Thanks to Chen Miaomiao’s relentless class broadcast, Lu Ping quickly figured out the activity patterns of those foreign college students.
Jiaojiang University City was located at the other end of the city, comprising five vocational colleges. Every Friday night, those foreign students gathered at a shop called Yue Jiujin to drink coffee.
Lu Ping had drunk coffee before. As a child, he had sneaked sips of his parents’ instant two-in-one mix. Once he had pocket money as a teenager, he occasionally bought a sweet latte at a convenience store or McDonald’s to help him power through late-night cramming sessions before monthly exams.
He set aside thoughts of coffee for the moment. The key point was that he finally had a chance to talk to foreigners! To avoid embarrassment, he decided to cram a few more English exercises.
With this in mind, Lu Ping was unusually excited all week. He was extremely attentive during English class and even pulled out the reference book Shen Yuze had given him to study diligently during breaks.
Shen Yuze, as his desk mate, naturally saw all of Lu Ping’s efforts clearly.
Once, Lu Ping encountered a tough problem in the “Secret Papers” book. The reference answer was very concise, and he didn’t understand it.
Lu Ping scratched his head and decided to ask the teacher for help.
Unexpectedly, Shen Yuze stopped him.
“This reference material is internal stuff from Beijing X Middle School; you can’t find another set on the market. If you take the book straight to the English teacher, she’ll definitely recognize its value. If she says, ‘Lu Ping, the teacher wants to photocopy this set so everyone can improve together,’ can you refuse?”
Lu Ping let out an “ah.” If not for him, Shen Yuze wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of finding this material. It was a special “private lesson” just for him, a unique gift. Sharing it like that would not only betray Shen Yuze’s good intentions but… he was also reluctant to let it go.
He might as well be a selfish jerk.
Seeing that Lu Ping understood, Shen Yuze nodded reservedly and contentedly.
Shen Yuze: “So, for any questions you don’t understand in that book, you can…” …just come ask me directly.
Lu Ping: “I can copy it down separately and then ask the teacher!”
Shen Yuze: “…”
Lu Ping: “I’ll copy it into my notebook first, then ask the teacher. She won’t see the original! If she asks where I got the question, I’ll say I saw it online!”
Shen Yuze: “…”
“Am I smart or what?” Lu Ping’s face was full of pleas for praise.
Shen Yuze kept a straight face: “Pretty smart.”
So smart, yet he couldn’t perform better on the exams?
…
As soon as the dismissal bell rang on Friday, Lu Ping sprang up from his seat. In a flash, he stuffed the scattered textbooks and stationery from his desk into his backpack.
Shen Yuze only managed to say goodbye before Lu Ping vanished.
Watching the little mouse’s hurried departing figure, Shen Yuze frowned slightly. Was it his imagination, or had Lu Ping been acting strange lately, as if… he was planning something behind his back?
Lu Ping had no idea his odd behavior had caught his desk mate’s attention. His mind was entirely consumed with anticipation for what would happen that night.
—The brave knight embarked on his journey, ready to start an adventure all his own!
As a child, Lu Ping had read Don Quixote and thought the protagonist was crazy for mistaking a donkey for a steed and windmills for giants. But now he understood a little: only by imagining the unknown path ahead as a thrilling adventure could he forget his timidity and face the challenge with full confidence.
Lu Ping called his mom ahead of time and told a little white lie, saying there was a school activity that night and he’d be home late. He didn’t mention heading to University City alone, fearing his family’s barrage of questions.
Seventeen was a particularly delicate age. To his parents, he was still a child whose every move caused worry; but in his own heart, he was just one step from adulthood, free to decide where to go and who to befriend.
Lu Ping hopped on the bus. Friday evening rush hour was terrifying. Forget finding a seat—not even both his feet could touch the ground at the same time! He was practically suspended in mid-air by the crowd, with a heavy backpack weighing him down from behind. The bus lurched and stopped erratically, and the map app showed the road ahead clogged in purple-red.
By the time Lu Ping finally reached University City, two hours had passed.
He had left school under a sky filled with sunset glow at six; when he got off the bus, the commercial street outside University City was already lit up with neon lights.
This was Lu Ping’s first time in University City, and everything seemed novel.
The people brushing past him looked only two or three years older, but their outfits and styles were far more mature. Girls wore their long hair loose with exquisite makeup; boys smoked cigarettes with trendy, permed hair. University City reeked of freedom everywhere—loving couples held hands sweetly, without fear of the dean jumping out from a corner to call parents over “puppy love.”
Which high schooler didn’t dream of college life? Amid endless mountains of books and seas of problems, university was their utopian dream.
Lu Ping didn’t notice that as he secretly observed the college students, they were eyeing him curiously too—or more precisely, his school uniform.
Lu Ping was clean-cut with a neat student haircut, a heavy double-shoulder backpack sagging behind him, undoubtedly stuffed with high school textbooks. A boy so full of student vibe standing alone in University City was like a faint but impossible-to-ignore light, drawing everyone’s attention.
