The matter involving the archaeology students was only hotly discussed in the history department's group chat for half a day. By evening, it had disappeared with the unified message from all levels of advisors: "The matter is under investigation. Please do not believe or spread rumors. Anyone found to be maliciously spreading rumors will be severely punished."
The college's so-called "severe punishment" is nothing more than a talk with the counselor, a college-wide reprimand, and at worst, a deduction of points in the final comprehensive evaluation. It doesn't amount to anything as serious as the graduation certificate or degree certificate, but even so, no one wants to cause unnecessary trouble.
Later, Song Fei heard in private that the archaeology department was indeed missing a male student. As for the reason for his absence, there were many versions, such as "dismembered and murdered", "disappeared during an archaeological internship", "eloped with a female teacher", "dropped out of school due to inability to pay tuition", and "internet addict who just didn't want to study anymore". Song Fei was not a curious person, so he heard it and forgot about it, and the matter passed.
Before we knew it, the day of the sports meet arrived.
November, the golden autumn season, is a time of harvest. Songfei University is located in an inland city, where early November offers pleasantly cool breezes—perfect for holding a sports meet.
A stirring march, a melodious announcer, a bustling sports field, and square formations everywhere—youth and vitality abound, if you ignore the students secretly playing on their phones in the stands.
"Now marching towards us is the Sports Academy! Look at their synchronized steps! Listen to their resounding slogans! They are the rising sun, they are the future..."
"These words are so outdated." Ren Zhe couldn't stand it anymore. His phone battery life was terrible, and he didn't want to carry a power bank everywhere. He originally thought that it was just an opening to keep him awake for a while, and he could play it later if he got really bored, so he could save some power. But he was hit with a brutal attack from an opening phrase that was 100% downloaded from the Internet.
Xiangyang, who had just finished a game of mobile game, was speechless: "You actually listen to that?"
Ren Zhe glanced enviously at his roommate's domestically made phone with its incredible battery life, wondering if he should also express his love for the country next time he gets a new phone: "The lyrics are a bit lacking, but the girl holding the sign is pleasing to the eye."
The students in the History Department's marching team were all freshmen, which is why they can now sit in the stands and comment on others.
Song Fei scrolled through Weibo for a while, finding it rather uninteresting. But after hearing Ren Zhe's words, she reflexively looked over. They were in the second area after the main stage. Just then, the sports college's square formation walked right in front of their area. Sure enough, the girl holding the sign had a great figure, neither too thin nor too fat, with particularly beautiful lines. Although her features were only delicate, she exuded healthy beauty from head to toe.
Following the School of Physical Education was the School of Journalism and Communication. If the girl holding the sign from the School of Physical Education had a great figure with a defined waist and legs, then the girl from the School of Journalism and Communication had a great figure with a defined waist and bust. But even more beautiful than her bust was her face—simply stunning. Song Fei knew that in departments like the Arts and Broadcasting departments, regardless of gender, the students' looks were generally above average, many significantly so. But even among these students, this girl stood out immediately. Moreover, her beauty wasn't aggressive; it was a gentle, clean beauty that made people feel very comfortable.
Perhaps it was because the male students in the stands were staring too directly at her, but when the girl walked over, she actually turned her head and smiled at the stands.
"Bright eyes and white teeth, a charming smile." Wang Qingyuan forcefully inserted two lines of literary phrase.
Song Fei didn't understand what he was hearing and was feeling frustrated when the female voice from the loudspeaker became increasingly louder—
"Now approaching us is the School of Life Sciences! The sea is wide enough for fish to leap, the sky is high enough for birds to fly..."
He didn't hear a word the announcer said after that; he was too busy looking for people. Unfortunately, he didn't find any familiar faces in the square formation. Maybe the ones from his department who were marching in the square formation were also freshmen. Watching the School of Life Sciences' team walk away, Song Fei thought with a little disappointment.
A cool breeze suddenly arose.
Song Fei was startled by the gust of wind and suddenly realized, "Damn it, why am I looking for that bastard? I was the one who broke up with him. It's ridiculous to still be thinking about him now."
Shaking his head, Song Fei immediately looked for Xiang Yang to distract him: "Yangzi, when is your girlfriend arriving?"
After much effort, Mrs. Xiang emerged victorious. Xiang Yang not only opened the door to allow the girl to watch the sports meet, but also revealed the sad story behind his participation in the Bagua Tai Chi Fan competition. Unexpectedly, the girl was very excited and not only came by herself, but also brought two of her roommates and best friends.
