Fever Break - Chapter 7

At midnight when the dormitory lights had been turned off, Lu Wuke arrived at the dorm, Ah Shi and Jiang Qing were still awake. Jiang Qing was sitting in a chair in her pajamas, studying with her books spread out on the table. While others were burning the midnight oil to study, Ah Shi was playing games, sitting on the upper bunk with her legs dangling over the edge, headphones in, making a racket. When Jiang Qing sees Lu Wuke, she greets her. Lu Wuke places a cup of milk tea on her desk.

Jiang Qing takes off her headphones and asks, “Did you go back to work at the milk tea shop this semester?”

“Yeah, there is not much else to do.”

The dormitory is quite quiet at this hour, and Lu Wuke can still hear the sounds leaking from Ah Shi’s headphones.

She walks over and taps Ah Shi’s dangling legs: “Do you still need your ears?”

Ah Shi, startled and almost dropping her phone, looks up to see it’s Lu Wuke. She yanks off her headphones: “Whoa, when did you get here?”

Lu Wuke hands her the milk tea: “Drink up and get some sleep. I’m going to take a shower.”

Ah Shi takes the milk tea: “Hurry up, there’s hardly any hot water left.”

Lu Wuke goes to the balcony to collect her clothes before heading to the shower. By the time she comes out, Jiang Qing has already climbed into bed and fallen asleep. Ah Shi is still awake, probably waiting for her, slowly sipping the milk tea while lying on her bed. Lu Wuke grabs a towel to dry her hair, and Ah Shi waves her over from the edge of her bed.

She walks over and silently mouths, “What’s up?”

Ah Shi didn’t want to disturb Jiang Qing, so she spoke to her in a nearly whispering voice, “Let me show you something.”

“What is it?”

“I just saw a post on the forum,” Ah Shi showed her the phone, “Do you think the girl in this photo is Yu Xi’er?”

Lu Wuke glanced at the screen.

In the dimly lit bar, a girl was tilting her head back to drink. With her dyed big waves and those large earrings, it would be hard to find another person like her.

Lu Wuke nodded, “Yeah, so what?”

Ah Shi tossed the phone onto the bed: “Wasn’t there someone who posted a video of Yu Xi’er arguing with her friends in the school group last time? This is probably something everyone in school knows about now, and a bunch of people are watching them for fun. The photo I just showed you was taken in that bar in the eastern suburbs. Normally, drinking there wouldn’t be a big deal, but you know what? Shen Yixi was there too.”

Putting aside Shen Yixi, Yu Xi’er was already quite well-known. She’s beautiful, and her singing isn’t too shabby either; there are so many boys chasing after her that you couldn’t count them on ten fingers. The news that she likes Shen Yixi has been spreading like wildfire; that last video just made it a common knowledge on campus.

“Shen Yixi is also at that bar,” Ah Shi shrugged, “so now everyone says she’s pursuing people to the bar.”

Lu Wuke asked, “Isn’t Shen Yixi already in a relationship?”

“Yeah, with that dancer she’s been seeing recently,” Ah Shi said, genuinely impressed, “and she’s quite pretty.”

Lu Wuke not only knew that Shen Yixi’s girlfriend was a dancer, but also that her name was Yan Yingying.

“Her voice is pretty sweet too,” Lu Wuke added.

Ah Shi was momentarily surprised: “You’ve seen her?”

Lu Wuke glanced at her and headed to her desk: “I ran into her at the milk tea shop tonight.”

Hearing this, Ah Shi definitely couldn’t sleep. She climbed out of bed and sat at Lu Wuke’s desk.

With her long red hair and bare legs swinging, she couldn’t resist a bit of gossip: “Was Shen Yixi there too?”

Lu Wuke loosened her hair: “Yeah.”

Ah Shi frowned and said, “Then isn’t Shen Yixi also taking her to the bar? Why is Yu Xi’er going there? Is she just looking for trouble for herself?”

Lu Wukuo looked at her upon hearing this, “Are you worried?”

“Not really, with Yu Xi’er’s personality, it’s a miracle if she doesn’t get into a trouble with someone,” Ah Shi said. “Although I usually can’t stand her, I also don’t want to see any incidents.”

And with the way she drinks in the photos, even if she doesn’t get into a fight, she’d still be risking her life. Moreover, in a bar like that, where all sorts of people mix, it’s all harm and no benefit for a girl to drink too much.

Lu Wuke, however, spoke up, “There won’t be any incidents.”

Ah Shi leaned back on her hands and looked down at her, “Why not?”

Lu Wuke paused her tidying up the table and looked up at her, “That person doesn’t seem unreasonable.”

“You mean Shen Yixi?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh right,” Ah Shi felt like she must have gotten confused while playing games, “Boys wouldn’t go so far as to hit girls.”

After a moment, she suddenly realized and leaned closer to Lu Wuke, hands on the table, “Wait a minute, Lu Wuke, what do you mean Shen Yixi doesn’t seem unreasonable? Have you talked to him?”

Only then did Lu Wuke realize she had let something slip. She continued to calmly tidy up the things on the table, “No.”

Ah Shi, with a teasing tone, elongated her words, “Oh, no? So you just think he’s a good person based on his looks?”

Lu Wuke couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Ah Shi pouted and continued talking to herself, “Well, I don’t think so. I see that any random guy in this school looks more like a good person than Shen Yixi. That guy, I think, is the most dangerous one.”

Lu Wuke knew that Ah Shi would have nothing good to say, and sure enough, Ah Shi quickly changed her tone, biting her lip to suppress a laugh: “Lu Wuke, are you secretly in love with him?”

