Even after his mother’s death, when father and son had only each other to rely on, his father’s alcoholism and violent nature never changed. His father had a decent job as a municipal government employee in the construction and demolition department.

They lived in a spacious three-bedroom apartment, and his father was generous with money for Chen Zhaoci. But the small child grew increasingly withdrawn, often going about alone, buying his own meals and school supplies, learning at a young age to buy clothes from street vendors.

Chen Zhaoci was like an invisible person at home. Especially when his father came home drunk, he would shut his bedroom door tight and curl up in a corner reading. Even then, sometimes his father would burst in and beat him severely.

From childhood, Chen Zhaoci’s grades were neither good nor bad, but he was a teacher’s pet. Studious, diligent, and obedient to teachers’ every word, mature beyond his years. He would help classmates with any difficulties, always attentive to detail. Though not a standout figure, he was generally well-liked.

When he was seven, his father found someone new. At first, they weren’t married, often fooling around at home. The woman was a shameless creature who loved drinking, money, and vanity. His father was frequently drunk, and sometimes when Chen Zhaoci came home from school and caught them, they showed no shame. His father would just curse, “Get inside!” and continue their activities, while the woman would merely cover herself with a blanket, seductively brushing back her hair – to Chen Zhaoci, it seemed both a show-off and a vulgar enticement.

By junior high, Chen Zhaoci spent little time at home. His father didn’t care; he had married the woman, who was now pregnant. For parents who loved themselves more than their children, a withdrawn, unexceptional son from a previous marriage was ultimately superfluous, despite occasional guilt. His father sometimes even thought it was good his first wife died early – otherwise, how could he have met such a kindred spirit of a woman with such allure?

He never considered how his first wife had shared his hardships, saving together for the down payment on their work-unit apartment. The new wife, who preferred pleasure to family life, had her eyes set on the increasingly valuable apartment and her husband’s government job status. She whispered so many pillow talks that the man grew increasingly distant from his “weird, useless eldest son.”

But Chen Zhaoci saw everything. During his many solitary hours, he read extensively – history, politics, sociology, psychology, economics. Though he might not have understood everything, and perhaps reading too many extracurricular books led him to only get into the third-tier Huaicheng University, his inner world was rich. He wanted a different life from his father’s and wanted to achieve great things.

Huaicheng, situated on a strategic route in western Hunan, had fought against the Japanese, been contested between the Nationalists and Communists, and cleared bandits after the founding of the People’s Republic. The wars left nineteen air raid shelters and secret passages. Of course, with ongoing urban development and some collapsing from age and disrepair, only eight remained findable and usable. Chen Zhaoci had seen all this in documents his father brought home. Fascinated by these wartime legends, he had visited all eight locations, knowing them as well as his backyard since childhood. Always one to keep secrets and private thoughts, these tunnels became his secret gardens in the vast city, belonging to him alone.

In university, Chen Zhaoci’s impression of others remained unchanged from his school days. Wooden, shy, and kind – you might not particularly like him, but you’d never guard against him. Moreover, years of reading had given him a scholarly air. He barely knew how to interact with girls, let alone charm them, often retreating when someone showed interest. Thus, he remained single.

Until his junior year, when he met Zhu Xinya, a freshman from a neighboring school.

Zhu Xinya attended the Finance and Economics College, where the male-to-female ratio was 1:9. Huaicheng Finance was known for its beautiful and bold girls. Various fancy cars are often parked outside the school gates. In comparison, Huaicheng University’s female students seemed rather plain.

Chen Zhaoci never knew how he caught Zhu Xinya’s attention. He had only visited the Finance College a few times for his work-study job. Yet the girl started following him. Zhu Xinya was his complete opposite – petite but shapely, always wearing makeup too mature for her age, terrible grades, friends everywhere, laughing loudly “Ha ha ha—” Yet she fell for this scholarly young man at first sight, determined to win him over.

Initially, Chen Zhaoci kept avoiding her. But she was persistent, bringing breakfast in the mornings, walking below the boys’ dormitory in the evenings, drawing countless whistles and stares from male students. She would just brush back her hair, proud and arrogant, whistling back toward Chen Zhaoci’s window.

His roommates teased him, but Chen Zhaoci just frowned: “I don’t like girls like that.”

He thought she’d give up soon. But after a month, though she stopped showing up at the boys’ dormitory – after all, a girl couldn’t keep embarrassing herself there – the texts and calls never ceased.

Morning text: “Zhaoci, I have advanced math class today, I really don’t want to go. Can’t understand it.”

Noon text: “I only ate one bowl of rice for lunch, I’m dieting. My waist gained half an inch.”

Evening text: “Zhaoci, miss me! But no dirty thoughts!” Attached is a selfie.

The next morning, Chen Zhaoci washed his sheets with a dark face.

When did they begin? Probably that morning three months later, when Zhu Xinya had a bad cold and missed several days of class, too weak even to harass Chen Zhaoci with texts. So when Chen Zhaoci appeared at her dormitory carrying a thermos, it nearly dropped everyone’s jaws.

Zhu Xinya pointed at him weakly: “You… you…”

Chen Zhaoci, red-faced but stiff-voiced, said: “Drink lots of hot water, have some porridge, and avoid spicy food. Rest well.”

…

Later, to outsiders, their relationship seemed to flip completely.

Every morning, a quiet, unremarkable figure appeared below the Finance College women’s dormitory. He started bringing her breakfast, escorting her to and from classes, and eating together in the cafeteria, the two becoming inseparable. Most people saw Zhu Xinya like a triumphant little fox, tail high in the air, hanging on Chen Zhaoci’s arm every day, parading around campus.

Most people thought their personalities were too different. Though Zhu Xinya made a grand show of this romance, she had previously changed boyfriends like changing clothes, all either rich or powerful. How could someone used to feasting on fish and meat be satisfied with simple vegetables every day?

But what they didn’t see were the moments among flowers and under the moonlight, in the quiet of the night, the boy holding the girl, whispering intimately, both losing themselves in each other’s embrace.