Dig a hole
Standing at the elevator entrance, Zhou Jingxing watched the numbers keep changing and felt that he couldn't just let it go like this.
Zhao Xin, that shameless bastard, actually dared to provoke me and even said he wanted to use the class reunion as an opportunity to get back together with Shen Zhou?
dream!
Zhou Jingxing immediately formulated a plan in his mind. After making up his mind, Zhou Jingxing clenched his fist and punched himself in the chin.
"hiss!"
Zhou Jingxing winced in pain, and the next moment, seeing the red mark on his face on the smooth elevator door, he pursed his lips.
Men with kidney deficiency, I will never give you even the slightest chance!
"I bought your favorite xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), come and eat them while they're hot." Zhou Jingxing greeted Chen Zhou with a smile as soon as he entered the house.
Chen Zhou walked awkwardly to the table and glanced at it. He had bought a whole bunch of things, including steamed buns, millet and pumpkin porridge, steamed buns, and mixed noodles, which filled half the table.
He couldn't help but say, "Why did you buy so much? How are we going to finish it all?"
Seeing Shen Zhou looking at him, Zhou Jingxing deliberately turned his face away, as if afraid that Shen Zhou would see him. He said to Shen Zhou, "I was afraid that you wouldn't have enough to eat and I didn't know what you liked, so I bought a little bit of everything."
Shen Zhou suddenly leaned closer, and with concern and anxiety, he cupped Zhou Jingxing's face and examined it carefully.
"What happened? What happened to your face? Did you bump it somewhere?"
Zhou Jingxing had a red mark on his left cheek, as if he had been hit by something. He turned his head away and said evasively, "It's nothing, I just bumped into the wall."
Shen Zhou was suspicious. "This injury doesn't look like someone hit a wall." The more he looked at it, the more something seemed off; the wound looked like someone had punched him!
With a stern face, Shen Zhou pressed Zhou Jingxing for an answer, "What exactly happened? Don't lie to me!"
Zhou Jingxing seemed a little embarrassed, stammering for a while before finally saying, "I ran into Zhao Xin when I went to buy breakfast. He seemed to have a big problem with me, and suddenly..."
Shen Zhou's eyes widened, his face filled with astonishment, "Zhao Xin?"
Zhou Jingxing looked aggrieved. "I don't know why he suddenly started this. I didn't provoke him at all. He just came over and started talking to me. I didn't want to talk to him, so I picked up my things and was about to leave. Who knew he would catch up with me and punch me?"
He glanced at Chen Zhou and hurriedly added, "If he were to fight me seriously, he definitely wouldn't be able to beat me. I didn't expect him to launch a sneak attack!"
Shen Zhou's fair face flushed red with anger. He pursed his lips, his face grim, and took out his phone. "Call the police."
Zhou Jingxing quickly stopped him, "No need! I actually reacted quite quickly and dodged his punch, so it was just a minor injury. Later, people came from the side, and he didn't dare to do anything to me anymore. Besides, there are no surveillance cameras there, and he won't admit it anyway. There's no need to call the police."
Shen Zhou still seemed unhappy. He held Zhou Jingxing's face in his hands and looked at him for a long time, until Zhou Jingxing felt a little guilty. Finally, he decided not to call the police.
Zhou Jingxing secretly broke out in a cold sweat. How would he explain if the police were really called?
He quickly said, "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat."
As Shen Zhou watched Zhou Jingxing diligently open the box of xiaolongbao for him, he said to him with some guilt, "I'm sorry, it's all because of me..."
Zhou Jingxing knew that his self-inflicted injury had worked and was secretly pleased with himself, but he pretended to be nonchalant on the surface, saying, "How can you blame yourself? It's his character that's flawed."
Shen Zhou took the initiative to hug him, and Zhou Jingxing put his arm around his slender waist and patted him on the back reassuringly, "I'm fine, don't overthink it."
Feeling Chen Zhou snuggle closer to him, Zhou Jingxing smiled with satisfaction.
A guy with kidney deficiency wants to mess with me? I'll screw you over.
Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was the 120th anniversary of the University of Minnesota. Dai Shu took leave under the pretext of "attending the anniversary celebration," which meant that after the celebration, he would have to return to his post at the archaeological site.
Dai Shu stayed in Mingcheng for over a week, but his progress in pursuing his wife was practically zero. After the welcome banquet for Chen Zhou, everyone deliberately arranged for him to take Wang Qian home. Wang Qian agreed in front of the others, but as soon as they got to a secluded spot, she immediately told Dai Shu that although she was divorced, she didn't want to enter into another relationship anytime soon, and ultimately rejected him outright.
Although Dai Shu was discouraged, she rallied with the encouragement of Zhou Jingxing and others, determined to make a big splash at the school anniversary celebration and win back Wang Qian's heart.
The University of Minnesota's anniversary celebration lasts for a week, during which there are events such as the launch ceremony, alumni association meetings, lectures, and cultural performances.
Dai Shu's plan was made on the day of the alumni reunion.
In the morning, Zhou, Dai, Zhang, Sun, and Wang attended the alumni association meeting together. In the afternoon, they went their separate ways to participate in the college's branch activities. Wang Qian originally didn't want to come, but Sun Qian persuaded her to come. After the morning activities, she wanted to leave, but Li Weilin stopped her.
Li Weilin bluntly accused Wang Qian, "You're heartless too. So many years after graduation, you only attended the reunion in City A recently. This time, you rarely come back to your alma mater for the school anniversary, and you didn't even mention going back to your group." He said sternly, "What? Do you think we still hold a grudge because you rejected the doctoral program back then?"
