Chapter 13: Impossible to Explain
The next day, freshman classes officially began. For college students, nothing was more painful than an 8:00 AM class, and Jiang Chen had one every single day. Fortunately, his schedule wasn't too packed—generally only two classes a day.
Jiang Chen went to bed early and naturally woke up early. He went for a morning jog in the park and saw roadside vendors selling steamed buns and soy milk, but worried about hygiene, he decided against it. He could handle whatever, but there was someone else at home now.
Returning home, Jiang Chen figured Xia Xiaoyue probably wasn't up yet. After washing up, he headed to the kitchen to start cooking. He simply boiled a couple of eggs and made two hand-grabbed pancakes, then warmed up Xia Xiaoyue's traditional Chinese medicine before knocking on the master bedroom door.
"Teacher, are you awake?"
Accompanied by the shuffling of slippers, the door opened. Xia Xiaoyue saw that Jiang Chen had already made breakfast, but spotting the bowl of Chinese medicine as well, her pretty face instantly drooped. "Do I really have to drink this?"
Looking at her pleading face, Jiang Chen found it a bit amusing. "No, you do. The doctor said to drink it before the meal, and eat after you finish."
Gone was the aloof demeanor Xia Xiaoyue had when she first arrived; she now looked entirely cute and languid.
Reluctantly, Xia Xiaoyue tore open the medicine packet. A pungent smell instantly rushed straight to her head, waking her up more thoroughly than anything else could have. Pinching her nose, she sipped the medicine bit by bit. When she finished, Jiang Chen produced a piece of candy from who knows where and handed it to her. "Have a piece of candy, then wash up and eat."
Hearing Jiang Chen's voice, Xia Xiaoyue felt her heart pounding uncontrollably. She hurriedly grabbed the candy and went to wash up, thinking to herself, *Does he think of me as a little kid?*
After washing up, she saw that Jiang Chen had already finished his pancake and was packing his bag. "Are you leaving now?"
"Yeah. I'm not very familiar with where the classroom is, and I'm afraid of being late, so I'm heading over a bit early," Jiang Chen replied.
"Will you be back at noon?" Xia Xiaoyue actually wanted to order some specific food, but was afraid of disrupting his plans.
Jiang Chen thought for a moment. "I only have one class in the morning. After it ends, I want to go check out some electric scooters, and then I'll come straight back. What do you want to eat?"
Hearing this, Xia Xiaoyue instantly brightened up and blurted out without hesitation, "I want Kung Pao chicken. Is that okay?"
Looking at Xia Xiaoyue blinking her eyes at him, how could Jiang Chen possibly refuse? Who could say no to a girl blinking and asking "Is that okay?" Jiang Chen certainly couldn't.
Jiang Chen nodded and said, "Alright."
After that, Jiang Chen headed off to school, and Xia Xiaoyue went to the campus as well after finishing her meal.
Inside the classroom, Jiang Chen saw that his sworn brothers had already saved seats for him in advance. A wave of warmth washed over him—they truly were his good sons.
When he reached his seat, he found his roommates playing mobile games and exclaimed in surprise, "No way, guys! Class hasn't even started yet and you're already gaming?"
Wang Congle didn't even turn his head. "You don't understand, Fourth Brother. Second Brother here has a foul mouth and said I suck, so we're having a 1v1 father-son showdown."
Jiang Chen was the youngest in their dorm, Ye Nian was the oldest, Ding Junfei was second, and Wang Congle was slightly older than Jiang Chen, so they had numbered themselves by age.
"You suck and you won't even admit it? You almost pissed me off so much last night I couldn't sleep," Ding Junfei retorted from the side.
Watching the two clowns of the dorm, Jiang Chen and Ye Nian exchanged a smile, both feeling rather helpless. Jiang Chen looked at Ye Nian and asked, "Oh right, isn't your girlfriend in a different major than us? How come we never see you two hanging out together?"
Ye Nian explained, "She's only coming next week. She took a leave of absence for health reasons."
"Ah, I see."
