Chapter 39 Song Zhenshu is not laughing

"Classmates, I have an announcement. I just received a call from Teacher Wang saying that he's going to a seminar in the next city."

"It was a last-minute arrangement by the school, and he was very sorry, so the afternoon engineering mathematics analysis class had to be cancelled. As for when it will be rescheduled, we will arrange it later."

During the ten-minute break between the last long class in the morning, the class representative of Engineering Mathematics Analysis stood on the podium and solemnly announced the news.

There's only one engineering mathematics analysis class on Friday afternoon, and Professor Wang is absent, which means—

"I'm sorry, everyone's weekend will start early." The class representative covered his mouth and shook his head.

The room fell silent instantly, after processing the news—

"Oh no, how could this happen! How am I supposed to get through Friday afternoons without engineering math analysis? This is so painful."

"Why? Who wants to celebrate the weekend early? Who wants to lie in their dorm room with the heater on, playing games, eating fried chicken and drinking soda? I just want to absorb the rain of knowledge."

"Regrettably canceled, what a hurtful word."

"Just putting on a brave face."

The data structures teacher on stage: "..."

"If you're so eager to absorb the rain of knowledge, I can give your teacher, Mr. Wang, a call. Online courses via DingTalk are also an option."

"..."

"Teacher Lin, I've noticed that you're a very meticulous person."

"Teacher, look how anxious you are."

"AUV, look at the mess this has made."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Li Yuan, catching his breath, said, "No classes this afternoon. What are the plans? There seems to be a new hot pot restaurant nearby with good reviews. I collected four vouchers through likes, so I'll go treat myself tonight?"

Zhou Tian: "I'm fine with anything."

"Eat," Cui Mingying said.

The three looked at Ji Tong, who yawned and said, "We won't go today."

Choi Myung-young: "Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Ji Tong pointed to her dark circles.

It's not that I didn't sleep well yesterday, it's that I haven't slept well all week. I only stayed up all night on New Year's Eve, who knew the effects would last so long.

"It's no big deal to have this meal. I don't have classes this afternoon, so I'll go back and get a good night's sleep," Zhou Tian said.

“Tongtong isn’t going, and Lin Ge definitely won’t go either,” Li Yuan said. “Anyway, it’s just the few of us. Why don’t we go at noon and invite A Liang and Lao Ge along? After we eat, we can play tennis to loosen up our muscles. We still have to work on our final papers this weekend, and there won’t be many people at noon.”

"Okay, that's settled."

After the three finalized their plans, Cui Mingying turned to look at Ji Tong and asked, "Class 9 has another class this afternoon, right?"

Ji Tong hummed in agreement, without even opening Ji Jiu's class schedule, and said directly, "Securities Investment."

Li Yuan: "If Brother Lin is in class, then what are you going to do this afternoon, Tongtong? Just rest at the apartment? Sleep for half the day? That's so boring."

Ji Tong rested his chin on his left hand, twirled a pen in his right, and let his thoughts drift away.

Yeah, what are you doing this afternoon?

Ji Tong tapped her cheek intermittently with her left index finger.

a long time.

Zhou Tian heard Ji Tong's reply.

"Drink the dew of knowledge," he said.

The three of them: "???"

-

Without Li Yuan and the others, Ji Tong didn't eat lunch in the cafeteria. Instead, she went back to the Peninsula with Gu Lin and ordered a private Cantonese restaurant.

After finishing his meal, Gu Lin sat on the sofa, propped up his long legs, and began polishing the PowerPoint presentation he would need for the afternoon.

Ji Tong went inside for a nap.

Gu Lin had classes in the afternoon and couldn't watch over him. Worried that he would sleep too long, he said, "Set an alarm for forty minutes of sleep, don't sleep any longer."

Ji Tong said "Oh," and, pressing the doorknob, casually confirmed again: "Was your securities investment this afternoon in Room 109 of the Science Building?"

"Hmm," Gu Lin looked up at him, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing much. Didn't you say there was a problem with the heating on the first floor? I was just asking."

"It's fixed."

"Oh, I'm going to sleep now. Be careful when you go out."

Twenty minutes later, Ji Tong watched on the monitor as Gu Lin quietly left with his laptop. He got out of bed, quickly washed his face, went downstairs, and hailed a taxi: "Driver, An Da."

Taxi driver: "?"

Why take a taxi for such a short distance?

-

Gu Lin walked towards the back door of the Lijiao 109 building.

Because it was a large class shared with a class of students majoring in software engineering with a minor in finance, there were many people, and room 109 was also a large lecture hall.

They were all familiar with each other, and many people greeted Gu Lin.

He glanced down at his phone; it was 1:22.

I've been sleeping for 47 minutes.

Sleeping for too long gives me a headache.

Gu Lin didn't send a message as usual, but made a phone call directly.

The call was answered quickly, which surprised Gu Lin: "You're awake?"

The other end: "Mm."

"I brewed the tea and put it in..." Gu Lin suddenly frowned and stopped talking.

A few seconds later.

Where is it?

There were voices on the other end of the phone, and more than one person.

"Guess," Ji Tong said in an unusually light tone.

