WAYCAV Chapter 47.2

“Hey.”

Shen Nianjing called out to Su Zhiyan and draped a clean bathrobe over him.

Su Zhiyan adjusted the collar and they walked together toward the source of the commotion.

Over there were two communal pools joined together, and almost everyone from their group was there playing and fooling around.

Before they even got close, Su Zhiyan could see Wen Bei red-faced on the edge arguing with someone in the pool, while friends on both sides held his arms trying to break up the fight.

Su Zhiyan frowned and walked over quickly, pushing through the people on both sides.

“What happened?” he asked.

When someone grabbed his arm like that, Wen Bei turned around ready to yell angrily, but discovered the person pulling his arm was Su Zhiyan.

“…” He immediately deflated, his chest full of grievance, “Xiao Yanyan.”

He choked up, “This jerk insulted me!”

He pointed at the water. Su Zhiyan looked in that direction and saw Zhang Chang calmly leaning against the edge. When he saw him looking over, Zhang Chang spread his hands, “I didn’t say anything.”

“Let me tell you, Zhang Chang!” Wen Bei roared again, “Not everyone has to live according to your values, and you have no right to judge anyone with your narrow worldview!”

“Wasting resources is wasting resources.” Zhang Chang’s expression was calm, completely unmoved by Wen Bei’s anger, “You’re enjoying the best educational resources and opportunities in the country but have no ambition.”

“What, am I supposed to praise you for that?”

“You—” Wen Bei clenched his fists and took a step forward, about to get in the water.

Shen Nianjing strode over and held him back, “Don’t be impulsive.”

Wen Bei was hot-tempered and not good with words. Once he got into an argument, he could only end up at a disadvantage, either getting his logic led around by others and falling into self-proving traps, or getting so worked up he’d resort to physical violence. If he couldn’t win with words, at least he could win with fists.

Seeing that both Su Zhiyan and Shen Nianjing had come over, Zhang Chang couldn’t help shouting at them, “Why are you guys getting involved?”

“He’s my friend.” Su Zhiyan looked at him coldly.

Zhang Chang’s heart skipped a beat, “Oh, but so am I.”

Su Zhiyan looked at him indifferently, “You started a fight for no reason, Zhang Chang. You’d better apologize to him.”

Zhang Chang frowned and laughed mockingly, “Why should I apologize? What did I say wrong?”

He felt uncomfortable seeing Su Zhiyan acting so naturally superior like that.

Su Zhiyan had always overshadowed him academically since freshman year. Even though Su Zhiyan never sucked up to teachers and professors, he was still more favored by them than Zhang Chang was.

At first, he had considered Su Zhiyan his role model and goal, thinking that they were all people who had excelled in their respective provinces. Who was better than whom?

Why could Su Zhiyan do things that he couldn’t?

He had to network with upperclassmen to get comprehensive study materials, while Su Zhiyan could easily enjoy resources that professors handed to him on a silver platter.

Awards that took him double the effort to win, Su Zhiyan could easily get twice!

Su Zhiyan lived however he wanted, never caring about anyone’s opinion, as if he was born knowing exactly what he wanted and could pursue it single-mindedly, and the path he chose was always smooth.

He was smart, so in comparison, Zhang Chang seemed stupid.

Just like now, when he spoke up for Wen Bei with that serious expression demanding an apology.

It made him look like a twisted clown.

Always standing on the opposite side of genius.

“I. Will. Not. Apologize.” Zhang Chang pushed himself up from the pool edge and stood in front of Su Zhiyan, saying word by word, “‘Everyone has their own attitude toward life, and in their respective living environments they develop unique personalities and worldviews. We need to understand this and be understanding and tolerant of every personality, respecting everyone’s lifestyle, growth space and opportunities.'”

“‘Including ourselves.'”

He paused and looked seriously at Su Zhiyan, “That was your closing statement as the fourth debater at the debate competition in freshman year.”

His gaze fixed tightly on Su Zhiyan, his lips trembling, “Do you remember?”

“So why are you coming over here demanding I apologize!”

He laughed out loud, “Shouldn’t you respect my attitude toward life?”

Wen Bei was about to get angry again when he heard this, but Su Zhiyan and Shen Nianjing each grabbed one of his arms and held him down firmly.

Su Zhiyan stared silently at Zhang Chang, his gaze seeming to penetrate him completely.

After a long while, he spoke, “Respecting your attitude toward life doesn’t mean I can’t criticize your practice of randomly attacking others.”

“Zhang Chang,” he said, “Switching concepts was the approach you hated most when you participated in debates back then.”

“I suggest you don’t get stuck in the dead end of proving yourself and forget who you used to be.”

Su Zhiyan’s tone remained calm, like the narration of a documentary, “Although I don’t approve of your way of making friends, I respect it.”

“But in my understanding of friendship, you’re no longer my friend.”

“I know you won’t apologize to Wen Bei.” His tone turned cold and hard, “But I hope you realize how ridiculous you were today.”

Zhang Chang’s eyes stung with pain. He laughed mockingly and spat out two words, “I won’t.”

Why should what Su Zhiyan said be right?

Whatever, in Su Zhiyan’s eyes anyway, he had never been someone who could stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

Shen Nianjing watched this argument reach a deadlock from the side, while other people stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

He smiled lightly and pulled Su Zhiyan’s wrist, then grabbed Wen Bei too.

