Later, Liu Qi invited me to dinner again. In the Sichuan noodle restaurant, I loudly told you about what happened with Youyou. I made the right choice for this place. There were so many people, the smell of oil smoke was everywhere, the table was greasy, and because of the good business, sometimes I had to share a table with several strangers. In this situation, it is impossible to cultivate an ambiguous relationship between men and women.
Liu Qi put down his chopsticks and said, "Xue Tong."
"Hmm?" I didn't even raise my head, just sucked the noodles into my mouth, making a very unladylike slurping sound.
"I've seen you play the pipa."
"When?" I wondered.
"Last October at your college's welcome party, you played a piece of music called 'Yang Chun Bai Xue' on behalf of the student union."
I pulled out a tissue and wiped my mouth. "Don't mention that. Originally, the beauty in the department was going to perform the Korean dance, but she suddenly got upset with the chairman and said she didn't want to perform. Then they forced me to do it, just to make up the numbers. They borrowed clothes and instruments for me. But I suddenly forgot the song halfway through, so I had to bite the bullet and play the first part twice, and then left the stage in disgrace."
This incident is still a nightmare to me when I think back on it.
I have a good habit. If I don't like to recall something, I will try my best to push it out of my mind and not think about it. After a while, it's as if I have really forgotten it.
After a while, I remembered something and said to Liu Qi, "By the way... our college is holding a welcome party. How come you are here from the School of Computer Science?"
Liu Qi chuckled and said embarrassedly: "I sneaked in with them, wanting to see the beauties."
I patted my buddy on the shoulder and said, "You have nothing to be shy about. I also like to see beauties. Let's see them together next time." Then I started to list the places in our school where we waited for the most beauties. In the end, I was studying and comparing in front of him, which department had the highest quality beauties and was both beautiful inside and out.
Listening to me talking endlessly, Liu Qi looked a little strange, and said, "Actually, no matter how beautiful others are, they can't compare to one person in my heart."
"Of course!" I continued, "Generally speaking, the most beautiful and greatest woman in a boy's heart is his mother."
After I said this philosophical statement, I felt quite proud, so I picked up the bowl and drank half a bowl of soup. When I looked at Liu Qi again, I felt that his expression was even weirder.
The next week, it was Youyou's class again. She fell asleep again when I was halfway through the lecture. I turned my head to look at her tired face, put down the textbook, and wanted to call her, but I reached out my hand halfway and then retracted it.
I also rested my chin on the table, staring at the wall in a daze. After a long while, I took out a green notebook from my bag and started writing in my diary.
Thursday, February 14th Weather: Cloudy to light snow
Today is Valentine's Day, and there are snowflakes floating outside, which makes the place feel particularly romantic.
I taught Peng Yu in the morning, quickly ate a bowl of dumplings outside at noon, and then strolled around the department store next to Youyou's house for a while.
A very boring Valentine's Day, but very fulfilling.
When I have free time, I would ask myself, what is Mu Chenghe doing? Has he forgotten that today is Valentine's Day
I really want to contact him, whether it's by phone or text message, but I'm afraid. In such an ambiguous day, any action of mine will make him notice something strange.
I walked around the men's clothing department of a department store at noon and saw a counter model wearing a dark gray tweed coat and a plaid scarf. I couldn't help but stop and imagine how Mu Chenghe would look wearing it.
Although he doesn't belong to me at all, I am happy just imagining him in my mind.
Happy Valentine's Day, Teacher Mu.
I have had the habit of keeping a diary since I was a child. When I was a child, my mother was not a prison guard, but a Chinese teacher in a county town. She was very strict with me. During lunch break, if I didn't take a nap, I had to write a diary.
So, I developed this habit for more than ten years. Every now and then, I would write down even a sentence or two by hand to make myself feel at ease.
I packed my things, picked up my handbag, and went out. Youyou's mother was sitting in the living room doing cross stitch. She was a little surprised to see me coming out with my bag. She looked at the clock on the wall and asked hurriedly, "Is it time?"
Her voice was raised a little, and she suddenly revealed some emotion.
I hurriedly explained: "Youyou is probably a little tired, and the effect of her speaking is not very good. I will make it up to her next time, so this time does not count."
She was stunned for a moment, then nodded, a little embarrassed.
I immediately felt that what I said seemed to be too much, so I exchanged a few words and quickly ran away.
The weather is getting warmer and school has been going on for several weeks.
Chen Ting was still teaching Russian. Last semester, Mu Chenghe was the one who gave the grades, and no one in the class failed. Everyone cheered for Teacher Mu.
Zhao Xiaotang began to express his thoughts in the dormitory again.
She said: "What contact methods do you use online now?"
"QQ." We three said in unison.
