The air-conditioning was turned to the highest setting. The temperature inside the car gradually fell, in direct contrast to the stifling heat that remained persistently beyond the car windows. The season had clearly moved past the end of summer, but the heat had yet to dissipate and seemed to have come back stronger than ever.
Xu Tangcheng looked at the time and guessed that the other person should be down soon. He reached out and turned the air-conditioning down one level.
He had just turned the knob on the setting when the corridor door was pushed open. Beams of light cut across, illuminating a tall figure.
"Put your school bag in the backseat."
Unlike other new students, Yi Zhe didn't have numerous big and small luggages, and was only bringing the backpack Xu Tangcheng had bought for him. His entire appearance looked too simple, not at all like he was starting school. Xu Tangcheng mulled over it for a while and thought it was fine. Anything necessary could be bought when they reached the university.
The car got on the main road and picked up speed. Afraid that Yi Zhe would be bored during the journey, Xu Tangcheng turned on the radio.
"There's a CD holder there. You can pick something to listen to."
Yi Zhe followed his instructions and found the CD holder but when he saw the stack of CDs inside, he didn't know where to start.
"I don't usually listen to these. Why don't you pick? What do you want to listen to?"
"You don't listen to music?" Xu Tangcheng was astonished. "But I always see you wearing your earphones."
Yi Zhe brought a hand up to rub his nose. "What I listen to isn't pop music, it's more…"
"Rowdy." After thinking a while, he finally thought of this word.
"Oh." Xu Tangcheng laughed. "Then, you can just randomly pick one. I've listened to all of them many times."
He said to pick randomly, but Yi Zhe made his choice very seriously. It was just that every singer's name that his eyes swept across were unfamiliar to him. In the end, he could only follow his preference and pick a cover that was the most pleasing to the eye.
Under the azure sky, there was a lady leaning forward as she played the piano.
After the soft sound of the CD being read, the music began to play.
Throughout the entire process, Xu Tangcheng hadn't looked down but just a few seconds after the notes began to sound, he lifted his brows. "So you picked this one."
"Yeah." Yi Zhe turned to look at him and asked, "Why?"
"Nothing. I like this singer quite a bit. This is her first album and it tells the story of a traveller."
Yi Zhe was more than willing to get into everything that Xu Tangcheng liked so he paid extra attention to his explanation of the contents.
There were quite a number of cars ahead of them and as they neared the security checkpoint, the traffic flow slowed down. Xu Tangcheng looked at the line of cars up ahead, then turned his head amidst the music and said, "I just thought of something. The name of my favourite song in this album is very appropriate for the current situation."
"What is it?"
Yi Zhe suddenly felt a little regret that he picked this English CD. Even though his English result in the gaokao was pretty decent, his fluency was limited to what he learned and used at school. He was afraid that Xu Tangcheng would say a song name but he would not be able to translate it accurately.
Fortunately, after a brief mumble, Xu Tangcheng only said a very simple word.
"Journey."
Journey.
At that time, Yi Zhe only had a superficial understanding of this word. Travelling up north from his home to the capital city was a brief journey. On a deeper level, entering university was also nothing more than walking on a new path for a short while. Xu Tangcheng didn't explain further. The female singer's voice was firm yet gentle, and when the song reached a certain phrase, Xu Tangcheng softly hummed along.
When he thought back on this later on, Yi Zhe felt that it was a shame. In the end, he had not properly enjoyed the song that Xu Tangcheng had purposely pointed out. The songs that Xu Tangcheng liked were all good songs but Yi Zhe's ability to appreciate them was limited. On top of that, to him, the rhythm of the songs in the album was too slow and listening to them made him sleepy. He tried his best to stay awake but just a short while later, he couldn't stop himself from losing consciousness.
From the side, Xu Tangcheng peeked at him as he drove and laughed silently. Right after that, he turned down the volume and also switched off the air-conditioning temporarily.
When Yi Zhe woke up again, the car was already parked in University A's carpark.
New students were reporting in and there were unusually more cars on campus. It was unavoidable and the blaring of horns could be heard every now and then. Yi Zhe had slept deeply through the journey and when he was woken up by the honking, he was still having a hazy dream. He opened his eyes and as the fuzziness turned to clarity, he saw before him a banner welcoming the new students that one of the faculties had hung on the building.
The background was red, the words white.
He looked at the banner and recalled for a while before his brain finally connected to the story before his dream—the peace and calm in the moving car, the music playing slowly.
The inside of the car was quiet. He was the only one there. Yi Zhe turned his head to look for Xu Tangcheng and saw him standing next to the car, talking on the phone. There was a cigarette between the fingers of his right hand. He wasn't smoking it and was just letting it burn.
