Xin Hexue often took the green-skinned train south from Lingzhou City back to his maternal grandparents’ home in Licheng during summer vacations. However, this was the first time he traveled all the way north from Lingzhou City.
Not just him; for Lu Yang and Yu Zao, it was like target practice for new recruits and country folk entering the city. It was their first time.
Watching the scenery outside the window change from fish ponds, canals, and white walls with black tiles to rows of red-brick houses and wheat fields after the alternating light and dark of tunnels.
Only Lin Oufei, who had done it many times, reacted with indifference.
Seeing Xin Hexue’s curiosity, he explained, “My father has relatives in Beijing City. We often keep in touch and visit during holidays.”
Just mentioning the word “father” made him frown, a flicker of annoyance passing through his eyes, not concealed by his lowered lids. He never hid his dissatisfaction with his father, Zhou Taining, from Xin Hexue.
Although it was an express train, the journey from Lingzhou to Beijing City still took half a day and a night.
They departed in the evening and arrived at eight the next morning. Xin Hexue slept on the sleeper berth. When he woke up, they were close to the terminal station. He looked out the window and saw endless cornfields and rows of poplar trees lining the tracks.
This wasn’t an air-conditioned train; windows had to be open for ventilation in summer, and the smell of coal smoke mixed with the unfamiliar scent of the land rushed in.
“Beer, drinks, mineral water! Peanuts, melon seeds, eight-treasure porridge!”
The hawker’s cries were drowned in the bustling footsteps of passengers hurriedly passing by, stepping onto the city soil where they would live for the next four years.
They had gone back to school together to collect their admission notices.
Lin Oufei had signed a guaranteed admission agreement for Peking University’s Computer Science major. Lu Yang got into a sports college in the same city as Xin Hexue as he wished. Yu Zao, because of his mother’s obsession with prestigious universities, carefully picked a niche major, planning to figure out a way to transfer majors the following year.
The banner announcing Xin Hexue as the top science student was still hanging at the school gate. To everyone’s surprise, he chose Biotechnology as his major.
Compared to the most popular majors like Economics/Finance or the newly rising star of Engineering and Electronic Information, basic sciences seemed to be in decline. Of course, there was also the wind of “the 21st century is the century of biology” blowing strongly.
But these had little to do with Xin Hexue’s decision.
The good thing about the 21st century was that there were no apocalyptic threats, no rampaging demons and ghosts, and there was just the right amount of thriving technology. In this blissfully ordinary little world, Xin Hexue only planned to study a bit and incidentally have a few relationships to max out the stats.
Choosing what to learn based purely on interest was something he couldn’t do in the past. Just that was enough to make him feel satisfied and excited.
Perhaps heaven was playing matchmaker. Lin Oufei glanced up at the posted dormitory list. The Biology department was short on beds, so Xin Hexue was assigned to a dorm in the Computer Science department.
His and Xin Hexue’s names were listed in the same column.
Xin Hexue curved the corner of his lips, not hesitating to praise. [Gege, you’re really capable.]
Heavenly Matchmaker No. 1 K remained silent, only engaging in under-the-table operations.
Lin Oufei’s love value had stagnated, and clearly needed a little more fuel.
Xin Hexue’s thoughtful gaze swept over and landed lightly on Lin Oufei’s back.
………
The second day after moving into the dorm was the entrance ceremony.
The auditorium was bright and grand. The front rows held the leadership, followed by rows upon rows of seated freshmen.
At first, there were scattered whispers and chatter. After the university president took the stage to speak, it quieted down into an orderly scene.
Just as the words “Good morning, all teachers and students” finished, the crowd erupted in a wave-like applause. And it was precisely then that Xin Hexue noticed someone taking a call and walking out. Actually, it was hard not to notice, since that person walked out from the very first row.
After several speeches, Xin Hexue left his seat and stood by the steps waiting.
“Next, let’s welcome the freshman representative to speak.”
Xin Hexue took a folded paper from his trouser pocket. As he spread it out, his gaze sharpened…staring back at him was Luffy, who wanted to become the Pirate King.
When did Lu yang slip a page from a comic book into his pocket?
Only then did Xin Hexue realize he’d worn the wrong pants today. The speech draft he’d prepared on the train before coming to school was in another pair of pants. He just hastily felt something in the pocket earlier this morning and put them on.
Someone brushed past him on the aisle…it was the man who had gone out to take the call earlier.
His suit fit well, and his demeanor was elegant and noble. What caught attention first was his distinguished air, then his broad and tall build.
By coincidence, their eyes met for a moment. The man’s eyes swept over the comic, a faint hint of a smile seeming to flash in his phoenix eyes.
In a few steps, Xin Hexue was already standing on the stage, while the other man had retaken his seat in the first row. After exchanging a few words with the university president, he sat with fingers interlaced, appearing to listen attentively.
Xin Hexue’s expression remained composed. He simply folded the paper and put it away, then placed his hand on the microphone to adjust it. The next moment, his clear and melodious voice flowed out through the sound system.
He actually improvised a speech on the spot.
The clock tower struck for ten in the morning, and the timing was just right.
“That concludes my speech. Thank you all.”
After finishing his final words on stage, waves of applause erupted. He stepped down, but before returning to his seat, a teacher called him over, telling him to wait a moment after the ceremony ended.
After the ceremony ended, Xin Hexue waited briefly at the back of the auditorium, and a business card was handed to him.
He glanced at it.
The group named on it had been in the newspapers. Xin Hexue had heard about this honorary alumnus who had just donated fifty million yuan and a building to his alma mater this year.
“Jiang is my surname.” Jiang Heguang smiled, extending his hand. “I listened to your speech and was truly impressed. Each generation of juniors is more outstanding than the last.”
