Chapter 31

The next day, Qin Weihang slept until half past ten before waking up. When he sat up, he found that the opposite bed was empty and the quilt was neatly folded. He got out of the bed directly from the upper bunk and saw that there was breakfast on his desk along with a post-it note:

Qin Weihang, I’m going to the library. I’ll be going to my tutoring job in the afternoon. Since it’s your first day staying in the dorm, I was afraid that you would oversleep and miss breakfast time in the cafeteria, so I brought one for you. The dorm manager has a microwave that you can use to heat it up. If you have any other questions, you can ask me on WeChat.

—An Ning

He pulled off the post-it note and looked at it in his hand: “The handwriting is not pretty, top student…”

Then he lowered his head and used his fingers to open the bag. Inside was a tea egg, a bag of xiaolongbao and a cup of milk.

Tea Egg

Xiaolongbao

An Ning studied in the library all morning, but his efficiency was a little low. He was always thinking about WeChat, but every time he took out his phone to check, he never saw Qin Weihang send him a message. After eating at noon, he took the subway to Lantian County. After getting on the subway, he realized that today was Sunday. Why did Qin Weihang move back yesterday? It seems more appropriate for him to come back today.

Later, he thought that Qin Weihang might have come here directly after moving out of his apartment. Or maybe he wanted to adapt one day in advance?

The subway station announcement sounded. He was stunned for a moment to realize that he had arrived at the station and hurriedly got up and got off of the subway.

All he thought about this morning was matters relating to Qin Weihang, so his mind was a little slow.

Qin Weihang also went to Lantian County that day. When he took Zhong Jing to the hospital, the car passed by Qian Fei’s house. He saw An Ning coming out from around the corner with a backpack on. He was thinking about something as he walked. It always seems like he was walking with his heads in the clouds.

Maybe he was memorizing words and laws?

There was some stagnant water on the side of the road ahead, thus he drove over it slowly when passing by.

Zhong Jing was closing his eyes and resting, but the speed of the car suddenly slowed down. He opened his eyes in wonder and saw that Qin Weihang slowed down and passed the stagnant water. The water did not splash at all.

Last time it splashed like a motorboat. Did this kid change personality?

Qin Weihang drove in extreme silence today. Zhong Jing questioned him several times, but he didn’t hear him. After a while, he asked, “What did you say?” When they were waiting at a red light, Qin Weihang put his elbow on the car window and gently rubbed his chin. Zhong Jing didn’t know what he was thinking about.

Zhong Jing coughed and said: “Why did you suddenly run to Qian Fei’s house that day?”

Qin Weihang started the car without saying anything. Zhong Jing wasn’t sure if he didn’t hear him again.

Zhong Jing felt that this kid’s mind might be dwelling over that matter, so he reminded him earnestly: “Xiao Hang, don’t blame me for saying too much. You have never been interested before. If you really like someone, then I’ll be happy for you, but you have to take it step by step and don’t scare that person…”

Qin Weihang interrupted him: “You’re thinking too much.”

Zhong Jing muttered: “I hope I am.”

When they arrived at the hospital and got out of the car, Zhong Jing remembered something and said: “By the way, your father called me and asked about your situation at school. After all, you are father and son…”

Qin Weihang directly interrupted him by saying, “Don’t tell me.” He pushed the wheelchair and entered the elevator.

After entering the elevator, Qin Weihang smoothly pressed the floor behind him, and then helped him turn the wheelchair expertly. The elevator door was mirrored. Zhong Jing saw Qin Weihang standing against the wall behind him, with his hands in the pockets of his white sweater, and staring at the floor number coldly. Therefore, he shut his mouth consciously.

Qin Weihang’s father had been absent throughout Qin Weihang’s life. It was only after Qin Weihang’s mother passed away that Qin Guanzhong remembered to do his part as a father. However, he had already missed Qin Weihang’s rebellious phase. Moreover, Qin Weihang’s rebellious phase was no ordinary one. By then, it was already too late to make up for it. To be honest, Qin Weihang doesn’t live off of his father now. When his mother passed away, she left him a trust fund with a considerable profit. Even if Qin Weihang did not use the money, his own part-time job and competition money were enough to support his own livelihood. In other words, it didn’t matter to him if his father was involved in his life or not. So if you persuade him to reconcile with his father right now, it will make him think that you’re not doing it for his own sake.

After his rehabilitation, Mu Dan also came back from the troupe and brought groceries from the supermarket on the way back. Zhong Jing asked Qin Weihang: “Will you stay for dinner?”

Qin Weihang picked up his backpack and said: “You can eat by yourself.”

That tone was very indifferent. Zhong Jing curled his lips.

Qin Weihang passed by the kitchen to inform Mu Dan: “Teacher, I’m leaving now.”

