Chapter 18 – Regain Consciousness
Qiao Huaiyao’s heartbeat quickened inexplicably, the sound of ‘thump thump‘ disturbing his breathing.
Subconsciously, he turned his head to look at Bai Jinyan. “You’re not…” but he didn’t expect Bai Jinyan to be so close, and his voice gradually faded away.
The armrest between their seats was blocked as Bai Jinyan leaned closer, their eyes meeting, and their noses almost touching.
Being so close, their breaths seemed to intertwine, and Qiao Huaiyao instinctively slowed down his breathing.
His eyelashes trembled lightly as he slowly lowered his gaze, averting his eyes from Bai Jinyan’s.
With a blank and bewildered expression, he forgot to move back and just sat stiffly.
Bai Jinyan also didn’t expect Qiao Huaiyao to suddenly turn around, and his heart skipped a beat.
However, when he sensed the emotions in Qiao Huaiyao’s eyes, he composed his thoughts and maintained a calm demeanor.
Straightening up slightly, just about to speak, he caught a glimpse of the lips that were so close because of Qiao Huaiyao’s nervousness.
Bai Jinyan’s eyes deepened for a moment. “You…”
“Hello, sir.” The flight attendant’s voice interrupted Bai Jinyan, “For this flight, we have prepared beef and seafood rice and chicken with vegetables. Which one would you like?”
Changing the subject, Bai Jinyan calmly asked, “Which one do you want to try?”
Qiao Huaiyao’s mind was a whirl, following Bai Jinyan’s lead, he honestly replied, “Chicken rice, please.”
Bai Jinyan said, “One chicken and one beef.”
“Sure, enjoy your meal.” The flight attendant handed them two trays and asked, “What would you like to drink? We have carbonated beverages and fruit juice.”
Bai Jinyan replied indifferently, “Mineral water.”
The flight attendant smiled and brought two bottles of mineral water from the cart. She kindly reminded them, “The mineral water has been heated, so be careful not to burn yourself while drinking.”
Qiao Huaiyao nestled in his first-class seat, the warmth on his face hadn’t dissipated yet, and instead of fading, it seemed to intensify.
Bai Jinyan opened the mineral water and handed it to him. “Try the food. If you don’t like it, have some snacks, and we’ll take you to eat what you love after landing.”
Qiao Huaiyao took a few sips of mineral water and then tried the chicken rice he had chosen.
His chewing slowed down as he tasted the chicken.
Needless to say, he definitely didn’t like it.
Bai Jinyan took the chicken rice from his small table, “How about trying the beef?”
Qiao Huaiyao shook his head and took a few more sips of water, suppressing the taste of the chicken.
He said, “No need, I’m not hungry. I’ll have some snacks when I get hungry later.”
The airplane meals were not large, but the first-class meals were much better compared to economy class.
A small box contained less than a fistful of rice, vegetable stew with chicken, and quite a few meat pieces, but it was certainly not enough to satisfy one’s hunger.
Qiao Huaiyao picked up a few bags of dried fruits but didn’t have much appetite.
Seeing that the photographer behind him had finished his meal, he handed him a few bags of dried fruits and said, “Photographer, these dried fruits are delicious, give them a try.”
The photographer quickly took them and said, “Wow, thank you, thank you.”
Qiao Huaiyao smiled, “You’re welcome.”
…
After landing, Bai Jinyan had informed the driver to wait underground.
They took their luggage and headed straight for Qinghua University.
The photographer didn’t start the live broadcast again on the way. Bai Jinyan had informed them in advance that they could only start the live broadcast after they had settled in the dormitory.
They couldn’t film the route to the dormitory, nor could they film the dormitory’s room number.
Bai Jinyan had arranged the place they used for recording variety shows. The security was tight, and suspicious individuals couldn’t enter without identity verification.
Moreover, he shouldn’t be returning to the university frequently after starting college, so there was no point in filming it.
But Qiao Huaiyao’s dormitory was different, especially since it was a single room.
The dormitory had a password lock.
