In the print shop.

Jiang He picked up the top A4 sheet and gave it a little shake. Written on it was:

Surgical Treatment of Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma

"I’m telling you, Old Jiang, that’s over fifty pages..." Chen Hao said from the side, looking pained. "Five yuan! That’s enough for me to stay at an internet cafe for half the night. What on earth did you print?"

He leaned over for a look. The page was full of words, but once they were strung together, he couldn’t recognize a thing...

He said, "Are you sure this is something a third-year like us can understand?"

Jiang He tapped the stack of printed papers against the counter to align them, then stapled it together.

"It doesn’t matter if a student can’t understand it, as long as I can."

Chen Hao: "?"

’When did you stop being a student? How come I didn’t know?’

He looked at Jiang He, his eyes filled with worry.

They walked out of the print shop.

Dusk had fallen.

The late September wind was still hot and dry against their skin.

There was no autumn in Southern China, but where Shen Yu was, the seasons had probably already changed.

After a few steps, he heard music playing from the campus radio station. It was Jay Chou’s "Blue and White Porcelain."

♫: "The unglazed clay outlines the porcelain blue, its brushstrokes light then dark; the peonies painted on the vase are just like your first makeup..."

The path was filled with students heading to the cafeteria for dinner.

There were guys in baggy basketball jerseys and flip-flops, carrying stainless steel meal containers.

Girls walked arm-in-arm in twos and threes, sporting thick, straight-cut bangs. Many had white earbud wires in their ears, connected to MP3 players hanging around their necks.

"Where are we going now?" Chen Hao asked.

Jiang He snapped out of his reverie. "To sign up... Can you take me there?"

Sometimes, when you’re rendered utterly speechless, you just have to laugh. And Chen Hao laughed. He said, "If you want your bro to go with you, just say so. Don’t be so dramatic!"

Jiang He didn’t say anything, simply activating his auto-follow mode.

The university’s student activity center was in the southeast corner of the south campus, an old, Soviet-style red brick building.

Downstairs, a bulletin board was covered in posters.

There was one for the guitar club’s recruitment drive, another for an English corner with "Crazy English" written on it... At this point, Li Yang apparently hadn’t been exposed for domestic abuse yet.

There were also many lost-and-found notices for missing water bottles, meal cards... and even anonymous personal ads from people looking for a partner.

On the second floor, at the end of the hallway.

Taped to a dark brown wooden door was a notice printed on an A4 sheet:

[Registration for the 3rd Annual Clinical Pathology Case Competition]

Jiang He started to walk in.

"Hey, hey, hey! Wait!"

His arm was suddenly grabbed.

Chen Hao forcibly dragged Jiang He to the corner by the door.

"What are you doing?" Jiang He asked.

"Bro, aren’t you going to fix yourself up a bit?" Chen Hao lowered his voice. "You’re just going in like this? Isn’t that a little rash?"

Jiang He frowned. "What’s there to fix?"

"You..." Chen Hao looked at him with an expression of profound disappointment, then pointed a finger at the partially open door. "Don’t you see who’s sitting in there!"

Jiang He followed his finger and looked.

Behind a desk sat a girl.

She wore an off-white knit cardigan over a simple, floral print camisole, her hair styled in the then-popular "pear blossom" bob.

At that moment, she was looking down, organizing some documents. Her side profile was exquisite, with a delicate, upturned nose. She was quite pretty.

Jiang He glanced at her, then looked away. "Who is she?"

Chen Hao: "?"

He was so angry he laughed. "Jiang He, what are you trying to pull? Huh? That’s Cheng Xiyao! You’re telling me you don’t recognize her?!"

Cheng Xiyao...

’Oh... so it was her.’

’I can’t remember what she looked like, but I still remember the name.’

’The white moonlight of my past life.’

The belle of Southern Medical University’s clinical medicine department. She came from a wealthy family, had excellent grades, and could even play the piano.

’Back then, I really did like her.’

But for the current Jiang He, the name Cheng Xiyao instead brought Shen Yu to mind.

In the winter of 2012, Shen Yu had insisted on making him take a "couples quiz" that had just become popular online.

Shen Yu had asked with a smile, "Dr. Jiang, listen up! Have you ever given a gift to any girl besides me?"

"Er, I gave one to Cheng Xiyao," Jiang He had answered honestly.

Shen Yu’s smile vanished.

