Chapter 49
Capital Academy of Fine Arts, Male Dormitory Room 603.
“I’ll go!”
A restless, sleepy head suddenly popped out from the upper bunk by the window. "Brothers! Can you believe this? One of our students actually got the highest score in science in a certain province!"
At a desk near the door, a boy wearing glasses was tidying up some groceries. He raised his glasses and asked, "Don't make mistakes. Did you see Jingda across the street?"
The boy playing games across from him also raised his head and replied, "Yeah, you must have seen it wrong. An art student who topped the science exam. Hahaha, how can he be so depressed!"
The boy with glasses thought about this possibility sincerely: "It's not impossible. What if someone has a profound interest in art?"
"Haha," the boy playing games continued laughing, his eyes glued to the screen. "Looking at the job prospects in China, out of ten art graduates, eight end up teaching at training institutions. Interest? What the hell!"
"Wait a minute... guys, seriously, I'm not lying!" The boy on the upper bunk read the popular post again and again. "These people are making all sorts of accusations, saying he's in the Oil Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts—wait, isn't that our department? They say he's an Alpha?"
“…”
The three people in the only Alpha dormitory in the Oil Painting Department fell silent for a moment, and the air became strangely quiet.
After a moment of silence, the boy with glasses asked, "What's your name?"
The boy on the upper bunk shrugged. "You're so precise! Could it be that you two are the rumored top scorers in science?"
The boy playing the game forced a smile and said, "Sorry, I only studied liberal arts in high school."
The boy with glasses said: "Sorry, we don't have a distinction between arts and sciences in our province."
The boy on the upper bunk hurriedly waved his hand: "Quick! Look at the number one scholar's name!"
The boy with glasses walked to the only empty bed, glanced at the name on the wardrobe, and was about to speak when the dormitory door creaked open.
The whole dormitory suddenly became strangely quiet again.
The suitcase's wheels rolled in first, followed by a boy wearing a black baseball cap and a small braid, carrying a painting box. Seeing his roommates were all there, he tentatively said hello: "...Hello?"
"ah!"
After three seconds of silence, all the boys in the dormitory shouted in unison: "Hello, God of Study!"
Gu Fang: “……?”
How come the nickname also has the word "inherited" in it?
"No," Gu Fang blinked blankly, "Why are you..."
"God of studies, you are the science champion that is hotly discussed in the post, right?" The boy on the upper bunk raised his cell phone and shook it, then thought that Gu Fang couldn't see it, so he climbed down from the bed.
Gu Fang looked at the post in silence for a few breaths, then changed the subject and said to the messy-haired boy on the upper bunk, "Hello, my name is Gu Fang."
The boy on the upper bunk nodded and said, "My name is Chen Jingyuan, a native of the capital. If you want to go somewhere interesting, just call me. I'll be your tour guide."
Gu Fang was annoyed by his repeated use of "you" and pursed his lips: "...Just call me by my name."
"Okay," Chen Jingyuan quickly changed his words, "Gu Fang."
The other two boys also came forward to introduce themselves. The gentle boy with glasses was called Zhang Chuhe, and the boy who kept pressing the game screen while greeting was called Meng Qi. They were both students of the Oil Painting Department.
Chen Jingyuan said, "Alright, now we have all four Alpha girls from the oil painting department. Brothers, after four years of college, it would be a shame if we didn't find a partner."
Zhang Chuhe was indifferent: "I want to stay in graduate school, not fall in love."
Meng Qi stared at the screen and raised his hand: "Sorry, I already have a partner."
Chen Jingyuan was devastated. "Forget about Lao Zhang, but how can you, Teacher Meng, a nerd, actually have a partner? This is unrealistic!"
Meng Qi smiled inscrutablely: "The game has its own beauty, you are stupid, the three-dimensional world."
"You're quite fashionable, talking about online romance?" Chen Jingyuan waved his hand. "Online romance doesn't count. Get lost."
As he spoke, Chen Jingyuan slipped on his slippers and leaned against Gu Fang's bedpost. He watched Gu Fang pack his luggage and painting box, and confidently crossed his arms as he said, "Little Gu, you're studying so hard in high school. I'm sure you're also single like me, right?"
Gu Fang wrung out the towel and wiped the table, bending over without looking up: "Sorry, I have a partner too."
"Hey!" Chen Jingyuan said, "Online dating doesn't count!"