Xiang Yang sighed dejectedly, "Noon, isn't our performance in the afternoon?"
"So he came all this way just to see you," Ren Zhe said with envy and jealousy. "Why can't I find true love?"
Xiang Yang sincerely gave him advice: "You're always thinking about the girls from our school, that won't do. Let me tell you, distance makes the heart grow fonder. You have to set your sights on girls from other schools."
Ren Zhe's eyes lit up: "Didn't your wife say she was bringing two girlfriends over this afternoon? What do they look like? Do you have any photos?"
Xiang Yang looked wary: "If I have photos of my wife's best friend on my phone, wouldn't this case be too complicated!"
Ren Zhe rolled his eyes: "Why don't you look in your wife's WeChat Moments?"
Xiang Yang slapped his forehead and quickly grabbed his phone to look at it. Ren Zhe immediately leaned over to look. Wang Qingyuan appreciated beauty, but didn't seem very interested in pursuing it, and Song Fei wasn't interested either, so they simply started scrolling through Weibo again.
The morning sports meet passed by in a lukewarm manner, as most of the events were preliminary rounds. The participants weren't at their most excited, and the spectators were even less interested. Except for when the sportsmanship inspection team came by, Song Fei would take a moment to clap his hands and wave an empty plastic bottle filled with pebbles. The rest of the time was spent engrossed in playing on his phone and quickly glancing at the competitions involving the School of History.
In addition to the military boxing performance by the School of Mathematics.
As two bitter gourds on the same rope, Song Fei had a special feeling for his brothers in the School of Mathematics, especially when he saw them wearing their khaki military uniforms and humming and hawing, his surging emotions reached their peak.
At noon, Xiang Yang treated everyone, including the entire class of 440, to a special meal at the stir-fry window on the second floor of the cafeteria, along with his wife and two close friends. Xiang Yang's girlfriend was adorable, with a round face, big eyes, and long eyelashes that fluttered when she blinked—a classic Lolita. Ren Zhe tried his best to get close to the other two girls, but they weren't really interested in him, instead always talking to Wang Qingyuan. Wang Qingyuan politely pushed up his glasses, responding with "uh-huh," "oh," or occasionally "I don't know." Eventually, the girls understood and stopped trying to embarrass themselves.
Song Fei wasn't as desperate as Ren Zhe, but he wasn't as aloof as Wang Qingyuan either. His liking for men and his desire to be noticed by women weren't contradictory; the former was a matter of sexual orientation, the latter a matter of charm. So, as they were almost finished eating, he asked half-jokingly, "Why isn't anyone paying attention to me?"
The two girls looked at each other and burst out laughing.
The girl said, "You seem a bit of a womanizer."
Song Fei felt like beating a drum to protest his innocence, and asked the second sister, unwilling to give up, "You think so too?"
The second girl shook her head: "You just seem to be not very good at studying."
Song Fei paused for two seconds, then turned back to look at the girl: "You're right."
Even the worst student has a proud stubbornness.
The first program in the afternoon was Tai Chi Fan. I suppose the organizing committee knew that this was the time when people were most likely to fall asleep, so they naively thought they could use a large-scale group performance to create an atmosphere and boost morale.
The entire group of 440 changed into flowing white Tai Chi uniforms and held resounding red Tai Chi fans. As they walked towards the playground, they became the center of attention everywhere they went and were constantly photographed. The scene was absolutely stunning.
Once they entered the playground and arrived at the assembly point in the corner, surrounded by white and red buildings, they finally felt a sense of security.
While the Tai Chi masters were standing idly in twos and threes before the appointed time, Madam Xiang secretly slipped over, pulled Xiang Yang aside, and started cheering for her boyfriend: "Oppa, good luck!"
He flicked his fan at Oppa with a whoosh, managing to fan himself twice with great difficulty, but his buzz cut didn't budge an inch in the wind: "Watch out, hyung!"
As they were talking, several athletes dressed in shorts and t-shirts entered from the entrance of the playground. The Tai Chi fan competition was next, and these athletes also needed to arrive early to check in. The figure I'd been searching for all morning was now there.
Song Fei shrank back into the crowd, silently chanting to himself, "You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me, whoever sees me is a bastard..."
"Song Fei?!"
That bastard called him.
Song Fei forced a smile and walked over, asking, "A competition?"
Qi Yan nodded, then looked her ex-boyfriend up and down suspiciously.
