Professor Yang strongly opposed Su Zhiyan’s plan to sign up for the modeling competition.
Outside the window, birds chirped incessantly in the trees, and the occasional murmur of passersby drifted up from below.
Su Zhiyan faced Professor Yang’s aged but stubborn expression, quietly waiting for the scolding.
“What’s the point of joining that competition?” Professor Yang jabbed at the documents beside him. “This project is on a tight schedule. What about it when you’re gone for half a month?”
“I’ll keep up with everything. You know how I am, Professor.” Su Zhiyan said with a sincere smile. “I’ll make sure to communicate with my seniors regularly and won’t delay our current progress.”
“I understand how important this project is for me. I won’t let your guidance go to waste.”
Professor Yang let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
“Leading a team in competitions is already complicated enough, not to mention you’ll have to stay glued to your computer day and night during those three days of the competition.”
“I can definitely handle it,” Su Zhiyan answered firmly.
Professor Yang stared at him for so long that Su Zhiyan started to wonder if he’d said something wrong.
“Why do you have to push yourself so hard?”
After a long pause, Professor Yang finally spoke.
He looked at Su Zhiyan with concern, his somewhat clouded gaze falling on the dark circles under Su Zhiyan’s eyes.
Su Zhiyan’s eyelashes trembled, and he suddenly couldn’t speak.
But of course, he had to sign up for the competition and attend the training.
He didn’t want to exhaust himself either, but if he stayed at school, he wouldn’t be able to sleep well for half a month.
The last time he couldn’t sleep for half a month, it nearly drove him crazy.
Back then, his brain felt like it was being squeezed tight. His once-smooth train of thought vanished completely. He couldn’t focus on books or lectures, and the slightest noise would startle him, as if his nerves were ten times more sensitive than usual.
He could barely remember how he’d gotten through that period, but he really didn’t want to experience such a terrible state of living and inefficient studying again.
So he had to go.
He believed that with proper sleep, he could definitely handle both tasks well.
It would just mean being a bit more tired.
“Don’t worry, Professor,” he smiled.
Seeing him like this, Professor Yang stopped objecting. He knew this student too well. Whatever he did, he had to do it perfectly. Once he made up his mind, he wouldn’t change it, stubborn as a mule.
But while he agreed, he still had to give some advice.
“If that’s the case, you have to adjust your approach. Learn to rely on your team more. Stop trying to do everything yourself.”
“Otherwise, your body won’t be able to take it.”
Hearing this, Su Zhiyan knew Professor Yang had agreed. He immediately bowed deeply, “I understand, thank you, Professor!”
“Hmph!” Professor Yang pursed his lips.
–
At nine o’clock on Sunday morning, two buses were parked at the fountain plaza by the north gate of the campus.
Su Zhiyan grabbed his backpack with one hand and was about to board one of them.
“Su-ge!” Someone jumped down from the other bus and called out to him.
Su Zhiyan turned around.
It was Gao Yue, a classmate he had taken classes with.
“That bus is full. Come sit with me on this one.” He wore a loose T-shirt and had a casual smile on his face.
Su Zhiyan walked over but didn’t respond to his invitation. Instead, he asked, “Is Shen Nianjing inside?”
“Huh?” Gao Yue looked completely confused. “No idea, I didn’t notice. Probably not.”
“By the way, those dark circles under your eyes look pretty bad. Even top students have to pull all-nighters?”
Su Zhiyan completely ignored his comment and looked up into the bus doorway with obvious urgency, not even waiting for Gao Yue before climbing aboard.
“Oh…?” Gao Yue scratched his head and followed him up.
He saw that instead of taking an empty seat, Su Zhiyan stood at the front of the bus and scanned everyone on board.
“What are you looking for?” He walked over.
Su Zhiyan paced back and forth twice before finally confirming.
Apart from a few people who had their heads down playing on their phones or catching up on sleep, there was no sign of Shen Nianjing.
“…” His mood soured further. With a grim expression, he went to check each person who had their head down.
“Hey, excuse me.”
“Not him.”
“Hello.”
“Not him…”
“Excuse me.”
“Not him!”
“…”
Su Zhiyan walked from front to back, calling out to seven or eight people, checking each one.
Looking at the last person’s confused and shocked face after being called out, Su Zhiyan finally realized how ridiculous his behavior must have seemed to others.
Damn. He rubbed his temples, feeling his headache getting worse.
“S-Su-ge, what’s wrong?” Gao Yue stammered. He was acting way too strange today.
But Su Zhiyan ignored him again, getting off the bus and rushing straight to the other full bus.
Gao Yue: “?” It was confirmed. There was definitely something wrong with Su Zhiyan today. He must have been replaced by someone else!
After checking both buses, there was still no sign of Shen Nianjing.
This guy really hadn’t shown up!
Su Zhiyan let out a cold laugh and sat down in an empty seat in the first row. He glanced at the pedestrian walkway outside the north gate, grinding his teeth in anger.
How dare that good-for-nothing be late even on a Sunday??
How the hell was he supposed to sleep like this!
Su Zhiyan felt frustrated thinking about how he hadn’t caught Shen Nianjing these past few days.
Three whole days! A living, breathing person just vanished from his life. Even waiting after class didn’t work. The weird thing was, his informant told him Shen Nianjing attended class on Friday!
