Undercurrents in the Study Room
Jiang Yichun stared at the cookie box on his desk.
She frowned and opened the cookie box.
There was only one cookie in the box.
She turned on her phone; it was already 7 p.m.
Because of school requirements, economics majors in their junior year must participate in a three-month internship.
The day after breaking up with He Yinxin, Jiang Yichun went for an interview with red, swollen eyes and successfully landed an internship in the finance department of a company near the school.
The internship wasn't difficult; it was simply a matter of learning how to use a printer proficiently and how to use Excel cleverly.
Aside from slightly reducing her study time, she didn't learn much else, and the reduced study time actually made her more anxious.
After all, I don't get off work until six o'clock.
After a long commute, she arrived at the school cafeteria, which was already closed, and most of the restaurants in the shopping mall downstairs from her company were not cheap.
She can't eat McDonald's cheap meals every day.
Therefore, Jiang Yichun often lingered in the discounted light meals section of the supermarket downstairs in the shopping mall.
She wasn't very lucky today; the discounted rice balls and salads were all gone, and she wasn't in the mood for dinner, so she went back to school on an empty stomach.
She passed by the bakery that was still open at school, but didn't want to buy anything.
Especially the oily grilled sausage.
It always reminded her of some bespectacled conman bot.
She turned and left, returning to her dormitory.
Xingxing went to the library, Yang Fei went on a date with Lin Yan, and Su Yanyue had already joined the film crew.
She was the only one in the dormitory.
Jiang Yichun then turned his gaze to the cookie.
This is the last one.
Eat it and then throw it away.
Thinking this, Jiang Yichun picked up the cookie and put it in his mouth.
She chewed it bite by bite, as if gnawing on a piece of tree bark.
Although the buttery aroma still lingered on her tongue, and the refreshing taste of black tea remained, all she wanted now was to fill her stomach with this cookie.
The cookies were sweet, but the memories are bitter.
Those people in the workplace are always arrogant, calling her "little sister" and "Xiao Bao" while subtly criticizing her family background.
She laughed it off, but those people swarmed around her, as if she weren't an intern, but a toy for their amusement.
After learning that she came from a small county, those people said they felt sorry for the backwardness of the small county, but she could see their gaze in their words of pity.
The gaze of those in power over ordinary people.
Stepping out of the ivory tower, one discovers that society is full of cruel gazes.
Just like when I was a child, I faced the gazes of those people.
Jiang Yichun chewed and then swallowed the cookie.
Her foot trembled and she bumped into a ramen noodle box.
Jiang Yichun was taken aback, then bent down and picked up the box of instant noodles.
This seems to be something she stockpiled a long time ago?
"Gurgle..." The cookie she had just eaten had completely whetted her appetite, and the craving was crawling all over her body.
Jiang Yichun quickly made instant noodles and ate them in big mouthfuls.
She ate a simple bowl of instant noodles while tears streamed down her face, her tears mixing into the broth.
After finishing her instant noodles, she was covered in sweat, but felt completely relaxed.
All the repression, sadness, and anger mixed with her tears were swallowed down by her.
Jiang Yichun was full of energy.
We still need to eat, after all.
She stood up, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, picked up a pile of documents on the table, grabbed the old computer, and turned to leave.
She took one last look at the red cookie box.
She turned and walked away without throwing it in the trash can.
Jiang Yichun left his dormitory and went to the 24-hour study room next to the library.
She has to study until 11 p.m.
She walked into the classroom, where only a few people were scattered around.
The first few times she came, she would just look down, find a seat by the window, and plop down without ever looking at who was around her.
She was afraid of meeting that familiar gaze.
Today, for some reason, perhaps because of the cookie box, she looked around and her gaze met those eyes in the corner.
The swindler wasn't wearing glasses; his almond-shaped eyes met mine for a moment, then immediately looked away.
Jiang Yichun ignored him and found a seat to start reviewing her graduate school application materials—the only useful thing left behind by that swindler.
As she wrote, she instantly broke free from the tired and frustrated atmosphere and immersed herself in a sea of words and numbers.
Finally, a calculus problem brought her to a complete standstill.
Jiang Yichun scratched his hair, bit his pen, and finally stood up, picked up his water glass, and walked out.
She walked towards the dark corridor outside the study room, where a kitten was lying next to the water dispenser.
When the kitten saw Jiang Yichun approaching, it raised its tail and rubbed against her leg.
This is considered Jiang Yichun's "study buddy," and she always seems to find this little orange cat here.
Jiang Yichun squatted down and poured the water from the cup into the kitten's bowl, then gently stroked its head.
She didn't know its name, so she called it "Mimi".
"We meet again, Mimi." Jiang Yichun smiled at it, stood up and continued drinking water.
Once her water glass was full, she took out her phone, put on her wireless earphones, and started listening to music in the gentle breeze of late spring.
That was her mother's favorite singer.
Jiang Yichun grew up listening to that singer's songs.
Everyone says she's a fresh and innocent type, but Jiang Yichun prefers her rock music.
The music flowed with the shadows of the trees and the moonlight, ending with the roar of an electric guitar.
She took off her headphones, finally able to escape for a moment from the overwhelming pressure of knowledge.
Jiang Yichun patted Mimi's head, then turned and went back to the classroom.
Her gaze fell on a note that had appeared beside her book.
[Detailed Solution to Question 31: ...]
Jiang Yichun recognized the handwriting almost immediately, and her heart pounded in her chest.
