Chapter 7

In today’s English class, the teacher’s expression didn’t look good when she entered the classroom. It was to be expected, though. When An Ning looked around the room, he saw that the attendance rate was pretty terrible.

Liang Shenghan, who was sitting next to him, whispered, “She will definitely take attendance.”

At 8:30, the teacher directly closed the door of the classroom. As expected, she went to the podium and opened the attendance book, and called names.

The few lucky ones who were present in the classroom all showed the expression of having escaped, and some people bowed their heads to quickly send WeChat messages.

“No need to text them.” The teacher raised her head and said, “All those who arrive now will be considered absent.”

“Tsk,” Liang Shenghan grinned, “That’s harsh.”

An Ning vaguely remembered Qin Weihang’s name was before his and a bit after Liang Shenghan. Luckily, Liang Shenghan didn’t skip class today. Otherwise, he really wouldn’t be able to do anything*.

[*TN: 分身乏术(fēn shēn fá shù): to be up to one’s ears in work (idiom) / to be unable to attend to other things at the same time; meaning, he would have to help both LSH and QWH if LSH was also absent.]

After a few moments, he heard Liang Shenghan reply “Here.” After a few more names, the teacher said, “Qin Weihang.”

An Ning tried to lean back in the chair and lower his body so that the head of the classmate in front could block him. He then raised his hand and answered, “Here” in a calm voice. For a while, everyone in the classroom looked towards him and then turned their heads either knowingly or pitifully. Liang Shenghan, who was sitting next to him, lowered his head and tried not to laugh.

The teacher continued to roll call. It looked like he managed to fool her. Liang Shenghan leaned over and whispered to him, “Your voice was very similar, and you even grasped the essence!”

An Ning thought, maybe it was because of Qin Weihang’s “Here” when he was called during the first major course, the moment left quite a deep impression on him. However, it was still a bit different. He could imitate Qin Weihang’s chest sound a bit by pressing his throat with effort, but he couldn’t express the kind of feeling that Qin Weihang gave.

It was the kind of…unspeakable, unparalleled coolness.

When it was about to be his turn, he secretly changed his seat by bending his waist and moving one seat to the left of Liang Shenghan. Liang Shenghan leaned over to let him pass. He had just gotten to the seat, but before he could sit down, his name was called. He hurriedly raised his hand and shouted, “Here!”

The sparse people in the lecture hall laughed. The teacher pushed up her glasses, not knowing what everyone was laughing at. Fortunately, she didn’t ask.

After class, An Ning stayed and cleaned the lecture hall. He cleaned up the rubbish in each drawer one at a time. The teacher in charge of the classroom couldn’t help but say, “It’s pretty much all done. If you keep cleaning, there won’t be any more food left in the cafeteria.

Later, the teacher practically rushed him. An Ning knew the teacher had good intentions, so he lifted the garbage, thanked the teacher, and left the lecture hall.

The food in the cafeteria was almost gone. An Ning hurriedly ordered a meal. When he turned around, he saw Liang Shenghan raising his hand and beckoning him, “An Ning! This way!”

He walked over with his meal, a little surprised. “You still haven’t left?”

Before the words left his mouth, he saw that Liang Shenghan’s plate was swept clean already.

“Finished eating already. I was just about to leave,” Liang Shenghan said, “but I saw you walking in, so I decided to accompany you while you eat.”

An Ning sat down with a smile, pushed his glasses up, and said, “Thank you!”

Liang Shenghan snorted and smiled.“No problem~”

Liang Shenghan chatted with him while An Ning was eating. He asked him, “Have you seen Weibo? Your roommate is trending.”

An Ning took out his phone with an “ah” and opened Weibo. He didn’t see Qin Weihang’s name on the trending list.

“The 11th,” Liang Shenghan said, “Click to enter.”

Currently, ranked 11th on the trending list was “The Most Handsome Deep-Water Rock Climber in History.” Surprised, An Ning clicked on it and immediately saw Qin Weihang’s photo. There were even GIFs. The GIFs were all thrilling rock climbing moves. At first glance, he couldn’t believe that it was Qin Weihang—the handsome roommate who had just invited him to a very expensive meal last week—appearing on the Spanish coast thousands of miles away, hanging on the wall of a huge tall rock. The photographer also took a wide shot. It was a black silhouette against the sun. He couldn’t tell it was Qin Weihang. It was just that the body’s movements were charming and vigorous, blending with the arched rock and the blue sea and sky. Below Qin Weihang was the deep abyss and the roaring waves. There was no rope on his body and no safety measures. An Ning felt that the black silhouette was like a black cat on a sunny afternoon, walking leisurely on a roof somewhere, except the picture was upside-down.

