Volume 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)
The 3 days reporting period for the freshmen starts today till the day after, He Nuo could be considered the first batch of students, so with the senior’s guidance he found his dormitory. He Nuo looked around, there were eight beds divided onto both sides of the room with four upper and lower bunk beds. In the middle was eight desks and chairs, on top of the desks stood eight thermos flasks in a straight line. There were four cabinets clamped between each side of the four beds, eight new bright blue basins were placed on the basin rack beside the door, and next to it was a broom and a mop complete with everything else. He Nuo’s name was affixed to the lower bunk facing away from the door. After the senior simply pointed out the pantry1 and the location of the campus snack shop, he left to go prepare the welcoming of freshmen again. He Nuo went to the dorms office and brought back bedsheets, blankets and other related items.
After putting away everything, He Nuo felt hungry. He missed the chance to eat while waiting at the railway station at noon, and only heard his stomach protest in hunger now. He Nuo exited the dorm building and walked towards the snack bar where there were almost no students. He Nuo bought an insulated lunch box2 and other necessities he needed. The shop was small, so the prices were not displayed. After asking for the prices of similar items, He Nuo chose the cheapest to buy and was a bit embarrassed for the trouble he caused. On the contrary, the shopkeeper did not mind and chatted with him enthusiastically. During the conversation, he was very proud of ‘A’ University and painted a bright future for He Nuo.
When the shopkeeper inquired that He Nuo’s family had eight sons, he raised his thumb in admiration for He Nuo’s father saying that he had good fortune repeatedly. He then immediately understood why He Nuo was dressed in extremely simple clothes on the day for reporting to school. Seeing that He Nuo was not too well-off, the shopkeeper kindly told He Nuo that there is a nationwide well-known large wholesale market in this city. From food to clothes, there is a wide variety and a lot of them are factory outlets, so the prices are very cheap. A lot of things from the shopping malls and his own store came from there. If He Nuo went to buy them, though it is retail price, it is still cheaper than the price outside by half. He Nuo felt that this news was more practical and had value so he gratefully took down the bus number.
Before dinner time, He Nuo’s first roommate, Shi Hao appeared. As the first person to arrive, He Nuo told Shi Hao what he knew and understood from during the day. He brought him to get hot water and to buy food from the canteen. At night, the both of them who had nothing to do toured the Haoyue campus. In the quiet night, the verdant and lush greenery from the day turned into mottled dark shadows. The two new freshmen took a leisure stroll in high spirits, with the help of the soft streetlights. Below He Nuo’s dorm window were two volleyball courts and a basketball court, and alongside the left and right of the courts are the main road of the campus, surrounding a garden with flowing ponds.
Towards water flowing beneath a bridge, being before flowers and under the moon3, guys still have a lack of interest in such stuff. They gave up going through the garden, choosing to cross the periphery without taking up extra trouble. Along the way, they found a football field that was big enough and was in good condition, two old school halls, an indoor gymnasium and an outdoor gymnasium. On the way back to the garden, behind was a library and laboratory buildings… On the steps of the library were Guo Xiao and Ke Rulei, who had already finished their tour. These two’s dorm was opposite of He Nuo’s, in the third dormitory building and was on the fourth floor so they got together first. They pulled onto He Nuo and his dormmates, telling them that they have already finished walking around half of the school campus already and that they can continue tomorrow. The main thing is to play perfect4 together. The four of them sat under the moonlight, talking about their achievements5. As He Nuo listened, he kept smiling despite not talking much. For him, this was already the first big step in his transformation.
The second day was a Saturday, and there were a lot of students who arrived at school on this day. Probably with exceptions for people who live in this city and the surrounding areas, all the freshmen chose this day to report because this way they can recover from the fatigue gained from the long journey on Sunday. As stated in the admission notice, the Military training starts on Monday. The other people in He Nuo’s dorm all appeared, even though one of them was a local, he also came in early to complete the admission procedures. After putting everything in place, he went back home in the evening. These eight different lads were sorted out according to customs, seeing who was the oldest and who was the youngest6. He Nuo not only did not get an advantage in age for repeating a year, but he was quite far away from the oldest position – being Lao Wu7. The oldest and second oldest before him also repeated a year.
In the evening, the deputy dean accompanied by the freshmen counsellors and Student Council leaders visited every freshmen dorm room. For these newborn calves who have yet to experience his wrath, hearing that he was also a well-known professor who also teaches undergraduates concurrently, all listened to his preaching with admiration and worship. Of course, they found out afterwards that the widely known professor gave lectures even though he shuttles back and forth. This kind of fawning gradually turned into calm acceptance.
In that short moment during the conversation between teachers and students, the Student Council President Li Mingqi pulled He Nuo over to introduce him to the counsellor. And the counsellor who already knows of He Nuo’s reputation talked to him as if he was a senior. After the Military training, everyone then knew that the counsellor stayed back in school that year he graduated, and he’s essentially still a student.
Even lights out could not stop everybody from talking at once. Every person who was excited and expectant all had a bunch of thoughts that they wanted to share with everyone. There were many painful memories of senior year, reminiscing about their high school buddies, with the addition of a history where they worried over new slangs which incited the others to sigh. In He Nuo’s eyes, everyone seemed to be at the height of their youth and vigour. He only wished to be the same like them, walking under the light with light steps and having a bright smile.
“You can do the same, you’re already under the light.” He Nuo slept peacefully as he encouraged himself.
