He arrived early not because he was particularly interested in the course content, but because the professor for this class, Teacher Gao—Gao Jiguo—was the only one among all the professors who never arrived late and started taking attendance the moment class began.
Students often grumbled privately, saying it was definitely because Old Gao had written the textbook himself that he taught with such enthusiasm.
But today, the lecture hall was rowdy. By 8:10 AM, the podium remained empty.
"What’s going on? Is Old Gao late?"
"No way. With his work ethic..."
The students whispered among themselves. Some started pulling out their breakfasts, chowing down under the hostile glares of the people around them.
Yu Xian sat in the back row by the window, staring blankly at the rain-slicked stone paths outside.
It was still raining. All in all, it had been seven days, yet there was no sign of it clearing up.
At 8:20 AM, the counselor pushed the door open and walked in.
"Everyone, quiet down." The counselor didn’t look too well. Yu Xian could understand; anyone dragged out of bed for overtime early in the morning would have a hard time being in a good mood.
Holding a hastily printed notice, the counselor pasted it next to the blackboard.
"We received a notice from the Academic Affairs Office. Due to health reasons, Teacher Gao won’t be able to teach you this semester. This course is canceled for this term, and the credits will be transferred to next semester’s Theoretical Astrophysics. You all can either continue self-studying or head back."
The classroom instantly erupted into cheers.
Although many students loved Old Gao’s "brilliant theories" in the High-Energy Astrophysics class, compared to not having an 8:00 AM class, no one cared whether the textbook’s author would still teach them personally next semester.
Yu Xian was taken aback. The course was canceled entirely instead of them assigning a substitute teacher?
For a veteran professor and academic bigwig like Old Gao, who had a bunch of young lecturers acting as free labor under him, randomly pulling one out to lecture to a bunch of undergrads should have been more than enough.
However, the physics major had a heavy workload. Many students’ schedules were packed, so having one less class was a pleasant surprise for everyone.
"Let’s go, let’s go! Time for breakfast!"
Someone patted his shoulder. It was his roommate, Shi Zuozhou, who slung his backpack over his shoulder with an excited look on his face.
"Heading to the South Gate for beef noodles? I wonder if they’re open on a rainy day."
Yu Xian was dragged out of the classroom by him, caught up in the cheerful crowd.
He didn’t resist. Perhaps subconsciously, he also hoped this would briefly stop him from thinking about what had happened over the weekend.
Although he usually lived off-campus, he naturally still had a dorm room at the school. It was a four-person room, grouped with students from the broad categories of the School of Physics. The other two roommates were in a different major, so their schedules were different.
"You brat! I saw you from a mile away. Skipping class in broad daylight, huh!"
Just as they stepped out of the teaching building and under the covered walkway, before they could even open their umbrellas, a tall girl with a ponytail and a baseball jacket darted up from behind. She expertly smacked the back of Shi Zuozhou’s head and pinched his ear.
A smooth combo—she had clearly executed this maneuver many times before.
It was Yang Yiyi, a senior from the School of Life Sciences.
Yu Xian had met her before through Shi Zuozhou. He knew they were from the same hometown, had known each other for a long time, and even worked in the same department of the student union.
The School of Life Sciences’ laboratory building was right next to the School of Physics’ main building. Coupled with the fact that girls in the School of Physics were as pitifully rare as national pandas, the boys from the School of Physics intentionally or unintentionally expanded their area of activity to the School of Life Sciences.
Yang Yiyi was a "leader" in the student union and often organized various large-scale events at the school. Everyone usually addressed her respectfully as "Brother Yi."
Though Yu Xian was an exception. He didn’t spend much time at school and rarely participated in student activities. He wasn’t very close to her; they were merely nodding acquaintances.
"Let go, let go! I’m innocent, Brother Yi!" Shi Zuozhou struggled exaggeratedly. "How would I dare skip class? The 8:00 AM class got canceled, so we were planning to get some breakfast."
"My bad then." Yang Yiyi released Shi Zuozhou and stepped in front of them.
She was quite tall, looking to be over 1.7 meters. Her ponytail cast a silhouette against the backdrop of the rain.
Turning around, she finally noticed that the person next to Shi Zuozhou was Yu Xian.
Her bossy older sister aura slightly retracted. Subconsciously, she tugged at the pockets of her baseball jacket and tucked some stray hairs behind her ear.
"Oh... it’s Yu Xian. Morning."
"Good morning, Yiyi," Yu Xian managed to force a smile.
The three of them opened their umbrellas and walked into the pouring rain.
Having rained continuously for a week, JCU’s drainage system—which was as old as the school itself—had long been overwhelmed. Muddy water pooled across the roads.
