The little meatball suddenly rolled over, wrapped its chubby little hands around my neck, and murmured, "Meat... give me the big meat..."
The little one was dreaming about eating meat, just like me. I gently kissed her forehead, closed my eyes, forgot all the clutter in my mind, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
*****
I had class on Monday morning, so I prepared the report the night before and put it in my pocket, ready to deliver it to the dean's office as soon as I got to school, as a way of explaining my mistake. I rushed to the dean's office building early in the morning, only to run into my third uncle downstairs, who looked unwell.
"Good morning, Dean Su!" I greeted my third uncle respectfully. In the college, I always addressed him as Dean.
"Yuanyuan?" My third uncle looked at me with some surprise. "You came to see me so early in the morning?"
"Oh, no. I'm here to submit the examination report to Dean Qu." I took the report out of my pocket.
My third uncle took the document from me, glanced at it briefly, and laughed, "It's written quite sincerely. Did your grandfather give you a lecture?"
"Hehe..." I nodded with an awkward laugh.
"You should go back to your office first. The leaders of the institute had a meeting all night. Qu Ling is probably resting now."
"Okay, I'll be going now."
"Go on!" My third uncle waved to me, then turned and went upstairs.
Back in the office, I found that all the teachers had already arrived. Everyone seemed very busy, running in and out. The office was piled high with documents and materials, and Dingding was rummaging through them, sweating profusely.
“Dingding!” I walked up behind her and patted her on the shoulder.
"Hey! Yuanyuan's back!" Dingding's face was covered in dust, and there was even half a spider web hanging from his sleeve.
"Dingding, what's going on? Everyone's so busy, it's like a battle!"
"You don't know? The Ministry of Education's evaluation has started. The expert team will arrive in our city in about two months. The entire university town is in a frenzy; no school is not nervous. Last week, the school leaders announced that all teachers will be required to be in the office during the evaluation period to give their all for the evaluation!"
Sure enough, after a week away from work, the news became severely delayed.
I rushed to class after packing my materials, only to run into the head of the teaching and research office in the hallway. He told me to come to his office after class. Judging from my suspension, Director Zhou seemed intent on dealing with me severely. I vaguely sensed that Director Zhou wasn't on my uncle's side, and might even harbor some hostility towards me because of him. Not many people at the school knew about my relationship with my uncle, but not a few either. These leaders, for example, were all aware of it. Moreover, nothing stays secret forever; rumors would likely spread quickly, becoming an open secret. And to make matters worse, this director was my direct superior. Caught in the middle of this power struggle, how could I not feel anxious?
After class, I dawdled my way to the director's office. Director Zhou was sitting in a leather chair, leisurely drinking tea, with a bag of fish food in his hand, occasionally sprinkling a couple of pellets into the fish tank next to him.
"Director, what can I do for you?"
"Oh, you know about the evaluation, right?"
"yes."
"This is a big deal; the whole school is swamped with preparations for the evaluation. Our department is quite large, with a lot to do. Last week, I already assigned tasks to other teachers. Even though you're not here, the work has still been distributed according to the number of people. Here, this is your job description and schedule. Once you have the form, get to work!"
I stepped forward and took the form. Good heavens! A thick stack of A4 paper, densely covered in writing. Although I was inwardly groaning, I maintained a calm facade. I put the form into a folder, took two steps back, and said, "Well then, I'll get back to work. You're busy, Director!"
"Okay, remember to finish on time!" Director Zhou took a leisurely sip of tea without even lifting his eyelids.
"Don't worry!" I smiled as I closed the door to the director's office, then turned and walked to the corridor, grinding my teeth. While the whole school was in a frenzy, he seemed quite leisurely, raising fish and drinking tea—much more carefree than my third uncle and his family.
At that time, I thought everyone's work was as busy and demanding as mine. I was so naive. It wasn't until I realized that others could leave work on time no matter how busy they were, while I couldn't finish my work on schedule without working overtime, that I suddenly realized that Zhou was messing with me.
In the dead of night, I sat alone under a solitary lamp, organizing documents. It was early winter, and the night air was biting cold. I was only wearing a thin sweater, yet I was drenched in sweat. Not from exhaustion, but from anger.
