Chapter 93: Chapter 91: That Was Not Me Last Night
The bathroom was much cleaner than Zhou Li had imagined.
He faintly heard some noise outside.
When he came out, the young man had disappeared. He walked back to his seat, wiping his hands with a paper towel, and asked, "Where did that guy go?"
"He left," Brother Nan said while nibbling on duck neck.
"He left," Huai Xu repeated.
"What did you two do to him?" Zhou Li asked.
"I just went to talk to him about it, and it turned out he was quite reasonable!" Brother Nan lifted her eyelids while eating the duck neck and looked at Zhou Li calmly. "He said he’d change seats; now I don’t know where he’s moved to."
"I saw it, he left," Huai Xu raised his hand to speak and then guessed, "He probably left out of embarrassment."
"...You two."
Zhou Li felt they were just like children.
Sitting back down in his seat, he threw away the tissue and chose a packet of chips from the many snacks—cucumber flavor—and opened it to start eating.
Brother Nan reached over and took two chips.
As Zhou Li was eating, he realized that the game had not been started, and Brother Nan to his left had also gone quiet.
Turning his head, he saw Brother Nan staring blankly at the computer screen.
"Hmm?"
Zhou Li waved his hand in front of Brother Nan and, seeing no response, asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Still no response.
Zhou Li thought for a moment and touched her cowlick.
He was met with a punch.
Brother Nan withdrew her hand and continued sitting there, staring blankly at the screen, then suddenly said, "Zhou Li, do you think I’ve grown up?"
"?? "
Zhou Li glanced at the five or six empty beer cans on the table, pondered for a moment, and shook his head. "No, you’re still young."
"But I’m already 19," Brother Nan said.
"19 is still young."
"Have you turned 19?"
"No."
"..." Brother Nan turned to glance at him, then lay down dejectedly on the table. "I feel like I’m still a child, but I also think childhood was more fun. I used to be so happy when I got a new pen or a pretty notebook, excitedly doodling and writing for a while... I don’t anymore."
"Tell me," Brother Nan stared at Zhou Li again, "Have I grown up, or not?"
"Drink less."
"This has nothing to do with the alcohol, I’m completely sober!"
"..." Zhou Li turned his head to glance to his right, only to see the Old monster staring at them with an interested expression. After hesitating for a moment, he reached out to touch Brother Nan’s cowlick again. "We’re playing a game, don’t get distracted."
"...Makes sense."
Brother Nan nodded and started another round.
However, she made mistakes frequently in this round and only managed to win with the help of Huai Xu’s well-equipped Ice Shooter and his deity-like positioning.
Brother Nan stared at the screen, then after another moment of contemplation, turned her head and said, "Zhou Li, after thinking it over, I’ve realized I still have many cute traits. Since you can’t point them out, let me tell you, and you better remember them."
"Isn’t that unnecessary?"
"It’s necessary!"
"Shouldn’t we focus on the game?"
"BANG!"
"Okay, go ahead."
Zhou Li had never known that drunk people had so much on their minds.
Later, as Brother Nan got more affected by the alcohol, they ordered some barbecued takeout to help stay awake. She even wanted a whole bottle of Erguotou liquor, but Zhou Li persuaded her not to, under the pretext that he felt uncomfortable smelling the alcohol.
As time went on, only Zhou Li and Huai Xu were left playing the game, as Brother Nan had already fallen asleep on the couch.
Her sleeping posture was a bit weird.
Zhou Li picked up his phone to check the time but found several notifications for red packets and money transfers. Opening them, they were all sent by Brother Nan.
They were:
A QQ red packet of 3.07 yuan.
A WeChat red packet for a total of 806.63 yuan, sent in several increments.
An Alipay transfer of 17,643.12 yuan.
And a Meituan red packet.
Zhou Li: ...
He opened the Meituan red packet, entered his phone number, and claimed five mao, usable on a purchase of at least thirty-five yuan.
He sent the rest of the money back to Brother Nan one by one, to prevent her from discovering she had no money for breakfast the next morning and having to call the police.
Afterward, Zhou Li also went to sleep.
As it turned out, barbecued food couldn’t keep you awake.
At 8 AM, Huai Xu woke Zhou Li up, and then Zhou Li woke Brother Nan up, both rubbing their eyes.
By then, only the login screen remained on the computer, and the table in front of the three of them was a mess. Huai Xu was finishing the last sip of iced tea, looking like he wished there was more. "Should we have breakfast now?"
"Oh, yeah, right..."
Brother Nan struggled to stand up.
The three of them went downstairs to find a noodle shop. A bowl of steaming noodles later, they were wide awake.
On the way back, Brother Nan had a blank look on her face.
Every time she remembered last night, she felt her face burn with embarrassment—How could I have been so melodramatic?
She occasionally turned to look at Zhou Li, wanting to say something but stopping herself again and again. But ultimately, she didn’t have the power to turn back time. She could only shake her head and, in about 1.5 seconds, decided to forget everything about last night.
Back in the dormitory, they hurried to shower and catch up on sleep.
「September 22nd, Sunday.」
Today was, in fact, a great Qingtian.
Zhou Li woke up early. Chen Yang and Chang Xiaoxiang woke up even earlier, saying they had a meeting to attend. Early in the morning, he listened to them complain about how they had been busy with student council meetings, class committee meetings, or attending teachers’ guidance sessions. They had so many things to do; they were busy to death.
Zhou Li changed into a pair of pants with good elasticity and a long-sleeve T-shirt, and put on his sneakers.
Making do, it was good enough.
He picked up his helmet and put it on in front of the mirror to check how it looked. He thought it looked pretty good, a gunmetal gray, suitable for a guy to wear.