While he envied their maturity, they envied his youth.
Nighttime University City buzzed with energy. Restaurants, milk tea shops, board game cafes, and internet bars were packed. Snack stalls wedged themselves onto the sidewalks, and college students wandered between them, milk tea in hand.
Lu Ping hadn’t eaten dinner and was getting hungry. He passed a stall selling Crispy Shrimp Balls and bought one.
University City’s Crispy Shrimp Balls were pricey—one cost ten yuan, twice as much as on the North Shore, and with less filling than Lu Dad made.
Lu Ping munched on the oily Crispy Shrimp Ball while craning his neck to scan the shop signs along the street for his target—Yue Jiujin coffee shop.
Soon, he spotted it in a corner of the commercial street. The shop’s entrance wasn’t eye-catching, with a small sign. If Lu Ping hadn’t been looking deliberately, he might have walked right past.
He shoved the rest of the unfinished Crispy Shrimp Ball into his mouth in three bites, cheeks bulging like a hoarding hamster. He forced it down, then took off his school uniform jacket and stuffed it into his backpack, leaving just his hoodie. He checked his hair in the glass of a parked car nearby, deliberately tousling it to look less like a high schooler.
Once ready, he mustered his courage and pushed open the brown glass door.
“Ding…”
A crisp bell rang overhead. A brass bell hung on the doorframe, tinkling gently whenever a customer entered to alert the staff.
The shop was tastefully decorated: solid wood tables, movie-style posters on the walls, and a full wall of bookshelves. Soft leather sofas surrounded low tables, separated by tall green plants that ensured privacy without feeling stuffy.
The cafe’s lights were dim, with a couple whispering intimately in the corner.
Lu Ping scanned the room, and his breath caught—there were really foreigners! Several of them!
In the innermost booth, five or six foreign young people chatted together. They seemed to be discussing something fun, gesturing animatedly and looking excited. Snatches of English words drifted to Lu Ping’s ears, but with his level of listening comprehension, he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Should he just walk over and strike up a conversation?
…No, that wouldn’t do.
But he couldn’t just stand there like an idiot! He’d spent so much time getting to University City; he couldn’t chicken out at the last step.
Lu Ping’s inner “angel and devil” debate raged on. He hesitated, unsure how to casually say “hi.”
His expression shifted repeatedly until… the little knight turned back into the little mouse. He tucked tail and slunk to a corner seat.
His spot was right by the bookshelf. He randomly pulled out a book without checking what it was, flipped it open, and used the pages as cover to secretly observe the foreign college students.
Those foreign students were all tall, with creamy white skin. They laughed and talked loudly, seeming very close. From Lu Ping’s angle, one youth sat directly opposite him: brown hair, sky-blue eyes, and pretty handsome—but (note the emphatic “but”)—Lu Ping thought that compared to Shen Yuze, Shen still came out on top in looks.
Lu Ping had planned to observe a bit longer, but the next second, the blue-eyed youth seemed to sense his gaze. He turned his head, met Lu Ping’s eyes directly, and even smiled at him!
Lu Ping: “!!!”
Damn, he’d been caught staring—this was social suicide!
Lu Ping ducked his head in panic, cheeks burning.
A server noticed the new customer and approached to ask what he wanted.
“Uh,” Lu Ping was prepared. He feigned calm and said, “I’ll have a coffee.”
Right? You come to a coffee shop to order coffee, don’t you?
“Got it.” The server was polite. “Cold brew or pour-over? We’ve got some new beans in—want me to introduce them?”
As she spoke, she gestured toward the coffee machine nearby.
It was a silver-gray marvel, completely unlike the machines at convenience stores or McDonald’s. Big and bulky, it gleamed with several handles. A server operated it from behind; when she pressed a handle, steam hissed out, filling the air with a rich, bitter coffee aroma. Next to the shiny machine sat jars of brown beans. Lu Ping could barely tell the subtle shades of brown differing between them, but otherwise, they all looked the same to him.
Lu Ping: “…”
Seeing him silent, the server asked again: “Or would you like it with milk? We have Oatly and oat milk options—our dirty is the signature.”
Lu Ping: “…”
What was this, what was that? Cold brew? Oat milk? Lu Ping’s head spun from the server’s professional jargon. He had no idea coffee came in anything beyond lattes and cappuccinos.
In that moment, Lu Ping felt like he was back in class, facing the physics teacher. He understood every word individually, but together they formed a spell that made his eyes glaze over.
He really wanted to ask what those names referred to, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he found himself struck dumb, his throat parched—he was afraid that if he asked, he would see a look of disdain in the server’s eyes.
Just as he was cringing in embarrassment, toes curling against the floor, an unexpected figure appeared at his table and bailed him out.
“My friend hasn’t decided what to order yet.” The speaker had a slightly odd accent, but it was understandable. “We’ll call you when he’s made up his mind.”
Lu Ping looked up following the voice and was astonished to discover that the person standing before him was none other than the blue-eyed foreign young man!
