The new life began in the dorm.
Fang Chi dragged his suitcase to his dorm. Several names were posted on the door, after confirming his, he pushed it open.
These dorm buildings were newly built this year. The room was large, and the beds were all new.
“I thought they’d be bunk beds,” Fang Chi walked back and forth in front of the beds. The beds were all on top, with desks and small bookshelves underneath. “This is even better than the place I rented.”
“Put your stuff down first.” Sun Wenqu checked the bathroom.
Judging by the cabinets, three people had already arrived before Fang Chi. He picked one and stuffed his suitcase inside.
“Let’s go eat,” Sun Wenqu checked the time. “Your roommates are probably eating already.”
“Outside or cafeteria?” Fang Chi asked.
“Outside. Get familiar with the area,” Sun Wenqu went to the window and looked out. The freshmen dorms were on the fourth and fifth floors, facing a small grove, pretty nice view. “You’ll be eating in the cafeteria for years, no rush.”
The street outside the school was lively, small shops everywhere: food, clothes, daily goods, internet cafes. Small restaurants were the most common, followed by milk tea shops and clothing stores. There were even four or five eyewear shops.
“The old campus is better,” Sun Wenqu said. “Your new campus is in the suburbs, probably pretty barren.”
“What should we eat?” Fang Chi looked at the row of small restaurants. “Someone like you who only goes for fancy places won’t have an easy time here.”
“I’ve even eaten at that noodle place outside your neighborhood that looks like it burned down,” Sun Wenqu clicked his tongue. “What is there I can’t eat?”
“The noodles there are actually really good,” Fang Chi laughed. “They just don’t like cleaning.”
In the end, they found a relatively clean stone pot bibimbap place and had dinner.
“I’ll call my dad,” Fang Chi wiped his mouth and took out his phone. “They don’t even know I came to register today.”
“Pretty carefree,” Sun Wenqu looked around. The place was full, many parents eating with their kids.
If he hadn’t met Fang Chi, Fang Chi would’ve come alone this time, at most traveling with Xiao Yiming by train.
“I’m at school,” Fang Chi got through. “Yeah, arrived this afternoon… it’s pretty good, the dorm’s big, feels as big as our backyard… yeah, got it… no need, I have money… oh…”
After a few sentences, he hung up and started tapping on his phone. “My dad transferred me money, I’ll check.”
“You even told him you didn’t need it?” Sun Wenqu said.
“I don’t,” Fang Chi said. “I have money. After military training I’ll check out a club here, Chen Xiang helped connect me, I can work part-time as a coach.”
“No more guiding?” Sun Wenqu smiled.
“Guide where? I’m not familiar here. If I lead someone into a ditch I’ll have to pay for it,” Fang Chi put his phone away. “My dad sent me ten thousand.”
“Then tomorrow I’m eating something good,” Sun Wenqu said immediately. “Not a 20-yuan bibimbap.”
“Hey, today we’re not familiar with the place,” Fang Chi laughed. “I’ll ask around tonight, tomorrow let’s go to the city center… you’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Sun Wenqu nodded. “In the afternoon.”
“…Oh.” Fang Chi’s mood dropped instantly.
After eating, they walked around outside the campus. Fang Chi wanted to get familiar with the surroundings, but he underestimated how big the place was, halfway through, Sun Wenqu refused to move.
“I need a ride,” he stood under a tree. “We should’ve driven.”
“Didn’t think of it,” Fang Chi scratched his head. “There’s a bus stop ahead, we can check, ”
“Taxi. You always take taxis when you go out,” Sun Wenqu said. “You just got ten thousand and you’re making me take the bus.”
“Alright, alright,” Fang Chi stood by the roadside. “Taxi.”
They waited twenty minutes, no taxis. Fang Chi sighed, looked around, and saw a motorcycle about ten meters away.
“How about a motorbike taxi?” Fang Chi said.
“There’s only one, how do we sit?” Sun Wenqu glanced at it.
“We can squeeze front and back,” the driver had sharp ears and immediately called out, “Same price, more worth it!”
“The two of us,” Fang Chi pointed at himself and then Sun Wenqu, “plus you, on one bike?”
“Yeah, what’s the problem?” the driver said. “You’re from this university, right? Students here share all the time unless going downtown, cheaper.”
After another five minutes with no taxi, they walked over.
