Qing’an University was founded on the fifteenth of August, one hundred years ago, and so every year, new students begin their studies on the fifteenth of August — rain or shine, without exception, year after year.
This year was no different.
Opening day happened to fall on Lin Tao’s eighteenth birthday. Fang Yisong and Lin Yongcheng put down everything they were working on and personally drove her to campus so they wouldn’t miss her birthday.
The first day of term — the campus was alive with noise and activity.
Jiang Yan had moved into the student dormitory in advance. He had already asked around about the enrollment procedure for the Law Department, so that by the time Lin Tao arrived, he handled every subsequent step himself — he even set up the mosquito net in her dormitory room.
The dormitory was a four-person room. Lin Tao was the last to arrive and the only one who brought her boyfriend up to the room. The three other students stared at Jiang Yan and Lin Tao the entire time, their faces full of undisguised envy.
Once everything was put in order, Jiang Yan stepped out to wash his hands.
The moment he left, the three girls swarmed around Lin Tao and launched into introductions, arranged by height.
The tallest was called Wen Nian; the one in the middle was Fang Qi; the last was Liang Yue.
The three of them came from different places. Wen Nian and Fang Qi were both from northern cities, while Liang Yue came from Hecheng, only half an hour by car from Xicheng.
Friendship among girls takes root quickly. By the time Jiang Yan returned from washing his hands, the four of them were already sitting together chatting about that summer’s hottest variety competition, Voice.
Because of Hu Hanghang, Lin Tao knew the show very well. When asked which contestant she liked best, she predictably picked Hu Hanghang.
Liang Yue gave an excited cry. “Me too! I love him! That little fang tooth when he smiles is so adorable!”
Lin Tao just smiled and didn’t elaborate.
Wen Nian and Fang Qi preferred the contestants who had placed first and second in the finale.
The four of them chatted endlessly about a shared topic.
Later the conversation shifted to their respective schools, and eventually Wen Nian asked naturally, “How did you and your boyfriend meet?”
“We’re high school classmates,” Lin Tao said. “We got placed in the same class during the class reshuffle in second year.”
Wen Nian made a sound of understanding. Liang Yue followed up: “So he’s a student at our school too?”
Lin Tao smiled and said, “Mm. He’s in the Physics Department.”
“Wow, that is so enviable!” Fang Qi sighed, complaining, “Why is everyone else’s high school about falling for older boys, while mine was just national politics exams and the Three Principles of the People?”
“……”
At noon, Lin Yongcheng and Fang Yisong celebrated Lin Tao’s birthday at a hotel. The couple had found a serviced apartment with a kitchen near the school.
While Lin Tao and Jiang Yan were handling enrollment, the two of them had spent that time preparing ingredients at the apartment.
Every year on Lin Tao’s birthday, Fang Yisong would hand-make a bowl of longevity noodles for her. Even this year, with the unusual circumstances, she hadn’t given up the tradition.
After the meal, Lin Tao and Jiang Yan didn’t linger at the hotel. In the afternoon, the school had an opening ceremony, and barring special circumstances, attendance was required.
Back at school, Lin Tao and Jiang Yan separated and went to their respective class assembly points. The opening ceremony seating was arranged by department and class.
The Physics Department and the Law Department were positioned on opposite sides, with the entire venue between them.
After sitting down, Lin Tao took out her phone and saw that Jiang Yan had texted her a minute ago asking if she had arrived.
There were people all around her. Lin Tao replied to his message, then grabbed Liang Yue’s arm. “Do you know which side the Physics Department is on?”
Liang Yue gave her a look and smiled. “You just want to know where your boyfriend is, right?”
“……” Lin Tao touched the tip of her nose. “Was I that obvious?”
Liang Yue said nothing more. She took out the new student handbook she was holding, flipped to the back where the seating chart for the opening ceremony was listed under the notes section, and said, “Let me see… here!”
She pointed to the location on the diagram, then looked up to compare it with the venue. “The Physics Department should be directly across from us?”
