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We agreed not to date in college.

Chapter 001 Encounter with an Alcoholic Girl

As night fell, the lights inside and outside Tianyi Pavilion came on. Most people don't know how the name "Tianyi Pavilion" came about, but the name certainly fits its image in the minds of many students—a bar, a karaoke bar, a water bar, sometimes a place for quiet conversations, and sometimes a place to be bold and flamboyant, even serving as a stage for team gatherings and performances.

The singing echoed in the dimly lit hall, accompanied by a cacophony of voices, like the cracking of wood beneath boiling water. Though low and deep, the noise possessed a greater power and energy, making the singing seem pale and weak in comparison. The flickering light of low red candles further diminished the singing's impact, leaving little trace on anyone's heart.

There was a table against the corner, and two people sat around it. The flickering candlelight cast the man's shadow up and down. A girl sat opposite him, her face flushed from the combined effects of alcohol and the lamplight. From behind, she seemed to be resting on the man's shoulder; perhaps she needed that shoulder to lean on. This girl was one of the protagonists of this story—Ye Xun.

"That's enough for now, I'm leaving, goodbye!"

The boy stubbed out his cigarette and placed it in the ashtray. Before the wisp of smoke had even dissipated, he got up and left, leaving Ye Xun standing across from him, dumbfounded, staring at the extinguished cigarette. The cigarette was only half-smoked, smoke still swirling in the candlelight, but its fragments were crushed to pieces, just like her heart. She gave a bitter smile, suppressing the tears in her eyes, then tossed back the rest of the wine in her glass and drank it down before staggering down the stairs of Tianyi Pavilion.

It was April, and in the south, April had long since lost its chill, but this was a special night. A light drizzle fell from the sky, enveloping the entire campus in a misty haze, making Ye Xun feel even more intoxicated. She walked along the thin stream, but could never keep up with its pace. Perhaps she was truly drunk, but Ye Xun knew that only her body was truly intoxicated; her mind was still perfectly clear. How she wished that it was her heart that was numbed by the alcohol! Everything that had just happened occupied all her thoughts. She had broken up with Dai Qiang, someone she had relied on for ten years. Perhaps ten years wasn't a long time, but it felt incredibly long to her, for she had only lived for 21 years.

The school bell had already rung, but the short distance took Ye Xun a long time to walk. She tried her best to control her body and walk into the classroom in a normal manner.

In the elective course "Military Strategy," the teacher was enthusiastically telling the story of Liu Bang's "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing Chencang" when Ye Xun's arrival immediately attracted the attention of most students. The teacher, who was enjoying a drink and admiring the moon, was surprised when Chu songs suddenly rang out from all sides, so he raised his voice a few decibels.

Ye Xun was completely oblivious to all of this. She walked past rows of seats, searching for her place in the crowd. Ye Xun felt that at this moment, she was searching not just for a place to listen to a lecture, but also for a place in life, or perhaps an emotional place—a safe, reliable spot to settle her scattered and chaotic heart, to soothe it. The students were packed together, making it difficult for Ye Xun to find a suitable spot through her blurred vision. In the back rows, there were a few seats available. Ye Xun chose a seat on the edge and sat down heavily. Next to her was a boy who shifted slightly, seemingly to give Ye Xun more space.

Ye Xun turned her head and glanced at him. A strong smell of alcohol hit the boy's nose, and he unconsciously frowned and wiped his nose with his finger. Ye Xun forced her eyes open and looked at him, a mocking smile involuntarily appearing on her lips.

When Ye Xun woke up, the classroom was empty. The classroom lights were very bright in the night, even a little dazzling, making it difficult for Ye Xun to open her eyes. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, feeling as if her soul had been placed in some spinning container, dizzy and nauseous. Ye Xun sat quietly for a long time before finally standing up. Suddenly, she noticed a pack of tissues on her desk. She picked it up and looked around. The classroom was empty, and her mind was empty. The image of the boy from earlier floated into her mind—he had unconsciously frowned and wiped his nose with his finger… Ye Xun smiled, but the smile triggered the sadness of the day, and tears streamed down her face.

