefly—he’s currently single and sincerely seeking a partner.”
“…”
Yun Ci continued to speak with an ambiguous tone, luring back: “Just ask him directly for his phone number when you see him.”
“…”
Upon hearing this, there was another moment of silence.
Then Zhou Wenyu quietly asked, “Are you so sure he’s single?”
Li Yan also replied quietly, “With the level of attention they had for each other in high school, if one of them had a partner, they wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret. From Yu Xun’s exam scores to what he bought at the convenience store, my brother knows everything.”
Zhou Wenyu: “…”
The lights flickered.
Then, Yu Xun approached with a water bottle.
He walked up to Yun Ci. Sensing the person in front of him wanting to step back and create distance, he lifted a hand and forcibly rested it on Yun Ci’s shoulder, speaking as if they were very familiar, “I didn’t expect you to care so much about my emotional state.”
When the two stood together, there was a slight height difference. His hand wasn’t heavy on Yun Ci’s shoulder, but it was tense with a hint of pressure.
Yu Xun tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk playing on his lips, his eyes mischievous as he spoke, “You don’t have to secretly watch me like this.”
…
The moment Yu Xun approached, Yun Ci froze from head to toe. The air around them seemed to stiffen for a moment.
He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, “Who the hell is watching you?”
“Who?” Yu Xun said casually, “Maybe someone surnamed Yun.”
Yun Ci said coldly, “Someone surnamed Yu shouldn’t overthink it.”
“Is that so?” Yu Xun’s tone was lazy. “Then how does someone know I’m single?”
Yun Ci replied, “For someone like you who can’t find a partner, isn’t it normal?”
Yu Xun clicked his tongue and said, “If you’re going to pay attention to me, just pay attention. No need to make excuses.”
Yun Ci couldn’t be bothered to respond, “Just drop out of school.”
…
The camera kept switching back and forth between the two of them.
In just a few words, the tense atmosphere continued to escalate.
Even the most obtuse person could tell that these two were at odds.
Even though they were close together, it looked like they were restraining themselves from punching each other. Yun Ci even raised his hand with a stern face.
The cameraman couldn’t help but give them a close-up shot together.
Just then, Li Yan and Zhou Wenyu rushed into the scene. Each grabbed one of them and forcibly separated them before the battle began. Li Yan shouted, “Stay calm, you must stay calm, you’re all old classmates—”
“Prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony,” Li Yan held onto Yun Ci, “be rational.”
“I am rational.”
Yun Ci said, “…Let go.”
Li Yan was skeptical, “Why do I find it hard to believe you?”
Yun Ci replied, “Fighting deducts credits and will affect my final GPA.”
The implication was that this person wasn’t worth it.
Yu Xun, on the other hand, wasn’t being held back. Zhou Wenyu couldn’t hold on for more than two seconds before giving up, so he stood aside, looking like a bystander.
The other party even had the leisure to add on behalf of Yun Ci, “You don’t understand us at all. Even if we were to fight, we wouldn’t choose such a public place.”
“Do you see that gymnasium over there?” Yu Xun casually pointed, “We’d pick an empty room inside, bring some weapons, knives, sticks, whatever, lock the door, and have a brawl.”
Li Yan’s restraining hand paused slightly, “Really?”
They’ve known each other for so many years, and they’ve even shared meals and homework together, but Li Yan had never heard of this before.
Rationally, it seemed unlikely, but the way Yu Xun spoke made it sound plausible.
Li Yan turned his head, his yellow hair shining under the streetlights, hinting at his rebellious past. “Bro, back in Xi High, you were the class monitor, always telling me not to fight. I was doing pretty well on the streets… and here you are, fighting behind my back?”
Yun Ci: “Do you believe him?”
When did they ever do such things?
Knives and sticks? That sounds like a fight that would require calling an ambulance beforehand.
Li Yan: “Then why did you raise your hand? You made everyone so nervous!”
Yun Ci really wanted to punch someone this time. “How else would I shake off his hand?”
***
At 10:30 p.m., the lights in the dormitory went out.
All five members of Yun Ci’s dormitory had gathered. After a busy day of moving in and unpacking, everyone was exhausted. After the lights went out, there wasn’t even time for small talk. The guys originally wanted to have a “dormitory chat,” but the conversation quickly turned into snores.
Yun Ci couldn’t sleep, so he lay in bed scrolling through his phone. Whenever he closed his eyes, the evening’s events played like a loop in his mind.
In the end, it was Li Yan who dragged him away.
In several iterations of the looping scenes in his mind, he tried to recall his posture when being dragged away, hoping he hadn’t lost his composure and had left gracefully. And that unexpected student union involvement—would the video get out? After thinking it over, he realized his posture probably wasn’t as graceful as he hoped, and the video would likely be circulated.
He cursed under his breath.
Thinking about it only made it harder to sleep.
He lay on his bed, scrolling through his contacts until he found Li Yan, and typed out a message:
[Send me a copy of the school regulations, especially the section on dropping out.]
His WeChat profile picture was blank, so when he sent messages, it appeared as if there was no profile picture at all, blending into the background, which was quite unique. It was a random picture he used when he first applied for WeChat, and he had been too lazy to change it, eventually getting used to it.
