Chapter 24

Jin Nian chattered, “Lu An, what are you doing? Be careful, or I’ll really report you to your grandma and let her beat you up.” Jin Nian seemed to have smelled the faint fragrance of oranges. Her memories were in a mess again, and she traveled back to the year she had graduated from high school. A row of orange trees had been planted on both sides of the main road near the school. It was midsummer in July, and the rich fragrance of oranges spread throughout the entire street. As a result, whenever she ate an orange, she would think of that midsummer.

The capable Lu An. The unhesitating Lu An. The angry Lu An. “Lu An, I’m sorry…” Lu An paused. He lowered his head and leaned his ear close to Jin Nian’s lips. “Why did you suddenly say sorry?”

Jin Nian grabbed the corner of her white shirt and looked at his Adam’s apple moving up and down in front of her. She said softly, “I knew that you would be sad about changing your choice, but I still did it. Am I really a bad person?”

Jin Nian regretted it on the day she reported to the university. She had originally agreed to go to the north with Lu An. Both of them were born and raised in the south. They had never seen the beautiful scenery of heavy snow or experienced the four distinct seasons, so they wanted to go and take a look together. Jin Nian remembered that she had agreed readily at that time, but she regretted it without saying anything later. It was midsummer in July, and the postman sent the admission notice to everyone’s home under the scorching sun. Lu An was accepted by a 985 university in the north, but Jin Nian chose a normal university in the province. Lu An found her angrily and asked her why she did that. Jin Nian felt guilty and stammered for a long time without saying a reason.

The two of them had parted on bad terms. Later on, Lu An had not appeared again for the entire summer vacation. Jin Nian had thought that he had gone to Hong Kong to accompany his grandparents, so she had not taken it seriously. However, Lu An had not returned until school started. And no matter if she had called or texted him, he had not replied. Jin Nian had known that she had gone too far this time. As the university was very close to her home, Tan Siyun hadn’t allowed anyone to send her home. Jin Nian could only drag her suitcase to report to school by herself.

Teacher Tan called her over the night before she reported to the school and gave her a card with two months of living expenses inside. Teacher Tan said, “Going to university is equivalent to having one foot in society. You’re already an adult. You have to learn to be independent in the future.” Jin Nian dragged two suitcases that were heavier than her. She took the high-speed rail first, then the subway, and finally the bus. After seven to eight hours of torture, she had been so tired that her entire body had ached.

In September in Binhai City, the sun radiated its own light and heat. Jin Nian, who had been forced to become an independent woman, was being roasted shrimp under the sun. Looking at the completely unfamiliar surroundings and listening to mostly unfamiliar accents, she couldn’t help but feel depressed. For some reason, she missed home and Lu An. If she had gone to school with Lu An, Jin Nian would not have had to suffer so much. Lu An’s mother had arranged for a special driver to pick him up and drop him off at school. Jin Nian had followed him around many times over the years. As for the big and small bags of luggage, Jin Nian didn’t need to do anything. Although Lu An had a bad temper, but he still took good care of her.

Jin Nian stood under the big tree beside the school’s bulletin board, feeling even more upset. However, she had always been optimistic, and it only took her a moment to sort out her emotions. When she saw the painting that had won the gold award on the bulletin board, her mood improved a lot. Her mother was right. An adult should learn to be independent. She couldn’t possibly have followed Lu An around for the rest of her life. However, things didn’t go as she had wished. Her weird roommate had completely destroyed Jin Nian’s mood.

Jin Nian was the last one to arrive at the four-person dormitory. As soon as she entered the room, she found that all six beds had been filled with things. Jin Nian was confused and thought that she had gone the wrong way. After confirming it, she realized that this was the place. She pushed her luggage in and took the initiative to greet the people in the house that she lived here too. Only then did someone stand up with an embarrassed expression and vacated a bed for her. She opened her luggage and was about to pack her things when she looked up and saw her roommate throwing a used rag on her bed. Jin Nian frowned and couldn’t help but remind him. The other roommate’s attitude was very arrogant, and she even accused her of being too stingy.

However, when Jin Nian came back from the bathroom after washing her towel, she found that there was a lot of garbage under her table. She looked up at her roommates, and unsurprisingly, everyone lowered their heads in silence. In fact, Jin Nian knew who did it without even asking. However, she couldn’t understand why the other roommate was so hostile towards her since it was their first time meeting.