BSS - Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Deng Chuan was exhausted from the day. She hummed a response from her nose, no longer hiding the audible fatigue in her voice now that she was in Xu Wei’s soft embrace.

So, Xu Wei said no more, only patting the Little Friend’s back gently. She felt Deng Chuan’s breathing gradually even out, a slightly damp warmth brushing against their closely pressed necks. Deng Chuan’s breathing was shallow, and her sleep was restless. Xu Wei held her the entire time, her eyes half-open in the darkness, noticing the mist rising from the spot beside the head of the bed. The air-conditioned room should have been very dry, but Deng Chuan was prone to allergies in dry environments, so they had picked out a humidifier online together. It was a blue, robot cat-shaped machine, and the Little Friend had said it was very auspicious.

Xu Wei wrapped her arm around Deng Chuan’s neck and couldn’t help but smile at the thought of this cute little thing she did. After an unknown amount of time, Xu Wei also started to feel sleepy. Her fingers toyed with Deng Chuan’s freshly washed and dried hair. Deng Chuan murmured unconsciously and snuggled deeper into her arms.

Xu Wei fell into a deep sleep and had a dream. In the dream, she and Deng Chuan were on a boat, drifting aimlessly on the sea. The sea breeze, carrying a damp, fishy smell, soaked them both from head to toe.

Coincidentally, it rained in the middle of the night.

Mindful of the morning meeting, Deng Chuan left early the next day. Because of the rain overnight, the ground just outside the stairwell was wet. The concrete ground of wet and dry patches gave way to a pure black asphalt road outside the residential complex. The moisture rose into the air, only to be quickly baked dry by the increasingly intense sunlight.

Deng Chuan felt her face getting itchy again.

She ducked into a 7-Eleven to buy breakfast. It was early, and the night shift clerk, a tall and slender girl, hadn’t been relieved yet. She stood behind the counter, arranging the oden and grilled sausages. She seemed to want to say something when she saw Deng Chuan. It wasn’t until Deng Chuan brought her food to the counter to pay that the clerk, while scanning the items, finally greeted her. “Didn’t see you last night.”

Deng Chuan was a regular. Many people came into this convenience store at night, but there were only a few regulars. When one of them didn’t show up, it felt like something was missing.

It was a strange feeling. Perhaps the bonds between people were sustained by these very emotions.

Deng Chuan smiled. “I got off work late yesterday, so I went straight home.”

She answered casually, and the clerk just hummed in understanding before asking her usual question, “Do you want the milk heated?”

“Not today.” Deng Chuan took the bag. She was in a hurry to get to the office and prepare. There was a microwave there; she could heat it up later.

The clerk nodded and watched her leave.

The sun had already risen, and its heat on her back was becoming unbearable. Deng Chuan squeezed onto the subway and rushed to the office. After the whole journey, she was a little out of breath standing in the elevator. When she reached the office, the manager hadn’t arrived yet. She went to the breakroom to heat up her bread and milk, then sat in the lounge area in the hallway, eating breakfast while reviewing the specific project data saved on her phone.

When it was finally time to do something you had prepared for a long time, the process always seemed to fly by. After the morning meeting, the manager looked over the records and summaries, seemingly quite satisfied. She told Deng Chuan to accompany her to meet a client. She said this to Deng Chuan’s team leader at the doorway, and all the interns in the office heard it. For a moment, there was dead silence. The male colleague who had been eating spicy boiled pork slices across from her yesterday also looked up at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

Deng Chuan’s internship was already halfway over. In the elevator, the manager asked her a few questions about her graduation and graduate school plans. She didn’t say much else, only telling her to relax, not be nervous, and to pay attention and learn.

Deng Chuan nodded in agreement, her mind quite calm.

After spending the day out of the office with the manager, Deng Chuan was excused from the trivial overtime work assigned to the interns and was approved to leave on time. It was rare for her to come home early, and Xu Wei was also very happy. They arranged to meet at the entrance of the complex, planning to eat out.

