Chapter 456: An Encounter in the Library

"All back? How does it feel?" Zhang Kai looked at the classic Category III film, heard the movement at the door, and saw the group of four from next door passing by.

Hearing this and seeing the scene on the TV, "Ya, watching a movie? Together, together." Sun Mingbo turned his steps very honestly, and with Wang Kang and Zhou Jianguo, the two guys who had just begun to feel how beautiful women were, walked into the messy 310.

They were all young guys, and they had no resistance to beautiful stories with half-exposed spring scenery.

Wang Yan wasn't like them; after all, he had always been a man of action. Ignoring the group of young guys who were in heat and full of spring, he carried his bag back to the dorm and tidied his bed once again.

After reporting for two days, on the afternoon of September 1st, they were sent directly to the military camp as freshmen of this year. However, this time it was okay; they only trained for a month, not like before in "Spring Breeze Ten Miles," where they trained for a year.

Military training wasn't very interesting. After all, the purpose of military training is to improve students' political awareness through strict military training, stimulate patriotic enthusiasm, carry forward the spirit of revolutionary heroism, cultivate the strong perseverance and collectivist spirit of hard work and endurance, enhance national defense concepts and organizational discipline, develop good study styles and living habits, and master basic military knowledge and skills.

Good universities usually insist on implementing this, so military training was very strict. It was practiced completely like new recruits, very boring, with few jokes, and even fewer opportunities to chat with female classmates. And to be honest, at this time, there was no such thing as sunscreen or anything like that. Female classmates were trained as male classmates, and male classmates were trained as animals, so the pretty ones were also covered up; there were few female classmates who could be fresh and refined in such a situation. And they were trained to the point of exhaustion, so they didn't have the leisure to flirt with female classmates.

The benefits were of course many, such as touching guns and firing cannons. Although there were no management regulations issued yet, the action of banning guns had already begun. And although it was said that due to historical reasons, the number of guns held was not small, most people of this age had never played with guns. So this time, shooting guns, regardless of gender, was quite exciting.

Another point was that through this military training, students from all over the country who came here got to know each other, and some people successfully stood out among them.

For example, Wang Kang, who had a face full of pimples, was because he had characteristics. When people mentioned him, they couldn't match the name, it was just "that guy with a face full of pimples." Of course, he wasn't the only one with a face full of pimples; others also had youthful and beautiful acne, just not as severe as his.

Because he couldn't drink the medicine during this month of military training, and only drank that one dose, how could it have any effect? It was also Wang Yan's negligence; he forgot about the military training, and the money was wasted.

Sun Mingbo could also be considered to have stood out. This kid had a strong sense of purpose; he was consciously contacting those classmates, and his methods of approaching and winning them over were immature. Many people could see it, but no one cared. Because the little white fatty was quite likable, his speech was fine, and he was indeed kind to others. At the same time, he trained seriously, and coupled with uniting classmates, he successfully became the acting class monitor in the competition of some people. Now that he was back, this class monitor was real.

He, Wang Mouren, was so excellent, of course, he also had some reputation. He also got up early to run and exercise in the military camp, and inevitably compared notes with the instructors. After all, their ages weren't much different, just three to five years older, so they could play together. This matter of course spread, and the military camp leaders even wanted him to join the army. After all, the troops were starting modernization construction and also needed a lot of talent.

Another point was that there was a ceremony to welcome freshmen in the military camp. Such activities couldn't be without talent shows. It was assigned, and every department had to have a program. Some were active, some were not, and inevitably they were assigned, letting him go up to perform a martial arts routine. He slightly revealed his singing skills, which weren't worth mentioning, and finally shouted a rock song "On the New Long March" with a loud voice, which was very dynamic and passionate, and could be considered to have stolen the show.

There were quite a few other famous people. After all, they were all smart people from all over the country. Although they weren't as multi-talented as later, they weren't much worse, and there were quite a few people with special skills.

As for the intersection with the characters in the play during this process, there wasn't much. Because they didn't train together, they didn't merge, and they only met a few times, and never spoke. It was just that occasionally when they met, when they were in the team, he would nod and smile at Ruan Guan and Zhu Xiao Bei, which counted as greeting...

After packing his things, Wang Yan lit a cigarette and went to the 310 next door.

"Hey, I say, didn't you guys shout that you wanted to come back and sleep for three days?"

Sun Mingbo, who was crossing his legs, didn't even turn his head, staring straight at the TV: "That won't be until tonight, you hurry over, this woman is truly beautiful..."

