Chapter Forty-Nine: The Storm of a Rival in Love

Just after the weekend ended, the entire student body and faculty were compelled by the school to attend the farewell ceremony for the founder’s remains.

According to the seniors, the founder had originally made his fortune in Myanmar through arms smuggling. Later, he established connections with the central government and became the mainland’s secret agent for exporting weapons to Southeast Asia. But after the economic reforms, he turned over a new leaf, using his wealth to start a large multinational corporation, and eventually built our private university in his hometown.

Inside the gymnasium of the luxurious villa at the edge of the campus, we lined up to pay our respects to the founder, lying in a crystal coffin surrounded by flowers. He looked utterly peaceful, as if in life he must have been a kind and approachable old man.

As I gazed at his body, I found it impossible to reconcile the legends with the person before me.

After the three ceremonial bows, someone handed each of us a small bottle of mineral water, a token of thanks for fulfilling this duty.

Stepping out of the villa, I was momentarily stunned by the scene before me. Under the scorching sun, the students and teachers waiting to pay their respects formed a line that stretched for several kilometers. As the line crept forward, people suffering from heatstroke or exhaustion were frequently helped out of the queue. Thank goodness our class had drawn a spot near the front, so we finished early; otherwise, we would have suffered just like those at the back.

With the ceremony over, we could finally begin classes in earnest. Since the weekend karaoke trip downtown, my relationship with Huang Xin had grown much closer. However, after the awkwardness at the entrance of the girls’ dorm last time, Lin Jie seemed to have developed a subtle grudge against Huang Xin, frequently warning me, “Huang Xin isn’t worth getting close to—better keep your distance.”

I didn’t take Lin Jie’s words to heart. I still had meals with Huang Xin every day, attended evening study sessions with her, and called her whenever I found an excuse, busier than ever.

I had always been apathetic about evening study. But since Huang Xin had been elected study monitor at the start of the semester, she felt compelled to set an example, never missing a single session, rain or shine. This proved tough for me; to accompany her, I shuttled endlessly between classroom and dormitory, and after a month, I’d actually lost some weight.

For me, those two hours of evening study were just a way to pass the time. Huang Xin would sit beside me, silently absorbed in her textbooks, barely saying a word. Left on my own, the minutes dragged painfully by, so I’d take out my phone and read novels to kill time.

I hadn’t been reading long when Huang Xin’s phone suddenly rang. She flipped it open, glanced at the number, and hurried out to answer it. I paid her no mind, just kept reading. But before long, the light seemed to dim. Looking up in surprise, I saw a tall, thin boy with glasses standing before me, his hair tousled in a way that suggested an artistic temperament.

He gestured for me to move inward. Though I didn’t know his intentions, I stood half up and slid into the seat Huang Xin had just vacated. He promptly sat down in my original spot.

“My name is Huang Yu.” His voice was cold, almost unfriendly. The tone made me glance up and study him more closely.

Since he was so frosty, I saw no need to be warm, but basic courtesy demanded a reply. I responded offhandedly, “Oh, I’m Li Xiaobei.” Huang Yu? Huang Xin? Could they be siblings? The thought flashed oddly through my mind.

“I know your name. I just want to ask—what exactly is your relationship with Huang Xin?” Huang Yu’s sour expression made me distinctly uncomfortable.

“Her? Just friends,” I replied carelessly, eyes still on my phone.

“Really just friends?” he pressed.

The contorted look on his face made me want to get a rise out of him. I put my phone away, propped my chin on my hand, and grinned at him. “Oh, she’ll probably be my girlfriend soon. What’s it to you?”

To my surprise, Huang Yu was so flustered he couldn’t speak. “You… you!” Was it really that dramatic? I wondered.

Just then, Huang Xin returned from her call. Seeing her, Huang Yu shot me a fierce glare, then got up and stalked to the back of the classroom, dropping into a random seat.

“What did Huang Yu want with you just now?” As soon as she sat down, Huang Xin asked eagerly.

“Nothing much. Are you two close?” I deflected with a question of my own.

“Oh, no, not really. Just asking,” she replied, a hint of panic flickering in her eyes. It left me with the vague sense that things were more complicated than they seemed.

After study hall, back in the dorm, I was sitting on Cai Jianhao’s bed chatting when Zhang Zhiguo from next door burst in, breathless.

“Li Xiaobei—uh—Huang Yu says he wants to come beat you up… We… we stopped him…” Zhang Zhiguo clung to the doorknob, gasping for breath.

“Hm? Why?” His words confirmed my earlier suspicion—there really was something unusual between those two.

“He said you’re hitting on his girlfriend…” Before he could finish, I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d thought Huang Yu and Huang Xin were siblings, but apparently there was more to it. Clearly, I’d have to get the full story from Huang Xin someday.

“Is that so? Well, let him come—I’ve got Monkey on my side, what’s there to fear?” I sprawled on Cai Jianhao’s bed, unconcerned. Because Cai Jianhao was skinny and agile, I’d always called him Monkey.

“I just came to tell you. I’m heading back.” With that, Zhang Zhiguo left, closing the door behind him.

Ridiculous—Huang Xin and I hadn’t even gotten together, and already I had a rival in love. After mulling it over for a bit, I grabbed my phone, walked to the end of the hall, and dialed Huang Xin’s number.

Since we weren’t together yet, I couldn’t be too blunt. We chatted aimlessly for a while before finally getting to the point.

When I mentioned Huang Yu, Huang Xin’s tone grew noticeably uneasy, as if she wanted to hide something.

“Huang Xin, if you don’t want to talk about it, forget it. I’m going to bed.” Her evasiveness annoyed me.

“…Huang Yu is from my hometown. He started pursuing me back in high school, but I never agreed…” Just as I was about to hang up, she suddenly spoke.

Is that really all there is to it? Perhaps only Huang Xin herself knows.

(Chapter revised on August 30, 2010)