The driver shifted forward to make more space and pointed at the back seat. “Hop on! Where to?”
“Our school gate,” Fang Chi looked at the seat, hesitating whether to let Sun Wenqu sit in the middle or the back.
Middle meant pressing against the driver, who didn’t look very clean. Back meant risk of falling.
“From here to the gate?” the driver looked at them. “You don’t exercise much, huh. Five yuan, starting price.”
“Motorbike taxis have starting prices too?” Sun Wenqu raised a brow and got on.
Just as he was about to move forward, Fang Chi pulled him, stopping him.
“You can fit?” Sun Wenqu looked back.
“Yeah,” Fang Chi got on behind him, half sitting on the metal rack. “Alright, let’s go.”
As the bike moved, Fang Chi supported himself with one hand behind and held Sun Wenqu’s waist with the other, not daring to hug him, not because of people watching, but because if he fell, he might drag Sun Wenqu with him.
Sun Wenqu had nowhere to put his hands, so he casually rested one on Fang Chi’s leg.
Fang Chi found the feeling novel, pressed close together, he could see the small black anchor behind Sun Wenqu’s ear, swaying in front of him in a very attractive way.
After two streets, Sun Wenqu suddenly turned his head.
“Sit properly,” Fang Chi cleared his throat softly.
“How?” Sun Wenqu said quietly. “You’re practically pushing me up a flagpole here.”
“Lower your voice!” Fang Chi clicked his tongue, embarrassed.
“If I go any lower, it’ll just be lip movements,” Sun Wenqu said.
“I can’t help it,” Fang Chi knocked his chin lightly on his shoulder. “God decided to install something on me that doesn’t listen to my brain…”
“You don’t have guns in military training, right?” Sun Wenqu smiled. “I’m worried you’ll be carrying two rifles and attracting attention.”
“Get out of here,” Fang Chi laughed, then sighed. “Once you leave tomorrow, I’ll calm down.”
Fang Chi didn’t want to go back to the dorm. He wanted to walk around campus more, but Sun Wenqu said his whole body hurt and he didn’t want to walk at all, so Fang Chi got a room at a hotel across the street.
“I’ll shower,” Sun Wenqu took out a pair of underwear from his sweatpants pocket. “You…”
“You really just go out with one pair of underwear?” Fang Chi lay on the bed, laughing for a while.
“What else,” Sun Wenqu said. “If I weren’t too lazy to buy one after arriving, I wouldn’t even bring this… I’m going to shower, any ideas?”
“…No!” Fang Chi patted the bed. “Really, no, I won’t mess with you.”
To be honest, earlier in the car he hadn’t been thinking anything shameless, it felt like pure reflex. Now, thinking about Sun Wenqu leaving tomorrow, he wasn’t in the mood, he just wanted to hold him.
As soon as Sun Wenqu came out of the bathroom, Fang Chi pulled him onto the bed and hugged him tightly.
“I just showered for nothing?” Sun Wenqu sighed.
Fang Chi said nothing. After holding him for a long time, he finally made up his mind, let go, and jumped off the bed. “Fine, I’ll go shower too.”
Fang Chi’s showers were quick, like doing a set of exercises, and he was done, wrapping himself in a towel and running out.
Sun Wenqu had turned on the TV, watching a variety show. It was pretty funny, Fang Chi laughed along while drying his hair.
Noticing Sun Wenqu wasn’t reacting, he turned.
Sun Wenqu was leaning against the headboard, eyes half-closed, it was hard to tell if he was asleep, not asleep, or about to fall asleep.
Fang Chi leaned closer. Sun Wenqu’s eyelids lifted slightly. “Hm?”
“It’s this funny and you didn’t laugh, I thought you fell asleep,” Fang Chi said.
“Only kids like you laugh at something this dumb,” Sun Wenqu said. “Adults like us can watch it expressionlessly.”
“Yeah right,” Fang Chi tossed the towel aside, lay down naked beside him, and turned to hug him tightly.
Sun Wenqu’s arm went around behind him, lightly stroking his back. “You’ve changed to a new environment, all unfamiliar people, will you have trouble adjusting?”
“No,” Fang Chi said. “When I worked as a guide, every group was strangers.”
“That’s true, but you didn’t talk much as a guide either,” Sun Wenqu smiled. “When I first met you, I thought you were pretty quiet.”
