Chapter 98: Ending First Encounter

"Cheng Che, can you help me take a look at the computer?"

A cautious female voice sounded above Cheng Che's head, "After installing the software, the computer stopped playing sound. I don't know what's going on."

Cheng Che nodded and followed over to see what was going on.

The girl was waiting anxiously at the side, and soon Cheng Che stood up and signaled her that it was okay.

A message popped up on WeChat on the computer. It was a video. The blurry still picture vaguely showed the stage of the concert hall. The girl thought it was a music sharing sent by a friend, so she clicked on the video to test the sound.

The long music of a classical symphony emanated from the speakers, but the video only captured a boy sitting among the musicians, playing the cello. A classmate nearby looked over and said in surprise, "Isn't this Li Zimai from the class next door?"

The crowd rushed forward and clicked on the full screen to watch the video of a boy playing the cello. When Cheng Che heard the name, he looked up, but his view was quickly blocked.

It turns out that is Lizimai.

At that time, Cheng Che had just finished a two-month summer job. His skin was tanned, his body was thin, his clothes were clean but always frayed, he looked fierce and his eyes were fierce. People who noticed him were always scared away by him first, and only dared to look at him carefully after they came to their senses. But Li Zimai was different. Li Zimai was someone who would amaze everyone at first sight.

On the first day of school, Cheng Che saw the name in front of his on the bulletin board. The surname was Li. It was not until the day when he was repairing his computer that Cheng Che officially saw Li Zimai's face.

After that, there were always people talking in his ears about Li Zimai and Li Shen, constantly reminding Cheng Che of his second place and the fact that he had lost half of his admission scholarship.

"Li Zimai didn't even come to the opening ceremony, so how could he come to the formal military training?"

"You're too cool, just because you're handsome is cool."

"He's not only handsome, but also rich. A few days ago, he came to a class meeting, and the shoes he wore cost at least five figures."

"So awesome?"

Cheng Che automatically blocked out all the sounds around him, but was subtly instilled with the three words "Li Zi Mai". So much so that on the first day of formal military training, when he saw the boy who was late, he subconsciously thought of the video of him playing the cello and the rumors that he was very expensive and cool.

His aloofness may be fake, as he smiles often. Even when the instructor targets him, he doesn't get angry. His good temper doesn't match his tall stature.

He really has no temper.

Cheng Che wanted to control his temper. In high school, he had been pulled in front of the whole school by the dean of studies many times for fighting. He was not expelled because of his good grades. Cheng Che did not want to be high-profile and known to everyone as soon as college started.

But the instructor didn't give him this opportunity. He cursed Cheng Che with ugly words in front of everyone. The most inappropriate thing was the sentence "no mother". Cheng Che couldn't control his temper and started fighting with the instructor, and went straight to the Academic Affairs Office.

The counselor and the dean were surprised to see such a disobedient freshman in a prestigious university. They decided to discipline Cheng Che, forfeiting all scholarships. Cheng Che regretted it that night. He then heard his roommate say, "That's scary! He even hits the instructor. I wonder if he'll hit us one day if he gets angry with us."

"Yeah, the instructor wasn't targeting just him, he was targeting Li Zimai as well. Why could Li Zimai tolerate it, but he had to hit others?"

"You don't talk every day. Do you have any mental illness? Should you talk to a counselor?"

"Let's chat on WeChat, don't let anyone hear us."

There were only three people in the dormitory for four people. No one dared to approach Cheng Che, and Cheng Che didn't want to get involved.

Later, for some reason, the school did not punish him, and a new instructor came within two days. Cheng Che was glad that his bad luck did not follow him for the time being.

On the last day of military training, Cheng Che was stopped by a girl on his way to the cafeteria. The girl confessed to him and said that she hoped Cheng Che could date her.

There are always girls who say they like him. The timid ones will be scared away by just one look from him, the brave ones will follow him for a few days before being scared away, and the even braver ones will try to have physical contact with him, but will finally be scared away by his ferocious temper.

Cheng Che didn't quite understand why there were always people who wanted to date him. He wasn't getting married and it was impossible for him to start a family with anyone. His words of rejection went from "no dating" to "I don't like it" to "I have a girlfriend", and the degree of rejection became more and more serious.

His reason for rejection that day was still "no love", and the girl fainted in front of him. Cheng Che carried the patient to the infirmary.

After coming out of the infirmary, Cheng Che's shoes were torn. He ran too fast and the tip of the shoe was torn, revealing his toes covered by black socks. Cheng Che hid by the curb to repair his shoes.

Since the shoes couldn't be repaired, he could only go back to the dormitory wearing the worn-out shoes to change into another pair. He wondered if he could buy a better pair of shoes with his salary.

