BSS - Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Deng Chuan stared at the new message that had just popped up on her phone and took a deep breath, feeling more embarrassed than she had in her entire eighteen years of life.
But avoidance was ultimately useless. After a few deep breaths, Deng Chuan replied to the dorm group chat: No need, I see you. Then she started walking toward the three of them.
Zhou Zhi turned her head, saw her, and waved.
Li Mingtang grabbed Deng Chuan's wrist and said in pleasant surprise, "You're back." She pointed to the pile of snacks in Zhou Zhi's arms and listed them off like family treasures, "We bought cheese wafers, chips, shrimp crackers, seaweed, and jelly! See if there's anything else you want to eat." As soon as she finished, Xie Yao asked with concern, "Deng Chuan, have you had dinner yet?"
"Oh, right," Li Mingtang naturally picked up where she left off. "Let's get a bag of small bread rolls then. If we don't finish them, we can have them for breakfast tomorrow. - Deng Chuan, I still have oatmeal in the dorm, do you want some?"
The enthusiasm and laughter from her peers almost made Deng Chuan instantly forget the earlier awkwardness and embarrassment. Holding the small bread rolls Li Mingtang handed her, she asked with some curiosity, "Why did you suddenly buy so much stuff?"
Zhou Zhi said, "They're watching a movie tonight."
"Mhm. Want to join?" Li Mingtang turned to look at Deng Chuan, her eyes full of anticipation. "How can dorm life be complete without activities like watching movies and staying up late together?"
Deng Chuan said apologetically, "I probably can't join you. I have a project proposal to write later tonight."
Li Mingtang let out a disappointed "Ah." "Alright then. We might disturb you a little. But we'll be very, very quiet. Just let us know if you think it's too loud."
"Okay." Deng Chuan nodded and said gently, "It's fine, I can wear headphones."
Li Mingtang beamed and pulled her forward. "Let's go, let's go, let's see what else we should buy."
The group wandered around the supermarket for a while longer, paid, and then headed toward the dormitory building. Deng Chuan was a little worried about Xu Wei, who had gone to take care of a drunk colleague, and checked her phone several times.
There was no activity in the pinned message thread. The group chats, however, were very active. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition group was still discussing project materials and feasibility steps. The first draft of the project proposal was due for internal integration on Monday. And Pei Qingyu's flight was arriving in Beijing tomorrow morning; she had been sick, which had delayed her arrival by half a month. If Deng Chuan wanted to free up the entire day for her tomorrow, she would have to finish the first draft of the proposal required from the afternoon meeting tonight.
That inevitably meant pulling an all-nighter.
Staying up late was not a common occurrence for Deng Chuan. Ever since she was little, her family had always taught her that a healthy lifestyle was more important than anything else. As a doctor, Tang Lijuan believed that health was a state of conservation, and that a balance between one's physical and mental state was a necessary condition for maintaining it.
It was precisely because of this that after growing up and moving into a dormitory away from home, Deng Chuan rarely stayed up late to study. She understood that the mental energy consumed by staying up late would affect her studies the next day. Weighing the two, the loss ultimately outweighed the gain.
But life overrides all personal will. After starting university, the first lesson growth taught Deng Chuan was to deviate from her past lifestyle, knowing she shouldn't but still feeling helpless. The moment she decided to pull an all-nighter, Deng Chuan was walking amidst the laughter of her roommates. She was still completely unaware of all the changes that were about to come, much less able to hear the small sigh that emanated from the depths of her soul in the darkness of the night.
That night, the lights in Room 412 of P University's Mingde Building stayed on all night.
Li Mingtang, Zhou Zhi, and Xie Yao sat at Xie Yao's desk, watching a Korean movie called Train to Busan, crunching on chips, shrimp crackers, and wafer cookies.
Deng Chuan sat at her own desk, the faint glow of her laptop screen reflected in her eyes. The clatter of the keyboard was fluid. She would occasionally stop, furrowing her brow in thought for a moment, or glance at the messages on her phone.
The night was like water. The block characters in the document on the screen flowed downward along the progress bar. Xu Wei was sleeping in that distant city, and Deng Chuan finally, finally relaxed after learning she had arrived home safely. The two said goodnight to each other, and Deng Chuan's heart settled into tranquility.
She threw herself into the work at hand with full concentration. In the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition group, everyone was staying up late. A few hours earlier, sitting in the passenger seat of Gu Ninglu's car, Deng Chuan had been pondering whether it was lights or people that were burning in Beijing. If, at that time, she merely possessed the sharp intuition to raise and contemplate the question, then the her of now probably had the qualifications to solve it.
The lights in 412 stayed on until the sky began to pale at dawn.
Pei Qingyu's flight was scheduled to land at ten. After a short sleep of two or three hours, Deng Chuan was woken up by the alarm buzzing in her ears—she had even worn headphones to sleep, afraid the alarm would disturb her roommates who had also stayed up late.
After quietly washing up, Deng Chuan packed a simple shoulder bag containing tissues, sunscreen, her student card, ID card, and all the other small necessities for going out, and slipped quietly out the door.
