At six in the morning in late autumn, the sky outside was still dark. However, as soon as the first bell rang in the dormitory, Han Shuo opened his eyes. For modern people returning to the early ’90s, the hardest part was enduring the scorching heat and the bitter cold. There was no air conditioning in the summer and no heating in the winter. It was only the end of November, and the temperature was just a few degrees.
Most of the people in the dormitory wouldn’t get up until the second bell rang. Han Shuo used to be like that too, but now he had no choice. If he got up late, he wouldn’t be able to get hot water from the canteen.
Everyone slept close together on the big bed, and it was warm under the covers, but getting up and getting dressed still required determination. Han Shuo stuffed the cotton-padded jacket and pants that were on top of the quilt into the bed, clamped them between his legs, and rubbed them vigorously. Taking advantage of the slight warmth, he quickly put them on.
After getting dressed, he climbed down from the bed and was the first to pull the light bulb string. As the light flickered on, complaints filled the dormitory.
“Who got up so early again?” someone on the lower bunk poked their head out of the covers, rubbed their eyes, and grumbled after seeing who it was. “Han Shuo, have you gone crazy lately? Why are you getting up so early every day?”
“The first bell has already rung, what’s the point of sleeping?” Han Shuo tied his shoelaces, found his red thermos bottle from under the washstand, and quickly headed to the canteen after opening the dormitory door.
The sky outside was still pitch black, and to get to the canteen, he had to pass through the playground. The moment he stepped out of the dormitory building, even without wind, the cold morning air seeped into his cotton-padded jacket from all directions. Han Shuo felt a tingling sensation on his face from the cold, and he shivered as he made his way to the canteen.
At this early hour, a few disciplined students were already having breakfast in the canteen. Han Shuo carried his thermos bottle and continued walking inside.
The boiler room was quite warm, with white steam swirling under the dim yellow light. Han Shuo waited for the students in front of him to finish getting hot water, pulled out the wooden stopper, and filled his thermos bottle to the brim. Then he carried it back to the dormitory building, but instead of returning to his own dormitory, he went to another room on the same floor.
When he entered, several people on the lower bunks were already up, and Meng Yuxiu, who was on the bed by the window, was putting on a sweater.
When Meng Yuxiu finished putting on his clothes and revealed his eyes, Han Shuo grinned at him. But Meng Yuxiu acted as if he didn’t see him, kept a cold face, and continued putting on his pants.
This time, it was really hard to coax him. It had been half a month since Han Shuo left Meng Yuxiu’s house. At first, Han Shuo thought he just needed to do what he did before: go to Class One every day, pester him, and buy some snacks, and Meng Yuxiu would compromise.
But this time, even after half a month of fetching hot water every day, it was no use.
The people in Meng Yuxiu’s dormitory were already very familiar with Han Shuo. They didn’t even need to look; just by the sound, they knew he was there. Some of the lively ones teased Meng Yuxiu, “Meng Yuxiu, your little wife is here again?”
“Here to bring hot water for your husband again?”
“Han Shuo, aren’t you tired of getting up so early every day to please your husband?”
Meng Yuxiu felt a headache hearing this, but Han Shuo just laughed cheerfully.
Han Shuo didn’t argue with them. Although he was a carefree person, he knew that Meng Yuxiu couldn’t accept being the one on the bottom. Now he was in the stage of coaxing him, so it didn’t matter what title others gave him. After all, between him and Meng Yuxiu, who was on the bottom was their private matter.
So he shamelessly said to the others, “Tired? I’m happy to wash my husband’s underwear, hahaha!”
After he said that, the whole dormitory burst into laughter, but when Han Shuo turned his head, he saw Meng Yuxiu sitting on the bed, glaring at him with gritted teeth.
Han Shuo secretly thought, why is this person so hard to please? Call him wife, he’s angry; call him husband, he’s still angry.
But Han Shuo didn’t mind. After all, he needed to give his future bed partner more tolerance.
He skillfully found Meng Yuxiu’s washbasin and mouthwash cup on the washstand, then picked up the thermos bottle, pulled out the stopper, and poured half of the hot water into both the mouthwash cup and the washbasin. Then he walked over and patted Meng Yuxiu’s quilt.
“Hurry up and put on your shoes. I’ve got the hot water ready for you.”
Hearing Han Shuo’s pampering tone, Meng Yuxiu felt even more blocked early in the morning.
Especially when he was about to get out of bed to put on his shoes, Han Shuo almost helped him put them on. He couldn’t stand it anymore and ended up pulling and tugging with Han Shuo on the lower bunk.
“You…” But with so many people in the dormitory, Meng Yuxiu could only lower his voice and angrily said, “I’m not a three-year-old child.”
Han Shuo chuckled, “Alright, alright, you do it yourself then.”
Meng Yuxiu was almost driven crazy. He had been moved by Han Shuo’s various warm gestures before, but Han Shuo always found a way to make him not want to see him the next second.
He blocked Han Shuo with his body, grabbed the mouthwash cup and washbasin, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
Han Shuo didn’t dare to push Meng Yuxiu too hard. Now, besides eating together, he would look for Meng Yuxiu after school, but he didn’t go to Class One during the ten-minute breaks anymore.
The key was that when he went to Class One, Meng Yuxiu wouldn’t smile or pay attention to him, and sitting there doing nothing was boring.
During the morning self-study, the sky outside was getting brighter. Han Shuo sat in his seat, listening to the reading voices in the classroom, looking at the open draft book.
On the draft book, he had written a few numbers.
December 25th was Meng Yuxiu’s birthday, which meant there were only twenty-something days left until he became an adult.
Given Meng Yuxiu’s current attitude, it seemed like it would take years to complete the task.
