CY – Chapter 1

Chapter One

B City.

Zhang Xiaotian dragged his luggage out of the train station and exhaled into the bustling crowd.

This city, a thousand miles away from his current residence, had a sunset that burned like fire, dazzling his eyes. Even the figures passing by seemed blurred, yet it inexplicably gave him a sense of returning to his homeland. This feeling of complete unfamiliarity sometimes signaled a new beginning. Zhang Xiaotian felt that this act of casting aside everything from his past was like trimming the hair at the nape of his neck that had grown long and ticklish during the holiday. Others might not notice the subtle difference, but it made him feel neat and relaxed.

The station in B City appeared cleaner. Outside the exit, many taxis waited to leave once they had a full car. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t want to squeeze into a car with strangers. Ignoring the drivers soliciting passengers, he walked two more blocks before hailing a taxi.

Further away from the train station, more taxis that used the meter started to appear. Zhang Xiaotian flagged one down and quickly got in.

“To this hotel,” he showed the GPS to the driver.

“Alright,” the driver glanced at the GPS and started the car. “Young man, you’re a student reporting tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Mm,” Zhang Xiaotian replied with his eyes closed.

“I see you know to look for a metered taxi. Did those drivers at the entrance try to stop you from leaving?” The driver rolled up the window and chattered on to Zhang Xiaotian.

“I can’t stand those people. Just take a metered taxi, you know? They bully students like you who just arrived, charging ten yuan per person, and they won’t leave until the car is full. Aren’t they bothered by the hassle, earning less money that way?”

Zhang Xiaotian listened, scrolled through his phone a couple of times, and nodded.

“When I saw you, I was reminded of when my son went to university,” the driver’s mouth didn’t stop. “My son, like you, wasn’t very talkative. You guys are in a great period now, with so much time, do whatever you want!”

The car still carried a lingering smell of smoke. Zhang Xiaotian closed his eyes, his mind unusually free of wandering thoughts. He recalled the taxi drivers soliciting business at the train station entrance. Inside the cars, students sat crammed together, strangers to each other, some chatting, others silently looking at their phones.

Perhaps because they had so much time, they all appeared composed, unlike him.

He thought, I need to find a part-time job quickly. I’ll look for one after I finish my enrollment tomorrow.

The driver drove fast, and they arrived at the hotel shortly. After a simple wash, Zhang Xiaotian lay on the bed, thinking about tomorrow’s schedule.

The mattress beneath him was too soft and slightly damp, not comfortable. As Zhang Xiaotian’s thoughts drifted, his consciousness began to blur. He gave up thinking and rolled over, burying his face in the bedding.

“Deskmate, it’s so good to have you…”

“What does our Tian’er want to eat tonight? Master will take you out to eat…”

“I don’t understand what you mean, you mean…”

Lu Bai’s question abruptly stopped. Zhang Xiaotian woke up from his dream, staring at the ceiling for a long time before regaining his composure. It wasn’t until the alarm rang that he came to his senses.

In his dream, Lu Bai was as noisy as ever, with endless energy, always by his side. But the day he finally mustered the courage to say that sentence, Lu Bai was silent for a long time.

He had never seen Lu Bai so silent, nor had he had the courage to continue looking at Lu Bai’s silent face. So he ran away.

He hadn’t had this dream in a long time. Lu Bai’s face in the dream was a bit blurred. Zhang Xiaotian thought, it’s only been a year since they last saw each other.

The alarm was still ringing. Zhang Xiaotian checked the time, reached out to turn off the alarm, and got out of bed to start packing.

The campus was filled with students and parents carrying large bags, their faces showing the same mixture of anticipation and nervousness. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t have much luggage. Following the crowd, he finished the procedures without much trouble. When he reached the dormitory, only one bed with his name on it was empty.

“Hello, classmate, my name is Xu Yan,” a clean-shaven young man with a buzz cut introduced himself first. He pointed to the person on the phone nearby and said, “He’s Zhou Bin. We’ll be roommates from now on.” Zhang Xiaotian nodded and introduced himself.

“Our other roommate, who is across from you, just went out with his family and said he’ll be back later. Zhou Bin and I just met him briefly and didn’t even have time to ask his name,” Xu Yan, despite his name, spoke very quickly, like a machine gun, and was very friendly. “I’m a local, so if you need to know anything, feel free to ask me. Where are you from? Is your home far from here?”

“A bit far,” Zhang Xiaotian put down his luggage and started making his bed. “It takes more than ten hours by train.”

“That’s really not close! Who accompanied you from home?”

Zhang Xiaotian didn’t look up. “I came alone.”

“I originally wanted to come alone, but my family wouldn’t allow it. They insisted on seeing the school environment. What’s there to see? You can’t change schools anyway,” Xu Yan smiled. “Brother, you tidy up first. I need to take my family for a walk. Call me if you need anything.”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded at him, watched him leave the dormitory like a whirlwind, and then opened his suitcase.