Because everyone slept late last night, they woke up late. However the freshmen all looked the same, and the other dorms weren’t any better as most of them missed the time for breakfast. So they made do with the snacks that everyone brought, and the seven of them ate a bunch of snacks for breakfast. It wasn’t until lunchtime that he charged into the canteen, being so hungry that he could feel his bones. He Nuo being used to it, looked through the windows of food and then lining up after finding the cheapest. He walked back to the dorms with Shi Hao, and the moment he walked in, Er Ge8 said, “Lao Wu, your older cousin is here to find you.”
“Older cousin?” He Nuo curiously turned his head to look at the direction Er Ge pointed at. With his back facing his bed was Shi Yan with a bright smile.
The lunch box in He Nuo’s hands almost fell to the ground, his heart pounding. He didn’t know why his face turned red to white, then white to red like a colour changing board. Shi Yan walked over with a series of natural actions and said, “Auntie and Uncle told me that you already started school. How could you not tell me, I even planned to send you off.” The tone of his voice was warm and sincere, an older brother who takes care and dotes on a younger brother let people feel at ease. Every roommate’s favourable impression of this older brother who was extremely concerned with his younger brother increased, because Shi Yan still maintained his deceitful handsome appearance. No wait, it’s because after a year of polishing in University he mastered this skill even more.
A long stature, very tall, has a warm smile, handsome and fashionable older cousin, it would be honourable for anyone. Although there was a differentiation between the rich and the poor from the two people’s clothes, it was neglected because Shi Yan was easily approachable and exchanged greetings amiably. He conveniently placed the lunch box he took from He Nuo’s hands and a seemingly unintentional glance caused his heart to ache but he did not show it. He pulled He Nuo over to his beside and said, “Auntie told me you forgot to bring these, I happened to bring it to you.”
He Nuo looked at the backpack, and because his back was facing the roommates sitting around the table, he placed the bag into Shi Yan’s arms and whispered, “Thank you. Please take it back, you don’t need to spend any more money.”
As if he didn’t hear it, Shi Yan opened the backpack without being asked and passed the top few boxes of royal jelly to him, “Store it properly, I still need to bring this bag back.”
He Nuo glared at him, not taking it. Shi Yan stood up, walked towards the cabinets and asked, “Which compartment is yours?”
Shi Hao who was sitting beside the cabinets pointed, “It’s this one.” He was surprised to find that He Nuo was staring at him fiercely, Shi Hao looked at He Nuo in a puzzled way and then looked at Shi Yan opening the cabinet. Shi Yan turned around and smiled, explaining kindly, and was in fact for all the roommates to hear, “He was tired during his senior year, seeing how skinny he was, his family gave him supplements. However, he found it troublesome and don’t like to eat it. May I trouble you all in the future, please help me supervise our He Nuo ah.”
“Our He Nuo”, at the same time when He Nuo was vomiting blood in his heart, Shi Yan’s kind brother image improved by another step. Everybody almost saw him bear two large halos on his back. Not talking about the chorus of consent to Shi Yan’s request, but they even pledged to take care of He Nuo. As for Shi Yan, he took advantage of the situation and brought up how he was worried about the heavy load Military training, being unsure of whether He Nuo was able to withstand it. When he heard that fetching hot water required a water ticket, and that a person was limited to a bottle of hot water every day, he hurriedly stressed that He Nuo must not catch a cold, and he cannot use cold water.
He Nuo knew perfectly well that Shi Yan was a good talker, he had the ability to be in harmony with everybody in just three minutes. Seeing his own roommates and him being so engaged in their conversation, looking agreeable, He Nuo was in a daze and abnormally angry. Because this person was not included at all, in the University life which He Nuo planned. But here he was, arrogantly sitting in front of him, enjoying the conversation with his future friends. Shi Yan must be doing this on purpose, he was clear with what he wanted, and also clear with what obstacles was in front of him. So Shi Yan’s first step was to break the illusion of He Nuo kicking him out. He Nuo can start a new life but he needs to be able have his own place in this new life!
When everyone had almost finished eating, Shi Yan then turned around to face the He Nuo who was angry at the side and asked, “Quickly take out the things from the bag, let us go eat. Everybody can come along.” He Nuo internally vomited blood again. Why didn’t you say so before everyone ate? Cunning, despicable, hypocritical. My roommates would of course reject, but Shi Yan said there would definitely be an opportunity in the future as there would be many chances to meet with them. Shi Yan urged the He Nuo who did not move, however if one’s expression could shoot arrows, Shi Yan’s body would already be pierced by arrows and the dorm room would be the miserable aftermath of a bloodbath. Ignoring He Nuo’s piercing expression, Shi Yan pulled his bag over, putting everything from the bag into He Nuo’s cabinet one by one, as he did so he said, “Your body is your own, in the years to come, you would need a healthy body to do things.”
Sneaking a glance at He Nuo, He Nuo controlled himself not to get angry, his hand clenching into a fist on his side. Closing the cabinet door, carrying his backpack, Shi Yan said goodbye to everybody. It’s only normal he pulled He Nuo up, asking him, “Are you hungry, what do you want to eat?”
As they reached the top of the stairs, He Nuo stood still. Shi Yan turned around and asked, “What’s wrong? Come on.”
“I’m not going. Also, when you start school, I’ll mail the things back to you. Please don’t waste it in the future, and don’t come to my school.” In the dorm, he was naturally unable to decline Shi Yan because the crafty him would have a better reason to retort back. So He Nuo made sure to clear things up at this moment.
The smile on Shi Yan’s face was slowly lost, “Is this what you wanted to say?”
“Yes.”
“Then who the fuck was the one talking that day in the paddy field?”
He Nuo lowered his head. He knew that Shi Yan was referring to that phrase “We’ll still be friends when we meet”. As he faced Shi Yan’s anger, He Nuo firmly said, “In my heart, you’ll always be a friend. But we won’t be seeing each other again.”