Qiao Huaiyao entered the fourteen-digit password as shown on his phone, and the door automatically opened.
They pushed the four large boxes inside, occupying most of the small living room.
Bai Jinyan wiped the table with his fingertips and found it clean; they probably had a cleaning crew come before the start of the semester.
He pushed the boxes towards the bedroom and said, “Let’s hang the clothes first.”
Qiao Huaiyao entered the password and responded, “Sure.”
The darkened live broadcast room lit up again. The barrage that had never stopped suddenly multiplied several times.
[“Ahh! Our wife looks even more beautiful from this angle!”]
[“Is this a dorm at Tsinghua University? Amazing! No wonder it’s Tsinghua University; the dorms are better than the apartments we rent outside.”]
[“Wow, this is pure gold enrollment propaganda! If they put up pictures of this dorm during enrollment, people would be queuing up to apply.”]
[“True, true! Is there any possibility that even without the dorm pictures, people would still be lining up to apply?”]
Clothes didn’t seem like much, but taking them out one by one from the luggage and hanging them up was not an easy task.
Qiao Huaiyao squatted by the luggage, taking out the clothes and handing them to Bai Jinyan, who then hung them in the wardrobe.
The wardrobe was spacious enough, so there was no need to fold the clothes.
The bedsheets and duvet covers were provided by the school, and Qiao Huaiyao didn’t unpack them. He used the set Bai Jinyan had brought for him.
The two of them tidied up together, and it was quite fast to organize the small dormitory.
Barrage: [“My wife looks so virtuous.”]
[“Don’t you think Bai Jinyan is even more virtuous? He knows how to pat the wrinkles off the clothes. Ha-ha, cold and domineering and virtuous traits all converge in Bai Jinyan, and it doesn’t seem incongruent at all.”]
[“Ah, my wife, you’re not only beautiful but also a top student at Tsinghua University. What kind of opportunities did God deprive you of?”]
[“…Wait, how about cooking skills?”]
[“!?!”]
[“True, indeed, nobody’s perfect.”]
…
Just after Qiao Huaiyao finished tidying up the bedroom and sat down to rest, he saw the barrage in the live stream room enthusiastically discussing his cooking skills.
There were even people offering ideas:
[“Next time there’s such an event, my wife can just make a soup. Just throw everything into the water, it’s simple, it doesn’t matter if it’s cooked or not, just drink the water, and that’s it.”]
[“Forget it, even if it’s stir-frying, they can find an excuse saying the dish is difficult. If we make it a soup, it won’t work either. Wouldn’t that belittle ourselves?”]
Qiao Huaiyao: “…”
“Brother—”
Qiao Huaiyao elongated the ending of his sentence and looked up at Bai Jinyan, who was adjusting the Wi-Fi in the debugging room.
“Hmm?”
Qiao Huaiyao tried to confirm with Bai Jinyan and asked, “I remember I cooked lunch for you once in high school. Do you still remember?”
“Yeah,” Bai Jinyan replied nonchalantly, “I remember it vividly.”
At that time, Qiao Huaiyao was obsessed with anime and coincidentally came across a blogger who posted a food tutorial. On a whim, he decided to try cooking a meal following the tutorial.
He didn’t remember the taste, only that the kitchen renovation took over three months, and the blackened walls had to be repainted.
Qiao Huaiyao squinted his eyes and asked, “Was the lunch delicious that time?”
Bai Jinyan lifted half of his eyebrow slowly, glancing at the phone he had been holding just now, and calmly said, “Delicious.”
Satisfied with the answer, Qiao Huaiyao’s lips curved upwards.
Barrage: [“You asked Bai Jinyan if it was delicious, but he doesn’t care about anything. Even if you put the pot bottom ash you scraped off by yourself on his face, he’d still say it’s good for the skin.”]
[“Hahaha, we’re all sending barrage messages, why can you roast so perfectly?”]
[“Don’t you dare talk about my wife! If my wife serves me pot bottom ash and asks me to eat it, I can still shout that it’s delicious! What I mean is… is it possible for my wife to cook me a meal? Just one meal.”]