Lin Tao looked in the direction she was pointing and could only make out hazy silhouettes on the other side. “……”
The second day of the new term brought military training.
August heat — sweltering, suffocating. The field shimmered with waves of hot air, and even the wind carried a dry, scorching edge.
Lin Tao stood at the front of the line. The blazing sunlight struck her head-on, reaching past the brim of her cap. Sweat slid into her eyes, bringing a mild, stinging sensation.
Moving around during training was not permitted.
Lin Tao didn’t dare raise her hand to wipe, and endured until the whistle finally sounded. The moment the instructor announced dismissal, she immediately raised her hand and wiped the corner of her eye.
Her rough sleeve dragged across the outer corner of her eye and accidentally left a red mark.
During the break, movement was free. Lin Tao stood in the shade of a tree with her roommates, drinking water, when she glimpsed Jiang Yan walking toward them, cap in hand.
She twisted the cap back onto her bottle and went to meet him.
Jiang Yan noticed the red mark below her eye the moment he saw her. He reached out and touched it. “What happened here?”
Lin Tao made a sound of realization and didn’t think much of it. “I was wiping my eyes just now and the cuff of my sleeve caught on it by accident. It’s nothing.”
The sunlight was fierce. Jiang Yan pulled her toward a shaded spot and stood in front of her, blocking much of the glare. “Hot?”
“Hot,” Lin Tao answered honestly. “Hotter than Xicheng’s summer.”
Jiang Yan smiled, picked up the cap he was holding, and fanned it lightly beside her face. A drift of cooler air stirred. “Why not ask for a leave of absence?”
“I can’t. Military training scores count toward the semester’s overall assessment.” Before military training began, the class advisor had told them that the final military training results would affect all kinds of evaluations throughout the semester, and that unless there was a special circumstance, it was best not to miss it. Lin Tao pressed her mineral water bottle against her face for relief. “But it’s not that unbearable, really. It’s only half a month — it’ll pass quickly.”
Jiang Yan made a sound of agreement, then suddenly looked up and met a whole cluster of curious, gossipy stares that had failed to look away in time. “……”
After the opening ceremony the day before, someone had posted a ranking of the most attractive new male students on Qing University’s online forum.
Jiang Yan, who had delivered a speech as a new student representative at the opening ceremony, was ranked first, with a popularity score more than ten thousand higher than the second-place finisher.
That same evening, his personal information was made public on the forum.
Name: Jiang Yan. Gender: Male. Date of birth: December 15, 1995. Zodiac sign: Sagittarius. Department: Physics Department, Nuclear Physics Program, Class A. Relationship status: Not single, not married.
……
The comment section was flooded with replies —
Oh my goodness, such an outstanding and handsome older student, and he already has a girlfriend?! —
Replying to the comment above — if such an outstanding and handsome older student didn’t have a girlfriend, that would be the strange thing. —
……
Truly, attractive people are never single. —
Wait! Why is everyone fixating on that?! Please look at his major!! Nuclear Physics, Class A!! The people in that program are like gods!! —
I genuinely feel like I came into this world just to fill a headcount. [waving goodbye.jpg]
……
Later someone dug up Jiang Yan’s high school, and the news spread that he had received a direct recommendation admission to Qing University’s Physics Department. An insider also linked the thread from No. 10 High School’s forum — the one about the school’s top student secretly being in love.
In the space of a single night, Jiang Yan — previously unknown — shot to the top of this year’s Qing University new student popularity rankings.
Thanks to Jiang Yan, some information about Lin Tao, his girlfriend, was also posted on the forum —
Jiang the Academic Star’s high school desk partner, a high-achieving beauty — this year’s provincial top science scorer, a new student in Qing University’s Law Department, parents running their own company, family incredibly wealthy……
Upon reading this, many onlookers in the comment section announced they were switching from watermelon to lemons.
The high-achieving, high-appearance couple of Jiang Yan and Lin Tao attracted considerable attention at Qing University — from teachers all the way down to the dormitory aunties. Everyone knew about this young couple.
