Li Wu walked step by step back to his dorm room, as if heading toward another destiny. With his hands in his pockets, he watched the grass blades in the flowerbed sway wildly in the wind, as if trying to uproot themselves and fly to the sky.
He quickened his pace until he broke into an excited run. A young snow leopard sprinting, reborn.
Upstairs, the dorm door was half-open; his roommates had probably all returned.
Li Wu panted heavily, slowing his steps as he entered.
Sure enough, there were exactly three boys inside, each busy with their own affairs. One was munching on a rice ball, one foot propped on the edge of his chair; another had earphones in, shaking his head and fully immersed; and the last stood by the bathroom door on a phone call, his back turned.
"Rice Ball" was the first to notice him, immediately sliding his foot back to the floor and raising a hand to squeeze out a: "Hey."
Li Wu looked at him and returned the greeting.
"Rice Ball" hurried to tug at the one listening to music, who snatched his arm back impatiently, eyebrows furrowed as he glanced over.
Meeting Li Wu's gaze, he pulled out one earbud, tilted his chin up—first gesturing toward the excessively tidy desk beside him, then looking back at Li Wu—"So it's you?"
Li Wu nodded.
"Damn," the music-listener muttered under his breath, "my status as dorm heartthrob is threatened."
Rice Ball chuckled, pushing up his black-framed glasses as he introduced himself: "I'm Cheng Rui, and you're Li..."
The music-listener cut him off sharply, nearly kicking him. He removed his other earbud and stated succinctly, "Lin Honglang."
Li Wu walked to his desk: "Li Wu."
"Gift?" Lin Honglang raised an eyebrow, "Who's getting a gift? Your name's kinda interesting."
Li Wu said, "The 'wu' for fog."
"Alright! Take a seat," Cheng Rui urged, seeing him still standing, "No need to be so formal. Once you're through that door, we're brothers."
Lin Honglang sneered, "Who wants to be brothers with you?"
Li Wu sat at his desk, rearranging the textbooks and exercise books in the bookstand. His things had been moved—he could tell at a glance.
Noticing this, Cheng Rui looked embarrassed: "Didn't mean to snoop, just curious about our new roommate. We didn't take anything."
Li Wu glanced at him: "It's fine."
Lin Honglang kept staring at him, thinking this transfer student seemed aloof, hard to approach—as if drawing a line between them the moment he entered: "Why are you alone? Where are your parents?"
Li Wu's hand, sorting books, paused. He didn't answer.
"Gone?"
He lowered his eyes, slotting the book into the shelf, aligning it neatly.
Cheng Rui, more observant, caught the hint and slapped Lin Honglang's shoulder hard, signaling him to drop the inappropriate questions.
Lin Honglang turned, annoyed: "Why'd you hit me—"
Cheng Rui, unjustly pummeled in retaliation, cursed in pain. The two boys quickly launched into a war of words, liberally invoking each other's ancestors.
Their ruckus finally drew the attention of the one on the phone.
He hung up and rushed in, "What the hell are you guys doing?"
Lin Honglang pointed at Cheng Rui, "He hit me."
Cheng Rui rubbed his arm, "Who hit who?"
"Can't you two chill? Making fools of yourselves," the phone-caller glanced at Li Wu, "See, the new guy's laughing at you."
Li Wu: "..." He wasn't laughing; his eardrums were just itching from their noise.
Cheng and Lin finally ceased fire, returning to their spots.
The phone-caller also gave his name, grinning, "I'm Ran Feichi, these two's dad.""Tch—" Cheng Rui and Lin Honglang scoffed in unison, their voices dripping with disdain.
Ran Feichi remained smiling: "I was just on the phone with their mom, sorry for the delayed welcome."
"Gross." The two on the chairs feigned vomiting simultaneously.
"Keep this up and I'll report you for puppy love," Lin Honglang brandished his fist.
