The name is really good, but the temper isn’t so great.
Lu Yan recalled the other person with the same surname as this student, but he couldn’t remember the specific name.
…
Are all people named Xiao so arrogant?
The person on the other side was also embarrassed, and apologized repeatedly: [Look at my forgetful mind, I forgot to tell my xiongdi about this. Please wait a moment, sorry.]
When Xiao Heng received the friend request, he was in the kitchen preparing formula milk. He was already irritated by his restricted movement—caused by a front-facing baby carrier, which bulged in front and appeared awkward no matter how you looked at it.
He lowered his head to look at the bulging thing.
And met a pair of pure, large eyes.
Those eyes were excessively big, like two black grapes.
The baby was only four months old. Perhaps hungry and unable to smell the formula milk, they started crying with a loud “wah.”
Once the crying started, it didn’t stop and poured out like a faucet.
Xiao Heng’s tone wasn’t very pleasant: “Why are you crying?”
The crying didn’t stop.
Xiao Heng: “Stop crying, it’s annoying.”
The crying still didn’t stop.
Xiao Heng resisted the impulse to throw the baby in his arms, who seemed to be crying even harder now. He wrinkled his brow, dripped a drop of milk on the back of his hand to check the temperature, and then stuffed the pacifier into the baby’s mouth.
At this moment, the screen that just went dark lit up again.
Qiu Shaofeng: [Heng ge!]
Qiu Shaofeng: [Don’t reject him, it’s the substitute class attendant I found for you!]
Xiao Heng had no idea why the term “substitute attendant” suddenly appeared in their conversation.
He directly called Qiu Shaofeng: “What substitute class attendant?”
“Big bro, what have you been busy with lately? And Zhaoshi too. The two of you left me behind to go play. It’s okay, even though you treat me like this, I’m not the kind of person who keeps accounts. To make you happy and worry-free…”
Before Qiu Shaofeng could finish, Xiao Heng cut in: “Not needed.”
Qiu Shaofeng: “…”
Xiao Heng: “Forget about it.”
“Do you think you’re being unreasonable?” Qiu Shaofeng was angry. “Going out to play without taking me! Is this how you trample on the affection between xiongdi?!”
Xiao Heng thought, going out to play? Nonsense. He was at home taking care of a baby and couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep.
But talking about the child’s matters was too troublesome. The other day, it was annoying enough when he accidentally bumped into Zhai Zhuangzhi while buying formula.
And how could he explain?
Should he say that the old beast Xiao Qishan was messing around outside and managed to get him a half-brother?
And that the baby recognized everyone, so after Xiao Heng fed him once, he refused to drink from anyone else?
Qiu Shaofeng continued to talk, saying more and more. Xiao Heng interrupted him, “Alright, have him add me again.”
Xiao Heng accepted the friend request, and the other’s profile picture was a black and red unique looking guitar. Qiu Shaofeng: “I spent a total of three days to find a person to fit your image, and you treat me like this?”
Xiao Heng: “I thank you.”
“He’s really handsome,” Qiu Shaofeng changed the topic, “There are photos, do you want to see them?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“No need,” Xiao Heng said while holding the bottle, “Am I sick?”
Don’t bother me if there’s nothing messaged: [I accepted your friend request, and now we can start chatting.]
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“I have many years of part-time experience.
Adhering to the principle of honesty and putting customers first, I am responsible for substitute class attendance, ensuring customer satisfaction.
Creating first-class academic achievements and showcasing a first-class demeanor.”
This time, there was a response from the other side.
The response was six dots.
Xiao Heng: [……]
The discussion about substitute class attendant job was almost finished. Lu Yan planned to practice the piano when there weren’t many people in the building in the afternoon. Later in the evening, he would go to fulfill Wei Ge’s appointment. Since he said “next time,” Wei Ge would nag him every time they met and ask when exactly the next time would be.
When everyone wanted to gather, they would usually meet at the rooftop. Once it got dark, they would set up a small plastic table.
Lu Yan carried half a crate of beer up and found Zhang Xiaohui there.
“What’s the matter with you?” Lu Yan put down the beer crate and asked, “Xiaohui, you don’t usually drink?”
