In a Chinese restaurant in the university town, just past noon, bowls and chopsticks clinked amid laughter and chatter.
Bai Yuqiao wore a white T-shirt under a light grass-green windbreaker. When she poured tea for the classmate across from her, she slightly rolled up her sleeves, revealing a very thin red string on her wrist.
Her expression remained very calm. When the tea reached the rim of the cup, she stopped, set down the teapot, then smiled and pushed the cup forward, signaling the other to drink.
“Ah.” Wu Zhen sighed. “Sorry again for letting you down. Her family was pretty satisfied at first, but then they heard that you…” She trailed off, lowered her head, and turned her teacup. “Ah.”
Wu Zhen had been apologizing nonstop to Bai Yuqiao since they sat down. She was their department’s all-around part-time job queen, having built up plenty of resources from freshman to senior year.
Basically, anyone in the department looking to earn some extra cash could come to Wu Zhen without fail.
When Bai Yuqiao suddenly called out to her back then, Wu Zhen had been especially surprised, since she always figured Bai Yuqiao came from a good family… But since she’d been asked, even after Bai Yuqiao proactively mentioned the “can’t talk” issue, Wu Zhen had sworn confidently: “No problem! I’ll definitely find you a good match!”
In the end…
It had been almost two months now, and she hadn’t helped at all. Bai Yuqiao had even treated her to several meals.
Wu Zhen felt deeply ashamed.
In her eyes, Bai Yuqiao just shook her head and mouthed “thank you” to her, then continued passing her napkins and chopsticks.
It only made her feel worse.
Wu Zhen took the items, a surge of frustration rising in her chest. She gripped the chopsticks and slammed the handle down on the table with a “thud.”
“No way! I have to find you one this week!”
At the same time, Bai Kou sat in the four-person dorm during training camp, on the phone.
She wore a very youthful white T-shirt with a big, smudged pink heart shape on the front. Her right hand dangled over her knee, her tiger’s mouth and fingers still covered in unwashed graphite smudges.
Bai Kou’s voice carried a smile, very gentle: “You should go to sleep soon. It’s already one o’clock. Don’t you have class tomorrow?”
As she spoke, the dorm door sounded. A girl walked in, one hand carrying a bucket, the other pinching a pack of cigarettes.
Seeing Bai Kou on the phone, Tang Baini smiled knowingly and said, “Dating again, huh.”
“Hey!” Bai Kou quickly covered the mouthpiece and whispered, “I told you, not yet!”
Tang Baini shrugged and tossed the bucket next to the bed with a “clang.”
At that moment, the curtain above the number one bed across from Bai Kou swished open. The person inside had shoulder-length hair messed up from sleep and was fumbling around for her glasses: “Why is everyone back? Is it afternoon already?”
Bai Kou: “…Sorry, excuse me, Jin, have you been here the whole time?”
“Ah.” Jin put on a pair of thick black-framed glasses and nodded innocently.
Bai Kou: “…” She closed her eyes, released the mouthpiece, and said softly into the phone, “You should go to sleep. My roommates are all back. Bye-bye!”
“Bye-bye—” As Bai Kou hung up, Tang Baini, sitting in front of the mirror, chimed in cooperatively, then laughed. “One call at noon every day, one at night. And you say you’re not dating? I don’t get you young people.”
Bai Kou ignored the comment and just asked, “Where’s Ranran? Didn’t she go with you to wash the bucket?”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Qiu Miaoran, who had supposedly gone to wash the bucket together, returned while on the phone: “Okay, okay, okay, wifey, I love you, mwah.”
Bai Kou was stunned by the “wifey.”
She glanced aside to see Tang Baini giving her a smile that said, “Now you get it?”
Back when they checked in early, the dorm supervisor had told Bai Kou that few people came to the studio this early, so she might have to tough it out alone until July or August.
The first night, Bai Kou had felt a bit scared. After thinking it over, she ended up voice-chatting with Pei Yue all night.
