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Chapter 8: The situation is irreconcilable.
In the following days, the instructor of Squad 2 asked Yun Ci to follow him on the side to lead the squad. After leading the squad for a whole day, he changed the address of Yun Ci directly from “that Yun kid” to “lame.”
“Lame, when can you start running laps?”
“Lame, what’s going on? Nowadays, young people have such poor physical fitness that they can even sprain while playing a ball.”
“You told me your basketball skills were decent, but how come you couldn’t beat that kid from Squad 1?”
Yun Ci stood beside Instructor Wang, enduring the scolding and saying nothing.
He had no qualifications to argue.
Until Instructor Wang unexpectedly said, “Did you always lose to him in high school?”
Unexpectedly, Yun Ci, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up as if recounting a familiar story: “In the first year of high school, I had one less victory; in the second year, I was three games ahead, and by the time we graduated from the third year, it was more or less a draw.”
“…”
Instructor Wang tentatively asked again, “So, who had better grades between the two of you?”
Yun Ci continued, “In the first monthly exam of the freshman year, my total score was higher than his…”
“Stop.”
Instructor Wang got a headache whenever he heard about scores, and from the looks of it, Yun Ci could indeed report every single exam result to him. “Alright, I have an idea. You two have always been neck and neck.”
When it was time for lunch, everyone queued up in the cafeteria with pale faces.
Yun Ci led the team to get their meals, and he was the last one to finish. The trendy guy waved to him and pointed to the empty seat deliberately left for him.
The boys at that table sighed when they saw him, “This food…”
“It’s really awful, squad leader.”
“We can’t survive like this.”
“If we keep eating this, I won’t make it through this half-month of military training.”
“Squad leader, do you know any way to buy instant noodles?”
“What can I do?” Yun Ci stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth, extinguishing their hopes. “Someone ordered takeout secretly last night, but it was intercepted. Hurry up and eat, then we’ll go back to line up. There’s a propaganda lecture this afternoon.”
Upon hearing this, everyone sighed disappointedly and continued to pick at their food in their meal boxes.
After taking a few bites, Yun Ci had to admit it.
The food was indeed hard to swallow, and he hadn’t been eating much these past few days.
After lunch, there was a propaganda lecture.
The main content of the lecture was patriotic education, and the school specially invited experts to give speeches in the auditorium.
Yun Ci sat with the trendy guy, asking him to help keep an eye on the teacher and the instructors.
Trendy guy: “What are you doing? Sleeping?”
Yun Ci: “Playing with my phone.”
Yun Ci wasn’t the type of squad leader who strictly adhered to discipline. If sleeping wasn’t so obvious and likely to get caught, he wouldn’t have minded sleeping either.
“Keep watch,” he said, tucking his phone under his military cap. “If everything goes smoothly, we’ll have instant noodles tonight.”
He had a lot of contacts on his list, so he started messaging his former classmates one by one. Soon, someone gave him some important information: [Class monitor, do you want instant noodles?]
Yun Ci: [Is there stock?]
The other person: [Someone has.]
Yun Ci: [Refer me to them.]
The person on the other end was obviously also sneakily using their phone, as there was a long interval between their responses.
After waiting for a while, Yun Ci received four numbers: [5210].
What’s this supposed to mean?
Yun Ci stared at the four numbers, completely puzzled.
He had no idea how these four digits could be related to instant noodles.
The other person: [The instructor just came by.]
The other person: [This is the dormitory number.]
The other person: [Building 5, Room 210. They sell instant noodles in their dormitory. Trading hours are from lights out until 1 a.m. Remember to knock using the secret trading code – three knocks, then say “Dage.” No contact information is given; they say it’s to avoid leaving evidence and for safety.]
Yun Ci: …
What does this all mean?
Yun Ci: [We can’t leave evidence, so should we bring cash? No transfers?]
The other person: [That’s right, class monitor, you got it.]
***
At night, after lights out.
The whole building was pitch black, with the hallway lights being motion-sensing, but the sensing time was extremely short, making one wonder if the school intentionally adjusted it to save electricity. Yun Ci and his dorm mates stealthily made their way through the intermittently lit hallway.
As they got closer to their destination, the trendy guy and the internet addict became increasingly cautious. They crouched down and crept forward, moving in small steps, as if they were thieves.
Only Yun Ci strolled leisurely behind them, standing upright.
He had taken a shower and was wearing a loose, thin coat. In his hand, he held his phone for illumination, the flashlight beam swaying with his movements.
“210, we’re here,” the trendy guy stopped, “should we just knock?”
Yun Ci raised his hand, shining the flashlight on the dormitory door plate.
This was the one.
Now here comes the problem.
Yun Ci waved his hand casually, “Who’s going to say the password?”
