51/Autumn Day
In October, military training had just ended, and Chen Mian and his batch of freshmen were generally tanned. When they first entered the school, the boys in the classroom had all sorts of hairstyles, but now all they could see were buzz cuts. The weather was far less hot than during the military training and had turned cool.
When Chen Mian left the dormitory, she was wearing an extra jacket and flipping through her textbooks during evening self-study. Her roommate, Deng Momo, was chatting with her boyfriend on her phone, which she was covering with a book. After a few words, Deng Momo turned on her beauty camera, maximized the whitening effect, took a picture, and sent it to Chen Mian, somewhat angrily. She said, "Is my boyfriend stupid? I told him I got tanned during military training, and he said it didn't matter. He said he'd even accept me if I turned as dark as coal. He said he'd just tell his family I was dating an African. I almost choked on my own blood. If he's so good at talking, why doesn't he study Chinese language and literature instead of IT?"
Nearly two months of living together in the dormitory had made Chen Mian quite adept at coaxing people, and she immediately said to Deng Momo, "You're not dark-skinned."
As soon as she said that, Su Wangqiu, who was playing on her phone, couldn't help but pinch her cheek and said, "Chen Mian, you're too fair-skinned. Did you really participate in military training with us? And how come you feel so good, so soft, like tofu?"
There were four people in their dorm: Deng Momo, Su Wangqiu, and Yu Yu, the top liberal arts student. They sat in the first row. When they first entered the dorm, they were all unfamiliar with each other. Other dorms had already happily made plans to eat together, but no one in their dorm had broken the ice yet.
In the end, Deng Momo broke the deadlock by saying, "How about we introduce ourselves?"
Then everyone gradually became familiar with each other.
One of the differences between university and high school for Chen Mian was the people. Living in a group meant that everyone saw each other all the time, but without a fixed classroom, everyone was always running around, and it was possible that two months later, the people in the class had not spoken a word to each other. The line between being familiar and not so familiar was that the choice of friends was entirely up to you. Even if you were quiet and not good at speaking, no one would treat you as an outsider; at most, it would be considered that you had a personality clash.
Chen Mian is still slow to warm up, but she's not as aloof as she was in high school. She'll smile and say polite things like, "No, I've gotten a tan too."
She was popular among the girls. Besides getting along well with her roommates, she could also chat with other girls in her class. When walking on campus, she would greet people and say good morning with a smile.
Upon entering university, the people of Suizhong were scattered all over the country. There were no familiar faces or people who knew Chen Mian. No one knew what had happened to her in high school, nor did anyone know what kind of past she had experienced.
Only Zhao Lili still kept in touch with her, telling her about the places her high school classmates had gone, saying that Chen Ke chose to repeat a year of high school, Lin Lin was studying at Suibei University, and Zhao Lili herself was in Shanghai, studying at a university of finance and economics.
Every day, he complained to Chen Mian that he, a liberal arts student, had been thrown into the science team and was going crazy with advanced mathematics.
The conversation always avoided a certain person. Although Zhao Lili didn't know what had happened between them, she subconsciously felt that this topic was untouchable.
Chen Mian hadn't heard the words "Sinking Domain" for a long time.
The first two months of school were busy for her. After military training, she attended classes, participated in club activities, and everything returned to normal. She was no different from any other eighteen-year-old girl. On weekends, she would tutor or do part-time jobs.
It was as if there would be no further contact. Although they still had each other on WeChat, Chen Mian never opened the chat window again, nor did she look at his Moments.
One night, while chatting in the dorm, Deng Momo asked everyone if they had a crush on anyone in high school.
Su Wangqiu said with a bit of annoyance, "Yes, we're still maintaining an ambiguous relationship; we haven't broken through that barrier yet."
Yu Yu shook her head, saying that she was only focused on her studies and had not been in a relationship.
Finally, there's Chen Mian.
She heard the fan whirring and spinning, then it went silent.
Then the topic was never mentioned again.
The absence of those three words is more serious than the absence of anything at all.
It used to exist, but it was lost.