“I just talk more with people I know well,” Fang Chi chuckled. “I don’t even talk that much with my parents.”
“My dad controls too much,” Sun Wenqu patted the top of his head. “Your family seems like they don’t control at all.”
“Yeah, I’m different from you. I’m such an easy kid,” Fang Chi thought for a moment and sighed. “I just hope if they don’t control me, they don’t control me all the way, like whether I like men or women, I hope they don’t interfere with that either.”
“Maybe they really won’t,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Hey,” Fang Chi pulled his arm over and bit it lightly, “even if they don’t, my grandparents definitely will… it’s stressing me out.”
“Focus on your studies first,” Sun Wenqu flicked his face. “Don’t think about that for now.”
“Mm.” Fang Chi closed his eyes.
During the first couple of days after registration, there was no dorm curfew, so Fang Chi didn’t go back.
Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he hadn’t even had time to think about it before falling asleep, and by the time he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.
He had planned to go to the city center with Sun Wenqu before he left, but after handling all the campus cards and collecting everything in the morning, there wasn’t much time left.
“I’ll eat, then head out,” Sun Wenqu patted his shoulder.
“Let’s drive somewhere and find a better place,” Fang Chi said.
There weren’t any especially high-end restaurants near the school, but they found a decent-looking western restaurant and had a meal there.
“Drive carefully,” Fang Chi said. “Don’t go too fast.”
“Mm.” Sun Wenqu nodded.
“Stop and rest at service areas,” Fang Chi continued. “Call me when you stop.”
“Mm.” Sun Wenqu nodded again.
“I’ve already taken care of the place I rented, rent, utilities, everything’s settled. When you get back, just grab your things and go to Uncle Liangzi’s place. Don’t worry about anything else.” Fang Chi took a sip of water.
“Mm.” Sun Wenqu kept nodding.
“Don’t order takeout all the time,” Fang Chi paused, then continued. “If anything happens, call me.”
“…Mm.” Sun Wenqu also took a sip of water.
“I…” Fang Chi thought. “Seems like that’s it? Let me think.”
“Grandma Fang,” Sun Wenqu glanced at him, “I’m just a bit lazy, you don’t need to worry so much.”
“You’re not just a bit lazy, you’re very lazy,” Fang Chi laughed. “Alright, I’ll stop.”
When Sun Wenqu closed the car door, Fang Chi had the sudden urge to jump into the passenger seat with him.
“Alright,” Sun Wenqu started the car and looked at him. “If anything comes up, call me. If you run out of money, use my card.”
Fang Chi leaned on the car window and smiled.
“Don’t forget to send me my living expenses,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Mm.” Fang Chi nodded.
“When you have your National Day break, I’ll come pick you up,” Sun Wenqu said.
“Really?” Fang Chi raised a brow. “You’ll drive here?”
“Yeah,” Sun Wenqu looked at him. “We can also take a trip, there’s that mountain around here, right? Supposedly the scenery’s great, with maple leaves and ginkgo.”
“Alright, then I’ll scout it out first,” Fang Chi said, grinning.
He watched until the car turned out of the intersection, then bounced in place before heading back toward the school gate.
The dorm should be full by now. Fang Chi planned to go back and meet his roommates.
As he reached the dorm building, he saw several broken chairs and shards of glass piled near the side, messy, like construction debris.
He looked up at the building. It was already finished, how were there still things like this?
As he went upstairs, the lower floors were for second- and third-year students. Passing the second-year floor, he saw a dorm near the stairwell with a broken door, half of it hanging crookedly, stubbornly guarding a room it could no longer cover.
Fang Chi was a bit surprised. To get it this wrecked, someone must’ve kicked it repeatedly, really showing the character of a sports university…
Back in his dorm, the door was open. All five roommates were there, chatting.
“You’re Fang Chi, right?” a guy sitting near the door asked.
“Yeah.” Fang Chi nodded.
“I’m Li Zheng,” the guy introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you,” Fang Chi said.
Everyone introduced themselves. Fang Chi roughly matched faces to names, but after one round, he only remembered Li Zheng.
He sat at his desk, and their conversation returned to what they’d been discussing.
After listening for a bit, Fang Chi realized they were talking about a fight. He turned around. “A fight?”
“Yeah, you weren’t here last night, you missed the show,” Li Zheng immediately began enthusiastically explaining. “Second-years and third-years got into it, bang bang, smashing everywhere.”
