Ebb and flow
On the day of the report, Jiang Yuan drove Jiang Jingshu to school. Xie Zhijin had already finished reporting and was standing at the reporting location of the Fine Arts Department, looking around.
He soon spotted Jiang Jingshu.
He hurried over. Parents were allowed to enter during freshman registration at Z University, and Jiang Yuan was carrying Jiang Jingshu's luggage.
Xie Zhijin naturally took the luggage from Jiang Yuan's hands and also took the small bag from Jiang Jingshu's hands.
"Xie Zhijin, I can take it." Jiang Jingshu said, seeing Xie Zhijin carrying a bunch of things.
Jiang Yuan patted Xie Zhijin on the shoulder.
Xie Zhijin chuckled awkwardly twice, then urged Jiang Jingshu to go report for duty.
After Jiang Jingshu reported, she saw Jiang Yuan and Xie Zhijin talking about something. After Jiang Yuan left, Jiang Jingshu secretly asked Xie Zhijin, "What were you two talking about just now?"
Xie Zhijin simply carried his luggage down to the girls' dormitory building.
Freshmen report for school two or three days earlier than sophomores and juniors. Since the dormitories are empty, parents can help move their luggage upstairs.
Jiang Jingshu's dormitory was on the 5th floor. As she looked at her huge suitcase, Xie Zhijin prepared to carry it upstairs without saying a word.
Jiang Jingshu quickly grabbed Xie Zhijin's sleeve, "How about we go together?"
Xie Zhijin suddenly moved closer to Jiang Jingshu, who gasped for breath, only to hear Xie Zhijin say, "Afraid I can't move it?"
Jiang Jingshu nodded.
"I could carry you and me with my right hand." Xie Zhijin smiled and easily lifted Jiang Jingshu's luggage. Jiang Jingshu quickly followed Xie Zhijin's steps.
The suitcase has been brought upstairs, and there's a quilt and a mattress downstairs.
Jiang Jingshu looked at Xie Zhijin with heartache.
I feel a little embarrassed.
Xie Zhijin gently tapped her head, "Consider it exercise."
"Don't be shy." Seeing Jiang Jingshu's hesitant expression, Xie Zhijin said to her, "I'm your boyfriend, this is what I should do, you know?"
Jiang Jingshu simply nodded.
"But it's so heavy," she said.
“Jiang Jingshu, I’m strong.” Xie Zhijin just stared at her with a smile. Xie Zhijin was indeed strong. At the age of nineteen, his body was strong and robust. A few quilts were nothing to him.
Jiang Jingshu silently followed Xie Zhijin and finally carried all the luggage upstairs. Xie Zhijin didn't even have to catch his breath.
There was a petite girl in the dormitory. When Jiang Jingshu saw that she was still playing and went down to move her luggage, she gently nudged Xie Zhijin next to her.
With just a glance, Xie Zhijin understood what Jiang Jingshu meant.
He quickly spoke to the petite girl, "Hello, I'm Jiang Jingshu's boyfriend. This thing is quite heavy, let me help you carry it."
The girl seemed a little surprised, but still declined shyly, saying, "No need, I can do it myself."
Jiang Jingshu leaned forward and asked, "Are you sure you can manage by yourself?"
The girl smiled, and the three of them went downstairs together. When the girl picked up the quilt by herself...
girl:……
She turned around and said in a low voice, "Could you ask your boyfriend for help?"
Xie Zhijin quickly picked up his things and went upstairs.
Jiang Jingshu and the girl walked behind. The girl introduced herself in a soft voice, "My name is Yan Tong. Thank you for your help today."
"It's okay, we're all in the same dorm," Jiang Jingshu replied to Yan Tong with a smile.
After tidying up their dorm room, Xie Zhijin and Jiang Jingshu went to familiarize themselves with the campus. There was a lake near the entrance of Z University's dormitories called Xiuli Lake, but Jiang Jingshu had heard a rumor that couples who stayed by this lake would break up.
Therefore, Z University students all call this lake "Breakup" Lake.
Just as Jiang Jingshu was telling Xie Zhijin this, Xie Zhijin quickly grabbed her hand and left.
