WAYCAV Chapter 12

Su Zhiyan returned to his dorm and quickly made a schedule, sharing all the arrangements with his two teammates.

Having participated in the competition twice before, he was familiar with all the procedures. However, Zhou Zhou and Wang Mingzhi were both first-time participants and weren’t skilled in modeling or programming.

So Su Zhiyan planned to handle everything himself. This would be both faster and more efficient.

In fact, he had considered dividing the work between them, which would give him more time to work on the project.

But between teaching them step by step versus doing it alone, the latter was clearly easier.

Looking at his completed schedule, Su Zhiyan had perfectly divided these seven days. Plus, he planned to visit the classroom daily to ensure he could see Shen Nianjing, which would help him maintain good sleep quality…

Everything was under control.

In the afternoon, Su Zhiyan went to classroom 302 in Building B with Zhou Zhou.

The teaching building in G University’s new campus was bright and spacious. Even when full, the classrooms never felt cramped. Like Shen Nianjing, Su Zhiyan preferred sitting in the back rows and entering through the back door.

So as soon as he stepped in, he saw Shen Nianjing sitting in the last row, enthusiastically waving at him and pointing to the seat beside him, as if saying “I saved you a spot.”

Su Zhiyan immediately became alert.

Normally, Shen Nianjing would lower his head or even try to hide under the desk when Su Zhiyan entered the classroom.

Why was he so enthusiastic now?

Something wasn’t right.

Su Zhiyan pretended not to see him and walked past, sitting in the front row with Zhou Zhou.

“Why aren’t you sitting with Shen Nianjing today? I thought you liked discussing with him during class?” Zhou Zhou asked.

“Already sat together this morning.”

“?” Zhou Zhou looked confused, clearly not following the logic.

As the class was about to end, Su Zhiyan’s phone vibrated.

He glanced at it and saw a notification from “Dream Thief.”

“…” What was wrong with this guy?

Using the person in front as cover, Su Zhiyan lowered his head and unlocked his phone screen.

A flood of messages popped up.

[Dream Thief: Why aren’t you sitting with me? /sad.jpg]
[Dream Thief: But it’s okay, we can both study well even if we’re not sitting together /thumbs up]
[Dream Thief: Want to go to the computer lab together later?]
[Dream Thief: I already reserved spots in the lab before coming to class, so we won’t need to fight for seats]

He followed up with a smug dog meme[mfn][/mfn].

“……”

Su Zhiyan took a deep breath. He lifted his fingers to type something back but didn’t know where to start. After hesitating for a while, he finally began typing.

[Su: What’s gotten into you suddenly?]

The reply came instantly.

[Dream Thief: Level 10 winds from the northwest]
[Dream Thief: There’s been quite a bit of extreme weather lately, be careful]

Su Zhiyan couldn’t understand what had gotten into this idiot. He simply muted and put down his phone – out of sight, out of mind.

Although the notifications were silent now, the screen kept lighting up with message after message.

Su Zhiyan opened WeChat again and tapped a few times randomly.

Finally, the world fell completely silent.

After class, Shen Nianjing grabbed Su Zhiyan at the doorway, almost scaring Zhou Zhou to death.

“What a creepy entrance!” Zhou Zhou patted his chest to calm down, noticing Su Zhiyan’s instantly stiffened back and Shen Nianjing’s somewhat embarrassed expression.

Oh? He raised an eyebrow and instinctively waved goodbye. “I’ll head off first!” He left without looking back, leaving the two alone at the corner of the corridor.

“Uh…” Shen Nianjing quickly withdrew his hand and looked up at Su Zhiyan.

Su Zhiyan watched him warily. His expression was calm and silent, probably waiting for him to speak first.

“Are you going to the computer lab?” Shen Nianjing asked.

Su Zhiyan frowned. To be honest, with how weird this guy was acting today, he was quite curious to see what he was up to.

But going along with Shen Nianjing’s wishes irritated him.

Why should he go to the computer lab just because Shen Nianjing said so? Just looking at his face was annoying enough.

