Chapter 70 Bachelor's Clothes
Finally, the day came for the principal to cut the tassels.
The academic lecture hall was crowded and bustling.
Students wearing bachelor's gowns with collars of different colors gathered together, blue collar, pink collar, gray collar... like a flowing ocean of colors.
Lin Yan and I were standing in the crowd, wearing yellow-collared bachelor's gowns that symbolize engineering.
I deliberately bumped Lin Yan with my shoulder and lowered my voice in a servile manner: "Hey, see? I'm a noble yellow-collar worker!" There was a hint of pride in my tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure in a pink-collared bachelor's gown walked out of the lecture hall. It was Xiaoyou!
She obviously heard what I said and immediately retorted with her hands on her hips: "What's so great about yellow collars?! We pink collars are noble too, okay!" Her exaggerated expression and tone made the students around her burst out laughing.
Xiaoyou quickly shared her experience, her face flushed with excitement. "Oh my god! I was so nervous! The principal shook my hand and said 'Congratulations!' Then he shook hands with several teachers in the academy, and everyone kept saying congratulations! I even saw a girl holding a giant doll and trying to pick the tassels! Even more outrageous, someone even wanted to clink glasses with the principal, but they got stopped by security, haha! Oh yeah, there was even a photographer taking pictures, and he said he'd develop them and send them to us!"
Listening to these novel operations, I couldn't help but smack my lips: "These people... are really full of tricks!"
The class monitor also squeezed over and announced, "Come to my place later to get your graduation gown bear souvenirs! One for everyone!"
The air was filled with a strong graduation atmosphere, with excitement, reluctance, and longing, all kinds of emotions intertwined together.
It's our college's turn to enter.
Lin Yan and I held hands and followed the crowd into the solemn academic lecture hall.
On the stage, the principal and the leaders of the college sat upright.
We followed the instructions, lined up in a long queue, and walked onto the stage one by one, waiting for the tassel-cutting ceremony that symbolizes academic success and the spread of wings to soar into the sky.
I was chatting and laughing with Lin Yan in the audience, teasing others about being nervous, but when it was my turn to step onto the stairs and walk in front of the principal, my heart suddenly felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand!
My mind is blank!
The principal smiled kindly and helped me move the tassel of my hat from the right to the left. He extended his hand and said, "Classmate, congratulations on your graduation!"
Like a wooden man, I stretched out my hand stiffly, shook hands, and then... turned around and walked away! I completely forgot to say "thank you"!
After I walked off the stage and returned to Lin Yan, I suddenly came to my senses and grabbed my hair in frustration: "Ahhh! Lin Yan! I really admire my stupid brain! I forgot to say thank you! I just shook hands and walked off like a fool! How embarrassing!"
Lin Yan looked at my annoyed expression and couldn't help laughing. He reached out and rubbed my hair, his eyes gentle and tolerant: "It's okay, the principal has to allocate hundreds of ears of corn every day, he won't remember. It's all right as long as the thought is there."
The annoyance in his heart was eased a little by him.
Wearing this bachelor's gown that symbolizes an end and a beginning, Lin Yan made an appointment with a photographer he knew before, wanting to take a few more formal graduation photos of the couple on campus.
The sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled shadows. We stood in front of the library, next to the teaching building, and on the tree-lined avenue.
But once the camera is pointed at me, I feel uncomfortable all over, I don’t know where to put my hands and feet, and my expression is stiff.
"Student Chen Rui, relax and be more natural!" the photographer reminded.
Lin Yan walked behind me, gently hugged my waist from behind, rested his chin on my shoulder, and his warm breath brushed past my ear: "Baby, don't be nervous. Just pretend it's just the two of us, just act like usual."
His steady heartbeat and familiar body temperature came through the thin bachelor's gown, miraculously dispelling my stiffness.
I tilted my head slightly, leaned against him, and the corners of my mouth unconsciously raised into a relaxed arc.
"Good! Very good! Just like that! Keep it!" The photographer's eyes lit up and he quickly pressed the shutter to capture this moment.
Later we tried some poses, some serious and some funny, and the photographer nodded frequently, obviously very satisfied.
As I was filming, a familiar voice interrupted me:
"Great! Master Lin! You secretly took your wife to take beautiful photos without us! You value women over friends!"
Xiaoyou and Laosi came over at some point. Xiaoyou put her hands on her hips, with an expression that said "I caught you".
Only then did I realize that I had been so focused on myself and Lin Yan that I had forgotten about this pair of good friends who had shared weal and woe!
After graduation, everyone went their separate ways, and it would probably be difficult to get together like this to take photos again.
Thinking of this, a faint sadness welled up in my heart.
"My bad, my bad," Lin Yan immediately admitted his mistake with a smile and said to the photographer, "Master, please take some more photos of the four of us. I'll pay you more."
So, the four of them took some posing, funny and serious photos in front of the iconic building on campus.
