Be Passionately In Love

However, ever since then, every time Li Ke approached Chen Luzhou to discuss the mathematical modeling competition, he would casually throw in, “If you go to the library alone with me, will your girlfriend be upset?”

Chen Luzhou looked at his expression, which was quite annoying, and replied in a similarly casual tone, “Yeah, how about we each form our own teams?”

At that time, it was the period for freely forming teams for the mathematical modeling competition, and Li Ke knew that many people were looking for Chen Luzhou. The competition typically required teams of three, plus a supervising teacher, and team members could be students from different majors, usually forming teams with people from various disciplines. This was because the division of labor was clear, with each person handling their own responsibilities. It didn’t require overly specialized mathematical knowledge, as the competition involved the application of models from various fields. Although the calculations were extensive, as long as one had a basic understanding of advanced mathematics, they could participate. For instance, in the American Mathematical Contest, someone had to be responsible for data integration, writing the paper, and translating it into English. This part of the workload was quite complex, and since Chen Luzhou was good at English—he had helped his teacher record listening exercises during competitions back in high school—Li Ke also had a good command of English. He wasn’t trying to be lazy; mainly, both he and Chen Luzhou were favored students of Jiang Changwei, and their advantage lay in the tacit understanding they had built over years of competition practice, which eliminated the need for a period of adjustment.

The two were on their way to the library, with Li Ke holding some books. He returned to the main topic, saying, “Old Jiang called me yesterday.”

“What did he say?” Chen Luzhou asked, hands in his pockets as he walked.

“Just small talk, probably had another argument with his wife and needed to vent,” Li Ke sighed, “He inexplicably lectured me, saying there are mountains beyond mountains, and there are always stronger people out there. He told us to take it easy and not to embarrass him. I didn’t even dare to tell him you’re in a relationship.”

“He’ll find out sooner or later,” Chen Luzhou chuckled, “After the competition during winter break, he’ll probably know.”

Li Ke was taken aback, unconsciously slowing his pace. “You’ve decided to go back? Didn’t you say you weren’t going?”

“It’s different now; I have a family to consider.”

“I don’t have a family?” Li Ke shot him a glance, “My mom calls me eight hundred times a day, saying if I don’t come back for the New Year, she’ll cut ties with me.”

Chen Luzhou playfully nudged Li Ke’s shoulder and leaned in to say casually, “You, a provincial champion, don’t understand what having a family means?”

Pfft. Li Ke shot him a cold glance, “Do you even know how your family is doing in midterm calculus?”

He hadn’t had the chance to ask. “How are they doing?”

“You didn’t even ask?”

Chen Luzhou put his hand down, shoved it back into his pocket, and sighed, “Recently, I’ve been talking to her about other things. I found out she’s not studying architecture because she likes it; she’s doing it out of resentment towards her mom, completely just to spite her.” Chen Luzhou briefly explained the situation with her mother, and after listening, Li Ke’s expression turned serious. “Aren’t you going to persuade her to change majors? She’s only a freshman; it’s still not too late.”

“That won’t work. Xu Zhi is actually quite proud; anyone else can persuade her, but I can’t. I’m afraid she’ll doubt herself.”The two of them walked leisurely to the library entrance, where the serene and tranquil atmosphere instantly enveloped them. Especially on snowy days, the wilted grass bowed their heads quietly, buried in the snow, and voices unconsciously softened. Chen Luzhou shook his head and said, "Besides, that's not the issue. Don't underestimate her. She managed to get out of Rui Jun—there's some resilience in her. She just has low empathy. But that kind of personality is good too; she won’t be easily influenced by others."

Li Ke smirked mysteriously.

"What do you mean?"

Li Ke patted his shoulder meaningfully and said, "Worry about her? You should worry about yourself instead. She aced calculus—the only perfect score in the architecture department. What does that say? That your charm isn’t enough? Her relationship hasn’t affected her at all. But you—your energy isn’t what it used to be, is it? You’re kinda lacking, man."

Xu Zhi had a rare dream of Ms. Lin Qiudie those days. After her senior year of high school, she hadn’t dreamed of Lin Qiudie again. In the dream, it seemed to be raining, but when she looked up, the sky was bright.

Dreams are illogical, but Ms. Lin Qiudie in the dream spoke with clear logic, her words forceful, as if each one was carving into Xu Zhi’s heart. She felt like a roasted duck, being sliced apart piece by piece.

Behind Lin Qiudie was a vast expanse of white, like a fairyland. Xu Zhi couldn’t quite make out her face but felt she must be happy there. Lin Qiudie said, "You’ve never understood me, Mom."

That world was so peaceful it was enchanting. Xu Zhi wondered if she was disturbing her and unconsciously lowered her voice, whispering, "I’m trying to understand you."

Lin Qiudie wasn’t having it, her voice sharp: "Really? When you were little, I asked you to draw an egg, and you couldn’t even finish it without crying. Don’t waste your time, Xu Zhi. You have no talent for this. Architecture isn’t for you. I gave you a model once, and you smashed it to pieces. You said you hated houses the most."

