Chapter 8 008 Spring Sleepiness "I believe you will become the one you most want to be..."
Huh? Why did Xia Mian bring up what just happened?
It might be a metaphor...
Qinglan didn't pay much attention to Xia Mian's wording, and just lazily sent a voice message: "I'm so tired. I didn't fall asleep until four o'clock last night. I just kept writing and writing, doing and doing, until I felt like throwing up."
Yesterday afternoon, Qinglan felt sleepy while memorizing her lessons, so she ordered a cup of Bawang Tea to perk herself up. However, she couldn't fall asleep all night, so she got up in the middle of the night to do practice exams.
“I know, I know!” Xia Mian immediately chimed in, “You’ve worked so hard, baby! I’ll treat you well when we eat later and buy you the new chocolate lava cake from the cafeteria.”
Upon seeing the message, Qinglan was also moved: "Really? I'm so touched, Mianmian, you're so kind!"
"No, no, no, it's you who's doing the good deed." Xia Mian wished she could bow to him immediately, feeling that she could hardly repay Qinglan's efforts last night.
Everyone had things to do in the afternoon, so lunch break was short.
The two finished their lunch quickly without much conversation. However, they kept passing the chocolate lava cake back and forth, until Xia Mian stubbornly gave it to Qing Lan to eat alone.
After dinner, Xia Mian strolled back to her dorm and finally received a WeChat message from Duan Jinhua.
"You've worked hard, here's a drink for you."
WeChat transfer: 300 yuan.
Three hundred silver dollars!
Xia Mian immediately perked up: "It's no trouble at all, thank you, teacher!"
I'd heard that the renowned director Duan Jinhua was generous, but I didn't know she was this generous.
However, she only did the beginning of the PPT; the rest was done by others, and Xia Mian really felt a little unworthy of the help.
I should have bought a few more small cakes for Qinglan earlier!
"Then come to the lab early this afternoon. I'd like to have a chat with you, is that alright?" Duan Jinhua said again.
When good news comes, one is in high spirits. Having received her reward, Xia Mian didn't hesitate at all: "No problem, no problem!"
Xia Mian actually didn't meet Duan Jinhua many times. During her graduate studies, she mainly interacted with her senior classmates and junior supervisors.
But according to the senior students, they rarely see Duan Jinhua. The lab is really "hierarchical". They work for junior supervisors, but the junior supervisors are like working for senior supervisors.
In order to leave a good impression on the esteemed professor, Xia Mian went to the laboratory early in the afternoon, before get out of class ended.
Xia Mian stood in the corridor of the laboratory and saw her junior supervisor lecturing to the senior students. The senior supervisor was also there, but he was sitting and not saying a word.
Xia Mian had audited one of Xiao Dao's classes a few days ago, and at the time she only felt that Xiao Dao had a bad temper, but today, perhaps because the senior director was present, Xiao Dao spoke very gently and kindly.
Since get out of class hadn't ended yet, she didn't dare to push the door open and simply leaned against the wall to wait.
The corridor was quiet. While she was bored and looking down at her phone, she heard a soft sound of footsteps.
When Xia Mian looked up and saw Pei Yan's face, she was almost incredulous.
My heart was pounding, like a kitten was meowing loudly:
Ahh, I ran into my crush!
However, before she could even muster the courage to say hello, the doors to both labs opened.
Students filed out, and then the fire alarm went off, and smoke began to fill the corridor!
Fire?!
Before Xia Mian could react, her body, pressed against the wall, was pushed and pushed out by the crowd.
Pei Yan, at the other end of the corridor, had obviously had the same experience and had also been squeezed into a position with his back to her.
The smoke in the stairwell grew thicker, almost choking us, and visibility decreased.
As the crowd around her quickened, Xia Mian stumbled and lost her balance, stepping on the foot of the boy in front of her...
It was an incredibly vicious kick; all her weight fell onto that person, and Xia Mian herself felt the pain.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." Xia Mian was on the verge of tears. She pulled her foot back, apologizing while holding onto the wall for balance, afraid of stepping on the other person again.
The boy turned around, leaving her frozen in place, almost forgetting to breathe.
My heart pounded harder, but the kitten dared not meow anymore, its eyes now filled with guilt.
Oops, I stepped on Crush...