Song Fei also flicked his fan open, but wisely didn't fan himself: "Bagua Tai Chi Fan."
Qi Yan laughed, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
This is when Qi Yan looks the most harmless; he's so innocent and kind that he seems like a good person.
Song Fei almost succumbed to that smile again, but luckily the other person said, "Quite cute."
Song Fei really wanted to put on his spiked shoes and kick him.
Soon it was time to assemble, and the announcer broadcast over the loudspeaker, "Next, please enjoy the performance by the School of History and Culture, Bagua Tai Chi Fan. Let's give them a round of applause!" All the second-year students from the School of History, who had already lined up, marched into the center of the playground.
Qi Yan and about twenty other athletes who were going to compete later watched from the side of the track, especially Qi Yan, who was very interested.
Song Fei felt uneasy, and even as the music started, he kept glancing off at the other side of the screen.
As the saying goes, one cannot do two things at once. The result of this lack of focus was that during the "White Crane Spreads Wings" maneuver, he lost his grip, and the fan flew out, striking Xiangyang squarely on the back of the head. That was a stainless steel fan rib! Although the impact from the fan surface wasn't as powerful as a direct stab, it still hurt just watching it. Sure enough, Xiangyang let out a strange howl; his "Tiger Descends the Mountain" maneuver had failed, but he immediately followed up with a graceful "Great Roc Spreads Wings" maneuver, flying back with fluid, powerful movements. Song Fei thought to himself, "This is the power of love!" He quickly ran a few steps to retrieve the fan and continued his powerful "Mount Hua Chopping."
After finally getting through the performance, Song Fei quickly left the playground by blending into the group. As she walked out the gate, she saw Qi Yan laughing so hard she was doubled over.
Song Fei thought to himself, feeling resigned, "I've never had a great image in front of this person. What difference does it make if I do it this time?"
When Song Fei returned to the stands, Qi Yan was already standing on the starting line. She only found out from the announcement that he was participating in the 10,000 meters. When they were together, Song Fei had indeed been dragged by him to run on the track at night, ostensibly for exercise, but after a couple of times, Song Fei refused and never went again. Thinking about it now, from their study habits to their lifestyles to their hobbies, they had absolutely nothing in common; it was truly amazing that they could date for a whole semester.
The starting gun fired, and about twenty people on the starting line started running at a leisurely pace.
Qi Yan stood out in the crowd, standing at 1.83 meters tall with legs that seemed to go on forever below her navel. Her running was particularly captivating, exuding both power and beauty. As Song Fei watched, her throat grew dry, and she unconsciously swallowed, reluctantly averting her gaze and forcing herself to look down at her phone.
He liked Qi Yan, and was the one who initially flirted with him. When Qi Yan agreed to date him, he was so happy he couldn't sleep for days. But as their relationship deepened, disharmony gradually increased, most noticeably in their daily lives. Qi Yan's life revolved around the classroom, library, cafeteria, and dormitory; he attended classes when he had them, studied when he didn't, and even exercised on the playground in the evenings. In contrast, Song Fei's life was the same: classes when he had them, dormitory when he didn't, and he never went to the playground except for PE class, and he never went to the library. At first, Song Fei could pretend to be a good student and accompany him, but after a while, he couldn't take it anymore. Qi Yan could bury himself in studying all day, while he felt like he was living a life of unbearable torment sitting next to him. No matter how handsome Qi Yan's profile was, it couldn't be appreciated like in a TV drama. Later, Song Fei would avoid Qi Yan's invitations to study whenever possible. Qi Yan wasn't stupid; he figured it out after a few times, and then began his long educational journey, in short—criticism. The gist of it was that Song Fei was wrong in this and that, that he was just wasting his time at school, and that he wouldn't amount to anything in the future, and so on. Song Fei wasn't known for his good temper, and after being criticized repeatedly, he started arguing. These arguments weren't about right or wrong; Song Fei simply disliked the underlying disdain in the other person's words. If they looked down on him so much, why did they agree to date in the first place? But Qi Yan wouldn't even bother arguing with him. Every time Song Fei lost his temper, Qi Yan would tell him to calm down, think things through, and then talk things over. Song Fei was always seething with anger, and finally, he couldn't calm down and broke up with Qi Yan.
All the classmates I know say that Qi Yan is good-looking, has a good personality, and is good at studying; there's practically nothing wrong with her.
Song Fei felt that he might have been blaming his own people for all the bad things.