WAYCAV Chapter 09

Raine: I’ll have yesterday’s missed chapter posted tomorrow instead. I forgot to schedule chapters while I was out of town. dbq

TL Note: Forgot to add this the first time 爹 (diē) was used. Su Zhiyan’s friends call him 爹 (diē) or Dad. It’s a super informal and often playful way of acknowledging someone as being really good at something, like they’re the “master” or “expert.” It can also carry a sense of respect or even a bit of playful dependence, like “you’re so good at this, you’re practically my ‘dad’ in this area.”

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Amidst the low murmurs and whispers, the spokesperson from Shen Nianjing’s group took the podium.

By this point in the class, some students were already tired. Only a handful were still watching the stage and listening attentively like they had at the start of class.

Wen Bei tapped the shoulder of the person in front of him. “Let’s go get hot pot at the shopping street after class!”

“Sure!” the two in front responded with quiet excitement.

Wen Bei chuckled, his mind already wandering to the hot pot restaurant. He turned, about to say something to Su Zhiyan, when he noticed his friend staring quietly ahead with an inexplicable smile in his eyes.

Wen Bei: “?”

What the hell could be so interesting to his buddy?

He turned to look at the stage and spotted “Shen Nianjing” written clearly among the group members in the upper left corner of the PPT.

Wen Bei: “…”

Right, right, right. He should have known.

Was it really that interesting? It was just a presentation. Suspicious, Wen Bei sat up straight and started listening, his posture far more attentive than the person next to him who was leaning back with arms crossed.

As they listened, the surrounding whispers gradually quieted down. Those who had been distracted found their attention drawn back, and everyone’s eyes focused on the stage.

The presenter stumbled a bit at first, clearly uncomfortable with public speaking. But as they warmed up, their delivery became smooth and natural, occasionally throwing in jokes that earned applause. Still, everyone’s main focus remained on the content of the presentation.

Because the content was really fascinating.

Unlike the polite applause earlier, this presentation ended with screams and cheers, mixed with exclamations of various swear words.

Wen Bei stared at the presenter giving their closing remarks, his face saying “Math can be done like this?”

“The gap between people…” he muttered.

“Is bigger than the gap between other people and you…” Zhuang Qiyu shook his head with feeling.

Wen Bei: “.”

“Screw you!!”

Su Zhiyan, however, was the calmest of them all. Aside from a light clap, he showed no reaction.

“See? I told you Shen Nianjing was a top student. The topic choice and framework must have been his ideas!” Chen Shuyu turned back to tell Su Zhiyan and the others, his face filled with excitement.

Su Zhiyan didn’t respond, just quietly watching as the presenter hurriedly left the stage after a deep bow, and Shen Nianjing excitedly high-fived them.

Another well-deserved A, naturally.

Professor Wu obviously liked the topic choice and creativity of Shen Nianjing’s group. Not only did he give them the highest marks, but he also asked several questions about their work process. However, Shen Nianjing answered almost all of them by himself.

Most of the class’s attention focused on Shen Nianjing in the front row, surprised that this somewhat unfamiliar classmate had been hiding such talents. It felt like a boss character had suddenly descended from the sky.

The boredom and fatigue were completely forgotten, replaced by admiration and discussion.

The person sitting next to Su Zhiyan winked suggestively, “Dad, looks like someone’s competing for your title of ‘Math King’!”

Everyone knew Su Zhiyan was always at the top of his class, consistently ranking first in their major. He’d already won awards for two papers as a junior, and was a legendary academic genius in their department.

Now that someone else had appeared who showed strong professional abilities and caught the teachers’ attention, everyone naturally assumed Su Zhiyan would be uncomfortable.

After all, top students were obsessed with being number one, and competitiveness was their motto.

But Wen Bei snickered and shook his head slowly.

Give me a break, your dad and this rising star were already closer than you could imagine, and they met every day!

