After leaving the train station, Li Banfeng boarded the subway.
Taking a cab from the university to the station had taken only half an hour.
Taking the subway from the station back to the university took over an hour.
Li Banfeng lived in Building Six, which was not particularly close to the campus gate. When he reached the foot of the dormitory building, the elderly gatekeeper looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You haven't left yet?"
The corners of Li Banfeng's mouth turned up in a dull, wooden smile at the old man, and he headed straight up the stairs.
The school hasn't issued a notice kicking people out yet. Whether I leave or not, is it any of your business?
The entire building housed graduating seniors. It was dead silent now; most people had probably left.
Li Banfeng climbed to the sixth floor and entered his dorm room. Inside, it was pitch-black.
According to regulations, lights-out in the dorms was at eleven o'clock. It wasn't even nine yet, and the old man had already cut the power.
The old dorm manager sure knew how to save electricity for the school.
Everyone else in his room was gone. Those who found jobs had gone to report for work; those without jobs had gone home to idle away.
He Jiaqing hadn't found a job, so he had taken his girlfriend back home to idle away with him.
Now Li Banfeng was the only one left in the room.
Li Banfeng couldn't find a job because of his psychiatric history.
He was homeless as well; he couldn't very well move back to the welfare home.
How was he supposed to get by from now on?
Go back to moving bricks on a construction site?
Thinking of his bright future, Li Banfeng's brow relaxed, the corners of his mouth curled upward, and he smiled.
This time it was emotional instability—anyone in his shoes would be unstable.
There's another job fair tomorrow. I'll go try my luck again.
Tonight, I have the dorm to myself. At least I can get a good night's sleep.
Li Banfeng went to the communal bathroom to take a cold shower. Just as he was about to climb into bed and play on his phone, he suddenly remembered something: he needed to give He Jiaqing a call.
What if he really wet his pants?
What if wetting his pants caused him to catch a chill and come down with a cold? That wouldn't be good.
He placed the call. It rang for a long time, but no one answered.
He really did fall asleep.
Li Banfeng dialed again. After another long spell of ringing, the call finally connected.
"Banfeng..." He Jiaqing's raspy voice came through the line, sounding as though he had not fully woken up.
"Jiaqing, get up and pee!"
He Jiaqing sounded thoroughly confused. "Pee? Pee where? Where is this..."
Where is this?
You sure slept soundly!
Li Banfeng didn't say anything more and hung up. In the pitch-dark dorm room, he felt around for the ladder and began climbing into his bunk.
Just as he reached the edge of his bed, however, he noticed that his quilt was bulging, as if someone were wrapped up inside.
Someone is wrapped in my quilt?
Is it really a person?
Li Banfeng pulled back the quilt.
It really was a person!
The person lay facing the wall with his back to Li Banfeng, without making the slightest sound.
Who's sleeping in my bed?
A waft of alcohol hit his nose; the person seemed completely plastered.
Even if you're plastered, you can't just crash in any random bed!
"Get up! Who are you? Get up!" Li Banfeng shoved the person, but there was no response.
The curtains weren't drawn, and the moonlight spilled across the bed, dimly revealing the faint outline of the figure.
Li Banfeng suddenly found the silhouette somewhat familiar.
He grabbed the person by the shoulder and flipped him over. When he saw the face, Li Banfeng nearly fell off the ladder.
It was He Jiaqing!
An hour and a half ago, Li Banfeng had just seen He Jiaqing off at the station.
And now, he was actually sleeping in my bed!
"Jiaqing, what's wrong with you? Jiaqing, wake up..."
After giving He Jiaqing a few shakes, Li Banfeng suddenly yanked his hands back.
Wait, no!
I just called He Jiaqing! Wasn't he on the train? Shouldn't he have gone to pee?
If the person sleeping here is He Jiaqing, then who was the one who just answered the phone?
The hairs on his body stood on end one by one, and the sweltering dorm suddenly felt a great deal cooler.
Is this really Jiaqing?
Li Banfeng switched on his phone's flashlight and shone it on the person's face for a long time.
It really was He Jiaqing!
This was his best brother from college; there was no way Li Banfeng could mistake him.
Thud!
Li Banfeng tumbled off the ladder, knocking over the wastebasket on the floor.
He stood up composedly, set the wastebasket upright, and quickly exited the dorm.
Shutting the door behind him, Li Banfeng stood in silence, leaning against the corridor wall.
The voltage was unstable, and the dim yellow light in the hallway flickered incessantly.
Li Banfeng forced himself to calm down, took out his phone, and called He Jiaqing again.
The silence in the receiver was suffocating. After a dozen seconds, a woman's voice came through:
"Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unreachable."
He dialed several times in a row, but the call never went through.
Call Lu Xiaolan?
Li Banfeng didn't have Lu Xiaolan's number; he usually didn't have much contact with her.
Not a sound came from the hallway. Everyone on this floor seemed to have cleared out.
Li Banfeng looked back at the dorm room door, pondering what to do next.
Was the person lying on the bed really He Jiaqing?
Just a moment ago he had been certain he hadn't mistaken him, but now he felt a trace of doubt.
Go back in and check again?
Are you crazy? If I go back, I should at least go to another floor and find someone to help!
Where am I going to find help right now?
If all else fails, I can call the old dorm manager up here.
What good would calling him up do? He won't be able to help, and he'll only cause a mess.
I might as well go back and look for myself!
Li Banfeng was arguing with himself.
Following a normal person's train of thought, going back into the dorm room alone right now was out of the question.
But Li Banfeng was not normal.
He had been examined at the hospital: he wasn't crazy, but his mental state wasn't entirely normal.
The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly, forming a faint smile.
He was emotionally unstable, but his mood was pleasant.
He used his own peculiar method to steady himself.
He gave himself a rational explanation for what had just happened.
Hallucinations. It must be hallucinations!
I have a psychiatric condition. Seeing occasional hallucinations is completely reasonable.
If I just walk back into the dorm right now, as long as I keep a clear head, I definitely won't see He Jiaqing again.
With a smile on his face, Li Banfeng pushed the door open and walked back in.
Hallucinations. It's all hallucinations.
The closer he got to the bed, the stronger the smell of alcohol grew, as if warning Li Banfeng that this was no hallucination.
Li Banfeng climbed back up the ladder, held up his phone, and looked at his bed.
He Jiaqing was lying on the bed, eyes tightly shut, his face deathly pale.
Li Banfeng patted He Jiaqing's cheek. It was warm.
Then he checked He Jiaqing's breathing. There was still breath, but it was faint and intermittent.
Climbing down the ladder, Li Banfeng decisively dialed emergency services.
After explaining the location and situation clearly, Li Banfeng hung up and waited quietly for the ambulance to arrive.
He stood beneath the bunk, atop which lay He Jiaqing, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere.
The two of them remained in silence together in the dorm room.
Click-clack~
A notification chime broke the silence in the room.
It was sent from He Jiaqing.
He was certain the He Jiaqing before his eyes couldn't possibly have sent a text.
Yet he had indeed received a message from He Jiaqing.
The message contained only four words:
"Banfeng, save me!"
Chapter 3