Wang Yan leaned over and glanced, the first wave of Hong Kong circle's big-breasted stars, Category III queen, Ye Zimei...

Zhang Kai, who was sitting with his legs crossed and holding a stick, smiled and smoked, waving a fan, looking at the suppressed appearance of the few boys with their legs crossed: "I have other movies here, if you want to watch something, change it yourself."

Wang Yan sat down beside him: "You're still so carefree, just stayed like this for a month?"

"Carefree what, didn't I go once last year too. And I heard that the conditions you went to this time were better than ours back then; mine was truly hard work. Hey, I remember when school started, a girl in white clothes passed by us, the one who looked especially beautiful, you have an impression, right?"

"Hmm, what's wrong? Taken a fancy to her? Doesn't she already have a partner?"

"Vulgar. Flowers bloom beautifully; some people pick flowers, some people appreciate flowers. And I am that flower appreciator."

"The key is that you are appreciating the flowers that others have picked."

"Beauty looks comfortable, pleasing to the eye, I'm happy." Zhang Kai said: "Seriously, I haven't seen her before, I guess she's a freshman. Your military training should have been together, she looks so beautiful, it's impossible not to have any news at all, right?"

"How could there be no news. Just remember when you and Young Xu Gong helped people with their luggage?"

"Zheng Wei!"

Wang Yan nodded: "They are roommates, all in Civil Engineering. That girl is named Ruan Guan, her home is in Anshun, Guizhou, the place with the Huang Guoshu Waterfall. She's a Bouyei girl, a proper ethnic minority girl."

"I said she looked so likable..."

Zhang Kai's quote, "What is the flower language of baby's breath? It's willing to be a supporting role," "Having seen roses, how can one still look at wild grass." Undoubtedly, Ruan Guan was his rose, and he was the one who had been anonymously sending flowers to Ruan Guan since school started. He truly liked Ruan Guan. To say he was a lickspittle, looking at his performance in the movie, there wasn't too much. To say he wasn't a lickspittle, he was "rose" and "supporting role."

After all, love is a very mysterious thing, and the complex feelings between men and women shouldn't be simply categorized as "lickspittle" or "not lickspittle." Perhaps changing to another way of saying it would be better. It was just a young man's admiration who met a girl he liked in his youth but didn't dare to express his feelings, and was unforgettable for a lifetime because of love but not being able to get it.

However, the anonymous flower-sending activity of silently liking her hadn't started yet, it was estimated to be soon. After all, he had already inquired about it and was thinking about it.

"She's been with her partner for several years, I heard they started dating in high school. If it weren't for that, I would have already made my move. You'll be a flower appreciator for the rest of your life."

"Tsk tsk, still already made my move, look at how capable you are. If she really didn't have a partner, would it be your turn?"

After laughing and joking, Wang Yan asked: "What about Young Xu Gong? What is he busy with?"

"There's a class, this teacher is quite ruthless, he doesn't dare to skip." Zhang Kai said triumphantly, he had been held back, so he had been comfortable for a month: "What are you planning to do for the three days of National Day? Do you want brother to take you guys out for a stroll?"

At this time, National Day wasn't seven days, and the two major holidays of May 1st and Spring Festival weren't seven days either, but it wasn't until 1999 that they started to have seven days off.

"Isn't it because I see you renting discs and selling discs every day, bought a TV, a game console, and also bought a VCD player worth several thousand yuan with Young Xu Gong and the others, eating meat every day, I'm envious. I plan to go to Zhujiang Road during the holiday to see if I can find an opportunity to earn some money to spend."

Now VCDs had only been out for a year, and this fresh thing had already swept the country. Last year, one unit cost five or six thousand, and it was sold out as soon as it came out, selling very hot. This year the price had come down a bit, but because the supplier didn't worry about selling, it hadn't actually dropped much. Zhang Kai's brain was quite active, doing the small business of renting and selling discs, and also working part-time to sell VCDs. They were all bought with money collected by the dorm, and earning a lot in a month. Failing courses and being held back in the previous academic year had a lot to do with this; he was single-mindedly focused on money.

"It's all hard-earned money, hard-earned money." Zhang Kai grinned foolishly, modest in his words. He was very proud, after all, he had earned money, and there weren't many like him: "If you want to earn money, I can't help you, you really have to go see for yourself. However, I don't know about opportunities to get rich, but finding work is no problem. Many classmates in our school are working part-time over there, delivering goods, handing out flyers, etc., and can earn a little bit."

