Chapter 15

Late at night in the dorm, Du Ruo sat at her desk with headphones on, listening to Caltech’s online lectures.
Nearby, a crowd of girls from various dorms squeezed around He Huanhuan’s table to watch the match replay, arts students, science students, even the literature majors had come. The school forum was overrun with robot fight posts; campus was obsessed.
Normally, robot battles only attracted a niche crowd, but this year? Thanks to Jing Ming, tons of casual fans jumped aboard.
The girls chattered noisily,
“So hot! Can we elect him campus heartthrob already?”
“He knows how to dress, too. I heard he’s some rich second-gen?”
He Huanhuan: “Hey, are you here for the fight, or just for the eye candy?”
“Mm... but his robot is adorable!”
“Yeah, the robot’s badass.”
“And that strategy, so smart!”
He Huanhuan: “…”
Du Ruo didn’t join their noise, she shut her textbook and got ready to head to class.
“I think he has a girlfriend, right?” Across the desk, Jiang Xiaoyun from the media department looked downright disappointed.
“I saw someone post on the forum, apparently they just broke up.”
“Chen Si said the ex kicked his robot. She’s nuts or something.”
Du Ruo froze, her hand slowly pulling up her backpack’s zipper.
Everyone finished watching the video, but it just wasn’t enough. “Are there any of his older competitions? Find some, let’s watch!”
Du Ruo slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked past them, sneaking a glance at the computer screen through the crowd.
There, on the screen, the Jing Ming from a few years ago, a skinny kid in a white shirt, long hair falling over his eyes, face completely unreadable save for a stubborn curve on his lips, watched as his robot faced its trial on the competition floor.
As expected, all these competitions were “serious business”, super professional, nothing violent or gory about them.
She took one more look at the boy in the video, then quickly looked away, forcing herself to focus on what she’d just studied, eyes forward as she left the dorm without a backward glance.
Studying was its own form of suffering, a lonely, forbidden path. Only once you mastered it did you start to find joy. She was determined to get there as soon as possible.
That thought carried her all the way to the academic building, until, nearly there, she got distracted and slowed her pace.
Sunlight filtered through the autumn leaves. She squinted, hesitated, then finally pulled out her phone, opened the BBS forum, and scrolled furiously.
At last, buried on page 79 of a certain thread, she found a comment:
[He just broke up with his girlfriend, happened yesterday.]
She searched for more, but found nothing else. Lost in thought, she headed up the steps toward the teaching building, so preoccupied she almost walked straight into a boy.
“Sorry!”
“No worries.” Li Qinghe turned, smiling, then looked again, she seemed familiar. “Wait, aren’t you…?”
“Senior Li Qinghe, right? We’re in the same department.” She flashed a polite smile, stowing her phone away.
He remembered now. “You’re the one who ran the 400 in a chiffon dress!”
“...Uh.” Du Ruo scratched her head. “So embarrassing.”
“Nah, it was fun! Actually, if we’re talking embarrassing, ” He paused dramatically, grinning. “At the freshman assembly, just as the senior was giving a speech, someone’s phone went off.”
“Ugh, I wanted to crawl into a hole…”
Li Qinghe burst out laughing. “I’m just messing with you.” He fell in step beside her, heading into the building. “What class do you have this morning?”
“Fundamentals of Modern Physics.”
“Sounds tough?”
“Not really.”
“Looks like you’ve settled in just fine.”
“Thanks for caring,” Du Ruo said. The truth was, just a little while ago she’d been exhausted, strung out night and day, but that was behind her now, and nothing for outsiders to worry about.
Suddenly Li Qinghe asked, “You’re not in any clubs? I remember you signed up for the student government, but didn’t show for the second round of interviews.”
“Yeah.” Du Ruo gave an awkward grin. “Too busy with classes, couldn’t spare the time.”
“No big deal. There’s nothing that exciting in the student council anyway. On the other hand, do you like debate?”
“Debate?” She looked surprised, then waved her hands with a laugh. “I’m terrible at verbal sparring.”
“Don’t worry! Debate isn’t fighting, it’s all logic and technique.” He pulled a flyer from his backpack and handed it to her. “Debate Club meets every other week. If you’re interested, come by and watch. No pressure.”
“Alright, thank you.”
They reached the stairwell and parted ways there.
Du Ruo glanced at the flyer as she walked. Across the front were photos of club members in crisp suits, every senior exuding confidence with poised, subtle smiles.
The back listed the Debate Club’s achievements, countless trophies, “First Place, National College Debate Championship,” “Second Place, World Universities Debate”…
Whoa.
This was so not her world.
Two guys approached, their conversation drifting right into her ears:
“Man, Jing Ming’s a savage, burning his robot like that, where’s the chill?!”
