Chapter 142
The cafeteria was crowded with people. Chu Jiujiu followed Han Shengyi. Han Shengyi held the tray in one hand and protected her with the other. They just wanted to get some food, but the two of them acted like they were breaking through the crowd. Finally, they walked out of the crowd holding the trays full of food. Chu Jiujiu was sharp-eyed and saw two empty seats. She rushed over first, and then Han Shengyi heard her voice.
“Here, here!”
When sitting down, Chu Jiujiu wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"There are too many people. Why are there so many people?" Chu Jiujiu looked at the crowd of people around her with lingering fear.
Han Shengyi also raised his head and looked around. "The School of Humanities and the School of Economics are closest to this cafeteria. There are over 700 people in the School of Humanities alone. Even if only half of them come to eat, there won't be enough seats in the cafeteria. What's more, today is the first day of school, and everyone is still getting used to it. They will definitely all come to the cafeteria to eat."
As people gradually got used to campus life, fewer and fewer people came to the cafeteria.
Although we don’t have the conditions to cook for ourselves, difficulties are solved by people.
Chu Jiujiu said "oh" and didn't react at first. Then she remembered that she was from the School of Humanities.
Originally, she was in the history department and should belong to a formal history college, but... from ancient times to the present, history has been an unpopular profession. There are only eighty people in their major, so it is naturally impossible to set up an independent school. They can only merge with others and be called the School of Humanities.
The food at school is pretty good. There are six dishes today. When Chu Jiujiu came, the fried potatoes with meat were sold out, so she ordered a dish of fried gluten with green peppers and another one of minced meat and eggplant.
It tastes good, it’s the minced meat, it’s really minced meat, you can taste the aroma of the meat, but you can’t see where the meat is at all.
Chu Jiujiu even suspected that the aunts used bone broth to cook the dishes for them.
As she ate her plate, she asked Han Shengyi about the situation in their class. Han Shengyi thought for a moment and summed it up in one sentence, "There are many older people and many cadres."
Those who can become cadres are certainly not young. This is a special major. All the people in it are selected and are 100% party members. People like Chu Jiujiu who are not even activists, no matter how high her scores are, the teacher will not let her in.
Chu Jiujiu didn't care about these things. After all, not all majors look at grades. Some majors have their own way of selecting people.
She held the chopsticks and asked curiously, "Are you the monitor now?"
Han Shengyi shook his head.
Chu Jiujiu opened her eyes wide in surprise, "You're the top scorer, and you're not the class monitor?!"
Chu Jiujiu has completely forgotten what democratic voting is. She has the same idea as everyone else: grades determine everything. Han Shengyi is so outstanding, their teacher will definitely choose him as the class monitor.
Han Shengyi smiled and said, "Our class monitor is a member of the Propaganda Department of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, a writer for the writing class, and a member of the Provincial Government Office Working Committee."
Chu Jiujiu: “…”
Listening to this series of titles, Chu Jiujiu nodded with a wooden face, "No need to say more, I understand where you lost."
Chu Jiujiu poked at the rice on her plate. This situation could only happen because the college entrance examination had been suspended for ten years. In the past, she would never have had the chance to be a classmate of such a big shot. Even if she did, it would be many years after graduation.
They chatted and ate, and soon they finished their meal. The lunch break was not long enough, so many people did not go back to the dormitory. Instead, they took the newly distributed textbooks and read the books in the classroom first. Chu Jiujiu wanted to go out and play for a while, but was influenced by everyone and went back to the classroom obediently.
Everyone was peaceful that day. In the afternoon, Chu Jiujiu and several other designated class leaders were called away by the head teacher. School had just started, and they had a lot of things to do. Fang Cheng was the class monitor and he was the busiest. Chu Jiujiu was not much better off. Although she was called the deputy class monitor, she was actually just a soldier under the class monitor.
Following Fang Cheng, Chu Jiujiu ran to many places in the afternoon. When she returned to the dormitory, her legs were almost broken.
Rubbing her legs in frustration, Chu Jiujiu clenched her fist firmly: "When I get home this weekend, I'll definitely bring our bicycle over!"
Song Xiaoying sighed, "I also want to get our bicycle over here, but it's too far."