He didn't want to continue to entangle in the issue of earning money. If he asked him where to get the goods later, they were all classmates, which would affect their feelings. He changed the subject: "Hey, by the way, after the National Day holiday, clubs and the student union will start recruiting new members. I and Young Xu Gong established a Go club together. How about it, do you want to join us? If you want to join the student union, it's also fine. I know quite a few people in the student union, I can introduce you."

"Forget it, I don't have time to participate in club activities, and I don't want to work in the student union. With that time, it's better to go to the library."

"Making friends, you, you're still young. As the saying goes, more friends, more paths. In our club, they are all like-minded friends. And Go can also cultivate sentiment, cultivate one's character, and exercise logical thinking. If you don't go, the loss is too great."

"Then how many friends do you have in your club?"

"This, um... still developing, still developing."

Wang Yan appropriately showed a look of contempt, stepped on the cigarette butt with his foot, and threw it into the trash can: "It's been a month since university started, I've only stayed in school for two days in total, and I haven't even been to the library. I'm going to see, is anyone going together?"

The three Sun Mingbo boys waved their hands in disgust, they were passionate, they couldn't be interrupted. Having seen the world and opened their eyes, the energetic young guys were always entangled with desires...

Wang Yan left the dorm and strolled toward the library.

The university was a good university, the students were good students, and there were always many people studying in the library. Some wanted to go abroad, some wanted to enter politics, some wanted to do business, some wanted to change the world, and some wanted to race against time to sharpen their weapons for make-up exams...

Although the people were still those people, at this time there was no internet world, entertainment activities were very few, and material things were relatively poor, so students preferred to go to the library, holding a book in their hands, either learning knowledge or tasting the sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty of life in the book.

He wandered around the library at will, looking at the book titles, and also looking at people.

This was an engineering college, so most of the books were professional books in engineering. Of course, there were also many humanities and social sciences books that enlightened the spirit, just generally speaking.

As for looking at people, he saw Chen Xiao in the corner taking notes meticulously, and a short-haired girl sitting opposite Chen Xiao who raised her head from time to time to look at Chen Xiao twice. It was Zeng Yu, the daughter of the Vice Dean of the Architecture College.

Speaking of coincidence, Zeng Yu was also an acquaintance. Back then, when he first got the care of the "Living Father," in the first world he experienced, "I Am Not Medicine God," Zeng Yu was called Wang Jia, his younger sister, Lv Shengyi's wife.

In this session, she liked Chen Xiao and finally followed Xu Kaiyang.

It was also quite interesting. When graduating, Zeng Yu got Chen Xiao a public-funded spot to study abroad. Although she said it was for his future, thinking about it again, it might not have been without the intention of breaking up Chen Xiao and Zheng Wei. Although this approach was a bit silly, people, after all, were mostly fools; maybe it was really out of those reasons.

Later, when she got together with Xu Kaiyang, it was even more interesting. Two people who couldn't be with the people they liked got together. Perhaps it was mutual revenge, or perhaps it was sympathy for each other. Anyway, they got together, and it could be considered a good match, and life was still okay. This was life's impermanence; neither of them would have thought that they could live together in the end.

Besides these two, he also saw Ruan Guan and Li Weijuan sitting there reading together. At this moment, they were also sitting opposite each other, and the male students around couldn't help but glance at them twice, then withdraw their eyes, and then look again.

Ruan Guan looked good, no doubt. Although Li Weijuan was a bit worse, that was relatively speaking. After all, her height was enough, her figure was slender, and she was also outstanding in the crowd. With the two together, how could there be a lack of attention from male students.

Under the gaze of a crowd of male students, Wang Yan didn't stop his steps, walked over naturally, pulled out the chair next to Li Weijuan, and sat down decisively.

Noticing his arrival, Ruan Guan nodded with a smile, combed the broken hair on her forehead, and continued to lower her head to read.

Li Weijuan glanced at Ruan Guan and couldn't help but pout, jealous of Ruan Guan's attractiveness. Of course, she knew that Wang Yan was aiming for Ruan Guan. When they were in military training before, Wang Yan smiled and nodded at Ruan Guan and greeted Zhu Xiao Bei, so she had asked. Later, Wang Yan sang rock in front of the freshmen of Southeast University of this year, how could she not know?

