Chapter 40

"I can't take it anymore, I'm about to die from the heat." Zou Yu was lying sprawled on the bed, half his body hanging off, his hand dangling in mid-air, making grasping motions.

Chen Chao came out after a shower, wearing a pair of shorts, his upper body bare, the water on his skin not yet wiped off.

"What kind of martial arts are you practicing?" Chen Chao asked as he hung his washed clothes on the balcony.

"I want to drink water." Zou Yu was still grasping, his head hanging down as if it was about to fall off.

Chen Chao shook the water from his hair, walked over, picked up the water on the desk, and handed it to him. "Has the heat gotten to your head?"

"Almost, I'm nearly cooked. How could a cooked fish have any thoughts?" Zou Yu took a sip of the hard-to-swallow lukewarm water, on the verge of tears. "Why has it been so hot these past few days!"

Chen Chao said, "Go take a shower, then lie down and don't move."

"I've already showered three times today, but I still feel like this little fish is about to get dehydrated." A layer of sweat covered Zou Yu's head. Seeing Chen Chao getting dressed, he asked, "Brother Chao, where are you going?"

"To play basketball." Chen Chao changed into his sneakers and was about to leave.

"Are you crazy?" Zou Yu looked at Chen Chao as if he were an idiot. "You're going to play basketball in this weather? To exercise? To sweat?"

Chen Chao said, "There's air conditioning."

"Even so, I still think you're not normal. Isn't it great to just lie in the dorm and sleep?" Zou Yu couldn't understand at all. Even after Chen Chao had closed the door, he still felt that these guys who loved sports were a bit weird.

He shouted at the closed door, "Bring me back a drink, a cold one!"

In his sophomore year, Chen Chao briefly joined the school team. Later, his schedule became too tight, leaving no time for training or matches, so he quit. But he still basically played once a week. After starting his junior year, his time became even more limited, and he couldn't even manage to play once a week anymore.

The guys he played basketball with all had a good relationship. A few were very close with Chen Chao, having hung out together frequently since freshman year.

Back then, they were all freshmen who had just finished military training. Now, in the blink of an eye, their junior year was about to end. Apart from Chen Chao, many of them would be starting internships next semester and probably wouldn't be coming back to school much after that.

The air conditioning in the stadium was cranked up, but when you were actually running on the court, it didn't make much of a difference whether it was on or not. The boys ran until they were covered in sweat, their jerseys soaked through.

The past two weeks, Chen Chao had been out sketching with his department. He hadn't run like this in over half a month, and after one game, he was drenched in sweat.

"Hey, Chen Chao, I heard you guys were going somewhere for summer break. Are you still going?" a friend next to him asked.

Chen Chao drank half a bottle of water, sat on the floor by the court, and twisted the cap back on, saying, "Yeah."

"I asked Xiao Kai to take me along, but he wouldn't." The friend wiped the sweat from his head with a towel and said to Chen Chao, "It just so happens I don't know what to do, so I might as well join you guys for the fun of it."

Chen Chao sat there resting, too tired to move. He said, "Then you'll have to ask Xiao Kai."

"He's not willing. The petty guy is afraid I'll take a share of his project grade." The guy, a northerner, spoke quickly, the towel draped around his neck. "We'll see. Maybe I'll have something else to do by then."

Chen Chao said, "You should focus on passing all your exams first."

When Chen Chao headed back, it was just when the second big afternoon class was ending, and the whole campus was full of people.

Zou Yu sent him a WeChat message: Ahhh, Brother Chao, when are you coming back? The fish is dying of thirst!

Chen Chao replied: On my way.

Fish: I want an ice-cold sweet drink, thank you Brother Chao!

Chen Chao: Got it.

Fish: If it's convenient, could you bring me up some food too.

Chen Chao: Got it.

There was no air conditioning in the dormitory building, and some of the men's dorm rooms weren't that particular about cleanliness, so as soon as you entered the building, there was a certain smell, something like sweat. Chen Chao had lived here for three years and still wasn't used to it. In the summer, he would get annoyed the moment he stepped inside.

Zou Yu heard the door and sat up on the bed with a "flutter."

"Brother Chao, if you didn't come back soon, there would be no fish left!" Zou Yu was shirtless. Having lain on the bare bed all afternoon, his back was covered in imprints from the bamboo mat.

"Come down and eat," Chen Chao said, placing the things on his desk.

"Can you just pass it up to me? I can't leave this fan," Zou Yu said, looking back at the small fan by his bed.

"Eat on the bed?" Chen Chao ignored him, taking off his clothes as he walked, heading for a shower.

Zou Yu had no choice but to climb down from the bed and quickly tidy up his desk to make a space for himself to eat.

Their other two roommates found it too hot and had gone to get a hotel room, using the chance to study as well. For the past few days, it had just been Chen Chao and Zou Yu. Chen Chao couldn't be bothered to move, and Zou Yu thought it was a waste of money.

Anyway, the holiday break was only about half a month away, so they could make do.

"Brother Chao, did you sign up for the 'Campus Hunk's' class next semester?" Zou Yu asked while eating.

Chen Chao took a three-minute shower. With the bathroom door closed, it was impossible to hear his muffled reply. So, Zou Yu shouted and asked again.

Chen Chao answered, "Didn't get in, got kicked out."

"Didn't he ask you to pick it? Did you tell him you got kicked out?" Zou Yu said, a hint of jealousy in his tone. "We can't even get in if we want to, and he specifically asked you to take his class."