The person Xia Mian accidentally stepped on was Pei Yan.
She dared not look into Pei Yan's eyes again, lowered her head, completely enveloped by the awkward atmosphere, and even forgot to follow the crowd forward, just standing there blankly in front of Pei Yan.
Xia Mian guessed that he must have felt that he was impolite, reckless, and impulsive.
However, a gentle reassurance came from above:
"Don't be nervous, I'm fine."
It wasn't a polite "It's okay," nor was there a trace of impatience. His tone was so gentle, yet earnest, as if he were trying to ease her guilt.
Xia Mian finally mustered the courage to look up and saw him looking at her with a slight smile.
"It's a fire drill, not a real fire," Pei Yan explained to her further.
"Oh." Xia Mian nodded, feeling a little relieved. She also remembered that the school had issued a notice a few days ago that there would indeed be a fire drill on September 23.
But she was sick, and sometimes she became dull and forgot about the fire drill.
The smoke just now was probably from a simulated fire in one of the labs on the same floor. The instructor should have told the senior students beforehand, which is why they left before the fire alarm went off.
Only she was frightened by the realistic effects of the fire drill, thinking there was a real fire...
"Are you feeling better?" Pei Yan asked with concern.
In the crowded environment, they were indeed very close, which made Xia Mian blush. She looked away and nodded at him.
“Then come downstairs with us,” Pei Yan continued. “You walk to the inside, I’ll be on your left.”
us?
Xia Mian then noticed that Pei Yan had a little girl, about six or seven years old, hiding beside him.
But there was no time to ask questions, and we were carried forward by the crowd.
Xia Mian tried to walk closer to the wall, but Pei Yan had already led the little girl to the left.
They went down the stairs together.
Perhaps because Pei Yan was walking beside her, no other pedestrians brushed against Xia Mian. Only occasionally did Xia Mian dare to secretly glance at him. She saw him looking straight ahead, sometimes raising his arm as if to shield himself. She felt that his tall figure completely enveloped her.
The fire drill lasted only fifteen minutes and ended quickly.
They took the elevator back upstairs together and then continued to stand guard at the laboratory entrance.
The professor needed to say a few words before the get out of class ended, so the senior students in the lab all sat quietly.
In the corridor, the little girl next to Pei Yan was too young and couldn't stand being bored, so she started to whine and act cute towards Pei Yan.
Pei Yan patiently comforted and advised the little girl, reminding her from time to time to keep her voice down so as not to disturb the older students in the lab.
The little girl listened to Pei Yan and her attention was diverted. She curiously observed Xia Mian not far away and broke the silence first: "Sister, are you also my mother's student?"
"Who is your mother?" Xia Mian asked in confusion.
The little girl said innocently, "My mom is a professor at University A. She's so amazing."
aestivation:"……"
Children's thinking is indeed different; their answers are essentially meaningless.
“She’s Teacher Duan’s youngest daughter,” Pei Yan explained. “I’m accompanying her to see Teacher Duan.”
Um?
If Pei Yan was able to come with Duan Jinhua's daughter, then what is the relationship between Pei Yan and Duan Jinhua?
As Xia Mian was pondering, she heard the laboratory door open, and Duan Jinhua was the first to come out, calling the little girl's name: "Miaomiao".
Then, Duan Jinhua glanced at Pei Yan and called him affectionately, "Xiao Yan, thank you for bringing her here."
"It's alright." Pei Yan released the little girl's hand and said gently, "Then, Auntie, I'll go back to my dorm first."
Aunt?
So, her director, Duan Jinhua, is Pei Yan's aunt?
Xia Mian slowly absorbed this huge amount of information when Duan Jinhua greeted her again. She hurriedly walked up to Duan Jinhua and politely reported on the PPT.
In that short while, when she turned her head again, Pei Yan had already left, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
"Xia Mian, do you know Xiao Yan?" Duan Jinhua couldn't help but ask after seeing her standing with Pei Yan earlier.
"I guess we know each other," Xia Mian replied reluctantly.
We knew each other's names and had even chatted before.
Unexpectedly, Duan Jinhua laughed upon hearing this, quite pleasantly surprised: "That's great, I rarely see Xiao Yan spending time with her friends."