These impactful GIFs come from the most popular video, and the publisher was a big V(Verified) called Deep Water Soloing.

An Ning clicked on the video, immediately forgetting to eat his meal. The video was much clearer than the GIFs. The first thing that appeared in the camera was a towering arched rock standing in the blue ocean. It was undoubtedly the most magnificent arched rock that stood near the big reefs. There were English subtitles at the bottom of the video, as well as icons of foreign online media. Moreover, the commentary was also in English. An Ning was glad that his practice at KFC yielded some results. He was able to almost understand everything that was being said in the video. The video was showing a deep-water rock climbing challenge. The challenger has to climb from one end of the arched rock to the other end.

A row of yachts docked under the arched rock, and the shore not far from the rock was crowded with spectators. With the beautiful scenery of the blue sea and blue sky, even if one does not know about rock climbing, just watching this scene was very enjoyable. The video was edited and started directly after the last rock climber fell into the sea. The next challenger was Qin Weihang. An Ning eyes were fixated on the video. Liang Shenghan asked in bewilderment, “Why did everyone else take off their shirts before they climbed, but he is still wearing his?” An Ning was too entranced by the video that he didn’t hear his question.

Deep-water rock climbing probably has a high possibility of falling into the sea, so most rock climbers only wore long shorts. Qin Weihang was the only one wearing a loose white T-shirt. He walked to the required starting position. An Ning watched in anticipation. A tall boy like Qin Weihang suddenly became insignificant when he stood in front of such a huge rock. The hearts of these extreme sports players were too strong. Something of that height, he couldn’t believe Qin Weihang, without any protection, could walk directly to the edge of the rock, much less climb it with his bare hands.

Behind Qin Weihang was the endless sapphire blue sea. The wind must’ve been very strong because the white T-shirt on his body was blown around. An Ning saw Qin Weihang turn around to challenge this arched rock. He stood at the edge of the rock that was over 10 stories high without any rope protection, yet he could still turn around like this. If this were himself, perhaps his legs would’ve gotten weak after standing there for less than a minute. Although the lens was not as up close as the senior from the Faculty of Photography*, the sunlight was very dazzling. Under such lens and light, Qin Weihang’s face was as handsome as a carved statue. He started climbing the rock. He turned over and the wind behind him continued to blow onto his upper body, but this time it blew directly on his back. Through the thin layer of T-shirt material, the spine and muscle lines on his back could be seen. When he climbed down a certain amount of distance to get into position, his muscle lines also got into position along with him.

[*TN: For anybody who doesn’t remember, it’s the guy who was taking a video/picture of Qin Weihang when he was talking with the school flower about photographing his motorcycle(Chapter 3).]

It had the kind of beauty of a wild animal gaining momentum.

Someone above the rock was talking to Qin Weihang, apparently reminding him to take off his clothes, but Qin Weihang shook his head in that direction.

For the rest of the time, the cafeteria seemed to abruptly quiet down. An Ning didn’t know if everyone had already left yet. Liang Shenghan answered his phone midway and said that his roommate was looking for him to play games. An Ning raised his head and hurriedly said “See you” to him, then turned his head back down to look attentively.

The drone swept over Qin Weihang. He was climbing with his arms wide open as if hugging the huge rock; as if going in for a French kiss. It was like an ordinary human being was very rebelliously kissing the creation of God. This kind of Qin Weihang was different from the unenthusiastic appearance he usually had. In one shot, Qin Weihang raised his head and stared at the top of the rock. The drone’s lens passed just above his head. The gaze captured at that moment may just be judging the next climbing spot, but it was like an electric shock that shot through An Ning’s chest, making it thump wildly. It was a look of conquering. An Ning couldn’t believe that he could see a look full of desire and power in the eyes of such a Buddha* like Qin Weihang.

[*TN: Someone without passion or worldly desire.]

