A heavy rainstorm had lowered the temperature overnight. Wind poured through the windows like it had blown out of a refrigerator, as if it meant to freeze the entire city.
Song He had left the window open while sleeping, and the draft had chilled half his body. When he woke, he had slept wrong and could no longer move his head, which was tilted to the left. He had become crooked-necked.
Reading papers on the computer with his neck tilted was agonizing, because everything on the screen was nearly ninety degrees off. Song He had read that way until dawn, but he finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to take a hot shower to loosen his stiff muscles.
He stood in the bathroom under the hot water for a long while. His skin turned bright red, and his whole body was almost cooked, but his neck had only become slightly more mobile. Any movement beyond a small range still hurt.
It seemed he really wouldn't recover anytime soon. Fortunately, sleeping wrong wasn't a serious problem. After two or three days, he would basically be fine. At worst, his students would laugh at him when he went to class. No matter—whoever laughed would lose Usual Grade points. He'd like to see who dared laugh!
Song He sighed and turned off the shower.
But the sound of water was still ringing.
He froze, then pressed himself against the wall to listen. It was coming from the dormitory next door!
He hadn't heard that sound for several months... Teacher Xiang was back!
Song He was delighted. He hurriedly dried himself with a towel and changed into long-sleeved pajama clothes and trousers. Just as the water next door stopped, he waited a moment, figuring that his teacher had probably gotten dressed, then left