The Scorching Sun - 87
By his fourth year, Yan Lie had secured a recommendation for graduate school, with that, his schedule suddenly opened up.
The handful of courses he had left posed no challenge for him, and there was no need to hunt for an internship, so he started gathering materials for his graduation thesis well ahead of time.
He wasn't short of money, but his advisor still introduced him to a paid opportunity in advance, having him work alongside one of his senior schoolmates and learn the ropes.
It was already late when they left the company, there weren't many cabs to be found in the suburbs. His senior treated everyone to dinner at a nearby restaurant and called someone to come pick them up. By the time Yan Lie returned to campus, it was nearly eight.
His phone had run out of battery. Yan Lie had never liked carrying a power bank, so he didn't get it plugged in until he returned to the dorm.
Once it powered on, four or five missed calls appeared on the screen, along with several green WeChat messages, all from a friend he'd met through the student union. The earliest call had come just five minutes ago.
Yan Lie took note of that and kept scrolling until he reached Fang Zhuo's account.
An hour earlier, Fang Zhuo had asked if he wanted to go out for a late-night meal.
Yan Lie replied to her first, telling her he'd just dragged himself back after a long, exhausting day. It had been hard work, but he wasn't hungry.
Once he was done selling her a little sob story, he went to check the other messages.
Right then, Xiao Pang called again. Yan Lie answered and switched to speakerphone.
The boy's voice rang out from the other end. "Yan Lie, you finally picked up! I was saying, if you didn't answer again, we'd leave without you. You're pretty lucky, you know!"
Yan Lie changed into a short-sleeved shirt and tugged the hem straight. "What happened?"
Xiao Pang sounded delighted. "Senior Xia Lan is back in A City. She happened to be passing by the university, saying she left in such a hurry after graduating, she wanted to make it up to us by treating everyone to a late-night meal this time. We're just about to head out. Hurry over. We'll wait for you at the east gate."
Xia Lan had been their former department head. She was kind, good-natured, and always looked after them. Although Yan Lie had already left the student organization, he still kept in touch with her. After a brief consideration, he agreed.
They met at the university gate, then followed the navigation to the restaurant Senior Xia Lan had booked.
The place had only recently opened and was near a shopping mall. Its decor was simple and clean, and the prices weren't high, so business was brisk. The moment they pushed open the glass door, a wall of lively voices greeted them, along with the spicy, savory aroma drifting through the air.
Senior Xia Lan's table was tucked away in a corner, by the time they sat down, she'd already ordered the food.
The server brought out several appetizers. Seeing that everyone had arrived, they went to hurry the kitchen along with the hot dishes.
Because the invitation had come so suddenly, only three boys and two girls had managed to make it.
Seeing that Yan Lie wasn't quite used to the restaurant's level of spice, Xia Lan pointed to the menu at the corner of the table. "I know you can't handle spicy food, so I ordered you some dessert and stewed soup, plus sizzling beef. If you want anything else, take a look yourself."
Yan Lie smiled. "Thanks, Senior. You're still as considerate as ever."
"Eat whatever you want. Your senior has been working and has plenty of money in her wallet now, don't worry about saving me any."
Grinning, Xia Lan raised a hand and asked the restaurant for several bottles of beer, drinking as she chatted with her junior about life after graduation.
In everyone's eyes, Xia Lan had always been generous, sharp, and socially adept. They'd all assumed she'd thrive at a private company, but the moment the subject came up, she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled a face of complete misery. "No. It's absolutely disgusting, guys. I've really seen everything now. There are people who'll smile at you like you're the daughter they've been separated from for years, then turn around and look for every opportunity to report you behind your back or take advantage of you. They don't want to deal with some troublesome client themselves, so they dump them on you like they're doing you some enormous favor. Then the moment the client complains, they make your life miserable behind the scenes. I hope none of you ever end up working with people like that."
The junior girls were sufficiently horrified to start wondering whether they should go to graduate school and hide out for another three years.
Xia Lan gave a cold laugh. "Once I've gotten my revenge, I'm coming back to A City. Having alumni looking out for you makes all the difference, girls. Don't waste your chance to get into A University. Society is way too complicated."
Xia Lan had always been well-liked at school, and she was highly capable. If she'd stayed in A City to develop her career back then, things really would have gone much more smoothly for her.
Xiao Pang looked puzzled. "But isn't your boyfriend in C Province?"
Xia Lan acted as though she hadn't heard him. She raised her glass and said, "Once I've finished handing over my work, I want to see if I can come back and take the graduate entrance exam, too. If everything goes smoothly, I might even end up as your classmate. Don't forget, I used to be your senior."
Everyone laughed and raised their drinks to clink glasses with her.
Yan Lie turned his head to discuss graduation credits with Xiao Pang. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late. Several empty bottles stood beside Xia Lan, her head hung low, her eyes rimmed red, her mood visibly frayed.