“No.”

He refused bluntly, and in the next moment saw an unusual gleam in Shen Nianjing’s eyes.

Su Zhiyan: “?”
What kind of reaction was that?

With an uneasy feeling, Su Zhiyan was about to speak when his phone buzzed in his shoulder bag, interrupting his unspoken words.

He took it out and opened the messages. Several voice messages and files filled the screen.

He looked down at it for a long time.

Shen Nianjing just stood in front of him, watching quietly, his eyes falling on Su Zhiyan’s profile.

High bridge of the nose, fair skin, smooth jawline.

Especially those eyes, like amber jewels from any angle.

Except when they were giving him those inexplicable looks.

Truth be told, when Su Zhiyan acted normal, he was quite handsome.

He should have been the male lead in a novel, at least.

As Shen Nianjing looked him over, he suddenly remembered Su Zhiyan’s peaceful, gentle sleeping face in the car earlier.

A strange feeling immediately wrapped around his heart, dense and tingling.

He saw Su Zhiyan finish replying to his senior, frowning slightly, fingers continuously typing responses.

What was so urgent?

He unconsciously took a small step forward.

The light suddenly dimmed. Su Zhiyan looked up, meeting Shen Nianjing’s somewhat curious gaze.

“What are you looking at?” he asked, then turned to go downstairs.

Shen Nianjing followed unhurriedly behind him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry into your privacy, just… curious.”

Curious about what could make him so serious suddenly.

This guy is actually curious about me? Su Zhiyan was a bit surprised.

“It’s just Professor Yang’s project progress. Is that so interesting to you?”

The project itself isn’t interesting, Shen Nianjing thought, then quickly dismissed the thought. No, the Vice Dean’s project was interesting.

What else could it be?

“Not really.”

While his mind wandered, Su Zhiyan’s eyes couldn’t help but drift toward him.

He felt that Shen Nianjing was acting guilty about something, but couldn’t figure out what. After all, he hadn’t even said anything just now.

This uncertainty made Su Zhiyan uneasy.

Shen Nianjing had been acting strange since afternoon class, and now he was actually curious about him? A few days ago, this would have been impossible.

But he had no time to analyze Shen Nianjing right now.

“What are you thinking about?” Shen Nianjing couldn’t help asking when he saw Su Zhiyan’s silence.

“About the progress.”

Su Zhiyan said softly.

The project pace had suddenly accelerated. He needed to make the most of his time these few days, or he couldn’t explain his earlier insistence on joining the competition training.

But this guy… Su Zhiyan looked at Shen Nianjing, who smiled sincerely, appearing kind and friendly.

“Maybe I’ll go to the computer lab with you after all.”

He could work on the project anywhere.

“!” Shen Nianjing’s expression froze, eyes widening, feeling his face twitch.

“What’s wrong?” A flash of realization hit Su Zhiyan. He said softly, “You didn’t invite me thinking I’d definitely refuse, did you?”

“That would be strange. It’s just the computer lab, not a crematorium. Why would I refuse?”

But you already did refuse! Shen Nianjing clutched his head in agony.

Never mind a crematorium – the computer lab might as well be his crematorium.

“Besides, what would happen if I go, and what would happen if I don’t?”

Nothing would happen… Shen Nianjing wanted to bang his head against the ground.

If Su Zhiyan was going, he couldn’t exactly drag him away or suddenly claim he was busy, could he?

“O-okay, let’s go.” Shen Nianjing felt deflated even speaking.

The computer lab was packed, far more crowded than Su Zhiyan expected.

“Didn’t you say you’d already reserved spots?” Su Zhiyan asked leisurely, looking at the overcrowded lab and clusters of people discussing problems.

“Lao Qin and the others… they did reserve spots…” Shen Nianjing smiled sheepishly.

How could he have known Su Zhiyan would actually come? He’d just said that casually…

He thought there might be a few empty seats, but everyone had finished their meals early and rushed over.