The memory ended with Deng Momo quietly asking them if they had any plans for tomorrow afternoon.
They have no classes tomorrow afternoon and plenty of free time. Deng Momo's boyfriend is at Tsinghua University, which is a 20-minute bus ride away. She rested her chin on her hands, winked at Chen Mian and the others, and extended an invitation, "Want to come with me to Tsinghua University? There's a basketball game there, and my boyfriend says there are tons of handsome guys!"
Su Wangqiu politely declined, saying, "Handsome guys don't appeal to me. I'd rather go back to my dorm and sleep than waste my time like this."
Deng Momo turned to Chen Mian and pleaded, "Mianmian, please stay with me. He has to have dinner with the team after this. It'll be so awkward. I don't know any of them. Please come with me!"
Chen Mian had no part-time job scheduled for tomorrow and was enjoying some rare free time, so she nodded to Deng Momo.
Su Wangqiu laughed from the side, "You only know how easy-going Mianmian is."
When the class ended, someone outside kept peering inside, and their gaze fell on Chen Mian and they stopped moving.
He was a tall, handsome boy, holding a bouquet of roses in his arms. He was as flamboyant and eye-catching as the flowers.
Chen Mian was packing her things when she looked up and saw the boy standing in front of her. "Are you free to have dinner together tonight?"
The boy's name was Lin Yuqing. He was a sophomore in the School of Literature. He was the one who guided Chen Mian when she entered the school, leading her to her class and then to the girls' dormitory. According to him, it was love at first sight. There were other people who pursued Chen Mian, but after being treated coldly a few times, they all gave up and left. Only he persisted despite being rejected, pursuing her in various ways, giving her gifts, asking her out to dinner, and even auditing Chen Mian's classes when he didn't have any, sitting a few rows away and just watching her.
The whole class was familiar with this senior, and when they saw him, they had stopped teasing him and even greeted him as if he were an unofficial member of their class.
In everyone's opinion, the essence of a man pursuing a woman is simply to be persistent and persistent. As long as you are thick-skinned enough, even the toughest walls can be melted by your gentle touch. Moreover, Lin Yuqing's external conditions are really good. He is a well-known handsome guy in the School of Literature. He is good-looking and comes from a good family. All things considered, he and Chen Mian are a good match.
However, as things stand, the impregnable fortress remains impregnable.
Faced with flowers, he simply picked up the books from the table and hugged them to his chest, remaining as indifferent as ever, saying, "Sorry, I'm busy."
She didn't even make up an excuse, and there was no trace of the soft and gentle expression and tone she used in front of her roommates.
Lin Yuqing wasn't discouraged. She was still smiling even after being rejected. She handed over the flowers, saying, "If you won't have dinner with me, you should at least accept these flowers."
The vibrant red roses still have water droplets on their petals.
The students who would be attending the next class were already walking in, and people kept glancing at them. Chen Mian frowned slightly, glanced at her roommate who was waiting beside her, and finally said softly, "Don't waste your time here, senior. I don't want to be in a relationship."
After saying that, he walked out.
Back in the dorm, Deng Momo exclaimed, "Lin Yuqing's expression at the end was incredible! How could she laugh and say she was okay? She's so strong!"
Yu Yu, who was sitting in the first row and went to eat as soon as get out of class ended, was a little confused. "What's wrong?"
Su Wangqiu explained to her, "It's Lin, the senior from the School of Literature who has been pursuing Mianmian. He came again today with roses. He's been rejected many times but keeps trying. He's all about perseverance."
Yu Yu: "I think Senior Brother Lin is actually a pretty good person."
The top student, who had absolutely no interest in matters of love and sex, pushed up his glasses and commented, "Good grades, and decent character too."
Then Deng Momo laughed, "What's the use if Mianmian isn't interested? Take Wangqiu for example. How many people have confessed to Wangqiu on the confession wall? The rich second-generation from the management department has given her gifts worth at least five figures, but Wangqiu hasn't even glanced at them. She's just sticking to her ambiguous boyfriend from high school in Shanghai. Do you know what that's called, Yu Yu?"
