Chapter 1

An Ning always remember the first meeting with Qin Weihang at the freshman dormitory of the Faculty of Law at A University.

It was August 31st and the temperature was 37 degrees. He took the train to report to the school on the last day. The information on the official website of A University stated that the school covered an area of 11,000 acres. It was only when he arrived that he discovered that it was so big that the campus even had scooters.

He ran back and forth several times until he finally completed all the formalities. He then asked someone on the roadside for directions to the dormitory area of the Faculty of Law while carrying his accommodation supplies. A few yellow streaks appeared in the shade of green. Perhaps it was because the sun was too bright and he was too thirsty, but the exterior walls of the dormitory reminded him of freshly squeezed lemonade.

Walking into the dormitory area, the shade made his body feel much cooler at once. An Ning arrived at Building 6 with his luggage. There were people coming and going in the building; most of which were freshmen that have been here for a few days already and were busy rushing through the door.

On the first floor, he took his room key and embarrassingly asked the dorm manager uncle, “Am I the last one to arrive?”

“Almost…hey, you’re in 606, right? Your roommate also arrived this morning.”

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An Ning was a little surprised. “You can remember him?”

The uncle sat down in his chair and said, “If it were you, you would also remember.”

A few minutes later, An Ning knew why—he saw him outside room 606, this roommate who was easy to remember.

When he got to the sixth floor, the corridor was still relatively quiet; not as lively as downstairs. He turned around the corner of the stairs with his luggage, then he stopped to raise his arm to raise his glasses that were sliding down because of the sweat. At this moment, he heard a crisp sound. As soon as he raised his head, he saw a tall boy walking towards the stairs with a backpack on one shoulder.

He obviously didn’t see which door the boy came out from, however, at that moment, An Ning was 200% sure that the boy was definitely the person who “you would remember if it were you” the uncle spoke of.

Maybe at that moment, the dorm manager uncle was just like him, exclaiming “So handsome!” deep in his heart.

In fact, at this age, who had never seen a few good-looking boys? However, the school grasses* in his high school were all selected by girls. They were more in line with the standards of entertainment industry idols—handsome appearance, good proportions, and manga-like beauty. Boys, including himself, may not be so sensitive to the faces of those of the same-sex, but would likely appreciate tall and rugged boys.

[*TN: School Grass refers to boys who are really handsome. They are usually the most handsome in the school.]

However, the guy in front of him was not only handsome but also tall. As soon as the guy walked over, An Ning committed to memory the guy’s perfect forehead, deep yet bright eyes, the black and red oversize T-shirt on his body, the big hand holding the backpack’s shoulder strap, and the diving watch on his wrist that reflected in the light.

When the boy passed by him, An Ning couldn’t help but give way. It may be due to the difference in height, but he felt like a husky yielding to a wolf. He was 1.75 meters tall while the boy was at least 1.85 meters tall. Maybe he couldn’t even reach the standard of a husky in front of this boy; he was more like a skinny teenager. If he hadn’t just lifted his glasses, given the other’s height, he would not have a chance to see the other’s face clearly. He would only think that he was a boy with a cool temperament, who walked past him like a gust of wind.

An Ning opened the door and entered the dorm room. The room was a double bedroom, spacious and bright. After putting down his luggage, An Ning looked at the opposite bed. The desk under the bed was clean and there was nothing there. It was as detached as the impression the owner of the desk gave. An Ning didn’t know if the other party was easy to get along with, but the boy was probably a little arrogant. He walked to the other party’s desk and saw a name tag on the bed with a name printed on it in three words.

Qin Weihang…

An Ning silently recited the name of his roommate. In his heart, he already wanted to introduce himself to the boy, thinking that since the two of them just ran into each other at the stairway, he might still remember him. Did he dazedly stare at the boy? How about adding a “Classmate, you are so handsome”? He might understand my foolishness instead…

As he was thinking about it, he suddenly felt that it was a little funny. What was he doing? Why was he being so polite? He shook his head and sat on the chair. He felt a slight heat on his cheeks. He couldn’t believe there would be a day that he would judge someone by their appearance.

The self introduction, unfortunately, never happened.

Qin Weihang never returned to the dorm room. It wasn’t just a day or two, but many days.

Military training* began once school started. Except for the meeting with Qin Weihang on the day of registration, An Ning stayed in the dorm room by himself. Even during the military training, he did not see Qin Weihang. The school also didn’t seem to ask about him either. After the beginning of the military training, he was so tired that he fell apart every day. He soon forgot about this roommate. He thought that the other party might have applied to leave the dormitory.

After the military training was the National Holiday, An Ning applied for a work-study program and also found a part-time job in a fast food restaurant. The prices here were two or three times higher than in his hometown. He had to work hard to make money to pay for his tuition and living expenses.

[*TN: Every university requires military training, which can last from 2 weeks to a month. Apparently it’s to ‘enhance their willpower’.]

