Under the deep moonlight, the New Year's Eve party of Class 1, Martial Arts, gradually quieted down from its lively and bustling atmosphere. With thirteen minutes left until the end of the first day of the new year, the body was already sending out sleepy signals that it should rest, but the brain was still immersed in the afterglow of excitement, unwilling to shut down for a long time.
Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu set up their Go board game again. Last time, Qiao Siqi was completely outmatched, and this time he was determined to get revenge. Li Jingyu was browsing the bookshelves—for the book-loving Li, every book in the closed-shelf library was like a precious jewel—but as soon as he pulled one out, before he even opened the cover, Luo Geng dragged him out, insisting on teaching him military boxing in the middle of the night.
Li Jingyu was baffled and could only honestly reveal his thoughts: "You value martial arts, while I value literature. We have different paths and cannot work together."
Luo Geng frowned, his eyebrows furrowing to 8:20: "What's so interesting about reading books?"
Li Jingyu sighed softly: "Brother Luo may not understand, but a person with a wealth of knowledge naturally exudes elegance."
Luo Geng rolled his eyes speechlessly: "Brother Li, wake up! What good will getting angry do now?"
"..." Li Jingyu thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed a very pointed question. To date, there is no evidence that zombies would be subdued by a human's extraordinary demeanor and thus abandon their pursuit of devouring you.
Luo Geng came prepared this time. He took Li Jingyu's hand, his eyes gleaming, and spoke earnestly: "Why shouldn't a man carry a Wu hook and seize fifty states beyond the passes? Please ascend the Lingyan Pavilion for a moment, for which scholar has ever become a marquis of ten thousand households?"
Li Jingyu was immediately filled with emotion, and with the surge of passion in his chest, he made a decisive decision: "From today onwards, I, Li Jingyu, will abandon literature and take up martial arts!"
With his mental burden lifted, the next step was to forge ahead without hesitation. However, it was already late, and Luo Geng planned to explain the various moves to Li Jingyu first, and then practice them at dawn the next morning.
Watching Luo Geng swiftly write down various moves on the paper, such as the bow stance punch, the throat-piercing kick, and the horse stance horizontal strike, Li Jingyu felt as if he were watching a master craftsman creating a martial arts manual. Coupled with the fact that the other party had inspired his lofty ambitions with just a poem, Li Jingyu's admiration soared to the heavens: "Brother Luo is truly a man of both literary and martial talents, a dragon among men!"
Luo Geng's pen tip slipped, and the final stroke of his counterattack hook kick went too far. He put down his pen, scratched his head sheepishly, and blushed with embarrassment: "You don't need to flatter me like that. I've buried myself in my studies for more than ten years, learned all the math, physics, and chemistry, and devoured literature, philosophy, and history. Who doesn't know a couple of ancient poems by heart?"
Li Jingyu disagreed: "High school already separates students into arts and sciences tracks."
Luo Gengle: "Then you don't have to forget everything you've learned from the teacher."
"I've already paid it all back..." Li Jingyu lowered his head in shame, then quickly raised it again to correct himself, "No, I just didn't understand it when I was learning it. Especially physics, things like universal gravitation, electricity and magnetism, and that left-hand rule and right-hand rule, I never understood them!"
"This is so easy to divide," Luo Geng couldn't understand Whale Brother's learning difficulties at all. "Didn't the teacher make you memorize the mnemonic?"
Li Jingyu was stunned: "What incantation?"
Luo Geng sighed incredulously, picked up his pen again with one hand, and put his arm around Li Jingyu's neck with the other: "I'll give you a few simple diagrams and you'll understand. Left is electric motor, right is generator, right is spiral magnetic field lines..."
What are you thinking about?
Lin Dilei's gentle, smiling question pulled Song Fei back to reality. At that moment, he was hiding deep between two inconspicuous rows of bookshelves, letting his thoughts drift away.
"I wasn't thinking about anything," Song Fei told the truth. These past few days had been too stressful and grueling; it was a rare moment of peace and quiet under the bright moon and stars, and he just wanted to clear his mind for a while. "Why did you come here?"
Lin Dilei sighed, looking utterly dejected: "There are two crazy people over there, I came here to hide."
