Chapter 33: Dinner Gathering

There are two kinds of people in this world: those with natural talent and high quality who easily stand out, and those who are honest and simple, as plain as stones on a mountain, relying only on their own efforts to make up for their lack of talent.

Zhao Fusheng originally belonged to the latter, but now he felt he should belong to the former.

After all, like a rebooted computer, if there was nothing new, what meaning was there in existing?

In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng loved watching A Chinese Odyssey. At the end of the film, the fairy Zixia said a line while watching the back of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and he felt it suited him perfectly.

"That man looks like a dog..."

Zhao Fusheng felt that sometimes he was as lonely as a dying dog.

Lonely people are shameful, but fortunately, sometimes there are friends by your side.

A gust of wind blew, and Zhao Fusheng wrinkled his nose, silently cursing the light rain from yesterday. If it hadn't rained, how could a June evening be so cool?

How Zheng Yao would contact Fan Baobao was none of his business. He had already paved the way; how far she could go was Fan Baobao's own affair.

The same logic applied to Zheng Yao: once the stage was set, how grand a show she could put on depended on her.

"Want one?"

Beside him came Tan Kaixuan's annoying voice. He handed over a pack of Honghe cigarettes, which cost five yuan a pack—a luxury for students.

"What's this? In love, and upgraded your smokes?" Zhao Fusheng didn't stand on ceremony. He took the cigarette, sniffed it; the fresh scent of tobacco invigorated his nerves, and he said to Tan Kaixuan.

After all, college students' living expenses were limited. Even if his family was well-off, Tan Kaixuan only had about a thousand yuan a month for expenses. He usually smoked Lingzhi cigarettes at three yuan a pack. Unexpectedly, after getting a girlfriend, his cigarette grade had gone up.

"Just an occasional upgrade." Tan Kaixuan chuckled, put the cigarette in his mouth, pulled out a lighter, and with a soft click, a flame appeared as he lit it.

Zhao Fusheng did the same and lit his own.

"You've got her. What now?" Zhao Fusheng glanced at Tan Kaixuan indifferently and asked.

Tan Kaixuan was taken aback, then laughed: "Who knows? We'll just take it slow and see when we graduate."

Hu Xia was from Jiangnan, while Tan Kaixuan was from Shanghai. The distance was neither close nor far.

As for how far they could go in the future, who knew?

Often, people persist in doing something not just out of stubbornness, but also to a large extent out of spite—spite against themselves, spite against fate.

College romance is like a gambler who has lost everything at the casino, betting everything recklessly without considering the future.

If it succeeds, the two stay together—a beautiful story.

If it fails, they part ways sadly on graduation day, grieving alone.

That's the love life of most college students.

"By the way, Mu Qingqing came to see you, right?" Smoking in the dorm, Tan Kaixuan suddenly asked Zhao Fusheng.

"Yeah, I turned her down." Zhao Fusheng naturally knew what he was asking. In fact, he was well aware that if not for Tan Kaixuan's suggestion, Mu Qingqing wouldn't have approached him directly.

"I had no choice. Hu Xia was dragged into that poetry club by her. I figured you'd have to talk to her yourself." Tan Kaixuan explained a few words, knowing Zhao Fusheng's aversion to trouble.

Zhao Fusheng smiled. Between friends, there was no need to mind such trivial matters.

"I'll treat tonight. Call Wen Yu and Wang Zhen, and Hu Xia's roommates—we'll have dinner together." Seeing Zhao Fusheng's expression, Tan Kaixuan knew he hadn't minded the earlier incident.

"Okay." Zhao Fusheng nodded. For him, it was just a meal.

"By the way, Old Zhao, were those two poems really written by your neighbor?"

Smoking, Tan Kaixuan leaned against the headboard and suddenly asked Zhao Fusheng.

He had always found it a bit strange. Having lived together for nearly two years, he thought he knew Zhao Fusheng well enough. Although Zhao sometimes cared about face, he was a decent guy, but definitely not the type to write poetry.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Yeah, he wrote a lot. I remember them all."

Youth may burst into brilliant light at some unpredictable moment, forming the most beautiful memories deep in our minds. But for Zhao Fusheng, certain things in his mind always reminded him of those wild years of his own.

Of course, that was just an excuse.

"If you ask me, you might as well agree to Mu Qingqing. Join the poetry club, you don't need to do anything—just lend your name." Tan Kaixuan shrugged, bored. "I heard there are plenty of beauties in the club. After your poem was published last time, many people took a liking to you."

"What they like is the emotion in the words of that poem, not me as a person." Zhao Fusheng frowned and corrected Tan Kaixuan.

"Fine, you're right." Tan Kaixuan was speechless, resigned to Zhao Fusheng's unyielding attitude.

In the evening, Wang Zhen and Wen Yu returned, but they didn't look drenched in sweat as usual.

"Didn't you go play ball?" Tan Kaixuan was a bit puzzled.

"No, this guy dragged me to the library, and we spent the whole afternoon there." Wang Zhen rolled his eyes, pointing at Wen Yu as he spoke to Tan Kaixuan.

"Oh, not bad, Old Wen. Spill it—have you got your eye on some girl?" Tan Kaixuan chuckled, winking at Wen Yu.

Wen Yu's face turned red: "Don't talk nonsense."

Clearly, he wasn't planning to tell the truth.

Since he wouldn't say, the others naturally didn't press. Tan Kaixuan mentioned the dinner plans, and the others nodded in agreement, starting to get ready.

If it were just the four of them, it wouldn't matter, but with Hu Xia and her roommates, they naturally had to pay attention to their appearance.

Even though they were all classmates, the only reason a man doesn't care about his appearance in front of women is if the woman is too ugly.

Of course, Wen Yu and Wang Zhen were after the other beauties in Hu Xia's dorm, but Zhao Fusheng wasn't. He simply wanted to go out.

Lately, he had gradually come to accept the fact that many old classmates had disappeared. For instance, in Hu Xia's dorm, three people were his classmates from his previous life, while the other three, including Hu Xia, were people he had never seen before.

And those familiar three represented memories he was gradually trying to forget. For him, seeing these people every time meant recalling the past, recalling those who had vanished into thin air yet truly existed.