[“??? D*mn it, I’m a step behind in licking.”]
[“I, too, want to eat!”]
[“I can also compliment with my eyes closed! Even if I swallow poison, I can still list out a hundred and eighty advantages for you, wife, look at me!!!”]
…
Bai Jinyan sat beside him and casually picked up his phone, not bothering to look at the barrage, and simply put it on standby. “Classes start tomorrow. Did the school notify when to pick up the books?”
“No need to pick them up yourself.” Qiao Huaiyao didn’t look at the barrage either. He opened the notification in the group chat and said, “There’s a class meeting tonight at 8 pm, and the teacher said they’ll distribute the books during the meeting.”
Almost all students could make it to the class meeting the night before the official start of classes.
During the class meeting, the school would go over some relevant regulations, and the notification in the group chat was sent by their subject teacher, who was also their department head.
The academic advisor was in the group but hadn’t said anything. With so many classes under their charge, they probably wouldn’t participate in small class meetings.
Qiao Huaiyao remembered that in his past life, it was the department head who held the class meeting for the new students.
He knew everyone in the class, some were not close, but he could still call out their names when they met.
Qiao Huaiyao remembered that the meeting lasted for a while. “I might come back very late tonight. If you feel tired, go to sleep first.”
“Oh, by the way, how many days can you stay here?” Qiao Huaiyao thought of taking Bai Jinyan around nearby places, but in his past life, he was so focused on studying that he mostly ate in the cafeteria and didn’t participate in any club activities.
For a moment, he couldn’t think of any famous attractions or delicacies nearby.
Bai Jinyan didn’t mention how many days, and after a moment of thought, he said, “I’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”
Barrage: [“Did Bai Jinyan hesitate?”]
[“I don’t know about his schedule, but Brother Bai was up all night yesterday and seemed to be rushing on something. He’s been reading scripts on the plane. He only napped for a while on the flight. He’s really going all out for his wife.”]
[“I’ve been a fan for five years. I can’t bear to see Bai Jinyan work so hard. You go to work, I’ll keep your wife company.”]
[“??? This fan really gets it.”]
…
Qiao Huaiyao nodded, opened a travel app, and searched for nearby places worth visiting.
It was the first day of classes, so there were many courses, but fortunately, there were no classes all day long.
In their free time, he could explore the area with Bai Jinyan.
Today, they had just arrived and tidied up their room again, and they were too tired to go outside.
So, he chose to stay in the dormitory with Bai Jinyan.
When the time was about right, Qiao Huaiyao got up and said, “…”
His voice gradually faded away as he realized that Bai Jinyan had fallen asleep with his head against the bedside.
The script in his hand was only half-read.
Quietly moving to the other side of the bed, Qiao Huaiyao took the script away and covered Bai Jinyan with the blanket.
The temperature difference here was significant, and he was afraid that Bai Jinyan might not adapt, so he turned on the air conditioning and set it to a constant temperature before leaving the dormitory.
By the time the class meeting ended, it was around 11 pm.
Outside, the night was pitch-black.
Students walked back to the dormitories in groups of two or three.
Although it was just the beginning of the semester, everyone quickly became acquainted with each other, walking shoulder to shoulder, chatting as they walked.
Holding his books, Qiao Huaiyao walked out of the teaching building. He hadn’t even stepped off the steps when he suddenly widened his eyes.
In the ink-like darkness, the streetlights dotted the surroundings with faint light.
Bai Jinyan wore a hat, discreetly covering most of his face.
Bai Jinyan seemed to sense something, he curved his fingertip and pushed up the brim of his hat slightly, then lifted his head to see Qiao Huaiyao standing there stunned.
He approached, took the books Qiao Huaiyao was carrying, and snapped his fingers. “Back to reality.”
Qiao Huaiyao thought Bai Jinyan wanted to take a nap, surprised, he asked, “Why are you here?”
Bai Jinyan replied calmly, “To pick you up.”
The night was too dark, and Qiao Huaiyao was still unfamiliar with Qinghua University, fearing that he might take the wrong path back to the dormitory.