“Ah.” Fang Chi responded, recalling the debris downstairs and the broken door.
“Why are you so calm?” Li Zheng looked at him.
“Huh?” Fang Chi paused.
“Something this intense and you just say ‘ah’?” Li Zheng said. “I don’t even feel like continuing!”
“Ah!” Fang Chi widened his eyes. “Seriously? I did see a broken door on the way up, was it smashed last night? Tell me more… is this the reaction you want?”
Now it was Li Zheng’s turn to pause. After a moment, everyone burst out laughing.
“You’re pretty funny,” Li Zheng said.
“Doesn’t the school do anything about something like that?” Fang Chi asked.
“How could they? It’s just the start of the semester, everything’s chaotic. And the second-years were quick, they smashed things and ran, didn’t hurt anyone,” Li Zheng rubbed his hands. “By the time security arrived, it was already cleanup stage.”
“The guy you mentioned earlier,” another roommate asked, “is he from our department?”
Fang Chi thought for a moment, this guy was Zhang Junyi.
“Yeah, but I heard it from my cousin. He said the guy’s from our department,” Li Zheng said.
“Your cousin?” Zhang Junyi asked.
“Oh, didn’t I say? He’s a senior, studying sports journalism,” Li Zheng said proudly, then frowned. “What was his name… oh, I think it was Cheng Mo?”
Fang Chi raised his brows, Cheng Mo?
“Whatever his name is, we should just keep a low profile and stay out of trouble,” Zhang Junyi lay on the desk. “My mom keeps worrying, says people in sports are hot-tempered and strong, afraid I’ll get beaten up if I’m not careful… she says it every day, like I’ll be carried out the moment I step on campus.”
“Real mom,” Fang Chi couldn’t help laughing.
The roommates all seemed fine. Two were quiet, Liu Yu and Chen Jin. Including Fang Chi, who also didn’t talk much, the other three were outgoing. Li Zheng was especially talkative, no risk of awkward silence with him around. Fang Chi felt like he could host an entire show by himself.
As they discussed whether to eat at the cafeteria or explore outside, Fang Chi sent Sun Wenqu a message:
-The roommates are pretty good. There was a fight between second- and third-years last night.
He had wanted to mention that the instigator might be Cheng Mo, but hesitated and didn’t.
Sun Wenqu replied after a while:
-Nice. Any handsome guys?
-They all look fine. No one ugly, but none as good as you.
-You’re getting better at talking.
-I’m telling the truth. None more handsome than me either.
-Big ego. I’m at a rest stop now, reporting in.
-Mm. Will you make it back for dinner?
-Probably. Liangzi said he’d wait.
-I miss you. A lot.
-I just went to the restroom. After coming out I stood there for a while before remembering you weren’t with me.
Fang Chi quietly grinned at his phone for quite a while.
After chatting with Sun Wenqu, he messaged Xiao Yiming to ask how things were. Xiao Yiming had said they were starting military training today.
Xiao Yiming replied that it was hot and exhausting, if not for the instructor having a good physique, he’d pretend to faint.
Fang Chi laughed, chatted for a bit, then ended the call. They agreed to meet up after training and hang out in the city.
For dinner, the dorm decided to experience the “outside world” and went out together, planning to pick a place nearby.
Fang Chi didn’t care what they ate, anything was fine. He listened as they argued along the way, until Li Zheng clapped his hands. “From here, the eighth place, we go in, no matter what.”
“Deal!” everyone agreed.
They counted, at the eighth place, they stopped. It looked fairly clean, with a sign that read “Lao Xier.”
“This one!” Li Zheng waved and went in.
The restaurant wasn’t big and looked ordinary, but it was crowded, students and local residents.
“Good sign, must taste good,” Zhang Junyi said.
“Yeah,” Li Zheng nodded. “Just no seats.”
“Let’s wait,” Liu Yu, who hadn’t spoken before, said.
“Then we wait,” Fang Chi said, looking around for tables about to finish.
Before he finished turning his head, someone behind him called his name: “Fang Chi!”
They all turned. Fang Chi saw three people at a large table, one of them was Cheng Mo.
He paused. “Cheng Mo?”
“How many of you?” Cheng Mo asked.
“Six,” Fang Chi said.
“Sit here,” Cheng Mo pointed to their table. “It’s just the three of us.”