Wang Qian looked uneasy and said ingratiatingly, "Teacher, I was wrong. It's not because I've accomplished nothing that I'm ashamed to show my face in front of my junior brothers and sisters."
Zhou Jingxing was happy as long as Li Weilin didn't scold him. Li Weilin easily kept Wang Qian with just a few words, which ensured the smooth implementation of the plan.
Just as he was secretly gloating, Li Weilin called him out, "Look at Zhou Jingxing, hasn't he been doing part-time work for me from time to time these past few years? Don't be so modest. Learn from your junior brother Zhou, be a little thicker-skinned."
Zhou Jingxing, who was caught in the crossfire for no reason, felt very wronged.
This feeling of grievance persisted until Chen Zhou arrived. Because Chen Zhou was not an alumnus of the University of Minnesota, he did not participate in the activities in the morning. He only came to the college to participate in the activities in the afternoon at the invitation of Li Weilin.
As soon as Zhou Jingxing saw Chen Zhou, he looked aggrieved and sought comfort, saying, "The teacher just said I have a thick skin."
Chen Zhou brushed him off, "Good boy, the teacher is just praising your resilience." He glanced at Wang Qian, who was chatting with her fellow student, ignoring the dissatisfaction on Zhou Jingxing's face, and asked in a low voice, "Is Senior Brother Dai ready yet?"
Suppressing his grievances, Zhou Jingxing thought to himself that he would ask his wife for compensation later that night. He also lowered his voice and told Shen Zhou, "Everything is ready. We're just waiting for you to bring Senior Sister over."
Shen Zhou gave an OK sign and walked towards Wang Qian. "Senior Sister Wang, I heard that a batch of pottery on display at the Mingda Museum was restored by you back then. Could you take me to see it?"
Wang Qian, being cheerful and outgoing, readily agreed and took Chen Zhou and Zhou Jingxing to the museum. After viewing the pottery, Chen Zhou asked Wang Qian, "Senior Sister Wang, you just said that the restoration work was done inside the museum? Could you take me to see the workshop where you did the restorations back then? I'm very curious about the tools you used for the restorations."
Although Wang Qian found his unusually strong curiosity today strange, she still led the two of them toward the studio.
On the way, Wang Qian introduced to Shen Zhou, "The administrator here happens to be a classmate from our year. Jing Xing should still remember him, right? I'll ask him if we can go in and take a look."
The studio is located on the west side of the first floor of the museum. When Shen Zhou went inside, he found that it was a fairly large open space, where several workbenches and various tools were usually placed.
The studio had already been set up by Dai Shu. The workbench and tools had been cleared to the side, leaving space in the middle. Various repaired porcelain pieces of different colors meandered forward, leading to a large background wall, on which hung a huge heart made of broken porcelain pieces.
Wang Qian was somewhat surprised, "This is..."
Dai Shu walked out from behind the background wall, and upon closer inspection, he was holding a simple and ancient-looking pottery jar in his hands.
Dai Shu was initially embarrassed, but then, as if gathering his courage, he said loudly, "Wang Qian, I've always wanted to apologize for the hurt I caused you back then. I'm sorry! Also, I promise I will never use the silent treatment on anyone again, including you. So, can you forgive me?"
Looking at Dai Shu's flushed cheeks, Zhou Jingxing thought to himself, "This honest man is going all out."
Wang Qian looked both touched and amused. She didn't answer Dai Shu immediately, but instead asked him, "Are these ceramics from different periods?" Dai Shu came over and told her, "Yes, they are all ones I've collected and restored over the years. You once said that it would be great if we could have porcelain from different periods according to the historical timeline, so I've been keeping an eye out for collecting them all these years."
Wang Qian asked him again, "Are the broken porcelain shards on the background wall Ru ware crackle glaze?" Dai Shu's answer was concise yet firm, "You said you liked Ru ware crackle glaze the most." Wang Qian looked up at him, her eyes seemingly glistening with tears.
Shen Zhou quietly tugged at Zhou Jingxing, signaling that it was time for them to leave.
The two quietly left the studio, and Zhou Jingxing asked Chen Zhou where he wanted to go.
"Sure," Chen Zhou thought for a moment. "How about you take me to see the dormitory building you used to live in? I'm really curious about what life was like for you back then as a men's university."
Zhou Jingxing smiled, turned around and led the way for him, "This way."
Shen Zhou followed Zhou Jingxing eastward along the sycamore-lined avenue in front of the museum. After passing the artificial lake with its drooping willows, the dormitory building came into view. Zhou Jingxing looked at the black swans playing freely in the artificial lake and told Shen Zhou with a smile, "I used to love coming here to feed the swans. I would buy two steamed buns from the cafeteria over there, break them into pieces, and feed them to the swans. They really liked it."
Chen Zhou seemed to find it quite interesting, and he was eager to try it out. "Can you still buy steamed buns in the cafeteria now?"
"Steamed buns were available for purchase, but the school later explicitly prohibited feeding the swans without permission. These swans were too stupid; they always ate too much, and one of them even died of fatty liver."
Chen Zhou said with some regret, "Well, I was thinking of feeding the swans once too."
Zhou Jingxing comforted him, "Next time I'll take you to a farm in the suburbs, where you can feed small animals."
Shen Zhou smiled and took his hand. "Okay."
Zhou Jingxing and Shen Zhou walked hand in hand, chatting casually, both feeling very sweet inside.
Until a discordant voice interrupted them.
Zhao Xin ran over with a look of surprise on his face, "Chen Zhou! Are you here at Ming University to visit the anniversary celebrations too?"
Zhou Jingxing couldn't help but roll his eyes.
How come the man with kidney deficiency is still alive?
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