Shine on Me

My life had settled into a quiet routine. With no classes left at all, I occasionally visited the university library to gather thesis materials, photocopying relevant documents to study at home.

Then while studying, I'd end up playing on the computer.

My cousin Jiang Rui was in the thick of preparing for college entrance exams, watching my leisurely days with intense jealousy. I told him, "I'll be starting work soon with no more winter or summer vacations. Once you're done with exams, you'll have four whole years to enjoy yourself—how nice is that?"

Jiang Rui scoffed, "Sis, I plan to strive hard in university. Dad has already laid the financial foundation for me—I'm going to become a great entrepreneur. Not everyone's as unambitious as you."

"Ah, I was actually quite ambitious at your age too. Otherwise why would I have worked so hard to get into a prestigious university? But I've had my awakening. Jiang Rui, I hope you never have yours—keep working hard to earn money so your sister can depend on you."

My cousin made a pained expression: "If you can't get married, I'll support you."

"What? Jiang Rui, do you have a crush on me?"

He exploded: "Nie Xiguang, what kind of logic is that?!"

The phone rang downstairs, and I ran down giggling to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Xiguang, it's me."

I paused. "Oh, Siliang—what's up?"

"Can't I call you without a reason? You're so important now."

I forced a laugh. My mood had been gradually improving, but hearing her voice made dark clouds seem to gather around me again.

That day in the dorm, not one person had spoken up for me. Of course they weren't obligated to, and perhaps our friendship wasn't deep enough for unconditional trust.

Still, it chilled me.

"Xiguang," Siliang spoke after a pause, "Xiaofeng returned from Shanghai yesterday. She said she was the one who answered that phone call. She'd already reached the train station that day but realized she forgot her ID, so she came back to the dorm to get it and happened to pick up. She meant to leave a note after hanging up, but in her rush to leave, she forgot. That scatterbrain messed up—Rong Rong isn't holding it against her, but Xiaofeng definitely owes us all a treat. When are you coming back? Let's make her pay big time."

Siliang's voice was unusually bright and cheerful, probably trying to create a "this is all water under the bridge" atmosphere. But this casual treatment only made me feel worse. I stiffly replied, "Oh, I see. I won't be coming back—I'm preparing for my thesis defense at my uncle's place."

Siliang said, "You could prepare here too, and we could discuss how to handle the professors together."

"Better not. The dorm's too hot—my uncle's place has AC."

I was blatantly lying—it wasn't even May yet, nowhere near hot weather.

Siliang didn't press further.

Later, Xiaofeng and A Fen kept messaging about get-togethers, but I made excuses to decline them all. I'd suddenly become very lazy.

As if nothing mattered anymore.

After all...

Graduation was coming soon. What wasn't over yet soon would be.

Around April 20th, my thesis advisor called to have me pick up revision notes. So early one morning, I rode my cousin's bicycle to A University.Perhaps today wasn't a good day for going out. On my way here, I had to swerve to avoid a stray dog and took a nasty fall. If I went back to change clothes, I'd miss my appointment with my advisor, so I had no choice but to arrive at the A University Business School looking disheveled.

I found my advisor's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Nervously, I pushed open the office door, and the first person I saw was actually Zhuang Xu.

He was standing next to my advisor. Hearing the door open, he looked up at me, his gaze lingering briefly before quickly shifting away.

I froze in the doorway. Why was he here?

My advisor was the vice dean of our faculty, a notoriously strict old man. He glanced at me, adjusted his glasses, and said, "Wait over there for now." Then he continued speaking with Zhuang Xu.

From their conversation, they were also discussing thesis matters. So Zhuang Xu and I had been assigned the same advisor? Although we weren't in the same department, we both belonged to the Business School, so it was possible, though unlikely, to get the same advisor.

If such a coincidence had happened before, I probably would have been thrilled. Now, I just felt incredibly unlucky, especially knowing I was here to get scolded. I just hoped he'd finish quickly and leave.

After a few minutes, Zhuang Xu said he should go, but the professor stopped him. "Don't rush off. I'll go over more details with you later. First, I need to speak with this student."

Then the professor called me over. "Nie Xiguang, right?"

I nodded.

The advisor pulled out my thesis and stared at it without speaking. The office was silent for several minutes, and I was dying of nervousness.

Finally, the professor spoke. "Among all the students I'm advising, you submitted your first draft the latest."

"Professor, I..." I knew I'd be questioned about my late submission and had prepared excuses beforehand, but with Zhuang Xu present, I became tongue-tied and couldn't utter any of them.

"And it's also the most structurally flawed—completely pieced together. This definitely won't pass. I won't allow such a thesis to proceed to defense. You should withdraw from this round and prepare properly to try again next year."

Although I'd heard this professor was known for harshly intimidating students every year, hearing it firsthand still stunned me with its severity. Having Zhuang Xu witness such an embarrassing moment made me burn with shame and anger—I wished I could disappear into the ground. There was no way I could beg or plead for leniency in front of him.

At that moment, Zhuang Xu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. "Professor."

I looked up at him suspiciously, thinking, The misunderstanding between us is already cleared up—are you really going to kick me while I'm down?

"Professor, perhaps her second draft will be better. Theses are improved through revisions."

He was... pleading for me?

Him speaking up for me should have made me happy, but somehow, it only made me angrier.

What do you think you're doing? I don't need you to speak for me!

I blurted out, "Professor, I'll defend next year."

Hearing this, both Zhuang Xu and the professor were taken aback. Zhuang Xu gave me a complicated look, stepped back, and didn't say another word.The professor was getting angry and rapped on the table. "Look at you, getting upset after just a few criticisms. Students these days, each batch worse than the last. Scissors and glue—what kind of decent thesis can you write like that? And yet every one of you has such a temper."

Shaking his head with a sigh, the professor placed another thesis in front of me. "Look, same topic. Why can others write something rigorous, detailed, and original? Their drafts are almost finalized, while yours is still in its initial stage."

I glanced up and saw the name "Zhuang Xu" on the thesis. Right, Zhuang Xu and I had the same topic. I had chosen it back then because he did, when so many things hadn’t happened yet. I had naively thought picking the same topic might create some opportunities for me.

Of course, the advisor wouldn’t actually let me read someone else’s thesis. He took it back and tossed mine at me. "My comments are all written there. I have nothing more to say. Revise it yourself. If the second draft still isn’t acceptable, I absolutely won’t let you defend it."

Dismissed by the advisor, I let out a temporary sigh of relief—at least I still had a chance to avoid delaying graduation. After waiting for a while, the elevator finally arrived. Just as I stepped in and pressed the close button, I faintly heard someone shout, "Wait!"

Reflexively, I hit the open button. By the time I realized whose voice it was, it was already too late.

Zhuang Xu stepped into the elevator.

Then his long arm reached past me to press the button for the first floor.

The elevator descended.

The silence inside was so thick I could hear my own heartbeat. I stared unblinkingly at the floor numbers on the display panel. For the first time, I felt the school’s elevator was absurdly slow. It felt like an eternity had passed, yet we were only halfway down.

"Maybe I can help you."

When the words came, I thought I was hallucinating. It took me a moment to look at Zhuang Xu.

There were only the two of us in the elevator, so he must have been speaking to me. But help me? With what?

Perhaps noticing my confusion, his gaze fell on the papers in my hand. "Thesis," he said simply.

My face burned instantly. The advisor had just torn my thesis to shreds, and Zhuang Xu had heard every word of it.

Humiliated again.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. Just then, the elevator reached the ground floor. I hurried out without looking back.