Xin Hexue’s voice was neither loud nor soft. “Mr. Jiang is young and accomplished, he is the role model we should learn from.”
After a simple handshake and pleasantries, Jiang Heguang went straight to the point. “To be honest, my younger brother is very mischievous, yet he yearns for the academic atmosphere of Peking University. He’s in his third year of high school now, and I’m worried about his grades, so I’d like to hire someone from among the current students to help identify and fill gaps…”
Seemed like grades even a donated building couldn’t fix.
It seems that even donating a building wouldn’t be enough to overlook the grades.
Xin Hexue understood.
Jiang Heguang said, “Six hundred for two sessions. Travel expenses will be reimbursed. You still have military training, right? How about a trial session next weekend?”
Xin Hexue wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the other party seemed to be focusing on examining his eyebrows and eyes.
A very high price.
The Xin family was now supporting two university students. Even if it was just to ease the family’s financial burden, Xin Hexue nodded.
“This weekend is fine.” Xin Hexue’s complexion was fair, and his lips were a light pink. “I have health issues, so I’m exempt from military training.”
Jiang Heguang smiled, his dark eyes deep. “No problem. My brother is shy. He doesn’t know yet that I’ve hired him a tutor. He needs some time to prepare himself mentally to meet the teacher. Let’s still set it for next weekend. Here’s the address. When you arrive, just give me a call and someone will bring you upstairs.”
………
Military training lasted almost two weeks, and Lu Yang hadn’t seen Xin Hexue for a full twelve days. His longing and anxiety flared up and he secretly called him from the balcony at night. Not long after, Xin Hexue said he needed to sleep. Lu Yang tossed and turned in bed anxiously all night, waking up the next morning with blisters in his mouth.
Fortunately, on Friday afternoon, just after the general dismissal, Lu Yang received a text from Xin Hexue.
Asking if he was free tonight and if he’d like to go stay at a hotel.
Lu Yang’s eyes widened. He carefully read it ten times forwards, then ten times backwards. His brain instantly steamed up like a steamship, the roots of his ears burning fiercely.
On Xin Hexue’s end, the bus he was waiting for arrived. He pressed send on the edited text message, sending it to the other party.
[Xin Hexue: I brought a box.]
Lu Yang nearly crashed into a telephone pole. Under his roommate’s strange gaze, he rushed back to the dormitory at the fastest speed of his life, took a very quick shower, and threw on a decent-looking t-shirt and jeans.
Hailing a taxi, Lu Yang typed with fumbling fingers.
[No need, no need, I already bought it a long time ago.]
‘Heh heh.’
The driver tapped on the window, calling back Lu Yang’s soul that had already flown ahead. “Where to in Beijing?”
Lu Yang recited the address from the text message.
Even when they met up and arrived at the hotel front desk, he still seemed in a daze, listening as Xin Hexue told the receptionist: “Standard room.”
Standard room. Two single beds. Weren’t they a bit narrow?
Lu Yang hesitated, as if wanting to say something but then stopped.
After entering the room, Xin Hexue tossed his backpack to him, lifted his thin eyelids, and asked, “What did you mean in your text about having bought it a long time ago?”
“Just… I prepared in advance…” Lu Yang’s mouth opened and closed. He held Xin Hexue’s backpack and watched Xin Hexue’s expression. “But if you have a preference, we can use what you bought.”
Classic ultra-thin, ribbed, or limited edition fruit flavor…
Lu Yang unzipped the backpack and suddenly tilted his head, yellow question marks seemingly materializing above it.
“What’s this?”
He pulled out a large, square, red tin box, emblazoned with carved yellow characters…it was a wife cake from a famous old brand.
Xin Hexue grabbed the bag back, spread out his textbooks, and said flatly, “Grandma sent them. Didn’t you say before you wanted to try pastries from Licheng?”
‘A box… meant this?’
Luyang mechanically chewed the wife cake. The flaky pastry wrapped around wintermelon paste filling, sweet but not cloying, yet it currently tasted like wax in his mouth.
Why were there no wives in wife cakes?
Why was he in a hotel room with Xin Hexue, while Xin Hexue was preparing lessons for some unknown brat?
“Don’t give people nicknames casually.” Xin Hexue didn’t even turn his head, having already caught Lu Yang, who had somehow voiced his thoughts aloud without realizing.
“Did I say that out loud just now?” Lu Yang was shocked.
No, but you can’t hide anything from the omniscient and omnipotent master.
“There are no wives in wife cakes, just like there are no husbands and wives in fuqi feipian (husband and wife lung slices). The school library is under renovation, and the dorm is too noisy with people,” Xin Hexue still had some patience, responding to everything. “It’s quiet here, and it was also a good chance to give you one of the boxes of pastries Grandma sent.”
He needed to prepare lessons, but he couldn’t understand which parts of these simple, basic concepts were difficult to grasp, so he needed a fool as a control subject for the experiment.
And so, Lu Yang ended up in the hotel room, eating wife-less wife cakes while incidentally reviewing high school knowledge points, his invisible tail no longer able to wag.
The control subject indeed proved useful. Xin Hexue efficiently prepared the next day’s lesson, calmly packed his books, and in a good mood, suddenly said, “The tutoring session is set for 1 PM tomorrow. I’ll come over at 12:30 then.”
Lu Yang looked at him intently.
The hair falling by his ear was dark and soft. Xin Hexue reached up and tucked it behind his ear, revealing a snow-white earlobe. His exquisite eyebrows and eyes lifted, and his gentle smile was as beautiful as spring flowers and autumn moonlight.
The tail end of his speech seemed to have a little hook, fishing as he asked Lu Yang, “And the thing you bought a long time ago? Did you bring it?”
