University extra (4)
The military training for freshmen at Capital University finally reached the day of the performance. Each formation was fully prepared to receive the inspection from the school leaders.
Wen Sheng's Foreign Languages College contingent was fifth in line, with the Science and Engineering College contingents standing in front of them. Everyone was doing their best to shout slogans and march in formation.
After the school song was sung and the principal announced the end of the performance, she immediately ran away, ignoring the people waving to her in the crowd.
When Wen Sheng ran downstairs to the dormitory, she was still blocked by Xu Jianing.
"You run really fast," Xu Jianing said.
Wen Sheng was so tired that she didn't even want to talk. She tiptoed and gave him a perfunctory "kiss" on the cheek, saying, "See you tonight."
Xu Jianing was stunned. After she came to her senses, she turned around and ran back to the dormitory in a flash.
"See you tonight..." He touched the spot where he'd been kissed, sighing with a wry smile, "You didn't even say what time..."
When Wen Sheng returned to her dormitory, her roommates were still on their way to the cafeteria or back to the dormitory and had not yet returned. She picked up her change of clothes and washbasin and ran to the public shower room at the end of the corridor.
The moment the hot water poured over her, she felt like she had come back to life. But the more relaxed she became, the heavier her eyelids grew. Halfway through the shower, she even had the illusion that she was about to fall asleep on the spot.
Wen Sheng was startled and suddenly shuddered, cursing inwardly, "No way, if I fall asleep here, the whole school will know I fell asleep in the bathroom tomorrow."
So he quickened his pace, hastily rinsed off the foam, grabbed a towel to dry himself, changed his clothes, and headed straight to his bed in the dormitory.
Lying in bed, head touching the pillow, arms outstretched, eyes closed, I drift off to sleep.
Not long after, Wen Sheng’s bunkmate, Gu Yanhong, returned. She had originally planned to complain about military training as soon as she opened the door, but when she saw Wen Sheng lying on the bed breathing steadily, she realized that Wen Sheng was obviously asleep.
So she shut her mouth, tiptoed to the table, and gently put down the lunchbox in her hand, trying not to make a sound.
Just as she was going upstairs, a handsome young man stopped her and asked if she was from room 207. The man was tall, clean-cut, and stood out in the crowd.
Gu Yanhong was startled by the sudden conversation and thought she had gone to the wrong dormitory building. But the next second, the boy asked if she knew Wen Sheng.
"Yes, I know her. She's my roommate."
The boy visibly relaxed, and politely asked, holding the lunchbox, "Excuse me, could you please give this to Wen Sheng? She must be exhausted from military training and is probably asleep now. Could you put it on her desk so she can eat when she wakes up? Thank you."
"Oh... okay." Gu Yanhong nodded, took the bag, and walked upstairs.
She pushed open the door and found that Wen Sheng was indeed asleep, just as the boy had said. His arms were hanging naturally on the edge of the bed, and his breathing was long and even, showing no signs of waking up.
Gu Yanhong smiled, finished the task, and placed the lunchbox in the most conspicuous place, looking forward to the other person's reaction after waking up.
*
When Wen Sheng woke up, she found that it was already completely dark outside. She sat up, her head aching slightly from sleep, and rubbed her temples, still half-asleep.
Just as I was about to get out of bed to wash my face, I suddenly saw a bag on the table containing a familiar stainless steel lunchbox.
"You're awake?" Gu Yanhong, who was on the upper bunk, poked her head out. "This looks like a gift from one of your suitors."
"Suitor?" she repeated slowly, her voice slightly nasal from just waking up.
"Of course! They asked if I was in room 207, and said that if I fell asleep, I could just leave the food on the table."
Wen Sheng scratched her head blankly, her mind still foggy from just waking up, completely confused: "I don't have any suitors."
"Who is that?" Gu Yanhong asked, propping her head up with her hand.
Wen Sheng rubbed her messy hair, then suddenly slapped her forehead, remembering that she had told Xu Jianing "see you tonight" downstairs in the dormitory.
Oh no!