As shown in the video, Qin Weihang moved very lightly. Compared to the previous rock climber who fell into the sea, he was obviously much more relaxed. He soon reached the vault of the arch, where the last player fell into the water. An Ning listened to the commentator saying that this was the spot where many challengers fail to pass. Like all the rock climbers on the scene, he held his breath and watched Qin Weihang lower his body and press against the rock wall. He was like a docile animal sticking to his nest peacefully; like a swallow with his wings folded up. From that position, he looked up at his next destination, then his body suddenly detached from the rock and went upward. At that moment, it seemed like he was being pushed up by the rock walls. After being blown up by the wind, within less than a second, his body and limbs were all separated from the rock, completely suspended. Then, his right arm quickly hooked the upper rock wall like lightning! An Ning watched with lingering fear and looked closer. In fact, Qin Weihang hooked himself there with his fingers, and his palm was not on the rock at all! In such a situation, he may fall into the sea at any time because his fingers cannot support the weight of his body. He unconsciously said out loud: “Don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall…” He entirely forgot that the video was of Qin Weihang successfully crossing over the vault of the arch.

[*TN: My guess of the climbing route. Might not be correct.]

Qin Weihang was hanging there at the moment. The sea breeze blew his T-shirt, the mass of white was flying around his body, like feathers. His strong and tight waistline appeared and disappeared in the sun. He was like a hanging upside-down white seabird. The feathers were trembling in the wind, staggering, yet he never fell. An Ning saw the surging blue water and white waves under Qin Weihang. Out of nowhere, he heard the excited applause and whistles. These sounds continued until Qin Weihang raised his other arm and grabbed another place and continued climbing.

After he finished watching, the people in the cafeteria were almost gone. He was the only one who was shocked in place. His heart was surging like the seawater rolling under Qin Weihang. His heart was repeatedly thinking only one thing:

… Handsome!

Really, really handsome!!!

Qin Weihang completed the climbing route. He was only the second challenger to finish climbing among the contestants. Another contestant took three minutes longer than him, thus Qin Weihang was the final champion.

An Ning exited from the video and saw that the trend had climbed to 9th place.

He truly lived up to “The Most Handsome Deep-Water Rock Climber in History” title.

Overnight, Qin Weihang became a hot topic at A University again. The first hot comment on Weibo soon became: This handsome guy, if I’m not mistaken, is named Qin Weihang! The second hot comment was: Qin Weihang has the face of someone from the Faculty of Drama + the body of someone from the Faculty of Sports, yet he ultimately chose to enter the Faculty of Law. A handsome and unscientific* student who is A University’s new school grass.

[*TN: Someone who is beyond logic/unrealistic.]

A large group of alumni of A University flocked to Weibo, speaking very proudly:

—Finally, there is a school grass at my Faculty of Law. This school grass is not conceited at all! Nor is he a pretty boy!!* To have Qin Weihang in our faculty, makes this female law student cry.

[*TN: the word here is literally ‘greasy’ but it means to be narcissistic or flirtatious. While the ‘pretty boy’ used here is a derogatory term.]

—What? Is this your boyfriend, sis?! I’m very jealous!!

—No! School grass Qin belongs to all of us single dogs!

—It seems that A University never had a school grass from the Faculty of Law. Now, this curse has finally been broken, which is gratifying. Even so, Qin Weihang does not look like the kind of guy who studies law.

—Sorry to spoil the fun. I checked the class schedule. On the day of the competition, all the freshman in the Faculty of Law had classes…

For An Ning, the only good thing about the next day’s gym class was that the gym teacher finally stopped calling for Qin Weihang. He only glanced at the crowd angrily and said to them, “Qin Weihang in your class is that Qin Weihang, right?”

The class nodded repeatedly. The gym teacher snorted. “So I shouldn’t hope that Qin Weihang will show up to my class this semester?”

A lot of people looked over to An Ning, which gave An Ning huge pressure. An Ning thought, can you guys let me go? Please, I’m just his roommate!

This time the gym teacher did not make it hard on An Ning and just raised his arm directly. “Okay, you guys run two laps to warm up.”

The gym class was settled, but the trouble was still to come. Liang Shenghan said during lunch that day, “Qin Weihang being like this, I don’t know whether it should be called low-key or high-key…”

An Ning was eating and said without much care, “He has always been low-key, and him trending is not what he wants.”

“That’s true,” Liang Shenghan said. “He is also miserable. He can’t be low-key if he looks like that. And he is also someone who plays extreme sports. In the history of A University’s school grasses, besides Ji Shi*, it is hard to find somebody that can surpass Qin Weihang’s height.” In the end, he didn’t forget to remind An Ning, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to help answer(roll call) for him in the future.”

[*TN: Ji Shi is the vocalist of the band LOTUS. He is a character from the novel, Soul Vibration, by the same author.]

An Ning suddenly thought of this, raised his head, and said depressed: “… Yeah.”

