Knock, knock, knock! After knocking for quite a bit, there was still no response. Zhu Yun’s mom called from outside, “Zhu Yun ah, wake up.”

“……”

“Zhu Yun?” There was no response even after calling her name. Zhu Yun’s mother pushed open the door, walked over the bed, and pulled at the covers. “Hurry and wake up. It’s already 11 o’clock. We’re going to have lunch soon.”

Finally, a head popped out from the rolled up blanket. A sleepy Zhu Yun couldn’t even open her eyes. Her mother pinched her waist and said, “How can you be so tired? You didn’t sleep enough last night?”

Zhu Yun’s head felt rusted. She arched herself out from under the covers. “Ah…” Her throat was dry.

Her mother said, “Hurry and get up. We need to go give our New Year’s greetings soon.” Tired and grumpy, Zhu Yun dawdled over to the bathroom to wash.

The busy new year had begun. Everyone’s schedule was packed full from the 1st to the 15th of the new year. Zhu Yun changed her clothes and grabbed several bags before following her parents out the door.

From the 1st to the 5th, they had family dinners. Her mother’s relatives were few, but more important were her father’s family. Zhu Yun had four uncles, one who was abroad. Her father was the third brother.

Each year’s activities were basically the same, but this year, there would be some new talking points. Her second uncle’s son, Xiao Feng, was a year younger than Zhu Yun. He would be partic.i.p.ating in the college entrance exam this year, but his results were at that awkward neither good nor bad place. His parents were quite worried.

The moment that Zhu Yun walked into the door, her second aunt pulled her aside to consult about the entrance exam. Xiao Feng sat on the sofa, playing some handheld game.

Second Aunt pressed him, “Your cousin studies well. If you have anything you don’t understand, ask her about it quickly.”

Zhu Yun replied politely, “No, I’m just average.”

Her aunt smiled and said, “How can you call yourself average with such a high score? What will someone like him do? I remember you were often first in the entire school in high school. You must be a superior student in college now too, right?”

Zhu Yun found this topic rather a bit embarra.s.sing. “I’m average. Really, just average…”

Her aunt said, “You’re just being modest.”

What’s the big deal about first in the school when we also had first in the country…

Her aunt pulled Xiao Feng over and said, “Hurry and talk with your cousin.” And then she pleaded with Zhu Yun, “My darling niece, please tell him. He doesn’t study, but the entrance exam is right around the corner. He’s driving me mad.”

After Xiao Feng was dragged over, he simply started playing his game in a new spot. Second Aunt glared at him angrily. “Just look at him!”

“Jiang Li!” Mama Zhu’s voice called from the kitchen. Second Aunt left, leaving behind Zhu Yun and Xiao Feng.

Zhu Yun looked at her. Though they were cousins, Zhu Yun wasn’t close with Xiao Feng. When he was a child, he’d gotten very sick and had to stay in the hospital for half a month. Her second aunt and uncle had been given a great scare, and so after Xiao Feng recovered, they couldn’t bear to scold him. Instead, they always let him have his way.

Xiao Feng liked playing and he hated studying. There had been a few occasions when Second Aunt had asked Zhu Yun to help him study, but Zhu Yun’s mother declined for various reasons. Her mother had told her more than once not to get too close to him.

“She’s always grumbling about that every day. So annoying!” Xiao Feng quietly muttered.

Zhu Yun teased, “What doesn’t annoy you?”

Xiao Feng looked up from his game. He glanced at her and said, “Playing.”

“After the entrance exams, you can continue to play.”

“I don’t want to take the exam. I’m not like you, so I’m not good at studying.”

“It’s not my fault for being a good student.”

“……” Xiao Feng looked up from his game again. Zhu Yun laughed and pat him. “There’s just half a year left. Just endure a bit more.”

“Tch!”

Zhu Yun had successfully completed her ‘chat’ task. When she pulled out her phone, she heard Xiao Feng whisper, “Are you free once you’re in college?”

Zhu Yun thought about it a moment. “What kind of ‘freedom’ do you mean?”

“Our teacher said that after we get into college, we’ll be liberated.”

“No, it’ll probably be even more tiring.”

Xiao Feng stretched his neck. “I don’t have any aspirations in life, so I’ll just get into some bottom-rate college and that’ll be that.”

