Official classes began. Du Jinchen arrived at the school riding in his omega dad’s car. After bidding farewell to Xu Xian, he entered the specialized building. Since a crowd had gathered at the elevator entrance, Du Jinchen naturally walked toward the stairs.
Standing near the staircase was a young female teacher with a thick stack of documents piled by her feet. She looked somewhat troubled about how to carry all those materials upstairs.
Du Jinchen helped carry the documents up to the seventh floor. The female teacher thanked him from behind, saying, “Thank you so much, classmate! If I hadn’t run into you today, I really wouldn’t have known how to get these up here.”
For Du Jinchen, the weight of this small stack of materials was nothing more than a light warm-up. He replied, “No need to thank me. I happen to be going to the seventh floor myself.”
“Oh? Are you a student in the Software Engineering major?” Shu Xin asked with a smile, adding, “A freshman?”
“Yes,” Du Jinchen replied.
“What a coincidence! Along the way today, I’ve run into two freshmen, and both are in our major,” Shu Xin said, covering her mouth with a laugh. “The handsome guy who helped me carry materials earlier is also in Software Engineering. He looks slender, but he certainly has quite a bit of strength.”
After delivering the documents, Du Jinchen found the meeting classroom. Only when she watched Shu Xin walk in through the doorway did he realize she was actually the freshman counselor for their cohort.
At the department meeting, Shu Xin gave the usual welcome speech to the freshmen, distributed military training uniforms, and announced that tomorrow would be the opening ceremony, followed the day after by the official start of the two-week military training.
The meeting also required electing an acting class monitor. Shu Xin asked if anyone wanted to volunteer, but after scanning the room, no students raised their hands.
So, her gaze settled on Du Jinchen. “Since everyone is so shy upon our first meeting, I will make the choice. The acting class monitor for the military training period will be temporarily assigned to classmate Du Jinchen.”
After the meeting concluded, Shu Xin kept Du Jinchen behind and gave him an extra set of military training uniforms. “One of the students in the class asked for leave today and didn’t come. Keep this set of training uniforms temporarily, and please give it to that student when you see them later.”
Du Jinchen agreed. Shu Xin continued, “There is a freshman opening ceremony at the school, and we need a student representative to give a speech on stage. Prepare a speech and go up to say a few words tomorrow.”
Du Jinchen gave a simple affirmation and agreed with ease.
Shu Xin patted Du Jinchen’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be nervous. Our department has another freshman joining you to give a speech, and it is that student who didn’t come today. You didn’t get to see each other today, but you’ll run into each other in the auditorium tomorrow.”
The next day, at the opening ceremony, Du Jinchen locked his car and hurried toward the auditorium.
Along the path, there were only seniors hurriedly heading to the library early in the morning. Not a single freshman face could be seen on campus; they must have all gone to the opening ceremony venue.
Du Jinchen couldn’t help but quicken his pace toward the auditorium. Having arrived slightly late, the leaders’ opening remarks were already over, and it was now the student speech segment.
Du Jinchen ducked his body and slipped into backstage. The people backstage were busy bustling around, applying makeup and waiting to go on stage. No one paid any attention to Du Jinchen.
It was Shu Xin who grabbed him and pulled him over, saying, “I’m so glad you made it. You were almost late.”
Shu Xin turned her head to look at his outfit, consisting of a white shirt and suit trousers, which looked quite formal. She nodded with satisfaction and asked, “Are you ready? After the next speaker finishes, it is your turn.”
Du Jinchen made an OK hand gesture and said unhurriedly, “No problem.”
A group of dance team members walked past from the opposite direction. Du Jinchen politely took a step back to clear the aisle, but he didn’t expect a female student to suddenly appear right behind him.
That female student was chatting with a friend next to her and hadn’t noticed anyone nearby, crashing right into Du Jinchen’s shoulder. The cup of coffee in her hand spilled all over Du Jinchen’s shirt.
