Chapter 47#
Countdown: School Anniversary#
“Just a bit of skin scraped, no big deal.”
Mo Xuzhi stretched out his hand and said, “Do you want to see? This bandage is very easy to remove.”
As he spoke, he was about to untie the bandage.
Wang Zhifeng stopped him.
“No need.”
Mo Xuzhi withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.
Wang Zhifeng sighed. He looked earnestly into Mo Xuzhi’s eyes and then said: “There’s nothing for you to handle in the laboratory; go back and rest first.”
Mo Xuzhi nodded.
His state hadn’t been quite right all day today. He had taken both Paroxetine and Tylenol, but still to no great effect.
He roughly guessed that at his stage, Tylenol was no longer of much use; what should hurt would still hurt. The stinging sensation and dizziness in his head were likely caused by stopping the Paroxetine.
As long as he went back and had a sleep, none of these would be important anymore.
An ordinary night, a preposterous dream.
Early the next morning, Mo Xuzhi got up very early, and after a simple wash, went to the school gate to wait.
He even ran into Wang Zhifeng when he went out; they opened their room doors almost simultaneously. Wang Zhifeng was dressed neatly, as if preparing to go to the laboratory.
He asked if he wanted to go to the laboratory together.
Mo Xuzhi refused, saying he was going to pick up a friend.
Morning at Jingda begins at five o’clock. Early-rising students for morning practice had already picked up their books and were walking toward the teaching building. Mo Xuzhi stood at the school gate and adjusted his hat.
Today was the Jingda school anniversary; many people were entering and exiting the school gate, from all different graduating classes. At a glance, many familiar figures could be seen.
He also saw specialized vehicles for national TV reporters parked by the roadside.
This school anniversary was being held quite grandly.
Mo Xuzhi took a few more looks outside and finally, in the rear of the crowd, saw a fully equipped person also wearing a hat and a mask.
He was tall; as long as he appeared within the field of vision, he certainly couldn’t be ignored.
It was Du Minsheng.
In front of him were many, many people; he likely wouldn’t be able to enter the school for a while.
Noticing Du Minsheng’s gaze sweeping over, Mo Xuzhi gave a small wave and then exited the school gate.
Exiting the school gate was much simpler than entering; at least one didn’t have to check entry passes one by one.
He walked to Du Minsheng’s side, leading him a few steps toward a place with fewer people, and then said: “It’s too crowded here to enter; I’ll take you through the back gate.”
Du Minsheng walked beside him and nodded.
The back gate was some distance from the main gate, but the two weren’t in a hurry, chatting as they walked.
Mo Xuzhi asked Du Minsheng why he had agreed to the Jingda students’ request to participate in the school anniversary, and without a performance fee at that.
Du Minsheng looked at the side of the person beside him, then turned his gaze away and said: “Felt it was quite meaningful, so I came.”
A few days ago, he had received an invitation letter with all members of the Jinghua University Student Union as the sender.
They had written several pages in very beautiful regular script, showing their care.
They said a lot, which could be summarized simply as: the Jinghua University school anniversary was approaching, and they hoped he could come to perform once.
He hadn’t agreed because it was very meaningful—at least not entirely.
He just wanted to take a look at the place where Mo Xuzhi was.
For him back in the small bar, Jinghua University was a synonym for “unimaginable,” “untouchable,” and “two different worlds.”
He also wanted to see the world that Mo Xuzhi saw.
“What are we singing for the rehearsal later?” Mo Xuzhi glanced at the time on his phone and said, “Need to decide quickly. I previously asked Wang… a student for a flowchart; you’re scheduled very early.”
He was going to take the stage together with Du Minsheng today; this was something he had personally promised before.
On the final day of the program, he and Luo Wenyun would be acting against each other, so he was bound to be unable to look after his nominal “limited boyfriend” Du Minsheng. If they didn’t act together and he remained tied to Luo Wenyun, the relationship between him, Luo Wenyun, and Shen Le would inevitably become the focus of the program, and Du Minsheng’s screen time would unavoidably decrease.
Adding all these reasons together, when Du Minsheng said he wanted to sing another song together with him, he agreed.
This was the last time.
He would no longer set foot in this circle. The places he would be would only be the laboratory, Jingda, exchange meetings abroad and at home, and sometimes the Space Agency. These few places formed a straight line; the possibility of having an intersection again was likely non-existent.
The back gate of Jingda had far fewer people than the main gate. Mo Xuzhi showed his work ID to the security guard and then led Du Minsheng into the school.
The security guard gave Du Minsheng a look but didn’t ask for his entry pass, saying “Goodbye” to Mo Xuzhi.
Mo Xuzhi nodded with a smile and then led Du Minsheng into a shaded path.
“Going to the Grand Auditorium this way is much faster.”
He was very familiar with this place. When encountering buildings, he would give Du Minsheng a simple introduction of their use; if it was a building of special significance, he would also talk about its origin.
He seemed a bit afraid of the cold, with both hands tucked into his coat pockets, but his posture looked very relaxed.
He led Du Minsheng to the Grand Auditorium to report in.