Trendy guy: “…”
Internet addict: “…”
Yun Ci leaned against the wall and said, “Don’t look at me; I’ve only been called ‘dage’ by others my whole life.”
The trendy guy closed his eyes for a moment, “For the sake of a mere cup of instant noodles, asking me to abandon my dignity—”
After opening his eyes, he said, “Okay, fine, I’ll do it!!!”
In the dim hallway, cautious knocking was followed by three faint repetitions of “dage, dage, dage.”
After a moment of waiting, the trendy guy asked, “Why isn’t there any response?”
Yun Ci: “Speak louder.”
“…”
The trendy guy took a deep breath, about to knock again, “Da—”
Just as Yun Ci was wondering if they had been deceived, the door opened.
The person inside was cautious, only poking their head out from the crack of the door, seemingly confirming their safety. After sizing them up for a while, they said, “Come in.”
Yun Ci was the last one to step inside.
The layout of the freshman dorms was the same, and there was no difference in furnishings compared to their dorm. After the lights were out, the room was pitch-black, with only a rechargeable desk lamp placed on the central table. The long table served as a makeshift shelf, neatly lined with rows of instant noodles.
Organized by flavor, there were rows of sour and spicy pickled cabbage, braised beef, and spicy beef, respectively.
Rather than focusing on the instant noodles, Yun Ci was more curious about who was selling them.
Through the light of the desk lamp, he saw several people scattered around the long table, playing games together. One of them had slightly long, curly hair tied back behind his head. There was a box at his feet filled with instant noodles that couldn’t fit on the table.
“Fifty yuan per bucket, no bargaining,” he stared fixedly at his phone screen, speaking with a hint of cunning, “Be careful when you eat them; don’t let the school catch you. And if you get caught, don’t mention that you bought them from me… How many buckets do you want?”
Upon hearing the voice, Yun Ci’s right eyelid twitched.
As the game ended, the person looked up and saw Yun Ci. “Holy crap!”
“Look who’s here; isn’t this my Ci-ge?” The guy called Liu Zi put down his phone, emphasizing the word “ge” in a strange tone, “Is Ci-ge here to buy instant noodles?”
Liu Zi’s appearance and voice matched his demeanor perfectly, giving him a naturally roguish look.
Back when they were at West High, he was often the subject of gossip, but more importantly, because of his other identity, he was close friends with Yu Xun to the extent of being inseparable.
Because the relationship between him and Yu Xun was not good.
Usually, when Liu Zi saw him, he’d just throw a couple of sarcastic remarks.
Today, however, he was making a big show of calling out to him, as if intentionally drawing other’s attention to take a look.
Sure enough, Liu Zi turned his head and exclaimed, “Yu-ge!”
Yun Ci: “…………”
Liu Zi looked toward the farthest corner.
The dormitory was too dark to see exactly how many people were there, and it was impossible to see the figure sitting in the corner.
Yu Xun was sitting furthest from the dormitory door, his figure obscured by the others. If Yun Ci hadn’t paid attention, he might not have noticed him. But once he did, he realized that Yu Xun was sitting with his legs crossed, one leg casually resting on another empty chair, in a rather arrogant posture – resembling the behind-the-scenes boss of this “mini mart” dormitory.
He casually shifted his gaze away from his phone screen, looking toward the door.
In the faint glow of the phone, Yun Ci locked eyes with him.
Yun Ci’s mind went blank for a moment.
Damn it.
He had a feeling of inexplicable familiarity with this strange instant noodle dormitory and the rule of knocking three times and saying “big brother” at the door.
Yu Xun: “Buying instant noodles?”
Yun Ci: “No.”
Yu Xun raised an eyebrow, as if asking, ‘Then why are you here?’
Yun Ci didn’t even realize that he didn’t need to specifically answer: “Just accompanying my roommate.”
The internet addict, unaware of the tension between them, asked, “Aren’t you hungry? Weren’t you just saying on the way here that you wanted to buy two buckets?”
“…”
“You must have misheard me.”
“I never eat junk food like this.” Yun Ci stood at the door, presenting a completely different demeanor compared to when he arrived, “I never have.”
Internet addict: “?”
As an informed party, the trendy guy tugged at the internet addict’s sleeve and said, “Shut up a bit.”
Otherwise, if Yun Ci suddenly got annoyed and dragged them out together, forbidding anyone from buying instant noodles from their dorm, their trip here would have been in vain.
Fortunately, Yun Ci didn’t seem to have that intention.
Whether his roommates bought them or not, it was not his place to interfere.
Liu Zi, on the other hand, almost jumped up from his chair and said, “What junk food did you just call it? Say it again and see what happens!”
Yun Ci’s tone remained unchanged, “Junk food.”