Even when the two of them attended electives together, the younger elective instructors would joke about them.
The excessive attention made both of them feel like they had nowhere to hide. After that, whenever choosing courses, Lin Tao and Jiang Yan would mostly avoid selecting the same ones.
During the summer vacation at the end of their first year, Guan Che — who had been practically living in the laboratory since enrolling — finally concluded his first project since entering university, and led his team to take first place at the National Robotics Competition.
The evening of the award, Guan Che posted a message in the group chat, inviting Jiang Yan and Lin Tao, who were at the same school, and Meng Xin, who was in the same city, to come out and celebrate.
The four of them gathered at a street food stall in the alley behind Qing University.
Over the course of this first year, everyone had been working hard to adjust to a new school, a new life, a new everything. Chances to meet in person were rare, let alone sitting together like this over a meal.
A warm summer breeze drifted past. The four of them raised their glasses in celebration.
After the first drink, Guan Che set down his glass. His features, softened by the night, were handsome and refined. “Time passes so quickly. In the blink of an eye, it’s summer again.”
It felt as though the parting of last summer had only just happened a moment ago, and yet a new summer had suddenly arrived once more.
“Time waits for no one.” Jiang Yan touched the rim of his glass to Guan Che’s, his voice carrying the haze of alcohol, eyes lowered in a quiet smile. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Guan Che’s fingertips held the glass loosely; he swayed it back and forth.
The phone resting to one side suddenly lit up. Jiang Yan looked down and saw that Xu Yichuan had initiated a video call.
He smiled and picked up the phone. “Xu Yichuan.”
The moment the video connected, Xu Yichuan’s voice flooded in. “Older Brother Che!! You are so cool!!”
Guan Che lowered his head and laughed. “Easy, easy.”
Of the seven in the group, besides the four of them, the other three were each in different cities — and Xu Yichuan had gone all the way to the other side of the ocean.
Not long after the video connected, Song Yuan joined online too.
Over this past year, the seven of them had only gathered once, during the winter vacation. After that, they had stayed in touch only over WeChat.
Song Yuan had probably just finished training — he was still wearing a black workout outfit. His posture was straight, his shoulders broad. The young man’s eyes and brows had taken on a look of quiet resolve. “Older Brother Che, congratulations.”
Guan Che raised his glass toward the camera and shook it gently, his voice warm. “This toast will wait until you’re all back for the New Year.”
The six of them chatted for over ten minutes before Hu Hanghang came online in a rush.
Over the past year, he had been busy releasing a new album, attending appearances, and taking on film and television lyrics and songwriting — more occupied than all of them put together. His popularity had kept climbing, and in a single year his followers on Weibo had grown by several million.
Hu Hanghang was still the same as always — loud and boisterous. He shouted at the camera, “Older Brother Che, you’re amazing! Older Brother Che is number one under heaven!”
“……”
Lin Tao couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Pangpang, you’re considered an idol singer now. Don’t you have any sense of image?”
Hu Hanghang said nothing, but his manager muttered from the side, “Who says he has no sense of image — at every show, his pretense is heavier than the mountain that buried the Foolish Old Man.”
“……”
Summer nights, the laughter of the city streets drifted through intermittently.
By the time the four of them parted ways, the night sky was deep, dense with stars, their light more brilliant and flickering than the soft glow of the moon.
Guan Che picked up his jacket and offered to walk Meng Xin back to her school.
After they left, Lin Tao and Jiang Yan walked along a tree-lined path filled with parasol trees. Moonlight fell through the gaps in the branches and leaves, leaving dappled shadows across the ground.
“I keep feeling like Older Brother Guan Che seems a little… different toward Meng Xin?” Lin Tao hooked her fingers around Jiang Yan’s. “What do you think?”
“What I think,” Jiang Yan said, slowing his pace and turning his head to meet her gaze, with a smile, “is that you’re right.”