She reached for another drink, but Yan Lie pressed down on the rim of her glass. She ignored him and tried to pull it free twice. When she couldn't, she simply grabbed the bottle and lifted it.
"Senior?" Yan Lie called in a low voice.
The others fell silent as well, watching her with concern.
Xia Lan drained the bottle and set it back on the table. Her fingers curled tightly around the neck, turning white as she try to wrestle the bottle into submission.
"I got dumped." She covered her forehead, her voice thick with humiliation. "No, that's not right. I got cheated on!"
Everyone was stunned. As far as they knew, she and her boyfriend had been in a long-distance relationship, and he'd always cultivated the model image of fidelity and consideration.
Xia Lan's chest heaved violently. The last of her rationality made her cover her eyes in front of them, but the alcohol rising through her system had already unlocked all the resentment in her heart. The muscles in her face trembled. She drew a deep breath and spat, "I never once looked down on him for screwing up his college entrance exam, and he actually looked down on me for not being gentle enough. I even went all the way to C Province to find a job for him. I left everything behind, moved to a place where I knew nobody, and had nothing. And what does he tell me? That he'd found his true love. True love? Money? Did he really think he could coast on someone else's generosity forever just because he was young and didn't know the value of a free meal? How did I not see what a bastard that guy was sooner?"
The others had no idea what to do and could only exchange frantic looks.
Xiao Pang pulled out a tissue and cautiously offered it to her from the side, but Xia Lan jusy swat it away.
She spoke with fury and hatred, her teeth clenched. More than anything, she hated her own failure and miserable situation. She hadn't merely wasted four years of university on a blind relationship, she'd also squandered the advantages that came with being a fresh graduate. Only after that came her disgust at her ex-boyfriend's various misdeeds.
Even drunk, with her features blurred by alcohol, the murderous look on her face was impossible to miss.
Her judgment was perfectly clear. Her priorities were crystal clear. But her mind was a little muddled.
Yan Lie listened silently for a while, deciding there was a very good reason Xia Lan had once managed to become a department head. He had every reason to believe her ex-boyfriend might not have much time left.
Xiao Pang tugged nervously at Yan Lie's sleeve. "Yan Lie, go comfort her."
Yan Lie came back to himself and lowered his voice. "Why are you specifically naming me? You can comfort her too. Senior used to dote on you the most."
Xiao Pang said anxiously, "None of us has ever suffered the agony of love. We don't know how to comfort her!"
"But I haven't suffered the agony of love either," Yan Lie said. Wasn't love supposed to be sweet?
Xiao Pang snapped, "You're seriously showing off right now?"
Yan Lie was speechless. Wasn't he simply stating a fact? Besides, Xia Lan and Fang Zhuo weren't necessarily the same kind of person.
Yan Lie stood up. "Stop drinking. Let's call it a night."
Xia Lan was unwilling to give up, but the alcohol had caught up with her, she could barely even walk. One of the junior girls tried to pull her up, and she nearly went straight to the floor.
The staff saw how drunk she was and refused to bring her any more alcohol. It was the middle of the night, letting a young woman continue drinking in that state was too dangerous.
The two junior girls didn't dare take her back to the dorm, either. They were afraid she'd get even more drunk and become famous across A University by morning.
A hotel didn't seem like an option, since Xia Lan hadn't brought her ID.
The junior girls supported her while one of them fished her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it with her fingerprint. They searched through her contacts and found a number saved as Landlord in her recent calls.
Both girls breathed a sigh of relief. They called, confirmed Xia Lan's current address, and decided to take her home first.
Her place was quite far away. The two girls couldn't carry her themselves, but they couldn't simply leave the job to the boys, either. If anything happened on the way, nobody would be able to explain themselves. So the whole group headed out in a noisy procession.
Xiao Pang was tall, and being single made him the most convenient candidate. He hoisted Xia Lan onto his back and went to the roadside to wait for a car. But just after they left the restaurant, as he was about to step down from the curb, an awkward movement wrenched his lower back. He nearly threw himself out with it and immediately started yelling for Yan Lie to come save him.
Yan Lie couldn't help laughing. He hurried over and took Xia Lan from his back.
Afraid the others would make fun of him, Xiao Pang held his lower back and muttered nonstop, "No wonder they say drunk people are so heavy. It's true. There's scientific evidence for it. And these steps are way too high. I can prove they're unreasonable using a systematic method..."
Yan Lie couldn't bring himself to point out the obvious.
He carried Xia Lan out through the alley, his stride steady and sure. They were halfway there when Xia Lan suddenly convulsed, then gave two dry retches from the back of her throat.
Yan Lie immediately went on alert. Xiao Pang was even more frantic. "She's going to throw up!"
The streetlights were too dim for Yan Lie to see clearly, and he had no time to think. He hurried toward the corner ahead with her on his back, only to step straight into a narrow drainage ditch and twist his ankle viciously.
