BSS - Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Deng Chuan walked to the department head's office and knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, a resonant voice from inside said, "Come in."

Seeing Deng Chuan, the old man smiled and nodded. "Ah, Deng Chuan. How did it go? Have you discussed it with your family?"

Hearing this, Deng Chuan nodded reflexively, closed the door, and walked closer to hand over the file folder.

Her footsteps echoed clearly on the wooden floor.

The old man took it, carefully opened the folder, and looked through the papers one by one, nodding as he read. "Good. The department will continue to handle the specific procedures for you. Just wait for the notification."

Deng Chuan nodded and bowed earnestly. "Okay. Thank you to the teachers for all your hard work. I also want to give special thanks to the university for giving me this opportunity."

The old man smiled at her, tapped the papers on the desk to align them, and put them back into the folder. "Young people should seize their opportunities. You must hold them in your own hands."

After leaving the office, Deng Chuan belatedly realized that she had only told Xu Wei; her family still didn't know about this. But the documents were already submitted. She immediately found a quiet corner and called Tang Lijuan.

The phone rang several times before it was answered. On the other end, Tang Lijuan's voice was thick with fatigue. "Baby... what's wrong?"

Guessing her mom had just gotten off a night shift, Deng Chuan lowered her voice guiltily. "Mom, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it? Go ahead."

Tang Lijuan listened groggily to what Deng Chuan said and replied nonchalantly, "Mhm... okay, that's great. That's a good thing. I'll call your dad and tell him later."

Deng Chuan hadn't expected her mom to react so calmly, given her personality. She breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Okay, I'll hang up then. I'm going to get lunch. You should get some rest."

The voice on the other end was extremely faint. "Mhm... don't work too hard. Bye..." Her voice trailed off, followed by the sound of even breathing.

Deng Chuan hung up, rushed to the cafeteria for a quick lunch, and after a short nap, her afternoon was packed with classes.

She hadn't slept much the previous night, nor had she napped for long at noon. When Deng Chuan arrived at her first afternoon class, she was still a bit drowsy. It was a "Situation and Policy" class, and with finals approaching, everyone had their heads down, working on their own things. Deng Chuan stared blankly at her textbook, twirling her pen.

The printed words on the page seemed unable to enter her eyes. Deng Chuan closed her eyes wearily, her head drooping, on the verge of falling asleep.

When one is desperately sleepy, they tend to yearn for things as warm and wonderful as a cozy bed. Deng Chuan jolted awake right on the edge of sleep, and the pen in her hand clattered onto the desk.

Deng Chuan stretched out her fingers to retrieve the pen. Xie Yao, hearing the sound, looked over. She was bored anyway, and seeing Deng Chuan slowly twirling the pen between her fingertips, she gave a sincere compliment, "Your hands are so pretty."

She didn't look sleepy at all. Full of energy, she started a conversation with Deng Chuan. "Is it that tall people usually have nicer-looking fingers? Zhou Zhi's hands are really pretty too."

Deng Chuan replied casually, "Maybe it's because our bones are bigger."

"Mhm, I like prominent knuckles. I don't think it looks good when they're too thin and long."

She heard Deng Chuan let out an inexplicable laugh.

Xie Yao turned to look at her. Deng Chuan's eyes were downcast, and it was clear she was tired, but the smile playing on her lips instantly transformed her weary expression into something hazy and intimate.

As a single person, Xie Yao immediately nudged her.

Deng Chuan lifted her eyes to look over. Her gaze held a natural, proud reserve, yet it was extremely restrained, making people feel both drawn to and intimidated by her. Meeting such eyes, Xie Yao immediately forgave her for zoning out to think about her girlfriend anytime, anywhere, and started gossiping like a true shipper. "Are the older sister's hands pretty?"

After a few seconds' pause, Deng Chuan realized the "older sister" Xie Yao was talking about was Xu Wei. She shook off some of her drowsiness, thought about it seriously, and then answered, "Her hands are a bit more slender than mine, and she's too thin, so there's not much flesh on them. They look very pretty."

Xie Yao, who had just declared her dislike for slender hands, immediately switched sides. "Wow... I love that..."

Xie Yao said, "The older sister's temperament is a lot like one of my teachers. They both seem very gentle and good-tempered."

Deng Chuan raised an eyebrow. Recalling Xu Wei's image at school during their senior year, she gave an amused cough and replied vaguely, "Mhm. The older sister has a very good temper."

To prevent Xie Yao from going further down this rabbit hole, Deng Chuan proactively steered the conversation elsewhere. The two chatted idly for most of the class until it was finally over.

They packed up their books and headed to the classroom for their next class. Li Mingtang, wanting to grab good seats, pulled Zhou Zhi along and dashed off. She was wearing a high ponytail today, which bounced with her light jog as she disappeared through the classroom door.

When Deng Chuan arrived at the new classroom, Li Mingtang and the others had already claimed good seats in the middle section of the lecture hall. She waved at Deng Chuan. "Over here, over here!"

Her smile was sweet, and she was beaming with delight at having secured her desired seats. The surrounding students couldn't help but look over and smile along with her.

Deng Chuan sat down next to her, bag in hand, and took out her book and pen. She heard Li Mingtang ask excitedly, "Deng Chuan-! Why didn't you tell us it's your birthday today! Do you not see us as friends!"

Not knowing how the news had leaked, Deng Chuan felt uncharacteristically meek under her righteously indignant gaze. "Ah... I didn't really think about it."

She saw Xie Yao also giving her a disapproving look alongside Li Mingtang. "Then let's all have dinner together tonight. How about the pickled fish place by the school gate?"

