The night before the physical exam, Lin Wu thought he would be excited, expectant, and restless. He indeed experienced all those emotions, but when the sun rose, his heart was filled with a calm tranquility.
People only feel confused and anxious at crossroads.
But now, the path had been chosen. The national awakening survey was the clearest signal, like a ship navigating through a whirlpool and steadily moving forward along the rushing river.
The soft golden morning light filled the corridor, enveloping everything in warmth and brightness.
Lin Wu returned to Room 333 first. It was only 6:50 AM when he arrived at the dorm. After resting for a while, he left with Xia Yang and the others at 7:40.
The physical exam was held at the school’s conference center.
The center had five floors: the first and second floors housed halls, while the third to fifth floors were medium-sized meeting rooms. Now, the chairs and tables had been cleared away. The first and second floors were transformed into basic examination zones—first floor for males and second for females, where height, weight, vision, lung capacity, and similar tests were conducted. The upper three floors were designated for awakening checks, including blood tests and other procedures.
Lin Wu assumed that only students from the Environmental Institute would be examined that morning, but upon arriving, he found that several other institutes had also been scheduled for the same time. The moment they entered the first-floor hall, they were greeted by a bustling crowd.
Though it wasn’t 8 AM yet, the doctors were still making final preparations.
Since it wasn’t practical for each institute to assign staff to accompany every student and the flow of students was quite dynamic during the examination, typically only one or two advisors were stationed nearby to assist if needed. For the most part, students were responsible for themselves.
“What a scene,” Xia Yang said, surveying the room. “It’s giving me flashbacks to queuing for comedy show tickets during New Year’s. Oh, the fiery passion of youth!”
“What’s so ‘fiery’ about it?” Lin Wu said, his initial enthusiasm draining. “My youth has just started, and you’re already dragging it into nostalgia.”
There was no strict sequence for the checks. Once the basic tests on the first floor were completed, students could proceed upstairs.
Each testing station already had a long line of students queued up.
Ren Feiyu, overwhelmed by the crowd, hesitated. “Where should we line up first?”
“Let’s go clockwise,” Li Junchi suggested. “That way, we won’t miss anything.”
“Alright,” Ren Feiyu said, scanning for a starting point. “Then we’ll begin with height and weight…”
Mid-sentence, Ren Feiyu suddenly froze, as if he’d been immobilized.
Li Junchi called out to him, “Feiyu?” only to have his arm grabbed tightly by the other.
“That’s him, it’s him!” Ren Feiyu nearly jumped with excitement.
“Him who?” Li Junchi asked, trying to calm him down.
“Jiang Tan! My savior!” Ren Feiyu exclaimed, overjoyed.
Li Junchi followed his gaze but only saw a sea of people. “Which one is he?”
“What are you talking about?” Xia Yang, intrigued by the word “savior,” squeezed closer to get a look, practically aligning his line of sight with Ren Feiyu’s. “Finally, I get to see this cold, heartless face for myself!”
“The super pale one, with an incredibly cool expression, great proportions, and ridiculously long legs. Doesn’t he look a bit mixed-race?” Ren Feiyu couldn’t see anyone else; his eyes were full of Jiang Tan. Even holding a medical card, Jiang Tan seemed to radiate a glowing aura.
Xia Yang didn’t even listen to the rest of the description. Just hearing “pale skin” was enough to identify him. Adding in the icy demeanor, it was like Jiang Tan had hit all of Xia Yang’s irritability triggers. He couldn’t help but scold Ren Feiyu: “What’s so great about him? Did he give you money or cast a spell? That emotionless guy wouldn’t even add you on WeChat, and here you are happy as a clam. Unbelievable!”
Lin Wu had thought Ren Feiyu’s obsession with Jiang Tan had long passed. After Ren Feiyu’s repeated friend requests were ignored, he had announced he was giving up, much to the relief of Lin Wu and Xia Yang, who hated to see their friend chase someone uninterested. Since then, Ren Feiyu hadn’t mentioned Jiang Tan again, so Lin Wu assumed the matter was over.