Han Shuo shook his head. No, he needed to come up with some other ideas. It would be best to win him over on his birthday.
He asked Pidan, Doufu, and Pan Xiaodong for help, consulting them on what gift to give for a birthday.
Pidan winked and smiled at him, “Give yourself to Meng Yuxiu?”
Han Shuo raised an eyebrow, “Oh, what about it?”
Doufu teased in a low voice.
Pan Xiaodong said, “I’ve long seen that you two have something going on. If you ask me, you should give Meng Yuxiu a big slap, for always giving you a stinky face. How can you be so eager to be with someone? It should be him taking the initiative.”
Han Shuo: “No way, if I dared to give Meng Yuxiu a big slap, he probably wouldn’t want to see me for the rest of his life. I can’t do that. Alright, alright, don’t give me nonsense. You don’t understand the situation between me and Meng Yuxiu. Just tell me what I can give him?”
Pidan thought for a moment and suggested a pen, Doufu said to buy a birthday cake in the county town, but Han Shuo decisively refused.
“Can you come up with something fresh? Preferably not too tacky, not too materialistic.”
Pan Xiaodong: “Just say you don’t want to spend money.”
Han Shuo laughed, “You caught me.”
“Then give him a scarf,” Pan Xiaodong said. “The girls in the class give gifts by buying yarn and knitting scarves themselves.”
“I don’t know how to knit,” Han Shuo said.
“Oh, knitting a scarf is very simple. You can ask the girls in the class or the canteen auntie.”
Han Shuo thought about it and felt this idea was indeed good. Meng Yuxiu had already rejected all his gestures of goodwill, except for the hot water in the morning, but that was only because Han Shuo forced himself to get up before Meng Yuxiu to seize the opportunity.
If he got up a few minutes late, he wouldn’t even have that chance.
Han Shuo immediately decided on the scarf! With more than twenty days left, he would knit a scarf for Meng Yuxiu himself. He didn’t believe he couldn’t move this guy.
Once Meng Yuxiu was moved, he would pull him onto the bed and have a wild night on his birthday!
Pan Xiaodong was a day student, so Han Shuo asked him to help buy yarn balls when he went home after school.
“Ah,” Pan Xiaodong said reluctantly, “buying yarn balls might require a trip to the market, and my house isn’t close to it.”
Han Shuo: “Then go when you have time in the next few days.”
“Alright.”
It was cold, and it was hard to sit still in the classroom. Besides, Han Shuo needed to restrain himself before giving the scarf. Otherwise, if he annoyed Meng Yuxiu again, even giving the scarf would be useless.
So Pan Xiaodong and the others suggested going to the playground to play basketball, and Han Shuo went along.
Han Shuo knew how to play basketball, but since coming to this world, he hadn’t had time to play because of the task.
I have to say, playing basketball in cold weather was really nice. After playing, his hands and feet weren’t cold anymore. Some of the boys under the basketball hoop even took off their sweaters, leaving only their thin autumn clothes.
After lunch, Han Shuo finished a game and sat on the steps to rest.
“Han Shuo, are you playing ball after class?”
Han Shuo looked up. It was a tall boy with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, holding a basketball and sitting down next to him. This guy was Gao Ze, from the same class as Meng Yuxiu.
After a game of basketball, boys became familiar with each other, and with Gao Ze’s outgoing personality, he would run to Class Seven to call Han Shuo to play ball as soon as the bell rang for the next two days.
Unexpectedly, after playing for a while, Han Shuo really got a bit addicted. One time after class, when Gao Ze didn’t come to call him, Han Shuo couldn’t wait and ran to Class One.
When Han Shuo went to Class One, Meng Yuxiu was reviewing with his head down when a male classmate nudged him with his elbow.
“Hey, Meng Yuxiu, your little wife is here to see you.”
Meng Yuxiu looked up and indeed saw Han Shuo walking past the window.
Ever since Han Shuo pestered him about doing tasks and calling him wife, he had coldly told Han Shuo, “Don’t come to Class One every break. I need to prepare for exams and don’t have other thoughts for now.”
Han Shuo: “Alright, alright, whatever you say.”
Sure enough, Han Shuo was all talk. It hadn’t even been a few days. Meng Yuxiu subconsciously frowned, ready to face Han Shuo’s relentless pestering with a cold face, but then he saw Han Shuo walk into Class One and head straight to the corner of the last row.
He was momentarily stunned.
Han Shuo really wanted to play ball. When he walked into Class One, he forgot to even glance at Meng Yuxiu. He walked to Gao Ze’s seat and patted his back.
“What are you doing? Wanna play ball?”
Gao Ze was doing math problems. When he looked up and saw it was Han Shuo, he immediately shouted happily, “Han Shuo! Wait for me! I’ll finish the last problem right away!”
“So busy?” Han Shuo said, “Then you finish your homework first, and I’ll find you next class to play ball.”
“Hey, don’t!” Gao Ze grabbed Han Shuo’s arm, “Wait for me, I’ll be quick! You sit down first.”
“Alright then.” Han Shuo sat down on the bench next to him.
Gao Ze was quick. After scribbling down the last problem, he handed his homework to the group leader, then picked up the basketball under his seat and left with Han Shuo, laughing and joking with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
“What’s going on?” Meng Yuxiu’s male deskmate watched the two leave the classroom, put his hand on the shoulder of the person next to him, and teased, “Meng Yuxiu, did your wife run off with someone else? Haha…”
“Ha…” However, as he turned his head, he saw his deskmate’s eyes, dark and intimidating, and immediately swallowed the last “ha” back into his throat.
Meng Yuxiu gripped the pen in his hand and coldly shook off his deskmate’s hand from his shoulder.