Chapter 23

"Hey, have you heard?" Lu Yibo came to the door of Class 1 during the break to look for Lu Bai. The two of them stood by the window in the corridor and chatted. "The school is selecting people to go to City B University for a study tour. They said there are places for every grade group."

"A university in City B?" Lu Bai leaned on the windowsill with his arms and asked, "Which university in City B?"

"I don't know." Lu Yibo crossed his arms. "You said it's already been arranged, so why can't the school put me in a good one? Are you reluctant to spend the money?"

"Oh, then can you give some financial support?"

"I don't have that ability." Lu Yibo said, "Besides, I won't be chosen, so the ones with higher rankings will definitely be given priority."

"Not necessarily." Lu Bai swung his legs back and forth, looked up and saw Zhang Xiaotian appear at the stairs, and called out to him: "Tian'er!"

Zhang Xiaotian walked towards him. Lu Bai said to him, "Lü Yibo said the school is organizing a university visit for students."

"Who's going? Which school?" Zhang Xiaotian asked.

"You have to choose a school after you enroll. The school is in City B." Lu Bai replied.

Lu Yibo slapped his palm on the windowsill. "Zhang Xiaotian, tell me, is this school stingy? There are so many famous schools, but they only choose City B. How rude!"

"So what if it's a famous school? You can't get in just by going there once." Zhang Xiaotian said.

"How can you say that!" Lu Yibo slammed the windowsill again. "What if I go there and get so shocked that I become determined to become stronger when I get home?"

"Then you might as well just dream on." Lu Bai sneered, "It can also save the school some money."

"Don't bully the poor young man!" Lu Yibo clenched his fist, and just as he raised it, the bell rang. Lu Bai jumped down from the windowsill and walked towards the classroom. Before leaving, he turned back and said to Lu Yibo, "Didn't they say the school is stingy? Then don't hammer that windowsill. Be careful, Director Chi will make you pay for it later."

"You deserve to be punished, Lu Bai!" Lu Yibo waved his fist at him.

As expected, our class teacher, Mr. Zhang, specifically told our class about the school's organized study tour before the end of evening self-study and explained how the places would be allocated.

"This study tour not only broadens everyone's horizons, but the school also hopes to give everyone a taste of university life. We've arranged to go to City B because City B is a relatively strong university in northern China, with many prestigious programs. If you have lofty ambitions after the tour, that would be great. If not, you can consider City B as a temporary goal." Old Zhang said this, waving the list in his hand. "Only the first and second year students have a chance. The school has allocated 50 spots for our group, 10 each in the four experimental classes of arts and science, and 10 in the regular class. Li An and I have already discussed these 10 students for our class. Li An."

Li An stood up and continued with what Lao Zhang said: "No matter whether you go or not, I will lead the study tour this time. Accompanying us will be the leaders of all study groups, as well as the following people who performed outstandingly in the last exam." Then he read out a few names.

Lu Bai is the team leader, and Zhang Xiaotian is in the same group with him. They also made a lot of progress in this exam. Both of them are on the list of people participating in this study tour.

"The school will provide food and accommodation. We will depart this Sunday for a week. Remember to tell your parents when you get home. If there are any special circumstances, please contact me privately."

After saying this, Lao Zhang walked away as the bell rang. The students who knew they couldn't go to class left quickly, and soon only the people on the list were left in the class.

"That was a close call. I almost had to be separated from Chengcheng for a week," Yin Li said. She had made some progress this time, and even ranked in the top ten in her grade in English, while Han Chengcheng took first place in biology. Zhang Xiaotian was the only one in his class he knew well, and since they were all together on this study tour, he breathed a sigh of relief and began to feel a little bit of anticipation for the trip.

"Travel!" Han Chengcheng sighed, "I haven't traveled in a long time."

"I asked you to go to the beach with me this summer, but you said you didn't want to go." Yin Li packed her schoolbag and sat on a stool waiting for Han Chengcheng.

"I need to make up for the lessons." Han Chengcheng explained.

"I see you just want to catch up on TV at home."

Seeing that most of the others had left, Li An asked everyone on the list to come to him.

"The school has booked a hotel for everyone, all double rooms. You can discuss with whoever you want to stay with. When the time comes, one person from each room will come to me to get the room card. When we get home tonight, I'll create a group and post our itinerary for this week." At this point, he glanced at Zhang Xiaotian, then quickly looked away and asked, "Zhang Xiaotian, are you in the class group?"

Zhang Xiaotian shook his head.

"They've been in our class for almost a month, why haven't they joined the group yet?" Li An muttered softly, turning to ask Lu Bai, "Old Lu, you two are so familiar with each other, how come you forgot to add Xiaotian to the group?"

"We need the administrator's approval to add new members to our class group." Lu Bai reminded him.

"Ahem," Li An cleared his throat and waved at Lu Bai, "I forgot. Invite him to the group tonight. That's all. Let's go home."

"Did you see that just now? I was dying of laughter." Lu Bai said to Zhang Xiaotian as he left the teaching building, "When Li An coughed and coughed twice, Yin Li covered her mouth in an instant. If she hadn't covered it quickly, she would have laughed out loud!"

Zhang Xiaotian nodded.

"You're really adaptable." Lu Bai let out a long sigh, pretending to be so flexible. Then he said, "Bring some board games and poker or something."

...I guess I can't go to bed early.

"...I can also order takeout and play games." Lu Bai was still daydreaming when he suddenly turned around and asked Zhang Xiaotian, "Tian'er, you must be living with me, right?"

"Um?"

Zhang Xiaotian thought to himself, isn't this obvious? He hasn't spoken much to anyone else, and Yin Li and Han Chengcheng are both girls. Who else can they live with if not him, Lu Bai?