But the next morning, the other three arrived one after another with their luggage.
Maybe because they were all early admissions, the four ended up in four different classes.
Bai Kou was in design track, Jin in styling track, Qiu Miaoran said she was just there to coast into university on the regular intensive class, and Tang Baini was a repeater who hadn’t passed last year and came back this year.
It was now early May, around Labor Day, but their studio didn’t have a traditional holiday—just fewer scheduled classes, leaving them more free time.
They called it free, but it wasn’t really.
For example, Bai Kou’s class still required submitting ten quick sketches every day outside of lessons.
“You guys have it easy right now,” said the veteran Tang Baini. “Wait until August or September, then you’ll know. You—” she pointed at Bai Kou, “and you.” She pointed at Qiu Miaoran. “You won’t have any energy left for dating then.”
Qiu Miaoran: “No way, right? I just want to get into undergrad!”
Bai Kou opened her mouth, about to emphasize “there’s really no dating,” when her phone buzzed in her hand.
“Are you… heading to work?”
At a dessert shop near the studio, Bai Kou and Bai Yuqiao each ordered a cup of milk tea.
【Part-time job.】 Bai Yuqiao texted to Bai Kou. 【Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat.】
“One, three, four, six… four days a week?” Bai Kou muttered at the screen, then looked up anxiously. “Then what about your regular classes? Weren’t you supposed to take the grad school entrance exam or something… Not anymore? Did Mom call you? Are we… really short on money right now?”
Bai Yuqiao smiled helplessly, shook her head, and explained: 【I got direct admission to grad school. This job is an external collaboration from our lab, a new project. You can think of it as part of the regular coursework.】
【Don’t worry, everything’s fine with Mom.】 Bai Yuqiao paused for two seconds, then continued typing. 【You have to trust her, and trust me. Since we agreed to face difficulties together, I won’t hide anything from you.】
Bai Kou’s tense expression eased. She set down her phone, looked at her sister’s face, and after a few seconds asked again: “So where do you work?”
Bai Yuqiao pulled up the map and tapped near the first ring in Dongcheng District.
“Oh, that looks pretty close to me.” After Bai Kou said that, she asked, “What’s the company name?”
Bai Yuqiao picked up her phone and typed four characters—
【Blue Seal Pharmaceuticals.】
“Blue Seal Pharmaceuticals is impressive,” said Tang Baini at the open railing at the end of the studio hallway, pinching a fruit-flavored slim cigarette. “One of the top pharmaceutical companies in Beijing. Didn’t they go public last year?”
“Yeah, right…” Bai Kou nodded, holding a chipped eraser. “I looked that up too… So it shouldn’t be a scam, then?”
Tang Baini reached out: “Did your sister get a written offer?”
“What’s an offer?”
“…” Tang Baini said, “Like an employment notice. Similar to an admission letter.”
Bai Kou frowned: “I haven’t seen one. She just said she’s starting.”
“Then ask her to send it to you. Check if there’s an official seal at the end of the document.” Tang Baini finished her cigarette, patted Bai Kou’s shoulder. “Gotta go, catch up on homework.”
Offer.
Bai Kou watched Tang Baini’s retreating back, silently repeating the word in her mind.
“Now that Bai Yuqiao’s offer was confirmed fine, then—”
On a rare Sunday when everyone had time, during the video call, Bai Kou sat up straight. “Yang Wanxi, where’s Yang Wanxi’s offer?”
The person called out had returned to her dorm. She hugged her arms, chuckled with her head down for a good while before saying, “I wrapped up filming already. No one’s giving me an offer.”
Bai Yuqiao laughed along.
“Hey, Bai Doudou.” After laughing, Yang Wanxi leaned toward the camera. “How’s your drawing going? Haven’t had time to ask.”
“I post in the group every day. Didn’t you see?”