The youthful smile was captured in the camera. Lin Yan had no choice but to pay the photographer more money.
"Shall I call Lao Wang over as well?" The fourth brother suggested, "Shall we take a final group photo of the four of us in the dorm?"
Lin Yan and I both nodded in agreement.
Lao Wang quickly ran over, breathless, and as soon as they met, he started complaining, "Fuck you! You're all bastards! You called a lonely person like me here to be a background? Is that even appropriate?!"
"Hey, Lao Wang!" I quickly put my arm around his shoulders. "How can we miss you in our graduation photo of our dorm's F4? Be serious!"
Although Lao Wang complained, he still stood up cooperatively, muttering, "Alright, alright... But I have to say, you two have moved out for two years now, and you still remember us, your old roommates who stayed behind. You have a conscience!"
Lin Yan smiled and hit him on the shoulder: "You must not forget that!"
So, the four former dormitory members, wearing bachelor's gowns, took their last group photo in front of the familiar corridor downstairs of the dormitory where they had lived for four years.
As we laughed and played, it seemed as if we were back to the time when we first met in college.
When we finally finished filming, it was already dark.
Everyone's stomachs were rumbling, so they decided to have a farewell dinner together.
In the restaurant, we ordered a table full of dishes and opened some beer.
After a few drinks, the sadness of separation became even stronger.
Thinking that this might be the last time the four of us sit together and have a meal like this, the sadness in my heart came back and I couldn't help but pour myself another full glass.
Lin Yan held my hand and said, "Ruirui, stop drinking too much."
I shook my head, my voice a little muffled: "It's the last time...you have to drink more..." As soon as these words came out, the originally lively atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became quiet, and even Xiaoyou, who was usually the most noisy, fell silent for a while.
The fourth brother quickly tried to smooth things over, raising his glass: "Hey, hey, hey! What do you mean by last time? There will be plenty of class reunions in the future! High-speed trains and planes are so convenient! Chen Rui, how come you've been treated like a little girl by Lin Yan? You've become so sentimental? Where's that carefree spirit you used to have?"
"Bullshit!" I laughed out loud at his indignation and raised my glass, "Who's being sentimental? Cheers!"
If you think about it, it is true.
When I was in the dormitory before, I was probably only concerned with playing games and didn’t pay much attention to my roommates.
It was after being with Lin Yan and being led by him that I gradually integrated into this small group and my relationship with everyone became deeper.
Everyone started talking and laughing again, reminiscing about the funny things that happened during their four years of college, complaining about the unusual exams, and imagining the vague future. Drink after drink, bursts of laughter followed, trying to dilute the sadness of parting.
The dinner party will eventually end.
They supported each other as they walked out of the restaurant and said goodbye at the intersection.
Looking at the backs of Lao Si and Xiao You as they left together, and the back of Lao Wang as he walked towards the subway station alone, I leaned on Lin Yan, and my nose felt a little sore.
Although we didn’t spend every day together like we did in high school, the four years in college were undoubtedly the freest, happiest, and most transformative time in my life.
"Let's go home." Lin Yan hugged me tightly, his voice gentle.
When we got home, we both reeked of alcohol. I can't drink much, but after a few beers I was a bit tipsy and a lot bolder.
Looking at Lin Yan's profile as he changed his shoes at the entrance, he was incredibly handsome under the light. I chuckled, staggered over, and lifted his chin frivolously with my index finger:
"My beautiful lady, come and give me a kiss~"
Lin Yan laughed and let me do whatever I wanted.
His eyes swept over the bachelor's gown that I had casually thrown on the sofa, and his eyes suddenly became deep, with a malicious smile.
He grabbed my wrist with his backhand and lowered his voice, beckoning me:
"Your Majesty... I have a suggestion. Look... the dragon robe (referring to the bachelor's uniform) is ready. How about... you try it on?"
"What dragon robe?" I was a little confused and didn't react.
Lin Yan stopped explaining and started to take action.
He patiently took off my T-shirt and pants one by one, and finally put only the bachelor's gown with a yellow collar, which symbolized my degree, on my naked body.
"You...Lin Yan!" I regained consciousness instantly, my face flushed red, and I wanted to pull my robe tighter.
Lin Yan's smile deepened, his eyes like a wolf staring at its prey. He slowly squatted down and slipped into the hem of his wide academic gown...
"Your Majesty... allow this humble servant... to serve you well..."
Alcohol amplified the senses, and Lin Yan's technique was so amazing (God knows how much he had learned privately!)
Later... later, the bachelor's gown that symbolized the solemnity of graduation could naturally no longer be worn.
But Lin Yan was very satisfied. He held me, who was limp as mud, in his arms and chuckled contentedly: "That's good... It saves us money on buying some 'special purpose' clothing..."
I was so tired that I couldn't even lift my eyelids and could only whimper in his arms to express my protest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
