96.
For the next two days, Zhou Mengyu hardly saw Liang Pei.
The design of the cheongsam was entering its final stages. During the day, he wasn’t completely without classes, so he had to juggle both design work and classes, then spend his time after class at the studio.
Zhou Mengyu’s teacher certainly didn’t treat him like a flower of the motherland[mfn]is a 1955 Chinese drama-propaganda film. Due to the movie’s depiction of children’s lives, Chinese people usually use the movie title “Flowers of the Motherland” to praise children.[/mfn]; It was truly harsh treatment
After a week of design time, on the day before the deadline, he came back at eleven o’clock at night when the dormitory doors were about to close. When he came back, the junior and Liang Pei had already gone to bed.
Zhou Mengyu quietly washed and brushed his teeth. His junior pried open the bed curtain to greet him, but Zhou Mengyu only mumbled a response.
The junior classmate had been lacking energy due to his recent diet and was already sleepy. He didn’t notice anything odd about Zhou Mengyu after greeting him, simply tossed a ‘good night’ and went to sleep.
Zhou Mengyu finished showering and brushing his teeth.
After, he looked for a new towel in the cabinet, then walked to the bathroom to wipe his face.
Then, he went to the cabinet and took out a face mask that he would never use again and put it on his face.
Finally, he went to the cabinet and took out a set of clothes he was going to change into tomorrow.
He went back and forth several times.
The cabinet was right next to Liang Pei’s bed.
97.
Liang Pei was in the bottom bunk.
Zhou Mengyu and the younger student had hung their bed curtains, ensuring their privacy. But Liang Pei hadn’t, leaving his side completely open.
There was no doubt about it, in a dorm room where everyone else had hung their curtains, the one left out might as well have had privacy without needing curtains.
But now, since Zhou Mengyu wasn’t in his bed yet, he could see Liang Pei leaning against the still-unpacked sheets, playing on his phone with an expression of cold indifference.
He was wearing a tank top, barely covering anything, and a loose, baggy pair of shorts on the lower body, which also barely covered anything.
After Zhou Mengyu came back and forth several times, Liang Pei finally glanced at him.
“I brought you an iced smoothie yesterday at noon, but you weren’t in the dorm. I left it on your desk. I guess it was melted by the time you came back?” Zhou Mengyu asked Liang Pei.
Liang Pei murmured a soft “Hmm,” “I only came back tonight.”
“You threw it away?” Zhou Mengyu asked again.
Liang Pei seemed a bit stunned by the question and didn’t answer right away.
Zhou Mengyu froze for a moment, realizing he had asked an odd question.
An iced smoothie, only five yuan, if it melted in the afternoon and wasn’t thrown away, would they still drink it?
If the conversation went like this, it wouldn’t feel right.
Zhou Mengyu waved his hand, raised an eyebrow, and extended it toward Liang Pei, “In the scorching heat, I carried it up five floors by myself. I won’t charge you for the delivery fee. But you owe me five yuan!”
98.
Liang Pei’s eyebrows arched as well. He put his phone away, sat up on the bed cross-legged, and looked at Zhou Mengyu.
Liang Pei’s back wasn’t straight due to his relaxation, and his whole figure was enveloped in a carefree aura. The two were mindful of the junior brother sleeping, keeping their voice very low.
This made Liang Pei seem even more laid-back.
“How about you treat me to ice cream for three days?”
Liang Pei laughed after saying that, “You hold grudges so much.”
Zhou Mengyu felt some of his awkwardness dissipate when he heard him say that; he genuinely couldn’t figure out what was so awkward about it. It wasn’t like a grown man should be acting with such petty whims.
Zhou Mengyu was actually very ambitious, but once his drive passes, it passes.
No longer wandering in front of Liang Pei’s bedside, he asked Liang Pei, “Should I turn off the light?”
Zhou Mengyu was on the upper bank.
Previously, it was usually Liang Pei who went to bed last, and he was also on the lower bank, so it was mostly Liang Pei who would turn off the light.
Liang Pei glanced at him, “Go up, I’ll close it.”
“Alright, sir, praise be to you!” Zhou Mengyu mumbled, easily climbing onto the bed with the help of the light.
99.
Before Liang Pei turned off the light, he passed by Zhou Mengyu’s bed, and suddenly a head popped out from under the bed curtain.
Zhou Mengyu washed his hair in the evening, and now his hair was down, drifting out along with the motion of his head peering out.
Looking at Zhou Mengyu, Liang Pei sighed inwardly but showed no reaction on his face, only uttering a questioning syllable, “Hmm?”
“I might not come back to sleep tomorrow night. If I can’t finish, I’ll just sleep at the studio.” Zhou Mengyu said in a low voice.
“Okay.” Liang Pei nodded.