She looked up. One boy was a stranger, but the other, Yi Kun.
Yi Kun didn’t see her as he walked by, voice cool and flat: “His plan was to cut the circuits, and he even gave me time to cool Sunny down, but I didn’t take it. Sunny burned, it’s on me. ...I don’t need anyone’s pity.”
“Poor Sunny…” his friend said, sounding genuinely bummed. “Just died, like that.”
The two walked off.
Du Ruo’s mind flashed back to the scene of Sunny burning. It really was hard to watch, his owner must’ve felt even worse.
Suddenly, her phone pinged. New bank deposit notification.
This month’s deposit: 2,000 yuan.
Du Ruo was stunned. Her monthly allowance was only 1,000!
She hurried to the end of the corridor and called Aunt Ming Yi, explaining, “Auntie, was there a mistake with the money? I can send half back, or you could just skip next month, ”
“No mistake. That’s the right amount,” Ming Yi’s voice dripped with concern. “Sweetheart, prices are sky-high right now. If you’re short on cash, you have to tell me! You can’t go living on nothing but bread for breakfast, not good for you at all. If Jing Ming hadn’t mentioned it, I’d never have known how frugal you are at school.”
Du Ruo’s face grew hot, her heart hammering. “Auntie, really, you don’t have to, I have enough money, I promise. That one time was a misunderstanding, I was running late for class…”
“Don’t say another word, you know how stubborn I am. That settles it. And listen, the weather’s turning cold, get yourself some warmer clothes.”
Du Ruo blinked back tears, a warm ache swirling in her chest. After a long pause, she answered softly, “Mm.”
Ming Yi switched to a lighter topic. “So, how’s school? Are you keeping up with your courses?”
“I am!” she chirped, her tone instantly bright, eager to reassure. “Picking things up fast, actually. I’m even studying extra stuff on my own, reading overseas journals, watching research courses, learning something new every day. It’s really exciting.”
“Already studying on your own? That’s wonderful to hear.”
“All thanks to the laptop you got me!”
“Baby, you are way too polite, it’s just a computer, and you’ve thanked me a million times! Every single call. Next time, you’re not allowed to mention it!”
She stuck out her tongue, laughing with embarrassment. “Okay, promise.”
“Actually, we should’ve bought you one sooner. Your uncle and I forgot, to be honest, Jing Ming was the one who brought it up, and only then did your uncle and I remember.”
That caught Du Ruo completely off guard. She stood rooted to the spot.
Even after hanging up, her cheeks felt on fire, her breathing scattered and wild.
Still feeling rattled, she headed back to the classroom. As she passed the stairwell, a group of boys came charging up, speaking all at once. They were locked in a debate about something, with one familiar voice, Wan Zi’ang, her classmate:
“Dude, you’re nuts, taking apart such an expensive car for parts?”
“All for the glory of science,” Jing Ming teased.
Du Ruo instinctively pulled back, hesitating half a beat. But finally, she braced herself and forged ahead, meeting the group right at the stairway landing.
Jing Ming wore a red-and-black bomber jacket, both hands shoved in his pockets. He walked up the steps and for a brief moment, his eyes, distant and distracted, met hers. Then, without pausing, he looked away.
Du Ruo’s breath caught at her throat, stuck there.
They brushed past one another; she held her breath, not daring to look up. She only caught a glimpse of a small white patch on his jacket’s chest: u.s. army.
Just a fleeting moment, then he was gone.
Li Wei and Wan Zi’ang both smiled at her as they passed. Zhu Tao and Zhang Lei, from the next class over, didn’t know her and didn’t say hello. Their classroom was upstairs, so Li Wei and the others said their goodbyes. “See ya!”
“Bye.”
Jing Ming said nothing, didn’t look back. Lazily, he pulled one hand out of his pocket and waved as he headed upstairs.
Du Ruo slowly let out the breath she’d been holding and walked toward her classroom.
Wan Zi’ang smacked his forehead. “Crap, we got so caught up talking about the car, I forgot to ask how Eva is doing!”
Li Wei grinned. “Relax, she’s totally fine. She’s back to bouncing around the dorm, good as new.” At that, he seemed to sigh, muttering to himself, “Guess I won’t get to play peacemaker this time…”
Wan Zi’ang didn’t pay much attention. He glanced over and spotted the flyer in Du Ruo’s hands. “Joining the debate team?”
“No way. Me? Debate?” She folded the paper quickly.
Li Wei said, “Du Ruo’s a bit shy, it might be good training for her, though.”
Du Ruo replied, “Nah, I’d probably fail the interview before I started.”
Back in the stairwell, Jing Ming and his friends climbed up the next flight.
Suddenly, Zhu Tao blurted out, “That girl earlier is the one who blew up on the BBS the other day. Before Eva and Jing Ming took over, anyway.”