Lu Wuke raised her eyes and gave her a cold roll of the eyes. Ah Shi, afraid of waking Jiang Qing, stifled her laughter to the point of pain, unable to stop grinning.

She knew it was as likely to find a ghost as to find Lu Wuke having a crush. With Lu Wuke’s looks, she had never lacked handsome boys chasing after her since childhood, yet she had never been in a relationship. Not to mention dating, Ah Shi had never even heard Lu Wuke mention any boy. But she just couldn’t help but tease Lu Wuke, laughing until her mouth felt stiff.

Lu Wuke slapped her on the backside: “Aren’t you bored? Get off, you’re sitting on my books.”

Ah Shi jumped down from the table, laughed enough before asking her, “But what if Yu Xi’er hasn’t returned to the dormitory by tomorrow morning? What should we do?”

Lu Wuke was busy putting books back on the shelf: “Just tell the counselor, then call the police.”

“Alright, I’m going to sleep now,” Ah Shi said as she headed to her bed. She took a step forward, then stepped back, saying, “Wake me up tomorrow morning, will you? If I can’t get up for this morning class, I’m definitely going to fail this semester.”

Lu Wuke turned off the light on her desk: “You should sleep early. If not, you won’t even wake up when I call you tomorrow, goodnight.”

Ah Shi climbed up the bed ladder and returned the goodnight wish, saying she would definitely have sweet dreams tonight.

The dormitory was pitch black as Lu Wuke lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. After a while, she finally closed her eyes.

Hoping for a good dream tonight.

=

Lu Wuke wasn’t sure when she fell asleep last night, but she had a dreamless night and woke up just as dawn was breaking.

The dormitory was dim and gray, and at her bed, Ah Shi turned over.

Through a wall, someone was coming and going outside the dormitory door, and Lu Wuke listened to the sound, feeling dazed. After a while, someone climbed the stairs in high heels, the sharp sound of the heels striking the floor echoed loudly, a bit jarring so early in the morning. Without a doubt, Lu Wuke knew that Yu Xi’er’s bed was empty.

The sound of high heels approached from afar, and as expected, they stopped in front of the door. Outside, there was a rustling noise as someone rummaged through their belongings. Yu Xi’er must have been searching for her keys in her bag. After finding them, she inserted the key into the lock and turned it to open the door. After Yu Xi’er came in, she tossed her bag on the table and grabbed a few pieces of clothing to take a shower on the balcony.

Lu Wuke was in a daze for a while, then closed his eyes, trying to force herself to sleep a little longer, but her mind was wide awake.

She simply got out of bed.

In the city of Lanjing, the autumn air was growing thicker. A few old trees outside the dormitory had turned yellow, shedding a few dry leaves onto the corridor.

After washing up, Lu Wuke stepped outside and leaned against the railing of the corridor to get some fresh air.

Since starting university, the number of people who sleep in is few and far between; there aren’t many early-rising students on campus.

With her ears plugged with headphones listening to English listening exercises, Lu Wuke watched the students coming and going below, like watching a silent film. Feeling bored after a while, she decided to head downstairs. The number of students on the campus path gradually increased, and she took a stroll to the nearest supermarket from the dormitory.

That supermarket was right next to the basketball court. Though it was called a supermarket, it was actually just a small grocery store, stocked with everything one might need for eating, drinking, and using, with a printed sign hanging outside. This little grocery store had seen better days; the pale yellow walls were stained with black and gray marks from who knows where.

Every morning, a fresh batch of bread would arrive, and most students came in to buy breakfast, with a few people lined up by the printer. Lu Wuke grabbed two loaves of bread and two bottles of milk and headed to the counter to pay.

Today, she wore a knee-length skirt, and the wind blowing in from outside made her calves feel chilly. After putting her items in a translucent plastic bag, she turned to leave the store after paying.

Suddenly, someone entered through the door just as she was about to leave. Lu Wuke, who was right by the counter, didn’t have time to brake and collided with him.

Her phone, which was attached to her headphones, fell to the ground. The force of the impact made Lu Wuka’s ears hurt, and she covered them, intending to crouch down to pick up her things.

A hoarse, deep voice came from above her.

“Sorry about that.”

Lu Wuke was momentarily stunned, catching a whiff of a strong alcohol scent mixed with a faint smell of smoke.

She looked up and met a pair of eyes that seemed even deeper due to fatigue. There were a few bloodshot veins in his eyes, clearly indicating he had been out all night and had just returned from outside the campus.

Shen Yixi had been partying all night and looked a bit disheveled. He had his hands in his pockets, wearing only a thin black t-shirt in the chilly autumn breeze, as if he wasn’t afraid of the cold at all, his forearms exposed and showing strong, smooth lines.

Lu Wuke didn’t say anything, squatting down to pick up the scattered items. After a while, it there was a shedow in front of her, as the person also crouched down, one arm resting on their leg.

After Lu Wuke put the bread and milk back into the bag, she wanted to grab her phone, but saw it being snatched away by a veiny hand. The phone was still playing an English listening exercise.

Shen Yixi must have noticed, as he seemed to chuckle.

Lu Wuke spoke up, “That’s my phone.”

Shen Yixi seemed to just remember there was someone in front of him, lifting his eyelids.

Lu Wuke’s hair was fluffy and soft after washing it last night. Her face is both round and small.

Shen Yixi hasn’t returned her phone; as if waiting for her to say something.

Lu Wuke said, “Can you give me back my phone?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Shen Yixi chuckle softly.

This good student has a pretty nice voice.