Zhang Xiaohui shook his head, “Don’t mention it, ge. I’ve been so unlucky these days.”
“Just got a couple of lines, and they were snatched by some other extras…”
Zhang Xiaohui does not have a regular job.
He has a dream of being an actor. He would sneak into major cinemas, and start from playing from corpses. He would perform roles with lines only after he wrote a book titled “On the Self-Cultivation of Corpses.” So far, the lines for each role never exceeded six words.
“If they snatched it, so be it. Besides, the crew still needs a maid. I told the director that I could be a woman,” Zhang Xiaohui took a sip of the beer, “The director thought I was a pervert.”
Lu Yan said, “Work a bit harder kid, and besides, acting skills can transcend gender. So what is the director babbling about?”
Zhang Xiaohui agreed, “Exactly!”
After a few drinks, the tipsy Wei ge asked, “Yan Yan, sing us a song? I haven’t heard you sing in a long time. Where’s your guitar? Bring it up and play a bit.”
Lu Yan said, “Sure, I’ll go get it now.”
Zhang Xiaohui couldn’t stop him, “Skip the guitar, Wei ge, you’ve had too much to drink.”
Lu Yan went downstairs, brought up the guitar, and pressed his fingers on the strings. Remembering Huang Xu’s tearful complaint before leaving, “You play the guitar so badly,” Lu Yan suddenly thought, at this time, their train should be arriving in Jingzhou.
Changing the finger position with his left hand and improvising a song, a somewhat stumbling melody flowed from his fingertips.
He closed his eyes, leaving a beat of silence before singing:
“But you’ll be alright now, sugar
You’ll feel better tomorrow
Come the morning light now, baby
…
Don’t you cry.”
Don’t you even cry.
In this song, the night gently poured down.
Lu Yan didn’t drink too much. According to the schedule sent by the other person, he had an early class at 8 a.m. the next day.
International Finance.
It would take about two hours to get there from Xiacheng District. In the morning, while Lu Yan was nibbling on a slice of bread and flipping through his story, he realized that most of his clothes were stage costumes—fanciful and varied, with fur, silver chains, and even a skirt he unearthed from within the depths. Unfortunately, few were suitable for wearing to school.
T-shirts were relatively simple, but the one he randomly fished out had a few English words printed on it: “I will fuck you.”
The others weren’t much better.
The unemployed wanderer Lu Yan encountered the first challenge of his part-time career.
After rummaging through his wardrobe, Lu Yan finally found a white shirt. Paired with jeans and his recently shortened hair, he managed to look quite presentable.
When Lu Yan arrived at the entrance of C University, it happened to be the peak of the school commute.
C University was a century-old institution, located in the bustling city center of Xiajing. There was a peaceful environment despite its location.
Looking inside from the main gate, there was a long green path behind the golden signboard. Students rode bicycles, shuttling through the university campus, and the crisp and pleasant sound of bicycle bells echoed along the walkway.
The International Finance classroom was a large one, with several hundred seats in total.
Lu Yan deliberately took a photo before entering.
To demonstrate that the photo was taken recently, he extended two fingers into the center of the lens and made a victory sign.
Lu Yan: [Image].
Lu Yan: [Already arrived.]
It took Xiao Heng half an hour to return the message.
[Xiao Heng]: No need to send it to me.
Lu Yan sat in the back row of the classroom, listening to the old professor’s lecture on “Financial Relations and International Currency” in the International Finance class.
Actually, it didn’t matter what the lecture was about; he couldn’t understand it anyway.
With one hand supporting his head, Lu Yan used the other to type a reply: [This is my professional spirit.]
Halfway through the class, the professor closed the PowerPoint.
“Next, everyone take out a sheet of paper… I won’t call names, it takes too much time with so many of you. The remaining time will be used to write a short essay. Include your name and student ID, and hand it to me when class is over.”
The old professor continued, “Choose your own topic, just discuss what we covered in this class.”
There was also in-class homework.
Lu Yan thought he could just find something online and copy a bit.
But then the professor said, “You can’t just copy from the internet. I can easily tell, no matter how well you write. As long as it’s your own work, consider it a form of communication and discussion. Don’t burden yourself psychologically.”
