BSS - Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Deng Chuan landed in the middle of the night. She had a layover in Shanghai before flying directly to London. By the time she landed again, it was the early morning of the next day. A senior brother from her school was waiting for her at the airport with a car, and he took her straight to the rental apartment he had arranged in advance.

The senior brother was very enthusiastic, chatting with Deng Chuan as he drove, seemingly as a way to stay awake. Considering they would be housemates for the entire next year, Deng Chuan, despite her exhaustion from the long flight, mustered up her energy to respond.

The wide roads were empty. The green plants on either side reflected a dim light under the streetlamps, dotted with a few scattered white flowers, probably Chinese roses. In the distance, the pointed roofs of houses were hidden in the night. Deng Chuan gazed out quietly, as if she were looking at a truly distant place for the very first time.

Factoring in the time difference, it was morning in China, the time Xu Wei would be teaching. Deng Chuan was familiar with Xu Wei's class schedule. She restrained herself and gripped her phone tightly, not calling her again. She just went through her chat list, sending group messages to let everyone know she had arrived safely. Finally, she carefully tapped on the pinned chat. Their last message was from that morning.

Mid-flight, Deng Chuan had sent Xu Wei a photo of the sunrise from outside the cabin window. Because she was on the plane, the message didn't go through until she landed. Xu Wei's message, on the other hand, had arrived several hours earlier. She had taken a picture of the beautiful flowers blooming in her residential complex on her way to work.

They were probably Chinese roses, too.

Understanding Deng Chuan's fatigue, the senior brother briefly introduced her to life at the school, reminded her about bank cards and phone cards, and, during a red light, added her to a local second-hand trading group. Then he didn't say much more, simply turning up the volume of the car's Bluetooth speaker.

The magnificent sound of Tchaikovsky's First suddenly filled the entire space.

As the piece neared its end, Xu Wei's call came through. Her voice was exceptionally clear against the fading piano. Deng Chuan guessed she must be standing on the corridor again, letting the midsummer sunlight fall on the crown of her head.

There was a hint of a smile in Xu Wei's voice, exactly as Deng Chuan had expected. She didn't say her name, her tone intimate and gentle. "Hello? Are you in the car?"

So Deng Chuan deliberately lowered her voice, trying to prevent Xu Wei from hearing the weariness of her journey. "I'm in the car, on my way to the apartment now."

"Mm," Xu Wei paused, then added, "Take good care of yourself."

Deng Chuan said, "I know."

"Did your advisor say when they'll be in touch?"

"They sent an email before I left. I'll go pick up my books in a few weeks when school starts and meet them in their office then."

"Okay." The familiar school bell rang in the background on Xu Wei's end. She seemed to turn and walk a few steps toward her office; Deng Chuan heard the click of her high heels on the floor. "Do your best."

Deng Chuan hummed in agreement.

Xu Wei's voice softened. "You must be tired, right? When you get there, take a shower, make your bed, and go to sleep. You can unpack the rest tomorrow, understand?"

"I know." Compared to the deep darkness outside the car window, Xu Wei's voice seemed exceptionally warm. The classical music in the car was still playing-it was the brass of Tchaikovsky's Fifth. Xu Wei probably heard it too. Deng Chuan remembered the ticket to a Tchaikovsky concert from Xu Wei's social media post years ago. It was because of her that Deng Chuan had gone to listen to these musical phrases.

It turned out some feelings had been there from the very beginning.

After they hung up, Deng Chuan leaned against the car window and fell completely silent. The expression on her face was so calm that the senior brother driving glanced at his junior sister several times in his peripheral vision. He felt she perfectly fit the image of a top student from back home-pretty, calm, restrained. Even her composure upon first setting foot in an unfamiliar environment seemed very reliable.

So the senior brother cleared his throat and asked, "Junior Sister Deng...?" The moment he said it, he felt it sounded a bit strange. "Can I call you that? How old are you this year?"

Deng Chuan opened her eyes and looked at him. "Senior Brother, you can just call me by my name... I'm nineteen this year."

"Nineteen..." the senior brother mused. "You must have started school quite early."

Deng Chuan wasn't really sure how to calculate whether she'd started school early or late, so she just went along with his words. "I guess so. My family placed a lot of importance on it."

"You all start school early these days." Being watched by Deng Chuan, the senior brother couldn't help but straighten his back. In his words, though he was only a few years older than her, he was putting on the airs of an elder.

As soon as he said it, he sighed inwardly. He was truly intimidated by the sharp spirit of the younger generation, unconsciously starting to act old.

Although he hadn't truly gotten to know her yet, the senior brother was starting to admire this junior sister. Thinking that they would be living together for the next year, he couldn't help but become more talkative.

Deng Chuan was just tired, not sleepy. Her thoughts weren't stagnant, she was still clear-headed, but her mind was turning a bit slowly. Since her senior brother wanted to chat idly, she played along, treating it as a small diversion on the night road.

They were discussing the rules for their shared apartment.

"...Weekends are the only time for friends to visit, is that okay? The school assigns a lot of articles during the week, so we need a quiet environment."

Deng Chuan had no objections. "Okay."