The moment the dormitory lights went out, the campus dimmed considerably, yet remained bustling. Yang Ke stood on the rooftop, overlooking the entire campus and a corner of the city. A light drizzle continued to fall, and the entire campus and the city lay quietly at the foot of the hill. Distant lights almost merged into one in the blurry image, like sleepy eyes, observing the peaceful night in a state between slumber and wakefulness.

Yang Ke stood quietly, the music from the MP3 player flowing from his ears into his brain, meandering through his entire body and circulating in his blood.

This peaceful city under the sky is like a dreamy young girl, lying on her back in bed, half-asleep. Yang Ke could almost hear her breathing, peaceful and rhythmic. And now, the gentle drizzle was softly nourishing her skin. Yang Ke suddenly remembered the girl he'd met in the classroom that evening. Wasn't she also in a similar state of blissful reverie? Yang Ke didn't know why he thought of her. Was it unconscious? Or subconscious? And once he remembered, it wasn't easy to erase. Yang Ke carefully traced each thread of his thoughts about her, letting each trace pass through his mind. Suddenly, he felt that she was different from this night, but what exactly was different? Yang Ke could no longer know.

Yang Ke pulled his thoughts back from the night, stretched in front of the city lights, then turned and went back to his dorm room. He turned on his computer and began searching online for an alumna named "Black Night Thousand Grass." For a long time, Yang Ke debated various issues with "Black Night Thousand Grass" on the alumni forum. In this culture filled with online literature and online culture, people have drifted apart, but the internet has brought people closer. But the internet is, after all, the internet; people are still enveloped. Although Yang Ke knew that "Black Night Thousand Grass" was a girl from the same school, that was all he knew.

Yang Ke went on the forum and found that "Black Night Thousand Grass" was not there, so he sent an invitation message and then waited alone, but the other party did not reply for a long time.

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Chapter 002 Better a Chance Encounter Than a Planned Meeting

Updated: 2008-04-11 18:21:43 Words: 0

When Ye Xun walked out of the teaching building, the campus was much emptier. Her lonely figure moved slowly forward under the lamplight, her swaying body making her shadow appear even more chaotic. Back in her room, Ye Xun collapsed onto her bed. The ceiling light shone on her eyelids, making her see only a blurry white blur, like a tangled mess of threads that could never be untangled. This reminded her of Tianyi Pavilion that evening, and the wisp of smoke struggling there, unwilling to yield. Ye Xun seemed to remember something else. She got out of bed, turned on her computer, and squinted, searching for someone named "Forever Him." After searching for a long time without finding them, her heart sank. She opened the message box, intending to leave a message for "Forever Him," but her fingers stopped just as she was about to type. Ye Xun felt inexplicably afraid, as if something in the dark was pulling at her fingers. Her fingers stiffened, and she couldn't type anymore.

Ye Xun returned to bed, and the moment she closed her eyes, tears streamed down her cheeks and soaked into the corner of the pillow.

Ye Xun had just drifted off to sleep when the door opened and her roommate, Tong Tong, returned.

Tong Tong glanced at Ye Xun lying on the bed and saw a tear still clinging to the corner of Ye Xun's eye. She couldn't help but smile bitterly. Tong Tong had seen Ye Xun like this more than once, and she guessed that Ye Xun must have had another fight with her boyfriend. Tong Tong tucked Ye Xun in and placed a glass of water by her bedside. Just as Tong Tong was about to shut down her computer, she suddenly noticed a message from a netizen named "Nan Ke Yi Mu" to Ye Xun.

Tong Tong believed she knew quite a bit about "Nan Ke Yi Mu." "Nan Ke Yi Mu" was Ye Xun's online friend, or rather, her "arch-enemy." The two had been locked in an online battle for nearly half a year. If we followed the "no fight, no friendship" rule, they should be old acquaintances. But Ye Xun and "Nan Ke Yi Mu's" relationship ended there. They didn't even know each other's names, let alone have any intention of meeting. In Ye Xun's own words, "The internet is just the internet; it's much better to be virtual. Those romantic stories created online only happen in movie scripts, and I don't have any expectations of them."

Tong Tong sat in front of the computer and looked at the message sent by "Nan Ke Yi Mu". She decided to chat with "Nan Ke Yi Mu" again under the identity of Ye Xun.

"Good morning, Nan Ke!" Tong Tong greeted.

"Still early? It's almost midnight, it should be late!"