Gu Fang was stunned for a moment, then raised his head, his hair falling in front of his forehead. Then a complex smile appeared on his face that only single people could understand: "I also want to have an online relationship."
"No way?" Meng Qi raised his head in confusion. "Your boyfriend doesn't have internet access these days?"
Gu Fang shook his head, wiped the table and the bookshelf, "That's not the reason."
Seeing that he didn't say anything, no one dared to ask further questions. Chen Jingyuan sighed calmly, "That's great. The most competitive A has found a partner. There's a lot of hope for me to find a partner too."
Zhang Chuhe poured a basin of cold water over himself while reading a book. "That's not necessarily true. As long as you stand next to Gu Fang, your chances of finding love are basically zero. You're definitely in the control group."
"Hahahaha." Meng Qi shook his shoulders and laughed wildly without giving any face.
Having said that, Chen Jingyuan was the typical person who only cared about food and not about punishment. When dinner time came, he came to invite Gu Fang: "Little Gu, you're late. How about I take you to the snack street outside the school to explore?"
Gu Fang has delicate and beautiful facial features and a small face, which makes it easy for people to think that he is young, so Chen Jingyuan always calls him "Little Gu".
Gu Fang had just finished packing his luggage and making the bed, and before he had even put up the curtains, a thin layer of sweat covered his smooth forehead from exhaustion. He responded and climbed out of bed: "Wait a minute, I need to wash my face."
Cold water flowed out of the faucet. Gu Fang wiped his face and covered it with a towel to clean it.
He took off the rubber band, and the long hair on the back of his head just reached the level of his shoulders.
He stared at himself in the mirror, his expression indifferent. He casually combed a few strands of hair with his hands and tied them back tightly with a rubber band. Some of the hair that couldn't be tied hung down and spread at the back of his head.
He put on a baseball cap again and pressed it tightly on his head. Then he changed his shoes and went to the east gate with his roommates.
The east gate of Shoumei University is opposite the west gate of Jingda University across a long zebra crossing.
The setting sun shone directly from the opposite direction, and the asphalt road was shining with golden light. Gu Fang narrowed his eyes and stared at the gate of Jingda University in a daze for a moment.
"Xiao Gu, come this way!" Chen Jingyuan patted his shoulder from behind.
It was dinner time and students from both schools poured out of the school gates and headed in the same direction along the main road. Some of them were chatting with friends in groups of three or four, while some young couples were walking hand in hand on the street.
After walking this distance, you can see the bright lights and curling smoke of the snack street opposite.
They sat down at a beef soup hotpot restaurant, which had a good reputation online and was crowded at mealtime. Fortunately, they arrived early and got a seat soon after waiting in line.
While waiting for the food, Chen Jingyuan ordered four cups of milk tea from the milk tea shop across the street. When their numbers were called, Chen Jingyuan asked, "Who will accompany me to get the milk tea?"
Meng Qi didn't even look up, still playing games: "Are you a child? Do you need your parents to accompany you?"
"Have some conscience," Chen Jingyuan said, "I treated you, and you still want me to take all four?"
Zhang Chuhe was about to say "I'll go" when he saw Gu Fang stand up: "I'll go."
Chen Jingyuan cried falsely, "Wow, little Gu, I love you!"
Meng Qi made a vomiting expression.
When getting the milk tea, Gu Fang stared at the boy behind the counter for a long time. While he was busy packing the tea, he stood on tiptoe to look behind him.
Chen Jingyuan looked confused: "What are you looking at?"
Gu Fang shook his head, said nothing, and lowered his eyelids in disappointment.
"Um, classmate?" a boy next to him called him.
Gu Fang turned his head away.
The boy raised his black-screened phone and smiled sheepishly: "My phone is out of battery. Could you please help me pay the bill? I'll write down your WeChat ID and add you to pay me back later."
Chen Jingyuan seemed to want to say something, but he looked at Gu Fang and shut up.
Gu Fang thought slowly for a few seconds, then took out his phone: "No, just one drink, I'll treat you."
The boy waved his hands quickly: "Ah no no no, I have to pay it back!"
Gu Fang still didn't react. After sweeping for him, he picked up the four cups of milk tea and left the store.
Walking back to the beef soup restaurant, Chen Jingyuan finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing, "Amazing! Guys, this is amazing! I've been an A for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen this method of asking for WeChat, hahahaha!"
After laughing, his smile became a little lonely.
"Ah, this is how handsome guys are treated."