Qin Weihang finally returned to school after the National Holiday. When An Ning first saw him in a major course, he felt that the scene a bit unfamilar. Qin Weihang was like a boy from a film academy who came to observe, or the sports department’s school grass that came to the wrong classroom. The boy sat alone at the back of the class, right next to the window. The jurisprudence(Philosophy of Law) teacher, Wang Qiulin, said that she wanted to get to know everyone, so she called names. When Qin Weihang was called, An Ning heard the “Here” coming from the seven o’clock direction behind him. The classroom was extremely quiet. Qin Weihang’s voice was relatively serious and a bit muffled, like a drum beating against the rain.

Teacher Wang Qiulin glanced at him, nodded with a smile, and said, “So you’re Qin Weihang? You are really handsome.” Many people in the classroom smiled and looked back. An Ning couldn’t help looking, too. Qin Weihang leaned back in his chair and put down his raised hand on the desk. Without expressing any thoughts, he lowered his eyes, as if patiently waiting for the attention to pass.

An Ning withdrew his gaze and thought disappointingly, sure enough, he was still good-looking when he saw him again. Such a good-looking boy must be annoyed to be stared at often. However, this was probably just the imagination of an ordinary boy like himself. Qin Weihang’s expression didn’t seem to be truly annoyed. Although cold, it was the very chill* kind of coldness. In fact, irritability was an emotion that a boy of his age should have, but Qin Weihang was not dominated by this emotion. His coolness was a kind of restraint, An Ning thought with admiration. This made people feel that this boy was even cooler.

[TN: The term used is “佛系” or “fóxì”, which is a neologism to describe youths who are chill about everything or young people without desire or care.]

The major courses were three times a week. Qin Weihang will come once or twice and leave after the class was over. However, he has never attended a lecture. Even so, Qin Weihang still has a high sense of existence in the Faculty of Law, and even the entire A University. Not surprisingly, the Internet even gave an exaggerated evaluation of his appearance as ‘the combination of both male and female’s aesthetics.’ An Ning occasionally met Qin Weihang in the major courses. In contrast to his popularity on the campus network, no one talked to him in class. People harbored a ‘Ye Gong likes dragons’* kind of curiosity toward this A University’s school grass. He was also the same. Sometimes he felt that they were just roommates in name. He wanted to go up to talk to him but didn’t really dare do so. Although the coldness that Qin Weihang exuded was not fierce, it was enough to dispel the idea of starting a conversation.

[*TN: It’s a Chinese idiom. According to my findings, it’s a metaphor for verbally saying that you’re interested in something, but in reality you’re really not interested, probably even fear it.]

It’s just that when Qin Weihang entered the classroom, the people in the class would still look at him intentionally or unintentionally—especially the girls—until they get tired of his face. This kind of attention would last for a long time, An Ning thought. However, this time he didn’t turn around, restraining his curiosity.

While other boys dressed in shirts and trousers, Qin Weihang wore an eye-catching white oversize T-shirt with letters on it, loose jeans, white Air Jordan on his feet, an expensive diving watch on his wrist, and a Nike wristband. This kind of wide T-shirt, An Ning dare to say that no boys in the entire law department can pull it off. This was because one needed wide enough shoulders and a tall figure to be able to pull it off. In short, whether it was what he wore or his temperament, Qin Weihang looked out of place with the law department. It was really puzzling that he chose to be in this department, because it seemed like he was not interested in his major at all.

Crossing paths with him was not uncommon. Once, in a constitution class, An Ning sat near the aisle. After Qin Weihang entered the classroom, he bypassed the podium and walked over here. When passing the aisle, a girl got up and wanted to go out. Qin Weihang moved his body aside and bumped into An Ning’s table corner, which caused his textbooks to fall to the ground. An Ning bent over to pick them up, while Qin Weihang also squatted down to help. An Ning was a little moved at that moment, wanting to say “Hello, Qin Weihang. Do you remember me? I’m your roommate!” When Qin Weihang looked up, An Ning couldn’t say what he wanted to say. There was only a few centimeters between their foreheads—they were too close. An Ning was shocked by the cold-faced Qin Weihang, especially the eyebrows. Qin Weihang’s hair was slightly short, and there was no clutter on his forehead, but a full and clean forehead. If his bangs were just a bit longer and covered his forehead and eyes, it might not have been enough to make An Ning so speechless.

In the next second, Qin Weihang stood up, put the books back on the corner of his table and whispered, “I’m sorry.” The voice was so low that An Ning could fall straight to the ground. He left after speaking, or perhaps, he didn’t even say a word at all and just went to the back.

Qin Weihang’s eyes clearly did not recognize him, the roommate who had a connection with him. An Ning took the books and put it away, unavoidably feeling that his life was such a failure.

There were 40 people in the major courses, but every teacher will notice that Qin Weihang did not come. Because they were major courses, Qin Weihang rarely escaped, but he was usually the first to leave after class. This time, An Ning also watched Qin Weihang leave. He sighed. Liang Shenghan in the back row patted him on the shoulder, looked in the direction Qin Weihang was leaving, and joked, “He doesn’t even know you are his roommate, right?”

An Ning pushed his glasses and saw Qin Weihang’s back. The boy walked around two girls who were as tall as his chest, and disappeared into the hallway outside the classroom. An Ning said with frustration and affirmation, “I think he won’t know I was his roommate even when we graduate.”