Ran Feichi paid him no mind, his gaze returning to Li Wu. Noticing the design on his clothes, his eyes lit up: "You like Royal Horse?"
Li Wu had no idea how to respond. Having grown up with limited exposure to information, he could vaguely guess Royal Horse was a football club, but knew nothing beyond that. Not wanting to pretend to knowledge he lacked, he stayed silent.
"Wow, I just noticed the team logo on his clothes," Cheng Rui mumbled through a mouthful of rice.
Lin Honglang dismissed it with a snort, proclaiming like a devout follower: "Bayern is the best."
"It's Barça!"
"Barça dogs, get lost."
They launched into another round of bickering.
Father Ran massaged his temples, too tired to intervene, and returned to his seat. Clattering away at the keyboard, he continued his sweet nothings with his girlfriend on WeChat, occasionally smiling to himself without regard for others.
Li Wu secretly sighed in relief. Thanks to Lin Honglang's interruption, he'd dodged a bullet.
After organizing his books, the two beside him were still arguing. Their team rivalry might as well have been ancient Greek to Li Wu, completely incomprehensible. He could only pull his phone from his pocket to check the time.
Almost one o'clock.
He wondered if Cen Jin was really resting in the car. Their parting had been unpleasant, and he didn't dare disturb her. But the thought of her possibly dozing off with her head tilted in the cramped seat, just like that night, filled him with guilt and unease.
Noon light flowed silently, the world outside the window growing still.
The dorm room fell quiet too. Cheng Rui and Lin Honglang had each climbed into their beds, settling into drowsiness.
Meanwhile, Ran Feichi had slipped out of the dorm building again, seizing every moment to meet his girlfriend.
Lying flat on his bed, Cheng Rui could easily see Li Wu at the desk. His posture was ramrod straight, as if in military training, completely devoid of sloppiness.
The dorm suddenly having a new person, and such a distinctive one at that, made him unconsciously fresh and excited. He made two soft hissing sounds to get his attention.
Li Wu turned to find the source.
Cheng Rui creaked up into a sitting position on the bed and asked in a hushed tone, "Why aren't you sleeping?"
Li Wu pressed his lips together. "Not tired."
Cheng Rui asked, "Do you have class this afternoon?"
Li Wu shook his head.
"Formal classes start tomorrow?"
Li Wu nodded.
"Are you in our Class Ten?"
"Mm."
Cheng Rui smiled as if satisfied and was about to speak when a long snore erupted from the opposite bed.
Cheng Rui froze, raising a finger to his lips. "Shh."
Lin Honglang smacked his lips a couple of times and muttered some dream insults.
After a moment of shared eye contact, Cheng Rui stifled laughter, like a pea shooter from Plants vs. Zombies.
Li Wu's lips curved slightly in response. He turned back, glanced down at the first name in his contacts for a while, then turned off the screen and tucked the phone back under his books.
—
By 1:30, Li Wu had packed his books and planned to meet Cen Jin at Wenzhi Building.
Cheng Rui and Lin Honglang were still sound asleep, accustomed to cutting it close returning to class.
Li Wu gently closed the door behind him before quickening his pace downstairs. Just out of the hallway, he ran into Ran Feichi returning to the dorm.
The boy waved and approached, squinting in the sunlight. "Where are you off to?"
Li Wu slowed his steps. "Got something to do."
Ran Feichi, who seemed to love smiling, said, "I thought you were heading to class already, this early."Li Wu said, "I'll be joining the class tomorrow, Class Ten."
"Alright," Ran Feichi smiled with curved eyes, "welcome in advance."
After bidding him farewell, Li Wu continued walking toward Wenzhi Building.
The sun was bright, and the main path grew crowded with returning students—some pushing bicycles, others walking in groups. Moving among them, he felt like a drop of ink falling into clear water, gradually blending into the whole. The campus was both a physical space and an atmosphere that freed him from being trapped within himself.
