Chapter 3: Brother, Save Me

After leaving the train station, Li Banfeng took the subway.

Taking a taxi from school to the station took only half an hour.

Riding the subway from the station back to school took over an hour.

Li Banfeng lived in Dormitory Six, not far from the campus gate; when he reached the dorm building, the gatekeeper glanced at him, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “You haven’t left yet?”

Li Banfeng curled his lips into a dull smile and walked straight up the stairs.

The school hasn’t issued any notice to evict us—whether I leave or not is none of your business.

This floor housed only graduates; the building was utterly silent, and most people had probably already left.

Li Banfeng went up to the sixth floor, entered his dorm, and found the room pitch black.

According to rules, dorm lights turn off at eleven, but it wasn’t even nine yet—the old man had already turned them off.

The dorm supervisor sure knew how to save electricity for the school.

Everyone in the dorm had left—those who found jobs reported in, those who didn’t went home to sit idle.

He Jiaqing didn’t find a job, so he went home with his girlfriend to sit idle.

Now, only Li Banfeng remained in the dorm.

Li Banfeng couldn’t find a job because he had a psychiatric history.

He had nowhere to go—he couldn’t possibly move back to the Fuli Academy.

How was he going to live from now on?

Go back to the construction site and haul bricks?

Thinking of his bright future, Li Banfeng relaxed his brow, curled his lips, and smiled.

This time it was just emotional instability—anyone would’ve been unstable.

There’s a job fair tomorrow—I’ll try my luck again.

Tonight, I’m the only one in the dorm—at least I can get a good night’s sleep.

Li Banfeng went to the public restroom for a cold shower, then planned to get into bed and play with his phone, when he suddenly remembered—he needed to call He Jiaqing.

What if he really wet his pants?

What if he caught a chill from wet pants, then got a cold? That’d be terrible.

He dialed, and the phone rang for a long time—no one answered.

He really fell asleep.

Li Banfeng dialed again; after another long ring, the call was finally answered.

“Banfeng…” came He Jiaqing’s hoarse voice—he sounded half-asleep.

“Jiaqing, get up and pee!”

He Jiaqing’s voice was confused: “Pee? Where? Where am I…?”

Where am I?

You really sleep soundly!

Li Banfeng said nothing, hung up, and in the pitch-black dorm, groped his way up the ladder to bed.

Just as he reached the bed, he noticed his blanket was bulging—as if someone was wrapped inside.

Someone’s wrapped in my blanket?

Is it really a person?

Li Banfeng pulled back the blanket.

It really was a person!

The person lay facing the wall, back to Li Banfeng, utterly silent.

Who the hell is sleeping in my bed?

A strong smell of alcohol hit his nose—the man had clearly drunk too much.

Even drunk, you can’t just crawl into any bed!

“Get up! Who are you? Get up!” Li Banfeng shoved the man, but the man didn’t react at all.

The curtains weren’t drawn; moonlight spilled onto the bed, faintly outlining the figure.

Li Banfeng suddenly felt the figure looked familiar.

He grabbed the man’s shoulder and flipped him over—when he saw the face, Li Banfeng nearly fell off the ladder.

It was He Jiaqing!

An hour and a half ago, Li Banfeng had seen He Jiaqing off at the train station.

And now he’s sleeping in my bed!

“Jiaqing, what’s wrong? Jiaqing, wake up…”

Shaking He Jiaqing a few times, Li Banfeng suddenly pulled his hand back.

That’s not right!

I just called He Jiaqing—he was on the train, wasn’t he? He was going to pee, wasn’t he?

This person in bed is He Jiaqing—then who answered the phone just now?

Every hair on his body stood on end; the previously stuffy dorm suddenly felt cool.

Is this really Jiaqing?

Li Banfeng turned on his phone’s flashlight and shone it on the man’s face for a long time.

It really was He Jiaqing!

He was Li Banfeng’s best friend in college—he wouldn’t mistake him for anyone else.

Thud!

Li Banfeng fell off the ladder, knocking over the trash bin.

He calmly stood up, righted the bin, and quickly left the dorm.

Closing the door, he leaned against the corridor wall and stood silently.

The voltage was unstable; the corridor’s dim lights flickered constantly.

Li Banfeng forced himself to calm down, pulled out his phone, and called He Jiaqing again.

The receiver was eerily silent; after more than ten seconds, a woman’s voice came through:

“Hello, the number you dialed is temporarily unreachable.”

He tried calling several more times—each time, the call failed to connect.

Call Lu Xiaolan?

Li Banfeng didn’t have Lu Xiaolan’s number—he rarely interacted with her.

The corridor was completely silent; everyone on this floor seemed to have left.

Li Banfeng turned back to look at the dorm door, thinking about what to do next.

Was the person on the bed really He Jiaqing?

He’d been certain moments ago, but now he wasn’t sure anymore.

Go back and check again?

Are you crazy? If you’re going back, you need to find help from another floor first!

Where could he find help right now?

If all else fails, call the dorm supervisor up.

What good would that do? He’d only cause more trouble without helping.

Better to go back and check myself!

Li Banfeng was arguing with himself.

According to normal logic, he absolutely shouldn’t return to the dorm alone.

But Li Banfeng wasn’t normal.

He’d been to the hospital—he wasn’t insane, but his mind wasn’t quite right.

He slightly curled his lips, revealing a faint smile.

His emotions were unstable, but his mood was pleasant.

He used a special method to steady himself.

For what had just happened, he gave himself a reasonable explanation.

Hallucination—it must’ve been a hallucination!

I have a mental illness; occasionally seeing hallucinations is perfectly reasonable.

If I walk back into the dorm now and stay fully conscious, I absolutely won’t see He Jiaqing again.

Li Banfeng opened the door with a smile and walked back in.

Hallucinations—all hallucinations.

The closer he got to the bed, the stronger the alcohol smell became—as if warning Li Banfeng this wasn’t a hallucination.

Li Banfeng climbed back up the ladder, raised his phone, and looked at his bed.

He Jiaqing lay on the bed, eyes closed, face pale.

Li Banfeng patted He Jiaqing’s face—it was warm.

He checked He Jiaqing’s breath—there was breathing, but it was faint and intermittent.

He climbed down the ladder and immediately called emergency services.

After clearly stating the location and condition, Li Banfeng hung up and waited quietly for the ambulance.

He stood beside the bed, where an unknown He Jiaqing lay motionless.

The two of them remained silent in the same dormitory.

Click-clack~

The message alert shattered the dorm’s silence.

It was from He Jiaqing.

He was certain the He Jiaqing before him could not have sent a message.

Yet he had indeed received a message from He Jiaqing.

The message contained only four characters.

“Banfeng, save me!”

PS: The doctor said I could be discharged after finishing this chapter.

I think he’s lying to me, so I’ve decided to write one more chapter.

(End of Chapter)