She leaned her body, moved closer to Wang Yan, and whispered familiarly: "Hot face stuck to a cold butt, right? Ruan Guan has a partner."

"That statement is biased. Why must one necessarily be in a relationship? Before coming to the library, I heard a saying: when a flower blooms beautifully, some people pick it, and some people admire it. Regardless of whether the flower is picked or not, its beauty remains. Beautiful people and things always make people stop and stare. Ruan Guan is very pretty, and you are also youthful and elegant. There's nothing wrong with me admiring you both up close and basking in your ethereal aura, is there?"

Li Weijuan grasped the point of the conversation: Ruan Guan was very pretty, and she was youthful and elegant. Because he didn't use the word "pretty" to describe her, she was a little unhappy. But the later remark about basking in the "ethereal aura of the two of you," which included her, made up for it. Although she didn't consider herself ugly, she also felt she was three or five points behind Ruan Guan, so overall, she still felt quite comfortable.

"You're quite good at talking."

"Hello, my name is..."

"The celebrity among the freshmen of our year, you're famous—who doesn't know your name is Wang Yan?" Li Weijuan interrupted Wang Yan with a smile and lightly patted the hand Wang Yan had extended. She said, "My name is Li Weijuan."

Li Weijuan was actually quite decent and rather forthright; otherwise, she wouldn't have struck up a conversation with Wang Yan. On the other hand, this girl had clear goals: she wanted to find a rich man and latch onto a wealthy patron. She was also very direct and clear when talking about the boyfriend she had started dating during her college entrance exam prep class, without any entanglements of this or that; she was very decisive. Not pretending, not being a "bitch"—that was already rare. As for vanity like caring about face, that could also be understood, right? Otherwise, why would she be so clearly waiting for the right price to sell herself to a rich man?

Wang Yan nodded and asked, "We just got back to school, and you two are already here to read? You're really diligent."

"Not at all. We two wanted to come do laundry, but the water room is only so big, and since we all came back together, it was already packed. So we just came out to read and kill some time." Li Weijuan recalled the terror of the swarming crowd of women in the dormitory building, shook her head, and said, "And you're talking about us? Didn't you also come here to read?"

"Hey, isn't that a coincidence? I also wanted to do laundry, but it was packed, so I also came to kill time. It's been a month since school started, and I've only been at school for two days in total; this is my first time at the library."

The two of them chatted in low voices, back and forth, from the Northeast to Li Weijuan's hometown, from Southeast University to the customs and history of Jin Ling, completely ignoring the strange-looking Ruan Guan opposite them, chatting away enthusiastically.

Just like that, they chatted for over half an hour. Wang Yan checked the time on his watch: "Sorry to bother you, two beauties. I've been so busy talking that I haven't really looked around the library yet. I won't disturb your peace anymore; let's chat again in the future."

While speaking, he patted Li Weijuan on the shoulder to show his apology, then immediately stood up, pushed his stool under the table, waved his hand with a smile, and turned to leave.

Li Weijuan watched Wang Yan's tall back leave, still feeling unfulfilled, and then her gaze fell on Ruan Guan, who was turning her head and also watching Wang Yan's back: "Are you regretting finding a boyfriend so early?"

"This Wang Yan is indeed quite good, but as for regretting it, that is absolutely impossible." Ruan Guan looked at Li Weijuan opposite her with a smile: "It's you, though—chatting so happily with Wang Yan, and now that he's leaving, that look in your eyes..."

"What are you saying? He and I just met; it's not like you, where he nods and sends electric sparks your way every day."

"You should look in the mirror and see yourself, tsk tsk."

Li Weijuan hurriedly covered her face: "Am I blushing?"

"I'm teasing you, look how nervous you are."

"Annoying. I'm someone who is waiting for the right price to sell myself. I admit Wang Yan is a bit outstanding, but I estimate he wouldn't look at someone like me." Li Weijuan rolled her eyes at her: "Besides, I just met him, we just said a few words, it's not like what you said. Don't talk nonsense when we go back. If Zheng Wei and Xiao Bei find out, who knows how long they'll gossip about me."

"Don't worry, am I the type to have a big mouth? It's you—who knows when you'll blurt it out yourself."

Li Weijuan wanted to retort, but after thinking about what she was like, she lowered her head and continued reading.

Watching her, Ruan Guan shook her head and smiled lightly, but her gaze looked into the distance.

There, Wang Yan was standing in front of a high bookshelf, flipping through the book in his hand, the afternoon sun spilling onto him...