Cao Lu came in after washing her face. When she heard what they were saying, she put down the washbasin, picked up the vanishing cream, and sat down next to Chu Jiujiu affectionately.
As she applied the white paste on her face, she asked Chu Jiujiu, "Are you going home this weekend?"
She was a little close, and Chu Jiujiu gave her a strange look. But thinking about it, she seemed to be the kind of person who liked to be close to others, so she endured it and didn't move aside. "Well, grandma and dad asked us to go back."
Cao Lu smiled, "It's good to be close to home. Hey, Jiujiu, where do you live?"
During the day, she was still Xiao Chu, but now she was Jiujiu. Chu Jiujiu looked at her. After two seconds, she suddenly turned over and got on the bed. While shaking off the quilt, she answered her, "You don't understand even if I tell you. It's just an alley. There are countless alleys of all sizes in the capital. You will understand it later."
The quilt was shaking, and Cao Lu was still sitting on the edge of the bed, which was a bit of a hindrance, so she had to stand up. Chu Jiujiu's hands kept moving, and it seemed that she would shake it for several minutes until the cotton inside was all fluffy before she would put it down.
Seeing how focused she was, Cao Lu couldn't help but frown. It was the first day and everyone was concerned about some things and wouldn't rush into a conflict, so Cao Lu didn't say anything and climbed onto the bed opposite.
The three words "first day" were like a curse, binding both good and bad people. No one dared to indulge at this time, but one could pretend for a while, not forever. One's true nature would eventually be exposed.
…
In the next few days, Chu Jiujiu only met Han Shengyi during meals. Qi Baozhu and Dabao ate in the cafeteria on the other side. They were also busy, so no one met up in the first few days. It was not until Friday noon that they got together after agreeing to go back to the city together.
Originally, Chief Qi wanted to send a car to pick them up, but the other three wanted to take bus 332 back, so Qi Baozhu refused Chief Qi's kindness.
332, a bus route from the suburbs to the city center, is also the only bus route that Chu Jiujiu and her friends can choose so far.
At that time, buses were not so developed, with one running less than every five minutes. Long-distance buses like 332 only ran once an hour, and were always late. At the most exaggerated time, people could wait for three hours.
Dabao's recent disappearance wasn't entirely unrelated; he was said to be getting along very well with his roommates. Their dorm was a six-person room, and he was the only local who'd switched to the profession; the other five were all from out of town. While Dabao was considered a local, he'd spent years living in the staff housing complex, and hadn't seen much of the capital's sights. So, whenever he had the time, he'd been hanging out with his roommates. One of them, who came from a more affluent family, even paid for a photo of them.
Dabao brought the photos out today and plans to show them to his younger brothers and sisters when he returns home by bus tomorrow.
Others can take a direct bus to go home, but if Dabao wants to go back, he needs to take three routes, which is both troublesome and time-consuming. So Chu Liqiang simply asked him to come back with Chu Jiujiu and the others, sleep at the Chu family first, and then ask the military vehicle passing by to take him back the next day.
In fact, Dabao didn’t want to go home that much. After finally getting out, he wanted to play with his roommates more. However, it was just the beginning of the school year, and he behaved according to the rules in every way. At present, the people he was most familiar with were still the people in the car. If he made new friends in the future, he might not be willing to go back with them.
No matter what happens in the future, now everyone is looking at the scenery outside the window excitedly, with a lot of things to say, waiting to go back and tell their families.
When she got home, the first person Chu Jiujiu saw was Grandma Han, and then Grandpa Han rushed out of the bathroom holding a newspaper. After not seeing them for a week, the children didn't miss the adults much, but the adults missed the children terribly.
The laughter and cheers were about to burst through the roof again. After talking for a long time, Chu Jiujiu finally walked into the yard.
She and Han Shengyi, one squatting and the other standing, both looked at the rusty bicycle in the yard.
Chu Jiujiu asked: "How long does it take to ride from here to school?"
Han Shengyi hesitated for a moment and said, "If it were me, one hour."
Chu Jiujiu's eyes lit up. This was faster than the bus, and one hour was not very long. It seemed feasible.
It took her a second to react and she pointed at herself, "What about me?"
Han Shengyi: "Three hours."
Chu Jiujiu was angry: "Why am I only this long?"
