WC ⋆ Chapter 29

Qi Lin had no desire to give this person a pleasant look, and only gave a perfunctory nod.

"Hey, you're not here looking for Jiang Yishen, are you?" Yu Jiaming climbed a few steps, looking very eager to help.

What a fake act. Qi Lin didn't even turn his head, just gave an "mm" and kept walking up.

"Didn't you graduate? You're still around here." Yu Jiaming showed no sense of being an outsider at all, following behind him and chattering away, "Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since we last ran into each other…"

Qi Lin didn't want Yu Jiaming trailing him all the way to Jiang Yishen's door, afraid it would make someone so nauseated they'd spit up their braised chicken: "Do you need something?"

Yu Jiaming let out a "hah" and craned his neck to look past him, asking curiously, "It's just that we haven't run into each other in so long. Come to think of it, I actually thought you and Little Jiang had a falling out. Didn't expect you'd still come back to school to look for him."

Qi Lin held back his disgust and looked at him for a moment, then said, "Stop following me."

The blunt words sent Yu Jiaming back where he came from.

Qi Lin of course knew why Yu Jiaming stuck around like a plaster that wouldn't come off. This person was just like that, all pretense, putting on a show of getting along peacefully with everyone on the surface to demonstrate what a great social reputation he had.

Yu Jiaming and Jiang Yishen had quite a history. Before the postgraduate recommendation list was announced, Jiang Yishen had been regarded by him as his greatest imaginary rival.

According to Jiang Yishen, Yu Jiaming's jealousy of him was purely because of his good looks. Grades could be retaken, competitions could be re-entered, but what you looked like was something you were born with, and no amount of effort could change it.

Qi Lin found this claim absurd, yet it had a certain logic to it.

He didn't know about others, but in any case Xu Baili, Fan Zi, and that whole little circle didn't think much of this diligent and outstanding student. Among the top-ranked students in the major, not one had escaped him sidling up to ask about bonus points. It wasn't exactly wrong, but it was deeply irritating.

Jiang Yishen didn't have many competition entries to his name and relied entirely on his GPA to stay ahead. Yu Jiaming had originally counted on his student council position to add a few points, but as it happened the postgraduate recommendation rules for this year had changed, restricting student council positions and knocking him out of the running.

Without those precious fractions of a point, Yu Jiaming's biggest competitor became Jiang Yishen, who was jostling for the same spot.

News of the reduced quota this year had been flying around since July. Yu Jiaming was different from Jiang Yishen; he had invested too much in the postgraduate recommendation process, and the sunk cost weighed on him so heavily that he couldn't accept the possibility of ultimately failing.

According to what the little circle's network had to say, Yu Jiaming had an Excel spreadsheet on his computer that tracked and calculated scores for the top students in the major. It was thorough to the point of being all-pervasive; he would even dig up whatever papers you'd privately published. Fan Zi called this Excel sheet the Investiture of the Gods List.

When an out-of-country student confirmed their plans, Yu Jiaming would highlight that student's entire row in green in his spreadsheet, as a mark of respect.

Jiang Yishen was the most troublesome entry on the list, with the gap between his score and Yu Jiaming's own narrowed to two decimal places.

And so the one and only anonymous report of Jiang Yishen's four years of university came into being.

Qi Lin still remembered what a dramatic scene that had been. He had just finished eating with Jiang Yishen, hadn't even walked out of the cafeteria yet, when Jiang Yishen received a summons from the Instructor.

The two of them went together to the college administrative office. Jiang Yishen was kept there for a full half hour. Qi Lin got tired of waiting and even went to the office reception room to have a cup of tea with the security guard.

The anonymous report had been sent by email to the Instructor's inbox, claiming that Jiang Yishen had repeatedly violated school rules and regulations over the course of his third year. Everyone thought it must be something serious, but it turned out the violation in question was staying out overnight.

The department had always been in the habit of making big issues small and small issues disappear, not to mention the school didn't ordinarily conduct dormitory checks, so staying out overnight was very difficult to verify. If a student were actually to be disciplined, evidence would have to be publicly disclosed.