"Isn't it already past midnight? What else could it be but 'early'?"

"Miss Chigusa, it seems you've decided to have a fight with me today!"

"It's not that I don't understand social etiquette, it's just that you're too serious and always like to nitpick over words!"

“Then I apologize to you!” Nan Ke Yimu said.

"Nan Ke, what kind of argument do you want today? I'll be happy to oblige!"

"Wow, that's incredibly courageous! Is it because the alcohol emboldens a woman like that?!"

Tong Tong looked at Ye Xun lying on the bed and couldn't help but laugh, asking, "Nan Ke, how did you know?"

"Haha, I bumped into someone in class today, and I had a feeling it was you!"

"Perhaps. I hope your intuition has some magical power, so that we might meet again!"

"Miss Chigusa, what do you look like? Describe yourself so I can confirm!"

"Her hands were like tender shoots, her skin like solidified cream, her neck like a cicada's, her teeth like melon seeds, her forehead broad and her eyebrows arched, her smile enchanting, her eyes bright and beautiful!"

A few minutes later, Tong Tong received a picture from "Nan Ke Yi Mu". Upon opening it, she was both angry and amused. It turned out to be a collage of a beautiful woman: ...the skin of flesh, the neck of a longhorn beetle larva, the teeth of a gourd seed, the eyebrows of a moth's antennae...

"Nan Ke Yi Mu, you're a complete literary scoundrel!" Tong Tong added a venomous insult to the end of the message.

"You said it yourself, and I interpreted it exactly as you said it! A charming smile? Beautiful eyes?" Nan Ke Yi Mu sent a picture of someone sticking out their tongue.

"If that's how it is, then the beauty that makes the moon hide its face and flowers blush with shame, and fish sink and geese fall from the sky, is not hard to understand. It must be a waning moon and withered flowers, dead fish and wounded geese! Nan Ke, may I ask you—how do you look?"

"I'm sorry! No comment!"

"They say silence is golden, but it turns out silence can also ward off disaster and even have a beauty-enhancing effect!"

The midnight bells rang.

"Good morning, Ms. Chigusa, I'm logging off to rest!"

"Goodbye! Thank you for the beautiful pictures. They are absolutely unprecedented and will never be seen again!"

"Hehe, you're welcome, goodbye!"

Tong Tong shut down her computer, glanced at Ye Xun sleeping in bed, and then went up to the balcony alone.

A light drizzle continued to fall in the quiet night. Tiny raindrops, carried by the wind, occasionally flew into the balcony and landed on Tong Tong's face. The fresh air rushed into her nostrils and cooled her chest. Tong Tong closed her eyes in a state of blissful intoxication, but the sparse lights still flickered in her mind. Suddenly, Tong Tong remembered the picture of the beautiful woman from earlier, and a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

"I really want to meet this 'Nan Ke Yi Mu'. What kind of person is he?"

Ye Xun stood downstairs at the boys' dormitory, her anxious heart burning with a dull, lifeless gaze as she stared blankly at a balcony above. She had been sitting there for a long time, but the figure she was waiting for had not appeared. Ye Xun held a bracelet in her hand, gently rubbing it between her fingers, the gesture filled with boundless love and lingering reluctance.

Ye Xun took out her phone and dialed a number. As the dial tone sounded, the phone rang again from the balcony she had been staring at, but no one answered. Ye Xun kept dialing, but the phone kept ringing. Tears streamed down Ye Xun's face.

Passersby stared at Ye Xun with curiosity, but Ye Xun remained unmoved. Just then, someone walked over.

"Ye Xun, what's wrong? Did you two have another fight?"

"Is Liu Jing here?"

"He's not here. He didn't come back last night! None of his roommates know where he went!"

Ye Xun wiped away her tears and said, "Then I'll go back now, goodbye!"

"Ye Xun!" Liu Jing called out to Ye Xun, "Should we wait until he comes back and then I'll tell him?"

"No need, thank you!" Ye Xun smiled gently, her eyes filled with tears, and said, "Thank you!"

"Ah!" Liu Jing exclaimed, as if remembering something. "He said he's moving out!"

"Move out?"

"Yes, he did say that. Maybe he's looking for a place to live now!" Liu Jing said.

Ye Xun nodded, then gave a bitter smile.