The crowded umbrellas bumped against each other like mushrooms floating on a gloomy gray sea.
Shi Zuozhou rubbed his reddened ear and complained as they walked. Yang Yiyi walked half a step ahead of the two boys with her umbrella open.
The large umbrella shielded her upper body. All that could be seen were her long, straight legs in jeans walking lightly, occasionally turning back to remind them to watch out for puddles.
Yu Xian looked at the puddles beneath his feet. Raindrops smashed into the water, stirring up ripples.
This scene of several people walking together had occurred many times in his memory.
Except, in this picture from the past, the girl usually had short hair, not a ponytail.
Xia Li’s umbrella was always very small, so that even if the two of them held separate umbrellas, she could still hear him speak clearly.
A gust of wind, carrying cold rain, blew over and hit his right shoulder without any obstruction.
Yu Xian couldn’t help but shiver.
The noodle shop at the South Gate was steaming hot. Because of the heavy rain outside, the humidity indoors was so thick it felt like a bamboo steamer.
The glass doors were covered in condensation. People coming in and out closed their dripping umbrellas, turning the floor into a muddy mess.
The three found a corner and sat down. Shi Zuozhou expertly called out to the boss to order.
Yang Yiyi, who sat opposite Yu Xian, got up to fetch chopsticks and small plates for the three of them from the sterilization cabinet, then went to the self-service counter to scoop up some side dishes.
Yu Xian looked at the grease-patinaed wooden table with its striped texture, and spoke with feigned casualness.
"By the way, do you remember? On the day we finished our final exams last semester, we also came here to eat, right?"
"Of course I remember," Shi Zuozhou replied matter-of-factly. "This is the only small place around here willing to turn on the AC in the summer. Where else would we go?"
"That day..." Yu Xian paused, his heart pounding in his chest. He probed, "Who else was here besides us that day? Seems like some girl saved a seat for me?"
Listening to the two chat, Yang Yiyi poured cups of hot water for her two juniors.
"Is our boy feeling repressed? There are barely any girls in the School of Physics to begin with. Where would you find a female creature around you?"
After saying that, Shi Zuozhou thought for a moment and then flashed Yang Yiyi a fawning smile. "I’m not talking about you, Brother Yi. You don’t count as a female creature."
The server saved Shi Zuozhou from an imminent beating.
"Noodles are here! Careful, it’s hot!"
The servers at the noodle shop possessed special skills, capable of delivering three bowls of noodles to the table in one go.
Three bowls of steaming hot beef hand-pulled noodles were set before them. Floating on the red chili oil broth were a few scattered, paper-thin slices of meat and a vibrant green layer of cilantro.
It smelled fantastic, though there was so little meat you’d think a cow had merely casually strolled past the pot.
"I’m starving, I’m starving." Shi Zuozhou rubbed his hands together, picked up a huge chopstick-ful of noodles, and stuffed it into his wide-open mouth, making satisfying chewing sounds.
Yang Yiyi scolded him, telling him not to smack his lips while eating.
Diners came and went. With the recent drop in temperature, they were all blowing into their hands and rubbing them together, waiting for a hot bowl of noodle soup to warm their bodies.
The sky outside was gloomy and gray, while the lights inside cast a warm, toasty glow, resembling a cozy, healing oil painting.
But Yu Xian’s movements froze.
An extremely minute, discordant sense of wrongness began to breed in his mind.
It was like seeing a left-handed person suddenly writing fluently with their right hand.
"Old Shi," Yu Xian called out to him subconsciously.
"Huh? What’s up?" Shi Zuozhou looked up in confusion, his cheeks bulging.
"You..." Yu Xian pointed at his bowl, his throat turning dry. "You didn’t pick it out?"
"Pick what out?"
"The cilantro."
Shi Zuozhou paused and looked down at the patch of green in his bowl.
"Why would I pick it out? Isn’t this stuff meant to add flavor?"
Sitting in the corner of the noisy noodle shop, cold sweat slowly began to seep from Yu Xian’s back.
Didn’t Shi Zuozhou absolutely refuse to eat cilantro?
He remembered mocking him for being picky about it before.
Yu Xian turned to look at Yang Yiyi across from him.
Yang Yiyi was taking small bites of her noodles, somewhat curious about their conversation.
She was very close to Shi Zuozhou, so she should have definitely remembered this habit of his.
But now, she turned a blind eye to Shi Zuozhou swallowing mouthfuls of cilantro, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Yu Xian, aren’t you going to eat? The noodles are getting soggy."
Yang Yiyi noticed his unusual behavior.
He gave a murmur of acknowledgment, picked up his chopsticks, and lowered his head. Suppressing the fear deep in his heart, he mechanically swallowed the food in front of him.