"Xie Zhijin, how can you believe this?" Jiang Jingshu felt a strange urge to laugh. "How can you believe everything?"
Xie Zhijin held Jiang Jingshu's hand tightly, saying, "I'd rather believe it's true; I value this aspect very much."
Jiang Jingshu's hand was held by Xie Zhijin, and it's estimated that Xie Zhijin will never take her for a walk at this breakup lake again in his life.
After the two finished their meal, Jiang Jingshu returned to her dormitory.
Almost everyone in the dormitory had arrived. Jiang Jingshu pushed open the door, and Yan Tong was sitting on the bed tidying up. When she saw Jiang Jingshu come in, she quickly climbed off the bed.
Jiang Jingshu's dormitory is 511, a four-person room with bunk beds and desks. Jiang Jingshu is in bed number 1, guarding the door and the light.
"Jing Shu, you're here!" Yan Tong quickly grabbed Jiang Jing Shu.
"We're all here, just waiting for you!" A girl got off bed number 3, looking quite outgoing. She greeted Jiang Jingshu, "Are you Jiang Jingshu?"
Jiang Jingshu nodded.
"Was it your boyfriend who brought you here today?" The girl's eyes were burning with gossip, and Jiang Jingshu felt a little awkward. She gave a soft "Mmm".
"Your boyfriend is so handsome!" The girl sat down in Jiang Jingshu's chair. Jiang Jingshu looked at the girl in front of her without saying a word. "What's your name?"
"My name is Wang Xuan, hello!" Wang Xuan extended her hand to Jiang Jingshu, and Jiang Jingshu shook her hand in a friendly manner.
"By the way, were you high school classmates?"
Jiang Jingshu gave a soft "hmm" again. Although she didn't want to talk to Wang Xuan about these things anymore, she still responded to maintain politeness.
However, Yan Tong seemed to see through Jiang Jingshu's thoughts. She pulled Jiang Jingshu aside and said to Wang Xuan, "Let's stop gossiping and talk about something else."
"Where are you from?" The girl in bed number 4 also started to speak. Her name was Ji Yu. She was gentle and quiet.
The conversation in the dorm eventually shifted from Jiang Jingshu's boyfriend to something else.
Jiang Jingshu breathed a slight sigh of relief.
She dislikes others invading her privacy excessively; to her, it's an offense.
That evening, Yan Tong secretly sent Jiang Jingshu a message: "Are you having lunch with your boyfriend tomorrow?"
Jiang Jiang Jiang Jiang: I won't eat with him.
Yan Tong then typed, "Can we go to the cafeteria together tomorrow?"
"Of course." Jiang Jingshu liked Yan Tong; she was so gentle it seemed to melt hearts, and Jiang Jingshu enjoyed being friends with her.
While chatting with Yan Tong, Xie Zhijin called. Jiang Jingshu quietly went to the bathroom and answered the phone.
Xie Zhijin's gentle voice came through, "How's the dormitory?"
"It's fine, how about you?"
"I'm doing fine too." Xie Zhijin's voice still carried a hint of laughter. Jiang Jingshu asked him, "Xie Zhijin, what are you laughing at?"
"Just having fun."
"What's making you happy?" Jiang Jingshu asked him.
Xie Zhijin's soft laughter came from behind him, "I'm just happy."
Jiang Jingshu is looking forward to the life ahead. She has a feeling that every day of the next few years will be happy.
Since the start of freshman military training, Jiang Jingshu has been getting up very early every day for the past two days. She is physically weak and gets out of breath after running just a few steps.
Although Yan Tong was short, she ran very fast. She just silently cheered Jiang Jingshu on.
After a week of intense training, Jiang Jingshu's body had become numb. For the first few days, she experienced severe pain, but as time went on, the pain gradually lessened.
But she always felt uncomfortable somewhere in her body.
As expected, Jiang Jingshu, being physically weak, developed a fever again just before the end of military training.
She lay on her dormitory bed, taking her temperature.
Yan Tong texted her, asking with concern, "Jing Shu, shall I go buy you some porridge?"
Jiang Jingshu smiled and thanked her.
"Jing Shu, I saw your boyfriend today."
Yan Tong sent another message.