“What a shame we didn’t come wearing the volunteer uniforms the school gave us back then.”

He clicked his tongue in regret, “Really missed a good opportunity to get the school trending on social media for free.”

The people around them smiled slightly at his words, following his lead to ease the tension. Someone even chimed in, “Come on, Shen-ge, if we did that we’d probably be wanted by our advisor across the whole campus today.”

“You’re still too naive.” Shen Nianjing tilted his head, quite proudly saying, “During military training in freshman year, I don’t even know how many times I was wanted for being unmanageable.”

The atmosphere relaxed a bit. Shen Nianjing led the two of them outside, “I’m so hungry, let’s go eat!”

After leaving the communal pools, the three went to change clothes. When they came out of the changing rooms, Wen Bei’s anger had faded and he hung his head without speaking.

Seeing this, Shen Nianjing slapped him on the head, “What are you being all negative for? I already told you that you can’t out-argue him but you still went head-to-head with him stubbornly.”

Wen Bei raised his hand to touch his head and glared at Shen Nianjing, “That really hurt! You hit me so hard!”

After saying this, his head drooped down again.

“I just feel…” he mumbled, his words full of unexpressed grievance, “What he said was pretty right too.”

“You and Su Zhiyan are both devoted to academics and research, living up to the school and society.”

“But after I got in, I just want to pass, and I don’t have any plans to go to grad school. I just want to graduate and go home to find a stable job.”

“I guess I really am pretty useless.” Wen Bei’s eyebrows drooped too.

Su Zhiyan stopped walking and turned around, “I told you that you were stupid and you still didn’t believe it.”

Wen Bei looked shocked and raised his eyebrows, “Su Zhiyan, how did you become like Shen Nianjing? You never directly called me stupid before!”

The three of them walked to the buffet restaurant and randomly found a quiet spot to sit down.

“Don’t let others lead you around.” Su Zhiyan said calmly, “Let me ask you, do you like research?”

Wen Bei thought hard for a moment and said decisively, “No!”

“Do you need to go to grad school?”

Wen Bei shook his head, “No, grad school isn’t necessary for me. It would just add to my research suffering.”

“Do you like math?”

Wen Bei frowned, “So-so… no, very so-so.”

“Why are you planning to go home after graduation?”

“Because I prefer a slower pace of life. I like being with family and friends. A stable, peaceful, beautiful life has been my goal since middle school.”

“Then that’s fine.” Su Zhiyan concluded, “You don’t want to do research, and you don’t need to continue on the academic path.”

“So why would you cater to someone else’s values and choose a path you completely don’t like?”

“Getting into A University was your ability, your personal pursuits are your choice. These two things don’t conflict.”

“And aren’t you pretty happy with your life at school right now?” Su Zhiyan looked into his eyes and said, “If you’re happy, then why worry about it?”

Shen Nianjing crossed his hands in front of his lips, quietly watching Su Zhiyan.

Wen Bei suddenly understood, “Right!”

He angrily pounded the table, “That jerk! He was actually trying to manipulate me!”

Seeing that Wen Bei had found his way out of the confusion, Su Zhiyan smiled slightly and delivered his usual finishing blow, “Exactly, and research doesn’t need you either.”

Wen Bei: “…”

Wait, dude, you—

Shen Nianjing burst out laughing.

“Ahhhh but you usually just study and study besides studying.” Wen Bei went crazy, “Doesn’t that prove his elite theory of ‘effectively using any time to improve your abilities to serve society’!”

Su Zhiyan raised an eyebrow, “Who told you I study to ‘serve society’?”

He glanced at Shen Nianjing and said ambiguously, “I don’t currently have someone’s complete spirit of dedication to serving the people.”

“I just like math. Studying math makes me very happy and satisfied, just like how you feel when you play games.” He added.

Wen Bei: “…”

Damn, you might as well not have said anything.

“Besides, I don’t just bury my head in books. I’m not a machine.”

Su Zhiyan looked toward a grand piano not far away, stood up and walked over to it, slowly sat down, and looked at the two by the window with a smile, “Let me introduce you to one of my hobbies from middle school.”

After saying this, he gently placed his hands on the keys.

His slender fingers danced nimbly on the keys, and as his fingertips moved, ethereal and floating music flowed out.

Su Zhiyan sat gracefully and quietly at the piano, his head swaying slightly left and right with his fingertips, his gaze focused and serious, with a barely perceptible smile.

The music was as lively as its player’s mood, dancing and jumping in the air above the restaurant.

Light and ethereal.

Everyone in the buffet restaurant couldn’t help but turn their attention to him, watching the boy in the white shirt play quietly with his eyes lowered.

Finally, the light rhythm became gentle, and just when everyone thought the music was ending, suddenly the melody changed rhythm, becoming bold and emotionally rich, evoking the youthful spirit of a lush summer.

A young man who had just made his dreams, filled with infinite longing and hope.

Shen Nianjing sat dazedly in his seat, his eyes trembling slightly, looking at Su Zhiyan somewhat lost.

He seemed to know what that sheet music in Su Zhiyan’s social media background was.

Shen Nianjing listened to the entire piece in a daze. The soft light from the restaurant’s ceiling danced around Su Zhiyan, creating an incredibly beautiful scene.

Su Zhiyan.
I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can stop myself from liking you.