Knock knock knock.

The knocking went on for quite some time with no answer.

Her mother called from outside the door: “Zhu Yun, time to get up.”

“…”

“Zhu Yun?”

Several more calls, and still not a sound from inside. Her mother pushed the door open, came to the bedside, and pulled at the covers.

“Get up, it’s already eleven, lunch will be soon.”

At last, a head slowly burrowed out from beneath the blankets.

Zhu Yun was too drowsy to open her eyes properly. Her mother stood with hands on hips. “How can you be this tired? You weren’t up that late last night.”

Zhu Yun hauled herself out of the covers in slow, creaking stages, like a rusty hinge working itself loose.

“Ahh…” Her throat was parched.

Her mother: “Hurry up, we have New Year’s visits to make later.”

Zhu Yun was so exhausted she felt ready to combust. She shuffled off to wash up.

The busy New Year had officially begun.

The whole family’s schedule from the first to the fifteenth of the month was packed without a gap. Zhu Yun got dressed, gathered up all manner of bags and parcels, and followed her parents out the door.

The first through fifth days of the New Year were primarily family gatherings. Her mother’s side of the family was small; the visits were mainly her father’s. Zhu Yun had four uncles on that side — one lived overseas — and her father was the third eldest.

The gatherings were more or less the same every year. This year, at least, there was a new topic to chew over. Her second uncle’s son Xiao Feng was a year younger than Zhu Yun and sitting the university entrance examinations this year. His grades had been hovering in that awkward zone — not good enough, not bad enough — and it was causing her second uncle and aunt tremendous worry.

The moment Zhu Yun walked in the door, her second aunt seized her for an impromptu university entrance consultation. Xiao Feng, meanwhile, sank into the sofa nearby and kept on playing his handheld games.

Her second aunt gave him a nudge. “Your sister is such a good student — if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask her now.”

Zhu Yun demurred politely. “Oh, I’m nothing special really.”

Her second aunt laughed. “A girl who scored that well calls herself nothing special — what does that make him? I remember you were top of the whole school all through high school. I’m sure you’re an honor student at university too, aren’t you?”

Zhu Yun was genuinely embarrassed this time.

“Really, I’m average, truly average…”

“You’re just being modest,” her second aunt said.

Top of the school? Where I go to university, there are very possibly people who are top of the entire country…

Her second aunt pulled Xiao Feng over. “Come on, talk to your sister.” She turned back to Zhu Yun with an imploring look. “My dear niece, please have a talk with him. He simply will not study. The exams are right around the corner and I’m at my wit’s end.”

Xiao Feng allowed himself to be pulled over, then simply shifted his position and carried on with his game. His mother glared at him. “Just look at him!”

“Jiang Li!” her mother’s voice came from the kitchen, and her second aunt went off to chat, leaving Zhu Yun alone with Xiao Feng.

Zhu Yun looked at him.

Though they were cousins, Zhu Yun and Xiao Feng had never been particularly close. Xiao Feng had suffered a serious illness as a young child — a fever that burned for two weeks and very nearly frightened his parents out of their minds. After he recovered, they could never bring themselves to scold or discipline him, and let him do entirely as he pleased ever since.

Xiao Feng liked to play and had no interest in studying. On several occasions his mother had wanted Zhu Yun to come and tutor him, but her own mother had deflected each request with various excuses.

More than once, her mother had told Zhu Yun to keep her distance from him.

“On and on about it every single day, it’s so irritating,” Xiao Feng muttered under his breath.

Zhu Yun teased him: “What is it you’re not bothered by, then?”

Xiao Feng lifted his eyes from the game for a moment. “Playing.”

“Play after the exams.”

“I don’t even want to sit them. It’s not like I’m you, with all your good grades.”

“Being good at studying isn’t exactly my fault.”

“…” Xiao Feng looked up from the game. Zhu Yun smiled and gave him a light pat. “You’ve only got half a year left. Grit your teeth a little longer.”

“Pfft!”

Having successfully completed her assigned “conversation” task, Zhu Yun had barely taken out her phone when she heard Xiao Feng ask quietly: “Once you’re in university, is it really free?”

Zhu Yun considered this. “What kind of ‘free’ are you talking about?”

“Our teacher said once you get into university you’re liberated.”