How could I not be angry? I, Su Yuanyuan, had never been bullied like this before. I've seen bad people before, but none of them had ever dared to bully me. A surge of heat rushed to my head, and I swept all the documents on the table to the floor. The clatter of the papers hitting the ground only accentuated the emptiness in the office.
Staring blankly at the scattered papers on the floor, I gripped the pen tightly in my hand. After a long while, I finally stood up, squatted down, and slowly gathered the documents one by one, holding them in my arms.
There was no way around it; I knew Director Zhou's motives. His real intention wasn't what he seemed; he wanted to use me to find out something about my third uncle. Although I hadn't been at the school long and was still young, it wasn't difficult to find out who belonged to whom. Secretary Ding of the college had wanted to get rid of my third uncle for a long time but hadn't had the chance. Director Zhou was definitely one of the secretary's cronies.
No one can live a simple life in a vacuum, and Su Yuanyuan is no exception. However, I have my own principles and ways of being a person. My bottom line is to protect myself and the people I love.
The word "patience" has a knife above it, but if you can endure it, one day you will be able to turn that knife around and hold it in your hand.
I won't tell anyone how tiring my work is; I can only finish it with a smile.
No, it's not just about finishing it; I'm going to do it perfectly, leaving those guys who thought I'd cry and whine and complain to my third uncle speechless!
I gritted my teeth and continued sorting through the documents. While doing so, I found a scrap of paper, drew a bald little man on it, wrote Zhou XX's name on it, and, still feeling resentful, poked the little man hard. It worked well; by the time the little man was completely bruised and battered, my work for the day was finally finished.
He let out a long sigh, crumpled the scrap paper with the little figure drawn on it into a ball and threw it into the trash can. He looked at the clock on the wall; it was already 11:50 p.m.
After tidying up the table, I slung my bag over my shoulder and prepared to head to the staff dormitory.
I didn't expect to be busy so late the other day. I was exhausted from walking home in the cold wind, so I asked the academic affairs office to arrange a bed for me in the staff dormitory. I brought my own blanket and slept there that night.
The campus was quiet late at night. The teaching buildings had long since been emptied and the buildings were dark. The student dormitories were on the other side of the overpass in the North Campus. A cold wind swept down my back, instantly cooling the sweat I had worked up during the rush. I pulled my not-too-thick coat tighter, exhaled a breath of stale air, and looked up at the night sky.
The streetlights were still on, their orange glow reflecting off the dark blue sky. Apart from the crescent moon hanging in the middle of the sky, which was relatively bright, the starlight was dim and unclear due to the streetlights.
I long to see starlight, silvery starlight like water.
The starlight holds the fairy tales and dreams in my heart.
I don't know when, but tears slowly welled up in my eyes and quietly slid into the hair at my temples as I tilted my head back.
It's so cool.
"Su Yuanyuan?"
I turned around in surprise, and tears that I hadn't had time to wipe away streamed down my cheeks.
"Dean Qu...?"
At exactly twelve o'clock, all the lights on campus were turned off.
The moment Qu Ling and I locked eyes, all the stars in the sky lit up.
Beef Ramen
Qu Ling has lost weight.
His cheeks were slightly sunken, and his chin was pointed. Although his face looked somewhat haggard, his eyes were still bright. Unlike me, whose face was not only haggard but also whose eyes were dull and lifeless, and who was even shedding tears.
"Hello, Dean!" I forced a smile and secretly wiped away the tears on my face with the back of my hand.
"Yuanyuan..." Qu Ling walked up to me, looked down at my face, and asked, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"
"I've been quite busy lately, so I'm staying in the teachers' dormitory." I think he saw the tears on my face, which is why he spoke carefully and gently.
“Everyone’s been really busy lately. Your third uncle just got back too.” Qu Ling patted my back and said, “Just bear with it a little longer, things will be fine once the assessment is over!”
"Yes!" I nodded vigorously.
"Are you hungry?" Qu Ling suddenly asked.
"Huh?" I stared at him blankly.
He smiled and said, "To be honest, I came out to find something to eat. I went to a meeting in the city this afternoon, and when I came back, your third uncle called me to a meeting at the college. I haven't had dinner yet."
