"You guys are here!" Ding Guo and Chang Hui had been looking for Xu Nianhua and Fei Jiayi everywhere after the rain stopped, worried that they might get caught in the rain.
Liao Jinling asked curiously as she walked up, "What are you doing?"
There was a bit of gray on the ground, but it was hard to make anything out.
"Drawing pictures, you know, Nianhua is really good at it."
Fei Jiayi excitedly shared the painting techniques she had just learned with Ding Guo and the others.
Ding Guo and the others tried their hands at it too, and among them, Ding Guo was the worst at drawing; yet unexpectedly, by following those instructions, she could draw quite well.
Zhou Wanwan gave it a go and said, "It feels like we’re coaxing children to learn to draw."
"It is about coaxing children to learn to draw." Fei Jiayi told them about the beautiful little boy she had just seen, continuing, "You don’t know, that little boy was too much. He wouldn’t even talk to me, only gave Nianhua a glance when she spoke to him. Could it be because I’m not as beautiful as Nianhua?"
As soon as Jiayi started talking about this, she felt deeply slighted.
"You weren’t as beautiful as Nianhua to begin with," said Liao Jinling, who loved to challenge Fei Jiayi on any ordinary day. She took Fei Jiayi’s words in stride, sizing up the two of them seriously before adding, "Nianhua is, after all, the most beautiful flower in our dorm."
Chang Hui nodded in agreement; Xu Nianhua was not only the most beautiful girl in their dorm but also one of the top beauties in their foreign languages department.
"I know that," retorted Fei Jiayi with an eye roll to Liao Jinling. "Did you actually listen to my point? What I meant is, that little boy only talks to beautiful people!"
"Not true, he didn’t say a word from start to finish," added Fei Jiayi.
"Let’s not argue," Ding Guo hurried to explain. "The beautiful little boy you’re talking about, I know him. He rarely ever speaks and doesn’t interact with people, living in the sanatorium. I’ve heard he might be autistic. Sometimes he runs out to play; I have seen him a few times, and he doesn’t pay attention to me either."
Even after getting back to school, Xu Nianhua was still thinking about the beautiful Little Hong’en, hoping he would recover from his illness soon to be like a normal child.
"Nianhua, Wanwan, aren’t you tired?" yawned Fei Jiayi. After a day traveling to Yishui County and spending hours in the car, she felt exceptionally exhausted. After dinner, a quick shower, and hitting the bed, she started yawning uncontrollably.
Across the bed, Xu Nianhua was still sitting up studying.
"No, I’m not sleepy yet," Xu Nianhua answered, then lowered her head to continue looking at her notes. Having not attended school for a week, she had a lot to catch up on and needed to make good use of her time.
Fei Jiayi, yawning continuously, glanced at Liao Jinling. Apart from her and Liao Jinling, Zhou Wanwan, Chang Hui, and Ding Guo were all sitting on their beds studying. Jiayi thought for a moment, picked up a book to read, but soon dozed off halfway through.
It wasn’t until the dorm lights went out that Xu Nianhua, rubbing her sore eyes, started to tidy up her bed to get ready for rest.
The next day, Xu Nianhua got up at dawn and continued with the homework she hadn’t finished the day before. She wasn’t worried about English, but with the recent French lessons she had missed, she needed to work even harder than the rest.
After class, Xu Nianhua approached Professor Fei with the homework she had made up yesterday and that morning, saying, "I haven’t finished a little bit; I will hand it in tomorrow morning."