Her lips twitched as she leaned closer to Jiang He. "It’s that ’white moonlight’ of yours again, isn’t it? Come on, buddy, be honest. If you had a chance to do it all over again, would you choose me, or would you choose your white moonlight... Cheng... Xi... Yao?"

Jiang He answered in a heartbeat, "Of course I’d choose you. Is that even a question?"

"Hmph, I’m not so sure about that." Shen Yu tucked her feet into his lap to warm them up, incidentally freezing him. "She’s the department belle, she plays the piano, she’s all quiet and gentle... who knows..."

Jiang He put down his papers, took her icy feet in his hands, and said while warming them, "I would choose you every single time."

"Such a smooth talker!"

Though she said that, her eyes instantly curved into crescents. Giggling, she said, "Jiang He, did you ever write a love letter to Cheng Xiyao?"

Jiang He: "Er, I did..."

Shen Yu stopped giggling. "Get away from me. You’re sleeping on the couch tonight. I don’t want you warming my feet anymore!"

’To be honest, I’ve always felt it was unfair.’

’Shen Yu was my real first love.’

’Cheng Xiyao was just a silly infatuation from my youth...’

’But Shen Yu always insisted that she had never liked anyone else.’

’So there was nothing I could do but let her tease me about it endlessly after we got married...’

Thinking of this, Jiang He couldn’t help but smile, his expression instantly becoming incredibly gentle.

Standing beside him, Chen Hao was dumbfounded.

"Holy shit... Old Jiang, stop smiling! It’s creeping me out." He rubbed his arms. "I knew you were faking it! Look at you, the moment Cheng Xiyao is mentioned, you’re practically drooling! And just a minute ago you were pretending you didn’t know her!"

Jiang He snapped back to reality. Without explaining, he wiped the smile from his face and said, "Right, let’s go."

"Hey, fix yourself up! You—"

Before Chen Hao could finish, Jiang He had already pushed the door open and walked in.

Cheng Xiyao, sitting behind the desk, heard the noise and looked up.

When she saw it was Jiang He, her brow furrowed slightly...

’How should I put it?’

’I don’t dislike Jiang He, but I don’t like him either.’

’Although Jiang He had never confessed his feelings, I could clearly sense his attraction.’

’So every time I’m around him, I feel an indescribable awkwardness...’

’I’m afraid he’ll suddenly confess, but at the same time, I have to maintain a polite facade.’

Cheng Xiyao sat up straight.

Seeing Jiang He walk up to the desk, he said calmly, "Hello, I’m here to register for the Clinical Pathology Case Competition."

Cheng Xiyao said, "Oh," and took a registration form out of a drawer. "Fill out your basic information. If you have a preferred faculty advisor, fill that in as well."

"Thanks."

Jiang He took the form and started filling it out.

"It’s done."

He handed the form over.

Cheng Xiyao took it and glanced at it.

[Jiang He, Clinical Medicine, ’06, Class 2. Preferred Advisor: Yang Xu]

Seeing Yang Xu’s name, Cheng Xiyao looked up in surprise. "You want to apply to be in Professor Yang Xu’s group?"

Yang Xu was famous on campus for his extremely high academic standards and his eccentric temper.

"Yes," Jiang He answered curtly.

Cheng Xiyao kindly reminded him, "Only the top three finishers in this competition are eligible to choose an advisor. And as far as I know, Professor Yang Xu has publicly stated that he won’t be taking on any undergraduates for the next few years."

"He’ll take me." Jiang He asked, "When are the preliminary rounds?"

"Ah? Uh, Monday at 7 PM, in Lecture Hall 2," Cheng Xiyao replied.

"Okay, got it. Thanks."

Jiang He nodded and turned to leave.

"Huh? You’re just... leaving?" Chen Hao started to say something, but stopped himself. In the end, he didn’t butt in and just followed Jiang He out.

The door closed.

Cheng Xiyao let out a sigh of relief.

’This interaction was actually pretty relaxed.’

’There weren’t any of those awkward attempts at conversation that left me unsure how to respond...’

’Jiang He was like a different person—colder, yet somehow more comfortable to be around.’

"It would be great if he could stay like this from now on..."

The corners of Cheng Xiyao’s mouth turned up slightly in a genuine smile.

’It’s easier for everyone this way. I really hope it can stay like this.’

She picked up her pen, placed a checkmark next to Jiang He’s name, and then put the form on the very top of the stack in her folder.