Pei Yan, being such an aloof and unattainable figure, didn't really enjoy being in the limelight. And because he was so outstanding, Xia Mian wanted to use the somewhat inappropriate phrase "standing out from the crowd" to describe him, but when she asked her to come up with another word, she couldn't think of one.
but……
Based on those two awkward sentences she exchanged with Pei Yan just now, could they be considered "friends who spend time together"?
Summer Sleep expressed deep doubt.
Duan Jinhua felt that her relationship with Pei Yan was different from others and wanted to talk more: "You young people have more in common. How do you think about your own development? I'm really worried about Xiao Yan. Professor Chen from B University has high hopes for him. The major he wants to study is the one that B University is ranked first in the country. He was originally very interested in it, but for some reason, he doesn't want to go anymore."
When Duan Jinhua started talking about Pei Yan, Xia Mian couldn't help but listen attentively.
Concern can cloud judgment, and at that moment she forgot about maintaining distance and concealing her feelings, instinctively asking, "Then why did he go abroad to study?"
University B and University A are both located in the southern part of the city and are both among the top two universities in China.
Xia Mian had heard people say last semester that Pei Yan was favored by Professor Chen, an academic bigwig at B University. She really didn't know what happened, but things changed later.
"The only change is that his parents have been working out of town and are finally coming back soon," Duan Jinhua pondered. "After I told Xiao Yan this news, a few days later, Xiao Yan suddenly changed his mind and decided to give up his postgraduate recommendation and study abroad."
Xia Mian could sense that Duan Jinhua, as Pei Yan's aunt, cared about Pei Yan a lot.
Xia Mian, who had been secretly following Pei Yan for two years, also cared about him. Finally, she mustered up the courage to express her thoughts: "Today is the 23rd, and the recommendation system has just opened. If Pei Yan's decision to study abroad was made impulsively, we might be able to persuade him to contact Professor Chen again and fill out his application in time."
"How can we persuade him?" Duan Jinhua said helplessly. "Xiao Yan is very stubborn. He can't be easily persuaded by others, and he won't even listen to me."
Duan Jinhua hoped that her nephew Pei Yan would stay in Nancheng.
She felt sorry for Pei Yan's aloofness, and even more afraid that he would become even more lonely after studying abroad, separated by mountains and seas.
“Perhaps…” Xia Mian raised her eyes, as if making up her mind, and said solemnly, “I can give it a try?”
"Why don't you give it a try?" Duan Jinhua stared at her hesitantly, then smiled and pondered, "That works too. Actually, lately I feel that he's not as stubbornly determined as before; he's wavering a bit, as if he's reluctant to give up something."
"By the way, do you have his WeChat?" Duan Jinhua then asked.
Xia Mian was embarrassed: "I didn't."
"This kid doesn't even add his friends on WeChat!" Duan Jinhua said, sounding both surprised and resentful.
As she spoke, Duan Jinhua took out her phone and pushed Pei Yan's WeChat contact card to Xia Mian.
Xia Mian was so frightened that she immediately refused: "No, no, I didn't mean to persuade you on WeChat."
"Then how are you going to persuade them?" Duan Jinhua asked, puzzled.
Xia Mian then explained her plan in detail, and Duan Jinhua understood that she wanted to help Pei Yan analyze the pros and cons of the two options and even said she would make a table.
"Teacher Duan, are you at school tomorrow morning?" Xia Mian bit her lip, and seeing that Duan Jinhua nodded, she continued, "Then I'll give you the things first thing tomorrow morning."
In terms of interpersonal relationships, Xia Mian was not ignorant of worldly affairs; she could glean some unspoken information from Duan Jinhua's few words.
For example, Pei Yan may have had conflicts with his parents, and it was under pressure from his family that he changed his mind.
As an outsider who was not familiar with Pei Yan, she naturally could not offer advice based on family relationships or interfere in other people's family affairs.
At the same time, she would not stand on her own selfish grounds and persuade Pei Yan to give up going abroad simply because staying in Nancheng would give them more opportunities to meet.
After temporarily ending the topic, Xia Mian and Duan Jinhua chatted for more than half an hour in the afternoon about sharing the PPT of the research results.
After returning to her dorm from the lab, Xia Mian turned on her laptop and spent from six o'clock at night researching information until eleven o'clock, repeatedly revising the huge A3 paper on her desk.