I was sleeping so soundly I forgot the time!
Wen Sheng jumped off the bed, hurriedly changed her shoes, picked up a hair tie to tie her hair, but failed to tie it tightly several times and her hair came loose. She simply gathered it up haphazardly, tied it into a ponytail at the back of her head, and pushed the door open to go out.
Gu Yanhong stared in disbelief from her bed. Not long after, the dormitory door opened again, and her other roommates entered one after another.
"What happened to her? Why was she running so fast?"
One of the roommates took a few steps back, looked in the direction Wen Sheng had run, and asked in confusion.
"She probably has a boyfriend. I saw a guy standing at the door when I came back just now. I wonder if he was looking for her," another roommate replied.
Gu Yanhong was leaning over the edge of the bed looking down at them. "Guess what? When I went upstairs this afternoon, that boy stopped me and specifically asked me to give the lunchbox to Wen Sheng. He said she must be asleep and I could just leave it on the table. Tsk, think about what he's up to."
"Huh?" Several roommates looked at Gu Yanhong in shock and asked gossipily, "Is that her boyfriend? Why didn't she say anything?"
"How would I know?" Gu Yanhong spread her hands, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, "But judging from her expression, it's pretty much true."
"No way... Wen Sheng usually seems so aloof, how come she has a boyfriend so soon?" Roommate A looked incredulous.
"I just got a good look at that guy downstairs. He seemed aloof and indifferent, but I never expected him to be so proactive..."
"Maybe they're the kind of people who seem cold on the surface but are actually very affectionate," Gu Yanhong said, amused.
Upon hearing this, the other roommates fell silent.
While everyone in the dormitory was still doubting it, Wen Sheng downstairs had already rushed into Xu Jianing's arms to explain and apologize.
As soon as she stepped out of her dormitory, she saw him standing under the tree.
Xu Jianing was leaning against a sycamore tree in front of the dormitory building, hands in her pockets, head down, occasionally kicking fallen leaves with her toes. When she saw her come out, she smiled.
"Have you got a meal yet?"
Wen Sheng ran over and threw herself into his arms, pressing her face against his chest, saying, "I'm so sorry, I fell asleep right after I took a shower and slept until dark. You must have been waiting a long time, right?"
Xu Jianing was jolted by the bump, and when she looked down, she saw that the person in her arms had a guilty look on her face and her ponytail had come undone.
He reached out and tucked her stray hair behind her ear, his tone as gentle as if coaxing a child: "I didn't wait long, don't feel guilty. Have you eaten?"
Wen Sheng pressed her face against his clothes and shook her head sullenly: "Not yet..."
"Shall we go eat first, at the first canteen?" he asked.
"The third canteen, I haven't eaten there yet." She finally looked up at him.
Xu Jianing nodded, then took out her hair tie and said softly, "Wait a moment."
He still had one arm around her waist, and with the other hand he reached behind her and gently gathered her loose hair together.
The embracing position made tying his hair difficult, so he had to awkwardly wrap his arms around the hair, patiently gather and straighten the strands, and then slowly tighten them with a hair tie.
"Alright, let's go."
"Um."
Xu Jianing squeezed her hand and said affectionately, "The third canteen, right? It's a bit far, let's ride our bikes there."
Wen Sheng nodded, skillfully sat in the back seat, straightened her skirt, and then patted the person in front on the shoulder to indicate that they could set off.
As the streetlights came on one by one, the shadows of two people appeared on the ground.
Wen Sheng suddenly stretched out her hand and playfully made a "V" sign in the shadow, then shook her head, making the shadow shake its head as well. She couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Xu Jianing noticed her little movement, looked down and followed her gaze, and saw the little shadow on the ground making a "V" sign. He slowed down his cycling speed and also raised his hand to make a "V" sign in the lamplight.
The bicycle continued forward, and the two childish kids' childish antics were interrupted by a "coo coo coo" sound.
Upon hearing this, Wen Sheng withdrew her hand, hugged Xu Jianing's waist tightly, and buried her face in his back.