The freshman law students lined up and ran around the stadium. At that time, Qin Weihang was visiting his teacher, Zhong Jing, in Lantian County. Although it was not a formal master and apprentice relationship between them, Zhong Jing was still the one who introduced Qin Weihang to rock climbing. He himself was paralyzed at the age of 32 because of a rock climbing accident two years ago.

On the terrace, Zhong Jing was sitting in a wheelchair and Qin Weihang was sitting next to him. Two people watched the video of the Deep-Water Rock Climbing Challenge on a tablet. This competition was not on an official level, but because the location was in Spain, which was also a rock climbing mecca, there were many people who participated, Thus, there was no shortage of professionals.

This was the first time Qin Weihang had challenged this bouldering* route. Zhong Jing was very proud after watching it. Qin Weihang himself didn’t have many thoughts about it. He liked climbing, not for ranking and glory, but because in the past two years that he climbed alone, there were not a lot of places with routes and difficulty levels that were challenging. However, that place was exactly where he wanted to go. Not to mention, there were private entrepreneurs offering higher prize money than the official competitions.

[*TN: He was bouldering the route. Bouldering is when you climb without any safety equipment or rope; only relying on the strength of your bare hands. And usually the rock walls aren’t too tall.]

When watching the video of the competition, Qin Weihang noticed that Zhong Jing’s fingers would sometimes move unconsciously, as if trying to grab those rock spots like him. At the time moment when he reached the vault of the rock, Zhong Jing couldn’t help but clenched his fingers. He was reminiscing about the feelings he had once felt. Perhaps this was an instinct that rock climbers couldn’t abandon for life, but it made Qin Weihang very uncomfortable.

“Great job.” After Zhong Jing finished watching, he put down the iPad and patted him on the shoulder. Seeing that Qin Weihang was still like a lazy cat with a very carefree look, he said, “What? Just how old are you? You can’t feel the excitement anymore?”

Qin Weihang glanced at him, took away the iPad, and said, “In fact, it wasn’t hard. Below was the sea, and the highest falling point was only 26 meters. I won’t have any worries when I climb, rather, I’ll be even better at getting in position when climbing.”

Zhong Jing laughed. “Youngster, do you ever have any worries?” He thought of something, then said, “You can take off your clothes next time, don’t be so innocent. Those who don’t know you will think you’re arrogant. “

Qin Weihang glanced at him. “Female climbers can’t take off their clothes when they climb.”

“Are you a girl?” Zhong Jing laughed.

Qin Weihang said, “I meant that it should be fair. Male rock climbers shouldn’t take off their shirts either.”

Zhong Jing patted him hard on the back and said, “You are just pure!”

Qin Weihang did not explain anymore and just let Zhong Jing slap his back. He felt that Zhong Jing’s hand strength had become weaker—he didn’t know if it was just an illusion, or if it was just because his own body was more mature and taller now. However, he would no longer be able to feel the strength of Zhong Jing’s hand that could smack him off a cliff from when he had first started learning rock climbing.

When he was leaving that day, Zhong Jing called out to him and asked, “Do you still go wild climbing now?”

Qin Weihang stood at the door, slipped on his backpack, and put his right hand into the pocket of his jacket. He answered, “Mhm.”

“Alone or with a new partner?” Zhong Jing asked.

“Just me,” Qin Weihang said calmly.

Zhong Jing stopped talking for a while, then sighed. “… Qin Weihang, I don’t want you to be like me in the end.”

“I won’t, I’m just bouldering.”

Zhong Jing heard Qin Weihang interrupt him confidently. Unsure whether it was true or not, he shook his head helplessly.

Qin Weihang said, “If I fall, it’s only because I want to fall.”

“What nonsense,” Zhong Jing interrupted him harshly.

“I’m just telling you to not worry.” Qin Weihang opened the door and left after speaking.

Zhong Jing looked at his back. This kid had always walked so simply, like the cat he had raised when he was young. It eventually died far away from his house, ruthlessly to its death.

However, he was still deeply moved. It had only been two years, but Qin Weihang had already grown to be this tall and handsome. He still remembered the Qin Weihang from when he was in junior high school, and still remembered the Qin Weihang that followed him to climb in the wild for the first time—since then, the boy was fascinated by rock climbing. Even though Qin Weihang had never called him teacher, he was never bothered by it. Zhong Jing knew that in Qin Weihang heart, he considered Zhong Jing his teacher. It was just that this kid was rebellious and arrogant.

It was different now. He was not just rebellious and arrogant anymore but also a little lonely.