Only! I! Know this! Wen Bei thought smugly, almost wanting to cross his legs and tilt his nose to the sky.

Su Zhiyan glanced at the person beside him but didn’t respond, as if completely unbothered.

This casual attitude only confirmed their suspicions that he disliked Shen Nianjing.

Ah, sure enough, top students can’t stand the existence of other academic talents, people thought to themselves.

Su Zhiyan remained exceptionally quiet amid the chatter. His eyes fell on Shen Nianjing a few rows ahead. Shen Nianjing wore a simple T-shirt, his neck long and elegant as he laughed openly, like a proud white goose, always giving off a bright feeling.

Su Zhiyan’s eyes deepened as his lips curled slightly.

He was somewhat surprised.

Shen Nianjing’s group had chosen a remarkably novel topic, with an unconventional yet beautiful approach. Their derivation process was not only relevant but also easy to understand, and their thinking was very interesting.

A person’s attitude toward their work could be seen in projects with this much freedom. With so much freedom, you could treat it as just another task, or you could treat it as a creative work.

But to create such unique and interesting work required not only a serious attitude toward studies but also genuine passion.

As if sensing his gaze, Shen Nianjing, who had been laughing and talking with his groupmates, suddenly paused and turned to look back.

But Su Zhiyan had already withdrawn his gaze, seriously looking at his notebook.

Seeing this, Shen Nianjing sighed in relief and turned back to explain a complex principle to his groupmates. He explained thoroughly and carefully, deriving each step and easily providing various examples.

Su Zhiyan lifted his eyes to look again, just in time to see the enlightened expressions on the faces of the students around Shen Nianjing.

A worthy rival… Su Zhiyan thought to himself.

I suppose you’re qualified after all.

—

The new hot pot restaurant on A University’s shopping street was packed every day. Weekend reservations were impossible to get. Fortunately, Professor Wu kindly let them out five minutes early, allowing Su Zhiyan’s group to find a decent spot.

The air conditioning in the hot pot restaurant was strong. As the cool air hit their heated bodies, everyone burst into lively conversation.

“This is the first time I’ve found math kind of interesting…?” Wen Bei knocked on his head, wondering if something was wrong with him.

“I must have really gone downhill… even math seems interesting now.” He slumped down slowly.

“Xiao Zhiyan, pig brain, duck blood, shrimp paste, lamb eyes, and duck intestines!!”

Chen Shuyu rubbed her hands together[mfn]I previously used he/him for Chen Shuyu. There was no pronoun and I assumed she was a man because it’s more common for a group of friends to be of same gender, but this paragraph used the 她 she pronoun so I will be using she/her from now on.[/mfn]. Being hungry all morning left her no energy to think about anything else.

“No pig brain!!” Wen Bei protested.

“Pig brain is good. Eat more brain to make up for it, or the gap between you and others will just keep growing.”

“…Zhuang Qiyu?! Can you say something nice for once?”

Amid the noise, Su Zhiyan quietly sat in his seat scanning the QR code to order, adding items to the cart according to everyone’s preferences.

He sat in the inner seat, next to the restaurant’s herb and flower wall.

“Oh my god, I want to join Shen Nianjing’s group just to get a shot at the national award. I bet he’ll definitely win first prize.”

The excited voices carried over from the other side of the plant wall, their excitement and enthusiasm practically bursting through their words.

“I heard Shen-ge’s group still needs one more person. I’ll ask him if they’re still looking,” one voice said mischievously.

“I’m asking him right now!”

“?? You backstabber! I’m messaging him this second.”

Su Zhiyan selected the soup base and paid directly, then switched to another app to order milk tea delivery.

“Ah!” A disappointed voice rang out. “He said they’ve already found someone.”

“Damn, what a shame. Who moved so fast??”

Su Zhiyan raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled.

So fast?

That guy was still worried about finding group members before class and went to ask Professor Wu for advice. Now he’d suddenly become such a hot commodity.

