CY – Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The group finally settled on a highly-rated barbecue restaurant. When they arrived, there happened to be only one table left.

“Fancy a drink later?” Zhou Bin seemed quite excited.

“Aren’t you afraid we’ll tell your girlfriend? And she’ll scold you,” Zhang Ting teased him with a smile.

Zhou Bin reached for the menu. “I’m not afraid. I already reported in to her.”

They ordered a set meal, Zhang Ting got a drink, and the boys ordered a few bottles of beer. Zhou Bin wanted to order more, but they stopped him. After a few drinks, their conversation gradually opened up, and they started reminiscing about the past. The atmosphere was quite harmonious. Zhang Xiaotian didn’t actively join their conversations, only answering when asked. When he wasn’t speaking, he focused on the food Lu Bai kept putting onto his plate. Before he could even take a few bites, Lu Bai had almost filled his plate.

“Stop adding food for now,” Zhang Xiaotian quickly stopped Lu Bai as he reached for his chopsticks again. “I’m almost full.”

“Like you’re eating cat food,” Lu Bai grumbled.

“You help me eat some of this meat, there’s too much,” Zhang Xiaotian pushed his plate towards Lu Bai. Lu Bai seemed delighted by this, and picked up a chopstickful of meat from Zhang Xiaotian’s plate.

The group’s conversation seemed to shift from university to high school. The Class Monitor asked Zhang Xiaotian, “When I was helping the homeroom teacher enter information, I saw that. Xiaotian, you and Lu Bai weren’t in the same high school, were you? How do I remember Lu Bai saying you two were high school classmates?”

“Lu Bai said Xiaotian transferred later,” Zhou Bin interjected.

“Yes,” Zhang Xiaotian nodded, feeling the gazes on him.

“Now you’re classmates and roommates, what a coincidence,” Zhang Ting said. “I’m so envious, I wish I could be with my good friends from high school.”

“Tian’er and I have fate,” Lu Bai’s face was a little flushed. He added another chopstickful of food to Zhang Xiaotian’s plate, but Zhang Xiaotian confiscated his chopsticks.

“You don’t need to be too envious. You can see your friends when you go home for the holidays,” the Class Monitor refilled his cup. “Besides, you can make new friends in university.”

Zhou Bin, whose alcohol tolerance wasn’t great, was already a bit tipsy after one bottle of beer. “Speaking of high school, besides a few close friends, I don’t even remember the names of some people.”

“You have a terrible memory,” the Class Monitor laughed at him.

“It’s not a joke,” Zhou Bin said. “I remember things from high school, but I really can’t place some people. Moreover, no matter how good my memory is, I can’t possibly remember everyone and everything from high school. It’s normal not to remember everything.”

He then turned to ask Zhang Xiaotian, “Xiaotian, you tell me, are you the same?”

Zhang Xiaotian thought for a moment and nodded. He had very little impression of the classmates from the school he transferred to later. From Fourth High School, besides Lu Bai, there weren’t many people he remembered by name.

“You don’t remember?” Lu Bai raised an eyebrow at Zhang Xiaotian and took a sip of his wine. “I still remember quite a lot, things from high school.”

“You’re you, you have a good memory, but not everyone is like you,” Zhou Bin said. “Xiaotian first changed classes, and then changed schools. It’s very normal not to remember, isn’t it?”

Lu Bai didn’t say anything, just silently drank his wine.

Zhang Xiaotian reflected that his three years of high school had been quite turbulent, no wonder he didn’t have many lasting impressions. Now, the only thing he could recall was the year he was deskmates with Lu Bai. Although his high school memories were a bit thin, at least he retained the most important part, which made him very happy. He picked up his wine glass, and under the guise of drinking, stealthily glanced at Lu Bai. The bright fluorescent lights were dazzling, and from Zhang Xiaotian’s angle, he couldn’t see Lu Bai’s face clearly. He could only see his Adam’s apple moving up and down as he drank, slowly, as if each descent was striking Zhang Xiaotian’s heart. Zhang Xiaotian was almost mesmerized until Zhou Bin’s group erupted in laughter again, and he snapped back to reality, hastily swallowing a few mouthfuls of wine.

Lu Bai said he remembered quite a lot from high school. How much of that did he remember about himself? Zhang Xiaotian both hoped he remembered everything and wished he would forget some things, but in the end, it didn’t matter. He remembered a lot himself.

Before he could finish swallowing the wine in his mouth, a hand took his glass away. Zhang Xiaotian looked over and saw that Lu Bai’s face wasn’t turned towards him, but he extended his hand towards him.

“Give me back my chopsticks.”

“Don’t put food on my plate anymore, I really can’t eat any more,” Zhang Xiaotian put the chopsticks back in Lu Bai’s hand.

“Who’s putting food on your plate?” Lu Bai took the chopsticks but didn’t use them, just set them aside. “I’m putting food on my own plate.”

Zhang Xiaotian smiled and said nothing more, just turned back to eat his own food. A moment later, Lu Bai put another chopstickful of greens on his plate.

“Lu Bai,” Zhang Xiaotian sighed. “I’m not eating this.”

“Who said it’s for you?” Lu Bai stubbornly lied. “I don’t have space here, I’ll put it there for now.”

He’s outright lying! There were so few oil stains on his plate, you could count them on one hand!

Zhang Xiaotian was helpless and could only let him put things on his plate, occasionally eating a few bites himself, while listening to Zhou Bin and the others, who had gotten drunk, boast about their glorious past.

“Then that idiot couldn’t take it anymore and surrendered!” The Class Monitor clearly had a low alcohol tolerance. After Zhou Bin persuaded him to have a few more drinks, he was already starting to blush and boast loudly. “I say he’s no good. It has to be us. I don’t know what the teacher saw in him to let him go.” He seemed to get emotional and took another drink from his cup. The others, fueled by alcohol, either complained or chatted aimlessly, creating a lively scene. Zhang Xiaotian was using their boisterousness as an accompaniment to his meal when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Lu Bai leaning on his shoulder with his eyes closed.