There wasn’t much in the suitcase. He had left many things in his previous residence, not intending to bring them. Zhang Xiaotian rummaged through it and found an incredibly ugly Chubby Dog Figurine. The little dog’s head wobbled when nudged, and Lu Bai had drawn a small flower on its belly with an oil-based pen, looking silly.

Zhang Xiaotian hesitated but still placed the figurine on the corner of his desk.

After tidying up, Zhang Xiaotian strolled out of the school.

There were various restaurants and even a decent-looking snack street around the school. Zhang Xiaotian kept an eye out for job postings while planning to buy some snacks to eat. The steaming food stalls were crowded, momentarily reminding him of C City, where high school students, like insatiable wolf cubs after school, always found opportunities to grab an extra meal.

Zhang Xiaotian stared at the fried mushroom stall, his thoughts uncontrollably wandering.

He had been like this in his second year of high school. Holding a portion of fried mushrooms, or something else, he walked side-by-side with Lu Bai through the steam carrying the aroma of cumin. No matter what he held, more than half of it always ended up in Lu Bai’s stomach.

“Student? Are you buying or not?” The stall owner, seeing him standing there like a utility pole, called out to him.

“If you’re not buying, move aside, people are waiting behind you!”

Zhang Xiaotian snapped back to reality. “Sorry, I’ll buy one.” After paying, he moved aside and leaned against the metal of the food cart.

He didn’t know how long it would take to stop thinking about Lu Bai.

Maybe it would take a whole holiday? Perhaps he would forget tomorrow.

This was Zhang Xiaotian’s first time experiencing such a situation, and he felt a bit lost.

However, he was very good at enduring.

After browsing the snack street and asking about shops around the school, by the time Zhang Xiaotian came out of the last shop, it was getting dark. The fried mushrooms in his hand were not finished and had become soft from being covered by the bag, which Zhang Xiaotian carried casually.

If his studies weren’t so demanding, perhaps he could take on more part-time jobs. Combined with the little money his parents had left him, things wouldn’t be too tight, and he might even be able to save some.

He remembered his mother handing him a bank card before she left. “Xiaotian, you should know how much your mother has done for you. Your mother has done her utmost,” she said to Zhang Xiaotian, then turned and boarded a plane to fly abroad. But he didn’t feel particularly sad or reluctant.

As for his father, ever since his mother took him away in his second year of high school, he had lost contact with his father. Only the changing numbers in the account made him realize he still had a father.

His future days might require constant careful budgeting, perhaps taking things one step at a time and relying on luck, living a bit more frugally. But Zhang Xiaotian didn’t want to think about that.

He only thought, now I am finally no longer anyone’s burden.

When Zhang Xiaotian returned to the dormitory, the other roommates hadn’t returned yet. The roommate across from him seemed to have returned once; there were more things on his bed and desk. Zhang Xiaotian casually threw the bag of soft, misshapen fried mushrooms on his desk and went into the shower.

The moment the hot water poured down, Zhang Xiaotian realized how tired he was today. While he was washing, he heard the sound of a key opening the door outside.

It seemed like a roommate had returned.

Thinking he should finish washing quickly to make room for his roommate, Zhang Xiaotian sped up his actions. He came out in a hurry, drying his hair, and intended to see if it was Xu Yan or Zhou Bin who had returned. Instead, he saw an exceptionally familiar back.

The person heard footsteps and didn’t turn around.

“You’re still the same, buying so much when you can’t eat it all,” he said indistinctly, eating the fried mushrooms Zhang Xiaotian had left. “Next time, remember not to buy so much. It’s not good when they get soft.”

After finishing in two or three bites, he reached out and nudged the little dog’s head, then turned to face Zhang Xiaotian. “What, can’t even speak? Are you so surprised to see your Master?”

It was Lu Bai.

For a moment, Zhang Xiaotian wanted to turn and run. Lu Bai was his roommate, and he remembered him? Why was he still treating him so calmly? Didn’t he mind? Had he forgotten what he…

Lu Bai waited for a long time, but seeing no reaction from Zhang Xiaotian, he called out again, “Tian’er?”

“…Lu Bai.”

“Hey, my good disciple!” Lu Bai chuckled, walked over, and carefully examined Zhang Xiaotian from head to toe, then suddenly hugged him tightly. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much. And you, do you miss me?”

Zhang Xiaotian couldn’t speak. Lu Bai’s hug was too tight; he felt all the blood rushing to his head. He couldn’t tell if this was reality or his imagination.

“So cold, my Tian’er,” Lu Bai patted Zhang Xiaotian’s back, then suddenly, as if remembering something, he abruptly grabbed his shoulders and asked, “You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”

How could he? Zhang Xiaotian savored Lu Bai’s warmth, wanting to reach out and touch him, but he could only grasp his clothes.