BSS - Chapter 112

Chapter 112

When Deng Chuan landed, she did indeed call Xu Wei again.

At that moment, Xu Wei had just gotten home. She was putting her things down and turning on the wall lamp in the hallway. In the darkness, Zhou Liu followed her footsteps closely, a fluffy, warm ball of fur rubbing against her legs as if trying to stage an accident. Xu Wei watched her step carefully, avoiding his tail.

Her phone vibrated in her coat pocket. Xu Wei turned on the light and answered, not breaking her stride as she walked toward the living room. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Have you landed? Are you in a car?"

Over the phone, Xu Wei's voice held a gentle weariness. Deng Chuan tightened her grip on her phone. She sat up straight, her back erect, not leaning back or against the window. A classmate was sitting next to her, head down, looking at their phone. Their relationship was casual; they hadn't planned it, but had happened to meet on the plane and decided to share a ride back to the university.

The sound of a glass clinking came from the other end of the line; Xu Wei was drinking water. For no reason, Deng Chuan felt a bit thirsty herself. She involuntarily cleared her throat, glanced out the window, and her voice calmed along with her heart. "Just got in the car."

"That's good."

"Did you just get home?" she asked as well.

"Just walked in," Xu Wei said. "A few students had questions, so I stayed a little late."

Compared to the usual end time for evening self-study, getting home now was indeed quite late. Deng Chuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something important. She cleared her throat again and said, "I ordered you some takeout."

Xu Wei was clearly a little surprised. "Hm?"

The kid explained in a low voice, "It's not much, just a small portion of wontons. I was afraid you'd be hungry… I set the delivery time when I boarded the plane. It should have arrived by now."

Xu Wei opened a drawer, put her stomach medicine into the first-aid box, and hummed in acknowledgment. "It'll probably be here soon… Are you hungry? Get something to eat when you get to the university."

The cramping in her stomach hadn't eased much despite the hot water, and even her temples were throbbing with a dull ache. Xu Wei sat down on the sofa. The room was warm, but a cold sweat beaded on her forehead as she silently endured the pain.

The room was quiet all around her. Xu Wei didn't have the strength to get up and turn on more lights. The faint glow from the wall lamp fell on her, outlining half of her profile in the shadows. Zhou Liu curled up by her hand, quietly keeping her company, just as he had on countless nights before.

Deng Chuan was oblivious to all this. The taxi drove onto an overpass. A red warning light for the turn flashed in the dark night. After making the turn, the orange-yellow glow of the streetlights suddenly opened up the road ahead. "Mm… okay, I know. You must be tired, right? Teacher Xu, you've been talking all evening. Don't talk now, just listen to me."

Seemingly unaffected by the fatigue of her journey, Deng Chuan's voice was, as always, full of laughter. In the dead of night, it condensed into a clear evening breeze that brushed past Xu Wei's ear, then swirled down into her empty stomach.

"I looked at the class schedule on the plane just now. Our semester is pretty short, only eighteen weeks, so we can go back early. There's also the May Day holiday in the middle. If you think there will be too many tourists then, we could go to a hot spring resort in the suburbs. My Little Aunt went last time, and she said it was pretty good…"

Planning for a holiday before the semester had even begun—Xu Wei felt a smile coming on. Then she heard Deng Chuan say, "I think I left something in the pocket of that jacket I left at your place. If you're going to wash it, remember to check for me."

"Not putting things away properly again," Xu Wei chided her, her voice soft and lacking energy. "How many times have I told you not to just stuff everything together?"

Deng Chuan drew out her words, habitually wheedling, "I'm sorry, it just slipped my mind. Please check for me."

Xu Wei was helpless against her. She thought for a moment; the jacket should be lying on the chair in her room. She softly agreed.

Deng Chuan told Xu Wei not to talk and chattered on about other things. She said quite a lot, a stark contrast to her usual reserved and taciturn image, which made the classmate sitting next to her turn their head curiously to look at her.

"…Or we could go somewhere with fewer people. How about Qinghai Lake? I think I saw someone went there last time. The photos they took were beautiful. We could take nice pictures there too."

At this moment, Xu Wei thought, between the two of them, perhaps she was the more fragile one.

She listened quietly, and the pain seemed to recede a little. Regaining a bit of strength, she moved her wrist and stroked Zhou Liu's fluffy head. Only after Deng Chuan had finished speaking did she slowly open her mouth. "Okay." As if that wasn't enough, she added, "Whatever you decide is fine."

"Is it cold in Beijing?" she asked after a pause.

"A little colder than back home," Deng Chuan said, looking out the car window. Below the overpass, the road was still bustling with traffic. Even at this hour, the traffic in Beijing was considerable. "But it's okay. I checked the weather forecast this afternoon and thought it was going to snow, so I put on my down jacket, but it didn't."

The doorbell rang with a ding-dong. Both of them heard it. Deng Chuan urged Xu Wei, "It's your late-night snack! Go get the door!"

Xu Wei unconsciously let out a soft sigh of relief. She stood up from the sofa. Her stomach still ached faintly, but it was much better than before. She opened the door. The delivery driver was apologetic, explaining that the traffic was terrible. He had rushed as fast as he could and had marked the order as delivered ahead of time, asking for her understanding.

