HMPS: Chapter 35

The signal light flashed to the next green and He Qiao finally crossed the zebra crossing and walked to him.

On the morning of He Qiao’s birthday, Chi Xueyan’s first words to him were, “It fits pretty well. Can I borrow it to wear in the future?”

It was the first time he had seen He Qiao wearing such clothes. It was a loose, light gray sweater and a casual dark brown jacket. A youthful atmosphere covered his seriousness.

Chi Xueyan didn’t have the hobby of breaking into other people’s rooms without permission to rummage through their closets, not to mention that the clothes He Qiao usually wore didn’t look similar in style.

These were his own clothes.

This was probably a major advantage of same-sex couples. Clothes could be mixed and worn.

Saying this, Chi Xueyan handed the bag in his hand to He Qiao. “Fried dumplings. Remember to wait five minutes before eating.”

He not only indicated the time and location on the note, but he also asked He Qiao not to eat breakfast before going out.

He Qiao took it and didn’t ask him about the reason or the destination. He instead asked, “Have you eaten?”

“I’ve eaten it. The ones that just came out of the pan are more delicious,” he said. “But this bag will be used as a prop later, so you can only eat it when it is a bit cooler.”

Chi Xueyan said with a smile, “However, the taste is very good and more accurate.”

It was as delicious as he remembered.

Walking through the intersection, there was a wide road with dark green pine trees on both sides. Under the blue sky, there was a sense of tranquility and solemnity.

“It is a pity that it didn’t snow today,” Chi Xueyan said. “Otherwise, they would be more like Christmas trees.”

It was the first time for He Qiao to walk on this road. Previously, he only passed by occasionally in a car.

But he knew the road. It was famous. Tourists used to come and see it.

Under the shade of the pine trees, there were two top colleges that were almost facing each other.

Three minutes later, He Qiao saw the two colleges with completely different styles. It was the time before and after the morning class, so young college students were constantly coming and going.

Strangely, many people came out of the school gate on the left. Then they walked quickly into the school gate on the right.

Seeing this scene, Chi Xueyan also quickened his pace, his eyes flickering with satisfaction. “You can eat fried dumplings when you enter school.”

This was a college he once attended but almost every morning, he would run to the place opposite the school to buy breakfast.

At the moment when the five minutes were about to end, he walked side by side with He Qiao through the school gate. The guard’s gaze swept over the fried dumplings bag in He Qiao’s hand very normally and he naturally regarded them as one of the college students.

In the early morning sunlight, they naturally joined the crowd of students rushing to class.

The first level was passed smoothly. Chi Xueyan looked at He Qiao with side eyes and happily unveiled the mystery of the birthday arrangement. “Today, I will take you through an adventure of my youth.”

It wasn’t as an outside visitor. He sneaked in to revisit the youth that would always play out in different people.

He was inspired from the moment when He Qiao offered to help him write the report and he remembered his high school days. Perhaps it was also due to the potato squirrel fish that he ate in another college cafeteria.

Chi Xueyan didn’t remember the past much. It was because he often had happy days and rarely felt nostalgic for his past.

But occasionally, he felt that there were moments in the past that were so brilliant they could never be replaced.

For example, he had a great time in college.

For example, at this moment when memory and reality were about to be intertwined.

The only difference was probably that his overly ostentatious hair color was too easy to remember. She deliberately wore a low-key black hat to cover it.

Chi Xueyan asked the person beside him solemnly, “Student He Qiao, which department’s class do you want to listen to?”

On the sidewalk of the campus, two very similar coats were covered with the shadows of the trees.

They started from the crowded and noisy intersection, walking past streets full of pine trees and boarding a non-existent platform that led to the past.

On what should’ve been a lonely winter day, the dark lamps on the platform burned with crimson warm flames.

The students waiting on the platform forgot every train schedule. He remembered only to look at the lamp and answer the lamp’s question seriously, “I want to take a lesson that dentists need to learn.”

“I guessed.” Chi Xueyan chuckled and immediately led him in the most familiar direction. “After all, you are also a dentist now.”

Even though the work content was only to write the annual summary.

Three years had passed. The scenery of the medical school hadn’t changed. He was surrounded by unfamiliar, young faces and the most familiar aroma of fried dumplings.

Chi Xueyan asked, “Are the fried dumplings delicious?”

“It is delicious. Is this the breakfast you used to eat?”

“Yes, it is more convenient,” he replied. “You have to cherish this bag of fried dumplings. The gap will be very strong compared with the lunch waiting for you.”

In his complete youth, there should be delicious fried dumplings from the school next dark and there should also be creative dark dishes to eat in the school cafeteria.

There should be more wanton nonsense.

He Qiao watched Chi Xueyan stop a girl from the medical school and asked her in a polite tone, “Student, does Teacher Jiang have a class from today?”

“Yes, it seems that it will be in a while. Student, are you here to observe?”

“Yes, I heard that his class is interesting.”

He wore a hat but he was so close that she could clearly see his delicate face.