When Jiang Yishen was called in, he was simply incredulous. It wasn't hard to guess who had done it. What was truly chilling was that this lunatic had been paying such intense attention to another person's life.

He had indeed often stayed out overnight during his third year. Apart from a handful of times when he had been unable to help himself and stayed off campus, only twice had he stayed away for consecutive nights, and those were trips to the surrounding area with Qi Lin.

The timing was scattered; if someone hadn't been deliberately paying attention, it would have been impossible to know.

He adopted the strategy Qi Lin had laid out for him: deny everything and refuse to admit it. The Instructor wasn't going to actually go around the dormitory interrogating each roommate one by one, and besides, all his roommates were on his side. If things were pushed and the matter blew up, that wouldn't be good for anyone.

The second step was to play the wronged victim.

Yu Jiaming was a little bit clever, but nobody was a fool. The Instructor herself was a doctoral student who had seen and taught no small number of students over the years. She knew perfectly well what game the anonymous email was playing.

To come up with a reason like that and try to skirt the line into getting a disciplinary mark meant there was clearly nothing else to find fault with.

Jiang Yishen had been so aggrieved in the office that he was on the verge of tears. A person nearly 1.9 meters tall standing right there in front of you, whimpering, made a far greater impact than any anonymous report. The teachers watching couldn't bear it either, and when they finally worked out a resolution, they phrased things more gently.

The report was rejected, and Jiang Yishen was given both overt and subtle warnings to be careful of the people around him.

After returning to the dormitory, all four roommates plus Qi Lin lay in wait in various corners of the corridor, watching Yu Jiaming's movements.

Yu Jiaming's psychological resilience was absurdly good. He went about his life as normal, showing no sign of anything unusual, and the longer they watched the more unnerving it became.

Now, more than half a year later, seeing him again, it was still that same face and expression that made you want to retch. Qi Lin felt that even being willing to listen to him speak was already a mercy, and he had better not push his luck.

The destination was still upstairs. Qi Lin walked a few more steps and could feel that gaze on his back. Yu Jiaming hadn't left; he was standing on the landing, looking up at him.

From above came the sound of a woven bag being dragged, and then Jiang Yishen came hurrying down the stairs carrying bags large and small, looking as though he were preparing for the Spring Festival travel rush. The two of them ran straight into each other face to face.

Seeing Qi Lin, Jiang Yishen hadn't yet collected himself, still catching his breath: "Why did you come up?"

"I… came up to find you." Qi Lin looked at his frantic, harried appearance and inwardly regretted it again. He really should have come up with Jiang Yishen just now.

"Oh, it's fine, you…" Jiang Yishen's words came to an abrupt stop. He noticed the person standing in the shadow of the half-landing below, and his expression darkened.

Qi Lin almost instinctively turned sideways to block, and in that split second only one thought flashed through his mind: he couldn't let Yu Jiaming find out about their relationship.

He himself didn't mind, but Jiang Yishen hadn't graduated yet. It wasn't the upright person you had to worry about offending; it was the petty one you had to be careful not to provoke. Even if the two of them had long since had no conflict of interest, it was best not to give this kind of person any kind of handle.

"Let's go," Qi Lin said. "I'll help you carry some."

He reached out to help Jiang Yishen take the bag in his hand, but Jiang Yishen was gripping it very tightly, both eyes fixed straight on Yu Jiaming.

"Jiang Yishen." Qi Lin lowered his voice and gave his hand a light pat.

Jiang Yishen said nothing, only walked straight down the stairs, his steps very steady. Qi Lin hurried to follow, watching as he stopped in front of Yu Jiaming and didn't move.

Yu Jiaming was one step lower than him. Jiang Yishen looked down at him with an air of seeming to size him up in thought, yet also as if it were merely a careless, indifferent gaze.

"You two going out together?" Under that oppressive stare, Yu Jiaming put on a harmless and guileless smile.

