Li Wu walked back to his dormitory step by step as if walking toward another destiny. His hands were in his pockets as he watched the grass blades in the flower bed swaying wildly in the wind, seemingly attempting to uproot themselves and fly toward the horizon.

He walked faster and faster until he was excitedly running—a young snow leopard sprinting, as if newborn.

The dorm door was half open upstairs—his roommates had probably returned.

Li Wu caught his breath and slowed his pace as he walked in.

Sure enough, there were exactly three boys inside, each busy with their things. One was munching on a rice ball with one foot propped on the edge of his chair; another had earphones plugged in, completely absorbed in bobbing his head to the music; the third stood by the bathroom door making a phone call, his back turned.

“Rice Ball” was the first to notice him, his foot quickly sliding back to the ground as he raised his hand in an awkward “Hi.”

Li Wu looked at him and returned the greeting.

“Rice Ball” hurried to pull at the music listener, who irritably yanked his arm back, his eyebrows knotting as he looked over.

Meeting Li Wu’s gaze, he pulled out one earphone, jerked his chin first toward the overly neat desk beside him, then back to Li Wu: “So it’s you?”

Li Wu nodded once.

“Damn,” the music listener cursed under his breath, “My position as dorm heartthrob is in danger.”

Rice Ball laughed, pushing up his black-framed glasses as he introduced himself: “I’m Cheng Rui. You’re Li…”

The music listener cut him off, nearly kicking him, removed his other earphones, and said concisely: “Lin Honglang.”

Li Wu walked to his desk: “Li Wu.”

“Li Wu? Like a gift?” Lin Honglang raised his eyebrows. “Who’re you giving a gift to? Your name’s interesting.”

Li Wu said: “Wu as in mist.”

“Great! Sit down,” Cheng Rui noticed he was still standing. “Don’t be so formal, once you’re through the door we’re all brothers.”

Lin Honglang snorted: “Who wants to be brothers with you?”

Li Wu sat at his desk, reorganizing the textbooks and workbooks on his bookstand. His things had been moved; he could tell at a glance.

Seeing this, Cheng Rui looked embarrassed: “We didn’t mean to snoop, just curious about who our new roommate was. We didn’t take anything.”

Li Wu looked at him: “It’s fine.”

Lin Honglang kept staring at him, feeling this transfer student was somewhat cold and unapproachable, seemingly drawing a line between them from the moment he entered: “Why are you alone? Where are your parents?”

Li Wu’s hand paused as he was inserting a book, not answering.

“They left?”

He lowered his eyes, burying the book on the shelf, and arranging it neatly.

Cheng Rui, being observant, caught something and suddenly slapped Lin Honglang’s shoulder, warning him to ask fewer inappropriate questions.

Lin Honglang wasn’t happy, turning back to counterattack: “Why’d you hit me—”

Cheng Rui subjected him to a flurry of random punches, hurting enough to make him curse. The two boys quickly engaged in a war of words, thoroughly insulting each other’s ancestors.

Their commotion finally caught the attention of the one on the phone.

He hung up and rushed in: “What are you guys doing?”

Lin Honglang pointed at Cheng Rui: “He hit me.”

Cheng Rui rubbed his arm: “Who hit who?”

“Can’t you two settle down? You’re making us look bad,” the phone caller glanced at Li Wu. “See? The new classmate is laughing at you.”

Li Wu: “…” He hadn’t laughed; his eardrums were just tingling from their shouting.

The Cheng-Lin duo finally ceased fire, each returning to their place.

The phone caller also introduced himself, smiling: “I’m Ran Feichi, I’m their father.”

“Yeah right—” Cheng and Lin scoffed in unison.

Ran Feichi kept smiling: “I was just talking to their mother on the phone, sorry for the delayed welcome.”

“Gross.” The two on the chairs fake-retched in unison.

“Keep that up and I’ll report your puppy love.” Lin Honglang raised his fist.

Ran Feichi ignored him, his gaze returning to Li Wu. He noticed the pattern on his clothes, his eyes brightening: “You like Real Madrid?”

Li Wu had no idea how to respond. His information intake had been limited since childhood; he could guess Real Madrid was a football club but knew nothing beyond that. Not wanting to pretend, he remained silent.

“Wow, I just noticed the team logo on his clothes.” Cheng Rui mumbled through his mouthful of rice.

Lin Honglang dismissed it with contempt, zealously proclaiming: “Bayern is the best!”

“It’s Barça!”

“Get lost, Barça dog.”

They began a new round of bickering.

Dad Ran held his forehead, too lazy to intervene, returning to his seat to rapidly type on his keyboard, continuing to exchange sweet nothings with his girlfriend on WeChat, occasionally smiling to himself as if alone.

Li Wu quietly let out a breath of relief; thanks to Lin Honglang’s interruption, he had escaped questioning.

After organizing his books, the two beside him were still arguing. Their team rivalries were like ancient scripture to him; Li Wu couldn’t understand at all, only able to take out his phone from his pocket to check the time.

Almost one o’clock.

He wondered if Cen Jin was resting in the car. They had parted on bad terms, and he didn’t dare disturb her, but thinking she might be like that night, tilting her head to doze in the cramped seat, he felt negligent and unable to bear it.

At noon, light and shadow flowed silently, and outside grew quiet.

The dorm fell silent too. Cheng Rui and Lin Honglang each climbed back to their beds, cultivating sleepiness.

Meanwhile, Ran Feichi had snuck out of the dorm building again, seizing the chance to meet his girlfriend privately.

Cheng Rui lay flat, able to see Li Wu at his desk with just a glance down. His posture was straight, like a soldier in training, without any hint of slouching.

The dorm suddenly had a new person, quite different from the rest. Unconsciously fresh and excited, he made two small sounds to attract his attention.

