RCJM Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Merry Christmas guys and happy holidays! 

__

In the days that followed, Du Ruo never met Jing Ming again.

Firstly, because the midterm exam was coming up soon. She had to continue studying extracurricular content while preparing for the exam, and had no time to take care of other things.

In such a vast school, when her routine was fixed to four points, the dormitory, library, canteen, and classroom, it becomes difficult to meet acquaintances.

Secondly, she fell into a wave of self-loathing. She hated that she was constantly distracted and unwittingly lost, like a headless fly, deviating from her original plans.

She missed the girl she was in her hometown who had no distractions and clear goals.

Her mind was struggling, trying to escape this vicious cycle.

Thinking about this, the pen in her hand unconsciously scratched hard on the paper, drawing rough and irregular lines.

In the dormitory, He Huan Huan was munching on spicy beef jerky while copying down key points from her book. When she heard the sound of pen on paper, she turned her head: "Classmate Du Xiao Cao, what are you doing?"

Xia Nan, held the book without raising her head: "It’s like you're cutting someone to pieces.”

Du Ruo came back to her senses and saw that the good manuscript paper had been scratched into a mess. She quickly tore off the first two pages, crumpled them into balls and threw them into the bin: "It’s nothing, I was just a little distracted."

"Oh." He Huan Huan moved on; Xia Nan gave her a curious look, and Du Ruo avoided her eyes guiltily.

Although it was a Saturday, there was a midterm test next week, so Xia Nan and Qiu Yu Chen did not go home and stayed in the dormitory to study.

Qiu Yu Chen, tired of studying, put down her book, turned on her computer, plugged in her headphones, and prepared to watch an American TV series: "Huan, give me a pack of that spicy beef jerky, that specialty from your hometown."

He Huan Huan threw a bag to Qiu Yu Chen and looked at Xia Nan.

Xia Nan: "Too spicy, I can’t eat it. If I get pimples, my skincare routine would be in vain."

"Wow.” He Huan Huan gave a thumbs-up: "I admire your self-control… Xiao Cao?"

"Auntie is here [1], and my stomach hurts." Du Ruo’s voice was strained.

He Huan Huan: "By the way, isn’t your class going on an autumn outing this week? Did you ask for leave?"

"I did. But as soon as I asked, none of the boys wanted to go either. They said they would wait for me and postpone it until next week."

Qiu Yu Chen was eating spicy beef, sweating at the tip of her nose: "Indeed, the class flower gets special treatment. Our class had an autumn trip last week. A boy asked for leave and had to skip. The rest of the class went anyway."

Du Ruo, rubbing her cramping stomach, smiled weakly.

After the brief interruption, the dormitory became quiet again.

Everyone continued reading and reviewing, and occasionally there was the sound of He Huan Huan tearing open snacks, or faint sounds from Qiu Yu Chen’s headphones.

Until a certain moment, the sound of a pen scratching paper was heard again.

He Huan Huan and Xia Nan looked over at the same time. Du Ruo was biting her lip while holding a pen scratching the manuscript paper on the table. 

He Huan Huan: “Du Ruo?”

Du Ruo stopped, her palms sweating.

"What's wrong?"

Du Ruo crumpled the paper into a ball and lied: "With exams coming up, I must be nervous."

He Huan Huan sighed in relief: "I thought it was something serious. This girl, you have been very nervous since you entered school. Everyday it’s like you’re preparing for the college entrance exams. Relax a bit."

"I know. Don't worry."

Xia Nan pondered for a moment and asked: "Xiao Cao, have you been troubled lately?"

"That’s right." Qiu Yu Chen also paused her computer and said with concern: "If you have any trouble, just let us know. Maybe we can help?"

Du Ruo lowered her head, fidgeted with her fingers, hesitated for a moment, and said: “I don’t know why, but I keep falling into this annoying state and I don’t even realise. Like when I was scratching the paper. It just happens and by the time I realise, it’s already a mess and I feel regretful.”

Qiu Yu Chen: "Must be a period of depression?" Everyone feels this from time to time, and it will get better after a while. I was also feeling depressed for no reason some time ago."

He Huan Huan agreed: "Yeah, I have those moments too."

Du Ruo felt slightly comforted.

Xia Nan closed her book and suggested: “Want to take a walk on the boulevard? Think of it as a dormitory bonding activity.”

"Yes!" He Huan Huan immediately put down her pen: "I've had enough of this book!"

Qiu Yu Chen turned off her computer: "I'll change my clothes."

Du Ruo also agreed. She had already reviewed everything she needed to. It would be nice to go out and take a breath. She was feeling a little suffocated anyway.

...

Only the trees knew that with each passing day, the colours of autumn grew more prominent.

Near the Physics Department, there were several long and quiet tree-lined avenues. It had been a while since they last visited, and the treetops had vastly yellowed.

There was a thin layer of fallen leaves on the road. When stepped on, you could hear the gentle crunch of leaves breaking.

The subtle sound felt comforting, as if to say, the university not only had teaching buildings and libraries but also beautiful pathways and sport fields.

At first, the four girls walked quietly, feeling the autumn breeze. No one asked about exams or personal matters.

When passing the Government Affairs building, Du Ruo was reminded of that night when she stood on the steps waiting for Jing Ming.

But now, the leaves were all yellow and the sky was bright.

She suddenly asked: "If you always pay too much attention to something that has a bad impact on you, how can you stop paying attention to it?

He Huan Huan was puzzled: "Huh? Don't people pay attention to what they like? For example, Yu Chen likes watching dramas, I like to eat snacks, and Xia Nan likes makeup."

"If there are some things that you reject or fear, you will also pay special attention to them.” 

"Fear? Like people with pollen allergies would notice pollen immediately?” 

Du Ruo chuckled.

Xia Nan said: "Excessive attention, for whatever reason, is dangerous and will lead people to lose their sense of direction. Like when I watch dramas, I am obviously very annoyed by the plot, but the more I complain about it, the more I watch and in the end I still find it interesting. But the solution is simple - stay away from the source. There’s nothing that can’t be solved by staying away."

Du Ruo thoughtfully understood.

Qiu Yu Chen changed the topic: "Du Ruo is Xiao Cao [2], shouldn't the three of us have nicknames too?"

Du Ruo: "Xia Nan is Yi Mu [3], Yu Chen is Si Shui [4].

