Chapter 11: The enemy is incredible

Tong An’yu was certain that he would be studying at the long table next to the humanities and social sciences section on the fourth floor of the library on Wednesday.

This area was in a corner, with few people, but the internet was particularly good.

After dinner, she eagerly parted ways with Jiang Xiaoying and went to the library to reserve a spot.

According to her experience, Lin Huaixu would definitely arrive before six o’clock.

But even after the last trace of blue disappeared from the sky, Lin Huaixu still hadn’t come.

The table in front of her was empty.
Tong An’yu was reading a foreign language document, her mind beginning to wander.
By the time she realized it, she had been staring at that one abstract for ten minutes.

Perhaps he had gone to sit somewhere else.

While getting hot water, she took the opportunity to wander through all six floors of the library.

Her stomach was growling by the time she was done, but she still couldn’t find any sign of Lin Huaixu.

She glanced at her watch; it was already past seven.

Could it be that he wasn’t coming today because of something else?

Tong An’yu took out her phone and stared at his WeChat.

Since she had his WeChat, she might as well just ask him directly.

But he might not reply.

Only “let me see the cat” could trigger his automatic reply.

Should she first ask to see the cat and then ask where he was?

But as she scrolled up, she saw that she had already sent “let me see the cat” earlier.
The last cat picture was from today.

Tong An’yu put down her phone again.

Sigh, forget it.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t anticipated this situation.

She couldn’t have her way every time.
She had been very lucky since January, and only today had she been disappointed.
The margin of error was still within her tolerance.

Tong An’yu managed to console herself, so she turned back and focused on reading her documents.

At four in the afternoon, while Lin Huaixu was still in his “Basic Physics” class, Yuan Qing called him.

He immediately hung up and replied with a question mark on WeChat.

Yuan Qing replied quickly.

[Kong Jiashu, Feng Junda and I are at your school.]
[We’ve come to hang out.]

The four of them were considered childhood friends.

Lin Huaixu and Yuan Qing were the same age, Feng Junda was two years older, and Kong Jiashu was two years younger.
Because their families were close, there weren’t many formalities between them.
They came as they pleased.

Lin Huaixu’s brow furrowed.

[In class.]

Yuan Qing had long anticipated his busyness and followed up with a sighing emoji.

[Ah, it’s okay, we’ll just wander around the mall nearby.]
[Your class ends at five-thirty, right?]

Lin Huaixu glanced at the blackboard.
The professor was still writing furiously.
Even for him, a hardcore major course like this required twelve-tenths of his concentration.

The professor went over by five minutes.
At five thirty-five, Lin Huaixu started packing his things, and at forty, he left the classroom with his bag.

Yuan Qing had already sent a long string of messages.

[Coffee is so expensive now, a flat white is actually forty yuan.]

[LOL, we used to spend hundreds on afternoon tea at the top floor of SKP.]

[Still not done with class?]

[Is this class so hard to skip?]

[A bit bored, we’re at your school gate now, the guard wants to check student IDs.]

[We might need you to bring us in, when can you get to the south gate?]

[Ah Xu, long time no see, I miss you.]

Lin Huaixu gave it a quick glance and took the free campus bus to the south gate.

They had arrived at this time, so it seemed like they would be staying late.

He originally had an English interview training session tonight, but he had to postpone it.
Fortunately, the other party didn’t mind.

When he arrived at the south gate, Feng Junda was already impatient, kicking a withered tree next to him, its branches trembling.

Kong Jiashu was big-hearted and fat.
He was squatting on the ground playing with his phone, as if he were in his own world.

Only Yuan Qing was looking around, watching as people her age emotionlessly flashed their student IDs to enter the school, while they were stuck here.

Yuan Qing pouted.

The students at this top university were all dressed so plainly.
The girls didn’t wear makeup, their hair was messy.
No wonder the guard could tell at a glance that they weren’t from this school.

As soon as Lin Huaixu appeared, Yuan Qing’s eyes lit up and she waved her hand, “Ah Xu, over here!”

Feng Junda stopped kicking the tree, took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, saying sarcastically, “You just had to come so early to wait.”
“Don’t you know that a top student has to study a little longer than us?”

Yuan Qing glared at him, “You talk too much.”

Kong Jiashu quickly put away his phone and laughed foolishly, “Xu-ge, your school is really big.”

Lin Huaixu waved at them, then showed his student ID to the guard and signed the registration book.

“I had a full day of classes today, why didn’t you tell me in advance?” once inside the campus, Lin Huaixu explained briefly.

Yuan Qing pointed at Feng Junda and Kong Jiashu, “Their crappy schools have already started their winter break.”
“I just happened to be back in the country for the Spring Festival, so I came to see you since I had nothing to do.”

“Oh,” since they were already here, Lin Huaixu gestured to a frost-white building on the side, “That’s the law school, and further ahead is the school of economics and management.”
“You can go in freely, there are empty classrooms inside for studying.”
“There’s a celebrity’s inscription at the entrance of the school of economics and management, want to see it?”