Song Fei blinked blankly: "Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu are playing Gomoku again?"
Lin Dilei shook her head frantically, and finally said righteously, "I take back all my previous criticisms and slanders of Gomoku. Compared to high school physics, Gomoku is simply too cute."
Song Fei was speechless: "Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan?" Apart from these two academic geniuses who still managed to find time to read books even when the zombies were besieging the city, Song Fei couldn't think of a second pair of candidates.
Unexpectedly, the answer was the second group: "Luo Geng and Li Jingyu".
Song Fei asked in surprise, "Isn't Li Jingyu from the School of Literature?"
Lin Dilei sat down and sighed helplessly, "Yes. But he's suddenly become interested in big m and small m."
Song Fei searched his memory but couldn't remember: "What was that?"
Lin Dilei: "The formula for universal gravitation".
Song Fei: "..."
Lin Dilei: "..."
Song, a student from the History Department: "Let's change the subject."
Lin, a student from the Journalism Department: "I think it's a good idea."
In fact, Lin Dilei came specifically to find Song Fei. Although she was indeed reminded of her childhood trauma by things like gravity and electromagnetic induction, the latter only sped up her search for people: "Do you think the disaster will pass?"
Song Fei nodded without hesitation: "Definitely."
Lin Dilei smiled and said, "So we'll have to continue studying next semester."
Song Fei grinned at her and said sincerely, "I think I can fall in love with learning."
"And what about Qi Yan?" Lin Dilei suddenly asked, "Can he still fall in love?"
Song Fei was caught off guard, and her stunned expression resembled that of a frightened hamster.
Lin Dilei laughed so hard she almost fell over: "What kind of expression is that?"
Song Fei was speechless: "Sister, could you please give me a warning bell before asking this kind of question?"
Lin Dilei leaned closer and whispered, "Tell me the truth, and I promise I won't tell anyone."
Song Fei swallowed hard: "Your eager gaze doesn't seem very reliable."
Lin Dilei pushed his head irritably: "Are you even a man? Why is it so hard for you to say a few words!"
Song Fei readily accepted the provocation: "I haven't said I don't like it. Her looks, her figure, her big... well, I won't go into details. Who wouldn't find her pleasing to the eye? But as the song goes, falling in love is always easy, but getting along is too difficult. If it's not meant to be, don't force it."
Lin Dilei looked at him quietly for a long time, then said softly, "You liked him back then because he was good-looking and had a good figure?"
Song Fei paused, speechless.
Aside from Wang Qingyuan, the only people in the entire school who knew about his relationship with Qi Yan were the people in the group chat. However, no one knew the details of how the two of them had gotten together. At first, various speculations arose, but later a consensus gradually formed—everyone loves a handsome guy, and Song Fei must have used all her charm to pounce on him.
Song Fei never explained it to anyone, including Qi Yan.
That statement is only half true.
It's true he initiated the contact, but during that time, neither Qi Yan nor he revealed their true identities in the group chat, unlike other group members who constantly posted photos. At that time, Qi Yan was just a profile picture without any personal information in his eyes. They chatted in the group chat, got to know each other, confirmed their relationship, and then met in person. He didn't know if Qi Yan had indirectly found out his identity beforehand, but he didn't do that.
What he liked was Qi Yan, who didn't talk much in the group chat, but whose every comment was direct and sincere, never rambling on and on. When the two chatted privately, Qi Yan was also straightforward and honest, so you didn't have to guess what she meant behind her words; it was reassuring and reassuring.
Of course, the fact that he turned out to be a handsome guy after meeting him, and that he was honest and straightforward, became a double-edged sword in their future interactions, is another story.
"He's a really simple person." Song Fei finally revealed her true feelings. "The word 'simple' might not be the right word to describe a man, but his thought process is really simple. He doesn't play mind games with you. He says what he thinks and does what he says…" The recent "hot water heater incident" and the more recent "kiss me incident" interrupted Song Fei's recollection, and her soft tone disappeared completely. "But that's all in the past. Damn it, he's gone bad now."
Lin Dilei shrugged: "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black."
