"Sorry, traffic was bad. You waited long."
"We're starving! It's almost two. Is your internship place that far?"
"An hour and a half without traffic, two hours with."
"Gosh, it's not in the south of the city, is it?"
Zeng Keqin nodded, unwrapped the utensils, and rinsed them with hot water.
Fang Yu pushed the menu over. "We've ordered. We got what we wanted. You can order the rest."
Zeng Keqin added a serving of spare rib and lotus root soup and a serving of Typhoon Shelter-style fried crab.
Soon, the dishes arrived one after another.
Wang Chunyue raised her drink cup. "Cheers to a smooth internship and an early promotion!"
Liu Ying followed, "I'll toast too. We're almost seniors now; we won't have much time together later."
Fang Yu shot her a look. "Don't say that when we're happy. Here's to a bright future and carefree days!"
Zeng Keqin took a sip of orange juice—sweet and sour, with soft pulp.
Halfway through the meal, Wang Chunyue seemed to remember something. "Oh, by the way, the senior and junior students are busy with graduation. Do you want to go check it out?"
Zeng Keqin glanced at her phone, the screen dark. "I'll see."
Back in the dorm, after showering and changing into comfortable pajamas, Zeng Keqin sat at her desk, opening a book she hadn't finished. She flipped a few pages, then picked up her phone again. There was an unread message from over ten minutes ago.
Jiang Shiyu: [I was busy with graduation stuff. Congrats on passing the interview!]
The heaviness in her heart seemed to dissipate like wind-blown clouds.
She replied: [Thanks.]
In the boys' dorm, Jiang Shiyu was leaning against the headboard, scrolling through videos. A message notification popped up at the top of the screen. He immediately exited the video, saw the two characters, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
[The day after tomorrow in the morning. Do you want to come and see?]
Above the chat box, it showed 'Typing...'
After waiting over a minute, still no reply.
He stared at the screen and added another line: [As an invitation from a friend.]
Zeng Keqin was hesitating when she saw the new message. In her mind, she suddenly pictured him in a graduation gown—red hair paired with a black robe. It should be quite eye-catching.
Zeng Keqin: [Sure.]
Jiang Shiyu: [I'll save you a spot.]
Zeng Keqin: [Mm. Goodnight.]
Jiang Shiyu: [Goodnight. [Cat sticker]]
Zeng Keqin looked at the cute little cat and smiled.
*
On graduation day, the sun was bright, and the crowd was massive.
The sports field was packed with graduates in caps and gowns, families and friends holding up phones to take pictures everywhere.
Zeng Keqin stood at the edge of the crowd, standing on tiptoe to peer inside. Every time she came to a crowded place like this, she felt inexplicably restless, wanting to find a corner to hide.
But today, her gaze swept across the crowd again and again until she finally spotted Jiang Shiyu.
That dazzling red hair had been dyed a deep blue, shining with a translucent cobalt luster in the sunlight, making his skin look even fairer. He wore his graduation gown, head down, playing on his phone. A few strands of hair fell, covering half his face.
Just as Zeng Keqin stepped behind him, her phone buzzed.
[Arrived?]
"Jiang Shiyu."
She called softly.
He turned around, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "You're here?"
"Mm. Why did you dye your hair again?"
Jiang Shiyu raised his hand to brush aside the hair on his forehead, speaking casually. "Graduated. Wanted a change of style."
Zeng Keqin looked at his carefree demeanor, a hint of envy stirring inside her. She envied how he could change his hair color and style freely, without caring about others' opinions.
While she hesitated for ages just to change her phone case.
"Does it look good?"
"Not bad."
"What does 'not bad' mean?"
Jiang Shiyu tilted his head, leaning in. "Tell me honestly, does it look good or not?"
Zeng Keqin stepped back, frowning. "Fine, it looks good."
Jiang Shiyu smirked, straightened up, and looked at her long black hair. "What about you? Want to dye it too?"