Zhu Yun looked down at her phone. An unread message. Her heart thumped as she opened it.

Li Xun: “I’m back at school. See you when the semester starts.”

Zhu Yun replied: “Got it.”

Xiao Feng was still speaking, “I was never interested in school or studying. It was so boring. College must be that way too.”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

After sending her text, Zhu Yun deleted her messages. “How can you know if it’s interesting or not if you don’t go? Also…” She paused and then added quietly, “Since those you’ve met so far haven’t been impressive, isn’t that all the more reason you should look forward to college?”

Xiao Feng didn’t answer.

“Just try hard.” Zhu Yun whispered, “Otherwise you’ll miss out.”

“What…” Xiao Feng didn’t understand what she was saying at all. He muttered something and then went back to playing his game.

The family gatherings pa.s.sed by, trouble-free. After the 5th of the year, they started meeting with her father’s friends, which was much more tiring. Zhu Yun always had a smile plastered to her face; there was a chance her cheeks would get stuck like that.

Zhu Yun met w.a.n.g Yuxuan again.

“Running with your feet off the ground, eh, Zhu mei?” (t/n: Instead of Cousin Zhu, I’ll use Zhu mei (lit. ‘younger sister’), which implies they’re close to some extent, but not actually related.

“……” Zhu Yun was so busy that her head was covered with sweat. Following her mother’s instructions, she brought w.a.n.g Yuxuan a gla.s.s of water.

He accepted the gla.s.s and looked around. “There are a lot of people.”

There were indeed a lot of people. No matter how large the Zhu house was, it still got crowded when tens of people were inside it at the same time.

Zhu Yun looked over w.a.n.g Yuxuan. He was dressed in a suit, and he even had a tie on.

“Why are you dressed so formally? You’re going to scare people.”

“Aren’t you adding too much importance to it? How could it scare people? I brought this suit back from abroad.” w.a.n.g Yuxuan took a few steps back and struck a pose for Zhu Yun. “Handsome?”

Gag.

Had her expression been too straightforward? w.a.n.g Yuxuan made a face and unhappily said, “You’re not even going to give me this little bit of face? I’m going to have to make a complaint with Auntie.” Zhu Yun shrugged, not continuing his banter.

She was holding the snow lotus water that her mother had prepared for this party. Sweet, fragrant, and delicious. She took a sip and leaned against the wall, taking a break. w.a.n.g Yuxuan was chatting to her, and she responded a bit absent-mindedly.

She really wanted to return to school… What kind of excuse could she make to head back sooner…

“Speaking of, it’s really been too long since I’ve been home. The country has changed a lot. I feel like I don’t match with it now,” w.a.n.g Yuxuan lamented.

“……”

An idea suddenly popped into her head. She turned to w.a.n.g Yuxuan and asked, “How long are you staying here?”

“What is it? My break is pretty long this time. There’s still a month left.”

“You must be curious about college here, right? Should I give you a tour of my school?”

w.a.n.g Yuxuan didn’t respond.

Zhu Yun continued to chase, “My college is very representative of this region. It’s one of, if not, the best science and engineering inst.i.tutions. So, are you interested? Do you want to go?” She rubbed her hands and enticed, “Come visit. Take a look around.”

w.a.n.g Yuxuan narrowed his eyes. “…Why does it smell like you’re scheming something?”

“What? You’re thinking about it too much.”

w.a.n.g Yuxuan looked at Zhu Yun, and after awhile, he said, “I get it.”

What do you get?

w.a.n.g Yuxuan leaned over and whispered, “You don’t want to stay at home any longer, right? I can understand. To be honest, your mom is kind of scary.”

“……”

“I’ve always been afraid of her. She gives off this vibe that says, ‘If your grades are bad, you don’t deserve to come into this house.'” He straightened his back and shook the gla.s.s in his hand. “Fortunately, your Xuan gege worked hard. I got to this position because I spent my life fighting for it.”

Zhu Yun forced a laugh.

w.a.n.g Yuxuan pat her shoulder and said, “Leave it to me. When do you want to leave?”

The discussion went very smoothly. As w.a.n.g Yuxuan said, he had his position now because he’d fought for it.