The girl didn’t dare to look directly at him. She asked in a low voice, “That… do you want me to take you there?”

“I won’t bother you. If it is convenient, can you tell me which classroom it is in?”

Chi Xueyan smiled at her. “My boyfriend has been here before and knows the way.”

A minute later, he returned to his ‘boyfriend’ with the photo he had just taken on his phone. It contained the weekly class school of a certain class of a certain year of the medical school.

Chi Xueyan handed the phone to He Qiao and let him choose. “Is there a class you don’t want to listen to? If not, I’ll go to someone else and ask for a timetable.”

As he spoke, he looked at the other students walking by. He was seemingly looking for another target that might come from another grade.

He Qiao’s gaze swept over the class schedule on the screen while also staring at Chi Xueyan’s sun-lit side profile. He remembered the name that flashed in the wind.

“I want to listen to Teacher Jiang’s class.”

This was what Chi Xueyan certified as interesting.

The class was really interesting.

He Qiao didn’t understand the large amount of professional knowledge taught in class, but he understood every joke that Teacher Jiang said.

He didn’t know anyone in this large lecture hall. No one knew him, but Chi Xueyan was always sitting beside him.

They sat together in the last row of the classroom. It was the best place for students who didn’t want to listen to the lecture to play with their phones and sleep.

However, Chi Xueyan listened very attentively while thinking of these jokes he was reunited with after a long absence.

This made He Qiao also listen extra seriously for this adventure that would never be forgotten.

Even the strange and difficult medical terms were like gold.

At the end of the class, the students stretched, got up and walked out one after another. Meanwhile, the teacher was packing up the courseware by the podium.

In the flow of people, Chi Xueyan looked like a student as he walked out side by side with He Qiao casually.

As he was about to reach the door, Teacher Jiang by the podium finally couldn’t help it and stopped him with a smile. “Do you really think I can’t recognize you, Xiao Chi?”

He was always unforgettable.

It was only then that Chi Xueyan stopped. He turned around and greeted him with a smile. “Teacher Jiang, long time no see.”

“Yes, I haven’t seen you for a long time. I didn’t expect you to listen to class so seriously just now.”

Teacher Jiang chatted with him in a humorous tone, “When did you dye your hair red?”

“It was in the first two years. Cool, right?”

“It is cool. The leaders of your unit are also quite cool.”

“They aren’t as cool as Teacher Jiang’s jokes. There are several new jokes. I like the one related to nerves the most.”

“Oh, Student Jiang, don’t say such things.”

Having said that, Teacher Jiang was still very happy. He looked at He Qiao beside him. “Did you bring a friend over to play?”

Chi Xueyan nodded. “Yes.”

Then Teacher Jiang whispered to him, “Teacher Zhao is giving a big lecture in the afternoon. Do you want to bring your friend to listen?”

Teacher Zhao was the most amazing teacher in the entire medical school. There was a college legend where students fell asleep when he was lecturing.

His classes could cure all insomniacs.

After bidding farewell to the humorous Teacher Jiang and walking out of the classroom, Chi Xueyan asked He Qiao, “Do you want to take a nap in the afternoon?”

He Qiao read the schedule sent by the random student. “Okay, first go to the unpalatable cafeteria and then go to sleep in Teacher Zhao’s class.”

Chi Xueyan was amused by his description. “It sounds like a bad day.”

He Qiao responded to his words in a soft manner, “Yes, it is the most perfect day.”

A boring and happy youth.

It was Chi Xueyan’s youth.

In that period of youth, there was a cafeteria with an unforgettable taste.

Stainless steel plates filled with strange dishes, college students coming and coming and conversations that occurred everywhere.

“Is it really hard to eat?”

“Yes.”

The student in the hat got the destined answer and rolled his eyes with a smile. “Then what do you want to eat now?”

His gentle companion beside him replied to him, “I want to eat fried dumplings from the school next door and I also want to eat squirrel fish made of potatoes.”

“I will take you to eat squirrel fish next time.” He paused, his tone strange. “However, there are really people who love to eat at this cafeteria, such as Teacher Jiang.”

“It is like Teacher Jiang’s taste.” The companion paused and his tone was curious. “Do the teachers here like you very much?”

“No, the more serious teachers don’t like me very much.”

Chi Xueyan remembered that an old professor who was very rigorous and meticulous once told him in public, “Chi Xueyan, you know how to cause chaos! Is there nothing you can’t do?”

He replied seriously, “Yes, such as giving up on causing chaos in the world!”

The old professor, who originally looked stern, laughed angrily.

Since then, no one criticized Chi Xueyan so formally because they knew that he couldn’t change. They just ignored him.

So Chi Xueyan still lived freely.

By the time they finished lunch, they had spent a whole morning at the college and met many medical students.

Naturally, they were watched often along the way and were accosted several times by bolder students.

“Student, which school are you from?”

This was the most common and euphemistic type of pick-up line.

Chi Xueyan’s expression remained unchanged. “I am from the school of literature and he is from the school of economics.”