Song Fei was going crazy: "Why do you all like to say that? I'm an octopus, all I do is spray ink all day long!"
Lin Dilei chuckled: "Fine, if you won't spit ink, then you'll vomit blood, okay? Anyone who gets close to you will be red every day!"
Song Fei: "..."
"Actually, what I just want to say is, if you still like him, give him another chance." Lin Dilei paused here, a little embarrassed. "You may think I'm meddling, but I've known Qi Yan for so long, and I've never seen him care about anyone so much. To put it bluntly, he's the apple of his eye. If you scold him, he'll have heartache for half a day."
Song Fei asked earnestly, "How did you diagnose angina?" Why did his memories only show the other person's arrogant and irritating demeanor?
"Let's not go that far. Just this morning, didn't you encounter zombies in the archives?" Lin Dilei said. "When we returned to the closed stacks, no one noticed that one person was missing. Everyone was there counting the spoils. Only he noticed it instantly and rushed out of the balcony like a madman, climbing towards your side. He almost scared us to death."
Song Fei pondered for a moment, then looked up: "I'm more concerned that none of you have noticed that one person is missing..."
"Uh," Lin Dilei waved her hand, "Don't worry about these trivial details."
Song Fei: "That's the key point!"
Of course, the topic eventually got back on track. Lin Dilei's point was actually quite simple: if you want to know if someone is good to you, don't look at what they say, look at what they do.
"What are you going to do?" Lin Dilei hadn't even finished speaking when Song Fei suddenly stood up.
"Find someone." With that, Song Fei turned and left without looking back.
Lin Dilei smiled knowingly, feeling very relieved.
Song Fei checked the bookshelves row by row, and finally, when he reached the second-to-last or third-to-last row, he heard Qi Yan's voice coming from the second-to-last row next door—bookshelf
"Climb up the tree."
Song Fei was baffled, wondering what the hell was going on, when he heard another voice—
"Then, how do you get back?"
Wang Qingyuan!
Song Fei raised an eyebrow in puzzlement, wondering how these two had ended up together. She unconsciously stopped in her tracks, becoming an eavesdropper through the wall—
Qi Yan: "I have my own way."
Wang Qingyuan: "Keep bragging."
Qi Yan: "You have a prejudice against me."
Wang Qingyuan: "You're too confident, no, you're arrogant."
Qi Yan: "Let's talk about the plan, why are you always targeting me?"
Wang Qingyuan: "I didn't, I was just stating the facts."
Qi Yan: "You've glanced at me thirty-seven times already. Yes, that look, a mixture of disgust and contempt."
Wang Qingyuan: "You're quite sensitive."
Qi Yan: "It's because you're too blatant."
Wang Qingyuan: "I don't know what Song Fei saw in you. Tsk, it's not that much."
Qi Yan: "Hmm?"
Wang Qingyuan: "You've already broken up with him, don't provoke him anymore."
Qi Yan: "What does this have to do with you?"
Wang Qingyuan: "He's my best buddy..."
A warm feeling welled up in Song Fei's heart. He had always thought Wang Qingyuan disliked him, since every time the other tried to persuade him to study, he would act like he didn't care, and the other would only say a few words before ignoring him. He assumed it was just because they were roommates that the other had reluctantly become friends with him, and he never imagined...
"Although he is unambitious, ignorant, lazy, and just drifts along, he is not a bad person at heart."
Your best friend's standards are way too low!
"And he has many advantages that others don't have..."
It's too late to make amends!
"Kind, optimistic, cheerful, lively, and sincere to others..."
Okay, I forgive you.
"I know all of this," Qi Yan interrupted Wang Qingyuan, "Otherwise, why do you think I'm dating him?"
Wang Qingyuan: "Everyone is a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. You can't like someone just because of their strengths and then force them to correct their weaknesses."
Qi Yan: "Shouldn't shortcomings be corrected?"
Wang Qingyuan: "You should, but if you can't change it, you can only accept it."
Qi Yan: "What if I don't?"
Wang Qingyuan: "So you got kicked out."
Qi Yan: "..."
