Return to School

September, the sun blazes, the ox pants at the moon.

The summer heat enveloped the Binhe University of Science and Technology campus in Binhe City. The shallow pond still held half its water, its shimmering surface reflecting the lotus leaves, where unopened buds stood tall and graceful. A few dragonflies perched atop them, painting a picture of midsummer's intense heat.

The university campus was located on the outskirts of Binhe City, secluded in a corner, thus spared the dreaded urban heat island effect. Coupled with good greenery, the environment here was quiet and quite pleasant.

It was time for new student registration again, and the entire campus buzzed with activity. A vast tide of new students, some arriving alone, others accompanied by their parents, rushed towards the campus from all directions. Although it was already evening, the previously spacious two-lane asphalt road was still packed with private cars.

The trees lining the road cast long shadows as the sun set, soon covering the entire asphalt road. A Route 762 bus, like a loyal old ox, crawled along in the traffic, sometimes coming to a complete halt when a vehicle ahead braked suddenly.

Impatience brewed, and the cacophony of horns rose one after another, fully expressing the drivers' frustration.

Another brake—

"Driver, I want to get off!" Finally, a gentle but firm voice rang out from the back door of the bus. The speaker was a rather handsome young man with slightly long hair and delicate features, his face currently etched with impatience.

"The bus stop is still a few hundred meters away, hang on a bit longer." The driver, whose mood was unaffected by the traffic jam, glanced at the monitor and couldn't help but secretly admire the young man's good looks, but he didn't grant him special privileges because of it.

Su Yuan looked at the static scene outside the window, feeling a bit agitated, and said sternly, "I want to get off here!"

Silence fell inside the bus as the passengers turned their gazes to the young man. The driver didn't reply. Just as Su Yuan thought he wouldn't open the door, "Snap!" the door opened! A wave of heat rolled in. The sweltering outside air invaded the bus.

"Be careful of the cars behind you when you get off."

The driver shook his head. Under his kind reminder, Su Yuan dragged his suitcase and jumped off the bus, simultaneously labeling the driver an "arrogant old man."

Su Yuan was a sophomore student at Binhe University of Science and Technology. His hometown was in a neighboring city not far from Binhe City. After a year of university life, he was already an old hand, his demeanor having shed the naivete of a freshman. When faced with something that contradicted his personality or was intolerable, he had enough courage to step forward and argue.

"Thank you, classmate!"

He turned to see four students who had gotten off with him, both male and female. One of the boys was smiling at him. Su Yuan quickly understood what was happening and realized he had unintentionally done a good deed. "You're welcome," he replied with a faint smile, then dragged his luggage through the traffic, leaving them behind.

After entering the campus, he looked up at the quiet dormitory buildings. The balconies were empty, with no signs of life.

The dormitories were divided into north and south sections, separated by a wide road. Shops lined both sides, like the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, so close yet never having a chance to meet.

The north section was mostly for male dorms, with a few female dorms occasionally interspersed, but they were separated by a river and green belts, truly a "bachelor's zone." The south section, however, was a different world, filled with the chirping of birds and the rustling of swallows, exclusively female dorms. The faculty dorms were also arranged there.

Sometimes, Su Yuan couldn't help but have impure thoughts, wondering if the school had arranged it this way to cater to some unmarried young teachers. Of course, this was just a fleeting thought. Teachers, in their noble profession, were too busy nurturing the flowers of the motherland to harbor such sordid ideas. Even a fleeting hint of such a thought would cause him days of self-reproach. Only someone like Su Yuan, who was a bit of a prude, would use a villain's heart to measure a gentleman's belly.

The dormitory building where Su Yuan lived was somewhat like a hotel-style apartment building. Two buildings shared a lobby, with several resident advisors stationed in the center. Stairs spiraled on both sides, leading to the dormitories.

"I wonder if the guys in the dorm are back yet?"

As he pondered this question, a burly guy, shirtless and wearing shorts, saw him. "Su Yuan, you're back so early?"

"Yeah." Su Yuan smiled at him. This was Wang Ping, an official from the Sports Department. His sturdy build was like a gorilla's, possessing great strength. Su Yuan had many dealings with him, and they had a good relationship.

"Catch," Wang Ping tossed an apple to him. Su Yuan caught it and said, "Thanks!"

"I heard you're getting a promotion this semester?" Wang Ping asked casually.