But seeing Ren Feiyu’s reaction today, it was clear the fire hadn’t gone out—it had only been smoldering silently.
In hindsight, Lin Wu regretted not asking Wang Ye about Jiang Tan during their night excursions. Maybe he could have subtly helped Ren Feiyu.
Wait, if Jiang Tan was here, that meant the Mechanical Institute was also scheduled for this morning.
But Wang Ye and Yuan Sijie hadn’t mentioned anything when they parted ways earlier.
Then again, Lin Wu hadn’t told them the Environmental Institute was scheduled for this morning either.
Now that he thought about it, what had they been talking about all those nights they spent together?
Lin Wu felt a bit dazed, and strangely, a little lost.
Across the hall, at the vision test station, Jiang Tan and Ge Liang were waiting in line.
While they waited, Ge Liang looked around restlessly and noticed a group of suspicious people not far away, all staring at them.
Being stared at by four young men wasn’t exactly pleasant. He nudged Jiang Tan with his elbow. “Hey, look over there.”
He wanted Jiang Tan’s opinion on whether those guys had bad intentions. But when Jiang Tan looked over, his eyes flickered ever so slightly.
For Jiang Tan, that small reaction was practically a major display of emotion. Ge Liang immediately picked up on it. “What’s the deal? Do you know them?”
Before Jiang Tan could reply, his phone buzzed.
Ge Liang saw Jiang Tan take out his phone and couldn’t help but sneak a peek out of curiosity.
It was a new friend request.
Although it had been over a month, the situation immediately brought Ge Liang’s memory back to life.
“Haven’t they stopped already? Why the sudden change of heart…” Ge Liang muttered in confusion, glancing up unintentionally to see four spirited guys on the other side. Among them, one was hiding behind the others, but he kept sneaking glances over, his cautious demeanor so obvious that Ge Liang wanted to grab him and say, “Can you just look openly, please?”
Could it be…
For once, a lightbulb went off in Ge Liang’s head, and he quietly asked Jiang Tan, “Is the pitiful-looking one the one you saved?”
Jiang Tan gave no answer, keeping his gaze downcast as he coolly stared at his phone screen.
“Oh, so he’s seen you and mustered up the courage to send another request, huh?” Ge Liang pieced the puzzle together, then glanced again at the pitiful guy. He even started to feel a bit sympathetic.
It wasn’t that Ge Liang was naturally soft-hearted; the guy just made it hard not to pity him. Despite his tall and impressive build, his golden-retriever-like expression of being abandoned was almost too much. Yes, golden retriever—no poodles or pomeranians would do; they were too perky.
“Why not just add him?” Ge Liang suggested, knowing full well his words held little sway but unable to resist trying. “Jiang Tan, hear me out—even if you don’t like listening to me—you’re hard to deal with for most people. Those you’ve rejected either cut you off completely or turn against you, right? But someone who keeps treating you like their first love no matter what? That’s rare. You should just add him.”
Jiang Tan lifted his gaze, coldly staring at Ge Liang.
A chill shot up Ge Liang’s spine. “…Forget it. If you don’t like what I said, just ignore it. I was only talking nonsense.”
In their dorm, Ge Liang was actually most afraid of Jiang Tan.
Dealing with Wang Ye was easier—just follow his mood. But Jiang Tan? He didn’t even seem to have “moods” like a regular person. Ge Liang had never seen him express joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. No matter the situation, Jiang Tan had the same reaction—none at all.
Maybe names do affect personalities.
“Jiang Tan.”
Still waters, hidden beneath a steep cliff, cold, quiet, and unfathomably deep.
Ge Liang thought this matter would end with Jiang Tan ignoring it as usual, but to his shock, Jiang Tan clicked “Accept.”
Ge Liang’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “What the heck, do my words actually work that well?”
Jiang Tan: “…”
While Ge Liang struggled to believe it, Ren Feiyu stood frozen, like he was dreaming. For a long moment, he repeatedly exited and reopened WeChat, checking again and again before he finally confirmed it.
Inside, it was a carnival.
