After talking with Shu Xiaoman on the phone, Lin Wenxi heaved a sigh of relief, and then he thought of his father. "My father asked me be ranked among the top ten. I"ve let him down this time. How am I going to explain this to him? Anyhow, I"ve tried my best. He"ll at most punish me by asking me to recite a few more books. Well, he often asks me to read boring books, such as those on laws and civil service exams. He probably wants me to take the civil service exam in the future.
"What"s so great about being an official? My father worked hard his whole life, and even now when he serves as the deputy mayor of this city, he still can"t let his family live a good life. My mother has to work day and night at the desk, sorting out her investigation notes and writing, and I have to be strict with myself all the time since my childhood and never be allowed to gain any benefit from my father"s job. Back in my highschool, those schoolmates whose parents were officials were super proud and even arrogant. My father was ranked higher than their parents, but he always asked me to swallow insult and humiliation and not to put him in an awkward situation.
"According to my mother, this is because my father has an implacable enemy, who will make a fuss about any small mistake of my father. As it"s very difficult to deal with this enemy, he can only be strict with my mother and me. I remember that uncle Hong Xuan said that a man should dominate his special sphere of work and treat his family tenderly in the private sphere, but my father doesn"t seem to be able to do either of them."
Lin Wenxi suddenly became somewhat angry with his father as he had given him lots of pressure and asked him to be ranked among the top 10. The second moment, he became angry with himself as he failed to win the compet.i.tion. He was lost in thought and remained silent all the way.
Before he realized it, it was late afternoon, and the coach parked in front of the gold-plated gate of Jifu University, which was shining in the setting sun. Lin Wenxi smiled apologetically to the boy who sat next to him and had kept talking all along the way. Lin Wenxi was not sure if this boy had been speaking to him.
Most of the boys were excited to return to the university and hurriedly got off this coach while asking their friends to have a drink together or asking their girlfriends to spend some quality time together. Lin Wenxi waited for them to leave and then silently got off the coach. The moment he got out of the coach, he saw three students looking at him with shiny eyes. Before he realized what was going on, he was embraced by Shu Xiaoman. After that Zhang An"an and w.a.n.g Xiang came up and hugged them silently as the sun went down.
As Lin Wenxi needed to put down his luggage first, the four of them walked together toward the male dormitory building for students of computer science department while talking all the way.
"Why did you hug Xiaoman so tightly just now? Did you want to take advantage of her?" Zhang An"an grumpily asked w.a.n.g Xiang.
"I hugged them because you did so. I followed the example of you, my dear." w.a.n.g Xiang shrugged and spread his hands.
"Great, what a sweet, submissive boyfriend you are. So do you want to follow the example of me when I have a period? I guess that I can ask Zheng Kai to give you a kick and make you bleed," Zhang An"an said with a solemn face.
"No, no, no." w.a.n.g Xiang hurriedly shook his head and added, "A gentleman like me is principled and just can"t do some things."
"How dare you call yourself a gentleman? How can a gentleman arbitrarily hug a young woman like Xiaoman?" Zhang Anan pinched w.a.n.g Xiang"s arm and said.
"Well, do you think it"s alright for a young woman like Xiaoman arbitrarily embrace a young man like Wenxi?"
"Wenxi is just adorable. Everyone can hug him!"
"What? Wenxi... I think that she"s suggesting that you"re a person of loose morals..."
"w.a.n.g Xiang!" Zhang An"an shouted angrily with her hands on her hips. w.a.n.g Xiang hurriedly admitted defeat and apologized to Zhang An"an. He held her chubby hand and walked while swaying their hands and singing, "Sway and sway, sway and sway, An"an said that I am great."
Lin Wenxi suppressed his urge to laugh out and continued to talk with Shu Xiaoman. He told her what had happened after they had left the second depot, but he did not tell her about the herbal medicine left by Zhao Yuan, the inexplicable catching up of Chen Wanxin and the things between Zhang Dong and himself. He just told her, "I traveled together with Chen Wanxin for some time and then we separated. When I arrived at the third depot, I didn"t meet her there."
Shu Xiaoman got a little bored upon hearing that. The next moment, she giggled and said, "You know what, Wanxin returned to the university earlier than you guys. She told us when she met you and Zhang Dong, you were improperly dressed and smeared all over with mud, but Zhang Dong looked happy and energetic..."
Lin Wenxi was astonished and thought in disbelief, "What? Chen Wanxin came back earlier than us?"
Chen Wanxin had indeed come back to the university earlier than him.