The "Campus Hunk" he was talking about was their faculty's vice dean, who everyone called that privately because he was very handsome when he was younger. Chen Chao had taken his class before and had also gone on sketching trips with him. Once, he asked Chen Chao if he wanted to pursue a master's degree, which made Zou Yu incredibly envious. The "Campus Hunk" hadn't been supervising master's students for several years, so his asking was a clear sign of his intention to take him on.

But at the time, Chen Chao didn't say he wanted to; he only said he hadn't thought about it yet.

"I wonder if there will be another round of course registration next semester. I haven't even taken one of his classes yet." Zou Yu sighed and said, "I hope they save a spot for this fish."

For the past two summer breaks, Chen Chao hadn't gone home, and during winter breaks, he would only stay home for about ten days before leaving. Chen Guangda would sometimes come to see his son when he was in the area for a business trip, but it was just too far. Chen Guangda hadn't been involved when Chen Chao was applying for university. Chen Chao was studying architecture a thousand miles away, and while Chen Guangda missed his son, he also felt that a boy should go out and make his own way in the world.

At eleven-thirty at night, Chen Chao was already asleep when Chen Guangda called.

Chen Chao was woken up. He squinted at the screen and answered.

Chen Guangda's voice made it clear he'd been drinking. "Are you asleep, son?"

Chen Chao glanced at the time and said, "You guess."

"I guess not. You must be playing games," Chen Guangda said.

Chen Chao said, "Mhm," and then asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just missed you, so I gave you a call." Chen Guangda always missed his son whenever he drank, and he'd get all clingy and call him.

Chen Chao chuckled and said, "How much did you drink?"

"Not much, I'm still pretty clear-headed." Chen Guangda laughed a couple of times. "If I were really drunk, I'd probably be crying by now."

That had happened back in Chen Chao's freshman year. Chen Guangda had gotten drunk, said he missed his son, and his voice started to crack as he spoke on the phone. Chen Chao had been completely flustered by him back then, standing in the hallway, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, saying, "Alright, Dad, what are you doing."

Zou Yu had been lying around all day and was going to bed late, playing on his phone in the dark over there.

Since his roommate was awake, Chen Chao could chat with his dad for a while. His dad rambled on for over half an hour, and Chen Chao didn't mention hanging up. It was only when Chen Guangda yawned that Chen Chao said, "Go wash up and get to bed."

Chen Guangda said, "Alright."

People are strange. Back when Chen Guangda left for three years and threw Chen Chao at his grandmother's house, he also wouldn't see him for more than a few days a year, but he didn't miss him this much back then, not like now where he has to call every few days.

Zou Yu said from his side, "You and your dad have a really good relationship, Brother Chao."

Chen Chao said, "We've always been pretty good."

"It's not like that with my dad and me. He looks down on me, and I look down on him," Zou Yu said, swinging his legs and enjoying the breeze from the small fan.

The night was no cooler than the day; it was just as hot. Having been woken up from his sleep by the phone call, Chen Chao couldn't fall back asleep.

He opened his phone and browsed casually. This wasn't actually late for a university student, and his Moments feed was still lively. Chen Chao looked at a few posts and then closed it. He was now in a state of being sleepy but unable to sleep, which was a bit irritating.

Weibo was a chaotic mix of everything. Chen Chao glanced at it for a moment, and just before exiting, he casually refreshed the feed, and a new post appeared.

—My rose secretly bloomed tonight.

It was accompanied by a picture. In the photo, Miao Jiayan was sitting cross-legged next to a small pot of roses, looking down happily at the flower. In the tiny pot, there were three or four buds, one of which had already bloomed. A small, pale yellow flower shyly peeked out from among the leaves. Ever since he was a child, Miao Jiayan had looked silly when he smiled, and even as he grew up, his smile hadn't managed to become any more sophisticated.

The first comment was: So the question is, who took the photo? [doge]

It had only been posted for a short while, but there were already dozens of comments. Chen Chao casually liked it and locked his screen.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Miao Jiayan was wearing a pair of wide-legged pajama pants with a tank top, and had casually thrown on a very thin sun-protection shirt to ward off mosquitoes. This was the outfit he was wearing for the photo. The comments were all praising how good it looked, saying it was very ethereal.

"Not sleepy, it's still early." Jiang Xun looked at the Weibo post he had just put up, deleting a few nasty comments.

"Then I'm going to sleep." Miao Jiayan had no intention of keeping him company, yawning as he spoke, "You should get some rest too, Brother Xun."

Jiang Xun called out to him, "Hey, wait a sec."

Miao Jiayan turned back, "Hm?"

"Are you going to dinner tomorrow?" Jiang Xun asked.

Miao Jiayan quickly shook his head. "I'm not going."

"Alright then, go to sleep." Jiang Xun waved his hand and said, "Goodnight."

Miao Jiayan's account already had quite a few followers now. He didn't post on Weibo very often, and when he did, he didn't check the comments frequently.

There were always people who would say very nasty things in the comments, and after seeing enough of it, he had become immune. But even so, he still didn't like reading them. The fans' over-enthusiasm made him feel a little flustered. Even after more than two years, he still hadn't gotten used to this baseless love and hate on the internet.

Back then, Miao Jiayan did well on the college entrance exams, scoring above the line for first-tier universities. Many people gave him suggestions, telling him to study marketing, journalism, or something media-related.

But Miao Jiayan didn't listen to anyone and ended up enrolling in agriculture.

Now a sophomore, he was still happily learning to grow vegetables and flowers at a key provincial university.