There were many students in the Grand Auditorium, mostly volunteers related to the school anniversary and people from the Student Union. At a glance, it was hard to see the student who was supposedly coordinating with Du Minsheng.
Mo Xuzhi narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Senior!”
A loud voice came from ahead. Mo Xuzhi looked up and saw a boy wearing a Jingda school uniform jumping over a row of seats and running quickly toward them.
Clearly, this “Senior” was called out to him.
Mo Xuzhi squinted and looked seriously for a few more moments, but still couldn’t recall who this person was.
The boy arrived in front of them, not even out of breath, and asked: “Is there something the matter, Senior?”
Seeing Mo Xuzhi today was an unexpected joy.
Part of the program list hadn’t been finalized yet, but the people participating in the school anniversary performance were set. They had searched for a long time and hadn’t seen Mo Xuzhi’s name, having originally been disappointed. He hadn’t expected him to actually come.
“I came with a friend,” Mo Xuzhi asked, “Do you know where Zhou Xiaoxiao is?”
“Zhou Xiaoxiao… oh, she’s over there. The person she’s waiting for hasn’t arrived yet, so she went to help set up the stage. Should I go help call her over?”
Mo Xuzhi looked at the large speakers still placed where the boy had come from and said: “Thanks, no need. We’ll go over ourselves.”
Zhou Xiaoxiao, as her name suggested, was a girl who looked delicate and small.
Hearing someone call her name, she turned her head, and the first person she saw was Mo Xuzhi.
“Senior Mo!”
Mo Xuzhi tilted his head slightly to the side and said: “He’s looking for you.”
Zhou Xiaoxiao was a bit puzzled: “Who?”
Du Minsheng took off his mask, “Hello, I am Du Minsheng.”
Twilight descended.
The lights in the Academy of Sciences were turned off much earlier than usual. The researchers simply tidied their things, welcoming a long-awaited early finish to work.
Today was the school anniversary, and most of them had graduated from Jingda. With Wang Zhifeng’s approval, they could leave work early today to go have some fun at the school anniversary or go to other places to relax themselves. As long as they could go to work normally tomorrow, anything was fine.
“Professor Wang, the Team Leader hasn’t come to work all day today?”
Most of the people in the office had left. Wang Zhifeng was also organizing files. The researcher sitting opposite his desk poked his head out, his expression worried.
“He’s fine,” Wang Zhifeng thought from his expression that he had noticed Mo Xuzhi’s previous abnormality and said, “He’s resting today.”
“Eh, that’s not what I meant.”
Seeing the people around had mostly left, the researcher looked around once more, and after confirming Mo Xuzhi wasn’t there, said softly: “I heard some students say the Team Leader has been accompanying someone around the school all day today and even had a meal with him.”
At the end, he added very suggestively, “Haven’t seen the Team Leader be this good to anyone before.”
Wang Zhifeng, who had already finished packing, bent down again.
When he stood up, he had a pink object in his hand, which he slowly tucked into his white coat pocket.
The researcher’s expression was strange.
So Wang Zhifeng liked this color?
He asked with difficulty: “What is this?”
“A sleep mask,” Wang Zhifeng said calmly. “Mo Xuzhi bought it, saying the laboratory lights are too glaring and it’s bad for the eyes when resting.”
The researcher understood.
He immediately tucked his briefcase under his arm and said solemnly: “Eating is all fake; it’s just a formality. Heard there are stars coming to the school anniversary tonight, very grand. I still have to grab a seat for someone else. Professor Wang, I’ll be going first.”
He held his briefcase, practically flying out.
Afterward, Wang Zhifeng was the only one left in the office.
He took out the sleep mask again, held it in his palm and rubbed it, and after feeling the soft texture, put it back in its original place.
He glanced at his phone.
The top level of the call log still only showed the two calls he had made that the other party hadn’t answered.
Mo Xuzhi still hadn’t called him.
Mo Xuzhi and Du Minsheng sat in the seats arranged by the students from the Student Union.
Although this wasn’t the center, the view was very good; at a glance, the whole view of the stage could be seen.
People were entering now, and some students were still adjusting equipment on the stage.
The TV station reporters and professional photography teams were already in place.
No one would have expected all these things to be organized entirely by students.
From a distance, Mo Xuzhi saw the people from the Academy of Sciences arriving in twos and threes.
They had dedicated seats, very close to the stage, reflecting the light of the stage, making it brighter than other places.
Across a distance, a person standing by a seat turned his head and precisely met Mo Xuzhi’s gaze.
Mo Xuzhi looked up at the sky.
Du Minsheng noticed his movement and asked: “What’s wrong?”
Mo Xuzhi wiped his face, “Nothing.”
He didn’t know what he was feeling guilty about.
The guests arrived, and the venue quieted down.
Afterward, there was an explanation of Jingda’s development history over a hundred years, and the international convention of the principal’s speech, speeches by outstanding alumni, and student representative speeches.
Mo Xuzhi took two more pills while all the lights in the venue were concentrated on the stage.
Du Minsheng beside him noticed his movement, so he stuffed a candy from the same pocket as the pillbox to Du Minsheng.
“Have a candy. After eating, it’ll be our turn to go up.”