Qin Qi, who had been busy with his work, looked up and saw Shen Nianjing. He stood up and called out, “Shen-ge, you’re finally here! If you’d come any later, someone else would’ve taken the seats.”

“!” Shen Nianjing glanced at him sharply, frantically blinking to signal him.

Qin Qi: “?”

Su Zhiyan’s eyes narrowed slightly. “So you really did reserve spots ahead.”

Shen Nianjing covered his face.

What a mess! Would he drop dead tomorrow just for stepping into the classroom with his left foot first?

As he lowered his hands to explain, Su Zhiyan was already gone.

Shen Nianjing slumped his shoulders and walked over to Qin Qi, his legs weak. He collapsed into a chair and let out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve been pulled from the water.” Qin Qi was worried.

Shen Nianjing nodded with lifeless eyes, rubbing his face and sighing, “Pretty much, it was a matter of life and death.”

Qin Qi: ?

Over the next few days, Shen Nianjing spent all his time outside of class in the computer lab with his two teammates.

There were five rooms on one floor, all packed with people, filled with complaints everywhere.

“Have you been in a good mood lately?” Qin Qi asked Shen Nianjing.

He’d been full of energy these days, enthusiastic about everything. Not only was he always smiling, he’d even stop to feed stray cats sausages. Even more terrifying – his appetite had been insatiable!

They say the stomach reflects emotions. Just from how Shen Nianjing fought him for food every day, he could tell this guy’s mood couldn’t be that bad.

“The proposal defense is this afternoon, and everyone’s so anxious they’re practically skin and bones, but you’re eating more than a pig!”

“How can you be so at ease?” Qin Qi shook his head.

Shen Nianjing hummed while summarizing his thesis outline, standing out starkly next to the two people who were arguing red-faced over key points.

“My mood is pretty good.” After finishing the outline, Shen Nianjing downloaded and shared it to the group chat. The whole process smooth and highly efficient.

“Why? Don’t tell me it’s because of the proposal?”

“Partly, but not entirely,” Shen Nianjing said.

Qin Qi: “Then don’t tell me. I’m too anxious right now to watch you being so happy.”

Shen Nianjing naturally had no plans to explain. Even if he announced it with a megaphone, no one would understand anyway.

He was happy because he rarely saw Su Zhiyan these days.

Even when they ran into each other in the cafeteria, it was just a brief passing moment. Besides that, they had almost no other interaction.

These simple, peaceful days were precious. He needed to cherish them well.

Maybe all his days would be like this from now on?

“We’ve been in the computer lab for days, but haven’t seen anyone from Su Zhiyan’s team.”

Hearing “Su Zhiyan” suddenly, Shen Nianjing’s eyebrow twitched, but he kept a straight face and asked, “And?”

How was it that as soon as he thought about this person, someone mentioned him? Was this some philosophical effect or something metaphysical?

Shen Nianjing calmly shut down his computer and looked at Qin Qi.

Was this guy some kind of psychic or something?

Qin Qi stared at his computer, completely missing Shen Nianjing’s suspicious look, and continued.

“I just find it strange. Everyone’s analyzing competition problems and practicing programming.”

“Not just now when classes are ending. Even when classes first started, I rarely saw their team in the computer lab.”

“And that Su Zhiyan, isn’t he your department’s top student? How come he’s not even attending classes these days?”

Qin Qi was a Physics student, but he’d seen the Math Department’s star student on the school forum, so he had some impression of Su Zhiyan.

Their teammate, who had been listening to their conversation, commented indifferently, “He has his own project to follow. This competition probably doesn’t matter much to him.”

Doesn’t matter?

Shen Nianjing blinked.

He remembered how Su Zhiyan had previously challenged him as a “rival” and how serious and meticulous he was when discussing topics. This wasn’t the kind of person who would neglect one area of expertise for another…

On the contrary, when faced with thorny situations, he would likely be very confident and even more eager to tackle them.

But why was he thinking about this? Wasn’t Su Zhiyan being busy a good thing for him?

Let him be busy. Being busy was good.

Young people should be ambitious! Yes!

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.

You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get access to the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.