Han Shengyi crossed his arms and turned around. "I've been riding this bike for several years now, and it's not as easy to ride as when I first bought it. I know the tricks, so it's a little better. But every time you ride it, the chain falls off within half an hour, and you don't know how to put it back on. So when I say three hours, it includes the two and a half hours it takes you to push the bike to school."
Chu Jiujiu: “…”
She became even angrier, but she couldn't vent her anger because what Han Shengyi said made so much sense.
…
When Wen Xiuwei pushed open the door and came in, she saw Chu Jiujiu looking both frustrated and angry. She knew at a glance that Han Shengyi must have teased her again.
Wen Xiuwei held the gate railing and looked at them with a smile, "What did you two say again? Shengyi, why bother?"
She looked at Han Shengyi and said nothing, but Han Shengyi understood what she meant.
If you make her angry, she still needs you to coax her.
Han Shengyi chuckled and greeted Wen Xiuwei, "Sister Xiuwei, did you come back by yourself?"
Wen Xiuwei hummed, "My mom and dad went to visit someone else's house. I came back from the studio and remembered that today is Friday, so I came to see them."
Chu Jiujiu stood up and asked, "Studio, Weiwei, didn't you go to school?"
"I did," Wen Xiuwei explained, "but my godfather wanted to see me for something, so I asked my teacher for leave and came back."
Chu Jiujiu walked up to Wen Xiuwei and asked curiously, "What's the matter?"
Wen Xiuwei smiled mysteriously, "Good news."
She said something good, but didn't tell Chu Jiujiu immediately. Instead, she waited until everyone was together before announcing that her godfather was about to make a feature film and she had been chosen as the heroine. Next Wednesday, they would set off for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Wen Xiuwei's films were becoming increasingly dangerous...
She said it was a feature film, but in fact, no one understands. They are all movies, and they are all related to the story. So why did she emphasize it this time?
What everyone is more concerned about is how long she will be gone and when she will be able to come back. Moreover, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is so far away and so high. Will there be any problems if Wen Xiuwei goes up there?
Wen Xiuwei answered all the questions one by one. In fact, her parents did not agree with her going there. Altitude sickness does not change with the times. It is something that has always existed and can be fatal if not handled properly. Wen Xiuwei also knew this, but she just wanted to go.
She came back after about three or four months. The teachers at the academy knew that she was a serious actor, so they didn't say anything. They just reminded her to come back on time to take the exam.
Wen Xiuwei hadn’t even gotten to know all of her classmates, let alone her roommates, and she was about to leave.
That night, she did not go back to her own home but came to Chu's house. She did not stay in her own room, but squeezed in with Chu Jiujiu all night.
The two of them lay on the bed with soft pillows under their arms. They turned off the bright chandelier and only kept the bedside lamp on. The two girls whispered to each other.
After listening to what Wen Xiuwei said, Chu Jiujiu finally understood why she had to go to such a dangerous place to shoot a movie.
Because this may be the first film shot in China in a long time that is not sport-themed and is not assimilated by the term "model opera". Although it is also mixed with some political colors, the most important theme in it is still the nation.
Wen Xiuwei has already read the script. It is a novel that was published last year and quickly became popular in the literary world. I heard that it was written by the author during his period of exile, and the tone is somewhat sad.
After she finished reading it, she immediately fell in love with the characters and the story. When Wen Xiuwei said this, her eyes flashed with a bright and frightening light. Chu Jiujiu watched and listened, and then the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously.
Wen Xiuwei was talking excitedly. When she turned around and saw Chu Jiujiu with this expression, she couldn't help but wonder: "What are you laughing at?"
Chu Jiujiu tilted her head and lay down, her voice very soft, "Weiwei, you are so beautiful."
From body to mind, everything is so beautiful.
Her body was intact and her soul was intact. Chu Jiujiu couldn't help but compare her current self with her past wedding photos. The more she compared, the more excited she became.
She wanted to say something, but there were some things she couldn't say, so she hesitated for a while, twisting like a caterpillar, twisting herself next to Wen Xiuwei, clinging to her tightly. Chu Jiujiu asked softly, "When are you and Chu Shao planning to get married?"
Wen Xiuwei was still stunned, and after hearing this, she was even more stunned. But after two seconds, she suddenly laughed and said, "I don't know either. Anyway, we have to wait for him to come back."
