Chapter 2

From September to October, the people in the class were pretty much familiar with each other by now. The class committee members were also selected. The new members were appointed to three positions. The first thing the class committee planned to do was to take the whole class out to play once.

After the criminal law class on Monday, the monitor and study committee members symbolically requested for everyone’s opinions. Although everyone’s response was not particularly positive, there was basically no one who spoke up either.

Class monitor Cao Zheng looked around the classroom and said, “If everyone has no objection, then this weekend?”

“This weekend is a little too sudden,” Liang Shenghan, who was sitting in the row in front of An Ning, said, “In case everyone already has prior arrangements, shouldn’t it be next weekend?”

This idea was immediately agreed upon by most people, and Cao Zheng also nodded in agreement, “Okay, then it will be next weekend. I will discuss with the committee members on where we will go.”

Many students in the classroom chipped in—

“Don’t choose a place too far.”

“Please don’t be too expensive! My living expenses for this month are almost gone!”

Cao Zheng smiled assuringly. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing!”

An Ning was a little grateful to the girl who specifically said not to be too expensive. He really didn’t expect class activities to start so soon. He had yet to receive this month’s salary from his part-time job. Furthermore, the money from the work-study program will not be sent to his card until the end of the month. When he came to school to report, his family gave him 1,000 yuan($154). The tuition for the first school year was also paid by his family, so he was already very grateful. For the living expenses, he can only figure it out by himself. The tuition fees for the next three years should also be worked out by himself. Before coming to A University, he thought it out perfectly already—scholarships, work-study programs, and part-time jobs will allow him to study safely and stably. Thus, there shouldn’t have been any problems for these four years. However, his plan did not include unexpected situations. In life, there was bound to be problems that will suddenly pop up here and there; for example, the water pipes leaking water everywhere. The 1,000 yuan in his card now only has around 400($61) left, and it was impossible for the class activity to be stopped because of his own situation…

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Maybe he could find a reason not to participate?

With a heavy heart, he put away his phone and grabbed his backpack. At this moment, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind. “An Ning.”

He turned his head to look, and saw the committee member, Chai Meng, sitting down in the back row and saying, “Qin Weihang did not come to class today. You are responsible for informing him.”

An Ning was dumbfounded. The boys in the class knew that Qin Weihang did not live in the dorm since they all live in the same building, but the girls probably didn’t know, therefore he had to explain, “I may not be able to tell him. He lives somewhere else and won’t be in the dormitory.”

“Huh?” Chai Meng was surprised, “Has he never gone back to the dormitory even once?”

An Ning nodded, that was indeed so.

“Wow, doesn’t that mean you have the room to yourself?”

An Ning smiled bitterly, that was true. This may be the only cost-effective thing that had happened to him since entering university.

Chai Meng contemplated, then said with a smile, “Then next time he comes to jurisprudence class, I will tell him.”

An Ning breathed a sigh of relief. Chai Meng continued, “And you should definitely come to the group activity!”

He watched as Chai Meng finished speaking, and then stood up and left. He wanted to cry, but failed to shed tears.

Sigh, life is really too difficult…

On Wednesday’s jurisprudence class, Qin Weihang really came. When he entered the classroom, he was surprisingly wearing a black lettered headband on his forehead; it was too trendy. This time, An Ning couldn’t help but look up at him. After entering the classroom, maybe he found that too many people were watching him, thus Qin Weihang pulled off the Supreme headband as if he just realized it was there, then slipped it into the pocket of his black hooded sweater. As he passed by, An Ning smelled a scent of rain on his body, which came from the unzipped black hoodie. An Ning had no other talents except for his nose, so he was sure that he smelled… The wilderness? Or perhaps the smell of the forest?

When Qin Weihang took out his hand from the hoodie pocket, the lapel of the sweater shifted a little. An Ning happened to see that the white T-shirt he was wearing inside was a little wet. It wasn’t his intention to stare at others, but it was more obvious when the white cotton T-shirt got wet, moreover, the wet spots on Qin Weihang’s T-shirt hadn’t dried out yet. Maybe it was not the smell of the wilderness or the forest after all—it could just be the smell of rain. How much did he get soaked? An Ning quietly looked out of the window reflexively. The leaves outside the window were wet with water. He remembered that it seemed to have rained last night, but it stopped this morning.

