Coming back from the break, everyone seemed a bit wilted.
There is a term for it in later generations: post-holiday syndrome.
Liu Zhou, however, was still full of energy. After all, with a goal in his heart, he had more drive to get things done.
Because he wanted to audit classes at Beijing Film Academy, Liu Zhou had been much busier lately, even playing basketball less often. Liu Ye had even come looking for him specifically on account of this, but Liu Zhou managed to brush him off.
Liu Zhou didn't want too many people to know yet that he wanted to be a director and was auditing classes at Beijing Film Academy, so during this time he practically operated entirely on his own.
The freshman year schedule was quite packed, and everyone was busy. Although his classmates were a bit curious that Liu Zhou was frequently missing, they didn't pry into it.
When Liu Zhou first went to audit a class at Beijing Film Academy, he had expected the teacher to recognize him, but he soon realized he had been overthinking it.
Although there weren't many students in the Beijing Film Academy's Directing Department, plenty of people from other majors came to audit classes, so the instructor paid no attention whatsoever to Liu Zhou, this new face.
College was great in this regard: classes were relatively flexible and much more inclusive.
At this time, campus security was not very strict either; even people from outside the school could come in and audit classes.
Liu Zhou was naturally thrilled with such an arrangement.
To make it more convenient to get to his classes at Beijing Film Academy, Liu Zhou specially bought a bicycle.
He had originally wanted to buy a cell phone, but when he thought about the exorbitant prices of phones nowadays and the rapid pace of upgrades over the next few years, he managed to restrain himself and didn't buy one.
Time slowly drifted toward late October. Beijing had already entered autumn, and the leaves on the trees around campus were beginning to turn yellow.
On October 25th, Liu Zhou made a special trip to Xinhua Bookstore and bought the latest issue of *The Tender Bud* magazine.
Opening to the table of contents and finding the youth literature section, he saw that his short story had officially been published.
Liu Zhou had originally thought he would be quite calm about it, but he found he still couldn't achieve total inner peace; his joy was simply unstoppable.
Besides, why should he suppress his happiness?
Wearing an uncontrollable smile, Liu Zhou happily peded his bicycle toward the Beijing Film Academy classroom.
After class ended, Liu Zhou didn't hurry back this time. Having been to Beijing Film Academy so many times, he still hadn't taken the time to stroll around and look closely at the school.
The Beijing Film Academy campus wasn't very big either, though it was at least larger than the Central Academy of Drama campus.
Strolling through Beijing Film Academy, Liu Zhou couldn't help comparing his own alma mater to this school.
Although the Central Academy of Drama campus was not large, compared to other art institutes, it possessed more of an ivory-tower quality and a rich cultural flavor. One could say that both its cultural and academic atmospheres were much better, carrying a heavy sense of historical weight.
Compared to the more serious style of the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy was much more freedom-oriented.
The two institutions had completely contrasting styles. The students sometimes looked down on each other while also admiring one another—it was quite a contradictory relationship.
Come to think of it, although Liu Zhou had been to Beijing Film Academy so many times, he had yet to run into a single person who would become famous in later generations. He wondered if it was because he always came and went in too much of a rush, or if he just had bad luck.
Yet today, as he strolled along leisurely, he still didn't encounter a single one. At the Central Academy of Drama, by contrast, Liu Zhou frequently ran into stars who would become household names in the future.
On his way back, Liu Zhou rode quite slowly. Passing by Anhe Bridge, he looked at the endless stream of traffic flowing beneath the bridge, feeling as though it were the magnificent, mighty torrent of human life.
Liu Zhou had no idea why so many thoughts suddenly welled up inside him; perhaps these were merely notions spawned under specific circumstances.
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, startling Liu Zhou out of his daze as he stared down at the bridge.
"Stop following me! I have no interest in being your girlfriend, so please leave me alone," a girl said impatiently.
Liu Zhou turned his head to look and saw a tall girl not far away speaking loudly to a man. The man was being persistent and whispering something, but Liu Zhou couldn't catch what he was saying.Seeing this, Liu Zhou immediately stepped forward and said, "Li, what are you doing here? Is this your classmate? I've never seen him around before."
Hearing the voice, Zeng Li looked up and, as if seeing a savior, immediately hurried over to Liu Zhou's side and affectionately linked her arm through his.
This left Liu Zhou somewhat bewildered. He had no idea when they had gotten this close, but the soft sensation against his arm made him reluctant to pull away.
Liu Zhou then heard Zeng Li say to the man who had just been pestering her, "This is my boyfriend, Liu Zhou. Stop harassing me. I've already told you it's never going to happen between us."
Upon seeing this, the man shouted, "No way! I've never heard of you having a boyfriend at school. You must have hired him just to put on an act."
Listening to their exchange, Liu Zhou roughly pieced together what was happening. He never expected to run into such a cliché melodramatic scene just by standing around daydreaming—it was utterly absurd, yet hard not to laugh.
"Pal, nothing is impossible; it's just that you refuse to believe it," Liu Zhou said, channeling his inner actor as he chimed in. "Before, I didn't know you were bothering my girlfriend, but now that I do, please leave her alone. And don't go spouting any hooligan nonsense like 'you're not married yet, so I still have a chance.' If I ever catch you harassing Li again, I won't be speaking to you this politely. You should understand—this is a matter of a man's dignity."
The man turned bright red from Liu Zhou's words. Wondering if the guy might fly into a rage and resort to physical violence, Liu Zhou instinctively took a step forward, shielding Zeng Li behind him.
"Senior Huang, I honestly don't have any feelings for you," Zeng Li sighed, speaking with sincerity. "I appreciate your intentions, but we really aren't suited for each other, and I don't want my boyfriend to misunderstand. Please stop hounding me. We're all students from the same school; there's no need to make a spectacle of ourselves."
The so-called Senior Huang looked at Zeng Li, who was still clutching Liu Zhou's arm tightly, gave Liu Zhou a once-over, and then cast a long, lingering look at the two of them before turning and walking away in silence.
Only after the man had disappeared into the distance did Zeng Li finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright, you can let go of me now. How was my performance as your human shield?" Liu Zhou teased.
He didn't have any ulterior motives, nor was he embarrassed or annoyed. Besides, the two of them were friends, and it was entirely understandable for Zeng Li to use him as a shield in such a situation.
Hearing Liu Zhou's remark, Zeng Li immediately released his arm. Then, as a sudden thought crossed her mind, a delicate flush crept onto her cheeks.
"Liu Zhou, what are you doing here?"
"I was resting back at the dorm, but I did some mental calculations and figured out that a damsel in distress needed rescuing right here on Anhe Bridge. So I rushed over to wait, and sure enough, I caught my chance."
"Will you stop talking nonsense!"
"Fine, fine. I was just passing by, zoned out for a bit, and suddenly saw you. By the way, where is Yuan Quan? Aren't you two practically inseparable? How come you're all by yourself today?"
"She went home today."
"No wonder. Are you heading back to school?"
"Yeah."
"If you don't mind, you can hop on the back of my bicycle and we can ride back together."
"I certainly don't mind."
As she settled onto the back of the bicycle, Zeng Li couldn't help asking, "Aren't you even a little bit curious about who that guy was?"
"Not at all!"
"..."
On Anhe Bridge, the lights cast a soft, yellowish glow. Below the bridge, traffic roared past in a blur, while a few pedestrians hurried back and forth. The bicycle wove through the crowd, heading toward the campus of the Central Academy of Drama.