Gu Lin was taken aback.

"You're so slow," Ji Tong's voice couldn't hide her laughter, "and I even had to save you a seat."

"I didn't bring any books, so hurry up."

The voices on the other end of the phone were still noisy and dense. Gu Lin was momentarily dazed and then walked quickly toward the classroom.

As Gu Lin walked, he pulled up the apartment's surveillance footage.

The person on the other end of the phone didn't say anything more, but the call didn't end either.

As Gu Lin walked through the last section of the corridor and turned towards the back door, he saw the person sitting on the far side of his usual row, turning his body to the side with a look of "plan succeeded" on his face, smiling and waving at him.

"You're going to be late, Gu Lin."

Real human voices and somewhat distorted voices from the phone rang in my ears at the same time.

Gu Lin stood at the back door for several seconds before hanging up the phone and walking towards him.

"When did you arrive?" Gu Lin sat down beside him.

Ji Tong: "Ten minutes earlier than you."

Gu Lin continued, "How did you get here?"

Ji Tong hummed twice: "I took a taxi, and then ran a few steps."

Gu Lin guessed it and didn't know what to say to him for a moment.

So I didn't sleep.

Ji Tong took out a bottle of Da Hong Pao Oolong Light Milk Tea from the drawer and, imitating Gu Lin's actions last time, scalded his face with it.

"Those who bring warmth do not need sleep."

Gu Lin took the drink, his voice tinged with helplessness.

"Don't say you're sleepy later."

“You don’t understand,” Ji Tong grabbed the drawstring of Gu Lin’s hoodie and shook it, “People are least afraid of hardship and fatigue when they are doing bad things.”

Twenty minutes later, the person who was not afraid of hardship or fatigue and did not need sleep closed his eyes. Just as his head was about to touch the table, it was steadily supported by a large hand.

Gu Lin seemed to have expected this, cupping his face in his hands, resting it on his shoulder, and adjusting his collar.

"Brother Lin, on the PPT..." Chen Yongjie turned around from the front row and saw Ji Tong sleeping with his head on Gu Lin's shoulder. He immediately lowered his voice, "Asleep?"

Gu Lin operated the computer with one hand, while still keeping the other hand to protect Ji Tong's head.

"Um."

After asking the questions on the PPT in a low voice, Chen Yongjie turned around and remembered what Ji Tong had just said. He smiled and said, "You just said that people who bring warmth don't need sleep, but you're already asleep."

Gu Lin paused in typing, the expression and appearance of that person when they said those words flashing through his mind.

Gu Lin lowered his eyelids and looked at him.

Because she was asleep with her eyes closed, the mole on her eyelid was visible.

Her skin was fair and thin; when she was fast asleep, even her eyelids were red.

Gu Lin withdrew his gaze and spoke in an extremely soft and indifferent tone.

"Humans don't need it, but cats do."

Chen Yongjie didn't hear him: "Brother Lin, what did you say?"

Gu Lin continued processing the documents: "It's nothing."

-

Gu Lin didn't let him have his way, only letting him sleep for 25 minutes. Afraid that the bell would be too loud and startle him again, he touched his forehead with his palm a minute before the bell rang, and then gently patted his back to wake him up.

He promised to accompany her to class, but not only did he not accompany her, he also slept through the entire class. Ji Tong felt guilty and listened attentively in the second class.

The school bell rang, and the weekend for Ji Jiu officially began.

"Ah Yuan and the others went out for hot pot. Is there anything you'd like to eat?" Ji Tong asked as she packed up her computer. "Are we going out to eat or eating at home tonight?"

"Whatever you say," Gu Lin said.

Ji Tong: "I want to stay at home."

Gu Lin: "Then stay at home."

Having decided not to go out, the first thing the two did upon returning to their apartment was to take a shower and change into their pajamas.

Ji Tong had just changed into her pajamas when her phone rang.

He smiled as soon as he saw that it was Ms. Song Jiahe.

[Top Decision Maker: Honey, are you busy this weekend?]

JT: Not busy.

[JT: What's wrong?]

[Top decision-maker: It's nothing, it's just finals week coming up, I was worried you'd be too tired.]

Ji Tong was unaware that while she was nestled on the sofa chatting with Ms. Song Jiahe, a low-saturation cocoa brown Cullinan pulled up in the Beile parking lot outside Anhui University.

Having not returned to Anhui University for many years, Song Zhenshu felt a sense of being in another world the moment he stepped into the school gate.

He raised his hand and glanced at his watch.

get out of class should be over by now.

Song Zhenshu wasn't in a hurry. He strolled along, enjoying the scenery, from the school gate to the library, the school history museum, through the bell tower, to the teaching building, and finally to the boys' dormitory.

In Room 411, Building 8, Zone 5, Song Zhenshu stood at the dormitory entrance, raised his hand, and knocked on the door.

Wait five seconds.

No one answered the door.

Two taps, then wait ten seconds.

No one answered the door.

After three knocks, the door finally opened, but it didn't open to 411; instead, it opened to 402 across the street.

A boy wearing a blue hoodie opened the door and came out, and saw a person standing in front of room 411.

Hello, may I ask who you are?

