Chapter 8
“Was there such an episode of Approaching Science?” He Yong questioned himself. “I don’t seem to remember it.”
Jian Wu silently glared at Song Shuci for interjecting, then fooled He Yong: “If you don’t remember, then forget it. That episode wasn’t good anyway.”
“Okay,” He Yong, who didn’t have an ex, quickly lost interest in the topic.
“Speaking of which,” he asked, “Jian Ge, weren’t you guys barbecuing? Why did you suddenly come here?”
“I… was researching hotel prices.”
He Yong’s eyes lit up: “You’re starting a hotel business!?”
Jian Wu avoided eye contact: “I’m just wondering when this hotel will go bankrupt.”
The price for booking a room on the spot was more than four times higher than booking in advance. It was blatant daylight robbery.
“What about you?” His gaze swept past Song Shuci’s face and landed on He Yong.
“Professor Song came later, we didn’t book a place for him, so he had to share a double bed with someone. He was afraid he wouldn’t sleep well, so I brought him here to book another room,” He Yong explained.
Jian Wu: “…”
Numb.
This was probably the legendary “the harder you try, the worse it gets.” He shouldn’t have told Song Shuci they were sharing a room.
“By the way, Jian Ge… I suddenly remembered,” He Yong looked thoughtfully at Jian Wu, “that double bed room…”
Jian Wu’s heart skipped a beat, silently praying He Yong wouldn’t remember.
However, last-minute prayers were often useless.
He Yong slapped his forehead. “Right! Isn’t that double bed room yours? So you two are sharing a room tonight?”
Jian Wu’s face turned ashen. He didn’t understand why a PE teacher like He Yong had such a good memory.
“Then, Professor Song, you don’t need to book another room. Jian Wu is a very good sleeper,” He Yong boasted about Jian Wu like a salesman, “He doesn’t snore, doesn’t steal the blankets, and doesn’t move around. Why don’t you just squeeze in with him? It’ll save you money, and the rooms tonight are quite expensive.”
“He’s talking nonsense,” Jian Wu said self-deprecatingly, “I grind my teeth, fart, talk in my sleep, and might even get up and hit people in the middle of the night.”
“You’re the one talking nonsense,” He Yong said to Song Shuci. “Professor Song, I’ve slept with him several times, I swear on my conscience, Jian Ge has really good sleeping habits.”
Hearing this, Song Shuci looked deeply at He Yong and repeated his words: “You’ve slept with him… several times?”
“Yeah, Jian Ge often stays at my place, and I often stay at his.”
He Yong put his arm around Jian Wu’s shoulder in a brotherly manner, his straight-man brain completely oblivious to the subtle atmosphere.
And Jian Wu was about to go crazy.
What was it like to watch your straight male friend enthusiastically praise your sleeping habits in front of your ex-boyfriend, with whom you had shared a bed countless times?
“Xiao He,” Jian Wu patted He Yong’s hand on his chest, “Let’s change the subject.”
“Oh, okay,” He Yong was a little confused, not grasping the undercurrent between the two, but obediently changed the topic, “Professor Song, hurry up and book your room, Professor Zheng called us over to play a game.”
“I think your suggestion is good,” Song Shuci glanced at the hotel price list, then looked back at He Yong’s hand on Jian Wu’s shoulder. “The rooms tonight are indeed a bit expensive. Thank you for the suggestion, Xiao He.”
Jian Wu glared at Song Shuci, but Song Shuci didn’t react.
“You’re welcome, glad I could help,” He Yong said. “Jian Ge is a really good person, he’d definitely be happy to share a room with you, right, Jian Ge?”
“I…”
Jian Wu, placed on a high pedestal, looked around, finding no steps down.
Looking at He Yong’s clear, innocent puppy-dog eyes, he couldn’t bear to let him see the dark side of human nature, so he nodded hypocritically, saying with feigned sincerity: “Yes, yes, yes.”
And Song Shuci, who loved to watch the drama unfold, chuckled softly beside him, twisting the knife: “Teacher Jian is truly a good person.”
When they returned to the barbecue area, everyone had almost finished eating. With their stomachs full, games were naturally on the agenda.
Everyone from the bus sat in a circle on picnic blankets, discussing what to play under the nearby lights. Ling Meng, seeing the three of them arrive, enthusiastically made space for them.
He Yong sat down directly next to Ling Meng, patting the empty space on his left and urging Jian Wu and Song Shuci to come and sit.
Before Jian Wu could object, He Yong grabbed his wrist and pulled him down.
Jian Wu subconsciously looked back, just in time to meet Song Shuci’s gaze.
Their eyes met briefly before they both looked away almost simultaneously. After a moment, Jian Wu, staring at the small patch of picnic blanket in front of him, heard the rustling of fabric beside him.
The picnic blanket wasn’t large, and everyone’s space was limited, so it was inevitable to bump into the person next to you when sitting down. But from bending down to sitting, Song Shuci didn’t make any physical contact with him.