Three days ago:
When Luo Yang and she had been in the helicopter and flying in the sky, Luo Yang had helplessly complained to Boss Mo, "Boss Mo, Miss Chen keeps looking at the ground through a telescope, searching for some extinguished campfire. Once she spots such a thing, she"ll ask us to land and she"ll take away all the things left there. Now, she spots a boy and asks us to land at night again."
"That"s alright. How is everything else?"
"We only land in secluded locations and use the best sound-absorbing equipment to cover the sound of the propellers. We play bird singing every time we land. I"m sure that no one will notice us from 30 meters away."
"De careful!" Boss Mo replied coldly.
"But even if some student sees us, it"ll be alright. No one can take a clear picture of us with a cellphone at night!"
"Just be cautious!"
"Yes!"
Two days ago:
On the land, Luo Yang had whispered to Boss Mo on his pager, "Boss Mo, Miss Chen said that someone saw her, but that person didn"t take a picture."
"Then why do you report this to me? Who is that person?"
"Boss Mo, that person is Lin Wenxi."
"What?" Boss Mo remained silent for a moment and added, "Immediately ask Miss Chen to abandon the plan. It"s alright to give up these credits. She"ll have lots of opportunities to win them back in the future! She can go anywhere she wants even without the help of this Jifu University. No one can stop her!"
"Yes!"
The night was long and quiet.
Upon hearing that Chen Wanxin had come back earlier, Lin Wenxi thought that he had probably misunderstood her before. He shrugged and walked into his dorm.
He had not come back to this place for more than a month. Before his departure, he had just hastily covered his quilt and bed with some newspapers to prevent them from being covered with dust. He thought that it would take him a lot of time to clean up tonight, but when he saw his bed, desk and chair, he was surprised. His quilt was nicely folded and place on his bed, and everything was spotlessly clean and placed like before.
Lin Wenxi found the light of the setting sun that came in through the window somewhat glaring. His eyes got sore. He put down his backpack, which was severely worn. Actually, the students had been asked to return the backpacks to their military instructors, but all of them had decided to keep the backpacks and even the toiletries as souvenirs. He lowered his head and looked at his shoes. They were stuffed with tissues and cotton, and the surface of them was spotless too. Lin Wenxi changed his clothes and left his dorm. Although he was dressed in some ordinary clothes, Shu Xianman still found him attractive and grabbed his arm while resting her head on his shoulder. Lin Wenxi slightly turned his head to look at her and smelt a faint fragrance from her hair. He understood everything without hearing a word from her.
"Look at you. No matter how Wenxi is dressed, you"ll find him super cute!" Zhang An"an teased.
"Yes, he"s the cutest person in this world!" Shu Xiaoman smiled somewhat bashfully.
"You"ll find him even cuter when he doesn"t wear anything. Am I right?" Zhang An"an poked Shu Xiaoman"s head.
"What a mean girl you are!" Shu Xiaoman gently pinched her arm.
"Yeah, An"an, you"re such a... I think that you"re always able to know what I"m thinking," w.a.n.g Xiang looked at Zhang An"an and said meaningfully.
"w.a.n.g Xiang, I really have to teach you a lesson today!"
With these words, Zhang An"an started to chase after w.a.n.g Xiang.
"They"re just hysterically funny. w.a.n.g Xiang is even more shameless than An"an. They"re just meant for each other!" Shu Xiaoman grabbed Lin Wenxi"s arm, and Lin Wenxi did not resist it. He suddenly thought of something and asked: "Where"s Chen Wanxin?"
"She asked for a leave and went home. During the past days, we were really tortured by the military instructors in the daytime, and at night we had to learn some military theory and sing military songs. Aren"t we students of computer science department? We haven"t touched computers for months. If we continue like this, what kind of job will we find in the future? Oh, we can work as military instructors for pupils in primary schools. We"ll give them a hard time and make them understand that life is not easy. We"ll torture them!" Shu Xiaoman said and rolled up her sleeves, revealing her white arms.
Lin Wenxi smiled slightly and thought, "Well, my father was right. I can"t accuse anyone without proof. Chen Wanxin gave up the compet.i.tion and came back earlier. No one has a reason to accuse her of cheating in the compet.i.tion, and there"s no evidence that can be used to prove that. Everyone believes that it was a military instructor who took the helicopter to work."
He enjoyed hearing Shu Xiaoman talking, as she always sounded so carefree and delighted.
According to Shu Xiaoman, the girls in her dorm had a new roommate named Zhou Nannan. Lin Wenxi remembered this girl. She was the girl who had asked the boys to release the rabbit. She had a cute doll face, and was somewhat chubby. Her eyes were big and bright. She had a sweet voice, but not sounded affected.