In today’s jurisprudence class, Teacher Wang Qiulin talked about a case of inheritance called Riggs v. Palmer. In the class, everyone was discussing enthusiastically, but the teacher suddenly called out to Qin Weihang, “Qin Weihang, what are your thoughts? Should this will take into effect?”

An Ning waited a long time before Qin Weihang spoke. He was a little puzzled when he heard Qin Weihang’s indifferent voice ask, “Can you repeat the case?”

Teacher Wang Qiulin, who was standing on the podium, shook her head. An Ning also understood that Qin Weihang was usually either lost in thought or sleeping in class. This was why Teacher Wang Qiulin would call his name.

However, An Ning never imagined that at this moment, Teacher Wang would call him and say, “An Ning, you tell him about this case.”

An Ning was stunned for a moment. He was about to stand up unconsciously, but then saw the teacher beckoning him to sit. On the first day of class, Teacher Wang Qiulin had asked everyone to speak without standing up. An Ning ended up feeling embarrassed. He didn’t need to stand up, however, he did turn his head and talked specifically to Qin Weihang.

“Umm.” He turned around and pushed his glasses up habitually. He saw Qin Weihang, who was still sitting in the last row by the window two rows away from him, leaning back slightly with both arms forward. Qin Weihang’s right hand was on the desk, twirling a pen while looking at him, waiting for An Ning to tell him the case. An Ning felt that he was being stared at as if being warned, so he quickly sorted out the case in his mind and narrated the case again.

This was a real case in New York during the 19th century. A man named Palmer poisoned his grandfather, and his grandfather left him a large inheritance in his will. Now the question was whether Palmer still had the right to inherit his grandfather’s estate.

“… That’s it.” He finished speaking, albeit a little quickly, but also tried not to miss any details that would help Qin Weihang’s judgment. For example, according to New York’s law at the time, this will was valid. Speaking in public had always been An Ning’s Achilles’ heel. Sometimes he had a clear mindset, however, once he gets called upon to speak, his thoughts will be messed up instantly. He wasn’t sure if Qin Weihang understood what he said.

After listening to him, Qin Weihang’s eyes narrowed, and the pen he was twirling stopped. He thought that Qin Weihang didn’t understand. He wanted to open his mouth to tell him, “Which part did you not understand? I’ll repeat it to you again,” however, he didn’t expect Qin Weihang to give an answer so soon. It was also a completely different answer from most of the answers from the class. He said, “If I were the judge, I will not let him get the inheritance.” With an amazed feeling, An Ning’s eyes lit up. Although they were the minority, he and Qin Weihang’s opinions were the same.

Teacher Wang Qiulin asked him, “Why don’t you let him inherit?”

Qin Weihang answered, “He is not worthy.”

The class was stupefied. An Ning heard Liang Shenghan in the front row almost burst into laughter. He himself was dumbfounded and stared at Qin Weihang. Such…a simple sense of justice was something he hadn’t seen in the law department in a long time…

Teacher Wang Qiulin laughed, “Can you just disrespect the will of the testator himself if you are the judge?”

Qin Weihang unexpectedly replied, “The testator isn’t alive anymore, how can we confirm that this is his will?”

“The will is really his will,” Cao Zheng, the class monitor, said.

Many people also agreed—

“Yeah, or why else would he write a will for? Isn’t it used for when one can’t confirm their final wish after death?”

“This and that are different matters*. Although this person has committed a crime, the law still protects his right to inherit the inheritance.”

[*TN: This classmate is saying that Palmer poisoning his grandfather and his rights to the inheritance are two different matters.]

“If the court rules that he can inherit the inheritance, then I think the law should be changed.”

After Qin Weihang said this, there was a sudden silence in the classroom. No one said anything to refute him. He obviously didn’t make sense, but maybe it was just because he was Qin Weihang.

