But recently, Zheng Qing had no time to care about that ungrateful little dog.
The college entrance exam results had come out. His score was good enough for a first-tier university, but he had not yet received an acceptance letter, so his family had been especially concerned about the elderly woman at the gatehouse these past few days. After all, every letter in the residential area passed through her hands.
Although things generally did not unfold according to people's habitual way of thinking, sometimes even leaps of logic could not explain why things had turned out this way.
That morning, after getting up, Zheng Qing habitually scratched Poseidon, who was curled up beside his pillow.
Although it was a Little White Dog, it had many pale blue stripes across its body. Against its white fur, they looked very much like waves on the sea. Zheng Qing had thought about it all night before giving it a resounding name: Poseidon!
But today, instead of touching the soft little thing he usually felt, his hand landed on something stiff. Zheng Qing opened his bleary eyes and froze for a moment before sitting bolt upright in surprise.
Before Zheng Qing lay a letter.
More precisely, it was a letter from nowhere, with no stamp, no postmark, and no postal code.
The kraft-paper envelope felt thick and sturdy, pleasant to the touch. Its back was sealed with red wax bearing a circular mark, inside which was the symbol of a Triangular Prism.
On the front of the envelope, plump, clear red characters in Yan-style calligraphy read:
Pingyang City
Yunhua Residential Area, Jiefang Road
Building Seven, Unit Three, Room 201, smallest bedroom
For student Zheng Qing
Zheng Qing immediately looked up at the treasured sword hanging from his bookcase. It rested there peacefully, without the slightest anomaly. He sprang from bed and rushed into the living room. In the incense burner beneath the Ancestral Tablet, that wavering thread of blue smoke was as tranquil as ever. He inspected every corner of the house. Whether it was the thin talisman paper pasted over the doorframe or the heavy talismans engraved beneath the windows, everything remained intact and unmoved.
After washing his hands, he pulled a yellow talisman paper from his gray Talisman Bag. Zheng Qing muttered a long incantation, then watched the talisman paper drift slowly down onto the envelope.
Nothing happened.
Zheng Qing felt as though he had just acted like a lunatic.
It probably wasn't anything unclean. He curled his lip. Maybe his parents had left it beside his pillow before going out this morning?
Impossible. He quickly dismissed the idea. If his parents had received an envelope with such a bizarre address, there was no way it would have ended up in his hands.
Carefully tearing open the envelope, Zheng Qing saw a huge acceptance letter. The cover still bore that Triangular Prism symbol enclosed in a circle, with four bold ancient seal-script characters written above it in rich black ink:
First University
At the lower right of the ancient seal script was a line of small running-regular characters: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous."
Opening the acceptance letter, Zheng Qing found eight neat small regular-script characters painted on the left: "There is a path up the mountain of books, and no shore to the sea of learning." It carried an imposing air.
At the top of the other page, small print clearly stated:
"This institution is a key institution of higher education approved by the Ministry of Education and qualified to enroll students for higher education."
Below that, in standard Song typeface, were the words:
Student Zheng Qing:
We are honored to inform you that you have been admitted to the Astronomy Department of Jiuyou Academy, First University, for a four-year program.
Examinee Number: 08043203119
Acceptance Letter issue number: 20080010007
First University
July 28, 2008
There was also a red mark in the blank space: a ring enclosing a flowing character for "culture."
Attached beneath the acceptance letter was a pale yellow card that read: "Please reply within one week of the acceptance letter's arrival. An interviewer will contact you within twenty-four hours and guide you regarding the items you need to prepare. Other requirements may be discussed with the interviewer."
The acceptance letter also came with proof of issuance for a plane ticket departing from Chang'an Afang Airport on September 1. There was also proof that he had received a full scholarship, its various seals crowded together in a dizzying blur of red and green.
Finally, there was an A4-sized stiff blank card with a faint bluish tint.
His parents had gone to work, leaving Zheng Qing alone at home. Holding this baffling acceptance letter, he was somewhat doubtful. After all, he knew his own situation best. He clearly remembered the three universities he had applied to: Imperial Capital University as his first choice, Western University as his second, and the teachers' university right outside his doorstep as his third. He had applied for finance at all of them.
When had I ever applied to this university?
But the name was right, and so was the examinee number. They were both his. There was no mistake about that.
Jiuyou Academy's Astronomy Department? Was that part of Astronomy Studies? But I don't remember seeing this major in the application guide. And with such an impoverished-sounding name, I definitely don't remember filling it in.
Rubbing the blank stiff card, Zheng Qing's first thought was that it was a scam. Tsk, tsk. Maybe some third-rate university had registered an impressive-sounding name abroad, then come back to China to rake in money. Stories like that weren't uncommon.
Then he grew puzzled. The name First University should have carried some serious weight, yet he did not seem to have heard of it in China. He vaguely recalled there being something like that abroad, though. Was it France or Germany?
Touching the limp Gray Cloth Bag against his chest, Zheng Qing's eyebrows gradually rose. His intuition told him that this acceptance letter was definitely connected to the things he had learned from his teacher.
He went to the bathroom, scooped up a handful of cold water, and splashed it over his face. Zheng Qing immediately felt every cell in his body stirred awake by that chill.
Bracing himself against the sink, he carefully studied the fellow in the mirror for a long while. Mm, yes. His face was glowing with red light, and he really did look like someone good things were about to happen to. Of course, that might also have been the result of the cold water.
The mirror reflected a gentle face. His eyes were not large, but they sparkled. Like many other Eastern faces, his nose bridge was rather low and rounded. Fine fuzz could vaguely be seen at the corners of his lips. His neatly trimmed short hair lay obediently in every direction, but atop his head, a tuft of ahoge stood stubbornly upright, refusing to yield in the slightest to its surrounding companions.
"Damn it." He grabbed another handful of cold water and vigorously rubbed at the tuft of ahoge, pressing it down. Of course, he knew it was only psychological comfort. Once the water dried, that clump of hair would spring right back up.
After letting out a foolish snicker, Zheng Qing's body shuddered. A silver-white Pocket Watch rolled out from the round collar of his undershirt and dangled in midair, swaying back and forth restlessly.
His teacher had given him this Pocket Watch as a gift on his twelfth birthday.
That had been his first time going to Huizi Market, and also his first contact with that hidden world.
With a snap, the silver watch cover opened. The hands on the dial turned quietly. One second, two seconds, three seconds, as though nothing could stop that silent, stubborn motion.
Zheng Qing's smile froze in the mirror. The water droplets on his face and in his hair gathered into streams, rolling down his cheeks to his chin before dripping onto his chest.
In a daze, he seemed to see a small figure practicing calligraphy with a brush in hand.
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