Chapter 3
At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the class meeting started as scheduled.
The entire major, around a hundred people, was present. The large lecture hall was noisy, and even the arrival of the counselor did not reduce the commotion.
The counselor for the Computer Science Department’s Class of 2019 was a young female teacher with a little experience and this was her first time overseeing this cohort.
She was very meticulous about both major and minor matters, frequently calling for class meetings.
At this time, she started with a seemingly genuine expression of missing everyone over the holiday and then spent an hour elaborating on the purpose of the meeting.
Few people listened attentively throughout. Jiang Zhong mentally summarized the key point, which is—there was no key point!
The meeting was mostly a routine briefing about the department’s arrangements, which had already been sent to the class group.
After the class meeting, Xi Qin returned to his outside campus rental apartment.
Jiang Zhong had originally thought that Xi Qin would not come back to the dorm if there was nothing important and just stay out as he used to. However, unexpectedly, Xi Qin came back around dinner time.
He even brought his computer and books needed for the next day’s classes.
“Are you staying in the dorm today?” Jiang Zhong asked.
“Yeah,” Xi Qin said. “It’s the first day of the semester. I’m not sure if the counselor will come to check the dorm.”
That’s true. Their counselor did visit every dorm on the first night of each semester.
However, didn’t the counselor say during the afternoon meeting this afternoon that she would not be in school tonight?
Jiang Zhong wasn’t sure if he had remembered correctly, but everything would be fine since Xi Qin had returned.
Xi Qin connected his computer to the campus network while Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan asked if he wanted to team up for a game.
Since the four dorm mates had stayed up all night gaming at an internet café during the end of last semester, Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan had discovered that Xi Qin was very skilled at playing games.
However, Xi Qin had moved out shortly after the start of freshman year. Usually, if there was anything that needed to be notified to him, it would be sent through the dorm group chat. When he was in the dorm, he didn’t talk much, mostly just answering when spoken to. He would only talk more with Jiang Zhong.
So, apart from the last time at the internet café, Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan’s impression of Xi Qin was limited to “roommate, very handsome, very aloof.” It’s obvious, they weren’t close enough to regularly team up for games.
Xi Qin glanced at the time in the bottom right corner of his computer and said, “Sure, but should we grab dinner first?”
In the end, the four decided to go out for a meal. Even though it was a last-minute decision, it was a Monday and not a holiday, so they didn’t have to wait long for a table.
After returning to the dorm, Jiang Zhong grabbed some clean clothes, getting ready to take a shower.
“Jiang Zhong, join us,” Deng Letian said. “We’ve got just the right number with four people.”
Jiang Zhong replied, “I’m not that good at playing…”
“No worries,” Xiao Yuan said confidently from the side. “Xi Qin can guide you, like last time, remember?”
They still didn’t know that over the break, Jiang Zhong had secretly teamed up with Xi Qin a few more times.
Jiang Zhong instinctively looked over at Xi Qin, who was also looking at him. Xi Qin smiled and said, “Come on, I’ll guide you.”
“Alright,” Jiang Zhong agreed, “You guys start, I’ll join after I shower.”
Jiang Zhong quickly finished his shower, and when he came out, their game wasn’t over yet.
Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan were yelling enthusiastically from time to time, while Xi Qin maintained his usual style, only responding with a simple “Mm” when his name was called.
As Jiang Zhong dried his hair, he turned on his computer and logged into the game, clicking around out of boredom.
After a while, Jiang Zhong casually draped the towel over his shoulder to catch the water dripping from his hair. He dragged his chair over to sit beside Xi Qin, and watched him play.
Xi Qin didn’t bring back his over-ear headphones, so he was wearing his usual Bluetooth earphones.
Seeing Jiang Zhong come over, Xi Qin put down one of his earphones, which was closest to Jiang Zhong, and asked, “Hmm?”
“It’s nothing,” Jiang Zhong signaled Xi Qin to ignore him. “I just want to watch you play.”
Xi Qin nodded, leaving the earphone off and continued playing the game. He used a sniper rifle to take out an enemy who had exposed part of their head from a building, intentionally or unintentionally showing off his skills.
Xi Qin then turned to head downstairs. When he reached the stairs, he stopped for a moment, then quickly ran to a blind spot at the top of the stairs, waited for a few seconds, and began moving in circles.
Suddenly, a grenade was thrown up from downstairs. In a flash, Xi Qin kicked out a window, jumped down from the second floor, and climbed through a window on the first floor. Without being noticed, he snuck up behind the enemies and quickly took down and finished off the two players guarding the stairwell who were about to rush up.
Jiang Zhong: “!!!”
When Jiang Zhong played games with Xi Qin, Xi Qin always played very steadily because he was guiding him.
Although Jiang Zhong knew Xi Qin was skilled, it was nothing compared to the shock of seeing it from a first-person perspective.
“That’s amazing,” Jiang Zhong almost wanted to clap for Xi Qin. “How did you know there were people downstairs?”
Xi Qin smiled lightly and handed the earphone he had removed earlier to Jiang Zhong, indicating that he should put it on. He said, “I heard them coming in.”
“Oh, right.”
Connected through Bluetooth earphones, Jiang Zhong could only see the muted screen and almost forgot that Xi Qin could hear footsteps.
But still, it was impressive. If it were him, hearing footsteps would just make him think about running away, and then he’d likely get shot in the back while fleeing…
Jiang Zhong and Xi Qin each wore one earphone, sharing the same audio.