Qiu Yu Chen: "What about He Huan Huan?"

Xia Nan: "Double Huan."

He Huan Huan protested: "That sounds terrible!"

Du Ruo: "She's so silly, how about Er Huan'?" [5]

He Huan Huan retorted: "You're the silly one."

Qiu Yu Chen: "That fits."

He Huan Huan: "No!"

Xia Nan: "Er Huan it is."

He Huan Huan grumbled: "You're all silly. Two times the three of you equals six."

Xia Nan: "Look, as soon as we mentioned it, she got all heated."

The four of them continued to chat in detail, and as they walked further and further away, their voices gradually dispersed in the autumn wind.

The little ripples in Du Ruo’s heart seemed to have lightened, like the fallen leaves being carried away by the wind.

She hadn’t met Jing Ming again for a long time. In her spare time, she researched scholarships and student loans and submitted her application forms.

...

Jing Ming was not in school at all during this period, but spent all day in the industrial park. Midterm exams were useless to him. Not only that, Prime’s team members also stayed with him at the industrial park every day – Jing Ming’s father had shipped a self-driving car from overseas, and it had finally arrived. 

Since self-driving cars were essentially robots, everyone simply referred to it as a robot.

The day the robot first arrived, a group of youngsters gathered around the car, inspecting every inch. The boys loved cars, so naturally they couldn't keep their hands off it. After its successful automatic test run in the industrial zone, it felt like a treasure.

However, after understanding its system, the group of boys endured endless heartache and began to dismantle it.

Jing Ming even stayed at the industrial park day and night to ensure that no details were missed.

Li Wei often exclaimed during breaks: "It's truly a work of art! Damn it, there are sensors all over the body, up and down, left, right, front and back."

"Wow, look at this laser detector."

"Damn, look at how exquisite this gyroscope is."

He Wang Ye, the computer genius in the team, sighed: “I still don’t know how many computer hosts there are and what algorithms they use for route planning and obstacle avoidance.”

Zhu Tao was a little more relaxed: "The steering wheel, accelerator, and brake systems are the simplest. If we want to achieve this level, we have to work harder, but I guarantee there will be no big problems.”

Jing Ming spoke the least when doing things, meticulously planning, documenting, indexing, analysing and studying every detail.

One evening, as everyone was leaving the industrial park, Wan Ziang asked Jing Ming: "Does your dad know you bought this car to dismantle it?"

Jing Ming: "He knows."

Everyone exclaimed in unison: "Wow."

Jing Ming: "What's wrong?"

Wan Ziang responded: "Your dad really dotes on you."

Jing Ming was speechless: "Tah."

...

A week later, exam week arrived.

Du Ruo wasn't the type to cram at the last minute. Being someone who thrived under exam conditions, she wasn't overly anxious. However, she was especially diligent this time because her grades were tied to scholarships.

The college’s scholarship selection weights were 40% midterms, 20% attendance, and 40% finals. The competition for scholarships begins at the beginning of the semester.

Except for elective courses, which only required hand-ins, all major and public courses had examinations.

Du Ruo had seen Jing Ming in several compulsory public exams. He had handed in his paper for Politics and English in advance. It was hard to tell whether he was overly confident or didn’t take it seriously at all.

The rest of the time, she spent studying in the library and never saw him again.

Until Thursday afternoon, after finishing the circuit theory exam. It was 3:30 pm.

There were no more exams that day. Du Ruo was about to go to the library to review advanced mathematics when she received a text message from Li Wei saying that her year advisor, Zhang Ru Han, wanted to see her.

Their school had a dual-tutor system. Each class had a tutor who was responsible for teaching, which was equivalent to a class teacher in high school. Their tutor was Yang Chang Qing. There was also an advisor for the grade who oversaw student’s lives.

Simply put, this advisor spoke with students from time to time and helped them solve non-academic difficulties.

The office was very large, with no partitions, and each desk was piled with mountains of documents, like a high school classroom. In the corner, there were several lush Brazilian trees that added a touch of greenery.

All the other teachers were supervising exams, leaving only Zhang Ru Han.

"Du Ruo, quick, come and sit down."

Du Ruo took a seat across from Zhang Ru Han, taking in the surroundings.

Zhang Ru Han's desk was near the window. The blinds were open, with the divided blue sky and treetops peeking through. The sunlight was also cut into strips and scattered in, casting a soft glow on the succulents on the window sill.

To her left and right were several desks. Looking from the left, each desk could be clearly seen, but a pile of documents on the second desk to the right was particularly high, blocking the view on that end.

"Teacher, were you looking for me?"

"It's been half a semester since school started, and we haven't had a chance to chat. I wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk today." Zhang Ruhan was a young woman with a gentle smile and a soft-spoken voice, which was particularly pleasant. "How are you adjusting to school? Anything troubling you? Any difficulties?"

Du Ruo felt that her smile was friendly and relaxed:

“To be honest, I was very nervous in the first month. When I was in high school, everyone said that going to university would be easier, but that’s not true. There are so many great people in school, and those who are better than you work harder than you. I worked hard every day. I read whenever I could for fear of being left behind. Fortunately, I figured out a routine later on and adapted, not panicking and quickly catching up.”

Moreover, she had also started studying extracurricular courses on her own. However, there was no need to show it off.

Zhang Ru Han smiled approvingly and said:  "You feel you are adapting because your abilities have unknowingly improved.” 

Du Ruo smiled.

"But we must also remember to balance work and rest."

"I will."

"Have you joined any clubs?"

"No." Du Ruo said earnestly, "But I plan to next semester."

"That's good. Get to know more of your classmates. If you ever feel pressured or are facing difficulties in the future, you can always talk to me."

"Thank you." When Du Ruo was feeling grateful, Zhang Ru Han took out a form from her drawer and asked, "Are you interested in applying for a national scholarship?"

"Yes."

"However, this scholarship can only be given to poor students."

The atmosphere changed slightly.

Du Ruo didn’t answer for a while.

Someone walked by in the corridor, and it wasn’t until the footsteps were far away that she said, “I am.”

Zhang Ruhan nodded and pondered for a moment: "As far as I know, your phone is an iPhone 6S.”

Du Ruo’s eyes widened in slight surprise, and she stared at her for a few seconds before saying: “This is someone else’s old mobile phone, given to me. I didn't buy it. I wouldn't lie for money."