Roommate Qiao Yilin didn't look closely, and just casually asked, "Aren't you asleep yet? Your cold isn't fully recovered, are you helping your advisor with a PPT again?"
Xia Mian immediately covered most of the paper with her arm and lied, "No, I'm drawing by hand."
"I haven't heard of any new drawing assignments." Qiao Yilin was taken aback.
Xia Mian reacted quickly and immediately made up an excuse: "I'm just practicing and drawing for fun."
“…Awesome.” Qiao Yilin gave her a thumbs up. “I really have to compete with you guys who are academic superstars.”
Xia Mian chuckled twice, and seeing that Qiao Yilin didn't seem to care much about what she had drawn, she continued to fill in the table with her pen.
She used a very objective perspective, with tables on the left and right, to list the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing a combined master's and doctoral degree at Peking University versus studying abroad.
She didn't mention a word about Pei Yan's family, but she thoroughly researched the education system and Pei Yan's professional development prospects.
After several revisions in pencil, it was already 12:30 a.m. when the final draft was copied down.
Out of habit, just like drawing by hand, Xia Mian wrote the date in the lower right corner of the A3 paper with a pencil, a clean and neat slash running straight through the "23" in "9.23".
Finally, she wrote one more sentence at the very top of the paper.
Before going to bed, Xia Mian carefully folded the A3 paper in half and placed it under the computer.
The next morning, she arrived at the laboratory as promised and handed the form to Duan Jinhua.
Duan Jinhua was stunned when she saw her meticulous and detailed analysis of the pros and cons; the hand-drawn table was also a rare sight.
Xia Mian was somewhat embarrassed: "Teacher Duan, I just felt that the printout was a bit hard to read, and time was tight too, the print shop downstairs closes very early. Is... is it because my handwriting is bad?"
"No, your handwriting is beautiful and neat," Duan Jinhua praised sincerely. "I just didn't expect you to put so much effort into this."
Only Xia Mian herself knew that the sincerity behind her handwritten note might be the only selfish reason she had for putting this matter into it.
Is this considered doing something personally for Pei Yan?
Even if Pei Yan himself didn't know it was her.
"Then I'll tell Xiao Yan to take a look." Duan Jinhua put away the A3 paper, paused slightly, and said, "I hope he can understand it."
"There's one more thing, Teacher Duan," Xia Mian said softly, pursing her lips. "Don't tell him that I wrote this."
"Why?" Duan Jinhua was taken aback. "Are you afraid he'll mind that I told you about my family affairs?"
Xia Mian smiled but remained silent, her expression ambiguous.
Duan Jinhua took this as a valid consideration and accepted it: "Okay."
"Thank you, Teacher Duan!" Seeing that Duan Jinhua agreed, Xia Mian felt relieved, smiled and thanked Duan Jinhua before leaving.
"This little girl." She really slipped away very quickly, which made Duan Jinhua smile helplessly, shake his head and murmur, "I should be thanking you."
Pei Yan received the paper an hour later.
He naturally asked who made the watch. Duan Jinhua initially kept it a secret, but seeing that he didn't seem angry, she finally couldn't help but add, "It's one of your friends, someone who cares about you."
The sentence at the very top of the paper left a deep impression on Duan Jinhua.
"I believe you will become the person you most want to be."
It sounds like an inspirational quote, but what Duan Jinhua didn't know was that it was also a lyric from the song "You Were Once a Teenager".
It seems that none of the choices made in youth should have been made on a whim.
Returning to one's true self, at the most important crossroads in life, every choice made should be aimed at becoming the person one most wants to be.
That night, Xia Mian quietly confided her feelings in a private message on Douyin.
[Spring fatigue]: I really hope he becomes the person he most wants to be.
【Spring fatigue】: Instead of running away from something, don't jeopardize something important in your life because of it.
[Spring fatigue]: But I had a brain fart, drawing a table freehand is so silly.
[Spring fatigue]: But it's okay, anyway he won't know that I drew it.
【Valuri】: Are you sure?
[Spring fatigue]: Absolutely certain.
At night, Valuri didn't speak again. He just looked down at the A3 paper, his right hand lightly brushing over it.
In particular, the neat diagonal line in the bottom right corner.
A note from the author:
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Here I am, goodnight babies! [shy]
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