Lu Bai obviously figured this out as well.

"Of course it's me. What if someone else snores or grinds their teeth at night?" he said confidently. "Anyway, I don't snore or grind my teeth."

"Yeah." Zhang Xiaotian also agreed with him.

"Damn, I'm a little excited!" Lu Bai suddenly yelled and ran far away by himself, "Let's go out and play!"

What a psycho! Zhang Xiaotian was startled by him and stopped where he was, watching him go crazy on the street. It was already late at night, and there were few cars on the road. Occasionally, pedestrians walked by, taking a walk or walking their dogs. Lu Bai himself was not embarrassed, but Zhang Xiaotian wanted to pretend that he didn't know him and walked away. He hesitated again and again, but finally shouted at Lu Bai: "Hey!"

Lu Bai seemed not to hear and continued running madly in front. Zhang Xiaotian shouted again: "Lu Bai!"

This time Lu Bai turned around and asked him, "What's the matter?"

Zhang Xiaotian called him: "Come back!"

"Come here!" Lu Bai stood there without moving, "Tian'er, come here!"

Zhang Xiaotian felt that he really couldn't continue singing folk songs with Lu Bai on the side of the road like this. He hurried towards Lu Bai. If it weren't for the need to watch the road, he would have wanted to keep his head down. He walked up to Lu Bai and asked him, "Let's go, stop making trouble."

"What's wrong?" Lu Bai grabbed his wrist, "Look..."

"Don't look, just walk away." Zhang Xiaotian didn't struggle, but simply pulled Lu Bai forward, and didn't slow down until they passed the intersection.

"Why are you walking so fast? Are you worried that your family will be worried?" Lu Bai asked him when he saw him slowing down.

"I'm worried your family might be worried," Zhang Xiaotian said. "You don't even notice what time it is and you're still running around like crazy."

"It won't take a moment." Lu Bai let go of Zhang Xiaotian and put his hands in his pockets.

"What did you want me to see just now?" Zhang Xiaotian rubbed his wrist that had just been tightly grasped.

"Nothing, the moon is just so round today." Lu Bai answered him.

The two of them had been walking too fast, and now their breathing was a little unstable. Zhang Xiaotian was a little surprised to hear his answer, and couldn't help asking him, "It's just a trip, why are you so excited?"

"It's different," Lu Bai shook his head, "Going out with friends is much more fun than going out with family."

"Really?" Zhang Xiaotian had never been out with his family, so he had no reference.

"Really?" Lu Bai said. "When I go on a trip with my parents, I have to get up early every day. No matter where we go, it's the same old thing. It's boring."

"I'm telling you about one time. My dad and his wife insisted on going hiking early in the morning. I said I couldn't get up, but they dragged me along. You have no idea how cold it was up there. The wind was like a knife, it stung my face! My mom was the most annoying. Halfway up the mountain, she started taking pictures. She could take dozens of pictures of just one tree. She asked me to pose for her, and if the pictures weren't good, she'd scold me!"

Lu Bai said he was annoyed, but a smile gradually appeared on his face. Zhang Xiaotian looked at him and listened unconsciously. He just listened to Lu Bai talking about his family trip, and as he listened, he walked to the door of his own house.

"Tsk, we're here." Lu Bai obviously hadn't finished talking, but he still waved at him, "Go up, I'm leaving."

"Lu Bai." Zhang Xiaotian called him.

"What's the matter?"

Zhang Xiaotian looked at him. There was a tall tree at the entrance of the community. The light from the street lamp passed through the branches and fell on Lu Bai alone.

"Don't forget to add me to the class group." Zhang Xiaotian said.

"I haven't forgotten."

Lu Bai turned and left. Zhang Xiaotian watched him walk away, then turned and walked into the empty house.

Lu Bai must have grabbed his phone as soon as he got home. By the time Zhang Xiaotian finished washing up and came out, he was already in the class chat and the study abroad group. He had also received friend requests from Yin Li, Han Chengcheng, and others. Zhang Xiaotian didn't look closely at who they were, so he agreed to all of them. Just as he was about to put his phone down, he received another message alert: Li An had posted a seven-day itinerary for City B in the study abroad group.

Zhang Xiaotian clicked on it and took a quick look. There wasn't much scheduled for the week. Aside from a lecture on the first day and a visit to the library, cafeteria, and lab, the rest of the time was free. Sightseeing in City B was optional, but at their own expense. Lu Bai had probably just finished reading it, sharing a note from his City B tour with him.

"When we have free time, let's go to these places," Lu Bai sent a message.

Zhang Xiaotian opened the note. City B was the second largest city in the province, and it had a number of natural landscapes and historical buildings. He flipped through the pages, his fingertips lingering on one spot.

Baoguang Temple.

He continued reading, and the following chapter contained a temple legend: Two demons battled, one was defeated and gravely injured, falling to this place, where he was rescued by a young monk. The demon initially believed the monk's rescue was a tactical move, so he confessed his limited time. Unexpectedly, the monk wept bitterly upon hearing this, but remained committed to saving him. As the saying goes, a journey reveals a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's true character. Moved by the monk's sincerity, the demon, before dying, left behind his last remaining soul fire, supplemented by a tear the monk had shed that day, to form a lamp for the young monk. The young monk chanted sutras before this lamp day and night, and the lamp, burning through the night without oil, was said to have the power to illuminate the mind and discern the nature of nature.

Zhang Xiaotian watched this passage for a long time, and he really became interested. He also looked up the method of burning incense and the precautions for visiting temples before putting down his phone and going to sleep.