He understood immediately, pushed off hard with his feet, and sped up his cycling speed.
Under the streetlights on the school road, two shadows were tightly embracing each other.
*
About two months into the semester, Wen Sheng gradually adapted to life at the School of Foreign Languages and regained her previous study rhythm.
Every day was filled with professional classes, and there were morning reading sessions at 8 a.m. The most troublesome thing was listening comprehension. The tapes played in the classroom were original foreign language versions, and sometimes there was a hissing sound from the static, which made the already difficult pronunciation even more indistinct.
Wen Sheng often listened to the audio once but grasped nothing, so she could only grit her teeth and run to the audio-visual store near the school gate to rent the same cassette tape for a few yuan, then rewind it again and again on her Walkman back in the dormitory. Falling asleep while listening to audio was a common occurrence for her.
Her roommates always joked that there was a foreign-speaking ghost in the dorm, and that they could always hear English when they woke up in the middle of the night. Feeling embarrassed, she bought some things as compensation.
Xu Jianing was even busier. In addition to studying thick economics textbooks, she also had to help her economics teacher organize research papers, find literature in the library, and then copy, draw charts, organize data tables, and so on.
The preparations for the school sports meet gave him an even bigger headache. Not only was he dragged into signing up for the long-distance race, but he was also approached by members of the student council who wanted to solicit sponsorships.
In the afternoon, Xu Jianing had just come out of the library, preparing to ride his bike to pick up Wen Sheng after class. Today was a rare day when they both had free time, and he was planning to go to the school gate to buy two skewers of candied hawthorns.
As soon as he reached the entrance of the bicycle shed, someone called out to him.
"Jia Ning? Xu Jia Ning!"
Upon hearing the voice, Xu Jianing sensed something was wrong. Turning around, he saw Huang Xing, the head of the student union's external relations department, walking towards him.
He gripped the handlebars and put his foot on the pedal. "I'm in a hurry, let's talk next time."
Huang Xing had finally caught him, and he wasn't about to let him go easily. He ran over and blocked the front of the car: "Hey, hey, don't go! I've been looking for you, and this time it's really something."
Xu Jianing stopped helplessly. "Speak, what's the matter this time?"
"It's nothing major," Huang Xing said with a fawning smile. "It's just that the school sports meet is a bit short on funds, and we're planning to get each college to contribute some money. Didn't you sponsor the football match with four hundred yuan last time? Could you support the school's collective activities this time as well?"
"Last time I sponsored because you said you didn't have money and wouldn't let my football club participate in the competition. But as soon as I paid, I saw your student council members drinking soda and sharing watermelons on the playground the next day."
Huang Xing choked for a moment, then chuckled dryly, "Hey, isn't that just a way to treat everyone? This time it's really different."
"You said the same thing last time."
“This time it’s really different!” Huang Xing immediately patted his chest and promised, “The school should be held in a more respectable manner, and our student council will definitely remember your contribution! We’ll put up a banner that says ‘Sponsored by Xu Jianing.’”
Xu Jianing was annoyed by his empty promises. She raised her hand to rub her temples and said calmly, "Okay, I'll pay two hundred, but I have two conditions."
Upon hearing this, Huang Xing immediately nodded: "Go ahead, go ahead! Any conditions are negotiable."
“No discussion, you must agree unconditionally,” Xu Jianing said, looking at him.
“Okay…” Huang Xing was frightened by his gaze, and reluctantly agreed, “I promise, okay? Tell me quickly.”
Xu Jianing slowly took out a crisp new banknote and stuffed it into his hand. "I'll tell you the terms later. I'll give you the other half tomorrow."
"Huh?" Huang Xing was taken aback. "Aren't you just messing with me?"
“Didn’t you get the money too?” Xu Jianing said.
"Jia Ning, don't try anything funny!"
“Don’t worry,” Xu Jianing said, getting on her bike and turning back to smile at him. “I studied economics, and I’ve always believed in equivalent exchange.”
After saying that, he stepped onto the pedal, leaving Huang Xing standing there stunned, feeling like he had made a deal with the devil.
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