Zhou Mengyu blinked. “Will your sister be free tomorrow morning?”
Zhou Mengyu and Liang Pei were both from the south, but neither of them spoke with that soft, syrupy southern accent when they talked. The junior student, however, had a bit of it, and his speech was a bit sticky.
Just then, Zhou Mengyu suddenly brought out a hint of a southern accent, and Liang Pei stood there for a good while without replying.
“Didn’t you add her WeChat?” Liang Pei asked.
“Oh, I did,” Zhou Mengyu replied.
“Ask her yourself,” said Liang Pei.
“What are you being so fierce for?” Zhou Mengyu narrowed his eyes to look at him.
Liang Pei paused for a moment, sighed silently, and softened his tone, “Should I turn off the light now?”
“Good night.” Zhou Mengyu pulled his head back in.
100.
The younger brother woke up the next morning and faintly remembered seeing Zhou Mengyu return as he was dozing off last night.
But when he opened his eyes, it was already half past nine. Where was Zhou Mengyu then?
The junior brother rolled around on the bed, stretched into an incredibly satisfying lazy stretch, and let out a coquettish “Hmmm-” sound.
It wasn’t intentional, but if you want to stretch properly, you have to do it like this.
Anyway, no one was in the dorm.
The next second, he lifted the bed curtain to start a wonderful day, only to see Liang Pei already sitting at the table.
“Wow! You don’t have classes this morning!” The junior student was so startled that he nearly fell off the bed,
Liang Pei responded with a nod.
The junior pressed his startled little heart, stepped into his slippers, turned around to close the bed curtain, and asked Liang Pei, “What time did Zhou Mengyu leave?”
Liang Pei was doing the homework for a class yesterday afternoon, “Seven o’clock”
“It’s not even human-like! If university were like that, I’d rather not live at all!” The junior had slept so well the night before, waking up early with boundless energy and lots to say.
Liang Pei didn’t know why he looked in a good mood today, mainly reflected in his willingness to listen to his junior, “He was this busy before, too?”
“Really busy! My brother is practically a legend in the art college. He was class monitor in his freshman year, a leader in the Hanfu Society, and I can’t remember what else… It’s all the gossip I used to read that I’ve forgotten, oh, and the student council in the art college, I’ve forgotten which department it was.”
“Then, in his sophomore year, he joined in the school student council, became the president of the Hanfu Society, resigned from the student union of the art college, but remained class monitor.”
“You saw it too as a junior, the school’s student council relies heavily on him. At the end of the day, it’s because he’s good at handling things and is likeable. The Youth League Committee teachers all like him, so they entrust him with tasks like dealing with the Youth League Committee.”
“Then his teacher often enlists him in various competitions. It’s not the first time he prepared for a competition like this, is he not coming back to sleep tonight?”
101.
Previously, Zhou Mengyu asked Liang Pei if he felt that a person like him was very utilitarian.
Actually, back then, Liang Pei didn’t really know why Zhou Mengyu would ask that; he didn’t know Zhou Mengyu well.
Now that he’s heard what the junior said, he feels like he has a stronger understanding, as if he could understand a bit better why Zhou Mengyu asked that question.
He also became more aware that Zhou Mengyu was indeed two years older than him, as he was in his junior year while he was still in his freshman year.
The junior brother didn’t have any class this morning, and Liang Pei was supposed to have a PE class during second period, but the teacher was unavailable today, so he couldn’t attend.
The two of them were quiet in the dormitory, rarely speaking, mainly because the junior brother was a bit hesitant to talk to Liang Pei easily.
The advantage of having no classes is that you can go to the canteen early to get your meal, without having to squeeze through the crowds of people leaving class.
The junior student was about to go to the canteen for lunch before eleven o’clock and asked Liang Pei if he wanted to go together before leaving.
Liang Pei stood up, holding his phone, “Let’s go.”
102.
Liang Pei walked on the road while sending a message to Zhou Mengyu.
Liang Pei: What are you eating?
Zhou Mengyu might have seen it by chance and replied quickly: Don’t know, still early
Liang Pei: Say what you want
Zhou Mengyu: Don’t know when I’ll be free to eat
Liang Pei: If you want, just say it. I’m in the cafeteria
Zhou Mengyu: Are you coming to the studio?
Liang Pei: Mmm
Zhou Mengyu: Isn’t it hot at this time? I feel hot even with the air conditioner on! Just order takeout
Liang Pei: So many unnecessary words
Zhou Mengyu: …Cold skin noodles! Love you!
Liang Pei packed two cold skin noodles, two chicken legs, and two cups of iced lemonade.
Waved a hand and walked out of the canteen amidst the eyes of a junior who exclaimed, “I knew it!”
29q6rr