There was also a campus in his dream but obviously, it was the campus right before his eyes that made him happier.
"Come on out." While he was spacing out, Xu Tangcheng had already opened the car door from outside. Propping the door open with his arm, he quietly told him his arrangements. "Take your notice of admission and I.D., you can leave the rest in the car. We still need to go out to eat and buy things later."
"Mm." Yi Zhe nodded.
He followed Xu Tangcheng's words and dug out the express delivery envelope containing the notice of admission. But no matter how he searched, he could not find his own I.D.
"You didn't bring it along?"
"I should have…" Yi Zhe's reply was a little uncertain but he had a vague impression of it. He remembered taking his I.D. yesterday night and putting it inside his school bag. As for where exactly in the bag he had put it, his memory was a jumbled mess.
"Don't panic, keep looking."
As he spoke, Xu Tangcheng also got into the car and picked up the express delivery envelope Yi Zhe had taken out just now. He was just about to check it when someone knocked on the car window. Yi Zhe lifted his head and took a glance; it was a tall guy, not very old but obviously more mature than himself.
Xu Tangcheng very quickly got down from the car again and talked to the guy.
Yi Zhe saw that guy give Xu Tangcheng a cigarette and laugh as he said something. Xu Tangcheng waved him off and pointed at the car, not taking the cigarette. The guy again pushed it towards him, looking like he didn't want to let Xu Tangcheng off. From this angle, Yi Zhe could only see Xu Tangcheng's side profile and could not see clearly what exactly Xu Tangcheng's expression was. But in the end, he saw that Xu Tangcheng still brought a hand up and took that cigarette.
That guy drew closer to him and lit it for him.
"Still can't find it?" When Xu Tangcheng got into the car again, Yi Zhe was as empty-handed as before.
"Mm."
Xu Tangcheng had already stubbed out the cigarette before he got into the car. Based on the amount of time that had passed, that cigarette was probably less than half-burnt but right now, as before, his body still carried a faint smell of tobacco. When he raised and lowered his hand, that one action sent the smell closer to Yi Zhe.
"When did you start smoking?" Yi Zhe suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" Xu Tangcheng again picked up the express delivery envelope but before he could look down, he was interrupted by Yi Zhe's words. He thought for a while, then said, "It should be in Year 3 of university. I was too tired at that time so I started smoking."
The inside of the school bag had been searched through until it was a complete mess. Yi Zhe grabbed a fistful of his terribly crumpled clothes, then put it down again.
"Why don't you smoke less? It's not good for your body."
Xu Tangcheng looked up in surprise. Seeing Yi Zhe's serious expression, he smiled. "Hey, you started smoking before you graduated from senior high. I don't think you have the right to lecture me."
Yi Zhe's lips twitched but he didn't say anything. Xu Tangcheng wasn't bothered. He looked down and searched. Unexpectedly, he very quickly let out a gasp of surprise. He waved the thing in his hand at Yi Zhe. "Friend, it was wedged inside the pamphlet."
Fortunately, there was no real danger despite the scare.
"Why did you wedge your I.D. inside the pamphlet?" He looked at the person whose forehead was already covered in sweat and said with a sigh, "You should fix this careless habit of yours."
His school bag was opened. While they talked, Yi Zhe noticed Xu Tangcheng's gaze falling downwards.
"Yeah, I know." He agreed and hastily stuffed the corner of his clothes that could be seen back inside, then quickly pulled the zip close.
Every department had a station for welcoming their new students. Xu Tangcheng took Yi Zhe along and found the one for electronic engineering, then stood at the side and waited for him to complete all the registration paperwork. Among the people welcoming the new students were a few that knew Xu Tangcheng. They kept calling him "Senior" and their chatter revealed how familiar and friendly they were with each other.
Their topics of conversation were very far-ranging; they talked about the work of welcoming new students, sometimes mentioning some of the teachers in the faculty or some interesting matters, and Yi Zhe even heard them talking about their plans for some kind of competition. He could understand some of what they were talking about but there were also some that he did not understand at all. Strangely, even if he did not understand, even if he was trying his best to focus his attention on filling out the forms, he couldn't stop himself from listening to their conversation.
Later on, he very keenly sensed that the atmosphere while they were talking was not the same as when Xu Tangcheng and him were talking. It was not even the same as any conversation he had ever seen or ever experienced.
The topics of conversation between these people seemed to come from everywhere, jumping around without rhyme or reason. But when he thought about it carefully, this kind of jumping around was actually lines of thoughts linking up in interesting ways, and it existed in an environment of freedom.