"Junior! Are you interested in joining the student union? We're looking for people, there are many departments..."

After Cheng Che saw the senior sister chattering away about all the departments of the Student Union, Li Zimai politely declined, saying that he did not participate in club activities and thanked the senior sister for the invitation.

There was only one way to go to the college gate to recycle the camouflage uniforms. Cheng Che walked behind Li Zimai from a distance. At that time, he didn't know why, but he didn't want Li Zimai to see his shoes with holes, and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Li Zimai.

Li Zimai's camouflage uniform was neatly folded, and it looked out of place next to the pile of messy, sweaty, dirty clothes.

After the military training, Li Zimai's name became more and more famous. Cheng Che could always hear the omnipresent "Li Shen" everywhere, but rarely saw him in person. He would only see the extremely conspicuous boy sitting in the back during large classes.

He never took notes in class, just listened and watched, but at the end of the first semester he still ranked first in the grade and won first prize in the Achigo Architecture Competition, an award that many graduate students could not get. Cheng Che admired him but was also frustrated. He could only study harder and try to get back the first place status that he had been accustomed to since he was a child.

Li Zimai came to school less and less often, and disappeared after class. Cheng Che once saw him outside the school, through the glass of a dessert shop, and saw Li Zimai waiting for someone across the street.

That was the least crowded road outside the southwest gate of the school. Even with so few people, Cheng Che could still see the eyes turning back to look at him as people passed by him.

Cheng Che didn't like such looks, but he could remain calm. Sometimes, if someone stared at him for too long, he would look back and smile politely, and the person opposite would then walk away. They didn't dare to look Li Zimai in the eye.

He stood under the apricot tree for a long time, even squatting down to arrange the leaves. Cheng Che was called to deliver food, and when he came back, he just saw the silver sports car parked in front of him. The boy in the driver's seat got out of the car, opened the door for Li Zimai, and said a few words with a smile.

After get off work, Cheng Che inexplicably walked to the ginkgo tree and saw several piles of ginkgo leaves neatly arranged on the ground from large to small, with small stones pressing down the edges of the leaves. The stones were placed symmetrically, one on the left and one on the right, and were about the same size.

Cheng Che wondered if obsessive-compulsive disorder was the first requirement for being a good student. That night, he went home and put the items on the table in order, even sorting the paintbrushes by thickness. After completing this series of actions, Cheng Che suddenly came to his senses and messed up the paintbrushes.

Before the summer vacation of his freshman year, the college notified him to move to a new dormitory. At that time, Cheng Che's relationship with his roommate had become very bad. His roommate often sprinkled pepper in Cheng Che's washed clothes and often touched his things when he was not around.

Cheng Che fell asleep every night to the sounds of snoring and keyboards. After enduring this for half a year, he finally exploded and had a fight with one of the roommates. Of course, he won. The roommate felt so embarrassed and didn't report it to the teacher because he was the one who broke Cheng Che's things.

When Cheng Che learned that he had to move to a new dormitory, he didn't care too much. No matter where he moved to, he would never get along with his roommates. No one could get along with the weird and eccentric Cheng Che.

During the summer vacation of his freshman year, he applied to stay on campus, and lived a life of studying, working, and sleeping. The dormitory without roommates finally allowed Cheng Che to get a few days of good sleep. However, God was afraid that Cheng Che would not have a comfortable day, so he brought Cheng Lijia to him to upset him.

At that time, Cheng Che had not been home for a year and had not answered Cheng Lijia's calls. Cheng Lijia knew where Cheng Che worked through his grandmother. He came to work at a construction site in Beijing, and the first thing he did was to ask Cheng Che for money to vent his long-accumulated anger.

Cheng Che lost his job.

He packed up his things and apologized to his boss, offering to use half a month's salary to compensate for the damaged tables and chairs in the store. The boss felt sorry for him and said it was not necessary. Cheng Che nodded. At that time, he was still saving for tuition, and he didn't dare to be so proud as to refuse anyone's kindness.

It was a hot day. His electric scooter broke down on the road, his keys broke, his phone was broken, and everything seemed to have reached its worst. He passed by an ice cream shop and spent twenty-six yuan to buy his favorite yogurt ice cream, but on the cool street corner, he accidentally dropped the ice cream on the ground.

Cheng Che stood there in a daze. When he squatted down to pick it up, he suddenly broke down, and tears fell into the melted ice cream.

His life is terrible.

Later, he heard Li Zimai say the first words to him. The voice was so close and sounded better than a cello.

But who in this world would get along with someone as bad as him, and Li Zimai is no exception, so Cheng Che said: No need.

No need to be nice to me.