QG Chapter63

Zhang Xu gasped, as if he’d discovered some unspeakable secret, his narrow eyes widening dramatically. “So you’re Shen Jianqing! I thought you were a young girl…”

 

Shen Jianqing looked at him, puzzled.

 

“You and our Ah Ze…”

 

I immediately guessed what Zhang Xu was about to say and quickly cut him off. “Class monitor, the teacher wants you to prepare for roll call, hurry up.”

 

Zhang Xu gave a rather lewd smile, his eyes narrowing into two slits, with an “I get it” expression, nodding repeatedly.

 

I turned my head and, out of the corner of my eye, caught Shen Jianqing gazing blankly at Zhang Xu’s retreating figure. But when he turned to me, his expression was peaceful, showing no abnormality.

 

Perhaps I saw wrong.

 

Shen Jianqing averted his gaze, lowering his eyebrows, and whispered, “Yuze Ah-ge, what’s your relationship with him?”

 

I said, “We used to be roommates, and now we’re friends.”

 

“What’s a roommate?”

 

He was completely ignorant of everything outside the Miao village. I patiently explained, “It’s someone who lives in the same dorm room as you at school.”

 

Shen Jianqing’s eyes immediately changed when he heard that. He pressed his lips together, a deep frown etched across his brow, and I faintly heard him murmur, “No wonder he said ‘our Ah Ze’…”

 

“Don’t misunderstand.” I thought he might have misunderstood something, but just then the teacher entered the classroom, everyone quieted down, and I said no more.

 

This class was on “Modern History.” The teacher was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, surnamed Tu. Everyone privately called him “Bald Teacher[mfn]His surname was ‘Tu’ and ‘bald’ was also ‘Tu’. I’ll use ‘bald’ to differentiate when they actually called him by his surname or the bald word.[/mfn].” He painstakingly combed his sparse hair from both sides towards the middle, just to cover his shiny bald spot.

 

However, he himself didn’t seem to care much about his appearance, often jokingly calling himself “brilliantly bald.”

 

The teacher put down his black thermos cup, emblazoned with the “Yan University” logo, tugged at his loose belt, and said, “Students, let’s first review our nation’s founding history from the last class. I’ll ask a student to answer… Hmm, who should I pick?”

 

As soon as he mentioned asking a question, everyone silently lowered their heads, afraid of being called upon.

 

Bald Teacher looked left and right, clearly enjoying the selection process, deliberately teasing everyone.

 

“Don’t be so reserved now… Ah, how about that boy in the last row! His hair is so long and thick, aiyo! I’m even envious ah!”

 

Everyone followed the teacher’s finger, their gazes converging on—Shen Jianqing.

 

I gasped.

 

Shen Jianqing lifted his eyelids, his gaze shifting slightly. To this sudden attention, he narrowed his eyes slightly, his face unperturbed.

 

The surrounding whispers reached my ears.

 

“Who is he? I’ve never seen him before.”

 

“I’ve never seen him, he’s not from our majors, is he… But he’s so handsome!”

 

“From the art department, maybe…”

 

Teacher Tu saw him remain still for a long time and said again, “That student, which major are you from? Stand up and answer my question.”

 

Shen Jianqing silently met Teacher Tu’s gaze, not responding, looking completely unmoved. Anyone unaware would only think he was being defiant.

 

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself and stood up.

 

There was no way I could actually let Shen Jianqing stand up and answer the question.

 

Teacher Tu frowned and said, “I pointed to the one next to you.”

 

“Teacher, he… he’s my friend from another university, just auditing the class.”

 

The low murmuring around us seemed to grow louder. I vaguely heard Zhang Xu, that bigmouth, telling his other two roommates, “That’s Shen Jianqing, you know.”

 

“Quiet!” Teacher Tu snapped, pouting with clear irritation. He ran a hand over his mostly bald head, where only a few sparse hairs remained, then finally relented, “Alright, you answer.”

 

I immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

 

The rest of the class was uneventful, except for the frequent glances Shen Jianqing received from curious and scrutinizing eyes, including Zhang Xu’s annoying, knowing smiles.

 

Shen Jianqing seemed oblivious to it all.

 

I had expected him to find it boring, but to my surprise, Shen Jianqing listened with extreme seriousness. His dark pupils were fixed on Teacher Tu, occasionally showing a thoughtful expression.

 

At that moment, he truly seemed like an ordinary university student, just like anyone else, sitting in a spacious, bright classroom, with a bright and promising future.

 

If only it were true.

 

“Yuze Ah-ge, was what that bald man just said true?” Shen Jianqing asked suddenly as we walked out of the classroom.

 

“Those are historical facts that happened in the past.” I replied.

 

But Shen Jianqing then asked, “Then how can we see what the past looked like?”

 

He was likely referring to the videos Teacher Tu played. Teacher Tu had shown many old videos in class, mostly filmed during the historical periods being discussed.

 

“Those are recorded images,” I explained. “No matter how much time passes, you can always watch them again.”

 

Shen Jianqing raised an eyebrow in surprise. “More powerful than a camera? They can be kept forever, and they even move?”

 

I nodded.

 

Shen Jianqing’s gaze flickered, as if he were deep in thought.

 

We walked past the academic building and, before we knew it, arrived at the school’s back lake.

 

The back lake was an artificial lake on campus, with wooden floating bridges built across it and filled with lotus flowers. In the summer, the lake’s surface would be covered with lush green lotus leaves, and elegant lotus blossoms would rise high above the water, sometimes interspersed with large lotus pods.

 

This was truly Yan University’s summer spectacle.

 

However, it was now late autumn; the lotus flowers had long withered, leaving only a small patch of desolate, withered lotus leaves and bare stems on the water’s surface.

 

Shen Jianqing had mentioned he had never seen lotus flowers.

 

A strange sense of disappointment welled up in me.

 

This artificial lake was the center of Yan University, and one had to pass through it to get to many places.

 

“Ah Ze!”

 

Someone suddenly called my name from behind.

 

I turned around to see Zhang Xu standing not far away, panting and looking hurried.

 

“Tsk,” I heard Shen Jianqing’s low, impatient voice beside me.

 

“You two really have a taste for the finer things, huh…” Zhang Xu winked at me.

 

I reluctantly changed the subject. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

 

Zhang Xu said, “I had an allergic reaction and suddenly got a lot of red rashes that was itchy and painful. I’m going to the campus clinic to get some medicine.” As he spoke, he pulled up his sleeve.

 

Zhang Xu’s two arms were densely covered with countless small red rashes, making his entire arm look swollen.

 

“How did this happen?” I asked in surprise. “You were fine in class.”

 

Zhang Xu shrugged. “I don’t know, it just suddenly became like this.”

 

Shen Jianqing, who was beside me, lowered his eyes, glanced at Zhang Xu, and, without a word, subtly adjusted his sleeve, then hid his hands behind his back.