Zhang Ru Han smiled: "I was just asking casually, not to doubt you, so don’t think too much about it."

“It’s okay, I don’t care. Teacher, you need a civil affairs certificate to apply for a scholarship. I’ve already provided it and put it behind the application form.”

"I saw it. However, you are not the only one applying for the scholarship. Whether you can succeed or not depends on future reviews."

The implication was clear: she'd have to prove she was genuinely in need.

Fortunately, there were no other bystanders in the office. Even if her pride had been smashed to the ground, she could still pick it up, dust it in her pocket, raise her head again and walk out.

The sunlight fell on the Brazilian tree indoors, the lustre on the leaves remained unmoving.

Zhang Ru Han said: "By the way, you said your family is poor, so why didn’t you apply for a student loan when you enrolled?"

“I had people sponsoring me on a regular basis, so I didn’t look into it when I first enrolled, but I’m considering it now.

"Oh? Is the funding too small? Can I ask about the amount?"

Du Ruo was stunned and immediately shook her head: "No. Teacher, the reason why I applied for the scholarship is because I have received too much funding from others, and I don’t want to continue to cause them trouble and continue to take their money.”

Just as she was talking, someone walked into the office. 

Du Ruo was startled and immediately turned around. It was a male teacher. He walked directly towards Du Ruo. He passed by her and walked to the second desk on the right.

The messy desk stacked with papers was his.

He rolled up a paper, raised his hand and tapped someone on the head with a thud.

Zhang Ru Han wasn't surprised, but Du Ruo broke into a cold sweat. There was someone sitting behind the pile of documents?

The male teacher scolded: "How did you get a 9 on your politics exam?!"

Du Ruo stared at the pile of documents and saw a boy sitting up slightly. A tuft of dark hair emerged from behind the papers. He used his hand to pull back his hair twice. 

"Considering I could get 9 points, I'd say I did pretty well." Jing Ming replied impatiently.

Translated by evienRose

_______________________

[1] 'Auntie is here' - in Chinese and with context is referring to that time of the month

[2] 'Xiao Cao' - means Little Grass in Chinese and is just a cute nickname 

[3], [4] 'Yi Mu' and 'Si Shui' - means One Tree and Four Water and are other fun nicknames for Du Ruo's room mates, nature related as well

[5] 'Er Huan' - means Two Huan = doubly happy = I'm guessing also means silly colloquially

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

RCJM Chapter 15

Chapter 15

In the dormitory, Du Ruo sat in front of the computer wearing headphones, listening to online courses from Caltech. 

On the table next to her, a bunch of girls from the dormitory next door crowded in front of He Huan Huan’s table to watch the competition video. Even students from the Liberal Arts department came - on the BBS forum, the posts related to the robot battle had taken over, and the attention was unprecedented.

The girls were chirping:

“So handsome! You can call him the school idol!”

"His clothes look so good. I heard he's from a rich family."

He Huan Huan: "Hey, are you here to watch the competition or the models?"

"Hmm... his robot is so cute!"

"Well, the robot is amazing."

"He even talks strategy, so smart!"

He Huan Huan: "..."

Du Ruo did not join them. She had to pack up her textbooks for class.

"He seems to have a girlfriend.” Hua Jiang Xiao Yun from the Media department of the dormitory opposite said disappointedly.

"I saw someone on the BBS saying they just broke up."

“I heard from Chen Si that the girl kicked his robot, really crazy.”

Du Ruo was stunned and slowly zipped up her school bag.

After watching the video, everyone was obviously not satisfied: "Are there any other matches of his? Let's find them and watch."

Du Ruo put on her school bag, passed them and glanced at the computer screen through the crowd of figures.

She saw Jing Ming from a few years ago, a thin boy wearing a white shirt, with hair covering his eyes. His face was expressionless, with only a slight curve at the corner of his lips, looking at his robot on the competition field, being tested.

Sure enough, these competitions were very “serious”, highly professional, and not “violent and bloody”.

She took one more look at the boy in the video, then hurriedly looked away, trying to recall what she had just studied, leaving the dormitory without looking back.

Studying was a period of asceticism, only after mastering the material would one feel the joy. She would reach that stage as quickly as possible.

She thought silently all the way, but as she was about to reach the teaching building, she got slightly distracted and slowed down her pace.

The autumn sunlight filtered through the treetops. She squinted her eyes. After hesitating for a moment, she took out her phone, opened the BBS forum, and quickly scrolled through.

Finally, on the 79th floor of a certain post, she found a comment:

"He just broke up with his girlfriend yesterday."

She looked through again, but there was no other news. She walked up the steps of the teaching building with her head lowered. Not paying attention, she bumped into a boy next to her.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay." Li Qing He turned around with a smile, and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. "Hey, you're..."

“Senior brother Li Qing He, we are from the same department." She smiled and put away her phone.

Li Qing He remembered: "The one who ran the 400 metres in a gauze skirt."

"Hmm," Du Ruo scratched her head, "How embarrassing."

"No, it was quite fun. The more embarrassing thing is probably..." He deliberately paused, and jokingly said, "At the freshman assembly, while this senior was giving a speech, and someone's phone rang.”

"...Ugh, I’m going to crawl into the ground."

Li Qing He laughed heartily: "I’m just teasing you." He followed her into the teaching building. "What classes do you have this morning?"

"Matrix theory. Fundamentals of modern physics."

"Do you find it difficult?"

"It’s not too difficult."

"Looks like you’re adjusting well." 

"Thank you for your concern," Du Ruo said. In fact, she had been exhausted some time ago and was restless day and night. But fortunately, it was all in the past, and these things were not worth mentioning to outsiders.

Li Qing He suddenly asked: "Didn’t you join the club? I remember that you attended the student union recruitment, but you didn't go for the second round of interviews."

"Yes." Du Ruo smiled awkwardly. "I'm too busy with my studies to take care of it."

"It doesn't matter if you don’t go. There's nothing special to do in the student union anyway. On the other hand, are you interested in debating?"

"Debating?" She was a little surprised, then waved her hands and said with a smile, "I'm no good at arguing with words."

"Don't worry, debating is not arguing. It's about logic and skills." He took out a pamphlet from his backpack and handed it to her. "The debating club holds activities every two weeks. If you're interested, you can check it out. No pressure."