Jian Wu didn’t look up, but they were too close. Even without deliberately looking, the slightly raised cuff of Song Shuci’s pants as he sat down still stubbornly occupied a corner of his peripheral vision.
Jian Wu chose to turn his head, completely removing that corner from his sight.
“Let’s play the counting game!”
Zheng Yu’s voice interrupted Jian Wu’s thoughts. He looked up and saw the man with black-rimmed glasses explaining the rules of the game.
“It’s very simple. Everyone randomly raises their hand and starts counting from ‘1,’ then 2, 3… If two people say the same number at the same time, they have to immediately call out each other’s name. Whoever is slower is eliminated.”
This was a common icebreaker game for social gatherings, designed to help everyone quickly remember each other’s names when they weren’t yet familiar.
Ling Meng, listening from the side, predicted: “Then Jian Wu will definitely win. He’s incredibly good at remembering people. At our affiliated middle school, we have a test before the start of a new school year. We take the students’ photos and names, shuffle them, and then have you match them one by one. Jian Wu always gets a perfect score.”
University teachers generally didn’t have such strict requirements for remembering students’ names. Hearing this, several university teachers praised and joked: “Then Teacher Jian, please go easy on us.”
Jian Wu waved his hand, humbly lowering his head and smiling. However, as soon as the game started, he entered a completely different state, his eyes shining as he focused on the game, always managing to shout out the other person’s name first whenever they said the same number.
After he mercilessly won several rounds in a row, the teachers who had just been politely praising him now had expressions of genuine admiration: “How do you do it? That’s amazing!”
Although everyone generally knew a few people in their group, there were still many strangers to remember. They had only introduced themselves once at the beginning of the game. No one expected Jian Wu to not only react so quickly every time but also never make a single mistake.
Jian Wu, enjoying the game, said excitedly: “It’s not that difficult, just remember their characteristics, practice makes perfect.”
His words greatly dampened the enthusiasm of the other teachers present. Those who were always eliminated at the beginning waved their hands in surrender: “I give up, I give up, please, let’s change the game after this round.”
“Okay, okay,” the team leader in charge of the game activities said with a soothing smile, “Then let’s have one last round.”
As she blew the whistle, the game officially began.
He Yong was impatient. In the previous rounds, he hadn’t observed the situation, rushing to call out “1” right away. If he wasn’t eliminated, it was considered lucky; if he was, he’d just try again next round. This time, after he called out “1” and found no one else had said it, he happily clasped his hands: “Thank you, everyone.”
While his thanks drew everyone’s attention, a male teacher immediately called out “2.” Someone jokingly accused him of seizing the opportunity, but before they could finish speaking, another person followed suit and quickly called out “3.”
This sped up the pace of the game, and everyone started calling out numbers one after another. Perhaps because it was the last round and everyone had gained some experience, there were no “collisions.”
In this situation, the last person to call out a number would be eliminated. Seeing more and more people entering the safe zone, He Yong became anxious, nudging Jian Wu: “Jian Ge, hurry up!”
When playing this game, some people would observe others to decide when to call out a number. However, Jian Wu seemed particularly calm, not paying attention to others at all. He knew everyone present by heart, so he wasn’t afraid of collisions.
Hearing He Yong urging him, he was afraid Teacher He would get too anxious, so he casually raised his hand to appease him: “8.”
Unexpectedly, there was another unlucky person who called out “8” at the same time.
The two voices overlapped, instantly igniting the tense atmosphere.
Those who hadn’t yet called out a number, nervously waiting, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Those already in the safe zone watched the show with amusement.
Upon realizing Jian Wu was one of the people who “collided,” the onlookers shook their heads, clearly anticipating a predictable outcome.
But to everyone’s surprise, Jian Wu opened his mouth but couldn’t say the other person’s name immediately.
Then, Song Shuci, who hadn’t won all night, after a slight pause, called out his first name of the night—
“Jian Wu.”
Perhaps because everyone was too surprised by the result, the air fell silent for a brief moment.
Whether possessed or because the night was too quiet, Jian Wu actually heard a hint of bewildering gentleness in that address.
Unfortunately, Jian Wu’s name was too short, only two syllables, and it was over quickly. Before he could confirm whether that gentleness was an illusion, Song Shuci’s voice dissipated into the crackling of the charcoal fire.
From the moment they met until now, they had been addressing each other sarcastically as Teacher Jian and Professor Song.
Neither had called the other by name, as if there was some invisible rule. Whoever said the other’s name first would be cursed by Cupid.
They had once had many names for each other, intimate, teasing, or ambiguous.
But after so many years apart, even calling each other’s name felt subtly awkward.
They sat side by side, too close.
Under the glow of the fire and lights, they looked at each other somewhat abruptly, their hands, raised during the game, still in the air.