Only when she turned her head did the girl realize that Du Jinchen’s pristine white shirt was stained with a large patch of coffee. Fortunately, it was cold brew coffee, so it hadn’t burned anyone.
The girl’s face instantly turned pale. Panicking, she pulled out tissues and apologized repeatedly, saying she was not intentional.
Du Jinchen felt a wet, chilly mess against his arm. The damp, cold fabric rested heavily on his skin, and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. But seeing that the girl was on the verge of tears, Du Jinchen had no choice but to suppress his discomfort and comfort her by saying it was fine.
Shu Xin was startled. Seeing the large stain, she frowned and said, “What should we do? You’re going on stage in a moment.”
A performance major senior waiting nearby chimed in, “There should still be clean shirts inside the dressing room. Why don’t you go change right now?”
Du Jinchen nodded and said, “Thank you.”
The very moment Du Jinchen stepped into the dressing room, the backstage door was pushed open once again.
A teenager wearing a deep red baseball cap walked in, raised his gaze to look around, and failing to find anyone, prepared to take out his phone to make a call, only to be spotted immediately by the sharp-eyed Shu Xin.
Shu Xin hurried over to greet him anxiously, “Classmate Jiang, the student scheduled to speak before you ran into a bit of situation. Could you go up and give your speech first?”
The newcomer nodded, raised a hand to pull off a pure white mask, and revealed a gorgeously delicate face. It was a pretty appearance devoid of any aggression. Round apricot eyes shimmered with a fine mist, yet his pupils remained cold and detached. The narrow double eyelids gave his eyes a somewhat sharp, unfriendly vibe.
Jiang Chu lightly bit his lower lip and stood quietly in the waiting area. The black tips of his hair brushed against his fair neck, where a pink scent-suppressing patch hidden beneath his hair was faintly visible.
When the student on stage finished speaking and handed over the microphone, Jiang Chu stepped into the bright light and walked up to the auditorium stage, leaving behind an elegant and slender silhouette.
A cool, refreshing voice echoed throughout the massive auditorium, sounding like a clear spring striking mountain stones, with lingering echoes that refused to fade and melodies that wound endlessly.
Du Jinchen emerged from the dressing room, but before he had a chance to listen closely, he took long strides toward the waiting area.
He absentmindedly adjusted the cuffs of his shirt. The delicate cufflinks fluttered between his clean, well-groomed fingertips, and his distinct, knuckle-sharp wrist wore a quartz watch, exuding an ascetic and scholarly charm.
The sound of the speech by his ear had unknowingly come to an end. Just as Du Jinchen finished adjusting his sleeve, a pair of white casual shoes appeared in his peripheral vision. A slender and delicate hand holding a microphone extended toward him, and a cool voice sounded out, “Classmate, here is your microphone.”
A soft chime rang in his ear, and all creation fell completely still.
All the blood in Du Jinchen’s body rushed backward. His heartbeat accelerated with strange intensity. He held his breath and slowly raised his head.
The simple motion of raising his head felt as though an entire century had passed. Du Jinchen’s gaze gradually locked onto the owner of that hand, instantly plunging straight into a pair of clear, tea-tinted pupils.
Du Jinchen had once imagined the scene of their reunion, perhaps on a crowded, bustling avenue, perhaps inside a clamorous and roaring restaurant, or perhaps in a desolate and quiet mountain valley. He just never expected it to be in an opening ceremony auditorium.
The teenager before him was calm and self-contained. His narrow, elongated double eyelids made his gaze appear several degrees sharper, and his tea-colored pupils were cold and pristine. Fine, scattered black locks slightly veiled his eyelids, and the stage lights beat down upon the teenager, outlining soft highlights and shadows. Three ear studs on his left ear bloomed with flickers of silver light.
Clearly, this was a cold and beautiful heartless one, yet the very second he met Du Jinchen’s gaze, he froze in a trance.