Chapter Forty-Three: The Sky Is About to Fall!

Chapter Forty-Three: The Sky Is About to Fall!

“This isn’t fair to the others,” Lu Junzhuo said. “Everyone who’s made it to the review stage has something exceptional about them. Why are we shutting them out?”

“Some people may not get much done, but at least they won’t cause trouble,” Su Shan replied. “Take the eldest daughter of the Qiu family—she’s that kind of person. The ones you mentioned who didn’t make it through the assessment, they can get things done—but they’re even better at causing trouble. That’s exactly why they’re refused entry. Do you understand now?”

“I do,” Lu Junzhuo said. Ambition doesn’t depend on age, nor does malice. He had to admit, some people, emboldened by powerful family backgrounds, committed acts that outraged everyone. If you could track them down, sure, they could get things done. But their talent for sabotage was even greater—that’s why Red Eagle shut them out.

He approved of this decision. He didn’t want a few rats to ruin a whole pot of soup.

And for a woman with obsessive perfectionist tendencies like her, this was all the more true.

“We’re running out of time,” Su Shan said. “I only have one year left.”

“What about after a year?”

“Lu Junzhuo, you’re thinking too far ahead,” Su Shan said, sighing softly. “In a year, I’ll graduate.”

“But there’s a broader sky waiting for you.” The man’s eyes sparkled. “I look forward to seeing how high and far your Red Eagle can soar—”

“I won’t disappoint you,” Su Shan said confidently. “After I leave, I’ll put you in charge of recruiting and reviewing new members at Nanda. Go on, get to work. I’m busy too.”

“What are you busy with?” Lu Junzhuo asked.

“Fishing, of course,” Su Shan replied matter-of-factly, her face beaming with joy.

She picked up a slender green bamboo rod, flicked the red-tipped bait into the lake—a small yellow flower.

Lu Junzhuo lingered a while, watching the fish play among the petals, then turned and left.

——— ———

Tang Zhong had just reached the entrance of the third cafeteria when he heard Hua Ming’s boisterous voice calling, “Hey, Second! Over here!”

A crowd turned to look for “Second,” and Tang Zhong quickly averted his face, pretending not to know them.

Hua Ming dashed over and grabbed Tang Zhong by the shoulder. “Second, we’re calling you! Didn’t you hear? Come on. The guys are all waiting. The pancakes are hot off the pan, and the chicken wings are fresh out of the fryer—best when eaten right away.”

Resigned, Tang Zhong followed Hua Ming to the table where his friends sat.

“You’re here, Second Brother,” Liang Tao said, pushing over a bowl of pancakes wrapped tightly in plastic. “Any later and they’d be cold.”

“Where’s Li Yu?” Tang Zhong asked.

“There.” Liang Tao pointed to the second window. “He’s buying you chicken wings.”

Tang Zhong said no more, lifted the bag, and began to eat.

Although the media constantly warn that plastic bags are made from all sorts of waste, full of toxins, and shouldn’t be used for hot food—who in this country really cares? Even if you bought a golden bowl, it wouldn’t matter if it were filled with gutter oil.

“The old dean was looking for you?” Hua Ming asked with a sly grin. “Did he chew you out?”

“He’s my teacher,” Tang Zhong corrected him. “And no, he didn’t.”

“How could he not?” Hua Ming said, disappointed. “I thought he’d really let you have it.”

“Yeah, how disappointing,” Liang Tao chimed in.

Tang Zhong looked at the two of them. “You seem unhappy I didn’t get scolded.”

“Of course!” Hua Ming blurted out, ignoring Liang Tao’s frantic winks. “We bet twenty chicken legs with Li Yu—”

Tang Zhong had no sympathy for them. He turned to Li Yu, who had just arrived with two steaming wings. “Half the chicken legs you won are mine.”

“Deal.” Li Yu smiled shyly.

The three had long finished eating—they’d just been waiting for Tang Zhong.

Tang Zhong ate quickly, and then the four of them walked back to their dorm.

After a shower, with his hair still damp, Tang Zhong lay on his bed reading. Li Yu, with Tang Zhong’s permission, sat at his Apple computer playing games. Hua Ming was chopping cabbage for his pet rabbit, Little Cutie; his grip on the knife was more suited to a chef than a gangster. Liang Tao was sprawled on the balcony, making a phone call, grinning in a way that suggested the person on the other end was definitely not a man.

This kind of tranquil, amusing college life was exactly what Tang Zhong had always looked forward to.