Xu Zhi replied, "That was because you broke your promise. I was just angry."

Lin Qiudie snapped, "Xu Zhi, can’t you be sensible?"

Xu Zhi’s eyes burned, but the tears wouldn’t fall. "Then what do you want me to do? Die like you?"

Lin Qiudie even laughed at her: "Look at you—you can’t even cry properly. Think about it—how long has it been since you last cried? You used to cry so easily as a child. The moon wasn’t round enough, and you’d cry. The flowers didn’t grow well, and you’d be sad."

Perhaps because it was a dream, Xu Zhi blurted out something random: "That must be Zhu Yangqi."

Lin Qiudie: "Who’s that?"

Xu Zhi: "My boyfriend’s best friend."

Lin Qiudie’s face turned cold, scolding her like she used to when Xu Zhi stole candy as a child: "You’re only nineteen. What boyfriend? Break up with him now!"

Xu Zhi: "You can’t tell me what to do."

Lin Qiudie fell silent, her figure growing fainter. After a long pause, she said, "Keep moving forward, Xu Zhi."

Xu Zhi: "I want to see you."

Lin Qiudie: "Move forward boldly."

After that, Lin Qiudie turned into a broken record, her words echoing incessantly in Xu Zhi’s ears, buzzing so vividly it felt like someone was really whispering to her—so real it made her panic. Xu Zhi jolted awake, her eyes snapping open.

It turned out to be Xu Gongzhu’s phone alarm blaring earth-shakingly—

"Little sister, you boldly move forward… boldly move forward!"

Xu Zhi: "..."

The other three roommates were all woken up, but Xu Gongzhu remained completely undisturbed, sound asleep.In a half-asleep daze, Liu Yisi grabbed a pillow and hurled it with all her might, screaming hoarsely, "Xu Gongzhu!! You set your alarm wrong again!!"

Xu Gongzhu was abruptly jolted awake, utterly bewildered. Only upon hearing the noise did she snap to her senses, scrambling out of bed in a fluster to grab her phone. "...Sorry, sorry, I messed up the alarm for my nap."

The ringing abruptly ceased, and the dormitory instantly returned to silence. Xu Zhi, now fully awake, fished her phone from under the pillow and saw it was only two o'clock.

At that time, Chen Luzhou and Li Ke were preparing for a mathematical modeling competition. Li Ke had even roped in a guy from the computer science department. Though both of them knew some basic programming, Li Ke felt this required a professional touch, so he’d somehow managed to coax someone from the prestigious department into joining. The guy was quiet and reserved, barely uttering a few words, making communication a real struggle. Still, he was a decent fellow—just shy. While Chen Luzhou and Li Ke chattered away, he silently kept his head down, writing code. But because communication was so difficult, they often worked late into the night, with zero team synergy.

Li Ke had a tendency to fixate on academic details. Chen Luzhou, with his easygoing temper, usually avoided arguments. But this guy, though quiet, was stubborn. Their discussions often escalated into heated debates. "Take a simple model—forest fire rescue. Within a set time frame, how many firefighters should be dispatched? Let’s say the fire starts at time t , firefighting begins at t1 , and the fire is extinguished at t2 ... The fire spread coefficient beta is linearized—"

"The firefighting speed has to outpace the spread, right?"

"No kidding."

"Then we need to calculate the area."

"I am calculating—why the rush? It’s just a matter of finding the extremum of a function. If you want to go there, we’d also have to consider whether the tree distribution is uniform, if there’s wind, and whether there are birds in the trees."

The guy chimed in again, "In that case, we’d also have to account for whether there are any first-class nationally protected animals in the forest."

Chen Luzhou leaned back in his chair, tilting his head up in exasperation. Fresh out of the shower, a towel draped around his neck, he sighed wearily. "It’s two in the morning. Can you two just communicate properly? Forget variable conditions—assume uniform tree distribution, no wind, no birds, and no protected animals. Fine, hand it over. I’ll do the calculations. I’m exhausted."

Li Ke: "I already figured it out."

Just then, Chen Luzhou’s phone buzzed.

racatsanddogs: [...I have a favor to ask.]

cr: [Still awake?]

cr: [Miss me?]

racatsanddogs: [Woke up... Chen Luzhou, can you make me cry?]

cr: [Having a wet dream?]

racatsanddogs: [No, I dreamed about my mom. I want to cry, but I can’t.]

Chen Luzhou immediately stood up from his chair. "Keep working without me."

Li Ke blinked, looking up at him. "What? Why so serious all of a sudden? Not tired anymore?"

The quiet guy beside them was equally startled. Compared to Li Ke, Chen Luzhou had a much better temper. Though he came off as aloof, during basketball or casual chats, he’d lounge around with a smirk—never cold or stern.

"Xu Zhi had a nightmare. I’ll go comfort her. You two keep at it." Chen Luzhou grabbed his phone and walked out.