“Not exactly. If anything, it might be harder.”

Xiao Feng rolled his neck. “I don’t have any great ambitions in life. I’ll just scrape into some mediocre university and coast through.”

Zhu Yun looked down at her phone. One unread message.

Her heart gave a little skip. She opened it.

Li Xun: I’m back at school. See you when term starts.

Zhu Yun replied: Got it.

Xiao Feng was still talking. “I never had any interest in studying. School is so boring. University’s probably the same.”

“That’s hard to say.”

After sending her reply, Zhu Yun deleted the message. “How would you know if you don’t go? And besides…” She paused, then said lightly, “It’s precisely because the people and things you’ve encountered in middle and high school haven’t been much to speak of — shouldn’t that make you look forward to university more?”

Xiao Feng said nothing.

“Give it a proper effort.” Zhu Yun said quietly. “Otherwise it’s very easy to miss out.”

“Miss out on what…” Xiao Feng had no idea what she was talking about. He muttered something, bent his head, and went back to his game.

The family gatherings were relatively manageable. After the fifth day came gatherings of her parents’ friends — these were even more draining. Zhu Yun kept her smile in place day after day until her cheeks were in danger of going permanently stiff.

It was at one of these that she ran into Wang Yuxuan again.

“Can’t stop moving for a second, can you, little Zhu?”

“…” Zhu Yun was rushed off her feet and flushed with it. Following her mother’s instructions, she poured Wang Yuxuan a cup of water.

Wang Yuxuan took the cup and looked around. “There are so many people here.”

There really were. Even with the generous size of the Zhu family home, having several dozen guests at once made things feel decidedly crowded.

Zhu Yun looked Wang Yuxuan over. He was wearing a full suit today, complete with a bow tie.

“Why are you dressed so formally? You’re going to frighten people.”

“It’s called showing respect. What’s frightening about it? This suit I brought back from overseas, you know.” Wang Yuxuan stepped back a few paces to give Zhu Yun the full view. “Impressive, yes?”

She nearly gagged.

Her expression must have been too transparent, because Wang Yuxuan’s face fell. “You could at least pretend,” he said, disgruntled. “Show a little basic courtesy. I’m going to complain to your mother.”

Zhu Yun shrugged and didn’t bother to engage.

She was holding the snow lotus drink her mother had prepared for the gathering — sweet and fragrant. She took a sip and leaned against the wall, stealing a moment of rest.

Wang Yuxuan chatted beside her, and Zhu Yun responded in a distracted, half-hearted fashion.

I really want to go back to school…

What possible reason could I give to leave early…

“You know, it really has been far too long since I’ve been back to China. The place has changed so much — I’m almost having trouble adjusting.” Wang Yuxuan sighed.

“…”

Zhu Yun was half-listening, and then something flashed through her mind.

She turned. “How long are you staying this time?”

“Why do you ask? This holiday is a long one — I’ve got over a month.”

“You’re curious about universities here, aren’t you? Would you like me to take you to have a look around my school?”

Wang Yuxuan was silent.

Zhu Yun pressed on. “Our school is really representative of the region — one of the top engineering institutions in the area. What do you think? Interested? Want to go?” She rubbed her hands together as she coaxed him. “Come on, come on, just a little look around.”

Wang Yuxuan narrowed his eyes.

“…I’m getting a distinct whiff of something conspiratorial.”

“Not at all. You’re overthinking it.”

Wang Yuxuan stared at Zhu Yun for a long moment, then understood.

“I see.”

See what, exactly.

Wang Yuxuan leaned a little closer, bending slightly to say in a low voice: “You don’t want to stay home, do you? I get it, honestly. Your mum is a bit terrifying. She always gives me this feeling that if my grades weren’t up to scratch I wouldn’t even deserve to set foot in your house.”

“…”

“I’ve been scared of her since I was little.” He straightened back up and swirled the water in his cup with some satisfaction. “Lucky for me that your brother here has always been outstanding — fought his way through everything to reach this distinguished position.”

Zhu Yun laughed drily.

Wang Yuxuan patted her on the shoulder. “Leave it to me. When do you want to go?”

The arrangement came together smoothly. As Wang Yuxuan had said, he was outstanding enough to have earned his current standing.