"Okay, thank you."

As they reached the corner of the stairs, the two went their separate ways.

Du Ruo looked at the flyer while walking. There were several photos printed on the front of the flyer. The senior brothers and sisters were dressed in formal attire and looked heroic. Each person had a faint smile, looked confident and in high spirits. 

On the back were the achievements and numerous awards of the debating club, such as "First place in the Xth National Debate Competition" and "Second place in the Xth World University Debate Competition."

Wow!

This thing had nothing to do with her at all. 

Two boys were walking in her direction, and their conversation caught her ears:

"That kid Jing Ming is too arrogant. He actually burned the robot directly. How can he be so ruthless!"

She raised her eyes and saw an unfamiliar boy and Yi Kun.

Yi Kun didn't notice her, walked past, and replied with a cold tone: "He meant to cut off the circuit and give me time to cool down Sonny, but I didn’t listen. Sonny was burned and I am responsible. I don’t need mercy from my opponent."

"Sonny..." the other person said with a low voice, "died just like that."

The two walked away.

Du Ruo couldn’t bear to think of the scene when Sonny was burned that day. His master must have been even more sad.

Suddenly, her phone beeped, and a bank payment message came through.

An income of 2000 yuan was recorded this month.

Du Ruo was very surprised. Her monthly allowance was only supposed to be 1000 yuan.

She ran to the end of the corridor, dialled Ming Yi's number, and explained the situation: "Auntie, did you send the wrong amount? I will return half of it, or you don't need to send me any money next month."

"No mistake, it's the correct amount." Ming Yi's said in a distressed tone. “You, my child, now that the prices are soaring and you don’t have enough money, why didn’t you tell your aunt? How could you just eat a piece of bread for breakfast? If Jing Ming hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known you were living so frugally in school.”

Du Ruo was surprised. Gradually, her face turned red and hot: "Auntie, thank you, but I really don’t need it. I have enough money. That time was a misunderstanding. I was in a hurry to go to class..."

"Say no more, you also know Auntie's temper. This matter is settled. Besides, it's getting colder so buy a few winter clothes."

Du Ruo's eyes were hot, and her heart felt a little sour and warm. After a long while, she let out a low “Mm”.

Ming Yi changed the subject to a lighter topic: "How are you doing at school? Are you keeping up with your studies?"

"I'm keeping up." She raised her voice slightly and reported her results actively, "I learn very quickly. Now I am studying extracurricular content on my own, and I also go over the wall to read foreign thesis libraries and research courses. I learn something new every day, it’s very satisfying.” 

"Already started doing your own self-study. Auntie is happy to hear that."

"Thank you for the computer you gave me."

"Little Ruo, you are too polite. One computer, how many times have you thanked me? You mention it every time I call. You are not allowed to mention it next time."

She blushed, stuck out her tongue and smiled: "Okay."

“Come to think of it, your uncle and I had forgotten about it before and didn’t buy it for you earlier. It was Jing Ming who mentioned it, and then his father and I only thought of it.

Du Ruo was once again taken aback and froze on the spot.

Even when she’d put down the phone, the burning sensation on her cheeks still didn’t go away, and even her breathing felt chaotic.

With a heavy heart, she returned to the classroom. As she passed the stairwell, she heard the footsteps and voices of a group of boys quickly going upstairs, talking loudly. One of them was Wan Ziang, a classmate in her class:

"Damn it, you're awesome. You're willing to dismantle such an expensive car into parts."

"For the sake of science." This was Jing Ming's teasing voice.

Du Ruo shrunk her steps, hesitated for half a second, and finally forced herself to move forward, meeting them at the top of the stairs.

Jing Ming was wearing a red and black bomber jacket, with his hands in his pockets. He walked up the steps, his eyes raised, his gaze briefly met hers, and he moved away without stopping.

Du Ruo took a deep breath slowly.

As they passed each other, she held her breath and did not dare to raise her eyes and look at him. She only saw a small white logo on the chest of his jacket which read: "U.S.ARMY"

In a flash, they passed by each other.

Li Wei and Wan Ziang smiled at Du Ruo. Zhu Tao and Zhang Lei from the next class were not familiar with her and didn’t greet her. Their class was on the first floor, so they said goodbye to Li Wei and the others: “Let’s go”

"Goodbye."

Jing Ming didn’t say anything, didn’t look back, lazily took out one hand from his pocket and waved, then went upstairs.

Du Ruo's breath slowly calmed down, and she walked to the classroom.

Wan Ziang slapped his forehead. "Ah, I only talked about the car and forgot to ask him how Eva is doing?”

Li Wei: "Don't worry; it's been fixed a long time ago. She’s jumping around in the dormitory 

humming.” At this point, he seemed to think of something, sighed, and mumbled to himself, “This time, I can’t play the peacemaker.”

Wan Ziang didn't pay much attention. In a blink of an eye, he saw the flyer in Du Ruo’s hand and asked: “Want to join the debate team?"

"No, how can I argue?" She folded the paper.

Li Wei said: "Du Ruo, you are a bit introverted, but you might benefit from some training."

Du Ruo said, "Let’s forget it, I'm afraid I won't even be able to pass the interview."

In the stairwell, Jing Ming and several classmates went upstairs.

Zhu Tao suddenly said without warning: "That girl just now is the one who was very popular on BBS a few days ago. Before a bunch of threads about Eva and Jing Ming overtook her.”

Zhang Lei: "Which one?... Oh, the one who ran 400 metres in a gauze skirt. I saw her during the competition that day. It was really fun."

"Right. That's her. She’s from Li Wei's class. She's quite cute. Jing Ming even knocked her down while running. Haha." Zhu Tao raised his hand and put it on Jing Ming's shoulder. The latter was playing with his phone and ignored him.

Zhu Tao shook Jing Ming's shoulder: "What do you think?"

Jing Ming stuffed his phone into his pocket: "I don’t think."

...

There were four professional classes in the morning. By the end of the class, the boys were a little sleepy but Du Ruo was always in high spirits.

In the last class, when the bell rang, she packed up her books and ran to the stairwell.

The students had finished class and poured down from upstairs.

Du Ruo walked back and forth at the stairs several times, but did not see that person or his classmates.