The first time he experienced what the university teachers call "the freedom of thought, a flourishing of interests" was in this unassuming and very free-flowing discussion.
The pen suddenly ran out of ink.
Yi Zhe pressed hard on the paper a few times, gouging a line on it, but still failed to leave ink marks.
A hand appeared within his vision, passing a pen to him.
Yi Zhe looked up and saw that Xu Tangcheng was still chatting idly with the others, yet his eyes were looking at him.
"Is this your younger brother?" The long-haired female student sitting in front of the table noticed his little movement. Her focus shifted and she asked Xu Tangcheng.
"Yeah."
"He's quite good-looking." The girl blinked and asked Xu Tangcheng, "So, does he have a girlfriend?"
Xu Tangcheng immediately answered with a laugh, "How would I know? Anyway, whether or not he has one, it's not something for you to be concerned about."
"I'm not concerned about it for myself. I can be concerned for my junior sisters, can't I?"
Xu Tangcheng shook his head with a smile. "Then, how many junior brothers have you been concerned about today?"
He skirted the question deftly. The person being talked about didn't have to open his mouth at all.
But after Yi Zhe completed the form and came out with a large packet of informational material, Xu Tangcheng suddenly turned to look towards him. "So, do you have a girlfriend?"
Yi Zhe was stunned. He immediately shook his head.
"I don't."
Having a girlfriend was now something too inconceivable to him.
Xu Tangcheng mulled over what he wanted to say for a while before finally asking.
"Actually, I thought that the reason why you suddenly applied to a school in Beijing was because of that girl." He watched Yi Zhe's face and added, "The one that went to University B."
"Zhao Weifan?" Yi Zhe very quickly said, "It's got nothing to do with her."
Yi Zhe's denial was firm and resolute, and Xu Tangcheng couldn't help but suspect that his guesses in the past might be completely wrong. When Yi Zhe was filling in his target university, what on earth had he been thinking?
This was a question he had pondered over for a long time after he found out that Yi Zhe had applied to University A's communications engineering course.
At that time, the explanation Yi Zhe had given him was very simple. He felt that University A was not bad and that this field of study was also not bad. On top of that, there was someone there that he knew. But in that dim corridor, Xu Tangcheng hadn't been able to stop himself from asking, "I thought you wanted to go to Shanghai all this while?"
His question was because he knew the reason why Yi Zhe had chosen to live with his mother back then. He also knew that all these years, Yi Zhe actually missed his father and younger brother terribly.
But at that time, Yi Zhe had only lowered his head and said, "I don't really want to go there that much."
Because there was a limited time for the dormitory check-in, Xu Tangcheng changed his plan at the last minute and first took Yi Zhe to complete the check-in before going out again to shop. Things like bedding could be directly bought at school. They were all of the same style; from the pillowcase to the mattress cover, one set contained everything necessary. Yi Zhe thought it was troublesome to go out and buy them, so he said he would just buy a set and considered it done. But Xu Tangcheng stopped him and checked the material himself.
"The bedsheet and the quilt cover are still okay, they feel like pure cotton. This quilt might not do in the winter, it's not stuffed with cotton," Xu Tangcheng said as they walked. "But you won't need it now anyway. When it gets colder, you can just buy another one."
Yi Zhe carried that large pile of things back and put them on the bed. Seeing that the hour was late, he wanted to drag Xu Tangcheng out to eat. But Xu Tangcheng bent down and sniffed each item of bedding. Then, he frowned and said, "This won't do. If you don't wash them…"
Each dorm room had four occupants. When Xu Tangcheng straightened up, he saw that someone had already made their bed using the same set of bedding so he stopped right there and didn't continue speaking.
He followed Yi Zhe out the door before finally saying softly, "If you don't mind, I'll bring you a set of my own bedsheet and pillowcase later. I just washed them, they're clean. Yours hasn't been washed yet and there's a smell. It's not clean."
Because there were many people coming and going in the corridor, Xu Tangcheng had leaned closer to him just now to speak, and had even touched his arm. Looking at this person so close to him and waiting for his reply, Yi Zhe's heart suddenly softened.
This feeling of being so close and intimate with him in the middle of the surging torrents of people was really a pretty good feeling.
"Okay." After saying that one word, he didn't dare say anything more.
"Are you staying here too?" As they headed down, Yi Zhe asked casually.
"No, I stay very far from you. Your place is near the south gate, mine is near the east gate and also nearer to the north side."
Yi Zhe stopped on a step and didn't move.
"What's wrong?" Xu Tangcheng's hands were in his pockets. From three steps below, he turned back to look at Yi Zhe.
Damn, so we're not staying together.
"Nothing."