Li Wu turned back to look for the source.

Cheng Rui sat up with a creak, asking softly: “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Li Wu pressed his lips together: “Not tired.”

Cheng Rui asked: “Do you have class this afternoon?”

Li Wu shook his head.

Cheng Rui asked: “Starting classes tomorrow?”

Li Wu nodded.

“Are you in our Class 10?”

“Mm.”

Cheng Rui smiled as if getting his wish, about to speak when a long snore sounded from the opposite bed.

Cheng Rui stopped, raising one finger: “Shh.”

Lin Honglang smacked his lips, mumbling some curses.

After exchanging glances for a moment, Cheng Rui suppressed his laughter, looking like a peashooter from Plants vs. Zombies.

Li Wu’s lips curved up too. He turned back, lowered his eyes to look at the first name in his contacts list for a while, then turned off the screen and tucked it back under his books.

—

At one-thirty, Li Wu had already packed his books, planning to meet Cen Jin at the Wenzhilou building.

Cheng Rui and Lin Honglang were still sound asleep; they were used to returning to class at the last minute.

Li Wu quietly closed the door, only speeding up as he ran downstairs. Just as he left the stairwell, he ran into Ran Feichi returning to the dorm.

The boy waved and walked over, squinting in the sunlight: “Where are you going?”

Li Wu slowed his pace: “Something to do.”

Ran Feichi seemed to love smiling: “I thought you were heading to class so early.”

Li Wu said: “I start tomorrow, Class 10.”

“Good,” Ran Feichi’s eyes curved: “Welcome in advance.”

After saying goodbye to him, Li Wu continued toward the Wenzhilou building.

The sun was bright, and more people appeared on the main road—students returning to school, some pushing bicycles, others walking together. Moving among them, he was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, gradually becoming one with it—the campus was both a physical space and an atmosphere, allowing him to no longer be confined by himself.

Reaching the Wenzhilou building, there was still a quarter-hour until two, but he wasn’t anxious, waiting patiently.

Soon, someone walked over from afar; he recognized Cen Jin.

Li Wu walked toward the woman, quickly lowering his eyes when he stopped in front of her, avoiding her gaze.

Cen Jin held a black paper bag, dangling it from her fingers as she held it out to him.

Li Wu didn’t know what was inside but could only accept it first.

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Did you take a nap?”

They asked each other simultaneously.

Cen Jin broke first, looking up at him with a smile: “No, I went to the nearby mall to buy you a digital watch.”

Li Wu looked at her in surprise.

“You can’t keep checking your phone for time during classes and exams,” she said casually. “It happened to cost two thousand yuan, so you have to accept it now since it’s a necessity.”

Li Wu was somewhat dazed because the triumphant light in the woman’s eyes was too captivating. He had never met someone like her, with gentle yet unyielding bones, refusing to give up until she had the upper hand.

He felt himself being tamed by her, and this realization carried a strange yet alluring sweetness.

Li Wu’s face grew slightly warm, his gaze warming too. His throat moved once as he hurriedly looked elsewhere.

Cen Jin was still immersed in the joy of turning defeat into victory: “You’re not going to get angry about this too, are you?”

Li Wu was quiet for a moment before responding: “Not angry.”

“That’s for the best,” she adjusted her bag, then pointed her chin at the thing in his hands: “The time’s already set. You can read the manual back in your dorm about how to use it, I won’t explain it in detail. Now, let’s go meet your homeroom teacher.”

Li Wu’s thoughts swayed, led by an invisible thread as he followed behind Cen Jin into the building.

His future homeroom teacher was a round-faced middle-aged woman who taught physics and had already learned about Li Wu’s personal information.

After actually meeting him, her analytical gaze held no shortage of sympathy. She told Li Wu many things, also letting him know he could come to find her in the office if he had any questions, she was usually there…

…

After finishing the uniform size registration at the general affairs office, Cen Jin commented at least ten times that Li Wu was too thin.

She had become a nagging mother hen again, while the young man remained silent, letting her pour out her concerns.

Before parting, she added a new task, telling Li Wu to gain ten more pounds.

Li Wu nodded: “I’ll try.”

Only then was Cen Jin reassured, giving a few more reminders before saying goodbye.

After watching the woman leave, Li Wu returned to the dorm.

His roommates had gone to class, leaving him alone again.

He sat back at his desk, took out the watch box from the bag, and carefully opened it to remove the watch.

An almost entirely black digital watch, only the logo and numbers were white, with a complex dial full of technical features.

Li Wu stroked the watch band, raising his hand to try it on his left wrist.

After staring at it for a long while, he pulled down his sleeve to cover it completely. But afterward, no matter what movement he made, the watch face pressed noticeably against his skin, impossible to ignore.

He felt somewhat at a loss, took out his phone, opened his contacts, then went back, repeated this many times not knowing what he wanted to do, finally removing the watch and putting it in the drawer along with his phone.

He took out a physics workbook and began writing with a single-minded focus.

The sky gradually darkened, the setting sun dyeing the clouds crimson orange.

Li Wu calculated and paused on his draft paper, deeply concentrated, as if in a realm without others. Until a loud “bang” from outside, Li Wu was startled as if hit by a ball, lifting his head from the workbook.

The commotion outside instantly filled his ears—the subtle sound of sneakers scraping the ground, and boys’ playful roughhousing.

The class was over.

Li Wu wasn’t sure what time it was now, opened the drawer where both devices seemed to sense him, lighting up together.

Li Wu froze in place, a chill crawling up his spine.

In that instant, he realized that without her generous gift, he would have no way to keep track of time at all.

He took out the watch and fastened it back on his wrist. He then took out his phone, spent a long time composing, and sent Cen Jin a message:

“The watch works great, thank you, sister.”