Then he ended the answer here. He ignored the subtext behind the question. He nodded in a distant manner and left.

Someone’s conversation was more direct and he changed his rhetoric. “We are both from law school and came to find a friend. Do you know Su Yu from your school?”

In any case, he didn’t repeat any nonsense.

No one knew this non-existence medical school student Su Yu, so they regretfully ended this difficult conversation and watched the two people leave to find someone.

Chi Xueyan naturally didn’t go to find a friend.

He took He Qiao to buy a bag of sugar-fried chestnuts to make up for the bad lunch. He could also take it to Teacher Zhao’s class to relieve boredom.

In the afternoon, He Qiao became familiar with the way of adventuring and also learned the game.

Looking at the borrowed notebook, ballpoint pen on the table and even the mobile phone charging cable, Chi Xueyan quietly gave a thumbs up to his deskmate.

This made them seem more like a student coming to class.

However, his goal hadn’t changed. He still made a special trip to take a nap.

Eating some sweets before his lunch break helped him sleep more.

Chi Xueyan and He Qiao sat in the second last row. This time, they didn’t grab the golden seats in the last row.

The classmates in the law row looked up at the movements of the two people in front of them. Then they looked down at their phones, calculating whether they would have enough time to go to the small supermarket.

Chi Xueyan peeled chestnuts and He Qiao also peeled chestnuts.

Doing it at the same time became an unspoken game.

Chi Xueyan felt his movements become faster.

However, He Qiao was lucky and always got the type of chestnut that could be eaten as soon as the shell was peeled.

Meanwhile, the chestnut that Chi Xueyan took casually after peeling it was often stained with an annoying thin coat.

Once this unfair situation happened for the first time, Chi Xueyan quickly took the ready-to-eat chestnut kernels from He Qiao’s hand and ate them in one bite. Then he stuffed the bad chestnut kernels into He Qiao’s hands.

He simply announced the result, “I won.”

He Qiao was caught off guard. He first looked at the other person in a slightly stunned manner. Then his eyes quickly filled with a smile and he cooperated. “Yes, I lost.”

The chestnut kernels stuffed into his hands still contained a warm heat.

However, it happened too quickly and he couldn’t remember the body temperature from the exchange of chestnuts.

Chi Xueyan had eaten enough. He pushed the paper bag containing sugar-fried chestnuts to He Qiao. He took off his hat in a good mood, took off his coat to use as a pillow and prepared to start his lunch break.

Teacher Zhao was lecturing today and had a soothing tone that seemed to purify the soul, just like the past.

It didn’t take long for Chi Xueyan to fall asleep.

Sweets brought about sleepy dreams.

He dreamed of the youth that had passed.

He woke up and saw the passing years again.

The afternoon classroom was full of warm sleepiness. Some students who really wanted to listen to class opened the window slightly and cold winter wind poured in from outside.

The first thing Chi Xueyan saw after waking up was the chestnut kernels on the paper towel in a corner of the desk.

There were many light yellow chestnut kernels that had been peeled clean.

At the same time, he felt a gentle weight landing on his body.

He Qiao was putting a coat on him.

He saw the dark brown collar placed around his shoulders and the fingertips touching the collar.

It was like an unfinished hug.

“There is no need to cover me. I am awake,” Chi Xueyan said. “Aren’t you sleepy?”

He Qiao apparently didn’t sleep.

Not only did he peel a lot of sugar-fried chestnuts but he wrote a lot of words in the notebook on the desk.

It was what Teacher Zhao taught in class.

Chi Xueyan’s sleepiness was immediately driven away by surprise and he asked reflexively, “Can you understand it?”

He Qiao replied honestly, “No.”

“Yet you took notes?”

“Studying in advance,” he explained. “Maybe next year’s annual report will be a bit better.”

Chi Xueyan couldn’t help smiling. “Will you help me write it next year?”

“Yes. Do you need it?” He Qiao asked.

“It should be needed if I am still working as a dentist.”

Chi Xueyan commented emotionally, “You really like to study such old things, from news to reports.”

“You are stricter than my high school classmate. He wrote similar articles for me every time and often copied himself.

Therefore, the teachers had long found that his activity impressions were ghostwritten. They just didn’t expose it, maintaining a type of tacit play.

If He Qiao was his deskmate back then, the teacher probably wouldn’t have found it.

He would definitely write each impression very differently, like every different day in his life.

Thinking of this, Chi Xueyan felt that he still hadn’t gotten enough sleep. He kept lying lazily on the desk of the college classroom, looking at the deskmate next to him that he liked more and more.

In this long yet short moment, he looked like a red-haired dentist who loved to tell stories and coax people now, like a dark-haired college student who once played bass on stage without any distractions and like a childish teenager who waited for his deskmate to finish a boring report.

He smiled very normally but the dust swirling in the air was like a dream, suddenly blowing away the folds of time and the years became a splendid game.

“Yes.” He Qiao stared at him for a long time before replying softly, “I like it very much.”