“Um...” Qin Yang hurriedly said, “don’t wear it yet, wait for me!” Afterwards, he rushed to open the door and ran downstairs, then bought a new pack of men’s underwear at the convenience store nearby.
He Jin dared not look at Qin Yang. After putting the underwear on, the two called a taxi and returned to University.
After almost three years in University, this was the first time that He Jin was late for school!
And the professor of that lesson happened to be a really strict one...when the lesson had started, he would close the back door, so anyone late could only enter at the front door.
What about skipping the lesson? It’s a bad idea! Before the lesson ended, the teacher would count everyone’s names again...and when He Jin entered the classroom, he got the attention of everybody!
It’s a new term, new course, a new teacher who hadn’t seen He Jin before...he looked at him coldly, as if he’s the worst student ever!
With this rule, anyone with a sense of embarrassment wouldn’t dare to be late on Monday morning.
With a bit of struggle, He Jin sat down next to Hou Dongyan, who showed his thumb, “brother, you’re amazing! You dared to be late in Professor Huang’s lesson, and you even missed half of it...”
He Jin, “...”
Hou Dongyan, “wait, that’s not the main point. The main point is you didn’t return last night! Where did you go?!”
He Jin felt that his head was aching, comparing to the coldness of his professor, he’s more worried of such kind of questions...what if he told Hou Dongyan that he’d spent the night with Qin Yang? What would he think?
Before the end of lecture, Professor Huang counted the names. And when he mentioned He Jin’s name, he looked at He Jin from top to bottom, then said, “He Jin, come with me.”
The whole class was shocked. And they were looking at He Jin following Professor Huang out. He Jin was the first person being called by Professor Huang because he’d been late!
He Jin also thought that Professor Huang wanted to scold him. Unexpectedly, when there were less students, Professor Huang suddenly aksed, “He Jin, I’ve heard about you from Ms. Li.”
Ms. Li was their professional counselor, He Jin was a bit lost, as he didn’t know what the Professor wanted to say.
“In Hua University, the administration gives two quota for undergraduate students to be a researcher per year. Have you heard of it?” Professor Huang pushed his glasses and asked, “Ms. Li recommended you to me, do you know what being a researcher implies?”
He Jin nodded. He heard that it is possible for researchers to apply to stay in the University to teach, and can start from being a counsellor first. He’d follow the administrative path, and 10% of the administrative staff in Hua University had pursued a master degree beforehand.
However, being at the “bottom level” of the University means that he wouldn’t earn a lot. If he continued to pursue his studies, he’d probably be able to earn a higher salary, or work at a managerial level. Being a researcher would retain him a stable, and a rather “successful” image in the society, but it’s also quite a boring job, not many students are interested in it.
He Jin wasn’t sure how he thought about it. Before starting to plan his future, his mother had stopped it by a phone call. And with all the incidents that followed after, he really wasn’t sure what to plan at all.
Professor Huang said: “I have read your previous grades. You performed well. If you are interested, I will tell Ms. Li, and I still have one quota. I will reserve it for you now.”
He Jin nodded and thanked Professor Huang.
Professor Huang also asked, “what happened this morning? Did you feel sick?”
He Jin answered with an “um” with shyly, then he promised that he’d never be late again. Professor Huang laughed, “who do it on purpose, who don’t, I know very well. Don’t worry about it, take care of yourself.”
Before returning to the dormitory, his bracelet started vibrating, it was Qin Yang.
When He Jin picked it up, he heard Qin Yang sweetly said, “wifey, do you want to eat together? You must be starving, we didn’t have breakfast this morning.
Although he knew that nobody would hear, He Jin still nervously looked around and whispered, “don’t call me like that!”
Qin Yang, “then what should I call you? Senior bro?”
This “senior bro” made He Jin even more embarrassed and now he’s having goosebumps all over. It hurt his ears too, “just call my name!” He Jin was shy and embarrassed.
Qin Yang laughed, “ok, ok, He Jin, I’ll wait at the Third Canteen, come here.”
When he arrived at the Third Canteen, Qin Yang had already ordered two relatively expensive set meals. He Jin asked, “why was it ordered already?” Qin Yang also paid for his dinner the other night, making He Jin feel like he’d owed Qin Yang too much.
Qin Yang already knew what he was thinking, he complained, “I’m your boyfriend, why can’t I treat you? What sort of rule is this? Sit down and eat.”