Song Zhenshu turned around, and the boy immediately fell silent.

Nothing more.

Today, Song Zhenshu wore an oatmeal-colored plaid long coat, paired with loose-fitting suit pants, and a brown scarf around her neck. She exuded the artistic temperament inherited from the Song family, making her so stylish that it was almost intimidating.

The boy in the hoodie was dressed, but he acted as if he were naked and was very reserved.

"Hello." Song Zhenshu smiled and extended her hand to him first.

The boy quickly raised his hand and said, "Hello, hello."

As the two were talking, another person wearing a tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt came out of apartment 402: "The heating is leaking out completely, why are you leaving the door open like that..."

The moment he saw Song Zhenshu, he also fell silent.

"Sorry," not wanting to disturb the children, Song Zhenshu spoke first, "I came to find someone. Did I disturb you by knocking on the door?"

"No, no," the boy in the blue hoodie immediately waved his hand, "Are you looking for the person in room 411?"

"They went out at noon."

"Going out at noon?" Song Zhenshu asked. "Doesn't Ji Yi have an engineering mathematics analysis class this afternoon?"

The two were initially somewhat suspicious, but when they heard this person recite the course schedule without hesitation, their wariness immediately lessened.

"Yes, but they analyzed that the teacher had a last-minute lecture in the afternoon, so the class was rescheduled."

"I see," Song Zhenshu said.

The guy in the hoodie said, "It's okay, we all know the people in room 411 very well."

"They're from Class 1 of Computer Science, we're from Class 2. Who are you looking for? I'll ask for you..."

The boy suddenly stopped talking, paused for a few seconds, then lowered his voice and tugged at the person next to him: "Don't you think this guy looks a bit like...?"

Clearly, he wasn't the only one who noticed it.

The other person reacted even faster than him: "You're looking for Ji Tong?"

Song Zhenshu nodded: "Yes."

Boy: "And you are?"

Song Zhenshu: "His maternal uncle."

The two of them: "???"

Uncle, so young?

"I thought it was my older brother. Hello, Uncle! Hello, Uncle!" The two immediately bowed to him, which made Song Zhenshu laugh.

"Do you know where they went?" Song Zhenshu pointed to the door of room 411.

The boy in the hoodie said, "Li Yuan and the other two went to play tennis after eating hot pot. They should be back soon."

Three of them?

Anhui University dorms are mostly four-person rooms, but this person specifically mentioned three, so what about the remaining ones—

"And what about Tongtong?" Song Zhenshu asked.

As soon as Song Zhenshu finished speaking, he saw the two boys look at each other with a "Why did he ask that question?" look on their faces.

Song Zhenshu had a bad feeling.

“Um, Uncle,” the boy in the hoodie scratched his head, “Li Yuan and the others will be back soon, Tongtong probably won’t be able to wait for them.”

Song Zhenshu: "?"

The boy in the hoodie said, "Because he doesn't live here."

Song Zhenshu: "??"

Song Zhenshu lowered his head, took out a cigarette from his pocket, held it without lighting it, and asked with a smile, "So, where does he live?"

“Peninsula,” the hoodie-wearing boy answered, then seemed to finally realize something was off, looking at Song Zhenshu with a strange expression. “Uncle, don’t you know Tongtong lives on Peninsula?”

Because they lived right across from each other and were both admitted early, the students from the two classes knew each other well. He had heard Ji Tong's uncle's name from Li Yuan, who said that the uncle and nephew had a very good relationship, which is why he answered all of Li Yuan's questions. Now it seems... something is not quite right.

“Peninsula…” Song Zhenshu saw through the boy’s thoughts, dragged out her voice, held her cigarette, and still smiled. She took out her phone and quickly searched for the location of Peninsula in the blind spot of the two boys.

They started asking questions.

"I think I vaguely remember it."

"The apartment north of Anhui University, right? The one that's very close to Anhui University."

Two boys: "Yes, yes, that one."

Song Zhenshu said "Oh": "I heard Tongtong mention it before."

“I haven’t been back to China for so long that I forgot. I was thinking of giving him a surprise when I came over, but I didn’t pay attention.”

“I knew it,” the hoodie-wearing boy finally relaxed and laughed, “after all, Tongtong hasn’t been living here since September.”

Song Zhenshu: "...???"

"Really?" Song Zhenshu felt a little dizzy.

Are you leaving this place in September?

They moved out right after the start of the semester?

They've been living away from home for four months now, why haven't my sister and brother-in-law said anything?

Song Zhenshu became more and more confused as he listened, and played with the cigarette for several seconds.

"It's been too long."

"We only chatted briefly on the phone. He said he rented an apartment in the Peninsula for convenience, so I didn't ask any further questions."

"Alone?" The boy in the tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt looked puzzled. "No."

Song Zhenshu: "?"

The boy in the tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt said, "Tongtong doesn't live alone; she lives with Brother Lin."

Song Zhenshu: "??"

The guy in the tight-fitting long-sleeved shirt said, "The apartment was also rented by Brother Lin."

Song Zhenshu: "???"

The cigarette in Song Zhenshu's hand suddenly bent under the weight.