Xi Qin seemed energized and relentless, and kept hunting for opponents in the game. The sound of gunfire echoed through the earphones, and bullets flew chaotically across the screen. Even though Jiang Zhong wasn’t the one actively playing, he still found the gaming experience extremely enjoyable.
After the game ended, Xi Qin achieved a victory with 15 kills.
“Awesome!” Deng Letian shouted.
“So cool!” Xiao Yuan clapped.
“Really!” Jiang Zhong exclaimed, “That’s impressive! Your skills are good enough to go pro, right?”
“No, becoming a pro isn’t that easy,” Xi Qin said with a pleased smile, then told Jiang Zhong, “Come on, let’s play together.”
Jiang Zhong, who had been inspired by watching Xi Qin, nodded enthusiastically and said, “Sure!”
That night, after the gaming session, the previous sense of alienation between Xi Qin and the other three members of Room 412 seemed to have disappeared.
Especially with Jiang Zhong, Xi Qin was always in a very gentle and cheerful state, appearing to be in a great mood.
Jiang Zhong also began spending more time with Xi Qin, as Xi Qin would stay in the dormitory for two or three days each week, naturally sitting next to Jiang Zhong during classes.
Later, when Xi Qin was not staying in the dormitory, Jiang Zhong would reserve a seat next to him for the next day’s class. If Xi Qin arrived at the classroom first, Jiang Zhong would text him to save three more seats.
In addition, Jiang Zhong also took on the responsibility of informing Xi Qin about important matters. In the past, the dormitory leader would mention Xi Qin in the dorm group chat, but now Jiang Zhong would privately message him.
Sometimes, Xi Qin would also actively ask Jiang Zhong about things and engage in casual conversation.
Jiang Zhong discovered that Xi Qin was quite witty in online chats and didn’t seem as reserved as in real life.
It might be the case for some people, they are not great at face-to-face interactions but perform much better through chat tools.
The two chatted almost every day, to the point where Xi Qin’s chat window was always prominently displayed.
Jiang Zhong had developed a habit of checking for messages from Xi Qin. If Xi Qin didn’t reach out one day, Jiang Zhong would feel uneasy and wonder if something had happened.
After more than half a month, Jiang Zhong felt that his relationship with Xi Qin had evolved from ordinary roommates to good friends.
But suddenly, Xi Qin became distant to him again.
Although they still sat together in class, Xi Qin’s responses were now short, such as “Mm,” “Okay,” or “No, thanks,” which felt quite discouraging.
Jiang Zhong thought that perhaps something unhappy had happened to Xi Qin, so he subtly asked on WeChat. Xi Qin simply replied with two words: “It’s nothing.”
This response made Jiang Zhong decide not to bother with him, thinking, “Everyone has their own moods.”
However, Jiang Zhong couldn’t understand why Xi Qin was behaving this way, as he noticed that Xi Qin’s attitude had changed only towards him, while Deng Letian and Xiao Yuan were treated the same as before.
Jiang Zhong couldn’t help but wonder if he had unknowingly offended Xi Qin…
He vaguely remembered that Xi Qin’s attitude started changing on Wednesday night.
That day, Jiang Zhong was rehearsing in the dance studio in the art building for the school’s welcome party. During a break, he saw a message from Xi Qin asking where he was. Jiang Zhong replied, and Xi Qin then asked when the rehearsal would end.
Jiang Zhong knew that Xi Qin was at an esports meeting that day, also in the art building, so he jokingly replied, “What? Are you coming to pick me up?”
After waiting for a while with no reply, Jiang Zhong went back to rehearsing.
When he checked his phone after finishing, he saw Xi Qin’s message: “I’m waiting for you at the dance studio entrance.”
The time was 35 minutes ago.
Jiang Zhong quickly went to the entrance without even wiping the sweat off, but he didn’t see Xi Qin. He quickly sent him a message:
【I’m done here. Where are you?】
With no immediate response, Jiang Zhong called him directly, and Xi Qin answered fairly quickly.
“Where are you?” Jiang Zhong asked as soon as the call connected. “I’m at the entrance but didn’t see you.”
There was a faint sound from Xi Qin’s side, and his voice seemed slightly cold: “Sorry, I had to leave early.”
“Oh, no problem.” Jiang Zhong tried to ignore the fleeting sense of disappointment. “You can go ahead.”
At that moment, his dance partner came out with his bag: “Why are you running? Don’t you want your bag?”
“I just came out to find someone,” Jiang Zhong said with a smile, taking his backpack. “Thanks.”
When he looked at his phone again, Xi Qin had already hung up.
Later, when Jiang Zhong returned to the dorm, he found that Xi Qin’s computer and books from earlier were no longer on the desk, and he hadn’t returned.
After the curfew time, Jiang Zhong couldn’t help but message Xi Qin:
【Aren’t you supposed to be staying in the dorm tonight?】
Xi Qin replied quickly with a casual tone:
【Changed my mind.】
Then, the next day in class, Xi Qin’s attitude towards Jiang Zhong was frosty.
Jiang Zhong was very easygoing and generally didn’t hold grudges, but he wasn’t someone who liked to make the first move to break the ice.
So, after two days of cold treatment from Xi Qin, Jiang Zhong stopped initiating conversations or sending messages.
During class, he either focused on the blackboard, looked down at his phone, or chatted with Deng Letian, deliberately avoiding looking at Xi Qin.
The two of them were like a couple having a quarrel, neither moving apart nor making any effort to break the silence. They’re just stuck in their cold war.