The soup pot was already on the table. Gu Fang said nothing and distributed milk tea to everyone, as if he was not one of the protagonists of the incident just now.
"Let me correct you, this is no longer the treatment for handsome guys."
Zhang Chuhe held up his phone, displaying a new forum post. "This is the best treatment for a school idol! Congratulations to our little Gu, who won first place in this year's Freshman Cup School idol selection contest just ten minutes ago."
"Oh my god!" Chen Jingyuan took the phone and saw the side profile of Gu Fang that was secretly photographed when he was accompanying them out of the dormitory. He was immediately shocked. "These people are paparazzi, right? They are so quick?"
Zhang Chuhe nodded and said, "Mr. Jing from next door has come to our forum to watch."
Hearing this, Gu Fang paused holding his chopsticks and looked up, "Then, can we also go to the Jingda Forum?"
"Of course, our two schools are so close and their campus networks are shared, so of course I can get in." Meng Qi shared a website with him, "Here, this is the Jingda Forum."
Gu Fang clicked on it and scrolled from the top post to the last. By the time he finished his meal, he had almost skimmed through all of Jingda's posts since the start of the school year, but he didn't see the person he wanted to see, and he felt a little lonely.
Lu Si was admitted to Jing University, he was very sure about this, but he was not sure which department.
Chen Jingyuan looked at the people asking for contact information in the post, feeling a secret sense of pride as an insider. He sighed, "They don't know yet. It's useless to ask for contact information. Our little Gu already has a partner."
Meng Qi thought of the question from before, "Xiao Gu, why don't you contact your partner? What if someone misunderstands you because of this? Wouldn't that mean he'll die unjustly?"
After finishing his meal, Gu Fang stepped back, adjusted the brim of his hat, and lowered his eyes. His dark blue eyes were dim and unclear, and because he had no expression, he seemed a little indifferent.
“You can’t initiate contact.”
Although he wanted to take the initiative, he missed it very much once the September deadline agreed upon with his father arrived.
"I'm going to wait for him."
Lu Si was never one of his options, but he was one of the options in Lu Si's life.
Just like he wanted to tell Mr. Gu, it wasn't him waving his hand that made Lu Si come, but Lu Si waved his hand and he went.
He hated that unconscious arrogance.
The three roommates looked at each other, feeling that there was something behind this, but they didn't dare to ask.
Military training week started right after school. Standing at attention every day was exhausting. Fortunately, he didn't run; if he had, Gu Fang would have been dead. Every night after returning home and showering, he'd browse the Jingda Forum for a bit, then fall asleep propped up on his pillow, no time for any more thoughts.
After the military training week, the Oil Painting Department organized a party for freshmen.
Gu Fang actually met Chu Chi.
He looked surprised, but Chu Chi didn't show any surprise at all. She smiled and said, "Schoolboy Gu has been famous since the beginning of the school year. I knew you would get into Shoumei."
Then he turned bitter and said, "I didn't perform well in the interview with Jingmei, so I didn't get into their school."
Gu Fang sighed: "This classmate, despite performing poorly, still managed to get into the Capital University of Fine Arts. There's no need to be so ordinary, right?"
Chu Chi was amused by him and took out his cell phone. This time, he insisted on adding Gu Fang on WeChat.
After adding him, Chu Chi was just about to express her concern for him and his Alpha boyfriend, when several teachers from the department arrived. Everyone had to be quiet and listen to the teacher's speech welcoming the new students.
All freshmen in the School of Plastic Arts, regardless of whether they are in the oil painting department, mural department, or sculpture department, take classes in the basic department in their first year.
After the big class in the lecture hall every day, I go to the studio to practice.
When he didn't have classes, Gu Fang liked to stay in his studio, painting all day long. The pot of strawberry mint he brought from home was placed on his studio windowsill.
Mint is really a very hardy plant, cold-resistant and heat-resistant. No matter what environment it is placed in, if left alone, it can still grow vigorously and fill a pot.
It is also necessary to regularly trim its branches and leaves to leave room for growth.
The first month of school always flies by. As I adjust to the new environment, the new school, and my new life, the end of September arrives almost in the blink of an eye. In the last few days of September, this northern city is hit by a continuous autumn rain, and the temperature plummets, signaling the beginning of autumn, a transition from late summer to early fall.
There is no class on Friday, so Gu can stay at home in the studio all day.
I missed dinner time and there was no food in the cafeteria, so I ordered some takeout and waited in the studio while painting.