Thinking about what he’d gone through these past three nights, Su Zhiyan closed his eyes briefly, feeling the frustration in his chest build up even more.
In his dreams now, he no longer saw a faceless version of Shen Nianjing.
Instead, it was completely and utterly Shen Nianjing himself.
Seeing that familiar, punch-worthy face so close to his in his dreams made Su Zhiyan want to die.
He opened his eyes and glared at the school gate.
This time he refused to believe he couldn’t catch Shen Nianjing. The competition was something Shen Nianjing had signed up for himself, it was unavoidable!
As departure time approached, people kept boarding the bus. Several asked Su Zhiyan if they could sit next to him, but he waved them all away.
This seat was a cage he’d specially set for Shen Nianjing. How could anyone else take it?
Just as the last person was about to board, Su Zhiyan glanced toward the gate one more time and finally saw a familiar figure.
“Sorry, sorry!”
Shen Nianjing apologized to the supervising teacher who had been frantically messaging him, wearing a sheepish smile and still catching his breath.
“Alright, hurry up and find a seat.” The teacher was always lenient with minor issues like this. After a light scolding, he told Shen Nianjing to find a seat.
Shen Nianjing nodded quickly, looking around until his gaze suddenly froze.
Su Zhiyan was sitting by the window behind him, watching him with great interest.
He looked very pleased with himself.
“…” Shen Nianjing swallowed.
Was it too late to run now?
“What are you standing there for? Sit down!” The teacher urged again from behind.
Shen Nianjing startled and forced himself to respond, “Okay.”
Still hopeful, he looked at the back rows, but all he saw were seats packed with people, not a single empty spot.
“Classmate, everyone’s waiting for you,” Su Zhiyan called out with a hint of a smile.
Shen Nianjing probably ran all the way here. His face still held a lingering flush from the exercise, and his forehead hair was completely disheveled. He looked like he just woke up and hastily ran his fingers through it.
Combined with his current hesitant state, he looked quite flustered.
Su Zhiyan smiled faintly, his mood instantly improving.
Under his amused gaze, Shen Nianjing slowly sat down in the empty seat beside him, his whole body leaning toward the aisle as if ready to jump up at any moment. Anyone who saw him would want to ask, “Does that seat have thorns or something?”
So Su Zhiyan did just that.
“Are you feeling unwell, or is the seat uncomfortable?”
Shen Nianjing’s whole body trembled as he stiffly replied, “Neither.”
“Oh, then make sure to hold onto the handrail when we start moving. Wouldn’t want you flying out.”
“…” Shen Nianjing silently adjusted his posture but remained rigid and motionless.
Su Zhiyan watched him from the corner of his eye.
Every time he appeared before Shen Nianjing, the other would look extremely guarded. He’d almost gotten used to it by now.
But ever since his dreams had evolved, looking at this face made him feel more and more uncomfortable.
Tch, if he felt uncomfortable, why should the person causing his discomfort feel any better?
“You were quite eager to go home on Friday,” Su Zhiyan turned his head, watching Shen Nianjing’s increasingly nervous expression. “You probably ran off before class even ended, right?”
Shen Nianjing stayed silent.
“You also skipped your part-time job on Saturday afternoon. What’s wrong, was it because of me?” He raised an eyebrow, his voice casual but his question extremely sincere.
“No, I changed jobs,” Shen Nianjing said through gritted teeth, staring straight ahead.
“Oh, so it wasn’t because of me. And here I thought I was causing trouble in your life?”
“…” Shen Nianjing closed his eyes, refusing to accept reality.
He should have known he’d run into Su Zhiyan on the bus. If he’d thought of it earlier, he could have left earlier and avoided him!
Instead of suffering through every single minute like this!
“You didn’t reply to my WeChat message yesterday either.”
“I’ve been busy with the new job, didn’t have time to check my phone.”
Actually, he’d seen it and quickly deleted the chat window, pretending he never saw it.
Shen Nianjing secretly glanced at Su Zhiyan.
He was looking down at his phone. His slightly overgrown bangs fell softly by his eyes like feathers.
Wolf in sheep’s clothing[mfn]人面兽心 (rén miàn – shòu xīn) – lit. human face, beastly heart (idiom) / fig. mild in appearance but malicious in nature[/mfn]. Shen Nianjing looked away.
Was he checking their chat history to interrogate him further?
What if he asked why there was no chat window?
Should he say WeChat had a bug?
Unexpectedly, Su Zhiyan stopped pestering him.
In the quiet atmosphere, the bus started moving, slowly leaving the school gates. The silent compartment began filling with various sounds, including the laughter of people playing games in the back. Shen Nianjing felt the stagnant air starting to flow a little, and he could finally breathe again.
The person beside him remained quiet, so Shen Nianjing sneaked another look.
Su Zhiyan’s phone screen had long gone dark, his eyes were half-closed, and his thick, curled eyelashes cast a curved shadow in the sunlight.
He had fallen asleep.
“Phew…” Shen Nianjing relaxed.
“Ah!” Feeling a weight on his shoulder, he suddenly turned his head to find Su Zhiyan’s head had tilted onto his shoulder as he slept, breathing evenly and quite soundly.
Shen Nianjing: “…”
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