Zhao Xiaotang shook her index finger: "No. Using MSN is more classy."
Bai Lin rolled his eyes: "Zhao Xiaotang, just do it."
Zhao Xiaotang counterattacked: "What's wrong with being pretentious? Pretending is the only way to appear reserved."
While they were arguing, Song Qiqi went to lock the door and boil water, completely uninterested in listening. I stared at them in a daze, as if thinking about something.
Bai Lin asked: "Xue Tong, are you stupid?"
I said, "I'm thinking I also need a tasteful MSN." I found a breakthrough.
Bai Lin: “…”
Then I stood up and shouted, "Xiaotang, help me apply for a classy MSN account. Xiaobai, I'll lend you my computer."
After the matter was done, I happily sent a text message to Mu Chenghe: "Teacher, how are you doing recently? What are you doing now?"
Two minutes later, he replied: "Working from home."
I smiled foolishly and could almost imagine him wearing a pair of slippers and black-framed glasses, trying to get his phone.
"Are you using the computer?" I wrote again.
"Um."
"Did I bother you?"
"No, just taking a break."
I smiled even more brightly and quickly wrote: "Do you use MSN? Add me. Teacher Chen asked us to write a job application letter in Russian. I'll send it to you and take a look. Can you help me revise it?" MSN, which was just born five minutes ago, had to take on a difficult historical task.
"But I can't use this computer to surf the Internet now."
My enthusiasm was extinguished by his short sentence, so I could only write sadly: "My account is, if you have time, you can add me."
Then, his text messages never came back.
I put down my phone and browsed the web with a depressed expression. Two minutes later, MSN suddenly reminded me of a system message that needed to be verified. It said: "Xue Tong, this is Mu Chenghe."
When I saw these seven words and two punctuation marks, I jumped up and almost hugged Bai Lin and screamed.
Bai Lin said, "Come on, keep going. The revolution has not yet succeeded, and students still need to work hard."
I calmed myself down and sat back in front of the computer.
Mu Chenghe: I changed my computer, so I came here to take a look. Please send me your job application letter.
Po3a: Okay, thank you teacher.
Mu Chenghe: You’re welcome.
Po3a: Hehe, you actually just call me by my real name.
Mu Chenghe: Po3a is Роза
Po3a: You figured it out at once. I thought it looked like the Russian name you gave me, so I just used it.
Mu Chenghe sent a smiling face.
I bit my lip and started thinking of a suitable topic. I turned to ask the three of them for their ideas: "What should I talk about with him?"
Zhao Xiaotang, wearing a facial mask, said vaguely: "Ask him how much he earns a month."
Bai Lin said: "Just ask him whether he likes you or not."
“…” What kind of people are these people that I know
Song Qiqi said: "Generally, the opening line of a conversation is to ask if someone has eaten yet, or to ask what they are busy with recently."
After hearing this, I finally nodded in agreement. It seems that she and I are the only normal people in this dormitory.
Po3a: What have you been busy with recently
Mu Chenghe: Your teacher Chen’s mother came from another place to visit him, so I gave up his house and moved back to my own home.
Po3a: Your home
Mu Chenghe: My home.
Po3a: I thought your family lived out of town.
Mu Chenghe: Did I say that
Po3a: …No.
Then, this topic ends here.
Bai Lin saw our chat history nearby and sighed, "It's so tiring to deal with geniuses. I can't get anything out of them."
"Actually, Xiaotong, based on my experience as a person who has been through this," said Zhao Xiaotang, who was sitting on a chair and looking at the mirror, "you shouldn't think too much in front of him. Just say whatever you want to say."
Zhao Xiaotang paused and asked, "How much older is he than you?" She had never seen Mu Chenghe, and had been relying on Bai Lin and I's oral accounts to build up her understanding of Mu Chenghe.
I frowned and shook my head. He didn't look much older, but I didn't have the nerve to ask exactly how much older he was.
Zhao Xiaotang was surprised: "After all this time, you still don't even know how old he is."
Bai Lin continued: "Yes, he is completely different from Chen Ting. Although he seems very gentle, he always has a sense of being sacred and inviolable."
Hearing Bai Lin's nonsensical words "sacred and inviolable", Zhao Xiaotang sneered unkindly: "Come on, Xiaobai, save your pathetic sense of humor."
Bai Lin didn't laugh, but said seriously: "Really. You haven't met him, so you think I'm exaggerating. But my fellow villagers are so crazy about him that they don't dare to show it in front of him. Is that right, Xiaotong?" When he said the last sentence, Bai Lin turned around and asked me.
I stammered in response.
In fact, I don’t understand what the feeling Bai Lin was talking about is. I just feel that there is always a vague sense of alienation under Mu Chenghe’s friendliness.