"I’m off."
After saying that, he went out.
He waited downstairs, pushing his bicycle, until Brother Nan rode up on a brand new mountain bike, hands hanging loosely, looking relaxed. It wasn’t until she leisurely arrived in front of Zhou Li that she bent down to grip the handlebars and raised an eyebrow at Zhou Li—
"What do you think? Looks cool, huh?"
"What?"
"The bike! What else could it be?"
"Oh." Zhou Li carefully examined her new bike. The color scheme was quite eye-catching and had personality, but he couldn’t really see anything else.
"Cool," he nodded.
"Hehe, I spent a long time choosing the configuration. It was just assembled yesterday afternoon, and I even paid the shop master to help me assemble it!" Brother Nan seemed very fond of her new bike. "I was thinking about getting a full-suspension, but then I thought I might as well go for a hardtail..."
"I don’t get it."
"..." Brother Nan choked for a moment. "Let’s go!"
"You can’t ride bikes on campus."
"Who cares!"
"Haven’t you been busy these past few days?" Zhou Li ignored her, pushing his bike along. "Chen Yang and the others are very busy, attending all sorts of meetings."
"Those idiotic meetings, I don’t bother with them!" Brother Nan frowned, reluctantly following Zhou Li and pushing her bike.
"Is it okay not to go?"
"What could go wrong?"
"Indeed..."
The two bought a few baozi and headed towards the school gate.
The members of the Bicycle Association formed an impressive sight, each pushing a bicycle. Many were dressed in tight cycling clothes, wearing goggles and strange-looking shoes, creating a unique spectacle at the school entrance.
The types of bikes were half road and half mountain.
Zhou Li looked down at his sportswear and then at Brother Nan.
Brother Nan wasn’t wearing cycling clothes either, just some tight-fitting clothes to reduce wind resistance and prevent pant legs from getting caught in the chain. Her tall figure and straight, long legs were quite eye-catching.
Noticing Zhou Li’s gaze, Brother Nan turned her head and whispered, "Don’t be fooled by how professional these people look; they’re actually all noobs."
After a pause, she rephrased, "The more professional they dress, the more embarrassed they’ll be when we leave them in the dust. And it makes us look even more badass. This is called playing the pig to catch the tiger."
Zhou Li nodded. That made sense.
Nibbling on their baozi, the president and vice president of the association arrived soon after, both riding road bikes.
The president was tall and sturdy, wearing an eye-catchingly pink cycling outfit. In contrast, the vice president, a girl, wore a red and black outfit that exuded a cool and tough vibe.
Both were very recognizable.
The president counted the members, and once it was nine o’clock and confirmed in the group chat that nobody was late, they set off on time.
First stop: the edge of Dian Lake.
After a couple of turns and following Yupu Road straight down, they would directly reach Huanhu East Road.
This area was already alongside Dian Lake.
The weather was nice today too; the sky was a pale blue, and white clouds formed a line at the horizon. Dian Lake’s green expanse was vast, and the morning wind was calm. Reeds and water hyacinths grew along the shore.
Being considerate of the freshmen, the president specially allowed some time for everyone to play and take photos.
At some point, the president approached Brother Nan, already confused by her appearance. "Junior Sister, how long have you been riding bikes?"
"Over twenty years."
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"...You’re quite the joker, Junior Sister." The president looked at Brother Nan’s bike. "A new bike?"
"That’s right."
"You probably don’t ride much usually." The president looked troubled. "Today’s hundred kilometers are simple for us, but if you’ve never ridden this long before, it’s going to be very tough."
"How do you know?"
"You don’t have proper cycling clothes, the bike is new, and you don’t have clip-in shoes." The president had a discerning eye. "You were a bit impulsive. You probably signed up without much concept of what a hundred kilometers entails; it’s actually quite tiring. Especially since girls generally have less stamina than boys."
"I see," Brother Nan mimicked Zhou Li.
"But it’s no big deal." The president smiled, reassuring Brother Nan. "Every year, many juniors interested in cycling sign up impulsively without much prior biking experience, and then they can’t keep up halfway through."
"What should I do then?" Brother Nan’s eyes widened.
"No worries, we’ll stick together later," the president said. "Rhythm is very important when cycling. If you follow me, it’ll be easier to maintain your rhythm."
"But you’re on a road bike."
"We’ll all ride slowly. Otherwise, even if we swapped bikes, you still wouldn’t be able to keep up with us."
"What if the wind gets too strong?"
"I’ll draft for you."
"Is that a promise?"
"It’s a promise."
"Then, thank you, President."
"No problem. Junior Sister, let’s exchange contact information. I can call you for rides around the area in the future."
"Sure, Alipay."
"???"
"I usually just use Alipay for messaging."
"..."
Zhou Li silently listened from the side, without letting on.
He never expected that, in the end, the president would add Brother Nan’s Alipay—judging by his regular activity level, he should be able to become an important source of Brother Nan’s ’energy’ every morning, right?
They continued chatting, and Zhou Li kept listening.
He heard the president say that this time they would be riding clockwise around Dian Lake. The advantage was a smaller chance of headwinds in the afternoon, and they could ride close to the lake’s edge.
The winds around Dian Lake tend to be particularly strong in the afternoon.
He also mentioned that further on, there was a small village bordering Dian Lake with nice scenery. The road was right by the lake, there were many seagulls, and it faced the direction of the sunset, making it much better than places like Haigeng Dam, and so on.
BLAH BLAH BLAH...
Brother Nan listened attentively, taking mental notes.
It wasn’t until the vice president came over to remind them it was time to leave, and shot the president a disdainful look, that the president reluctantly ended their conversation.
The ride around Dian Lake officially began.