He reacted quickly, dropping into a crouch before the pain had fully registered. One hand caught against the wall for support while the other instinctively reached back to keep the person on his back from falling.
His left knee hit the ground. A moment later, the pain surged through him, so sharp and intense that his vision nearly went black. Drawing a ragged breath, Yan Lie called out, "I twisted my ankle. Come give me a hand!”
The only able-bodied man left stared at them in disbelief. "What's wrong with you two?! You both collapsed over a distance of less than two hundred meters. Are you only strong on the outside and useless underneath?"
Xiao Pang launched into an indignant tirade.
Once the worst of the pain had passed, Yan Lie calmly said, "I need to go to the hospital first. Something cut my foot, I need to get the wound treated."
The other boy urged him, "Go already. Call your girlfriend while you're at it."
Leaning on Xiao Pang as he came over to support him, Yan Lie lifted his head. "Why bother her? Can she carry me? Can she fix me? Don't tell her."
"Have your girlfriend keep you company. Do I not know you?" The boy shot him a sideways glance, his expression suggestive. "It's a perfectly legitimate excuse."
Yan Lie was prompted into seeing the logic of it. But it was already so late, he couldn't quite bring himself to bother her. "Don't trouble her. Xiao Pang, call another car to take us to the hospital."
"That's tragic." Xiao Pang pulled out his phone, looking mournful. "This proves human beings really shouldn't eat late-night snacks. We have experimental data to back it up."
Yan Lie patted him on the shoulder, both amused and exasperated. "Stop talking nonsense."
Fang Zhuo didn't find out that Yan Lie had been injured until the next morning.
A classmate asked her how Yan Lie's injury was doing. She was puzzled at first, but then heard that he'd twisted his ankle while taking a senior schoolmate home.
The few brief sentences somehow carried the weight of an entire story.
Fang Zhuo called Yan Lie. His voice sounded perfectly normal. He told her he was staying at a nearby hotel because his right foot was injured and it wasn't convenient for him to stay in the dorm for the time being.
The hotel was near A University. When Fang Zhuo arrived, Yan Lie was already waiting on a sofa in the lobby on the first floor. Xia Lan had arrived before her and was sitting across from Yan Lie.
Xia Lan kept apologizing as she pushed the gifts across the coffee table. "I'm so sorry. Really, I'm sorry. This bag is for you, to help with your calcium. This box is an apology gift for Xiao Pang. I honestly didn't realize I could take down two young men in one go. I'll definitely reflect deeply on this."
Xia Lan had bought Yan Lie a box of calcium tablets and a bottle of cod liver oil. For Xiao Pang, she'd bought a pair of cashmere knee warmers.
Yan Lie had a vague feeling she was taking a jab at him. Her apology didn't seem entirely sincere.
Fang Zhuo stopped beside them.
Yan Lie had already spotted her from a distance. He adjusted his position, reached out his hand toward her, and introduced her. "My girlfriend, Fang Zhuo."
"Hello, junior." Xia Lan shook her hand, repented once more for her disgraceful behavior the night before, then got up to leave. "I've got somewhere to be, so I'll go first. I won't get in the way of you two lovebirds."
Her footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Fang Zhuo lowered her eyes to Yan Lie's foot, wrapped in bandages and looking almost twice its normal size.
"An injury sustained in the line of heroic duty." Yan Lie patted his leg and explained, "It was too late when I got out of the hospital yesterday, I could only stay at a hotel."
"Mm." Fang Zhuo sat down beside him, leaving a little space between them. "How exactly did you twist it?"
"Is there some special technique to it?" Yan Lie asked. "Anyway, I didn't twist it like a pretzel."
Fang Zhuo said evenly, "I think carrying a girl around and getting yourself injured must take a fair amount of technique."
Yan Lie fell silent and studied her expression. Seeing the complete confusion on Fang Zhuo's face, he leaned back against the sofa with his arms folded and drawled, "Are you jealous?"
Fang Zhuo raised the back of her hand to test his forehead, her expression perfectly composed. "Oh, no."
Yan Lie grinned. "Your heart rate's gone up?"
"There's nothing obviously wrong with you on the surface," Fang Zhuo said. "So maybe you've got an internal injury."
Yan Lie caught the hand she was about to withdraw and pressed it against his chest. In a solemn voice, he asked, "Doctor Fang, is wanting to see my girlfriend worried about me considered a heart condition? How would you recommend treating it?"
"In broad daylight." Fang Zhuo poked him lightly in the chest. "My basic recommendation is that you learn to overcome it yourself."
"No!" Yan Lie pitched forward and collapsed against her, like a cat pretending to be well-behaved while actually being shamelessly clingy. Resting his head against her shoulder, he rubbed against her with a smile. "My girlfriend likes it."
It was, without question, a slander.
Fang Zhuo raised a hand and gently stroked his hair.
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