Xiang Yu, bored, stomped his foot and said, "Who are you taking me to see? I just remembered I need a tent and I have to buy one quickly, otherwise I won't be able to leave tomorrow." Passing students curiously eyed him; even near the sports institute, they rarely saw such a robust man. Xiang Yu was more than just a big guy; his physique was the epitome of broad shoulders and a wasp waist. One could imagine how imposing our hero would be, clad in a form-fitting suit of armor, his cloak fluttering in the wind, wielding his gilded tiger-head spear, standing beside his prized black steed.
We walked slowly to the girls' dormitory building. Across from the building was a small square. I pulled Xiang Yu to an inconspicuous corner, stood on tiptoe, and placed my hands on his shoulders, saying solemnly, "Brother Yu, you definitely know the person we're going to meet later, and you're very familiar with her, but she might not remember who you are right now. In order not to scare her, you have to promise me you won't show up today."
Xiang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I agree."
I wasn't convinced, so I pressed hard on his shoulder and said, "I want you to swear a solemn oath."
Xiang Yu said, "If I break my promise, I will never see Yu Ji again."
That oath was certainly harsh enough for him, but it wouldn't work today. I rolled my eyes and said, "Let's find another one."
Xiang Yu chuckled and said, "I live under the same roof as Liu Bang, and I can't possibly harm him in the slightest. Don't you trust me?"
A man like Xiang Yu, capable of lifting a cauldron, is usually a man of his word. It's not that I don't trust him, but I'm afraid he might lose control. If he goes berserk, he could clear the school with his bare hands, and the number of casualties in the C University campus massacre would probably be a fraction of all campus shootings in the United States. Seeing Xiang Yu's resolute tone, I didn't think too much about it and directly notified Wang Jing to take action.
Shortly after the phone call, Wang Jing sent a text message: She'll be down soon, and we'll meet at the library.
I suddenly became more nervous than Xiang Yu—he wasn't nervous at all.
Liu Bang said Zhang Bing was Yu Ji because the two looked very similar; I think she has a similar temperament, but that's just wishful thinking. Whether Zhang Bing is truly Yu Ji will soon be revealed!
The three of us squeezed onto a bench. Li Shishi and I were so anxious that we kept rubbing our hands together, while Xiang Yu was just a little curious.
Li Shishi leaned closer to me and asked, "Is she... pretty?"
"She's alright. To quote your newly adopted sister, she's not pretty, but she's very beautiful."
"Heh, you're saying she's a dancer?"
...
Zhang Bing suddenly appeared without any warning, walking past us with a book tucked under her arm. I never expected her to come out so quickly, nor did I expect her to come out from the outermost unit door. We were sitting not far from her; she could have seen us with just a turn of her head.
I instinctively hugged Xiang Yu tightly, only to find that he didn't move at all. His body didn't move, his head didn't move, only his eyes followed Zhang Bing from one side of his eye socket to the other, and his expression didn't change.
Li Shishi noticed our unusual behavior. She glanced into the crowd and immediately spotted Zhang Bing. She pointed at Zhang Bing and turned her face away. Before she could ask anything, I nodded.
"I'm going..." Li Shishi immediately stood up and chased after him.
Passersby stared at Xiang Yu and me in astonishment, and I realized I was still holding him. I let go and tentatively patted him, "Brother Yu?"
Xiang Yu just sat there, motionless and silent. I was terrified and patted him even harder. After a long while, Xiang Yu finally wiped his face with his large hand and said, somewhat as if in a dream, "Why is this dream so long?"
It took me a while to realize that he was treating all of this as a dream. It seems he had had countless dreams like this before.
I shouted, "It's not a dream, it's real!"
Xiang Yu covered his ears with his hands, turned his head to look at me, and said, "Even the voice is so realistic."
I grabbed his neck and twisted his head to face away, shouting, "Look, so many girls! It's either a dream or a wet dream. Why don't you check if your underwear is wet and you'll know if it's real or not?"
Xiang Yu sent me flying, muttering, "Why is Xiao Qiang still behaving like this in my dreams?"
I'm absolutely furious. My brother Xiaoqiang has been called a hooligan, a thug, a scoundrel, a fraudster, a swindler... but this is the first time he's been called the object of his dreams. I'm still dreaming about my dream lover, so why isn't there some kind of powerful old lady who can bring a princess drugged with aphrodisiacs to my bed every night?
Xiang Yu sat there with a melancholy expression, muttering to himself, "She's lost weight..."
Having no other choice, I mustered my courage and swung my fist, the size of a vinegar jar, at the face of Xiang Yu—it really hurt, my hand.
Xiang Yu could have dodged, but because he was "in a dream," he ignored it and let the punch land squarely on him. In his excruciating pain, he flew into a rage, stood up, and lifted me high above his head—I turned around and saw the girls' dormitory on the third floor, where two girls were changing clothes.
Why did you hit me?
"Brother Yu, wake up, this isn't a dream!"
Xiang Yu was struck dumb. He abruptly put me down and said, "Hit me again!"
I jumped back two steps and said, "Come on, you try. If you get angry, you can chop me up. I used to lie down like a starfish, but if you chop me into a north-facing character, wouldn't I be at a disadvantage?"
Without saying a word, Xiang Yu swung his sword and slapped himself hard across the face. He winced in pain, but the slap also brought the man to his senses. He suddenly grabbed a female student and asked, "Where is this?"
"C University."
Xiang Yu pointed to the dormitory building: "Who are all these people in here?"
"This is the girls' dormitory..." The female students started to get a little scared. Xiang Yu's eyebrows were furrowed like "11", his pupils were bloodshot, but his face was full of excitement.
Xiang Yu released the female student. He paced back and forth in place, wanting to run away, but then abruptly pulled back. He clenched one fist, pounding the palm of his other hand, pacing faster and faster like a trapped beast within a circle. Finally, he stopped at a certain point, pointed in the direction Zhang Bing had left, and murmured, "She... A-Yu..."
"Are you awake, Brother Yu?"
"She doesn't recognize me anymore..."
"She doesn't recognize anyone now. So, Brother Yu, I have a question for you: Is she really Yu Ji?"
Xiang Yu roared furiously, "How can it not be my A Yu? From her hair to her fingers to her toes, she is my A Yu!"
I awkwardly dodged the suspicious glances of the girls coming and going, and said with an embarrassed smile, "You really do observe carefully."
Xiang Yu began pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, "But why doesn't she recognize me? Why doesn't she recognize me? Why..."
I said, "It's possible she didn't see you, or it could be for some other reason. Shishi has already gone to scout out the area. We'll discuss it properly when she comes back. In any case, we need to reunite you with your sister-in-law."
Seeing that Xiang Yu had calmed down considerably, I asked again, "Are you sure she's your sister-in-law?"
"That's right, even the stride length when walking is still the same!"
Just then, Li Shishi came running back. Xiang Yu quickly stood up, and Li Shishi, wiping her sweat, said, "I chatted with her briefly while asking for directions. She's from the dance class in the art department, her name is Zhang Bing. Is she Sister Yu?" I nodded slightly to her, then said to Xiang Yu, "Brother Yu, we have plenty of time. Your wife can run away, but she can't... uh, that's not quite right. Let's go back and discuss our next steps first."