“2018.09.05 Sunny”
Life was short, perhaps only enough to like you.
— Excerpted from Tao Shuran’s Diary
In the Broadcast Station, Liang Yuanjing turned off the button, picked up the phone on the desk, and turned to leave.
“Not giving me your WeChat?”
“Just making a friend.” Wang Shiyu hugged her arms as she looked at him. “Besides, I can be considered your senior sister, right?”
Wang Shiyu was a junior this year and also a graduate of Linchuan Affiliated Middle School.
Her connection with Liang Yuanjing dated back to a year ago when she had returned to her alma mater to give a speech as an outstanding graduate. It had rained heavily that day, and the audience below had been in chaos.
She naturally fixed her gaze on the source of the commotion—Liang Yuanjing.
“Boil with passion, be fanatical, never admit defeat.”
Wang Shiyu hooked up the corner of her lips. “I’ve remembered that line of yours for two years. I heard you used to be on the Affiliated Middle School’s broadcast team. Are you interested in joining us?”
He had been, originally.
But now, Liang Yuanjing coldly swept her a glance, his attitude somewhat indifferent.
“Maybe later.”
According to the broadcast directions, Tao Shuran and Fang Qingyi smoothly found Chongming Building.
Once inside, senior students were there to receive them. Tao Shuran left her luggage at the door for Fang Qingyi to watch and went into the hall first to register, sign, and collect the dorm number tag.
Qing University’s dorms were pre-assigned by class.
Unfortunately, Tao Shuran had been singled out and was rooming with students from other majors.
Qing University’s dorms had just been renovated last year. They were four-person rooms with beds over desks, independent bathrooms, and decent conditions.
Before leaving, Tao Shuran glanced at her dorm mates: one from Accounting College, two from Chinese literature, and she was the lone seedling in cultural relics restoration.
When she entered the dorm, most people were already there. As she pushed open the door, all eyes turned to her at once. Tao Shuran felt a bit embarrassed and stood awkwardly in place.
Unexpectedly, Fang Qingyi was even more at ease.
“Hello everyone, I’m from the Normal College next door. I’m Fang Qingyi, and she’s Tao Shuran. I’m just here accompanying her.”
That one sentence opened the floodgates, and the other remaining dorm mates introduced themselves one after another.
“Hello, I’m Lin Shuang, accounting major.”
“I’m Tan Yueyi, also accounting major.”
Tan Yueyi was clearly more socially anxious than Tao Shuran. After saying her piece, she wished she could bury her head in the cabinet. Compared to her shyness, Lin Shuang seemed more like the big-sister type.
“Luo Jingya is from Chinese literature. She went downstairs to check out club recruitments and just left.”
Tao Shuran nodded and silently memorized everyone’s names.
Her bed was on the right side near the balcony. As Tao Shuran sorted out the bedding she had brought, she listened to Fang Qingyi bonding with the two accounting-major dorm mates.
“Is your Accounting College with the economics department?”
Lin Shuang thought for a moment and said, “No, we’re Accounting College. Economics and finance are together, called the College of Finance and Economics.”
“But some general foundation courses are probably combined.”
Fang Qingyi immediately leaned over and looked at Tao Shuran with great righteousness. “Ranran, I’ll come over to accompany you in class.”
Tao Shuran shook her head repeatedly. “You’re too crazy.”
“Sisters, have you signed up for the club wars downstairs? I just went around, and it’s super lively.”
Luo Qiuya pushed the door open and came in, dumping a big stack of flyers on the table before handing them out one by one.
Looking at her, Tao Shuran softly said, “Hello, I’m Tao Shuran.”
Luo Qiuya smiled and replied, “Have you decided which club to join?”
Tao Shuran blurted out, “Basketball Club and Photography Club.”
“Wow, you decided without even looking at the flyers.” Luo Qiuya clicked her tongue. “Basketball Club has a ton of handsome guys. Did you have your eye on some senior?”
“No.” Tao Shuran quickly refuted. “I just purely like playing basketball.”