She went up a floor and looked into various classrooms along the corridor. Classes were over and the classrooms were all empty. Only then did she realise that maybe they only had two classes this morning, or maybe they had changed classrooms.

It’s always better to say thank you in person.

She ran downstairs towards the boys’ dormitory.

…

There was a straight and not too wide road at the entrance of the boys’ dormitory building, with ginkgo trees planted on both sides of the road. Occasionally, a few leaves fell when the wind blew.

One or two birds fluttered their wings and landed on the trees, disappearing among the branches and leaves.

Du Ruo sat by the flower bed at the end of this side of the road, occasionally glancing at the entrance of the boys’ dormitory building about ten metres away.

It was lunchtime now. Some students walked out of the dormitory building either alone or in groups. Some boys were running into the door carrying packed lunches. Others carried three or four plastic bags in each hand, which were lunches bought for their entire dorm room.

On the balcony on the third floor, Jing Ming's OG-107 military pants were hung on the drying rack, occasionally swaying with the wind.

The sunlight wasn't strong, but it was still dazzling.

Once or twice, a shadow flashed across the balcony. She stretched her neck to look, and quickly recognised that the shadow did not belong to him.

She kept sitting in the warm sunshine, feeling complicated and embarrassed, until at a certain moment when she felt that she shouldn’t sit down anymore, as there would be no results.

As she prepared to leave, she saw Jing Ming quickly coming out of the dormitory building.

She was in a dilemma, thought about it, and finally followed.

The big trees swayed in the wind, and students hurriedly carried their lunches and school bags.

The shadow of the trees and figures lie between them.

His back was tall and thin. Perhaps because he was wearing a bomber jacket and his clothes were thicker in autumn, he didn’t look as thin as the boy in summer.

He never looked back.

She followed him past the boys’ dormitory, the activity centre, the auditorium, the main road, the garden, the pond… The surrounding scenery changed, and the number of people around became less and less.

It wasn’t until they reached a certain building from the Republic of China period that she lost track of him.

It was a two-story building with grey brick walls and red wooden windows. The upper floor was covered with green ivy.

The tree-lined path had no one passing through. The yellow and green leaves blocked the blue sky. It was quiet, as if everyone in the world was taking a nap. It was extremely quiet.

Du Ruo searched around, walked around the corner of the small building, kicked out on

Du Ruo searched around, circled around the corner of the small building, and kicked something with her foot, stumbling on her shin.

"Ah—" She staggered and almost fell. The faint scream startled a bird from the tree.

Jing Ming frowned: "Following me?"

"No. I have something to find you about." Du Ruo said.

Jing Ming glanced at her up and down, and finally fixed his gaze back on her eyes, with an expression of “Let’s see what you’re going to say next.”

At this moment, he was his usual self again, without the good temper he had on the day of the competition.

The autumn sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves and fell on Du Ruo’s neck. The tip of her nose was hot. She couldn’t look directly into his eyes. Her eyelids drooped and she stared at the U.S.ARMY on his chest.

She opened her mouth to thank him for the computer and the living expenses, but the words were stuck on the tip of her tongue. She couldn’t say them out.

She suddenly regretted following him.

The man in front of her did not have a good-tempered, and he frowned impatiently.

Her mind raced: "I’m studying robotics on my own. Do you have any recommended books?"

His frown relaxed for a moment, he took out his mobile phone and started typing quickly.

When the wind blew, the leaves of the ivy on the wall rustled.

He pressed his thumb on the screen and put away his phone. In the next second, there was a “ding” sound.

Her phone rang, and Du Ruo took it out. There was a text message from Jing Ming, densely packed with more than a dozen book titles.

"Thank you." She raised her head.

Without saying anything, he brushed past her shoulder, walked on the main road, and disappeared into the yellow and green shaded path.

Du Ruo looked up at the leaves swaying in the wind above her head, took a deep breath, and strode towards the library.

Translated by evienRose

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RCJM Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Du Ruo pushed open the door to the lounge. Jing Ming was wearing red headphones, a black hoodie, and ripped jeans. He was slumped on the sofa playing games, occasionally moving his jaw as he chewed gum.

The huge lounge was quiet with only him.

Du Ruo closed the door gently, walked over and stood aside, hesitating whether to disturb his gaming. He caught sight of her, raised his eyes and strangely said: "Sit."

"Oh." She sat at the end of the sofa, and he continued to play games.

Only then did she see the little robot leaning at his feet, staring quietly with its big bright eyes.

With nothing else to do, Du Ruo flipped through the pamphlets she had picked up earlier. As she was looking at it carefully, Jing Ming's faint voice came from the side: "Look at the last page."

"Huh?" She looked up.

"The last page." He finished playing the game, took off his headphones, put away his phone, and threw it into a paper bag to the side.

"Oh." Du Ruo turned to the last page of the pamphlet and saw a lot of cited references and cutting-edge information in the field. She could take it back and do her own research according to the pictures. Some even had links to courses!

She felt like she had found a treasure.

Jing Ming stood up from the sofa, picked up the control panel from the coffee table, and said: "Let's go."

"Ah." Du Ruo quickly put the pamphlets into her school bag and stood up, but heard the sound of a machine. The little robot obediently followed behind Jing Ming, who glanced back at her.

He had been talking to the robot.

Du Ruo: "..."

Jing Ming left the lounge and walked down the corridor with Du Ruo following behind him. When he came to a closed door at the end of the corridor, he stopped, and she heard faint cheers from the other end - that was the inner court of the stadium.

He stood in front of her. Suddenly, he looked back at her, and asked: "Have you ever watched a robot competition before?" The corridor was narrow, and even though his voice was low, there was a faint echo.

"No," she shook her head.

He turned back: "Then you should watch some serious matches first."

"What's a serious match?"

"Robot dance competitions, football matches, etc, with a higher research component. Unlike today’s match, which has more flashy and fun components, a bit more violent and bloody."

Violent?

She was a little confused: "Isn't this competition just a fight between robots?"

He neither affirmed nor denied, and seemed to snort a laugh: "Don't be scared later."

Du Ruo was puzzled. She had watched professional robot fights in videos. The cute robots slowly raised their arms to poke each other, and the other would sway and harmlessly raise a leg to kick back in response.

Just like that day in his dorm, the little robot ran over and hit her ankle with a “bang”, and then ran away joltingly.