“Forget it,” Feng Junda glanced at it and didn’t feel it was any different from his crappy school.

Lin Huaixu also knew they weren’t interested, but he still took on the role of a tour guide, “After the square, there’s an art museum, it’s not finished yet.”
“You should be able to see it when you come next year.”

“Want to go to the ‘Moonlight over the Lotus Pond’?”
“It’s a bit far, if you want to go, you have to wait for the free bus on the side of the road.”

“What ‘Moonlight over the Lotus Pond’ is there in winter, and it’s far,” Feng Junda was full of disdain.
If it weren’t for accompanying Yuan Qing, he wouldn’t have bothered to come all the way from Hai City to Jing City.

Kong Jiashu: “Moonlight over the Lotus Pond is? Oh, oh, oh, that textbook passage.”

Lin Huaixu was just mentioning it casually.

“It’s too cold, why don’t we go to the cafeteria?”
“We haven’t eaten yet,” Yuan Qing was dressed thinly to look good, her legs were already cold.

“Okay,” Lin Huaixu glanced at the time.
It was already past six.
He should have been in the library, watching the little bear T-shirt stick a straw into her hot milk tea.

He actually thought of that cotton ball.

“Ah Xu, what are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.”
It was dinner time, and the Qinghua Cafeteria was bustling with people.
The smell of food and the sound of shouting were mixed together, making it difficult to hear each other.

Lin Huaixu charged two hundred yuan at the entrance and then handed the card to Yuan Qing, “You guys choose whatever you want, I’ll save a seat.”

Yuan Qing took the card, “What should I get for you?”
“I remember you like cod.”

“No need, I’ll choose for myself,” Lin Huaixu found an empty seat and sat down, taking out his laptop and placing it on his lap.

Kong Jiashu was extremely impressed, “Awesome, Xu-ge, you can even study in here.”

“No, just changing a file format.”

Kong Jiashy happily followed Yuan Qing.
Actually, before their families went bankrupt, they had all eaten a lot of top-notch cuisine, so coming to the cafeteria was just for the experience, not because they particularly liked the food.

“I think this spicy chicken is pretty good, let’s have one,” Feng Junda’s eyes were sharp.

“Eighty yuan, are you crazy?”
“His money doesn’t grow on trees,” Yuan Qing refused to give him the card.

Feng Junda sneered, “You’re quite good at feeling sorry for him.”

“It’s true.”
“Let’s just get one rice bowl each.”
“My dad said Uncle Lin cut off his living expenses because of his mom,” Yuan Qing lowered her voice.

“Did his mom have an affair while she was with him abroad for the past two years?”
“Shut up, don’t talk nonsense.”

In the end, at Yuan Qing’s insistence, the three of them ordered three rice bowls, which cost fifty yuan.
When they returned with their bowls, a girl suddenly sat down opposite Lin Huaixu, leaning forward and getting close to him.

Yuan Qing’s smile faded, and she quickened her pace to catch up, hearing the girl speak very familiarly.
“You’ve already finished your homework, so fast.”
“No one in our dorm has finished yet.”

“Just finished,” Lin Huaixu closed his laptop, but his body didn’t lift from the back of the chair.

“Mmm… where do you usually go to study?”
“I feel like my efficiency is pretty bad.”
“Let’s study together tomorrow?” the girl leaned forward again.

“Sorry, I’m not used to studying with others,” Lin Huaixu was as cold as ever.

“Ah… okay then,” the girl understood what he meant, smiled regretfully, and stood up to leave.

Yuan Qing heard everything clearly and couldn’t help but raise the corners of her lips.
She knew that Lin Huaixu wouldn’t agree to other girls.

When the four families went bankrupt together, their world fell apart.

Feng Junda, who had originally gotten a bachelor’s degree abroad with a TOEFL score of sixty, wanted to continue with a master’s degree, but his family had no money, so he had to return to China to study for an ordinary master’s degree in a remote area.

Kong Jiashu, who was supposed to go to Australia, also had no chance and ended up in a private university with terrible teaching quality.

She and Lin Huaixu were the worst off.
They hadn’t even graduated from university, and their financial support was about to be cut off, two years of study wasted.

But at that time, after selling their luxury goods and paying their employees’ wages, the families still had some surplus, enough for one person to get through their undergraduate studies by living frugally.

Lin Huaixu was studying computer science at Stanford, and she was studying digital media technology at USC.

No matter how you looked at it, Lin Huaixu’s major had more financial prospects.

But at that time, Yuan Qing felt that her life would be ruined without a bachelor’s degree.

She cried in her room every day and almost ended up in the hospital.

So Lin Huaixu took the initiative to drop out of school and return to China to retake the college entrance exam, letting her continue her studies there.

Of course, she couldn’t afford USC anymore, so she applied to transfer to Ohio State University.