"Aren't you...aren't you going home?"
“I’ve been living at school since last week. Does Yuanyuan know where I can get food around here at this time of year?”
He's come to the right person. There's no delicious food within a ten-mile radius of the school that I, Su Yuanyuan, don't know about.
"Want some food?" I suddenly realized that my stomach was also very hungry, it was practically growling.
"good."
And so, Qu Ling followed behind me, walking in a dark alley next to the school, looking for a venue that was still open late at night.
"This alley is really dark," Qu Ling exclaimed behind me. I could imagine the expression on his face.
The mischievous spirit inside me suddenly started jumping around restlessly. I turned around abruptly and grinned at him, saying, "Dean, there's actually no beef noodle shop in this alley!"
"Oh?" The starlight cast a flowing silver glow on Qu Ling's face, but his expression didn't show much surprise.
"Hmph, then guess why I brought you here?" I sniffed and moved closer to him.
Qu Ling stared at me without moving, then suddenly said, "Are you going to rob me of my money or my virtue?"
"Pfft—" I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I don't want to rob you of your virtue! I just want to rob you of your money!"
Before he could finish speaking, he actually pulled his wallet out of his pocket, handed it to me, and said, "Here you go!"
"Ah—" This time I was stunned, looking at my wallet with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "Dean Qu... I... I was just joking!"
Qu Ling's expression remained unchanged as she smiled and said, "I know!"
I could only lower my head and wipe my sweat, suddenly realizing I'd overstepped my bounds. No matter how mischievous I was, the other person was still my dean. Perhaps my joke wasn't appropriate, or at least the target was.
"I...I'm sorry!" I secretly observed his expression.
Qu Ling smiled gently, patted my head and said, "Why are you apologizing to me? I really want someone to joke with me like this. It's just that you only robbed me of my money and not my virtue, which hurt my self-esteem a little."
"Dean Qu..." I pouted, wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh out loud, really not knowing what to say.
"I'm your dean at work, but just treat me like a friend in other situations." Qu Ling walked up to me, suddenly grabbed my arm, and said, "I smell beef! Let's go!"
The beef noodle shop was indeed still open. The owner was kneading dough at the counter, while his wife sat at the door with a bowl of hot tea, seemingly waiting for something. Hearing Qu Ling and me approach, a hint of joy flashed across the owner's face, but it faded quickly when she saw who it was.
"Two bowls of beef noodles!" I said to the proprietress with a grin.
"Okay, coming right away!" The proprietress looked somewhat distressed, but her smile was still gentle.
Qu Ling sat across from me without saying a word. I knew he was quietly observing the small shop.
"You must be wondering why this shop isn't closed yet, since there are usually no customers this late, right?" I'm a regular customer of this shop, so I naturally know the answer, and I'm deliberately teasing Ling.
"I think the boss and his wife must be waiting for someone," Qu Ling said quietly, watching the boss's wife busy putting seasonings into bowls by the stove.
I stared at him in surprise: "Dean, how did you know?"
“The look in that proprietress’s eyes,” Qu Ling picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup of tea for me and herself, and said leisurely, “is the look of someone who is waiting and hoping.”
The curtain was suddenly rudely thrown open, and a boy of about eighteen or nineteen years old with dyed red hair rushed into the shop, panting, shouting, "Mom, I'm starving! I want to eat hand-pulled noodles today!"
"Chongchong's back!" The proprietress, who had been looking rather listless, suddenly brightened up as if she'd been recharged. "Mom's making it for you right away! Have some soup first!"
The proprietress hurriedly served me and Qu Ling our beef noodles to the table, then turned around to serve soup to her son.
With my mouth full of beef, I smiled and said to Qu Ling, "Dean, you're really amazing. This ability to read people's minds isn't something you can learn in a day or two."
Qu Ling looked up at me, and said thoughtfully, "It may not be a good thing."
"What?"
"It's nothing," he suddenly laughed, "Yuanyuan, you ate all the beef, what are you going to do with the noodles?"
"Dean," I said with a smirk, "would you be willing to trade beef for noodles with me?"