My shift at the Library was just so-so.
Old lady Mrs Jinging wasn't around today, so I had even more work to do. I was usually in charge of shelving books and ensuring silence but today I had to work at the front desk where I had to attend calls and take note of all the visitors. Most of them were the regulars: we had Mr Wen with his thick accent and bald head, Madame Meifeng looking for new recipe books, that one group of girls who'd always come here to work on group projects, the pair of highschool boys looking to collect information on their joint assignment and that one little girl called Luo Suyin who'd come to read fictional novels to pass her time.
Other than that the library was pretty much empty.
By 7:30 pm, I was free to go. I stretched my hands before grabbing my bag and heading out, not even waiting for the next part-timer to arrive. She could figure it out on her own.
I headed straight for the nearby 7-Eleven to grab something for dinner before starting for the long trek home. I slowed down as I approached the automatic-doors and with a whoosh of air, I took a step in, inhaling the pleasant smell of freshly wrapped plastic.
"Welcome to 7-Eleven," the cashier working the tills said in a fake cheerful voice. "Oh, Hanju! It's you."
"Yo," I said wearily as I picked up a hand-held basket and waved lazily at Fang Xiang, the boy who I'd befriended due to my frequent visits to this particular store. I hadn't ever seen him off-work though.
The shop was empty aside from me and Fang, so I spoke comfortably while picking out my preferred cup noodles from aisle 2.
"Do you ever, like, get off of work?" I asked, trying to decide between chilli crab and cream of chicken. "I haven't even seen you without that red uniform." Chilli crab would do, I decided.
He laughed as he leaned against the wall beside a display of assorted keychains. "Trust me, you don't wanna see."
"What a load of bull," I called. "I can already picture you wearing a blue parka."
He chuckled as I continued to drop other grocery items into my basket including a neon orange energy drink and a couple of twinkies.
"Right, ring it up, boss," I said as I plopped the basket down on the counter. Fang emptied the components out one by one, briefly stopping to comment on this particular brand of drink.
"22.40 yuan."
I handed him the money and walked out of the store after calling out goodbye. I went straight home, which was at a walking distance of a mere 20 minutes. I could've hailed a cab but I decided that saving money was the best at this point. In the meantime, I enjoyed the pair of twinkies and took sparing little sips of the orange drink. To my pleasant surprise, it was tangy and sweet, absolutely refreshing.
After going straight to my tiny apartment (which was only a temporary fix), I fell into bed without even reviewing my lesson notes and that was the end of that day.
"What!?" Anran yelled the next day when I met her on the way to second class. "You didn't study last night? Not even a little?"
"Haha..." I raked a hand through my jet-black hair. "Not really. I was just so tired-"
She cut in. "You gotta understand that everybody is. College is more like a survival course, my friend. You either study and do well, even if it means you lose your brain in the process...or, in easier words, you die. That's just how it is."
I knew she was right. Of course, she always was. Anran was a bright student, in stark contrast to me. Some people even wondered if Anran was a little crazy in the head to have become so fond of a dense idiot like me. Well, screw them!
"Okay, so see here," she said quickly. "If the professor asks something from you, I'll just write it down for you, yeah?"
"Thanks a lot," I said genuinely. All this college nonsense was going to do my head in.
We rounded a corner and once more, I rammed into someone. I had that distinct feeling of deja vu. I wondered why…
"Hey!" Anran said on my behalf while I rubbed the shaft of my nose which I was certain had been dislocated by the impact. Not really, though.
"Watch where you're going," Anran said, switching her attention to me. "Hey, you okay? Nothing's broken, right?"
"Sorry, sorry," said the person who'd bumped into me. Somehow, his voice sounded very familiar. But who was he? I just couldn't point my finger on it.
I lifted my head to take a large gasp of air while self consciously brushing my hair from my face. When I could finally see who this familiar sounding guy was, I was appalled.
"It's you!" said the guy from the 'bumping fiasco' at the sidewalk last evening. "Hanju Zhao, fancy seeing you here."
Anran looked confused as she looked back and forth from me to the sidewalk guy. "Wait, you guys know each other?"
"No," I said while the guy, at the same time, said, "Yup!"