Zhang Lei asked, “Who? ...Oh, the one who ran the 400 in the chiffon dress. I saw that at the competition, super funny.”
“Right, that’s her, from Li Wei’s class. She’s pretty cute. Jing Ming literally knocked her down during the race. Ha!” Zhu Tao nudged Jing Ming’s shoulder. But Jing Ming just played with his phone, ignoring him completely.
Zhu Tao gave him a little shake. “What do you think?”
Jing Ming shoved his phone in his pocket. “Don’t think anything.”
…
Four straight hours of core courses. By the last one, the guys were all half-asleep, but Du Ruo was lively as ever.
As soon as the final bell rang, she packed her books in record time and dashed to the stairwell.
Students flooded down from the floors above, the halls swarming as class let out.
Du Ruo lingered at the top of the stairs, wandering back and forth a few times, but she didn’t spot him, or anyone from her class.
She climbed up a floor, scanning the empty classrooms one by one. With classes over, only echoes remained. It finally dawned on her: maybe they only had two classes this morning, or maybe they’d switched rooms entirely.
Thank yous are always best delivered face-to-face.
She hurried downstairs, heading straight toward the boys’ dorms.
In front of the boys’ dorm stood a narrow, straight road lined with ginkgo trees. Every now and then, when the breeze passed by, a couple yellow leaves would spiral down.
Here and there, birds flapped their wings and dove into the branches, vanishing into green shadows.
Du Ruo sat on the edge of a flowerbed at one end of the road, glancing at the boys’ dorm entrance some dozen meters away.
Lunch break. Some boys strolled out alone or in groups, others dashed back in with takeout, one guy even holding three or four bags in each hand, obviously lunch for the whole room.
On the third floor balcony, a pair of Jing Ming’s og-107 military pants hung from the drying rod, swaying lazily in the wind now and then.
The sunlight was gentle, but it still made you squint.
A couple times, she saw a shadow cross the balcony. She craned her neck, but could tell immediately it wasn’t him.
She sat there, bathed in soft sun, feeling an odd mix of anxiety and embarrassment, until that strange tension reached a peak. She suddenly realized there was no point in waiting, he wasn’t coming out, this was going nowhere.
Just as she was about to leave, she caught sight of Jing Ming striding out of the dorm.
She hesitated, caught between leaving and staying, but in the end, she followed him.
The trees swayed overhead, students rushed around with lunches and backpacks.
A shifting maze of shadows and sunlight stretched out between them.
He walked on ahead, tall, slim. Maybe it was the bomber jacket, but autumn’s layers gave him a sharper, more mature edge than the bare summer look.
He never looked back.
She trailed him around the boys’ dorm, past the activity building, the auditorium, the main road, the gardens, pond… the scenery kept changing, and with it the people thinned out.
Finally, behind a little two-story building from the Republic era, she lost him.
The place had grey brick walls, deep-red wooden windows, vines crawling up the whole upper story.
Beneath the trees, the path was empty. Sun-dappled leaves, green and gold, hid the sky above. The hush felt weighty, as if the entire world was napping away the afternoon.
Du Ruo glanced all around, rounded a corner, and right then, a foot shot out, catching her in the shin.
“Ah, ” She stumbled, nearly falling. Her yelp startled a single bird into flight above.
Jing Ming frowned. “You following me?”
“No. I needed to talk to you.” Du Ruo answered.
Jing Ming gave her a fast head-to-toe scan, then fixed his gaze back on her eyes, a look that clearly said, “Let’s hear what you’re about to say.”
Back to his usual self now, the good-natured mood from the other day’s competition entirely gone.
Filtered sunlight slid through the leaves, patchworking over Du Ruo’s neck. The tip of her nose tingled with heat; she couldn’t meet his eyes. Her lids dropped, gaze landing squarely on the u.s. army letters on his chest.
She opened her mouth, Thank you for the laptop, for the living expenses, but the words stuck at the tip of her tongue, frozen solid.
Regret hit her hard. Why did she follow him here?
The guy in front of her was never the patient type; his brow creased, obviously losing interest.
Frantic, she pivoted, “I’m teaching myself robotics. Got any books you’d recommend?”
His brows eased a bit. He pulled out his phone and typed something at lightning speed.
The breeze rustled the ivy leaves over the wall beside them.
He flicked his thumb across his screen, put the phone away; the very next second, ding.
Her phone vibrated. She fished it out: a wall of text from Jing Ming, a full list of book titles.
“Thanks.” She looked up.
But he didn’t so much as nod, just brushed past her shoulder and walked out to the main road, his figure swallowed up in the gold-and-green shade.
Du Ruo glanced up at the shifting leaves overhead, took a deep breath, and strode toward the library.