There was a sense of restraint in the cold and quiet classroom, but An Ning couldn’t help but agree with Qin Weihang in his heart. The spirit of the law should be to uphold principle and justice. It was just that Qin Weihang’s performance really didn’t look like a law student. An Ning couldn’t help but think that Qin Weiheng was really rebellious.

Teacher Wang Qiulin interrupted everyone’s argument. She said that in the final judgment of this case, the court deprived Palmer of his inheritance rights. Most of the people in the class who disagreed were in an uproar.

Wang Qiulin said, “No matter how the case is judged, the legal circle will have two opinions, but the law itself is definitely not black and white. In the end, why most judges support depriving him of his inheritance rights is worth thinking about.”

After the jurisprudence class that day, everyone said their goodbyes and left the classroom in twos or threes. Liang Shenghan turned around and knocked on An Ning’s desk. “You going to the cafeteria?”

He usually went to the cafeteria for lunch with Liang Shenghan, but he applied for a work-study program and had to clean the classroom today. “I have to sweep the classroom, you go first.”

Liang Shenghan frowned and whispered, “You don’t have to be too serious about sweeping the classroom. There will be no more food later.”

An Ning raised his head and smiled at him. “I know.”

It had been two months since he arrived at A University. Every day, he was either working or studying in the library. The only person who was close to him was Liang Shenghan, who lived in the room next door. One time, Liang Shenghan’s laptop died, and coincidentally, An Ning knew how to fix it, so he repaired it. Liang Shenghan stared at him with an awe-inspiring expression at the time and said, “Top student, you don’t look like it but you can definitely go to the next building’s computer department with your skills!”

In fact, it was just because the computer at home was too old and often broke, therefore he became skilled in fixing it. To say that he was a top student, he really couldn’t say he was one. He didn’t realize until later that he was the number one in terms of grades in the Faculty of Law. However, it was not because he was smart, rather it was the result of hard work. Diligence could make up for clumsiness. Anyway, he hadn’t done anything besides studying while growing up. He had placed all of his energy into studying, so if he didn’t end up being good at studying, wouldn’t he be a lost cause?

After that, whenever he come across Liang Shenghan in the dormitory, Liang Shenghan would ask him to eat together and stuff. He could be considered the first friend he made in university.

An Ning packed up his things and stood up to clean. At this moment, he heard someone shout, “Hey, Qin Weihang!”

It was Chai Meng. An Ning remembered that she wanted to inform Qin Weihang about the class activity next weekend.

Qin Weihang had already walked out of the classroom. He turned around and stopped when someone called him. He stood in the corridor and listened patiently to Chai Meng’s words, then said, “I don’t have time.”

This didn’t stop Chai Meng. She immediately said, “It’s the first class activity and not one person can be missing!”

Qin Weihang still said to her, “I’m not going. I have something to do.”

He wasn’t getting Chai Meng’s words at all. The two seemed to be on a different page. Chai Meng chocked on her words and asked, “What do you have going on? Can’t you spare just two days?”

An Ning could tell that she already had a reproaching tone in her words. At this point, if it were him, he wouldn’t be able to refuse. However, there was no doubt that Qin Weihang will refuse to the very end. So, An Ning swept the floor with the intention of stealing the master’s skills* and pricked his ears to listen.

[*TN: Basically, An Ning wants to learn how to refuse the other party lol.]

But he only heard Qin Weihang say, “It has nothing to do with you.”

An Ning looked back in a dumbfounded manner and saw Qin Weihang lift the backpack strap on his shoulders and walked around Chai Meng. He had lowered his head when he was talking to Chai Meng. Now, his head was lifted, and his arrogance was about to burst out of the picture frame. Not only was Chai Meng dumbfounded, An Ning also admired him.

This skill he stole from the master, he wasn’t able to learn it—he wasn’t capable of it.

One week passed in a blink of an eye, and the day An Ning didn’t want to face still arrived. The class committee contacted a local canyon for a two-day weekend tour. The fee was 200 yuan($30) per person in advance, saying that they could refund for any overpayment or to make up for any deficiencies. However, class monitor Cao Zheng also said that it was unlikely that they would need to make it up.