Yu Yu devoted himself to his studies. "What?"
"—Just like a turtle looking at a green bean, if they like each other, that's fine; if they don't, even if mountains of gold and silver are piled up, those two won't be moved."
The description may be a bit harsh, but the point is valid.
Su Wangqiu threw a cushion at him, yelling, "You're the bastard!"
The dormitory erupted in laughter and chatter again. Chen Mian sat on a chair, occasionally getting caught up in the commotion, her clothes tugged behind her as she reached out to say, "Stop fooling around!" Girls from the opposite dormitory, seeing the commotion, came over with their phones to chat about school gossip. The comings and goings filled almost the entire dormitory, the air thick with the sweet scent of girls who had just showered.
Around 10 p.m., the lively atmosphere in the dormitory finally quieted down as everyone went about their own business.
Deng Momo is video chatting with her boyfriend, Su Wangqiu is chatting on the phone with her ambiguous partner, and Yu Yu and Chen Mian are reading books.
Lights out at 11:30, everyone in the dorm finished their own business without a word, and then Deng Momo said, "I miss my boyfriend so much."
Su Wangqiu scolded her, "Can't you just stop being love-struck? Aren't you going to see your boyfriend tomorrow?"
"You don't understand. You're just in the ambiguous stage, not actually dating, so you don't understand the beauty of love."
"Can you please stop showing off your love?"
"Sigh—" Deng Momo sighed dramatically, then, remembering the campus gossip her boyfriend had shared, she told her roommate, "My boyfriend told me there's a really handsome freshman in the Finance Department of their school's School of Management. You know that entertainment account called 'Campus Exploration Guy'? It's the one that's been really popular on Weibo lately, the one that interviews college students. 'Campus Exploration Guy' happened to be there during their military training, and while they were interviewing others, that handsome guy walked by, and even though it was just a one-second shot, it went viral—"
Su Wangqiu interrupted her, "Your boyfriend complimented other guys on their looks?"
Deng Momo exclaimed, "Handsome guys are a public resource, right? He wouldn't mention ordinary handsome guys, but this one is obviously just average. You guys go search it up. Let me see the trending topic he sent me in the screenshot—'Handsome guys and beautiful girls who amazed you during military training.' Tsk, what a cheesy name."
Chen Mian was dozing off amidst the conversation.
Hearing Deng Momo call her name, saying, "Chen Mian, you should check our dorm group chat too! Maybe we'll see this handsome guy when we go to the basketball game tomorrow."
He mumbled a reply, still somewhat dazed.
Then I turned over, opened my phone, entered the dormitory group chat, and saw the screenshot that Deng Momo had posted.
The screenshot shows the sun shining brightly, and the boy being interviewed is wearing a green training uniform, but the camera is focused on people passing by on the right.
He was half a head taller than the people around him, with his hair cut into a buzz cut. He squinted in the blazing sun, and only glanced over when someone called his name off-camera. His gaze wasn't on the camera; it was parallel and averted. His lips were slightly pursed, and the beauty mark under his peach blossom eyes was particularly noticeable under the lens's focus.
All her troubles vanished, and Chen Mian recognized the person at a glance as Shen Yu.
She stared at the photo in silence for a long time before finally finding the earphones next to her pillow.
I opened Weibo again and entered "handsome men and beautiful women who amazed you during military training" into the search bar.
The first one that appeared was a video posted by the campus explorer.
Click to open.
The progress bar was dragged back, stopping at the moment Shen Yu appeared.
Releasing his fingers, the boy appeared from the side behind, glanced somewhat impatiently to the side, then looked away and left the camera's view.
The whole process took less than three seconds.
It's like there are two people.
The boy in her memory stood before her with his eyes downcast, like a little puppy that had fallen into the water.
The person in the shot had a cold and distant look in their eyes, and their whole being seemed to scream "bad temper."
Looking at the comments section, almost everyone was saying "I can do it," but the top comment was something else entirely.
—Don't even think about it, the handsome guy has a girlfriend.
/
Whose broken mirror was only two months old, and the distance to be mended is only a twenty-minute drive?
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