Qi Lin stepped quickly forward, stood beside the two of them, and tugged at the hem of Jiang Yishen's clothes.

Jiang Yishen ignored his question, withdrew his gaze, and sauntered lazily down the stairs.

But then Yu Jiaming continued: "Finals are over. Aren't you going home?"

Seeing the two of them pause, he added, "Oh right, don't you have to find an internship over winter break, or else it'll be spring recruitment when school starts again."

These words were plainly a veiled jab at Jiang Yishen for not taking the postgraduate entrance exam, cutting without even bothering to disguise it. It seemed the successive ignoring and cold looks from the two of them just now had put him in a very bad mood.

"What's it to you?" Qi Lin couldn't listen to it anymore and stopped caring about hiding this or being civil about that. Swallow your anger for a moment and your liver gets congested; back down a step and your kidneys get blocked.

This time it was Jiang Yishen's turn to tug at his sleeve.

"I'm just asking casually, don't get angry." Yu Jiaming shrugged, but his feet were slowly carrying him back up the stairs.

"Then I'll just say it casually too. We've barely met a handful of times, yet you've heard plenty of gossip. Where did you hear that we'd had a falling out? You say that the moment you see me. What, do you actually think our relationship is bad and want me to think Jiang Yishen has been badmouthing me behind my back?"

His voice wasn't low, and students passing through the corridor turned to look one after another.

Yu Jiaming finally couldn't keep up his front. The smile he always wore disappeared, replaced by a cold, embarrassed, and furious stare.

"Qi Lin, it's fine." Jiang Yishen tried to pull Qi Lin back.

It was the first time Qi Lin had experienced the convenience of the loop. When something unpleasant happened, he could curse to his heart's content, and if he didn't want to provoke an idiot, he could just avoid them in the next loop.

"Say fewer of those insinuating things to people you're not close with. Nobody fails to understand what you're implying. The only reason no one calls it out is to watch you make a fool of yourself. Too bad I don't have Jiang Yishen's patience."

He looked at Yu Jiaming's livid face and finally felt a little better, though he wasn't entirely satisfied. He pushed through the door and walked out of the dormitory building with his head down, and only then remembered to turn around and check on Jiang Yishen, who was hauling his Spring Festival luggage, only to be met with a brilliantly radiant smile.

Qi Lin was still in the heat of his anger, and his words came out sharp: "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Jiang Yishen narrowed his eyes. The wind lifted his fringe, and the whole person looked full of energy and spirit.

"If I wasn't afraid of causing trouble for you, I'd really want to curse him out a few more times." Qi Lin felt uncomfortable under his smile, muttered to himself, and walked on.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not afraid of him stirring up trouble," Jiang Yishen said.

This was also the truth. One's state of mind always changes with experience. Jiang Yishen considered his own experience shallow, but he had after all gone through some things on his own, and when he turned back to look at the scheming and backstabbing of campus life, he only found it to be small-time squabbling.

Qi Lin glanced at him sideways: "You're not afraid, but I am. That kind of lunatic is a real nuisance once you get on their bad side. What exactly are you smiling at?"

"Were you just now standing up for me?" Jiang Yishen leaned in close to his ear.

Qi Lin shoved him away: "Watch out for that Voldemort peeping at you from the window. If he sees, tomorrow he'll be posting on the confession wall that you're gay."

"Then you'll be on the confession wall with me." Jiang Yishen kept pestering him relentlessly, pressing up against Qi Lin. On a wide road he insisted on walking right up against someone else.

Qi Lin had no choice but to sigh, bury the lower half of his face in his scarf, and let him be: "As long as you're happy."

"Damn, do you think he would…" Jiang Yishen suddenly thought of something and raised his voice, nearly dropping the bag in his arms. "He doesn't have a crush on me, does he, paying this much attention to me!"

Qi Lin gave up trying to get him to keep his voice down and walked forward with a look of complete despair. If Yu Jiaming had heard those words from upstairs, he would probably be furious enough to jump out the window to prove his innocence.

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