If Liu Zi had a chain around his neck, it would almost be choking him by now, “This damn stuff is the pride of military training! How many people rely on my instant noodles because they can’t get enough to eat?”
Yun Ci: “Oh, junk.”
…
On the other hand, Yu Xun leaned against the chair armrest, tilting his head and calling out, “Liu Zi.”
Liu Zi instantly quieted down.
“It’s almost time,” Yu Xun glanced at the time and said.
Liu Zi complied, “Oh.”
“Are you buying or not?” Liu Zi asked, turning his head. “If you don’t buy, I’ll have to close up this junk food store.”
“Oh, by the way, do you need it cooked for you?” Liu Zi added, pulling out a transformer and a small pot from his luggage. “Cooking service costs an additional 30 yuan.”
The transformer was palm-sized, white, and square.
It was one of the prohibited devices that students were not allowed to use privately in their dormitories. For the safety of the students, the school restricted the voltage and prohibited the use of any high-power appliances, but the voltage could be adjusted through transformers.
“…”
Quite a wide range of operations.
The trendy guy and the internet addict waved their hands in refusal, quickly grabbed a few buckets, paid, and turned around to find Yun Ci, who had been leaning against the door, nowhere to be seen.
Where did he go?
It was surprisingly Yu Xun who answered their question: “He’s outside, probably squatting at the entrance of the stairs.”
Yun Ci was indeed squatting on the staircase, waiting for them.
As the motion-sensing lights dimmed, he sat quietly there, absent-mindedly pressing the power button on his phone, causing the screen to flash on and off.
He couldn’t stand being in that dormitory for even a moment.
Who would have thought that Liu Zi was selling the noodles, let alone that Yu Xun and Liu Zi were roommates.
Damn it, there had to be a limit to a person’s bad luck.
As Yun Ci was thinking this, the trendy guy and the internet addict came out cautiously and said, “You’re really here.”
Yun Ci: “?”
Trendy guy: “That guy Yu said you’d definitely be squatting at the staircase entrance waiting for us; I didn’t expect him to guess right.”
Yun Ci’s expression cracked a little.
The trendy guy sighed, “Isn’t this the old saying? Sometimes the person who knows you best isn’t your best friend.”
“Did you finish buying?” Yun Ci couldn’t hold back, “If you’re done, let’s go.”
The trendy guy continued the second half of the sentence with a sigh, “But your enemy—”
“Damn it.”
Yun Ci squatted down and ran a hand through his hair, his emotions unstable as he warned him, “I may not usually get into fights, but that doesn’t mean I won’t.”
The trendy guy: “Okay. I’ll shut up.”
The trendy guy’s mouth may have shut, but he handed two buckets of instant noodles to Yun Ci.
Yun Ci didn’t understand his intention.
“This is for you.”
The trendy guy explained, “That guy Yu said they had a promotion, buy six get two free, and before we left, they also gave us two more buckets.”
Yun Ci looked at the two buckets of instant noodles.
Suddenly, he recalled the moment he accidentally locked eyes with Yu Xun earlier.
The dormitory was too personal a space.
He had never seen Yu Xun’s private side in the dorm before. Yu Xun was wearing a black T-shirt, standing behind Liu Zi, his expression calm as he looked at his phone.
“Two buckets of instant noodles!”
“Why should we give them to him?!”
Liu Zi yelled in the dorm, “We never do promotions! Think about how embarrassed I am hiding the noodles; think about the pressure I’m under! Fifty yuan per bucket is already cheap enough.”
Yu Xun hadn’t spoken yet, but Liu Zi realized it himself: “I get it.”
“—This isn’t a gift, but a charity.”
The more Liu Zi thought about it, the more he believed it: “Yun Ci must be fuming holding those two buckets of instant noodles right now. This advantage is on our side.”
Yu Xun lowered his eyes; the dormitory lights were dim, making it hard to discern his expression.
When he didn’t smile, the mole at the corner of his eye didn’t appear alluring but rather restrained.
After a while, he put away his phone without commenting, “Put the stuff away.”
Liu Zi packed up quickly.
Ten minutes later, the dormitory returned to quietness, and everyone lay on their beds.
Before falling asleep, Liu Zi recorded some expenses, then couldn’t help but say, “Yun Ci is also at Nanyang University now.”
He added, “These four years at the university are going to be lively now.”
To be fair, he also didn’t get along with Yun Ci.
But that kind of discord, in reality, didn’t have any real malice behind it; it was just the typical competitiveness of youth, where everyone defied each other and did childish things to each other.
In the quiet and melancholic night, Liu Zi couldn’t help but reminisce about the past, “How did you two end up as enemies? Oh, it was right at the beginning of freshman year. There was this person who kept sending you weird messages and disgusting pictures, claiming to like you, watching your every move, knowing where you were going, what you were eating, and what you were doing. Even after changing your phone number, it was useless.”