Lu Yan felt like he encountered the second challenging task in his part-time career.
Everyone lowered their heads and began writing fervently. Lu Yan exited the Baidu page on his phone and reported to his boss:
Lu Yan: [There’s an in-class assignment to submit.]
Lu Yan: [I haven’t studied this before… If you trust me, can I just improvise?]
Xiao Heng: [Up to you.]
…As always, this client was not easy to communicate with.
Lu Yan placed his phone aside and began thinking about how to write the short essay.
He didn’t understand much about finance, so Lu Yan was forced to take a different approach. Besides writing his name, student ID, and title, he penned the first paragraph:
“The most significant impression I had in this class is the elegant temperament and profound knowledge embodied by the professor. Peaches and plums do not speak, yet a path is born beneath them. You are the engineer of the human soul, spreading the spark of wisdom. Like a guiding beacon on the vast sea, you shine like the first rays of sunlight on this clear morning.
…
The morning lecture was finally over.
Lu Yan: [Are you paying, or is it your xiongdi?]
The other party straightforwardly transferred over the money.
Xiao Heng: [Transferred cash]
Lu Yan walked out, accepted the transferred money, and planned to take a bus back home.
His sense of direction wasn’t very strong. Finding the classroom smoothly when he arrived was already quite challenging. As a result, after leaving through another door on the opposite side of the building, he began to feel disoriented once he changed direction.
He didn’t know where he walked to, and not far ahead was a small square.
There seemed to be some kind of club recruitment activity, with several rows of booths set up on the square.
It was lively.
Lu Yan’s gaze passed over these booths and finally landed on the words “Musical Instrument Society.”
Recruitment hadn’t officially started yet, and there were only two or three people preparing at the Instrument Society booth, with music stands and several instruments.
On the far side, a short guy in a yellow T-shirt was tuning.
A bass guitar.
Lu Yan didn’t think much of it, campus clubs were generally amateurish.
As he was about to continue looking for his way, after tuning, the guy casually showcased a slap bass technique. Although the speaker conditions weren’t great, the produced sound was sharp and clear. Honestly speaking, this person’s playing… was quite impressive.
His skill was adept.
The speed was astonishing, and each note was played cleanly and crisply, leaving a striking impression.
Due to the sparse crowd and poor speaker conditions, this less-than-thirty-second slap session didn’t attract much attention. After showcasing the technique, the guy in the yellow T-shirt bent down to remove his suspenders, and then handed the bass to someone beside him, “Alright, tuning is done.”
Lu Yan heard someone nearby taking the bass and asking, “Won’t you play with us at our booth for a while?”
The guy in the yellow T-shirt replied, “I’m not part of your club. Why join in the fun? I still have a class later.”
With that, he turned and walked into the bathroom in the International Finance class building.
The guy in the yellow T-shirt probably never thought that this restroom would be a pivotal point in his life.
This was because after he finished up, he saw someone leaning against the wall opposite his stall.
A man.
And the man was smoking.
He wore a white shirt, looking unbelievably clean, yet he had a contrasting and indescribable demeanor.
Seeing him come out, the man extinguished his cigarette. “I just saw you playing the bass. Very cool.”
The guy in the yellow T-shirt’s heart skipped a beat.
Although Lu Yan usually appeared shameless and was capable of hitting on the Black Spade Band, facing a stranger one-on-one with genuine feelings made him a bit embarrassed.
He cleared his throat and, while organizing his words, said, “I’m quite interested in you.”
Lu Yan didn’t realize the ambiguity in the words he uttered in this location and situation. He also didn’t notice the increasingly subtle and fearful expression on the guy in the yellow T-shirt.
“If you’re willing… we…” We can be friends, I have a band, would you like to join?
But before Lu Yan could finish his sentence, the guy in the yellow T-shirt picked up a mop from beside him and held it in front of his chest. “Who are you!”
Engrossed in his substitute class attendant act, Lu Yan said, “I am Xiao Heng, Department of Economics.”
The author has something to say:
Note: The song is “Don’t Cry” by Guns N’ Roses.
And why can’t I get it to play…
Bro probably thought he encountered a pervert or someone was asking him out 😭