"Then, we'll share the internet, split the utility bills, and split the fridge. Oh, right, since you just arrived, I've put some bottled water in the fridge for you. Whoever uses the shared kitchen and bathroom is responsible for cleaning it... Ah, right, right, can you cook?"

Deng Chuan answered honestly, "I can, but I'm not very good at it." This was true. Although Xu Wei was always very complimentary, Deng Chuan was self-aware enough to know that her cooking was only slightly above the level of "edible."

"Haha, don't be nervous. It's just that takeout here is very expensive. Besides the cafeteria, cooking for yourself is the most economical option. There's a supermarket near our place. I often go there to browse, just to de-stress. It would be even better if you can cook. I can be in charge of washing the dishes..."

Deng Chuan hummed. "Okay."

"Everyone's usually pretty busy. We won't disturb each other and will try not to interfere in each other's lives, okay?"

"Okay."

Seeing that Deng Chuan didn't seem like a difficult person to live with, the senior brother breathed a sigh of relief. "Sigh, it's so hard to find a suitable roommate. You have no idea how annoying some roommates can be. Some foreign students love to party and are messy, but the rent here isn't cheap. I spent a long time looking for a roommate... Ai." He sighed with a smile, "It's still better to live with one of our own."

As their conversation went smoothly, the senior brother gradually became more talkative. With his rising excitement, he unconsciously pressed harder on the accelerator. The car sped along the empty road and soon turned into the driveway of a small apartment building.

"There's probably nothing in your room. Remember to buy a mattress soon. You can buy it online or second-hand, up to you."

The sound of the car door closing was very loud in the night. Deng Chuan felt her head spin a little from the jolt. She quickened her pace to get her luggage from the trunk, humming in acknowledgment of her senior brother's words before adding, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

The senior brother helped her with one of the suitcases. "Hey, don't be so polite."

He pressed the elevator button. "And you don't have to keep calling me Senior Brother. My surname is Lin, you can just call me Lao Lin."

Deng Chuan smiled. "Okay, thank you, Lao Lin." She wasn't quite used to it yet and smiled again, a little embarrassed. "...Senior Brother."

Seeing Deng Chuan finally show a smile befitting her age, Lao Lin, who had been tense all evening, also relaxed with a smile. "Haha, don't be so nervous. By the way, I should warn you, the British accent is quite thick. You might need some time to get used to it-those foreigners have some pretty thick accents. Out there, they call me Steve."

He watched with satisfaction as Deng Chuan's smile bloomed again at his little joke. "Okay." She tilted her head to think, then formally extended a fair, slender hand. Her fingertips were neatly trimmed. Lao Lin's sharp eyes noticed that the wrist peeking out from under her jacket sleeve had no jewelry, only a simple black hair tie. "Alex."

The elevator opened silently; it was very clean inside. Deng Chuan pushed her two suitcases in. Her new senior brother, Lao Lin, pressed the button for the fifth floor and turned his head to smile at her. "Welcome to Oxford."

Inside the rental apartment, the decor was simple and it was fully furnished. Each bedroom had its own bathroom, and the shared living room and kitchen were very clean. But just as Lao Lin had said, Deng Chuan's room was completely empty, without a single piece of furniture. Unprepared for this situation, Deng Chuan sighed. It looked like she would have to sleep on a quilt on the floor tonight.

Given the circumstances, there was no use dwelling on it. Deng Chuan simply mopped the floor, wiped down the wardrobe and the bay window, and unpacked more than half of the things from her suitcase before taking a shower, drenched in sweat.

Drying her hair, she came out of the bathroom and crossed the dark living room to get a bottle of mineral water from the fridge. Lao Lin's door was tightly shut; he had probably gone to bed.

Everything was quiet. Deng Chuan returned to her room and connected her tablet to the internet. It was already past three in the morning. In China, Xu Wei was probably in her third class of the morning.

With this thought, Deng Chuan lay down on the quilt spread on the floor and unconsciously let out a heavy sigh.

Her mind and body were both screaming their exhaustion, yet there was no sign of sleepiness. Deng Chuan knew she probably needed to adjust to the jet lag.

A faint headache was starting. Deng Chuan hugged the quilt and rolled over on the floor. The wooden floor beneath her back was very hard; her back would probably be sore tomorrow... As Deng Chuan thought this, the quilt had completely wrapped around her, immobilizing her. She lay there in a daze for an unknown amount of time before coming back to her senses.

The white light from the ceiling was a bit dazzling. Deng Chuan got up to turn it off, leaving only a warm wall lamp on, and lay back down on the floor.

The weather here was cooler than back home. There was no air conditioner in the room. Deng Chuan half-drew the curtains and left the window open. A night breeze drifted in, carrying the faint scent of flowers.

Deng Chuan closed her eyes, remembering that she had seen lush wisteria climbing the walls of the first-floor apartment...

Her suitcases were piled in the corner, containing the other half of her luggage she had yet to unpack. Tomorrow, she would have to go buy some furniture-a mattress, a bed frame, a chair, pillows, and even plates and forks...

Is Xu Wei done with her classes? This was the last thought that drifted through Deng Chuan's mind before she finally fell asleep.

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