As for his WeChat name, it was even simpler, just the initials “YC.”
Li Yan, a night owl, replied quickly: […Are you planning on making Yu Xun drop out?]
Li Yan: [That’s too ruthless, isn’t it?]
Li Yan: [Did you study law just to become an outlaw?]
Yun Ci: [Isn’t it possible that I’m the one considering dropping out?]
Li Yan: […]
Yun Ci’s bed was by the balcony, leaving a gap for the faint chirping of cicadas to filter in through the crack at night.
Li Yan: [Uncle, it’s not that serious, really. Besides, I think in such a big university, the chance of you two meeting once is already a miracle. If you’re lucky, you’ll only see each other this once, and you won’t meet again in the future.]
Yun Ci scanned these lines, and his phone suddenly vibrated.
The chat box labeled “Dad,” which he had ignored all day, popped up in an unmistakably insistent manner.
“Dad invites you to a voice call.”
He glanced at it, then propped himself up and climbed out of bed, stepping onto the balcony to take the call.
The call connected.
Yun Ci said, “Hello,” and immediately the voice on the other end said, “You still remember to answer the phone. I thought you went to college to disappear off the face of the earth.”
“Busy with stuff, a bit tied up.” Yun Ci replied as he quickly scrolled through the messages he hadn’t read during the day.
They were all documents.
There were notices for enrollment, semester planning, GPA requirements, introductions to professors in the law department, summaries of the eight major laws, and even the school regulations that he had just asked Li Yan for.
In short, it was very much his dad’s style of doing things.
Yun Ci said again, “Lao Yan, it’s the first day of school today. Aren’t you preparing your lessons tonight?”
His father, Yan Yue, known in education circles as Lao Yan, was the headmaster of the high school Yun Ci attended, Xi Cheng High School, abbreviated as Xi High.
Yan Yue: “The lessons have been prepared long ago. Have you looked at the documents I sent you?”
Yun Ci: “Yes, I’ve looked at them.”
Yan Yue’s tone turned serious: “Do you think I can’t see when you received the documents?”
Yun Ci leaned against the wall, admitting, “I just looked at them.”
Yan Yue: “Read them carefully. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me. Make sure your GPA meets the requirements. Don’t fall short.”
Yun Ci pondered the meaning behind “don’t fall short” and realized that he and his father had very different interpretations of those words. With a casual tone, he replied, “If you define it like that, sure.”
“Your military training starts tomorrow. It ends at half past six in the evening. Come out for dinner afterward. I’ve arranged for you to meet some professors and counselors from the Law Department of your university tomorrow.”
Yan Yue finished and emphasized, “Don’t be late.”
Since Yan Yue began talking about the teaching arrangements at Nanyang University, Yun Ci couldn’t help but zone out. The cicadas’ chirping grew clearer in his ears, and the tree shadows swayed back and forth, as if shaking their heads.
“Did you hear me?” Lao Yan said again.
What ultimately brought Yun Ci back was two words.
“Xiao Ci.”
Yan Yue called out to him.
This phrase, “Xiao Ci,” awakened his memories of the evening once again.
Yun Ci recalled a past related to this nickname.
It was during a holiday in high school.
His bedroom desk was by the window, but he was sitting on the bed eight hundred meters away, holding practice papers and a black pen, writing questions. He gave up the desk to another person, wearing the high school uniform, with a thin jaw and drooping eyelids.
Yu Xun’s features weren’t as extreme back in high school, but they showed clear signs of a trend—especially his eyes.
Outside, his father called from the kitchen, “Xiao Ci, ask Yu Xun what he wants for dinner tonight. I’m cooking tonight.”
“…”
In high school, Yun Ci was even thinner than now; his mouth seemed sewn shut, unable to utter a word.
In his mind, he wondered why Lao Yan always brought this person back home.
So what if he was his student? The headmaster brought many students home; why only pick on this one?
After a moment, Yun Ci reluctantly uttered two syllables: “You… he…” Dammit. If he wants something to eat, he can say it himself.
Finally, he swallowed the curse words and simply said, “Your ears shouldn’t be deaf, right?”
Yu Xun, at the desk, set down his pen.
As if knowing that Yun Ci was unwilling to ask and deliberately causing trouble, he said, seemingly pleased to make Yun Ci ask again before being satisfied, “I am a little deaf; I didn’t quite catch it.”
The pen in Yun Ci’s hand almost scratched the paper. “If you’re sick, go see a doctor.”
“How to say, do you have any recommended doctors?”
“…” Like hell he has.
Yun Ci fell silent.
“I won’t stay for dinner then.”
Yun Xun stood up. Even though his school uniform was stretched by his tall stature, it still looked empty, revealing the stiff and immature bone structure typical of adolescence. He then called out, “Xiao Ci.”
Yun Ci: “…”
Yun Xun seemed to find these two words very interesting, and with interest, he repeated, “Xiao Ci. Is that your nickname?”
After a while, Yun Ci took a deep breath. Then he turned his head and reported to the door, “Lao Yan, he’s not eating—”
“He says he doesn’t deserve to eat and plans to starve himself.”
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