The canyon was considered a small local attraction. There were many farmhouses nearby, and the board and lodging were much cheaper than hotels. It took only two hours to drive back and forth, and the price of 200 yuan was quite suitable. This time, the response was better than last time.

Cao Zheng asked everyone to transfer the money to Chai Meng. An Ning became more anxious. He saw his classmates continue to transfer money through WeChat during and after class. After a long struggle, he decided not to drag the matter any longer. He decided to quickly find an excuse to turn them down.

That day, the teacher of the constitution class asked the class committee to collect everyone’s email addresses. Chai Meng was responsible for collecting money after class, and Cao Zheng was responsible for writing everyone’s email addresses. An Ning looked at Cao Zheng’s seat and wanted to wait until there were fewer people to go over there. Two girls wrote in Cao Zheng’s notebook one after another, then left the classroom. There were not many people in the classroom at this time, thus, he made up his mind to stand up and walk over. Cao Zheng looked up and saw him. He smiled and turned a page of his notebook and said, “Write here!”

An Ning wrote his email address in a complicated mood. He put down the pen gently and said, “Umm… I may not be able to go next weekend, I…”

Before he even had the chance to say that the reason was his part-time job, Cao Zheng interrupted him very understandingly, “I know.” He lowered his voice, “Are you in a difficult situation? I can help you pay the 200 yuan first, then you can return it to me once you have the money later.”

At that moment, he was actually touched. He did not doubt Cao Zheng’s kindness at all, but this suggestion was even more unacceptable to him. Not only did it mean spending Cao Zhong’s money but also owing him a favor. Although Cao Zheng lowered his voice, he was not actually whispering. There were people in the classroom that haven’t left yet. Even Qin Weihang hadn’t left yet. After Cao Zheng said this, An Ning could feel his face flush almost instantly. For a while he didn’t know what to say.

Someone then approached them and blocked the light coming from the window. When An Ning saw the black diving watch on the person’s wrist, he immediately knew it was Qin Weihang. The faint shame he felt became heavier with Qin Weihang’s arrival. An Ning watched him pick up the pen and scribbled his email down on the notebook. His handwriting was especially nice. At the top of the paper was An Ning’s own elementary school handwriting, which received critical damage until nothing remained. Qin Weihang put down the pen on the notebook, straightened up and said, “He can’t make it. He has plans with me.”

An Ning thought he had heard wrong. He suddenly raised his head and looked at Qin Weihang, who was much taller than him.

Cao Zheng was also stunned, then raised his head and asked him, “Ah? Is that true?”

An Ning was stuck—he instinctively looked at Qin Weihang, while Qin Weihang looked back at him indifferently and perfectly calm. An Ning was involuntarily seen by him and said, “It’s true.” He nodded towards Cao Zheng with a guilty conscience, thinking that perhaps his own flushed face had already betrayed him.

“What are you meeting up for?” Cao Zheng looked between the two of them.

Qin Weihang said unhurriedly, “That’s our business.”

Cao Zheng’s face was red this time. He looked at An Ning again, eyes full of curiosity. However, it was like the time when Qin Weihang silenced the whole class with his words that made no sense. Cao Zheng clearly had many questions but did not ask.

An Ning’s heartbeat rushed to 180. Qin Weihang walked past him and raised his chin at him. “Let’s go.”

An Ning quickly nodded at the class monitor, and hurriedly followed. Qin Weihang, with his long legs, walked out of the classroom. In a blink of an eye, he was already at the end of the corridor. An Ning wanted to thank him, so he chased after him from the corridors and down the stairs. He was able to catch up behind Qin Weihang and say, “Thank you!”

Qin Weihang glanced at the person who was persistently chasing behind him. The boy poked his head out from the side and thanked him. “It’s okay, I just saw that you didn’t want to participate. There’s no need to explain so much to them. Just don’t go if you don’t want to.”

An Ning smiled when he heard that. Qin Weihang left after speaking.

Unexpectedly, the first conversation between the two people took place under such circumstances. Moreover, Qin Weihang was really just helping him arbitrarily. He did not know him, did not sympathize with him, and still did not recognize that he was his roommate.