Yi Pin had been waiting for a full hour. The clock on the wall seemed to have stopped.
He grew impatient and looked at Shen Yu in front of him helplessly, wondering if the latter was really reading.
Suddenly, Shen Yu stood up and walked towards Yi Pin. In a quick step, he got close to Yi Pin, with only a few centimeters of distance between them.
"What are you doing?" Yi Pin instinctively stepped back. A faint smell of cigarettes wafted over, a smell that was both familiar and somewhat disorienting.
"Where did you learn the respect for teachers? I've never heard you call me teacher," Shen Yu said with a slight smile on his lips.
He remembered that this kid used to follow his every word. But as the years passed and that incident happened, he was no longer so clingy.
"Then where did you learn the ethics of a teacher? Oh! You've learned how to scheme and work for a woman blindly, right?" Yi Pin sneered contemptuously.
Shen Yu frowned, his brow furrowed with annoyance and a hint of helplessness. But he still remained silent. Then, his lips curved into a faint smile.
"Grandpa may have forgotten, but I, Yi Pin, will never forget. You're a hypocrite!"
Yi Pin said coldly. He snatched the document from Shen Yu's hand and turned away.
Walking on campus, the cold wind blew strongly. The sky was dotted with stars. The playground was empty as he passed by. It made sense. Who would be hanging around the playground at night?
But a few seconds later, Yi Pin was proven wrong.
Couples emerged from the grove, some of them even disheveled, clearly having just had an intimate moment.
As a single dog, Yi Pin could only wrap his clothes tightly and light a cigarette, feeling a bit desolate.
Yi Pin didn't usually smoke, but he would have a few when he was in a bad mood or couldn't sort out his thoughts.
Just then, an eager figure chased after him and patted him on the shoulder.
"Pinzi, out for a stroll at night?" Lin Yangcong's hearty voice rang in his ear.
"Who has the leisure to take a stroll? But you, you just came back from off - campus, right?" Yi Pin said with a meaningful smile.
"Yeah, I just came back from Qiangzi's place. He's about to take an exam and is in a hurry with his studies."
Lin Yangcong's face lit up when he mentioned Qiangzi.
Qiangzi was his boyfriend of many years, and they had been together for a long time.
At first, Yi Pin felt a bit uncomfortable, but after getting used to them, he found that homosexuality wasn't so repulsive. On the contrary, they got along very well.
"Stop teasing me. I see you lovebirds being all lovey - dovey every day. This school is a sacred place, and you're ruining it!"
Yi Pin pouted and said with a smile.
"Pinzi, I don't like to hear that. If you think it's too much, go find a girlfriend yourself," Lin Yangcong said, grabbing Yi Pin's shoulder and smiling.
Yi Pin came from a wealthy family. He was rich, handsome, and was admired by many girls in the school. But he had been single for years. Just thinking about those delicate girls made him feel it would be troublesome.
Every time he returned to the dormitory, Yi Pin would buy all kinds of things. He had been used to it for years. This time, when he rummaged through his wallet, there were only a few hundred - yuan bills, looking so lonely.
He reluctantly took out one and bought some snacks to take back.
When they got back to the dormitory, Wang Tao was doing pull - ups. He was determined to be a muscular god and charm thousands of girls. Yi Pin just couldn't bear to tell him that girls usually looked at looks and height.
And Qin Zhuoyue was sitting quietly at the table, reading a book.
Yi Pin was really in awe of this bookworm. Sometimes, he could sit like this for two days and two nights before the final exams.
But his hard work paid off. He was always the top student in the law department every year.
As soon as Wang Tao saw the snacks, he couldn't resist and surrounded them.
"Brother Yi, you brought snacks again. You're really a rich man!" Wang Tao said with a sly smile and quickly opened the package.
Qin Zhuoyue looked calm. He never ate snacks at night.
"The rich man is about to go bankrupt," Yi Pin said with a smile. "And if you want to be a muscular man, don't turn into a fat man."
Then he went to his bed and covered himself with the quilt, ready to sleep.
Wang Tao raised his eyebrows. Usually, if Yi Pin was around, no one could out - compete him for food. But today, he seemed to have no appetite.
"What's wrong? Did that Teacher Shen of yours give you a hard time again?" Wang Tao asked curiously.
"Whose Teacher Shen? Shut up," Yi Pin said and threw a pillow, which hit Wang Tao right on the head.
"Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue..."
Yi Pin tossed and turned all night and couldn't fall asleep. Shen Yu's confident smile kept appearing in his mind.
He was in a daze and didn't know when he finally fell asleep. The next morning, he was still half - asleep when he was woken up by the phone.
"What?" Yi Pin said impatiently. He heard a moment of silence on the other end.
"Come to my office!" Shen Yu's voice came through the phone.
Yi Pin was shocked. He looked at the clock. It was just a little past eight. Why was he called to the office so early?
It was obvious that Shen Yu was deliberately making things difficult for him.
On the way to the office, Yi Pin took the time to go to the school infirmary and pretended to have constipation to get some enzyme.
If he didn't take action, Shen Yu would really think he was a weakling.
When he got to the office, Yi Pin knocked on the door. He glanced at Shen Yu. Among all the people in the office, only Shen Yu was wearing loose clothes while the others were in formal suits.
"Why did you call me here?" Yi Pin asked impatiently.
"I just want to ask about your thoughts. And there are also some good cases here. I think they will be helpful to you," Shen Yu said with a smile.
The two of them stared at each other, sitting on the chairs, feeling extremely awkward.
"Teacher Shen..."
A female teacher came to find Shen Yu. While Shen Yu was out, Yi Pin poured some enzyme into his water cup with a smirk on his face.
He didn't believe that with such a large amount, Shen Yu wouldn't suffer.
After a while, Shen Yu came back. He glanced at Yi Pin, smiled, and sat down. Then he was about to pick up the teacup to drink.
Just as Yi Pin's smile was about to spread, expecting Shen Yu to drink the water, the situation took a turn.
Shen Yu stopped suddenly, without any warning, and closed the teacup.
"Do you know what the pattern on my teacup is?" Shen Yu suddenly asked with a smile.
"A deer!" Yi Pin answered casually, looking disappointed.
"It symbolizes that the deer appears in the deep forest," Shen Yu said to himself with a smile.
Yi Pin was a bit stunned and just remained silent.
For two consecutive weeks, Shen Yu would often call Yi Pin to his office. Yi Pin was annoyed by all this running around, but because of his graduation thesis, he didn't argue with Shen Yu.