With this thought in mind, the door was suddenly opened, and the usher bowed to invite Jing Ming to enter.

The lights were bright. He walked into the arena with his hands in his pockets. The stadium erupted in cheers, and it felt like the roof was about to be blown away.

Du Ruo was guided to a seat closest to the arena, with enthusiastic spectators behind her.

The surrounding stands were full of people, most of whom were students from nearby universities. There were some professionals sitting in the front row, presumably those interested in robots or people working in related industries.

All males.

The competition arena wasn't big, similar to a gymnastics stage. It was square in shape and surrounded by solid iron walls as short as steps. Above the walls were protective wire mesh.

The centre of the field was empty. The robots had not come on stage yet.

Suddenly, the lights shining on the stands dimmed, and the venue gradually darkened. With a "clap," the lights came on, and focused on the centre of the competition field.

The electronic boards on both sides lit up, and the information of both sides of the battle were displayed line by line:

On the left, in the first row of the electronic sign, the most eye-catching words were:

MJING

Followed by his basic information.

Jing Ming

AGE: 18

ROBOT: EVA

MATCHES: 6

AVERAGE KILL TIME: 47s.

On the opponent's side:

KYI

AGE: 22

ROBOT: SONNY

MATCHES: 6

AVERAGE KILL TIME: 49s.

Yi Kun's robot was called Sonny, with an average finishing time of 49 seconds.

Quite strong.

Du Ruo's gaze moved down from the electronic screen. Jing Ming stood on the left side of the enclosed field with small in-ear headphones. Eva was spinning around at his feet, with two big bright eyes.

The live screen cut to this scene—

Eva was a short, tank-like robot with two legs made of tracks, a short body, two hands on the side, and two big eyes on top, making it look quite cute. Naturally, the scene elicited laughter from the audience.

As for Yi Kun, his appearance was in sharp contrast to Jing Ming. His face was frosty, expression serious, and he was wearing a rather smart casual suit.

His robot, Sonny, was a bit taller than Eva, with a shell that seemed to fit perfectly without any gaps, very fortress-like.

The scariest thing was that Sonny had two long, mantis-like arms, and his fists looked as big and ruthless as hammers.

The match was about to begin. The host livened up the atmosphere, raising the microphone towards the audience, asking them to shout out their favoured champion.

For a moment, the stadium was filled with cheers:

"Jing Ming! Jing Ming!"

"Yi Kun! Yi Kun!"

Du Ruo was infected by the atmosphere and trembled slightly with nervousness. She glanced at Jing Ming. He had lowered his head slightly, and with his dishevelled hair covering his eyes, his expression was difficult to make out. All she could see was the high bridge of his nose and the well-defined arc of his jaw. Occasionally, he shifted his jaw and would lick his upper lip.

The headphone wire swayed gently against his cheek.

At this moment, Eva stopped running around and stood obediently at his feet.

The host signalled the two contestants to let their robots enter the arena. Jing Ming took off his headphones and stuffed them into his jean pocket. Then bent down and patted Eva's head like a parent.

Eva immediately ran away happily, circling to where the host was and entered the enclosed competition arena. Sonny also entered steadily.

When both sides were in position, the host announced: "Let the games begin!"

As soon as the words fell, the gates opened with a “pop”, and the low walls surrounding the arena suddenly lit up, but it was definitely not just for decoration.

There were four walls. Two sides were lit up with hot blue flames, and the other two sides had high-speed rotating steel blades!

If the robots collided with the walls, the damage would be unimaginable!

Meanwhile, Sonny instantly launched an attack, rushing to Eva and delivering a powerful punch!

Bang.

Eva's eyes immediately went askew.

Du Ruo was so shocked that her whole body trembled.

There were no cute, slow-moving robots here.

There was no room to be slow. To be slow was to wait for death.

Eva, abandoning its cute appearance, swiftly turned around, slid to Sonny’s side, and slammed into him. The high-speed spinning blade on its chest instantly cut through Sonny’s metal shell.

Sonny immediately changed direction and punched again, but Eva was faster. Once again, she circled to Sonny's side, stretching her hands under the shell that had just been cut, and raised her hands to lift it. 

Sonny, who was a little bigger than her, fell upside down, and the metal shell made a clanging noise as it hit the ground.

The audience stared and watched with bated breath.

Sonny struggled for a bit, and although it appeared clumsy, it somersaulted flexibly, and stood upright again.

Sonny changed tactics, suddenly accelerating and rushed towards Eva. He was big, bulky and extremely fast, knocking Eva into the wall with the rotating blades. The blades cut Eva’s body rapidly, causing sparks to fly and sizzle. Sonny took turns hitting Eva on the head with two hammers.

Too brutal!

Du Ruo's heartbeat could no longer be controlled. She was so nervous, she didn’t dare to look anymore. She looked anxiously at Jing Ming. He was standing on the sidelines, staring at Eva who was trapped by Sonny in the corner, slender fingers operating quickly on the control panel.

Eva was caught in the corner, and with a forceful push, the scroll in front of her emitted sparks. The blades on the scroll pierced Sonny's shell, and blue electric light penetrated into Sonny's body.

Sonny immediately backed away. Eva took advantage of the situation and escaped from the wall. 

The tracks on her feet were scratched by the blades on the wall, but she didn't flinch. She rolled in front of Sonny and lifted his lower base again!

Sonny flipped over once again, this time rolling towards the wall of flames!

The collision caused sparks to fly!

The flames licked Sonny’s body. Although the metal shell was not afraid of fire, the circuit board and engine inside could not withstand the high temperature.

Sonny toppled next to the fire, struggling to flip over.

Eva stopped and stood in the middle of the field waiting.

The people in the stands were watching with blood boiling: “Attack! Attack! End the game!”

In the centre of the field, the time on the timer was at 43 seconds. 

But strangely, Eva did not attack, but waited for Sonny to escape the predicament first.

Tired of waiting, Eva tilted her head cutely.

The audience burst into laughter.

Du Ruo looked at Jing Ming, the controller who was directing all this.

He stood at the side, fingers tapping on the control panel, indifferent to the cheers and laughter around him. He didn’t blink, focusing intently on his opponent on the field: Sonny.

Finally, Sonny rolled over and stood upright, away from the wall of flames.

His controller, Yi Kun, didn't give him time to rest and recover, and used his maximum speed and power to crash into Eva.