“We searched for him all day, spent over a month trying to track him down, but couldn’t catch him—then this kid pops out, saying he wants to be friends with you.”
“And he even brought gifts.”
“What did he bring, a snack gift basket?”
“It’s quite presumptuous,” Liu Zi said, “hard not to make people think.”
There was a moment of silence in the dorm.
Then came Yu Xun’s typically casual and light voice, “Water.”
Liu Zi: “What water? You want some water?”
Yu Xun: “He brought water.”
Liu Zi couldn’t even remember if it was water or snacks.
Who would remember such trivial details?
As for why Yu-ge remembered, Liu Zi didn’t dwell on it. He guessed it was probably just the exceptional memory that enemies sometimes had.
“I’ll cook some instant noodles,” Liu Zi got up from his bed after a while of lying down and said, “I’ll go get the transformer.”
It was already late at night, and the dormitory gradually fell silent.
Liu Zi was downstairs, cooking noodles. The small pot of water was boiling with a soft sound, mixed with the chirping of cicadas outside. Yu Xun closed his eyes, and in his mind, he saw the plane tree outside the high school classroom window.
The shadows of the plane tree swayed gracefully, and occasionally the sound of reading aloud drifted from the corridor.
“Yu-ge!” Liu Zi from high school didn’t have hair as long as he does now; there was a time when he was ordered by Yan Yue not to grow his hair out. “That kid sent you harassing photos again.”
“It’s Yun Ci, right? How about during the break later, we go and confront him again?”
Yu Xun was sitting in the last row, and when he received the photos, he glanced at them and suddenly asked, “Does that guy named Yun Ci have ear piercings?”
In one of the photos sent this time, the other person’s ear was visible, with a barely noticeable ear piercing.
Liu Zi: “I don’t know. We can drag him out and check him thoroughly later.”
Yu Xun: “How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t be so rude in your actions; be civilized.”
Liu Zi: “I reflected on it.”
Yu Xun: “Hmm, just pin him against the wall.”
Liu Zi: “…” Was that considered civilized?
Their plan to confront Yun Ci was interrupted by three days of exams. During the exams, the atmosphere in the entire West High School Building 1 was extremely quiet under the strict control of Yan Yue.
Even during breaks, there weren’t many people in the corridors, making it unsuitable for “confronting someone in the open.”
After the exams, the person they wanted to find came to them instead.
The day after the exam results were released, during break time.
The door of Class 7 suddenly opened, and people started streaming in one after another, about ten or so, all boys. This gathering looked like the entire class’s boys were mobilized.
This group of people crowded into the whole of Class 7.
The person at the front was easily recognizable, the Class 1 monitor, Yun Ci.
Yu Xun had just flipped over half of the papers in his hand when he saw a hand appear in his line of sight, holding a piece of paper that seemed light, but the force with which it was slapped onto his desk was heavy.
“Pa—”
The teenager was dressed in a school uniform, with what appeared to be either the reflection of eyelashes or a hint of dark circles from staying up late visible under his eyes, which drooped downwards without expression.
It was a deliberately printed out report card.
The positions of the first and second places were marked in red, with Yun Ci in first place and Yu Xun in second place.
The difference in scores was three points.
Liu Zi, who was sitting next to him, had been dozing off, but upon hearing the sound, he suddenly woke up and leaned forward: “What’s going on? Why are there so many people? Are you guys fighting?”
Yun Ci released his grip, his hand sliding into his pocket, his expression cold: “Sorry, I’m not interested in someone who can only come in second place.”
“From today on, between you and me…”
Yun Ci paused for a moment, feeling a bit embarrassed himself, but he managed to finish the prepared lines with determination, “…there is no room for reconciliation.”
After Yun Ci finished speaking, Liu Zi took the lead, and all the boys from Class 1 of the first year also stood up. They believed that if other classes were bringing people over to pick a fight, their class couldn’t afford to lose face, so they stood behind Yu Xun in several rows, forming a queue.
“Are you guys from Class 1 sick?”
“So many people—what’s the meaning of this? Want to fight?”
“What’s up, you want to take action?”
“Alright then, from now on, the people from our Class 7 and your Class 1 will be enemies forever!”
“…”
The two groups of people started quarreling in the classroom, exchanging heated words.
Outside the window, the plane trees rustled, and sunlight streamed into the classroom. Yu Xun leaned back slightly, adopting a casual posture and holding a pen between his fingers. He lifted his eyes and met Yun Ci’s gaze.
The sunlight fell on the teenager, and Yu Xun looked at him for a moment before his gaze involuntarily fell on his earlobe.
Clean.
No piercings.
He belatedly realized that this was a misunderstanding, but the situation had unexpectedly escalated to this point, making reconciliation seem unlikely.
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