Wang Qingyuan: "Besides, do you think you have no flaws? Song Fei lacks the ability to summarize and generalize. I'll speak for him now: you are self-righteous, domineering, lack emotional intelligence, have a worrying personality, and essentially lack the ability to bring happiness to your loved one."
Qi Yan: "I can do it three times in one night."
Wang Qingyuan: "...That's not what I meant!"
Qi Yan: "Sorry, please continue."
Wang Qingyuan: "Where did I just say? Damn it!"
—For Wang Xueba, who has never even experienced first love, driving without any warning is an extremely cruel thing.
Qi Yan also realized her own cruelty, and out of sympathy, kindly reminded her: "You said that I am essentially lacking the ability to bring happiness to my lover."
Wang Qingyuan took a deep breath to calm his turmoil: "Yes, simply put, you don't respect him."
Qi Yan pursed his lips into a thin line, sat upright, and listened attentively.
Wang Qingyuan continued, "You can point out his shortcomings, but you can't impose your will on him. Although I didn't know you before and may have only heard his side of the story, you can't believe he made it up with that imperative style of speaking."
Qi Yan thought about it carefully and nodded with shame: "It's basically true."
Wang Qingyuan shrugged: "That's the problem. Relationships are about equality. No one is absolutely right or wrong. Don't always try to change him. You're his boyfriend, not his teacher. If you're always so superior, the relationship will become unbalanced, and you'll inevitably be dumped."
Qi Yan remained silent for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"
Wang Qingyuan frowned, as if he had only just realized the problem, and said with some annoyance, "I didn't mean to say that. But after getting to know you better, I feel that you're not as bad as Song Fei said. You do have your merits. Putting aside everything else, your willingness to face criticism is a very rare kind of magnanimity... Wait, is what he meant by magnanimity?"
Qi Yan: "Hmm?"
Why is it that he can't quite understand every time Wang Qingyuan says something with the word "big" in it?
"Forget it." Wang Qingyuan shook his head. "Anyway, I still think you two are not suitable, but if you insist on begging to get back together, you'd better change your attitude."
Qi Yan: "Are you gay?"
Wang Qingyuan: "Huh?"
Qi Yan: "Are you gay?"
Wang Qingyuan: "Does it look like it to me?"
Qi Yan: "Very much."
Wang Qingyuan: "My mom thinks so too, but I really don't."
Qi Yan: "Then we can be friends. Also, please give my regards to your aunt."
Wang Qingyuan: "...Who agreed to go with you on DS!"
Separated by a bookshelf, Song Fei secretly grinned. This was a Qi Yan he didn't know, and a Wang Qingyuan he didn't know either. The former was adorable, the latter warm. Wang Qingyuan said Qi Yan didn't respect him, but when had he ever been considerate of Qi Yan? He always felt wronged and exhausted, but stepping outside the circle revealed a completely different perspective.bookshelf
Lin Dilei asked him, "The future is uncertain. You might die tomorrow. Won't you feel regret then?" He said he didn't know the answer. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to die. He had never longed to live as much as he did now, longed for the joys and sorrows of life, longed for family, friendship, and love, longed to go to class, longed to be called on by the teacher, and longed to bully the flowers, birds, fish, and insects on campus again.
—This longing is so intense and dazzling that it can almost dispel all fear and darkness.
A Gomoku (Five in a Row) battlefield.
Josh: "Why do I think I heard someone speaking English?"
Zhou Yilu: "Double live three, you died again."
Qiao Siqi: "*!"
A physics teaching session.
Li Jingyu: "That simple?"
Luo Geng: "It's that simple."
Li Jingyu: "My high school physics teacher was probably transferred from physical education."
Top shelf of a bookshelf.
Lin Dilei quietly crouched on the high ground, glancing at Song Fei, who was sitting on the ground in the aisle in front of her, eavesdropping and giggling. Then she looked at Qi Yan and Wang Qingyuan in the row in front of her, who clearly disliked each other but suddenly became like magnets, inseparable, when they talked about which learning method was the most efficient. Her eyes crinkled with excitement.
The north wind outside the window gradually picked up, and the weather would turn cloudy in the latter half of the night, with the first snow of early winter expected tomorrow morning. But the students of Class 1 of Martial Arts were completely unaware of this at the moment.