They had been living in this area for over half a month, but this was the first time they had the leisure to explore the surrounding shops and scenery. Deng Chuan held Xu Wei’s hand, their fingers intertwined. The weather was hot, and Deng Chuan could feel sweat starting to bead on the back of her neck, but Xu Wei’s hand was still cool and soft.

They wandered around, and finally decided to go into a barbecue restaurant.

As they pushed open the door, a blast of cold air hit them. It was dinnertime, and the place was packed. Deng Chuan and Xu Wei walked in and took the last available table. Some customers glanced their way. One of them was in a business suit, the other in a cool sundress; they looked as if they had just escaped from some formal dance and fled to this bustling barbecue joint, creating a strangely harmonious scene.

The owner was from the Northeast. The entire menu was on the wall. Shortly after they entered, he handed them a piece of paper and told them to write down their order. Deng Chuan tilted her head up to look at the menu, calling out dish names to Xu Wei. The same lips that had discussed equity, debt, and percentages during the day now rattled off chicken legs, chicken wings, chicken feet, duck gizzards, green beans, and garlic eggplant. Listening to her, Xu Wei was about to burst out laughing. The Little Friend had already unbuttoned her meticulous jacket, revealing the soft white shirt underneath. Under the bright lights of the barbecue restaurant, she herself looked soft, like the evening wind falling into a crowd.

Time really flew. Besides a heart full of cherish for Deng Chuan, this was Xu Wei’s only thought.

Deng Chuan noticed Xu Wei was distracted, but she wasn’t angry. She waved a hand in front of her eyes, still talking. “Do you want oysters? Pressure-cooked oysters with seafood soy sauce. You’ve been so tired these past few days, this will help you recover.”

Amidst the boiling background noise, Xu Wei’s voice sounded exceptionally light. “Okay.”

Deng Chuan lowered her head and wrote on the white paper. Her handwriting was habitually bold and sweeping. The pen, provided by the owner, wasn’t very good, and the ink started to run out on the last few lines. The Little Friend didn’t seem to mind. She stood up cheerfully, handed the pen and paper to the front counter, then came back with their order number, waving it at Xu Wei.

“Want to have a drink?” she suggested.

Xu Wei didn’t have the heart to refuse her, allowing one bottle, two at most, or at the very, very most, three. Deng Chuan only took one bottle, set out two disposable cups, and poured the clear liquid into them.

The beer was cold, with bubbles clinging to the sides of the cups. Looking at it could make one feel a little dizzy. After sitting for a while, the sweat on the back of Deng Chuan’s neck had gradually dried, but she still craved the coolness of the beer. She raised her cup, tapped it against Xu Wei’s, and downed the first glass in one gulp.

Xu Wei sat across from her, watching with her chin propped in her hand. Some of the beer spilled from the corner of Deng Chuan’s lips, and she wiped it away carelessly. At this moment, the Little Friend didn’t look like she had just gotten off work, but rather like she had just gotten out of school and was relaxing at a familiar spot. This thought quickly led Xu Wei to realize they would have many more moments like this in the future. Her heart instantly softened, and she said, “Don’t drink so fast. You haven’t eaten anything. Be careful or your stomach will hurt later.”

“Mm,” Deng Chuan replied, pouring herself another glass and letting out a contented sigh.

They had only exchanged a few words when their order arrived—a large iron platter full of food, along with a pot of pressure-cooked oysters. Deng Chuan helped Xu Wei pry open the oyster shells, added a bit of seafood soy sauce with minced garlic and chili, and placed it on the plate in front of her.

Then she looked at her with scorching eyes. “Try it?”

Xu Wei didn’t actually like seafood much, but she picked it up, swallowed the smooth oyster meat in one bite, and nodded. “Not bad.”