When the takeaway arrived, Gu Fang thought about finishing this part first and then going down to get it. However, by the time he finished the last stroke of this part, it was already half an hour after the takeaway was delivered.
It’s cold now, takeout.
Gu Fang sighed softly and looked at the sky outside. It was still drizzling.
He took off his apron, left the studio and got into the elevator.
I pulled up the hood of my sweatshirt and walked into the rain. I searched downstairs but couldn't find my takeaway.
Gu Fang bent his knuckles to his lips, a puzzled look in his eyes. He searched around again, then had no choice but to stand up and call the delivery man who delivered the food half an hour ago: "Um, are you sure my food has been delivered? Why can't I find it?... Well, I've searched for several times, and the last digit is..."
The delivery man said, "Please wait a moment. I'll ask the student in charge here and ask him to call you back later."
"Okay, thank you for your help."
Gu Fang hung up the phone and stood at the door of the building, looking at the rain and waiting.
At this moment, the elevator behind them arrived, and a girl came running out with a bag of takeout. She stood anxiously in front of the pile of takeout, looking worried. Gu Fang saw that the bag she was holding was from the same restaurant he had ordered from, and couldn't help but say, "Um...did you get the wrong takeout?"
"Ah," the girl was startled, glanced at him, and picked up another bag of takeout on the ground, "Sorry, this is mine..." Then she handed over the one in her hand, "Is this yours?"
They ordered from the same restaurant and if you don't look carefully you can't tell them apart.
Gu Fang glanced at the last digit of the number and said, "Yes, this is mine."
The girl blushed with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. I only realized I brought the wrong thing upstairs. It's cold now. How about I compensate you?"
"It's okay," Gu Fang smiled lightly, "It's no big deal. I'll just eat the original portion."
The girl felt even more embarrassed and apologized again and again. Gu Fang kept saying that it was okay, so the girl had no choice but to take her share and go upstairs apologetically.
Before leaving, he gave Gu Fang a candy.
Gu Fang looked at the mint candy in his palm, hesitated for a moment, then clenched his palm and threw it into his pocket.
I got on the elevator and just pressed the floor button when the phone rang.
It's an unfamiliar number.
"Hello?" Gu Fang held the phone to his ear as the elevator door slowly closed. "Hello?"
"Hello," the voice, slightly distorted through the electric current, still had a deep, magnetic voice. "Excuse me, is this the student with the last digit of the license plate 3631? I'm downstairs. Is your takeaway confirmed to be missing? I can ask the store to deliver another one for you."
The takeaway in my hand slipped to the ground unconsciously.
"etc--"
Gu Fang hurriedly pressed the elevator button, but it had already reached the second floor, while he had originally pressed the sixth floor. Gu Fang had no choice but to press the button for the second floor again, hurriedly opened the door, and ran to the stairs.
The boy on the phone was stunned: "You..."
His voice hesitated slightly, and he asked uncertainly: "Can you... say a few more words?"
Gu Fang took a deep breath, a thin layer of sweat on his palms. He walked downstairs while saying, "I've already got the takeaway, but... don't go. I'll be right there. Just wait a moment, just a little longer."
Maybe it was distortion, the voice on the other end was slightly trembling.
"I'm just downstairs. I'm not going anywhere."
Gu Fang went down to the first floor, and when he was near the door, his pace suddenly slowed down.
A tall and straight boy in a white shirt stood outside the door and slowly put down his phone. His eyebrows and eyes were as handsome as before, but his lips were unconsciously stiff, and his sharp and slender eyebrows were slightly furrowed - that was the expression he often had when he was observing people coming from a distance because he was mildly nearsighted.
There was a drizzle outside the door, and his figure seemed to be covered with mist in Gu Fang's vision, becoming hazy and almost unreal.
“…Let it go.”
Lu Si frowned, as if he had just woken up from a dream, and murmured with his thin lips slightly opened.
His heart was beating so fast that Gu Fang's breathing became disordered. He was experiencing firsthand the joy of regaining the people and things he cherished.
“Let go…”
Lu Si repeated his name again. It obviously had no meaning, he just wanted to repeat it again and again.
Slowly, like a patient undergoing rehabilitation, he remembered to raise his arms and welcome the young man who rushed into his arms and into his life.
The hug at that moment was so real and so fulfilling.
It was so full that his heart began to swell.
Only then did Lu Si understand how insignificant the string of numbers was and what he almost lost.
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