Jiang Jingshu found it strange. Wasn't Xie Zhijin in military training? Why would he come to their training area?
"He asked me where I was, and I told him I was sick and resting."
Jiang Jingshu suddenly realized that Xie Zhijin was angry.
Because there wasn't a single message about Xie Zhijin on her phone, she was a little unsure whether Xie Zhijin would think she hadn't told him anything and had kept things like her fever a secret.
She asked, "When did he come to ask you?"
"Just now."
Jiang Jingshu breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving Yan Tong's reply.
She didn't tell Xie Zhijin, just because she was afraid he would worry, afraid that he would be distracted by worrying about her during his military training.
As she was thinking, her phone rang again.
Xie: Is anyone in your dorm?
Jiang Jingshu was alone in the dormitory. She told Xie Zhijin and asked him, "What's wrong?"
Xie: It's okay.
A while later, there was a knock on Jiang Jingshu's dormitory door. Jiang Jingshu opened the door to find an unfamiliar girl. Jiang Jingshu had never seen her before. "Who are you?"
"Your boyfriend asked me to give this to you. He told you to get some rest."
The girl stuffed the things in her hand into Jiang Jingshu's arms, and Jiang Jingshu felt a warmth in her heart. "Thank you," she said, and then took a new box of cookies from her table and handed it to the girl. "Thank you for your trouble, here you go."
The girl waved her hand, simply telling her to take care of herself, and did not accept the cookie Jiang Jingshu offered.
Jiang Jingshu closed the door and looked at the medicine in her hand—fever reducers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and painkillers—all readily available. A warm feeling welled up inside her.
So while she was worrying and wondering if Xie Zhijin was angry, he was buying her medicine that she needed to take because she was sick.
Jiang Jingshu took out her phone. "I received it. Thank you."
Xie Zhijin sent a voice message. She put the phone to her ear and pressed play:
"Jiang Jingshu, drink more hot water. If you have a fever again tomorrow, I'll take you to the hospital."
After listening, Jiang Jingshu picked up her water glass and drank from it.
She still felt very cold. She really felt that something was wrong with her body. How could anyone feel cold in September?
She recalled that Xie Zhijin had asked her if feeling cold was a side effect of time travel.
Jiang Jingshu didn't think so before. She just felt that her constitution was not strong enough, which caused her to be afraid of the cold. She did not connect this with the matter of time travel.
But now, Jiang Jingshu gently touched the agave on the table.
Sure enough, the agave was scalding hot, and Jiang Jingshu withdrew her hand the moment she touched it.
Her heart seemed to be pounding wildly, as if she had glimpsed something extraordinary. She gently called upon the system.
The system did not respond.
Jiang Jingshu suddenly felt a pang of panic. "Help? Help?"
Still receiving no response, Jiang Jingshu felt her fever worsen. She felt very cold, so she quickly drank some fever-reducing medicine and crawled into bed.
It's so cold, the icy feeling is like the water in the Imperial Garden that day.
She just fell into a deep sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in a hospital, with Xie Zhijin's face beside her. She was a little confused, and her voice was hoarse from speaking, "What are you doing here?"
"Jiang Jingshu, are you feeling better?"
Xie Zhijin held Jiang Jingshu's hand in his palm the whole time, but even so, Jiang Jingshu's hand remained icy cold.
"I'm much better." To avoid worrying Xie Zhijin, Jiang Jingshu replied, "How did I get here?"
"You had a high fever in the dorm the day before yesterday, so high that you fainted."
Even now, Xie Zhijin still feels lingering fear when he thinks about it.
"I was dizzy for two days?" After receiving Xie Zhijin's confirmation, Jiang Jingshu sighed. "What did the doctor say?"
"The doctor said you have a cold. Just take good care of yourself for a few days and you'll be fine. Don't worry," Xie Zhijin said gently, his hand still wrapped around Jiang Jingshu's.
"Xie Zhijin, I'm so cold." Jiang Jingshu became more and more certain of her inner guess, but since the system wasn't there, she couldn't get confirmation.
But now, she thinks it's pretty much true.
She and tequila are in a state of ebb and flow.
The nutrients that the agave absorbs are Jiang Jingshu's energy.
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