After the case of the Heartbroken Xun, I made a trip to Bingxin's place to fulfill my promise.
Sun Tiger looked exhausted after just returning from his trip to study countermeasures against that mysterious organization. I was too preoccupied playing games with Bingxin to talk to him.
After lunch, Sun Tiger called me to the balcony and said earnestly, "Son!
I thought he was about to say something important but his next words left me astonished. "I noticed that you’ve been getting along quite well with my baby girl recently,” he began. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m relieved to hand her over to you! As an elder, I have to stress that I’m not a conservative parent and I understand that my daughter is all grown up now so certain things might come naturally in the course of dating. But as a man, you must have a sense of responsibility. Once a girl goes through an abortion, her body will be affected for the rest of her life."
After contemplating the right words for a long time, I made my position clear, "Uncle Sun, Bingxin and I are very good friends, nothing more. Besides, I..."
On second thought, my relationship with Xiaotao was a matter of privacy that needed no disclosure.
“Oh, my mistake!” Sun Tiger looked surprised. "You two have been friends since you were little. If you do get together in the future, I’ll have no complaints. As a father, I worry that my daughter will be cheated and taken away by some good-for-nothing! I’ve seen news on TV about girls who elope with some deadbeat, and I thought that if this happened in my home, I would have to blow my head off!"
Embarrassment written all over my face, I squeezed out a few perfunctory replies and asked about work. But when it came to business, Sun Tiger chuckled and avoided my questions. I figured it involved state secrets so I didn’t insist on hearing an answer.
During this period of time, Dali had undergone the most changes. He successfully got his driver's license and drove the Mercedes-Benz allotted to me by the police, though it seemed the usage rights solely belonged to Dali.
On our first test drive, Dali came dressed in a casual suit. "Before I knew it, I’ve become the person I used to despise,” I joked. “If you tried passing off as a rich kid, people might actually believe it!”
"How can I be insulted with the title, ‘Rich Kid’?” cried Dali. “I’m going to be a self-made millionaire!"
"Have you got any ideas about starting your own business?" I asked.
"We'll talk about this later!” Dali motioned with his hands. “I've just learned to drive and I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it yet. Don't talk to me, you’ll only distract me!"
We drove around the university and had lunch at a restaurant Dali picked out. He insisted on treating me to lunch and ordered a whole table full of food. Such a clear show of currying favor meant the idiot was up to no good. "What is it you want?" I asked bluntly.
Dali put his palms together and said, "I really can't hide anything from you. Actually... um ... How should I put this..."
"Stop mumbling and speak up!" I interjected.
"I need some start-up funds,” admitted Dali, face flushed like a ripe apple. “Can you lend me some money?"
After all those twists and turns, it turned out this was what he wanted. "How much?" I asked.
"The more the better,” he answered.
I had more than a million yuan in my account. It was pennies in the eyes of a rich kid but it was all my savings. "Is one million enough?" I cut to the chase, paying little mind to his request.
"That’s enough! More than enough!” he cried excitedly.
I immediately transferred the money to Dali, after which he promised he would return what he borrowed. Starting a business was difficult and I didn't want to put too much pressure on him so I said, "You don't have to pay back the money. Just think of me as a shareholder. It doesn’t matter if you fail or succeed, I’ll hold a million yuan worth of shares, alright?"
"Of course!” Dali nodded fervently. “I won’t let you down."
"But here’s a word of warning,” I said. “Spend it wisely. A million yuan isn’t a small sum and I won’t be able to come up with that sort of money again..."
Wang Dali clapped his chest and assured, "Don’t you worry! I guarantee every penny will be spent on essentials!"
Right after assuring me, he turned to the waiter and ordered two of the most expensive dishes!
Dali continued to create his business enthusiastically but kept the details to himself. I acted as if nothing happened. In the worst-case scenario, the business was a complete failure and I would have to look for a job.
In May, the students on campus had all switched to cool summer wear. There was only a month left before graduation.
Every few days, we all went out for a meal together, happily drinking cheap beer with stir-fried potato shreds and twice-cooked pot. We dreamed of a beautiful future, hearts filled with ambition and hope, certain we could overcome anything. After getting drunk, we would hold our heads in agony and wail in memory of the youth that was about to fade.
The boys in the class gathered for drinks so often, the oldest in our dormitory drank so much he had to be hospitalized for gastrointestinal bleeding.
However, he soon recovered and was discharged from the hospital within a few days. Then, in the name of celebrating his recovery, we went to the cheap Sichuan cuisine restaurant outside of campus for another round of vomit-inducing drinking. After more than two hours of eating, drinking and being merry, two of our roommates were completely drunk, while Dali was slightly tipsy. We went back to our dormitory on foot.
As night fell, some of the girls in junior year strolled around campus in their pretty dresses as they laughed and chatted. “How nice it is to be young,” Dali sighed with emotion. “Looking at these beautiful young girls reminds me of my younger days. At the time, I too walked along the street like this, eagerly looking at other girls."
"Ugh, stop being so dramatic,” I chided. “Go back and drink some vinegar. You need to sober up!"
"Isn’t the whole point of drinking to get drunk?” he argued. “Sigh, do you think I made a big mistake? Maybe I should’ve chased after our juniors. Instead of fighting so desperately in our ‘resource-deficient’ department, I might as well have tried my luck in someone else's gold mine. After all, senior students might have a special appeal to juniors. Ah, I do regret it!"
"It's not too late now,” I laughed. “Go up there and try your luck!"
Dali debated with himself for a second, then waved his hand repeatedly, "Not today! Perhaps another day!"
"I'll bet ten yuan that you’re too afraid to strike up a conversation with a girl," I quipped.
Provoked by my words, he retorted, "Who says I’m afraid?!"
"Then go ahead."
"Fine! I’ll do it!"
Dali moved the drunkard on his shoulder to the side of the road, summoned up his courage and walked towards the girls. Halfway there, he turned around and said, "Forget it. I only have Bingxin in my heart."
"You coward!" I scoffed.
"Fate is a mysterious thing,” Dali remarked as he started weaving a web of nonsense. “It’s important to be content with what you have instead of insisting on that which does not belong to you. Who knows? A girl might come up and talk to us instead."
"You might as well stop looking for a girlfriend!"
With the two drunk men on each of our shoulders, we slowly made our way back to the dormitory, only to find a petite girl wearing a yellow dress standing downstairs. She poked her head through the entrance as if waiting for someone. "Looks like you were right!” I joked. “There’s a girl looking for you."
"I'm not the man of the hour on our campus,” he sighed. “She’s definitely looking for you!"
Just then, the girl turned around and timidly asked, "Excuse me, which of you is Song Yang?"
I stared in surprise while Dali’s mouth had fallen agape. The girl was actually waiting for me!