"How did you know?" Su Yuan was a little surprised. He had indeed heard rumors about the promotion. After a year as secretary in the Student Union's secretariat, he was on the verge of taking a step forward, a rare opportunity.

Wang Ping said, "It's been circulating in our department since the end of last semester. Tell me, what position is it? Is there any hope you'll come to our Sports Department? If you do, you must remember to help me out."

Shaking his head, Su Yuan smiled faintly and said, "I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I won't be going to the Sports Department."

"Then you..."

"It should be Deputy Minister of the External Relations Department."

"Heh, that's not bad either, becoming a deputy minister." Although Su Yuan's decision not to join the Sports Department disappointed Wang Ping, he still wore a happy expression for Su Yuan.

"It's just a nomination, not finalized yet. Even if it is, what does it matter? You know as well as I do, the External Relations Department is all about building connections and soliciting sponsorships, doing all the thankless work! If I had a choice, I'd rather be a deputy minister in your Sports Department!"

Wang Ping nodded, "You're right."

"I won't talk anymore, I'm going to put my luggage away." With that, he waved goodbye to Wang Ping.

Room 330 in Building 17. He removed the seal, inserted the key, and pushed the door open, immediately greeted by a smell of decay and neglect. Having been uninhabited for months, it felt like stepping into a decades-old house. Su Yuan waved his right hand in front of his nose, dispelling the stale air.

A thick layer of dust covered the desk. Wiping it with a finger left a layer of gray-white dust on his fingertip!

"This is going to be a lot of work," he muttered, shaking his head. He placed his suitcase in the center of the room, quickly opened the window to air it out, fetched a bucket of clean water from the bathroom, and began cleaning.

Room 330 housed four people. The layout was one bathroom, one main room, and one balcony. Inside were four bunk beds, with integrated desks, bookshelves, and wardrobes underneath. A stack of books sat on the bookshelf, also covered in dust.

Discarded papers and bottles lay scattered across the floor. Su Yuan threw them all into the trash can, wet a rag, and crouched down to wipe the desk.

There were four bunks in the room. Bunk 1 was his, and by convention, he was the dorm leader. The occupant of Bunk 2 was Ji Yehao, a tall, handsome boy with a good personality. In the year they had lived together, Su Yuan had never seen him angry. He didn't have many flaws, except for a slight obsession with cleanliness.

Taking the absence of flaws as the greatest flaw, Su Yuan shrewdly realized he wasn't as simple as he seemed.

Bunk 3 was vacant most of the time. If it weren't for his classmate Yang Xiaowei occasionally returning to assert his claim, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the dorm only had three residents.

Bunk 4 belonged to a fatty named Gao Jun. Actually, Gao Jun wasn't that fat, weighing only 140 pounds, but compared to Su Yuan and Ji Yehao, he was considered "fat." He dealt with electrical components all day and reportedly vowed long ago to become an outstanding tech geek. However, he had filled out the "follow professional allocation" option on his college application, ending up in the same bioengineering major as Su Yuan and the others, far from his tech geek dream.

"This darn fatty, he didn't even clean up when he left, wasting all the high praise I usually give him!" Compared to Ji Yehao's handsomeness, Gao Jun was simply endearingly clumsy. In contrast, Su Yuan had given him "friend zone" cards more than once.

As he grumbled, Su Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow. Looking at the now refreshed dormitory, he was very satisfied with his labor. This was a place fit for humans.

If one cannot sweep a room, how can one sweep the world? A true man, when dealing with the world, should sweep it clean, and also tidy up to receive guests. Everything starts from the simple, and it makes one feel more comfortable.

The dormitory was cleaned, the floor gleamed like a mirror, and the desk was neat and orderly, no longer looking like tarnished jade. Su Yuan didn't touch Gao Jun's desk because the items on it were too messy.

There was a soldering iron, copper coils, a voltage regulator, a digital megohmmeter, a desktop digital multimeter, an industrial frequency signal generator, and a pile of instrument components whose purpose he couldn't figure out. Seeing these made Su Yuan's head ache. Who knew why a bioengineering major student would have so many unrelated things.

If he used a wet cloth to wipe them, he was genuinely worried about damaging them. By the time he finished his busy work, and the beds were made, the sky had turned dark.

On the ceiling, a fan rotated 360 degrees, moving slowly like a nodding donkey in an oil field, operating with a fixed cycle.

"Gulp..." Feeling the protest from his stomach, Su Yuan decided to go get something to eat first.