It was very difficult to make such a sacrifice.
Yuan Qing believed that Lin Huaixu had feelings for her.

It was already seven o’clock when they finished dinner.

The sky was completely dark, and the temperature had dropped to its lowest.
There was nothing to see outside, so Lin Huaixu took them to the New Qing Auditorium to watch a performance.

There was a huge screening hall here, with plays, operas, musicals, symphonies, and movies every night.

Student tickets were half price.

Tonight’s screening was “La Traviata,” from seven-thirty to ten-thirty.

“Ah Xu, do you remember when we watched ‘Aladdin’ on Broadway?”

“It was so childish.”

“If I had known, I would have listened to you and chosen ‘Chicago’.”

“You weren’t interested in that theme.”

“I just wanted to watch something romantic at the time… why don’t we go to Manhattan again?”

“We’ll see.”

Lin Huaixu looked down at his phone.
Messages kept popping up in the class group chat—

[Last night, some people from off-campus were harassing several female students near the technology building.]

[I hope everyone will travel in groups and pay attention to safety in the near future.]

[Damn, that’s so scary.]

[It’s true, a friend of mine ran into him, he seems to have some mental problems, he would curse at them if they didn’t give him their WeChat.]

[Did anyone call the police?]
[This kind of person is too dangerous.]
[He’s just a mental patient, he suddenly jumped out of the shadows to ask for their WeChat, my senior sister was almost scared to death.]

Yuan Qing chuckled, “What’s wrong with you, so serious.”

Lin Huaixu placed his phone face down on his lap and looked up at the stage, “Nothing, let’s watch seriously.”

With ten minutes left, Violetta was breathing her last, gazing at the moonlight, “Except for your insults, which are proof that you have always loved me, the more you torture me, the more sublime I will be in your eyes when the truth comes out.”

It was the most classic scene, but he just couldn’t get into it.

Lin Huaixu finally sighed, stood up, patted Kong Jiashu on the shoulder, and instructed, “You guys keep watching, I have something to do and have to leave first.”

“Okay, ge,” Kong Jiashu didn’t even lift his head from his game.

“Ah Xu?” Yuan Qing looked at Lin Huaixu in disbelief.

Leaving during the most emotional part of an opera performance was very rude.
She didn’t believe Lin Huaixu didn’t know this.

But Lin Huaixu had already asked a row of people to move their legs and make way for him, causing a wave of dissatisfaction.

Yuan Qing pulled the dozing Feng Junda and the phone-playing Kong Jiashu, “What are you looking at, let’s go!”

Lin Huaixu turned back, “Wait for me here, it’s close to the main gate.”

Yuan Qing refused, “I’m going with you, to get some exercise.”

Lin Huaixu didn’t continue to argue and walked quickly towards the technology building library.

He thought, maybe she couldn’t find anyone and had already gone back to her dormitory.

A gifted program student, she shouldn’t be that dumb.

He arrived at the library in twenty minutes.
Lin Huaixu didn’t have time to register for Kong Jiashu and the others and scanned his face to enter alone, heading straight for the fourth floor.

The desk lamp in the familiar corner was on.

She was resting her chin on her hand, her fingers scrolling through her tablet, leisurely browsing the confession wall posts.

It was the one with his military training photo.

She had zoomed in on the picture again and again, her fingertips lingering on his Adam’s apple for a long time.

Lin Huaixu looked down for a while and then slammed his backpack on the table with a “thud.”

Tong An’yu looked up abruptly, then frantically closed the post, a little stunned, “Lin Huaixu?”

“I thought you weren’t coming today, it’s already ten-forty.”

If I don’t come, you’ll just stay here?

Lin Huaixu didn’t ask it out loud, but replied in a faint voice, “I was meeting a friend.”

“Oh, so you’re here to study now?”

“You’re not even going to let go of the last twenty minutes?” Tong An’yu was shocked.
Who exactly was he trying to out-compete?

“…”

Lin Huaixu: “No, I’m here to borrow a book.”

“Which one are you borrowing? I can help you find it,” she changed her expression and moved closer with a sweet smile, “After all, Xiao Tong has ruled this territory for two years.”

Lin Huaixu saw that she was really eager to try.

He casually grabbed a copy of “Being and Time,” weighed it in his palm, “Found it.”

She looked a little disappointed and slowly touched the chair and sat back down, “Okay then.”

“I’m leaving, my friends are outside,” Lin Huaixu stared at her, making sure his eye contact was a clear enough hint, before going to get his bag.

Sigh, he’s going to accompany his friends.
How lucky those friends are, to have Lin Huaixu accompany them.

Tong An’yu was listless, “Then I’ll study a little longer.”

“…”

Lin Huaixu was incredulous.

With this level of emotional intelligence, who could she possibly pursue successfully?

“The manager downstairs said they’re closing early today.”

“You’re making people stay late.”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up and go.”

“Oh, oh, oh!”

Lin Huaixu dropped a sentence, and Tong An’yu quickened her pace and jogged away.