The reason sounded weaker toward the end.
Fang Qingyi held back her laughter but finally couldn’t, leaning to her ear and teasing softly, “Ranran, how come I don’t remember you liking basketball before?”
“But I do remember… someone who really likes playing basketball, and you, like watching him play?”
…
At Qing University’s basketball court, an unusual freshman basketball game was underway.
Liang Yuanjing and his flight class group had arrived a week early for registration. After the Gaokao, ten of them had ultimately been formally admitted to Air Force Aviation University.
The youth flight class used a “3+1” joint civilian-military training model: three years at Fuqing University, followed by one year of militarized closed training at Air Force Aviation University, earning dual degrees from both schools.
The guys quickly got to know each other. No one knew who had lugged a basketball all the way there. They went door-to-door in the dorm halls asking, “Wanna play basketball?” and spontaneously formed two teams.
“Today’s freshman check-in day, right? So many people on the road.”
Xu Yanyang and Liang Yuanjing were assigned to the same dorm. Before the game started, he squatted down to put on his knee pads and casually glanced over with his peripheral vision.
“Is that Tao Shuran?”
The girls’ dorm was in Building 6, not far from the sports field. Xu Yanyang had sharp eyes and could pinpoint her precisely amid the crowd.
He smiled, his gaze lingering for a moment on the girl who shone white. He sighed, “How come I didn’t notice how pretty she was in high school?”
Liang Yuanjing lazily leaned against the railing. Hearing this, he lifted his eyelids slightly and glanced indifferently over.
She was indeed a bit prettier than in high school. Without the monotonous heavy school uniform jacket, the blue plaid long skirt made her look elegant and otherworldly, like a lotus rising from clear water.
“Didn’t you get a girlfriend over the summer?”
Speaking of that, Xu Yanyang sighed wistfully. “Long-distance. No fun. Thinking of breaking up.”
“What do you think of me chasing Tao Shuran? We’re both from Affiliated Middle School, after all.”
Liang Yuanjing cut straight to the point. “So before you’ve even broken up, you’re already eyeing the next one?”
Xu Yanyang grinned and assured him. “Relax, I’ll clean break before pursuing.”
Liang Yuanjing looked at him. “You treat dating so casually?”
“If you don’t treat dating casually, are you supposed to wait until marriage to get casual?” Xu Yanyang touched his nose. For some reason, Liang Yuanjing’s gaze didn’t seem friendly.
But he seemed cold and distant to everyone.
After all, the young master had that arrogant cool-guy temperament, which was normal.
Xu Yanyang invited him. “A Jing, team up with me later? We’ll crush them utterly.”
“No interest.”
Liang Yuanjing refused without giving face, strolling past him unhurriedly, his tone cold and hard.
“I’m not the same kind of person as you.”
They tidied the dorm somewhat during the day. In the evening, they received a school notice to attend a brief class meeting in their respective classes.
Tao Shuran went to her class alone.
That year, Qing University’s cultural relics restoration major had recruited just over ten people total. The class seats were sparsely half-filled.
After waiting about ten minutes, the teacher in charge of their major slowly walked in.
Seeing the familiar face, Tao Shuran’s eyes widened in shock.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Lin Tingzhou, your temporary counselor for this cultural relics class.”
Over sixty years old, Lin Tingzhou was still hale and hearty. She turned and gracefully wrote her name on the blackboard in elegant, windswept calligraphy that showed her spirit.
She joked, “Why temporary? Because your official counselor—my student—sprained her leg the day before school started. No choice, so your teacher has to step in for her.”
The class below chuckled.
“But you’ll see me next for the painting and calligraphy restoration courses.” Lin Tingzhou smiled. “Cultural relics restoration is a vast undertaking. Life is short; perhaps we can only do this one thing.”
“So, everyone here, are you prepared to do this?”
To better understand cultural relics restoration, Tao Shuran had spent most of her holiday immersed in museums and libraries reading materials. In her free time, she had even watched the documentary I Repair Antiques in the Forbidden City three times.
