Chapter 112
J IANG CHENG HADN’T CRACKED open a single book since the exams—even the application guide had only received a cursory glance. He wasn’t sure what exactly he should be reading in the library.
Zhao Ke and the others weren’t there to read anything either. They just wanted to check the place out and familiarize themselves with the environment. The library was a very motivating place, after all.
Jiang Cheng had been a little stunned when he first walked through the door.
His nerves, having gone completely slack over the summer, were suddenly pulled taut in a single instant.
It was a large and beautiful space. To borrow a phrase often used in elementary school writing assignments: It was spacious, bright, and clean, with tables and chairs laid out in orderly rows…
There were even sofas. Jiang Cheng went and sat down on one. It was perfectly comfortable.
Everyone in the library was very quiet. Jiang Cheng’s group tacitly switched their phones to vibrate, and as they strolled about on their tour, none of them said a single word, only moving their heads on a swivel as they looked around.
Right now, the rows upon rows of neatly shelved books no longer irritated Jiang Cheng. Instead, they gave him a vague sense of pressure.
Almost a whole year of toiling away through days and nights had gotten him the acceptance letter he was after, but that was only the first step. In fact, strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a step—he hadn’t even started.
“C’mon, let’s go get some coffee, and then dinner.” Zhao Ke had borrowed a few books just to get used to the lending process.
“What did you get?” Jiang Cheng asked in a whisper. Personally, he had no idea what he could possibly borrow at this time.
“…Novels.” Zhao Ke showed him the covers.
“I thought you were getting textbooks,” Jiang Cheng said, a little surprised.
“There’ll be enough textbooks in our future to make you sick,” said Zhao Ke. “All I want to do right now is read fiction.”
“Oh.”
Zhao Ke was a pretty big fan of coffee. He had treated Jiang Cheng to coffee just that morning, and he was already suggesting they go again. The other guys were going to each pay for themselves, but Zhao Ke refused. He said that it was his idea, so it should be his treat.
After another coffee, Jiang Cheng didn’t feel like eating anymore.
He wasn’t hungry. However, to follow through on the quest of familiarizing himself with the food on campus, he still crawled through two more cafeterias with the group.
By the time they finished eating and got back to their dorm, he was so painfully full, it felt like he might puke it all out at any second.
He sent Gu Fei a message as he lay down on his bunk.
- i ate too much
Gu Fei didn’t answer. Around this time, he was probably eating dinner with Gu Miao.
The other two people in their room, besides him and Zhao Ke, were both talking on their phones. It sounded like they were calling their respective girlfriends; their voices were dripping with affection.
The guy who slept on the bunk across from Jiang Cheng was named Lu Shi, a dense, heavy first name coupled with an oafish-sounding surname.
The name evoked the image of a solid bridge stump.
In reality, Lu Shi was anything but. He was lanky and tall, the kind of build that could easily snap in half with one push from Gu Fei.
“It’s okay, come visit for National Day,” Lu Shi said very gently into the receiver. “We’ll hang out here for a few days, then I’ll go back with you… Uh-huh, then I’ll come back by myself… It’s fine, the back-and-forth is nothing. Well, you would’ve gone back and forth too…”
It was pretty sweet. Jiang Cheng smiled and glanced at Zhao Ke beside him. As the only sad bachelor in their dorm room, Zhao Ke was click-clacking away at his computer, dedicating his whole heart to Memory .
Across from Zhao Ke’s bunk was Zhang Qiqi.
His cute looks matched his cute name—he had a round, childlike face that made him look more like a middle schooler than a college student.
He had been talking quietly on the phone this whole time, but now he suddenly raised his voice and said anxiously, “Don’t cry, no, don’t cry.
If you cry, then I’ll want to cry. And we can’t even cry into each other’s arms right now… ”
“You can cry into a pillow,” said Zhao Ke. “If one’s not enough, I can lend you more.”
Jiang Cheng chortled.
“Hey, Jiang Cheng.” Zhao Ke let go of his mouse, having just failed a level. “Are there any clubs you wanted to join?”
“Clubs?” Jiang Cheng remembered the stack of pamphlets and brochures he’d never gotten around to. “I…don’t know. Not really.”
“Some of them sound kind of fun,” said Zhao Ke. “I want to join one that involves physical exercise.”
“I can just go for a run or something in the morning,” Jiang Cheng said. “Which one are you looking to join?”
“I…” Zhao Ke turned to glance at Lu Shi and Zhang Qiqi before saying quietly, “I want to knit a sweater for my goddess.”
“Hm?” Jiang Cheng was confused.
“There’s a knitting club.” Zhao Ke gestured with his hands. “All kinds of yarn crafts.”
“I thought you wanted to exercise?” said Jiang Cheng, still confused.
“I do,” Zhao Ke said. “But my goddess is more important. I can join both.”
“So you want to go make sweaters?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“Knitting, not just making sweaters,” Zhao Ke corrected him. “My goddess—”
“Then you should go,” Jiang Cheng said with an approving nod.
“It should be pretty interesting, I think.”
“I think you probably shouldn’t set your sights too high. Maybe start with something simple.”
“A scarf?” Zhao Ke thought about it. “That’s too ordinary.”
“And a sweater is extraordinary?” Jiang Cheng looked at him.
“Is there anything in the middle?” Zhao Ke pondered as he leaned back in his chair. “Like…”
“Let me show you something.” Jiang Cheng stood up.
Right now, he found himself empathizing with those annoying people who couldn’t hold back from showing off their babies to everyone.
This annoying guy who couldn’t hold back from showing off his boyfriend climbed onto his bunk and retrieved the teru teru bozu from next to his pillow.
Jiang Cheng hadn’t brought very much with him. He had wanted to bring the maze Gu Fei had made for their first birthday together, but it was too heavy. In the end, all he’d brought was this doll.