This class was a joint lecture for two finance classes, held in a large tiered lecture hall. As the bell rang, a short, elderly man walked through the door.
He looked thoroughly wise, with the few hairs on his head fluttering in the breeze and a thermos cup in his hand. He looked completely ordinary, but as the saying goes: "The teachers you meet in college might just be the highest-caliber people you will ever encounter in your life."
The first class was Advanced Mathematics. Jiang Chen had planned to study hard, but he couldn't withstand how hypnotic the teacher's voice was. The entire lecture was delivered in that unhurried, steady tone, and already two people next to him had collapsed.
The two who had just been locked in a passionate father-son gaming battle were now sleeping more soundly than anyone; only Ye Nian was still holding out, though he was just chatting with his girlfriend.
Jiang Chen couldn't take it anymore either. With a double-blink, he slumped onto the desk and fell asleep.
When the bell rang for the end of class, Jiang Chen opened his eyes and realized Ye Nian hadn't made it either. He patted the three of them, and upon opening their eyes, they realized class was over.
Wang Congle stretched. "Finally over. So hypnotic. I'm dead, I'm going back to the dorm to sleep for a bit."
Ding Junfei and Ye Nian nodded, equally intent on heading back for a nap.
Parting ways with the three of them, Jiang Chen went alone to an electric scooter shop near the campus and asked the owner if there were any second-hand scooters.
The owner showed Jiang Chen around the second-hand models, but none of them seemed very good. He then pointed out some other bikes in the store. Jiang Chen caught sight of a small, light-blue electric scooter and his eyes lit up. He asked the owner, "How much for this light blue one?"
"2,750 yuan. This bike..." the owner replied.
Hearing the price, Jiang Chen found it within his budget, but since buying a vehicle called for shopping around, he didn't buy it on the spot. He decided to check out a few other places before making a decision. For now, it was time to head home.
Back home, Jiang Chen took the chicken out of the freezer to thaw in advance. Seeing that it was still early, he decided to clean up the apartment.
Time slowly slipped by. After finishing the housework, Jiang Chen prepared to take the trash downstairs.
Tugging two bags of garbage, he just pulled open the front door at the exact moment Xia Xiaoyue pulled open hers from the outside.
Jiang Chen instantly lost his balance and fell forward, colliding directly with Xia Xiaoyue—mouth-to-mouth. Jiang Chen was completely stunned, and Xia Xiaoyue was equally dumbfounded.
When both of them finally snapped back to reality, they quickly scrambled apart. Jiang Chen's face flushed red as he stammered repeatedly, "I-I didn't mean to! I'm sorry."
At that moment, Xia Xiaoyue couldn't process a single word Jiang Chen was saying. She bolted back into her room and pulled the quilt completely over her head, her face as red as an apple.
Jiang Chen felt it was impossible to explain now. He would just have to talk things through with Xia Xiaoyue properly later; after all, she was the one on the losing end of such an incident.
After finishing the meal, Jiang Chen tiptoed to her door, raised his hand, and gently tapped a few times before speaking softly, "Teacher, dinner is ready. You can come out and eat."
Inside the room, hearing the knock and Jiang Chen's voice, Xia Xiaoyue slowly rose to her feet and walked toward the door.
Her steps seemed somewhat heavy, as if she were harboring something in her heart. When she opened the door and saw Jiang Chen, her gaze flickered slightly, but she quickly looked away, appearing unwilling to meet his eyes.
With that, Xia Xiaoyue walked past Jiang Chen in silence and headed straight for the dining table.
Sitting at the table, Xia Xiaoyue kept her head lowered, not once lifting her eyes to look at Jiang Chen the entire time.
Even when they started eating, she remained completely silent, only burying her head in the food in her bowl. Meanwhile, Jiang Chen ate while trying to explain what had happened earlier.
His tone was sincere and anxious, hoping to clear up the misunderstanding between them. However, no matter what Jiang Chen said, Xia Xiaoyue merely offered an occasional nod to show she heard, refusing to utter another single word. The entire meal passed under this heavy, oppressive atmosphere.