In the Law School of the Provincial City University, with holidays imminent, the campus was especially lively.
The last few days were actually exams. After each exam, some people would go to the self-study room to review, while many more went directly back to their dormitories — yearning for home! Although packing up early wouldn’t make the holiday come sooner, getting everything ready ahead of time did provide some reassurance every time you checked.
Nearing lunchtime, student Xu Xing was perched on the balcony, carelessly braving the chill, constantly fixating on a distant view. It was as if upon the un-melted piles of snow in the flower beds, snow lotus flowers had unexpectedly blossomed.
"Xiao Xingxing, you’re about to turn into a wife-waiting stone, hurry up and come in! Don’t freeze to death, you silly girl..." the voices from her dorm-mates echoed from time to time.
Someone else volunteered a retort for her: "It’s not cold at all! The power of love is so great, it even makes me feel warm in this frigid wind..."
Xu Xiaoyan chuckled her way through the mockeries in her dorm, unaware and amused.
Little Dark-skinned Girl came out from the dormitory, stood beside Xu Xiaoyan, and watched for a while before saying, "Sister Xiaoxing, I brought some roasted peanuts and popcorn for the two of you to eat on your journey home!"
Xu Xiaoyan nodded her thanks, "Thank you, Yangyang. When are you guys planning to go home?"
Little Dark-skinned Girl hesitated for a moment, rather than answering her question, she asked instead, "Remember that little video hall near the room our fellow villagers rented?"
Upon this sudden reference, Xu Xiaoyan expressed her surprise, "What about it? Isn’t that a black-market video hall? Was it shut down?"
"Not yet!" Little Dark-skinned Girl saw her mistake and corrected it. "I noticed the movie names written on their signboard. I thought there might be a movie Yan Fei would love to watch, I just wanted to mention it!"
"What movie?" Xu Xiaoyan was curious. "I don’t think he has any particular interest in movies. Back home, he seldom even watches TV."
Mysteriously, Little Dark-skinned Girl whispered a few words into Xu Xiaoyan’s ear. Her eyes sparkled immediately, a grin spread across her face. "That sounds great! Do they still screen it tonight? We have plans to return home tomorrow, I can invite him to watch a movie tonight."
"Uh huh! Don’t worry, they are still screening that movie tonight." Upon hearing Xu Xiaoyan’s plan to take Yanfei to the movies, Little Dark-skinned Girl’s eyes curved into twin crescents.
With a hop and a skip, she moved towards the dormitory as if she had accomplished an incredible feat. Having spent a semester away from the manual labor at home, attending university, she did indeed seem to have lightened up a bit!
Xu Xiaoyan could feel the high spirits of this young girl, and it brightened her mood as well.
Upon entering the dorm, Little Dark-skinned Girl was even humming a tune, provoking laughter from her dorm-mates. "Xiao Yangyang, what favor has Sister Xiaoxing done for you again? Look how happy you are!"
Her cheerful voice rang out, "Mind your own business, can’t I just be happy?"
The other girls erupted in laughter. "Aiya... Xiao Yangyang, don’t even let us care about you now! Are you also thinking of following in Sister Xiaoxing’s footsteps, leaving our warm big family, and falling into the arms of love, eh?"
Another girl argued, "She’s already left us, hasn’t she? Now she’s a little wealthy girl, and in the future, she will be a wicked capitalist nouveau riche. No, we must have a big lunch today..."
The others chimed in agreement. "Right, right. We should feast, make sure to grab hold of Yangyang and don’t let her escape. We’ll each ’bite’ a piece off her..."
It’s hard to imagine how extravagant a lunch would be for these girls. As they were causing a ruckus, Xu Xiaoyan suddenly dashed into the dorm, grabbed her food container, and ran. "I’m going to eat now, not waiting for you all!"
"Ai ya ya ya..." the girls immediately shifted their attention to the running figure, uttering comments of amazement. "Is she going to eat or to meet her lover? Running so fast, she may lose a shoe..."
Of course, Xu Xiaoyan couldn’t hear them, she was already downstairs.
Yan Fei watched as she ran with rosy cheeks, fondly admonishing, "Slow down, what if you fall?"
"Ok!" This agile and nimble girl nodded as if she would really trip if she ran any faster. "Let’s go eat first! We have another exam this afternoon, after which we’re free for the holidays! We can head home tomorrow."
"Why not set off after the exam? I’ve thought it through, we can take the night train. We’ll arrive in the city by morning, then take a connecting train home. It’s much faster than taking a bus." Yan Fei proposed.
"What time is the train? I’ve never taken the train before! Are there any during the day? I have plans tomorrow night." The idea of taking a train piqued the girl’s interest.
"It leaves around eleven, I’ve already asked. We will reach the city just before dawn." Yan Fei answered, "What have you planned?"
"I won’t tell you, we’ll talk about it tonight." The girl retained an aura of mystery and then she contemplated for a while. Believing there was enough time, she agreed with Yan Fei’s train plan. "If there’s enough time for the eleven o’clock train, then we’ll take the train. While I’m taking the exam this afternoon, you buy the train tickets. After the exam, I will call my sister, telling her that we are not going together. We also have to inform Beibei and the others."
Then, that settles it.