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Chapter 003 Dream Falls into the Lost Tianyi Pavilion

Updated: 2008-04-11 18:26:52 Words: 0

As darkness fell, Yang Ke hurriedly entered the school gate. He glanced at his watch and breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw that there was still a quarter of an hour before class.

As Yang Ke walked across the school square, he noticed a vendor holding a promotional event and stopped out of curiosity. Several ropes were strung across one side of the square, covered with colorful slips of paper. Yang Ke looked closely and realized they were riddles. He squeezed through the crowd and read them one by one, trying to solve one. Suddenly, Yang Ke solved one of them. As he reached for the slip of paper, his other hand reached out as well.

Yang Ke was stunned. He turned around and saw a pretty girl staring blankly at him. This girl was Tong Tong, Ye Xun's roommate. Tong Tong had been thinking about Yang Ke's appearance last week, but she never dreamed that the person in front of her was "Nan Ke Yi Mu," whom she had talked to several times.

Yang Ke smiled and said, "Ladies first, this is yours!"

"No, you saw it first, so it should be yours!"

"How about this, you guess first. If you guess right, it's yours. If you guess wrong, I'll guess. How about that?" Yang Ke said.

Tong Tong smiled and said, "You're actually going easy on me, so I'll gladly accept your offer!"

Tong Tong and Yang Ke arrived at the prize redemption table together, and Tong Tong handed over the piece of paper in her hand.

"The riddle is 'Children of the Sun,' what's the answer? What's your answer?" the waiter asked.

"Is it the surname?" Tong Tong asked.

"wrong!"

Tong Tong was stunned. While she was in a daze, Yang Ke whispered behind her, "Children of the Sun should be born of the Sun!"

"Oh!" Tong Tong immediately understood and blurted out, "It's the 'star' in 'star'!"

The waiter smiled and handed Tong Tong a gift list, letting her choose a gift. Tong Tong chose a wind chime, but when she turned around again, she found that Yang Ke was gone. She searched through the crowd, but no matter what she did, she couldn't find Yang Ke.

Yang Ke entered the elective course "Military Strategy." Several students were already seated, and the teacher was making final preparations before class. Yang Ke, textbook in hand, walked around the classroom looking for a seat. He found two seats at the back and sat down. Unexpectedly, he found himself in the same seat he had sat in during the previous class. Just then, his phone rang. Yang Ke answered it; it was a friend calling, asking him to meet him on the third floor of Tianyi Building.

"I have class tonight!" Yang Ke said awkwardly. "Let's talk another day!"

The other person gave him a reason, and Yang Ke frowned and thought for a moment before standing up from his seat. The moment Yang Ke walked out of the left door of the classroom, Tong Tong, holding a wind chime, walked in from the right door and sat down next to the seat Yang Ke had just been sitting in.

The bell rang, and the teacher took out the list and randomly called out the names of several students.

"Ye Xun!"

"Here!" Tong Tong raised her hand, a smug smile on her face, and a cunning look also appeared on her face.

As night deepened, the bustling Tianyi Pavilion gradually quieted down.

Yang Ke and his friend walked down from Tianyi Pavilion and parted ways downstairs. He looked up at the sky; the night was dark, and the wind gently brushed against his clothes and cheeks. Yang Ke felt a chill, his body almost shivering in the cool night. He realized he had left his coat upstairs, so he turned and went up to the third floor.

The Tianyi Pavilion was now empty, with candles still burning, their flickering flames making one's heart tremble.

As Yang Ke grabbed his clothes and turned to go downstairs, he noticed a girl slumped over a table in the corner. Her delicate face seemed vaguely familiar—it was Ye Xun, the girl he'd met in class last week. Yang Ke gently nudged Ye Xun's arm, but she didn't react. He shook his head and smiled wryly. Just as Yang Ke was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. He took a pack of tissues from his coat pocket and placed it on the table.

Ye Xun awoke from her daze, struggling to open her eyes. The candlelight shone on the wine glass and the foam on its rim, the reflected light stinging her eyes, and a constant headache tormented her. Suddenly, Ye Xun saw the tissues on the table. Startled, she instantly sobered up. She grabbed the tissues; the soft tissues seemed to still be warm from her body. A figure flashed and disappeared in the doorway. Ye Xun scrambled to her feet and staggered after him.