She wasn’t lying. The oysters, along with the barbecue, tasted quite good. By the end of the meal, Deng Chuan was still thinking about writing down the restaurant’s name to make it easier to order takeout in the future.

Xu Wei thought about how they would be living in this area until she started school next March, so she nodded and let Deng Chuan pull her by the hand as they searched all around the entrance for the sign.

The bit of alcohol must have made both of them dizzy. In the end, it was Xu Wei who came to her senses first. She looked up and saw the sign hanging right above their heads.

Deng Chuan had a sudden realization and quickly took out her phone to record it. Xu Wei looked at her, not knowing whether to be annoyed or amused. She thought about how marvelous the power of alcohol was, turning them both into little kids.

There was no wind on the way back. Deng Chuan was once again drenched in sweat. She took off her jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and turned her head to smile at Xu Wei. “Teacher Xu, how much longer until your exam?”

Xu Wei said, “A little over a month.”

Deng Chuan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and leaned against her clingily. “Good luck, Teacher Xu!”

Xu Wei also replied solemnly, “Okay.”

There weren’t many people on the stretch of road near their complex. The streetlights cast flickering shadows. As they walked, Xu Wei suddenly stopped. She pulled the dizzy Deng Chuan over, tilted her head to look at her for a long while, then cupped her face and kissed her. “You need to cheer up, too.”

As if that night was a turning point, Deng Chuan’s internship life gradually became smoother. Her team leader no longer had her do trivial odd jobs and instead involved her in the final stages of a project. Although the work wasn’t critical, it was enough for a newcomer to the industry to learn from.

The one-month internship was quite fruitful for Deng Chuan. Before she left on the last day, she added her manager on WeChat. The manager was the same as always, not saying much, only wishing her success in her studies and a bright future. Fearing Deng Chuan might overthink things, she specifically told her not to send any gifts.

Deng Chuan felt that she was always lucky, always fortunate enough to meet seniors who were both mentors and friends. She was indebted to them, and she secretly resolved to pay this kindness forward to new young people in the future.

After the school year started in September, Deng Chuan could only live in the dorms, coming over to Xu Wei’s place on weekends. She applied to waive some of her courses and, wanting to fill the gaps, applied to take on several more. Seeing that there weren’t many fourth-year courses, she decided to submit applications for all of them at once.

Her advisor spoke with her about it, but seeing her firm attitude and her promise to complete them all, the department approved her request.

As a result, Deng Chuan would graduate a year early. Correspondingly, she was busier than she had been in the previous two years, rushing between different classrooms every day. Some professors were very strict and assigned a lot of homework. Since the dorm wasn’t convenient, she often stayed in the library until it closed, letting the library’s closing music mark the end of her day of study.

She was busy, and so was Xu Wei. Both of their study schedules were tight. When they met for two days on the weekend, they would both bring their laptops to study at the National Library, or they would visit an exhibition to relax.

Stealing moments of leisure amidst their busy lives, Xu Wei was also taken by Deng Chuan to see the national opera that had once deeply moved her. They were often struck by the same moments in the theater.

On an artistic level, they were also a perfect match.

Amidst her intense academic life, the memories of that one-month internship were gradually fading in Deng Chuan’s mind, becoming just a record in her internship report. Correspondingly, after returning to her studies, Deng Chuan felt that her way of thinking was now completely different from before.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that the one-month internship had no value. Although Deng Chuan felt her perspective had changed, that short internship experience had already shown her the charm of the industry she would be a part of in the future. This charm served as a foundation for her future life, allowing her to make more composed and accurate judgments when facing certain sudden choices and bottlenecks in less-than-pure environments during her future studies.

From this, Deng Chuan could truly understand the value and courage behind Xu Wei’s decision to resign back then.

Holding onto this realization, Deng Chuan submitted her application to the department for graduate school admission through recommendation.

And after the National Day holiday, Xu Wei faced P University’s autumn doctoral entrance exam.

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