Chu Jiujiu pouted: "That will take many years, who knows how long he will stay there, why don't you get the certificate first."
Wen Xiuwei raised her eyebrows: "Why should we do this?"
"Because, if you get married a year earlier, you can have one more anniversary later."
Chu Jiujiu's face was against the pillow, but Wen Xiuwei straightened her upper body and looked down at Chu Jiujiu. Seeing the eager expectation in her eyes, Wen Xiuwei pursed her lips and suddenly smiled.
"You always seem so sure that Chu Shao and I can go all the way to the end smoothly."
Chu Jiujiu blinked, her body still relaxed.
Wen Xiuwei looked away, glanced at the head of the bed for a while, then turned her gaze back to Chu Jiujiu with a half-smile: "Seven years ago, you were like this, and seven years later, you are still like this."
Chu Jiujiu was stunned.
Chu Jiujiu naturally remembered what she had said seven years ago, but she didn't know that Wen Xiuwei also remembered it, and it seemed that she had never forgotten it.
She was a little flustered, but before she could say anything, Wen Xiuwei changed the subject, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. How are you and Han Shengyi doing at school?"
The topic diverged too much. Chu Jiujiu paused for two seconds before reacting, "That's not right. Shouldn't you be asking me how you're doing? What does my life have to do with Brother Shengyi?"
Wen Xiuwei shrugged. "I'm just asking. People are most likely to have conflicts when they change environments. I'm worried that you two will quarrel."
Chu Jiujiu sighed.
She laughed so arrogantly that she almost had the words "You're so funny" carved on her forehead.
"Please! What's the relationship between me and Brother Shengyi? We've known each other for years and have never had a fight!"
Except for the cold war in childhood, the cold war is not considered a quarrel.
Wen Xiuwei looked at Chu Jiujiu who was talking nonsense in silence.
Considering that she had raised her for several years, Wen Xiuwei endured it and still reminded her a few words, "Don't you think that you and Han Shengyi are too close?"
Chu Jiujiu shook her head, "I don't think so."
Wen Xiuwei: “…”
"Then don't you think that there's something wrong with you two? You're seventeen, and he's almost twenty. You're so old, and you're still so clingy. Isn't that strange?"
Chu Jiujiu frowned, "It's not strange, what do you want to say?"
Wen Xiuwei suffocated.
She felt that what she said was almost explicit, but Chu Jiujiu just couldn't get her true meaning. However, looking at Chu Jiujiu's clean and innocent little face, she couldn't say anything too harsh. After holding it in for a long time, she could only say dryly: "I just see that he always controls you, and you don't have a very good temper. As the saying goes, things smell good from a distance, but things smell bad up close... Forget it, since neither of you think there is anything wrong, then just pretend I didn't say anything."
Chu Jiujiu blinked, "Oh, that's what you're talking about."
"He seems to be more involved in my affairs than before."
Wen Xiuwei was stunned. "You know?"
Chu Jiujiu glanced at her and said, "You know everything, so I, the person involved, must have known it earlier than you."
Wen Xiuwei: “…” Where do you get your confidence from?
Chu Jiujiu hooked her hair and played with it around her fingers. "He likes to control me, but he also likes to spoil me. You know Brother Shengyi. He looks very generous, but he is actually very sensitive. Unlike others, he won't say anything when he encounters something. He has to be pushed to the point of no return before he will reveal a word or two. I don't want to force him, and I know he just doesn't feel safe. Look, Chu Shao is gone, you moved out too, Grandpa and Grandma Han are getting older day by day, and his mother..."
After a pause, Chu Jiujiu continued, "Outside, they're all just drinking buddies. He's not like us. We all have our own hobbies and careers, but he has nothing. In life, we need to grasp onto something. He can't grasp onto anything else, so he can only grasp onto me."
After saying that, Chu Jiujiu turned over and sat up, looking at Wen Xiuwei excitedly, "Do you think what I said is right?"
Wen Xiuwei: “…”
Her brain is a little rusty.
How should I put it? At first glance, Chu Jiujiu's remarks do seem to be nothing wrong.
but……
She pointed at herself and said, "Are you sure that if Chu Shao and I leave, Shengyi will become insecure?"