She suppressed her racing heartbeat, carefully read through the solution steps, finally found her problem, and solved the whole problem in one go.
Her gaze shifted downwards, and she noticed a line of small print at the bottom of the note: "Good luck with your graduate school application! You'll definitely get into A University."
She stared blankly at the note, her mind filled with the memory of that passionate kiss she'd shared that day.
She tasted a hint of blood in his mouth, and... a soft touch.
Jiang Yichun pinched his lips hard to stop the strange sensation, then reached out and held the note in his hand.
Tear up anything a scammer gives you; tear it up right in front of them, tear it up badly.
Her hand left wrinkles on the note.
She then folded the note into a small square and put it into her patina-covered pencil case along with the previous "five-star review".
Jiang Yichun lowered his head and continued writing rapidly.
One by one, the people in the study room left, until finally only she and that human-machine were left.
Jiang Yichun's stubborn spirit was awakened once again.
You damn liar, I'll see who gives up first!
Whoever leaves first is a dog!
She straightened her back, picked up a pen and started writing in the book, then turned her head to run code on the computer.
Time ticked by, and by the time Jiang Yichun came to his senses, it was already 11:30 p.m. on the computer screen.
...
It's over.
Moving into the dormitory would be a hassle for the auntie, and it might also disturb my roommates.
Jiang Yichun sighed, took out toiletries from his backpack, left the classroom, and went into the restroom.
Jiang Yichun had long been accustomed to resting in the classroom until the next morning before returning to the dormitory.
When she finished washing up and returned to her seat, He Yinxin was still sitting far away from her, looking at her computer.
He seemed to notice her gaze and turned his eyes toward her.
The two met eyes in the empty classroom.
Why isn't this scammer leaving yet?
Jiang Yichun glanced at him, then looked away and lay down on the table to sleep.
"Smack."
The lights in the study room went out; someone must have turned them off.
In the pitch-black environment, Jiang Yichun could only hear his own breathing, as well as the faint sound of his own breathing not far away.
Without the pressure of knowledge and data to restrain her, her mind was once again occupied by inexplicable lust.
Jiang Yichun couldn't sleep; her mind was filled with that chaotic kiss from that day.
And the little moments spent with the person behind me.
"Tsk."
I should go back to sleep.
Jiang Yichun opened his eyes, scratched his hair, stood up, and began to tidy up the things on the table.
He Yinxin, you won, but you're still a dog.
She cursed under her breath, but her hands didn't stop moving.
After packing her things, she strode out of the classroom.
The cool night breeze of late spring ruffled her hair; the lights on campus were still on, casting a long shadow of her.
She walked forward step by step, but always felt that there was a familiar figure behind her.
Jiang Yichun didn't want to turn back; she already knew who it was.
She stopped where she was and let out a long sigh: "Don't follow me anymore."
"With campus security at high alert, I'm not going to be kidnapped by anyone."
"You should go back to sleep too. Don't stay up so late all the time."
Jiang Yichun finally turned around: "You know I hate you."
"fraud."
Tears welled up in her eyes again without her noticing, and she wiped them away.
There was no one on the road behind us, only the swaying shadows of trees under the moonlight.
Even though I clearly dislike him, when I actually saw that there was no one behind me, I still felt a strange pang of sadness.
She raised the corners of her mouth and muttered to herself, "Yeah, how did you end up following me?"
"I was overthinking it."
Jiang Yichun turned around and ran towards the dormitory.
He Yinxin stood in the shadow of the tree, gazing at her back.
He rubbed his palms, which were soaked with sweat. The sweat seeped into his still-healing wound, causing him some pain.
He looked down at the red mark on his palm, a cut he had made while cleaning up shards of glass that day.
The moment the glass jar hit the ground, he always felt as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out.
So he decided to collect the fragments and piece them back together into a new jar.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put it back together; the broken jar could only remain as fragments.
In a moment of excitement, a sharp shard pierced his palm, drawing blood.
He was somewhat lost in thought, but still tried to put the glass jar back together.
If they can piece it back together, it means there's still room for the relationship to turn around.
Yes, just put it back together, put it back together, put it back together!
Until Jia Shugui yelled in his ear, "Damn it, Lao He, your health bar is almost dead!"
He Yinxin finally broke free from his obsessive thoughts, and all he saw was a patch of blood on his palm.
"Oh, you're bleeding. Just wipe it off with some tissue." He replied absentmindedly, continuing to suture.
"Damn, bro, this isn't something you can just wipe off and call it a day. I have some gauze here, you can use this for now!"
"Okay, thank you."
He Yinxin rubbed the bloodstain on her palm, sighed in the breeze, and turned to leave.
He didn't know how long he had been silently following Xiaochun like this; he only knew that he had long been used to her flying ponytail and her ever-present back view.
He and she walked like parallel lines, gazing at each other, forever following but never able to get close.
Until today, she was finally able to turn around and look at him.
Even though her words still had a sharp edge.
He Yinxin lowered her head, opened the memo app, and wrote something down:
[I helped Xiaochun on May 7th, and I'm so happy. She turned around and looked at me today.]
He flipped up to find what he had previously written down:
I always run into Xiaochun on the subway during my Thursday tutoring sessions; she must be on her internship now.
She looked unhappy.
He Yinxin turned off her phone and turned to walk towards her dormitory.
He has to tutor tomorrow.
Xiaochun also had to go to work.
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