Zhu Yun executed a roundabout approach: she put on an air of reluctance in front of her mother, as though she had no particular wish to take Wang Yuxuan anywhere. Her mother duly reproached her for it.

“Your older cousin has come all this way home, and you can’t even show him around your school?” her mother said, looking troubled. “It’s just a pity it’s still the holiday, lots of things won’t be open for a visit yet. Should I ask your uncle to reach out to the school and make arrangements?”

“No no no!” Wang Yuxuan waved his hands hurriedly. “Don’t make such a big production of it, I just want to stroll around. Let’s go after the fifteenth — things will have calmed down by then and everyone will have finished their business.”

Zhu Yun did the calculation. She would be able to return nearly two weeks early. That was excellent.

Once it was settled, Wang Yuxuan began pressing Zhu Yun for recognition of the favor — they hadn’t even left yet, but she couldn’t afford to get on his bad side, so she went along with everything.

“What are you doing on that laptop every day?”

“Practicing.”

“You really like this major that much?”

“It’s alright.”

“I’ve never seen you so focused on anything before. What would you like to drink?”

“Whatever.”

“‘Whatever’ is the hardest order to fill. Just pick something.”

“…”

Zhu Yun drew a deep breath, closed her laptop, looked up, and said to the person across from her with complete sincerity: “Wang Yuxuan, you are so annoying.”

They had finally managed to leave the house and found a café. Zhu Yun had been counting on a whole afternoon to write code, only to discover that Wang Yuxuan chattered on like a sparrow — endless, relentless, without pause.

“Can’t you find a book to read or something?”

“Balance is key. Being back home means being on holiday. Why would I read?”

“…”

“Don’t look at me like that. Check your attitude. You need to bear in mind at all times that the reason you were able to leave the house is because you’re going under the cover of ‘discussing study abroad options with your older cousin.'”

“…”

“Anyway, your brother here isn’t the type to obsess over small favors. Don’t worry about it.”

Zhu Yun breathed in slowly. “Wang Yuxuan, you weren’t this talkative a few days ago…”

“That was just because I’d been away so long, I needed time to find my rhythm again. I’m warmed up now.”

Zhu Yun pinched the bridge of her nose. Wang Yuxuan laughed and said: “Alright, no more joking. I’m just bored sitting here by myself. Why don’t you show me what you’re working on?”

Zhu Yun had no better option, and turned the laptop to face him.

Wang Yuxuan looked at it with curiosity. “What is this?”

“A piece of software we built.”

“Looks like it’s medical? We had quite a few people developing medical websites at our university too.”

“It’s not really a website. Just a single function.”

“Mm. Websites are still a bit too advanced for freshmen, I suppose.”

“Pfft.”

She gave a barely audible laugh and picked up her coffee cup.

“Hey…” Wang Yuxuan took the mouse and clicked around the anatomical model. “This is interesting, actually. Tell me more about it.”

“You don’t need me to,” Zhu Yun said. “Our team lead always says that a good service-oriented piece of software should be usable by anyone — young or old, first-time or experienced. If someone can’t figure it out, the fault lies with the software itself.”

Wang Yuxuan looked up at her. Zhu Yun continued: “Try it first. If there’s anything that feels clunky or unintuitive, note it down — consider it user testing for us. Though I doubt you’ll find much to flag. If you can’t work out how to use this, I’ll have to start wondering whether your degree was purchased.”

Wang Yuxuan still hadn’t moved. Zhu Yun frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Wang Yuxuan smiled.

“Zhu Yun, you really are different from before.”

Zhu Yun stilled. “What was I like before?”

Wang Yuxuan thought back. “Like a little rabbit who liked to be lazy — waiting for Auntie Liu to issue her orders, carrying out each one as it came, not a step beyond what was asked.”

Zhu Yun neither confirmed nor denied this.

“Go on, try it. Top finance student — give us some high-caliber feedback with that international perspective of yours.”

“Look at that attitude.” Wang Yuxuan pointed at her and clicked his tongue. “I only said a couple of things.”

Zhu Yun looked away toward the side of the room. The café’s glass hadn’t been cleaned quite thoroughly enough — there was dust in the corner that the sunlight caught with unusual clarity.

Wang Yuxuan stretched out, sank back into the sofa chair, and said:

“You know, Zhu Yun, I’m actually starting to genuinely want to see your university.”