The weather outside was beautiful. Deng Chuan left at a little after nine, a vibrant time of the morning. The campus was filled with students carrying bags and books. Deng Chuan wasn't sure what they were all off to do, but the serious, self-possessed, and calmly determined air about them was exceptionally familiar from her eighteen years of life.
The campus was bright and beautiful, and Deng Chuan's spirits lifted along with it. The fatigue and drowsiness from staying up late had long since dissipated. She was still young, her body's functions were in excellent condition, and her ability to recover was strong.
Deng Chuan left the campus and, at a nearby subway station entrance, boarded the subway line heading to the airport. The weekend crowd of travelers was larger than usual, and there were quite a few who looked like students, just like her. The car was quite full, so she found a spot to stand.
It was quiet on the subway. Everyone was wearing headphones. On the journey between stations, the only sound came from the display screen hanging at the front of the car. Deng Chuan glanced up a few times without thinking much of it; it seemed to be playing a documentary about a sports team.
Deng Chuan paid it no mind. It was still a long way to the airport. After another stop, she finally found an empty seat and began to check information and emails related to the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Xu Wei had gone to bed early last night and was already awake, wishing her good morning.
The negative effects of staying up late were there, after all. Deng Chuan's emotional defenses had become a bit fragile, and Xu Wei's message made her heart feel very soft. Deng Chuan unconsciously puffed out her cheeks. Instead of saying good morning back, she asked for kisses.
Looking at Deng Chuan's reply, Xu Wei felt that she must have misjudged her in the past. Deng Chuan was truly a kid who loved to act cute.
Of course, she couldn't resist the kid's coquetry. She replied good-naturedly: Okay, kisses.
The cute kid replied with a long string of kissing emojis.
Then she immediately began to report her itinerary for the day: she was going to the airport to pick up Pei Qingyu, and then she would take her to a barbecue restaurant near the university for lunch. She had been to that restaurant once before with a classmate and thought it was delicious. When Xu Wei came to Beijing in the future, she would take her there too.
Xu Wei had no objections to the kid's arrangements. She was very happy that Deng Chuan frequently placed her in her imagined future plans. It made her feel that Deng Chuan wasn't very far away from her, so she replied gently: Okay, I'll come see you when I have time.
The two chatted for a while, and time passed surprisingly quickly. The flow of people around Deng Chuan changed again and again, and the subway finally arrived at the last stop, Capital Airport Station.
The arrival announcement sounded through the speakers. Deng Chuan stood up, straightened her clothes, and prepared to get off.
Since it was the final stop, everyone was getting ready to disembark. The sounds of zippers and rustling backpacks filled the air. Deng Chuan, holding her bag, glanced at the display screen at the end of the car that was still playing the documentary to pass the time.
It seemed to be the story of a sports team. Deng Chuan didn't quite understand it. A moment later, the subway arrived at the station, and the noise of the announcement and the crowd drowned out the documentary's narration:
"Time cannot stop them from growing old, because there will always be someone who is young; nor will they fear the rush of aging, because they too were once earnestly young…"
Lines like these were drowned out by the tide of people getting off and on the train.
Deng Chuan exited the subway station and walked toward the airport arrivals platform. It was still about ten-odd minutes until Pei Qingyu's arrival time. The plane had not yet landed, but the exit was already packed with people.
Deng Chuan sent a message to Pei Qingyu, who replied a few minutes later, saying the plane was still taxiing and she would be there soon.
Fifteen minutes later, Pei Qingyu, laden with bags of all sizes, appeared in Deng Chuan's line of sight. Pei Qingyu saw her too and came running toward her, dragging a suitcase that looked quite heavy.
Deng Chuan caught her forceful dash and said with a smile, "Be careful."
She then naturally took the bags from her hands to help carry them, asking, "Are you tired? What time did you get up this morning?"
"Beijing is so hot. I started sweating the moment I got off the plane," Pei Qingyu said, then answered her question. "I was woken up at six-thirty. It's ridiculous. I was packing until after two last night."
Deng Chuan let out a light "haha" and led her to the subway.
Having not seen each other for over half a month, Pei Qingyu had become more talkative, chattering nonstop the entire way, making a big, nonsensical fuss over the facilities in the subway station: "So this is the capital? I am greatly shaken."
She was talking about the guide robot in the station. Deng Chuan played along, concurring, "See? Isn't it super advanced?"
The two of them got on the subway. There was only one seat. Deng Chuan let Pei Qingyu sit down, helped her place her suitcase beside her, and stood in front of her, shielding her from the jostling crowd behind.
Pei Qingyu sneakily sent her a WeChat message: Deng Chuan. I'm suddenly a little envious of Teacher Xu.
Deng Chuan replied with a question mark full of confusion.
Pei Qingyu continued to elaborate: You're so considerate. It must be wonderful to be in a relationship with you.
Deng Chuan: ?
Pei Qingyu: Look at me, big sister.
Deng Chuan glanced at her. Pei Qingyu was looking up at her, suppressing a smile at the corners of her mouth.
The next second, Deng Chuan looked down from above and lightly kicked her shin. "Get up. My legs are tired."
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