Sitting here today, she was even more certain that she loved this.
Her life needed a dream to pursue obsessively.
Lin Tingzhou was clearly straightforward. After introducing herself, she skipped many formalities. With the small class size, she even omitted most class officer positions, leaving only a class president and vice president to maintain order during military training.
Hearing about military training, even though everyone was mentally prepared, they still groaned.
After the class meeting, Tao Shuran packed her things and slowly walked out.
But at the corridor turn, she ran into Lin Tingzhou waiting for her.
“When I saw your name on the admissions list, I was very happy.”
Tao Shuran said, “I also have to thank you for taking me to see those artisans restore artifacts firsthand.”
“But I didn’t expect you to be our teacher.”
Lin Tingzhou feigned surprise. “Oh? Didn’t our A Jing tell you this secret?”
Tao Shuran shook her head full of regret. “I haven’t been in touch with him for a long time.”
“That brat. Over the summer, he mentioned you to me several times. He said you’re born for this line of work. I asked how he could tell—you’ve never done it.”
Mentioning Liang Yuanjing, Lin Tingzhou had endless things to say.
Her face was etched with the traces of years, and her age bathed her in a composed elegance. Even her speech was exceptionally pleasant.
“He said you have a pair of calm, bright eyes, able to settle down and do things.”
On the way back, Tao Shuran quietly savored those words in her heart.
Moonlight like water illuminated the bluestone path in a glow. Lost in thought with her head down, she didn’t notice someone coming ahead.
Liang Yuanjing hugged his arms, lazily standing in her path.
Seeing the girl about to bump into him, he extended two fingers to stop her forehead, teasing, “You’ve evolved? Can walk without looking up now?”
The sudden voice startled Tao Shuran badly. She recoiled a big step.
She hastily lifted her head, encountering him completely unexpectedly.
His voice was a bit deeper than what she had heard on the broadcast station earlier that day, but carried more genuine emotion.
As if this person had clearly appeared before her, not some gorgeous dream of a girl in the dead of night.
“Liang Yuanjing.” She couldn’t help calling his name.
“Mm.” He responded lowly, suddenly scanning the surroundings and asking meaningfully, “What are you doing under the boys’ dorm?”
“I…”
Just as she opened her mouth to explain, Liang Yuanjing’s finger suddenly pressed her lips. He glanced behind him, and without thinking, dragged her into the corner by the flower bed.
In the lightless blind spot, only small cicadas hid in clusters of grass, chirping lowly.
Like Tao Shuran’s heart, which pounded suddenly.
Her breathing gradually quickened, her lips went numb, even trembling slightly uncontrollably.
Liang Yuanjing felt the faint breath entwining his fingertip. He froze for a second, immediately withdrew his hand, and stepped back to keep a safe distance.
On the other side of the flower bed, a few girls were gathered downstairs waiting.
Their laughing voices were loud, giggling away. Tao Shuran vaguely heard them talking about chasing someone, asking for contact info.
Later, it was probably Liang Yuanjing’s dorm mate who came down and sternly told them Liang Yuanjing had gone out and wasn’t there, so they shouldn’t linger downstairs.
So he was dodging admirers.
Tao Shuran’s eyelashes fluttered. She softly asked him, “Is being chased still a hassle?”
Liang Yuanjing shook his head repeatedly. “Extremely hassling.”
Unfriendly pursuits meant invasions of personal space and disturbances. Behaviors like chasing to the dorm or home—Liang Yuanjing had endured too many from childhood to now. Even accustomed, he hated them from the bottom of his heart.
Tao Shuran probed, “Isn’t university the best place for dating? Haven’t you considered it?”
“No.”
Liang Yuanjing answered without a hint of hesitation. Lowering his head, he saw the girl’s dimmed eyes. He paused, then thoughtfully looked toward the lit boys’ dorm.
He suddenly asked, “What about you, Tao Shuran? Do you still like that person?”