Technically, this was against the rules, but Xu Wei didn't mind. Deng Chuan hadn't mentioned it earlier, so she probably hadn't noticed either. Xu Wei said it was fine and closed the door.

The kid knew her tastes and appetite well. She had ordered wontons in a clear broth with a base of seaweed and dried shrimp, filled with shepherd's purse and fresh pork. The portion wasn't large, just six small wontons. Although they had been delayed on the road, they were still piping hot. Xu Wei blew on one gently and took a bite.

"Is it good?" Deng Chuan asked.

The sudden arrival of food seemed to take her stomach by surprise. A wave of nausea from the cramping made Xu Wei frown sharply, but over the phone, Deng Chuan could only hear her calm, nonchalant reply, "It's delicious."

The kid was relieved. She said with a laugh, "Good. Then I'll save this restaurant. The next time Teacher Xu doesn't eat properly, I can feed you in time."

Hearing her words, Xu Wei also let out a low laugh. Her happiness was just as pure as Deng Chuan's, completely unaffected by the cramping in her stomach. Because of the person on the other end of the line, because of her loveliness, Xu Wei felt she could endure anything—be it pain, silence, longevity, or anything else.

Xu Wei smiled, then said warmly, her voice still holding a hint of laughter, "Alright, I'm going to start eating now."

After she spoke, she felt a weight on her lap. Looking down, she saw Zhou Liu had jumped onto her knees, nestling against her out of habit.

The taxi came down from the overpass and merged into the traffic on the road. Deng Chuan watched the taillights of the cars in front of her. There was a red light at the intersection ahead, and the traffic had come to a halt. It was as if many bright red flames had ignited before Deng Chuan's eyes, enough to make even the harsh winter retreat.

"Mm," she heard herself say. Though she intentionally lowered it, her voice was still so gentle that it made the person next to her glance over. "Love you."

The airport was quite a distance from P University. If it weren't so late that the subway had stopped running, most people would have chosen the subway. More than half the ride was over. Deng Chuan had stayed on the phone while Xu Wei finished her wontons, removed her makeup, and prepared to take a shower, only then reluctantly hanging up.

"Good night," she said. "Go to sleep right after your shower. Don't wait up for me."

Xu Wei selectively ignored her words and only said, "Send me a message when you get to the university."

Deng Chuan emphasized again, "It's very late, and you have work tomorrow."

Xu Wei ignored her. "That's all, I'm hanging up now."

And just like that, the call ended. Deng Chuan looked down and smiled unconsciously at Xu Wei's stubbornness. The classmate next to her inadvertently caught her smile again and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The boys and girls at school probably didn't stand a chance. Although they had long heard that Deng Chuan was in a relationship, seeing her today, it was obvious she was in deep—not like the typical 'live for the moment' romances of college students.

The car continued to drive steadily. Unconsciously, Deng Chuan's eyelashes drooped. In the flickering light of the car's interior, her back seemed to slump a little. She leaned back, her body just touching the seatback, as if she were about to fall asleep.

Her classmate put down his phone and secretly sized her up. For a girl, Deng Chuan had a high nose bridge, which gave her entire profile a dashing air. As someone of the opposite sex, and as a peer, the classmate couldn't deny Deng Chuan's excellence and appeal. At this moment, the car was silent. An atmosphere unique to the late night descended upon the small space. As if moved by Deng Chuan's lowered eyelashes and silent profile after the phone call, the classmate couldn't help but think that Deng Chuan was in deep now because they were still young, still at an age where they could have whatever they wanted. They had seen too little and wanted not much, so they could be satisfied.

But what about the future? For him, for Deng Chuan, for the thousands of students in their year at P University's school—would their futures be dedicated to ideals or to just getting by? Most people would probably end up cooped up in a cubicle at a big tech company, working overtime, busy with work, struggling hard. People always grow up. When that time comes, would they still be satisfied by a rambling, late-night phone call like this?

By then, perhaps the light, exhausted sleep of the present would be the norm.

When people see something beautiful, they can't help but worry about the future, worry about what would happen if such beauty were to one day disappear. But he forgot that while people do indeed grow up, they are never satisfied—let alone someone like Deng Chuan. She was a young beast just setting foot in the mountain forests; she was destined from birth to be on the move.

The classmate didn't interact with Deng Chuan much. He didn't see what was carved in Deng Chuan's eyes: whatever she wanted, she would strive for. Even if she didn't have it now, one day she would hold it firmly in her grasp.

Entrusting things to a vague and illusory future—that might belong to the realm of philosophy. Life isn't an imaginary proposition. It's down-to-earth. What you see, what you do—that's what it is.

Just like the sleepless, ever-moving Beijing outside the window.

Just like that, the taxi drove all the way to P University. The ancient school gate was still brightly lit. The moment the car stopped, Deng Chuan's eyes snapped open.

Her classmate got out of the car with her and offered to help with her luggage, but she refused. The two of them walked into the university side by side. It was close to curfew, and there were few people on the paths. The students were either in their dorms or in the academic buildings and labs.

After walking for a while, Deng Chuan started to fall behind. She slowed her pace to send Xu Wei a message so she wouldn't have to wait too long. Her classmate glanced back at her, smiled to himself, and quickened his pace to walk on ahead.

Get instant access to all the chapters now.

Previous Table of Contents Next