This ‘teacher’ made Zhong Jing almost laugh. That humble and polite tone he used seemed to be miles apart compared to when he called him teacher. And why was he calling Mu Dan ‘teacher’? Did my wife teach you? It was her husband that taught you!

Mu Dan turned around and said: “You should stay and eat!”

Qin Weihang said: “No, you guys eat without me.”

Qin Weihang bowed his head and put on shoes at the entrance. Zhong Jing slid over the electric wheelchair, winked, and whispered: “Qian Fei seems to be at home today.”

Qin Weihang looked up at him and pretended not to hear. He changed his shoes, turned to open the door and left.

Yu Ran felt that the sun had risen from the west.

He hadn’t been to the climbing gym for several days, but when he came today, he saw Qin Weihang chatting with someone. It was even a female rock climber!

He recognized the person who was chatting with Qin Weihang as a frequent visitor of the Jidao Climbing Gym. She was 28 years old, a female white-collar worker, and wearing a pair of glasses. She was not very pretty, but her temperament was pretty good.

He and Zhong Jing have always felt that Qin Weihang was like a slow-witted stone. They didn’t expect that once he has been enlightened, he could not be stopped. Moreover, why would he like someone much older than him? Could it be an Oedipus complex?

But once he thought about Qin Weihang’s life experience, he became a little sad. Even if he has some sort of Oedipus complex, he could probably understand how it came about… He walked over without a word. When he passed by the two of them, he heard Qin Weihang asking about the precautions of climbing with glasses.

The white-collar lady was obviously also an admirer of this young rock climbing god. She was very enthusiastic and would answer all his questions: “… It’ll be fine if they just wear a helmet. As long as the framed glasses are fixed in place, it will not loosen easily. When I just started learning rock climbing, I tried wearing contacts, but my eyes are prone to allergies. Later, I wore glasses more often than contacts. However, if you are a novice, I don’t think it’s a big problem to wear glasses in climbing gyms, but it’s better to wear contacts when going to the wild.”

Qin Weihang nodded, saying thank you. Yu Ran thought for a long time, but he doesn’t recall anyone wearing glasses among Qin Weihang’s new students.

The white-collar lady smiled and said: “As a coach, you are very careful.”

“Just asking.” Qin Weihang said.

Yu Ran curled his lips. It seemed that this kid also knew himself well, and knew that he did not deserve the words ‘careful’. He doesn’t know how Tang Zi would feel if she saw this scene.

The white-collar lady said: “You should have worn it too. Just think of it as goggles or sunglasses.”

Qin Weihang said that he haven’t worn it much.

The white-collar lady stared at him with a look of admiration, and finally said: “You are indeed very amazing… You also won’t wear a climbing helmet for wild climbing, right?”

Qin Weihang only smiled faintly.

Yu Ran followed behind and said: “Yes!”

Qin Weihang turned his head, and Yu Ran was already far away.

After the coaching that day was completed, when the training hall was empty, Qin Weihang stayed alone as usual. He first tidied up the bouldering mats, then walked to the side. He took out a glasses case from his backpack; inside was a pair of glasses. After putting on the glasses, he took a helmet, put it on, and fastened it on his chin.

The feeling was both strange and familiar. When he was 14 or 15 years old, he started rock climbing and never forgot his helmet and harness. He looked like a positive rock climbing boy. After Zhong Jing’s accident, he should be more careful, but he didn’t like wearing a helmet. At first, everyone said that it was too dangerous and too fatal, but after seeing his climbing skills, everyone had shut up.

Experts can be willful, this was what Zhong Jing said himself, so Zhong Jing stopped lecturing him about it later.

Qin Weihang had not worn a helmet in a long time. After wearing it, he adjusted the position of the glasses on the bridge of his nose by pushing it with his hands. After pushing it, he remembered the way An Ning lowered his head and pushed the frame. He said out loud to himself, somewhat confused: “Is it really because it slipped, or is it because it’s fun to push it?”

He couldn’t figure out the reason and just walked to the bouldering wall and started training. He found that if the glasses were not fixed tightly with the climbing helmet, they would slip easily. When he raised his head, the lens will always touch his eyelashes. Moreover, it would easily slip when sweating; he would need to stop and wait for a while before he could recover. He jumped off the bouldering wall and quickly took off his helmet and glasses after landing. He exhaled, walked to the side, picked up his phone, and sent a message to the female rock climber from before.

[Chief]: How to solve lens fogging up?

The white-collar lady quickly replied: There is this kind of anti-fog spray, if not, you can apply a little soap and wipe it off with a glasses’ cloth.

Qin Weihang replied with a thank-you. He went to the bathroom to find a bar of soap, did as suggested, then he breathed on the lens. Surprisingly, there was really no fogging. He raised his eyebrows and smiled with satisfaction.