He thought of the beautiful woman he’d met at the lakeside pavilion at noon. He hadn’t asked her name—he knew even if he had, she wouldn’t have told him. Besides, if he really wanted to know, plenty of people could tell him.

With this in mind, Tang Zhong turned to Hua Ming, who was doting on his rabbit as it nibbled cabbage, and asked, “Hua Ming, do you know who the girl on the cover of the admission letter is?”

“Su Shan,” Hua Ming replied without looking up. “Nanda’s campus belle. No, actually, she’s been the campus belle for three years now—she’s a junior. She’s held the title for three years running, with no real competition. I was so busy staring at her I didn’t even notice the school motto printed on the admission letter—otherwise, you think I’d have missed such an easy question? Bet the others were the same. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have ended up as Dean Jiao’s student.”

“Su Shan?” Tang Zhong’s curiosity was piqued. “Which Shan?”

“The ‘mountain’ in ‘mountains meet again,’” Hua Ming said. “Why, do you know her?”

“No,” Tang Zhong shook his head. He’d seen his cousin Tang Xin mention a Su San in her notes, but clearly, this ‘San’ was not the same as ‘Shan.’

“I thought as much,” Hua Ming said, gently feeding more greens to Little Cutie. “She’s really famous, but very mysterious. Even her classmates rarely see her, let alone those of us from other departments—”

“Then how did her photo end up on the admission letter?” Tang Zhong laughed. “If she’s so low-profile, why do something so high-profile?”

“You’re asking the right guy.” Hua Ming hopped over and sat on Tang Zhong’s bed. “These days, universities are all scrambling for top students—you know that, right? Nanda may be a century-old elite school, but it’s not the only one. Now, universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan are also recruiting on the mainland, and more and more students are going to study in Europe or America. How many top scorers still choose to stay in China? All the best go abroad, and these famous schools find it embarrassing.”

“What’s that got to do with putting a beauty on the admission letter?” Tang Zhong asked, more confused.

“Nothing,” Hua Ming said bluntly. “It’s just to tell the freshmen: hey, we have beautiful girls here. Come to our school, and you might win the heart of a campus goddess.”

“———”

“They say the president negotiated with Su Shan herself before she reluctantly agreed. And it worked. I was going to stay in Yanjing for college—familiar place and all. But I saw the beauty on the admissions letter and took a leap of faith for Nanda.”

“Me too,” Liang Tao said, coming in after hanging up. “The moment I saw her, I was smitten. My mom wanted to take me to Europe before school started, but I said, nowhere but school for me. The dream was beautiful, reality was cruel. I thought I’d have a shot at love at first sight with her. Turns out, the campus is so big I haven’t even glimpsed her. As for love—forget it.”

Tang Zhong laughed and called out, “Li Yu, don’t tell me you came here for the beauty on the admission letter as well?”

“I came to study psychology,” Li Yu replied without turning away from his game, where his monster was locked in fierce battle.

“Hua Ming, how do you know so much?” Tang Zhong asked.

“The school BBS,” Hua Ming replied. “People posted about her, and I asked some upperclassmen too.”

“You asked about Su Shan?”

“No, I asked about the school’s campus belle rankings. But everyone just kept talking about Su Shan. I thought Nanda would be like in those novels, with top ten beauties or whatever. But after all the voting, there was only Su Shan—as if every other beauty was just a cabbage on sale.”

Tang Zhong laughed. So she was a living legend on campus.

He recalled her dainty figure fishing with a little yellow flower and thought, she truly deserved such praise.

He’d thought he was the only one infatuated at first sight, but it turned out all these guys had been too—love at first sight, it seemed, was a dime a dozen.

No wonder she was so cold to him. If it were any other woman—

Tang Zhong thought of his thick, black-rimmed glasses and oily, unruly hair and figured most women would be just as indifferent.

After a while, Tang Zhong’s hair had dried. He closed his magazine, ready to sleep, when his phone rang from the desk.

He picked it up—a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Tang Zhong, get back here quick. Something huge happened at home. It’s a five-alarm emergency!” Zhang Hepburn’s voice, frantic and shrill, blared through the receiver.

Tang Zhong hadn’t expected a call from her. He remembered that she and Lin Huiyin hadn’t even saved his number.

Recalling the way she spoke, Tang Zhong couldn’t help but laugh. “What, another giant rat in the house?”

“Of course not!” Zhang Hepburn retorted, missing the teasing in his tone. “If it were a rat, I’d have run downstairs already—just hurry back, okay? If you don’t, the sky’s about to fall!”

(P.S.: If you don’t vote soon, the sky’s about to fall—)