The four-sectioned hot pot was brought to the table, its steaming aroma immediately stimulating their taste buds. Zhuang Qiyu impatiently dropped a whole plate of lamb into the clear oil and beef tallow sections.

“We were so busy chatting, we forgot the dipping sauces!” Chen Shuyu pushed past Zhuang Qiyu and rushed out, with Wen Bei sprinting to the sauce station right behind her.

As he saw them returning with not just sauce dishes but also fruits, Su Zhiyan thought about going to help carry some things.

Just as he was about to get up, he looked up to see a familiar figure walking by.

Shen Nianjing and his friends arrived a bit late, and the only spot left was by the window, directly under the sun. They made their way through the hall shouting, “eating hotpot is only fun when you’re sweating,”

As if noticing the movement, Shen Nianjing instinctively glanced towards Su Zhiyan as he passed, paused for a moment, then quickly averted his gaze.

Su Zhiyan was naturally fair-skinned, and with the hot pot steam making his cheeks slightly flushed and his eyes clear and moist, he looked a bit more innocent than usual.

As Su Zhiyan sat watching Shen Nianjing’s group walk past, before he could react, a hand reached out in front of him – “Xiao Zhiyan, here’s your sauce dish.”

The sauces in front of him were mixed black, red, and green, garnished with cilantro and green onions.

Su Zhiyan: “…Thanks, appreciate it.”

Chen Shuyu sat back down across from him, very pleased with her masterpiece, chattering away, “Let me tell you, the essence of hot pot dipping sauce is four words – put everything in it!”

“You literally put in everything that freaks Xiao Zhiyan out hahahahaha…” Wen Bei sat down too, pointing at the messy sauce dish and laughing until tears came out.

“He only ever eats sesame sauce, how boring.”

“Watch, he’s definitely going to go make his own bowl.”

As soon as they finished speaking, Su Zhiyan got up and walked to the sauce station.

“See—”

“Hmph!”

Behind him, Chen Shuyu and Wen Bei’s bickering voices continued. Su Zhiyan bent down to pick up a small bowl and scooped some sesame sauce for himself. Just as he was debating whether to add some white sugar, an out-of-place voice sounded beside his ear:

“Classmate Su,” Shen Nianjing leaned in, his smile somewhat punchable, “my group is complete now.”

“I know.”

Shen Nianjing’s pupils constricted, “You know??!!”

“How did you know?”

Su Zhiyan looked at him, initially planning to explain directly, but seeing his sensitive and alert expression, the words took an unconscious detour at his lips. He curled his lips into a smile, his eyes mischievous, “Because I’m smart.”

“…” Shen Nianjing was somewhat dazed.

It was the first time he’d seen such a lively expression on Su Zhiyan’s face.

His mind suddenly flashed back to their brief eye contact when he passed by earlier.

Those light tea-colored pupils, misty with steam, had lost some of their usual sharp, almond-shaped intensity. When they looked over without any particular emotion, they were startlingly bright, inexplicably reminiscent of a garden fountain on a summer day.

Not only were his hands beautiful, but his eyes were lovely too, Shen Nianjing thought unconsciously.

Su Zhiyan saw him staying silent for a long while, instead staring at him with a dazed look, and felt confused.

What was he looking at?

Just as he was about to speak, Shen Nianjing snapped back to reality with a start, a flash of panic crossing his eyes as if he’d thought of something terrifying.

“?” Su Zhiyan tilted his head.

What kind of reaction was this from this silly dog. Was he really that scary?

Well, he deserved it, Su Zhiyan smirked inwardly.

“Oh, forgot to tell you.” He patted Shen Nianjing’s shoulder, his voice floating softly into the latter’s ear-

“I signed up. See you then.”

“Respected rival~”

After speaking, he sprinkled crushed peanuts on his sesame sauce and left him with a cool, retreating figure.

Shen Nianjing: “…”

Heaven wants me dead.

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