When he reached Wenzhi Building, there was still a quarter of an hour until two o'clock, but he felt no impatience, waiting calmly.
Soon, a figure approached from a distance, and he recognized her as Cen Jin.
Li Wu walked toward the woman, stopping in front of her. He quickly lowered his gaze, avoiding her eyes.
Cen Jin held an all-black paper bag, hooking it between her fingers and handing it to him mid-air.
Uncertain of its contents, Li Wu accepted it.
"Did you get some rest?"
"Did you take a nap?"
They asked each other simultaneously.
Cen Jin was the first to break into a smile, tilting her head to look at him. "No, I went to a nearby mall to buy you a digital watch."
Li Wu looked at her in surprise.
"You can't keep using your phone to check the time during exams or classes," she said lightly. "It cost exactly two thousand yuan—you have to accept it because it's a necessity."
Li Wu felt dazed, captivated by the triumphant glow in her eyes. He had never met anyone like her, with a gentle defiance that refused to yield until she gained the upper hand.
He felt himself being tamed by her, a realization that carried an unfamiliar, alluring sweetness.
Li Wu's face grew slightly warm, and his gaze heated up as well. He swallowed hard and quickly looked away.
Cen Jin, still reveling in her comeback, asked, "You're not going to get upset over this again, are you?"
After a moment of silence, Li Wu replied, "No."
"That's for the best," she said, adjusting her bag and nodding toward the item in his hand. "The time is already set. Check the manual in your dorm for how to use it—I won't go into details. Let's go meet your homeroom teacher now."
His thoughts swaying, Li Wu followed Cen Jin into the building as if pulled by an invisible thread.
His future homeroom teacher was a middle-aged woman with a round face, a physics teacher who had already reviewed Li Wu's information.
Upon meeting him in person, her analytical gaze held a touch of sympathy. She briefed him on various matters and encouraged him to visit her office if he had any questions, assuring him she would usually be there...
...
After registering his uniform size at the general affairs office, Cen Jin remarked at least ten times how thin Li Wu was.
She had turned into a nagging old woman, while the young man remained silent, letting her talk.
Before parting, she added a new task: Li Wu needed to gain ten more pounds.
Li Wu nodded. "I'll try."
Only then did Cen Jin feel reassured. After a few more reminders, she said goodbye.
Watching the woman leave, Li Wu returned to his dorm.
His roommates were in class, leaving him alone once again.
Sitting back at his desk, he took out the watch box from the bag and carefully opened it.
Inside was an almost entirely black digital watch, with only the logo and numbers in white. The dial was intricate and full of technological flair.
Li Wu ran his fingers over the strap, then tried it on his left wrist.
After staring at it for a long time, he pulled down his sleeve to cover it completely. Yet, no matter what he did afterward, the watch pressed conspicuously against his skin, impossible to ignore.He felt somewhat at a loss, taking out his phone, opening the contacts, then backing out, repeating this back and forth several times without knowing what he truly intended to do. Finally, he took off the watch and placed it in the drawer along with the phone.
He pulled out a physics workbook and began solving problems with single-minded focus.
As dusk fell, the setting sun dyed the clouds crimson and orange.
Li Wu worked on the scratch paper intermittently, completely absorbed as if entering a realm of his own. It wasn’t until a loud thud sounded outside that he jolted awake, as if struck by a ball, and lifted his head from the workbook.
The noise from outside flooded his ears in an instant—the faint scuffing of sneakers and the playful banter among boys.
Class was over.
Unsure of the time, Li Wu opened the drawer. The two devices inside seemed to sense him, lighting up simultaneously.
Li Wu froze in place, a chill creeping up his spine.
In that moment, he realized with a start that without her generous gift, he would have no way of keeping track of time.
He took out the watch and fastened it back onto his wrist. Then he picked up the phone, spent a long time composing a message, and sent it to Cen Jin:
"The watch works really well. Thank you, sis."
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