“Don’t look at me,” Lu Bai met his gaze and raised his hand to turn Zhang Xiaotian’s face back. “Let me lean for a bit.”

“Are you drunk?” Lu Bai’s hair tickled Zhang Xiaotian’s neck, and he couldn’t help but flinch.

“Don’t move,” Lu Bai buried his face in the crook of Zhang Xiaotian’s neck. “I’m not very drunk, it’s just this fake wine that’s giving me a headache.”

Fake wine… Zhang Xiaotian let him lean there and said nothing more.

After a while, Lu Bai suddenly spoke, “How much do you still remember?”

“What?” Zhang Xiaotian didn’t understand.

Through his clothes, Lu Bai’s voice was a little muffled, and the warmth of his breath as he spoke made Zhang Xiaotian’s shoulder feel warm. “I’m asking, how much do you still remember, about high school?”

“Just, eating together, attending classes together, things like that.”

“Anything else?”

“What else is there?” Zhang Xiaotian thought for a moment. “You suddenly asking me, I can’t recall anything else either.”

Lu Bai fell silent again.

“Do you want to go back to the dorm?” Zhang Xiaotian asked him, looking down. “Is your head hurting badly?”

“I’m not going back. It’s boring being alone in the dorm.”

“I’m full, I’ll accompany you back.” Zhang Xiaotian helped Lu Bai up. Zhou Bin and the others said they wanted to drink a bit longer, and Zhang Ting also said she had contacted her roommates and they would pick her up. Only then did they feel relieved and leave with Lu Bai.

As they walked out of the restaurant, the evening breeze cleared their heads a bit. Lu Bai no longer leaned on Zhang Xiaotian, but his hand still tightly gripped Zhang Xiaotian’s wrist, letting Zhang Xiaotian lead him.

“Besides eating and attending classes, you really don’t remember anything else?” Lu Bai asked him again.

“Not necessarily, I just can’t say it right now.” Zhang Xiaotian looked back at him. “Why are you so fixated on this?”

“I definitely remember more than you,” Lu Bai’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough for Zhang Xiaotian to hear.

More than I remember? That’s not necessarily true. Zhang Xiaotian turned and helped him cover his jacket more snugly, asking, “Then tell me, what do you remember?”

Lu Bai hadn’t expected Zhang Xiaotian to ask him back and was momentarily stunned.

“See, you can’t even say it,” Zhang Xiaotian pulled him along again. “Besides, you’re already in university, why are you still dwelling on things from the past? You should quickly embrace your new life and make new friends. You can catch up with old friends when you go home for the holidays.”

“New friends…” Lu Bai savored the words. “Do you want to make new friends too?”

“I haven’t thought about it for now. I want to get along well with the few people in the dorm first.”

I actually wish you’d make more new friends, Zhang Xiaotian thought.

“In the dorm?” Lu Bai, however, seemed to perk up. “Zhou Bin and Xu Yan?”

“Mm-hmm.” Zhang Xiaotian thought for a moment and said, “Zhou Bin is so interesting, everywhere is lively with him. Xu Yan is also very kind, a good person. I discovered the Class Monitor was quite fun during dinner just now.”

“Before you…” Lu Bai seemed a little cold from the wind, his complexion not looking good. “You rarely spoke to others in class before…”

Zhang Xiaotian nodded. “I know, that was because I was new and couldn’t fit in. By the time I finally got used to things, then…” He paused here for a moment before continuing, “Thinking back, it is indeed a bit regrettable, living my days without much flavor. Now that I’m in university, I definitely won’t be transferring around anymore. It’s good to leave more memories.”

After all, you’ll have your new life sooner or later, and it would be too pathetic to leave me alone, still stuck in the same place.

Lu Bai followed Zhang Xiaotian in silence. The night wind rustled the leaves.

“What memories do you want to leave behind?” Lu Bai asked again.

“How am I supposed to answer that?” Zhang Xiaotian chuckled. “Just, more lively, more interesting ones.”

“Okay.”

“Okay what? How much did you actually drink? You’re talking nonsense.” Zhang Xiaotian couldn’t help but nag him again. “Stop talking about me for now. What about you? You joined the college basketball team, but you don’t seem that invested. You said you had so many friends in high school, why are you so quiet in university and just follow me? Don’t waste these four years. You should participate in more activities.”

“I don’t have many friends,” Lu Bai said.

“If you say that, Yin Li and Han Chengcheng will be sad.”

“You still remember them?”

“Of course. Besides you, I was only close to them.”

Lu Bai seemed a little happier, he grunted and walked a few steps ahead to be side-by-side with Zhang Xiaotian.

“I still remember the sports meet, I remember a lot of things. I also remember you had many friends, not just Yin Li, Han Chengcheng, and the three of us. You were very happy in high school. Perhaps you’re just having trouble adapting to the new environment right now, but I hope you can be like you were in high school again,” Zhang Xiaotian continued. “That’s why you shouldn’t just revolve around me… What are you doing? You’re hurting me!”

Lu Bai reached out and pulled Zhang Xiaotian into an embrace, pinching his outer waist. Just as Zhang Xiaotian was about to pull away, he was held by the shoulders and couldn’t move.

“Stop worrying about all those unnecessary things,” Lu Bai said with a faint smile. “You’re worried enough as it is every day.”

His phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and looked. It was a message from the team captain.

Lu Bai, have you considered the competition?

He looked up at Zhang Xiaotian walking beside him, then typed a reply.

He replied: Captain, I’ll play.