That pickled fish place was delicious, but it was pricey. Deng Chuan didn't explicitly say it was her treat, afraid they would feel awkward, so she just suggested they all eat together.

Before Deng Chuan could react, Li Mingtang quickly pinched her cheek. "Okay! We'll buy you a cake!"

She wasn't strong, so Deng Chuan was just surprised for a moment and didn't think much of it. As for the cake, it wasn't a big deal; she could return the favor later. So she went along with it. "Okay- then don't run off too fast after class."

Having pinched Deng Chuan's cheek, Li Mingtang retracted her hand with great satisfaction. "Mhm. We won't, we won't- Come on, let's hurry and see what kind of cake to order. I think you can't pre-order after six."

The three of them huddled together to order a cake, excluding Deng Chuan so as not to spoil the surprise. There was still some time before class started. Deng Chuan checked her phone; there were no new messages from her pinned contact.

Xu Wei had messaged her at noon to say she had landed. She didn't have classes in the afternoon but still had to go to school for her office hours. Deng Chuan usually didn't bother her during work hours. A high school teacher's free time at work was occupied by homework and tests to grade, lesson plans to prepare, and students asking questions. The two had only briefly reported their activities to each other before getting back to their own things.

Neither of them had a clingy personality, but Deng Chuan discovered she might be more dependent on Xu Wei than she had imagined. She would constantly wait for Xu Wei's messages, frequently wondering what she was doing during breaks from studying. Compared to the summer vacation, the long-distance relationship was harder to endure than she had anticipated.

Just as summer slowly seeped into autumn, and winter was now within reach, everything had been quietly adapting. But this meeting had been too sudden and too sweet, like a starving, numb person suddenly being served a full Manchu-Han Imperial Feast. You don't feel it while you're eating, but only after you've finished do you slowly savor the feeling of being full, and savor the little moments of their time together.

Deng Chuan was still wearing Xu Wei's hair tie on her wrist. Even Xie Yao and the others were familiar with it. Many people had noticed the hair tie, but they generally assumed it was just a spare that a long-haired girl would carry around. No one knew what it meant to Deng Chuan.

Xu Wei must have been really busy. She didn't send Deng Chuan any messages all the way until class ended. Seeing that it was time for her to get off work, Deng Chuan reported that she was having dinner with her roommates and their video call might be later. After sending the message, Deng Chuan deliberately waited a few seconds. When Xu Wei didn't reply, she locked her phone screen.

The way she was looking at her phone was quite obvious to others. Ever since she posted Xu Wei's photo on her Moments today, Deng Chuan's university classmates and friends seemed to have understood something. Some people who used to message her from time to time had gone silent, no longer sending messages that Deng Chuan didn't know how to reply to.

Liang Xue, however, did send her a private message. She didn't ask directly, only saying the photo was beautiful and that they should get together to shoot some portraits sometime.

Deng Chuan replied, "I'm terrible at portraits. Only a specific model doesn't mind."

Probably shocked by the meaning behind that sentence, not expecting Deng Chuan to say something like that, Liang Xue bantered with her for a few more messages before ending the topic.

Deng Chuan had blocked her family and high school classmates from seeing the photo. She hadn't wanted to block her family, but Xu Wei had insisted. She had looked so conflicted then, her fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of Deng Chuan's shirt. "No. I'm not ready. You're not allowed to post it."

Deng Chuan, for once, scrunched up her nose at her. "But I want to."

The two of them went back and forth for a bit while sitting on the windowsill. In the end, Deng Chuan was practically whining. Xu Wei was completely helpless and conceded, but at the same time, she firmly added Deng Chuan's family to the block list. "This really isn't okay." She bit her lip and glanced at Deng Chuan, her ears a little red.

She emphasized again, "This really, really isn't okay."

It wasn't until they were seated at the pickled fish restaurant that Deng Chuan received Xu Wei's reply: Okay. Happy birthday. My Little Friend must always be happy.

Deng Chuan blinked and replied solemnly: I will be.

The four of them ordered the signature pickled fish, along with a very northern-style cold salad and a very southern-style stir-fried vegetable dish. Towards the end of the meal, the cake Li Mingtang and the others had ordered arrived. She ran to the door to get it, then happily brought it to the table and opened it. "Ta-da-da-da-!"

It was a fondant cake, topped with two tigers hugging each other. Their stripes were majestic, but the tigers themselves had round heads and bodies, looking a bit silly and comical. Li Mingtang was very unhappy. "Why does the finished product look nothing like the picture! I'm leaving a bad review!"

Deng Chuan laughed and comforted her, "It's fine, it's fine. It's cute enough."

They had wanted to put the candles on together, but there were no number candles this time. To keep things simple, Deng Chuan ended up doing it herself, placing a single candle right in the middle.

The candlelight flickered to life, illuminating the nearly finished pickled fish, cold salad, and stir-fried vegetables, and her warm, friendly peers. Deng Chuan closed her eyes and made a sincere wish.

She silently prayed: May things flow long and steady, and may everything go smoothly.

Deng Chuan was a practical person. She knew that wishes weren't always granted, and that making them come true depended on oneself. So, she only wished for her wish to last a little longer-long enough for her to prove she could fulfill it.

She also believed her wish was secret enough that only the candlelight and she could hear it. The candlelight shone like a star in the sky, so perhaps her wish could also soar upwards, carried by the wind to a distant place, to the ears of the person she wanted to prove it to.

Outside, the night wind murmured, swirling fallen leaves. Unconsciously, countless light, translucent, tiny white crystals began to twirl and drift down from the sky.

The first snow had fallen on Beijing.

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