It was as if a desolate, abandoned amusement park suddenly lit up, fully restored. The little train started chugging, and the Ferris wheel sparkled and turned.
“He added me!” Ren Feiyu grabbed the nearest arm and shook it vigorously in joy, not even checking whose arm it was.
Li Junchi gave up resisting, resigning himself to the situation. This arm wasn’t escaping today.
“Added you?” Xia Yang was skeptical. “Probably an accident.”
“Impossible,” Ren Feiyu firmly defended his benefactor’s cool persona. “If it were an accident, he’d have added me ages ago!”
“…” There was no rebuttal to that logic. Xia Yang was exasperated. “Fine, you’re added. Now what? You gonna talk to him?”
Ren Feiyu froze. He hadn’t thought that far.
Xia Yang knew it. “Dude, adding someone on WeChat is so you can chat, not just for a one-off moment. Now think about what you’re gonna say.”
What should he say?
Ren Feiyu had no idea! He felt like he’d just climbed a mountain, only to discover endless peaks stretching ahead.
Lin Wu hadn’t expected Jiang Tan to accept the request either and was slightly puzzled as he glanced at the fair-skinned figure. To his surprise, he noticed two familiar faces quickly approaching that very person.
“It’s too crowded over there. Let’s just line up together.” Yuan Sijie tugged Wang Ye over, weaving through the throng. They rejoined Jiang Tan and Ge Liang, the latter’s expression screaming, “Ask me! I’ve got juicy gossip!”
Yuan Sijie obliged, “What’s up?”
Ge Liang simply motioned toward the four spirited guys with his eyes.
Yuan Sijie looked over but saw no gossip, only Lin Wu. Surprised, he immediately greeted his all-nighter buddy: “Lin Wu!”
Lin Wu had suspected Wang Ye and Jiang Tan were roommates since their encounter at the campus clinic. Seeing the atmosphere on the other side, it was clear—this was a dorm group, same as theirs.
Ren Feiyu’s eyes lit up at the sight of Lin Wu interacting with the others.
Lin Wu, however, wasn’t keen on going over.
He’d just come to terms with the nature of their relationship and wasn’t in the mood to engage warmly. It wasn’t Wang Ye or Yuan Sijie’s fault—it was his own awkwardness. Nobody owed anyone anything here. The balance was perfectly fair.
But seeing Ren Feiyu’s hopeful gaze, Lin Wu sighed inwardly and mustered his energy to walk over. “You guys are in this time slot too?”
“Yeah,” Yuan Sijie replied breezily, showing no sign of surprise at the encounter. “What a coincidence.”
Lin Wu could tell Yuan Sijie didn’t think much of the coincidence.
“Yeah, really coincidental,” he echoed politely, only to find Wang Ye staring at him.
Lin Wu met the gaze, puzzled.
Wang Ye asked directly, “What’s wrong?”
Under his scrutiny, Lin Wu felt a little flustered.
But the problem was that he hadn’t even done anything! Just recognizing their relationship and returning to the simple status of classmates wasn’t acceptable either?
In his mind, Lin Wu kicked Wang Ye a few times, but outwardly, he maintained an expression of unity and friendliness: “It’s nothing.”
“Oh.” Clearly, Wang Ye thought there was something. “You didn’t mention you were doing your health check this morning.”
Lin Wu was stunned. Damn, I just barely managed to adjust my mindset, and now you’re the one unhappy?
“I didn’t mention mine either,” Wang Ye suddenly admitted, then decisively concluded, “We’re even. Just remember next time.”
Lin Wu: “…”
Strangely, the awkwardness in his heart disappeared instantly.
Lin Wu realized he didn’t seem to care much about Yuan Sijie’s casual attitude but was easily affected by Wang Ye’s words.
But why?
Aside from occasionally introducing him to random quirky mobile games, Wang Ye hadn’t done anything serious!
…Well, except for one thing.
Although Lin Wu didn’t want to admit it, he admired—and even envied—Wang Ye’s attitude.
To hell with it. Who cares what anyone thinks? He’s both cool and carefree, wild to the extreme.
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