“The Red Carp’s family has a small green donkey named Li Lulu, while the Green Carp’s family has a small red donkey named Lu Lili. The Red Carp claims their Li Lulu is greener than the Green Carp’s Lu Lili, while the Green Carp insists their Lu Lili is redder than the Red Carp’s Li Lulu. It’s unclear whether the Green Carp’s donkey is redder than the Red Carp’s, or if the Red Ca—” Ruan Yu pressed her lips together and tapped her finger on the page. She’d made another mistake.
She had been reciting this tongue twister “The Red Carp, Green Carp, and Donkeys” for about ten minutes, but hadn’t managed to complete it correctly even once. Was it that difficult? Perhaps not, but her mind kept wandering.
Ruan Yu leaned against the rooftop railing. Looking out, the entire campus was decorated festively, with celebratory colors everywhere. Someone had even hung red lanterns on the basketball hoops in the playground.
It was Yangshan University’s 60th-anniversary celebration, which should have been a joyous occasion, but she wasn’t comfortable with the festivities. Whenever she saw others laughing heartily in groups, she felt like an outsider. She could never seem to blend into those moments of laughter, nor could she produce such exuberant sounds.
Fortunately, she didn’t force herself to become more sociable.
“The Red Ca—” Another mistake, failing at the beginning again.
Ruan Yu’s finger pressed harder against the page, leaving a nail mark. Her stubborn streak emerged, and she silently made a promise to herself: if she couldn’t recite the whole piece correctly this time, she would…
Before she could decide on her self-imposed punishment, the music suddenly blasted from behind her—a Western song with an electronic intro and powerful melody.
The rooftop’s tranquility was completely shattered.
Ruan Yu was startled and turned around alertly. She had thought she was alone on the rooftop, but apparently, someone else was there.
Looking around, she spotted a head poking out from behind the row of air conditioning units on the far east side—a male student.
He appeared to have been sleeping, and the music was his phone ringtone.
“Hello,” the young man answered, his voice carrying the languid irritation of someone recently awakened. After listening to whatever was said on the other end, he remained silent for a few seconds before responding with a simple “okay.”
After efficiently ending the call, he stood up from the ground.
He wore a bright red hoodie that made him look like a flame in the sunlight. After dusting himself off, he walked in Ruan Yu’s direction.
Ruan Yu instinctively gripped her “Collection of Tongue Twisters” tighter.
The rooftop wind had picked up, making her long skirt sway back and forth.
As he passed by, he glanced at the book in her hands, while her gaze remained fixed on his hairstyle—the sides were cut very short, with the middle section braided into dreadlocks, tied back into a short ponytail with a hair tie… quite an elaborate style.
Their eyes met briefly as he walked past.
Ruan Yu stared at his straight back, wondering when he had laid down there. Had he heard all her clumsy attempts at reciting the red carp tongue twister?
Just as she was pondering this, the young man suddenly turned back, his dark eyes bright and gleaming.
“Hey!” he called out.
Ruan Yu pointed to herself.
He nodded.
“Yes?” she asked.
“The anniversary celebration is about to start. Aren’t you going?”