Wang Mingzhou was writing something quickly in his notebook. Lin Yi looked at him and felt a bit frustrated.
There's a saying: watching your brother fail is sad, but watching him succeed is worse! Seeing Wang Mingzhou so serious about even an elective class, Lin Yi felt like he saw him in the future—driving an Audi A6, wearing a Chinese government officer jacket, looking very successful.
Lin Yi got nervous. He stopped yelling at his teammates in the game Immortal Glory, lowered his voice and asked, "Really? You take electives this seriously?"
Wang Mingzhou raised his eyebrows. "My phone is out of battery."
It was clearly a joke.
Lin Yi sighed. "Who said college was supposed to be heaven? Why does it feel like hell for me?"
Seeing his buddy studying hard instead of playing mobile games with him, Lin Yi felt a bit betrayed.
"Fine, I'll listen to the lecture."
"Actually... it's kind of interesting."As Lin Yi started paying attention, he found himself getting more and more into it.
The teacher of the class casually told strange stories that had taken magazines and the Internet by storm a decade or so ago, things like the Wheaten Circle and the Bermuda Triangle, all of which were treacherous and mysterious and fascinating.
The starry sky, or the universe, may really be as one would say, when mankind looked up at it for the first time, it was destined that mankind would not be bound to this land by gravity like the other thousands and thousands of creatures.
"Are humans, or ... are they alone or not?" The teacher at the podium, his hair slightly disheveled, pushed up his black-rimmed glasses and looked at all the students, pausing for a moment as if expecting someone to answer.
"The universe is so vast, but you can only see your five fingers when you look up and reach out."
The teacher paused and looked around the classroom, "Have any of you ever heard of Fermi's Paradox?"
"The Fermi Paradox," Wang Mingzhou said, looking at Lin Yi, "means that if Earth is such a small planet and still has life, then other alien civilizations should exist. But so far, we haven't found any."
"Maybe our tech isn't good enough yet. But there are other ideas," the teacher continued. "Like the zoo theory. Maybe we're like animals being watched, and we don't even know. Or maybe aliens hide on purpose."
"Hide on purpose…" Lin Yi whispered.
He turned to Wang Mingzhou. "What if immortals are the same? Maybe they do exist, but they hide from us."
Wang Mingzhou was surprised but then nodded. "If they are real, it's easy for them to stay hidden."
"Right! All those old stories might be true. Maybe the immortals just don't want us to know, so they live far away."
"But damn, why are they hiding? Wouldn't it be better to let everyone been immortal?" Lin Yi slapped his leg and stood up, getting excited. Before Wang Mingzhou could stop him, the bell rang.
"Ah crap, time to eat!"
But for Lin Yi, a boy from Zhongzhou in the 21st century, food was always more important than anything.
Been immortal? Nah. Cafeteria food matters more!
Dont eager for food, what is wrong with your brain?
Ziyuan Hall, near the library, was the most popular dining hall at Jinghua University. It was already full of students.
Of course, Lin Yi and Wang Mingzhou were there too.
After all, they'd trained well during high school lunch rushes — they were pros at this.
"No way! Su Yutong is performing at our school tonight!" Lin Yi shouted, looking at his phone.
He showed Wang Mingzhou a girl in a school unifrom outfit. "She just got into Class A in Idol Camp! She's my favorite!"
Wang Mingzhou looked confused. He understood the words, but nothing meanful.
"What? Horse something Mei(Chinese meme, when you dont know someone)"
"Su Yutong! The idol!"
"I thought you were gonna reach Immortal rank in your game tonight?" Wang Mingzhou said, pretending not to understand what his buddy mean. He clearly didn't want to go.
"Game ranks don't matter! My wife is more important!" Lin Yi said proudly. "Wanna come see her with me?"
"Does it cost money?" Wang Mingzhou spread his hands.
He didn't mind going, but he didn't want to pay for it.
Lin Yi blinked, then smiled. He was used to his friend being honest about he is a poorer.
"No problem. I'll pay!"
A girl nearby laughed. "Paying money so another guy can see your wife? You two must be really close."
"Brothers are like my hands, women are—"
Lin Yi didn't finish the sentence. When he saw the girl in front of him, he instinctively took a step back, avoiding her gaze.
In the girl's clear eyes, Lin Yi saw a reflection of himself—awkward, flustered, completely out of sorts.
He had always seen himself as a rich young man who had been around. Thanks to his family's business, he had met plenty of celebrities filming ads for their products, and had seen more than enough pretty influencers on Tiktok.
Even with the mask on, you can feel the girl's lawless pride, unabashedly released in front of your eyes.
Although according to Lin Yi's statement, but all girls wearing masks are all filed not worth a look, but when you look at the girl's pair of proud brown pupils, you will only subconsciously think that under the mask should be a how stunning face, that is not a mask at all, but a golden mask that seals the face of the scourge of the country and the people.
But this one... he felt like the mask was hiding a legendary face.
That wasn't a mask—it was a golden mask sealing away a face so beautiful it could bring nations to ruin.
"Niubi(Fucking amazing)" Lin Yi whispered.
The girl giggled, her twin ponytails bouncing. The sun hit her bunny hair clip and shone brightly.
"That's a funny way to say I'm pretty."
Lin Yi laughed. He didn't know how to describe a beauty like traditional Chinese poetry. All he could say was, "What a Niubi face."
But somehow, the girl can understand what he means.
Then he noticed a tall girl standing behind her, quietly watching him.
Wait, was she looking at me?
"Am I getting more handsome?" Lin Yi muttered, then coughed, intented to say hello to this gril.
"Xia Shu?"
Someone called the tall girl's name.
She stepped forward.
This gril wore a white tank top, a blue shirt, and shorts. Simple and clean. Her eyes were calm and quiet.
Lin Yi stepped aside for Wang Mingzhou.
"Mingzhou onii—" the girl stopped, then said softly, "Mingzhou…"
She paused again, then said slowly, "Wang... Ming... Zhou. It's been a while."
Wang Mingzhou nodded. "Yeah... been a while. Why are you here, Xia Shu?"
"I'm a freshman of this university."
As if he had heard some unbelievable statement, Wang Mingzhou looked Xia Shu up and down for a long time, "Did you underpaint the multiple choice questions in the college entrance exam again?"
"No."
"Then is Auntie filling out your university options blindly?"
"No."
Wang Mingzhou was about to ask something else when the girl next to Xia Shu cut in impatiently, "Why are you so naggy? You two grew up together, and now you're at the same university—shouldn't you be happy? Why ask so many questions?"
"Oh, oh, right..." As if suddenly realizing something, Wang Mingzhou snapped back to reality. He pulled out his student id card which can pay the lunch from his pocket and said, "this meal's on me."
"And cola!"
The girl on the side suddenly raised her hand, startling the crowd.
Xia Shu stayed calm. "This is my junior, Nini."
Lin Yi sensed something and smiled. He tried to talk, but the girl glared at him. "Don't call me that! Only she can call me Nini. You call me Xu Nuor!"
"Xu Nuor?" Lin Yi thought the name sounded familiar. But he just nodded.
"I'll go get the cola?" he offered.
"Come with me," Xu Nuor said.
Lin Yi lit up. He looked at Wang Mingzhou with shining eyes, full of thanks. Wang Mingzhou stepped back, a bit scared.
But Lin Yi didn't care. He thought becoming friends with Wang Mingzhou was the best choice he ever made. He even thought of getting him a thank-you gift.
"Let me show you around, junior!" Lin Yi said proudly.