Chu Jiujiu nodded heavily, "Of course! He cares about you guys very much!"
Wen Xiuwei struggled to recall the Han Shengyi she knew, the man who even secretly planned to kill his own mother. Compared with the sensitive, lonely and pitiful boy mentioned by Chu Jiujiu... they were completely two different people!
Wen Xiuwei was speechless, but she did understand one thing.
These two people were like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai, one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten, so her worries were in vain.
Wen Xiuwei lay down and pulled the quilt around her. As she lay down, she said in a broken voice, "Okay, you can do whatever you want now, but in two years, Shengyi will be looking for a partner. By then, you have to stay away from him."
Chu Jiujiu was stunned, and Wen Xiuwei reminded her, "Turn off the lights."
After she came to her senses, she swallowed the three words "I know" out of her mouth, turned off the bedside lamp, lay on the pillow, opened her eyes, and imagined what Han Shengyi looked like when he was dating.
She had never met many people with a partner, so she could only replace Chu Shao's face by the lake in her memory with Han Shengyi's, and then replace Wen Xiuwei's face with a woman she didn't know.
A cold wind suddenly blew in from the wide-open windows. Chu Jiujiu frowned and huddled deeper into the quilt.
I don’t know if I feel cold or uncomfortable.
…
The weekend passed in the blink of an eye. When Chu Jiujiu returned to school, she immersed herself in the lively campus atmosphere again. Wen Xiuwei also left. The conversation that day was soon forgotten by Chu Jiujiu.
While attending classes, he also had to be busy with class activities and clubs. The clubs that had been discontinued with the university were restarted. Fang Cheng took the lead in organizing a cultural relics appreciation association, and Chu Jiujiu was pulled in by him and gloriously became a vice president.
Chu Jiujiu: “…”
Fang Chengzhen is her lifelong enemy. As long as he is around, she will always be the vice-president.
It was at this moment that Chu Jiujiu's competitive spirit began to rise. She wanted to organize another club, but she was running out of time. Besides, she didn't have as much energy as Fang Cheng. Forget it, vice president would be vice president. There weren't that many people in their club anyway.
Not many people are willing to join unpopular clubs in unpopular majors. Most people still prefer to go to places full of petty-bourgeois atmosphere such as the May Fourth Literary Society, the Youth Progress Association, the Drama Club, and the English Club. The four words "cultural relics appreciation" sound particularly cold and hard.
However, that is because everyone does not know that Fang Cheng is the apprentice of the director of the Cultural Relics Archives. While other appreciation clubs look at photos and read books, only they can go on field trips for every activity.
The other members felt like they had found a treasure, but Chu Jiujiu looked indifferent. She had an assistant certificate and could enter and exit the archives freely.
She said it was too troublesome, but every time, Chu Jiujiu was very responsible in contacting the members and going out with them. Even Han Shengyi in the student union was not as busy as her.
On an autumn evening, Chu Jiujiu changed her clothes and was walking out quickly with a cloth bag in her hand when she met Han Shengyi who came to look for her.
Han Shengyi saw her from a distance and asked her, "Jiujiu, where are you going?"
Chu Jiujiu was stunned when she saw him, then she remembered, "Ah! I forgot to tell you, I have to go shopping for things for an event with Fang Cheng tonight, so I can't have dinner with you."
Han Shengyi pursed his lips, then smiled at her, "It's okay, go ahead."
The same thing happened many times. Chu Jiujiu didn't even apologize. She waved to him and ran quickly to the agreed place.
After she left, Han Shengyi would not stay here. With his mouth drooping, he turned around and walked in the direction he came from. At this time, a girl next to him came over.
She called out to Han Shengyi, "Hey, wait a minute, are you Chu Jiujiu's brother?"
Han Shengyi turned his head and saw Cao Lu holding out her hand. She smiled cheerfully and said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Cao Lu and I'm Jiujiu's roommate. We'll see each other often in the future."
At the end of her words, she stuck out her tongue playfully. She was young, had good skin, and was pretty. Other men liked her lively appearance.
She thought Han Shengyi would like it too, but when Han Shengyi looked into her eyes, his expression suddenly turned cold.
He ignored Cao Lu, turned around and left without any reluctance.
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