Jing Ming narrowed his eyes, and Eva also accelerated at full speed towards Sonny!

There was a loud ‘bang’ sound.

The audience was stunned. The speed was so fast and the force was so powerful, it was like two cars colliding!

The two robots were pressed tightly against each other, with Sonny repeatedly pounding Eva hard with hammers—bang, bang. Her eye casings were cracked, and her shoulders shrank, but she didn't retreat. The rotating blade continued to fiercely cut through Sonny's shell, emitting sparks and hissing sounds.

The audience fell silent. Du Ruo bit her finger and stared intently.

On the field, Sonny pounded it a few times and found that it could only damage the shell but not the inside. So he increased his power and pushed Eva onto the rotating blades on the wall, trying to twist her tracks.

Eva was pushed back continuously but persisted in damaging Sonny's shell using electric shocks and blades. The moment she was forced into a corner, Eva nimbly turned around and dodged.

Unable to evade, Sonny crashed into the blade wall himself and became motionless.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, and remained motionless.

The host announced: "The match is over!"

All the boys in the audience stood up and cheered wildly! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh howling like a wolf. 

The excitement and fever brought by the match had not yet subsided. Du Ruo gasped and applauded with everybody.

Jing Ming curled his lips and moved the control panel. Eva, on the field, tilted her head, stood up on one foot, and raised the other foot high in the air, like a shoe box standing at an angle, still whirling around in a circle. Very cute.

At this moment, a red light flashed from the gap in Sonny’s shell, getting bigger and bigger. The audience’s applause turned into a buzz of discussions, and they all pointed in that direction. Amid everyone’s surprised eyes, a burst of flames suddenly unleashed, and Sonny ignited. During the battle, Eva’s persistent efforts eventually severed Sonny’s internal circuit board. And his master hastened his destruction by jumping into battle immediately after he escaped the flames without waiting for him to recover. 

Sonny instantly burst into flames.

He was the first robot to die in this competition of the dozens of group matches and knockout rounds.

There were sounds of admiration and regret in the stands, and many people stood up and took photos with their mobile phone.

But Eva, with scars on her face, ran to the entrance and raised her head, waiting obediently. When the staff opened the door, she slipped past the person’s feet and circled back to Jing Ming.

Jing Ming stepped forward to greet her. He knelt down and touched Eva’s little robot’s head, then picked her up and put her in his arms, checking the scars on her body. 

It was a touch of tenderness. He patted her head, lowered his head, and kissed her on the eyes.

The boy in that moment was clean, gentle, and pure.

Du Ruo's heart inexplicably skipped a beat. For some reason, she felt moved by this scene.

And in that moment, it felt like the most genuine portrayal between him and her.

On the brilliant stage, he ignored the eyes and applause of the audience, and only cared about his Eva.

In the dark stands, her eyes followed closely, never leaving for a moment.

Because, one day, she would also stand on that stage.

Translated by evienRose

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RCJM Chapter 13

Chapter 13

If there were any group of people in school most sensitive to climate change, it would be the morning students.

Du Ruo wakes up early every morning to practise English on the field and could feel the weather getting colder.

Thick clouds were gradually forming in the sky, grey and hazy.

The sun lazily hid in the clouds, unable to rise above, revealing a few wisps of light pink in the eastern sky.

The air was cool and crisp.

Even though the weather was getting cooler, there were still many students studying and running in the morning.

Du Ruo was reading while walking on the track and field with a book in her arms. Occasionally, withered weeds brushed across her ankles. She jumped and raised her feet to scratch her leg, and saw Jing Ming, dressed in sportswear, jogging with earphones in his ears, full of vitality.

She was stunned for a moment, and the book fell out of her hands.

She happened to have just finished reading the text, so she hurriedly collected the book and left the field.

She planned to go to the classroom early to study, so didn’t plan to go to the cafeteria for breakfast. She went to the convenience store to buy some bread to eat on the go, and gave five yuan. The shopkeeper gave her two and a half yuan in change.

Du Ruo was surprised: "Isn't this bread sold for two yuan?"

"The price has gone up, it's two and a half yuan now."

"Why did it go up?" As she asked this, someone walked in from outside, and his figure suddenly blocked the sunlight outside. Soon, they moved away.

The autumn sunshine slanted in and covered Du Ruo’s hands.

When did the sun rise?

The man was picking something from the shelf behind her. The space in the convenience store was narrow. He lowered his head and said, “Classmate, please give way.”

Du Ruo’s heart jumped suddenly in her chest, like a pinball hitting the wall.

She glanced back at him then quickly looked away. She hurriedly stepped forward and pressed against the counter to make way for the people behind her.

He walked past.

The shopkeeper said: "The price of supplies have gone up, so we can only follow suit."

Du Ruo blushed: “Oh."

She took the change and fled in panic. The donuts, instant noodles, soda crackers, peanuts, spicy strips on the shelves… the colours of the packages blended into an impressionistic painting, flowing past her eyes.

As she took a step forward, Li Wei, dressed in sportswear, rushed into the convenience store. His eyes followed Jing Ming but when he saw Du Ruo, he smiled and said: "Good morning, Du Ruo."

"Good morning."

"Are you having this for breakfast? Will it fill you up?" Li Wei asked with concern.

"Yeah. I have a small appetite." Du Ruo said. A hand reached out from behind her and scanned the QR code on the counter. The hand was fair, slender, and had clear joints. Being very close, Du Ruo could smell the scent of that person. He had just finished running, the smell of sweat, soap and the morning air surrounding him.

She remained motionless, and out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of him standing beside her, holding two bottles of functional drinks. After scanning them, he left the store without saying a word.

The tall and slender figure flashed in the sunlight at the door and disappeared.

The sun had risen, and a thin layer of golden light spread all over the campus.

The ginkgo trees in the school were starting to turn yellow. If you wanted a golden scenery, you would have to wait another ten days or so.

There was still some time before class started, so Du Ruo sat on the steps by the flowerbed, biting her bread and watching the people coming and going on the road.

A male student walked past her alone carrying a schoolbag, thinking about questions in his head, mumbling to himself. Two or three female students held books, walked briskly, and laughed like silver bells while chatting. Children jumped around, led by their grandparents, mumbling a hundred thousand whys.

What kind of lives did each of them lead? Was it relaxing or stressful? Were they happy, or struggling?

