"Oh, absolutely!" Zhang Mingyang nodded repeatedly, his face full of gossip. "According to the inside information I have, Lin Qingxue's ex-boyfriend was her deskmate in their first year of high school, but he passed away later in an accident."
With that, Zhang Mingyang sighed. "What a pity. If she had just broken up with her ex, that would be one thing, but since he's dead, I reckon the great campus belle Lin will probably never forget that high school ex of hers for the rest of her life!"
High school deskmate?
Chu Yang froze for a second.
Wasn't Lin Qingxue's deskmate in their first year of high school none other than himself?
When on earth did he become her ex-boyfriend?
He had to admit that back then, he did indeed harbor certain feelings in that direction.
Only, before he could put them into action, he had been whisked away to do scientific research.
In the three years he had been gone,
what on earth had happened?
No way.
He had to go and ask to get things straight!
Chu Yang "swooshed" right up from his chair, instantly drawing the gazes of the other three in the dormitory. "Third Brother, you suddenly jumped up like that, where are you off to?"
Chu Yang let out a breath and said, "I just remembered I still have some daily necessities I haven't bought yet, so I'm planning to head over to the supermarket near campus to pick up some things."
He couldn't possibly say
that he was the very person they had been talking about—
Lin Qingxue's so-called dead "ex-boyfriend" of three years?
Zhu Pengfei laughed. "Perfect, the stuff the school handed out isn't quite enough either, I need to stock up on some things too. Let's go together."
Wang Lei and Zhang Mingyang also stood up, speaking in unison, "Count us in, count us in, I need to buy stuff too."
Chu Yang: "......"
Great, three little tagalongs.
After his mouth twitched, Chu Yang smiled indifferently. "Alright, then let's all go together."
Three years had already passed.
He didn't care about a single day more.
***
Registration was originally scheduled for the afternoon.
By the time the four of them had delivered everything to the supermarket and mall near the campus and stocked up on all their daily dormitory supplies,
and returned to the school,
it was already around seven o'clock.
After putting their things away,
and once all four of them had washed up, Zhang Mingyang looked at Chu Yang and the others and said, "Lads, the timing is just about right now, why don't we go wander around the campus area? How about we grab some late-night snacks together while we're at it?"
Naturally, the others had no problem with that.
"Then allow me to go blow-dry my hair first," Zhang Mingyang laughed heartily. "Lads, don't say I didn't warn you. Leaving everything else aside, the pretty young ladies here at Peking University are miles better than those at neighboring Huaqing. Dress a bit sharper, and you might just catch the eye of some pretty girl."
Zhu Pengfei's eyes lit up instantly. "Holy shit, you should've said so earlier, I need to change into a different outfit!"
Wang Lei's expression shifted slightly, and he shouted at Zhang Mingyang, "Second Brother, um, I'm not really good at doing my hair, can you help me style mine later too?"
Chu Yang's mouth twitched, a hint of a smile gradually creeping into his eyes.
Perhaps this was the breath of youth.
He raised his phone with its darkened screen and checked his reflection.
Still just as blindingly handsome!
No big deal.
He didn't need to dress up.
He wasn't that superficial of a man!
***
The girls' dormitory.
Li Qian walked over to Lin Qingxue with a smile. "Qingxue, what are we eating tonight?"
Lin Qingxue replied slowly, "The cafeteria, I suppose. I heard the new braised pork belly with bean curd sticks at the first cafeteria is pretty good."
Li Qian immediately objected, "We just got to school and we're going to the cafeteria? We've been busy all day, let's go stroll around the North Gate instead, see what good food there is, and pick up some fruit on the way back."
Lin Qingxue shot her an immediate sideways glance. "I see you just want to go out and check out the school's newly arrived junior boys."
"Truth hurts!" Li Qian said helplessly.
Lin Qingxue turned her head to look at the other two roommates in the room. "What about you guys? Want to come along for a stroll?"
The other two girls nodded immediately. "No problem."
Lin Qingxue looked up at Li Qian. "Fine, after a whole summer break, our dorm hasn't gone out together for a stroll in ages. Let's go, then!"
***
Soon enough,
the four members of Dormitory 319, having finished tidying up, quickly left the boys' dormitory and made a beeline for the snack street at the North Gate of the campus.
Almost at the same time,
Lin Qingxue and her three friends also set out from the girls' dormitory and arrived at the snack street by the North Gate.
Zhang Mingyang, with his hands in his pockets, looked at Chu Yang and the others and said, "Lads, this North Gate is our Peking University's famous snack street. The barbecue joints on this street are all pretty decent, pick one."
Zhu Pengfei and Wang Lei exchanged a glance.
Then they looked at Chu Yang. "Third Brother, which one do you want to go to?"
Chu Yang casually glanced around at the surrounding barbecue places and picked one closest to them.
The others nodded in agreement.
Zhang Mingyang hurried forward to lead the way. "Lads, let's move!"
At the same time,
Li Qian, linking arms with Lin Qingxue and looking around in all directions, immediately said to Lin Qingxue and the other two beside her, "Sisters, let's think, which shop should we eat at?"
"We're fine with anything," the other two girls nodded and said.
Li Qian turned her gaze to Lin Qingxue beside her.
Lin Qingxue raised her head casually, her gaze quickly sweeping across the surroundings, when her entire body suddenly gave a violent shudder.
At the entrance of the barbecue restaurant,
Chu Yang was standing next to Zhu Pengfei and the others, just stepping inside the restaurant.
At that exact moment,
Lin Qingxue felt her mind go completely blank, her eyes fixed rigidly on the shop Chu Yang had just entered.
She held her breath,
unable to snap out of it for a long time.
They looked alike!
They looked too much alike!
Unlike the back view from the morning,
just now,
she had truly seen a boy who looked almost identical to Chu Yang.
His clothes were just like the ones in her memory, too:
a clean white short-sleeved shirt, slim-fit jeans, and that mess of long, dark hair that looked disheveled yet somehow not sloppy.
At that moment,
Lin Qingxue felt as though she were about to suffocate.
No matter how unwilling she was to believe it,
Chu Yang was already dead!
Li Qian shook Lin Qingxue's arm a few times. "Qingxue, Qingxue, what are you spacing out for?"
Only then did Lin Qingxue snap back to reality, looking at Li Qian and the others. "Let's have barbecue. Summer barbecue paired with beer is the absolute best!"
Naturally, Li Qian and the others had no objections.
Afterwards,
Lin Qingxue led Li Qian and the others slowly toward the barbecue restaurant Chu Yang had just entered.
With every step she took,
the beating of her heart grew a fraction faster.
In this world,
could there really be people who looked identical?
Or could it be...
At that moment,
Lin Qingxue's heart, which had been dead and silent for three years,
inexplicably
began to stir back to life once more.
Call it wishful thinking, call it a pipe dream—
she had to go see this boy
who looked completely identical to the Chu Yang in her memory!