“I did.” Yang Wanxi suddenly turned her face away, touched the root of her ear. “But they’re all still lifes… We’re on video now. Can you show me and Yuqiao-jie a few more?”
“Sister’s already seen the real things.” Bai Kou stood up as she spoke. “Hang on, I’ll grab some quick sketches for you to appreciate.”
“Tang-jie, I really won’t get back together with him this time—”
In the gap while Bai Kou was gone, two girls walked into frame. “Just believe me, okay?”
“Why do I need to believe you about your dating life? Qiu Miaoran, can’t you learn from Xiao Kou? She’s dating just fine and still gives me some peace—”
The two walked out of frame.
“Coming, coming!” About ten minutes later, Bai Kou returned, cradling a thick stack of paper as she sat down. “Forgot I left them in another dorm last night.”
She looked up with a smile, only to find one sister staring at her phone, the other typing on hers, both frowning and ignoring her.
“Hello? Hello?” Bai Kou held up a head quick sketch. “Is anyone still there? Anyone still want to see?”
At that moment, the phone next to the computer chimed.
She instinctively turned to look. It was Pei Yue: 【Zhou Xiao and I got out first.】
Then another message popped up:
【It’s raining. The air smells so good.】
【We decided to walk a bit before calling a cab.】
【/Picture/】
【Such a pretty night sky.】
【I miss you a lot.】
Bai Kou’s hands holding the drawing slowly lowered, her gaze fixed on Pei Yue’s “I miss you a lot.”
For a moment, she forgot she was still on video with Bai Yuqiao and Yang Wanxi. A smile unconsciously bloomed on her lips.
Yang Wanxi saw it all. Bai Yuqiao saw it all too, even though they didn’t know whose message Bai Kou had received.
But.
Perhaps they both knew.
After the call ended, Yang Wanxi sent Bai Kou a private voice message, asking bluntly: “Are you and Pei Yue together now?”
Bai Kou nearly played it out loud by accident and jumped in fright, frantically locking her screen.
She took her phone and left the dorm, sitting down on a quiet, undisturbed staircase: “No!” she said in a very firm tone.
“Was it her who messaged you on WeChat just now?” Yang Wanxi quickly replied.
“…Yeah.” Bai Kou answered.
Yang Wanxi went silent for a long time. Bai Kou thought for a bit and typed: 【I promised Sister I wouldn’t date before graduation.】
Yang Wanxi replied instantly: 【What about after graduation?】
Bai Kou typed, paused, typed again, and ambiguously said: 【It wouldn’t count as puppy love after graduation, right?】
Yang Wanxi: 【/Strong arm/】
Yang Wanxi: 【Looking at you today, I really don’t know who you’re fooling.】
…Why did Yang Wanxi’s words feel so prickly?
Bai Kou wondered if it was because of the text.
She simply called Yang Wanxi with voice. It rang for about half a minute before Yang Wanxi picked up.
She was clearly letting her stew on purpose.
Her tone sounded cold once connected.
“What’s up.”
“Even if she’s just a friend, we chat about everything from all over the world, with over ten hours of time difference.” Bai Kou paused. “Can’t I be happy when I get a message from her?”
“…” Yang Wanxi fell silent for a long, long time, then suddenly laughed. “Bai Kou, do you remember that time when Xiao Yang Kuikui and Yuqiao-jie both made you mad as a kid? I gave you a toy, Yuqiao-jie gave you a box of erasers. Remember?”
Bai Kou paused. “Of course.”
“Back then, you took her gift first, but when you looked at me, you were still mad. You even said—”
Yang Wanxi quieted for a moment. “Hmph! Stinky Yang Kuikui! I’m never talking to you again! We’re both giving you gifts to apologize, so why are you only mad at me?”
Bai Kou was speechless. How could she remember what she’d been thinking as a kid? “I…”
“I just want to ask one thing now.”
Yang Wanxi cut in. “Bai Kou, do you only bully me like this?”