At least at this moment, no one seemed worried, and some were just thinking about studying.

The sound of pigeons cooing could be heard close by, piercing across the sky. She looked up and saw flocks of pigeons flying by.

She wondered if pigeons also had worries.

Or perhaps, they just needed to ride the wind and fly.

After Du Ruo finished her bread, she threw her rubbish into the bin, took a deep breath and walked towards the teaching building.

Her phone beeped, and there was a message in the dormitory group chat.

He Huan Huan: "Du Xiaocao! You are famous! Hahahahaha!"

Followed by a web link, Du Ruo clicked on it. It was the school's BBS forum with the title:

“This girl running 400 metres in a gauze skirt and sneakers is so cute! Want to get to know her!”

In the first picture, she had short hair, wearing a tube top and a fluffy white gauze skirt, holding the hem of the skirt as she sprinted on the track. Her shoulders and collarbones were thin, and her calves were also thin.

Oh, and there was also a white camellia on her head.

The number of post views is almost tens of thousands.

Du Ruo: "..."

Scrolling down the screen revealed more photos.

‘Huiyan’: "I took some too. I took some too! Selflessly sharing them with you. (Photos)"

‘Da Pi An Zi’: "Which university’s sports meet is this interesting. This is what university should be like.”

‘The Handsome One’: "This girl is a freshman, majoring in Control Systems. After asking around, she seems to be the only girl in their class. I won't say her name. Go find out more yourself, hahaha."

‘Fatty Who Loves to Eat’: "Ah, she’s so cute. I want to pinch her cheeks."

Du Ruo: "..."

Fortunately, these were all nice comments.

She closed the page and replied to He Huan Huan with a series of ellipses: "..."

In the group, her roommates were obviously very idle.

Xia Nan: "Classmate Du, you are famous."

Qiu Yu Chen: "Classmate Du, you are famous."

He Huan Huan: "I contributed to her popularity! I'm proud!"

Du Ruo: "You also left a comment?"

He Huan Huan: "Of course! Guess which one is me?"

Du Ruo: "Fatty Who Loves to Eat."

Qiu Yu Chen: "Hahahaha!"

He Huan Huan: "No way, I’m 'The Handsome One'!"

Du Ruo: "..."

He Huan Huan: "Just wait for the senior brothers to line up to chase you. (Rabbit Pole Dance.jpg)"

Du Ruo responded with an embarrassed expression.

She clicked on the link and took another look at herself in the photo. And, well, her expression looked like she was about to cry.

She shivered coldly and was about to close the page when her eyes were drawn to a hot post with the “hot” tag:

“Who are you betting on to win the fighting robot final? Yi Kun? Jing Ming?

Du Ruo was stunned and suddenly remembered that there was a competition in the afternoon and Jing Ming had given her a ticket.

Fortunately, by chance, this post reminded her.

She clicked on the link and took a brief look at the content: The recent national robot combat championship is entering its final stage, and their school has two participants who made it to the final. 

The two participants are Jing Ming, a freshman, and Yi Kun, a graduate student.

The post asked everyone who they thought would win, and there were a bunch of comments below:

‘Qing Ran’: "No need to say more, Jing Ming!"

‘Fei Ren Zai’: "Of course, my Big Brother Yi Kun. Kun Ge’s strength is not to be underestimated! As for that Jing Ming, who is he? Just a little brat in his freshman year? Watch Kun Ge defeat him in ten seconds."

‘PYCJches’: "Little cutie upstairs, I’ll give you this link to search who Jing Ming is. When you were still blowing your nose in middle school, his robots were already competing abroad!"

‘Under the Blue Sky’: "Exactly, praising you upstairs. You can't communicate with people like this who only watch the excitement and don't understand the rules. My Master Jing is the best!"

‘SRYin’: "Both are strong so we're in for a treat. But I believe in Yi Kun's strength more."

‘Su Qi Liang Shui’: "Jing Ming, Jing Ming! He’s so handsome! Ah, I want to marry him!"

‘Shi Zaizai’: "What’s going on upstairs?... Sigh… I support Jing Ming.”

There were a lot of people commenting.

Du Ruo quickly scrolled through the page and roughly estimated that the support for Jing Ming and Yi Kun was about 50-50.

It was evenly matched, the competition was bound to be exciting.

...

Du Ruo had no classes in the afternoon. As soon as the morning class ended, she ate her lunch quickly and set off to the venue.

It was a large gymnasium, and there was a long queue at the ticket booth, mostly students.

Occasionally, passersby would look curiously at the scene.

An old man who was walking nearby came over and asked the people in line: “What kind of performance is happening here?”

The students replied:  "It's a robot competition."

The old man asked: “ A robot, like a remote-controlled car or a remote-controlled aeroplane?

The students laughed and said: “Yes.”

Du Ruo passed the ticket booth and saw that ticket prices were graded according to seats. The cheapest one was 50 yuan and the most expensive one was 200 yuan.  

She passed the security check with a VVIP ticket with no specified seat number.

As she entered the lobby, she saw a bustling crowd, mostly of tech-savvy male students, many of whom were not dressed neatly.

As one of few girls, out of tune with the environment, she attracted a lot of strange looks.

She walked to the side and checked the time. There were still twenty-five minutes before the event started.

She put away her phone and waited patiently.

Looking around, she noticed promotional posters and banners hung everywhere, creating a dazzling display.

Long vertical banners hung from the ceiling. Some depicted heroic robots, while others were painted with scenes like Mars hitting the Earth and robots battling.

Audiences filed in, and many people went to the booklet collection area to get information. When Du Ruo saw it, she also walked over and took various introductions and popular illustrated guides. A quick glance revealed a wealth of fascinating content.

She found them to be like treasures and was about to take a closer look when she suddenly remembered the time. She quickly took out her phone, and the time was just right.

She took a breath and dialled Jing Ming's phone number.

"Beep, beep..." After two beeps, the call went through. "Hello?"

"I have arrived.”

"Did you enter from the main entrance?"

"Mm."

"On the right side of aisle 101, there's the VIP corridor," he said in a calm voice, sounding low and magnetic through the phone. "There are signs on the wall, follow the signs to lounge no. 1."

"Oh. Got it." She nodded.

"See you later." He said and hung up.

Translated by evienRose

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