I turned to him. "We do not know each other, let me just make this clear. I clearly said to never meet again. Why're you here, then? Surely, you don't go here, do you?"
"I do," he said, amused. "I was just on break for one semester. Anyways, I'm back now."
"Yes, yes, whatever," I said as I tugged Anran by her sleeve as an indication to leave. "Let's go."
When we were well away, Anran turned to me. "Hey, do you have any idea who that was?" she asked giddily.
"Why so keen on knowing?" I said, my eyes ahead.
"Hanju," she said, linking her arm with mine. "That was Jin Xiaoli."
I stopped in my tracks.
"Jin Xiaoli?" I asked, my eyebrow raised. "The popular upperclassman from the Business department who was on break because he got a great job offer from overseas? That Jin Xiaoli?"
"Yeah," she laughed at my disbelief. "Can you believe he's back?"
"I don't really care," I said and shrugged as I opened the classroom door. "It's not like Jin Xiaoli has anything to do with me. He's a student and I'm a student. We've got our own paths to walk." Even if he is rich and smart.
"Right, right," Anran mumbled as we sat down in our seats at the very back of the class. "How sensible of you, Miss Zhao. Now pay attention in Bio, okay?"
Jin Xiaoli was the hot topic last semester. Everybody knew he was smart and good at studies. And that he was rich. It didn't come as a huge surprise that he bagged a job offer from overseas only when he was 2 years into college.
"What's the job?" everybody asked each other, hoping that someone would know something.
Nobody did. The only disclosed information we got was that a huge billionaire businessman was interested in Jin's capabilities and gave him an offer to die for. But the fact that he had returned next semester means that he rejected the offer. At this point, I'd be happy to even land any and all sorts of odd jobs if it meant I could make some cash, so it really annoyed me that he didn't take the businessman up on his offer. How ungrateful can a man be?
"Hanju? Hanju!" Anran snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Why so dazed? Come on, let's go. Class is over."
"What lesson's next?" I asked as I stretched in my seat and grabbed my pens and notebook from the table and picked up my bag from the floor.
"Lunch break. Let's go to the cafeteria. We're tight on seats these days, so we better get a table asap."
I stood up and followed Anran all the way down to the professor's podium where we wished her a good day and set off towards the cafeteria, fast-walking through the large crowd of swarming students eager to bag a seat. We could've run but it wasn't permitted in the hallways. All of the strict hall monitors were conflated amongst the swarms of students and could land you up for a 2 hour session with the student Disciplinary Incharge.
"Good, good, good," Anran mumbled as she spotted a pair of seats by the far wall. "Hanju, take my bag and save the seats. I'll get us some lunch. Whatchu want?"
"Some rice and stir fried pork, please," I said. "If they have orange juice today, get me some of that too, okay?"
Anran left and so did I, walking briskly forward, my eyes locked on the two blue plastic seats. On the way, I spotted Jin Xiaoli who was the cynosure of all eyes on a table crowded with girls and some of his buddies who I vaguely recognised. I turned back to my main focus and jumped on the chairs, marking my territory. I dropped Anran's bag on the chair beside me and plopped down on my own, finally at ease.
I looked back at the popular kids' table and noticed that Jin was looking at me. He smiled and waved over at me when we made eye contact but I ignored him and focused all my attention on eavesdropping in on the conversation of the two girls across the table, gossiping about some random guy in their class.
The cafeteria was quite lively today. I could've admitted that it was all because of Jin's arrival but I didn't.
Anran came back with two trays of food and 'excuse me, excuse me'd' her way through the tables of hungry teens.
"Ah, finally," she sighed as she picked her bag up and sat down. "Here, I got you some orange juice. You should thank me 'cause I managed to grab the last carton for you."
"Yes, yes, O' great Anran," I laughed, popping open the carton and taking a sip. "I am so grateful for your hardwork and service."
"As you should be. Hey, do you want some spicy tofu? There was a lot today."
I nodded and she dropped a couple chunks onto my tray and we started eating.
"So," she began with a mouthful of rice, "Jin's pretty popular, huh?"
"Looks so," I answered.
"Do you agree that he's handsome?"
"Mmm..." I mumbled as I stuffed my face. Was the spicy tofu too spicy today?