Zhu Yuan, though, must have saved the nation in a past life. She put on an act in front of her mother, acting as if she didn’t want to show w.a.n.g Yuxuan around her school. Which her mother disapproved of.

“It’s not often that your cousin comes home. Why can’t you show him around your school?” Then her mother spoke with concern, “But since the school is on break, there are many places you won’t be able to go to. Should I have Zhu Yun’s father contact the school?”

“No, no!” w.a.n.g Yuxuan promptly shook his hands. “Please don’t involve all these people. I’ll just take a look around. We can go after the 15th. By then, it won’t be as busy here, and everything that needs to be taken care of should be finished.”

Zhu Yun calculated in her head. She’d be able to go back half a month early. Not bad at all.

After they made their plans, w.a.n.g Yuxuan started claiming his credit for this achievement. Since they had yet to leave, Zhu Yun didn’t dare to offend him, and so, she followed along with his whim.

“You’re always carrying around your laptop. What are you doing?”

“Practicing.”

“Do you like your major that much?”

“It’s alright.”

“I’ve never seen you put so much effort into anything. Do you want something to drink?”

“Anything’s fine.”

“‘Anything’ is the hardest thing to fulfill. Hurry and pick something.”

“……” Zhu Yun took a deep breath and closed her laptop. She raised her head and then said what was really on her mind. “w.a.n.g Yuxuan, you’re really annoying.”

It hadn’t been easy getting away from home. She’d found a coffee shop and had planned on spending the afternoon coding, but then w.a.n.g Yuxuan had to tag along and chirp about this and that. He just went on and on.

“Can’t you just find a book to read by yourself?”

“You need to balance work and rest. I’m home for a holiday, so why would I read?”

“……”

“Don’t look at me like that. A person should have an upright att.i.tude. Don’t forget that you were able to leave home because you were going to ‘chat with your cousin about school.'”

“……”

“Forget it. Your Xuan ge isn’t one to hold onto small things like that. Don’t worry.”

Zhu Yun drew in a breath. “w.a.n.g Yuxuan, you didn’t have this much to say before…”

“That’s when I just returned. I hadn’t found my language sense yet, but now I’m all good.” Zhu Yun pinched the bridge of her nose, and w.a.n.g Yuxuan smiled and said, “If I don’t play around, I’d be so bored sitting here. Why don’t you show me what you’re doing?”

Zhu Yun had no tricks, so she let him see her laptop. “We’re developing a software.”

“Looks like it has to do with medicine. There are a bunch of people starting up medical websites at my school.”

“It’s not really a website. More like an add-on.”

“Mmh. A website would be too difficult for freshman like you.”

“Tch.” She couldn’t help laughing as she held on to her coffee cup.

“Hey…” w.a.n.g Yuxuan grabbed the mouse and started clicking around on the human diagram. “This is interesting. Tell me more about it.”

“No need,” Zhu Yun said. “Our boss says that a good (customer) service software should be usable by old and young, everyone alike. If they can’t figure it out, then there’s a problem with the software.

w.a.n.g Yuxuan looked up at her, and Zhu Yun continued, “Try it out. If there’s something that’s difficult to understand, make a note about it. You can be our tester. But if you can’t figure out how to use this, then I’ll seriously have to suspect that you bought your diploma off from somewhere.”

w.a.n.g Yuxuan didn’t move, so Zhu Yun asked, “What is it?”

w.a.n.g Yuxuan smiled. “Zhu mei, you’ve really changed from the past.”

Zhu Yun paused. “What was I like in the past?”

w.a.n.g Yuxuan recalled, “Like a rabbit who only cared to be lazy. When Aunt Liu gave an order, you would complete the task, but only as much as she asked for. You never did more than required.”

Zhu Yun declined to comment on that. Instead, she said, “Continue using it. Finance student, give us a top-cla.s.s review with an international perspective.”

“Look at your temper.” w.a.n.g Yuxuan pointed at her and clicked his tongue. “I just made a few casual observations.”

Zhu Yun curled her lips and turned to the side. The coffee shop windows weren’t clean enough. There was still dust on it, which had become very clear with the sunlight s.h.i.+ning on it.

w.a.n.g Yuxuan straightened up and leaned back in his chair. “Zhu mei, I suddenly have a desire to go check out your school.”