Chapter 8: P. Crossing the Line with Soda

Su Hui didn’t like taking his medication, especially during his manic phase.

He was deeply attached to his passionate, creative self. Every time he complied with his family’s orders to take his meds, it felt like a grueling detoxification process—full of internal friction, with very little resolve.

Compared to being at home, school had become his only window of freedom. Even though his driver followed him everywhere, keeping a constant watch, at least on campus, Su Hui had some freedom of movement and didn’t have to be quite as careful.

Professor Wang, who taught his major, was very supportive. He didn’t just think Su Hui’s grades were good; he treated him like a regular student, not as someone from a “special” population.

Seeing Su Hui after a long absence, the professor asked after class, “We have a cross-disciplinary research project recently, and the paper might be submitted to a top conference this year. Do you want to join?”

Su Hui was very willing, but he worried about dragging the whole group down. Professor Wang, however, didn’t see it that way.

“Among these students, we’re lacking someone with strong English writing skills like you. Good results are important, but the paper needs to be well-written so the reviewers find it pleasant to read.”

Convinced, Su Hui agreed. Professor Wang suggested he have a preliminary meeting with the other students.

At 4:00 PM, Su Hui arrived at the small classroom as requested. The door was ajar. He knocked and was about to enter when the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

The next second, without warning, he was face-to-face with Ning Yixiao. The other man was clearly surprised, freezing for a moment.

“Are you also here to write the paper for Professor Wang?” Su Hui spoke first, unable to stop the corner of his mouth from curling up.

Ning Yixiao nodded. “Yes.” He smiled too, pulling the door open and stepping aside to let Su Hui in. “This project needs a statistical tool developed. Professor Wang teaches our statistics course; he asked if I wanted to try out this interdisciplinary project, so I came.”

He explained a bit, then felt a flicker of regret, thinking there was no need to say so much since Su Hui hadn’t even asked.

As he turned back, Ning Yixiao caught sight of his laptop on the desk—it was one he’d picked up from a second-hand market, and the logo on the lid was already peeling. Usually, he didn’t think much of it, but at this moment, it felt particularly glaring.

Su Hui usually sat alone in a corner during class and had never been anyone’s seatmate, so this time, he subconsciously sat in the row in front of Ning Yixiao.

“So that’s how it is. I was also just called over by Professor Wang today.” Su Hui smiled as he turned back to look at Ning Yixiao. “Cross-disciplinary work must be hard, right? If you asked me to do computer stuff right now, I wouldn’t have any idea what to do.”

It was a perfectly normal thing to say, but as Ning Yixiao looked at his face, he found himself saying, “You don’t look like you study finance, either.”

He couldn’t imagine Su Hui like those Wall Street elites—wearing full suits, ties, and navigating office buildings, doing work that involved extracting money from the pockets of the shrewdest people alive.

“Really?” Su Hui’s pupils were bright, possessing the eyes of a small animal unaccustomed to the concrete jungle. He leaned in closer and whispered to Ning Yixiao, “Actually, I don’t like it either.”

The distance was so close that Ning Yixiao could faintly smell the scent of tropical fruit on Su Hui—rich and sweet. He tightened his grip on his hands, which were resting on the table, and smiled. “Then why study it?”

The expression on Su Hui’s face was faint, as if it were a matter of course. “Because I don’t get to decide.”

Looking at his face, Ning Yixiao felt a bit dazed.

Quite suddenly, he thought back to when he was a sophomore. At the time, a certain professor had a fiery temper and often belittled students’ characters; few could stand him.

The final grade for that course required both exam scores and lab results. Unlike the cold, hard numbers of exams, lab grades were mostly based on the professor’s subjective impression, so not many people passed smoothly.

To get the GPA he wanted, Ning Yixiao showed immense patience. While almost everyone else was driven away by this thunderous professor—since no one could stand long-term belittling, especially in a place filled with “heaven’s pride”—Ning Yixiao could take it. Facing the harsh voice, he nodded, obeyed, and did whatever was asked, ultimately getting the grades he wanted.

Even that professor couldn’t help but say that Ning Yixiao was the most sensible and understanding student he had ever met.

To this day, he didn’t know if that was a compliment.

While he was lost in thought, Professor Wang and another student entered. Perhaps to liven up the atmosphere, they made jokes about the two of them.

“Oh, so you guys are already that close? I guess I don’t need to help everyone break the ice.”

Watching Professor Wang’s smile, Ning Yixiao felt complex emotions. His gaze focused ahead, seeing first the passion fruit juice in Su Hui’s transparent cup, and then the profile so close to him.

It was like a dream finally dissipating; Su Hui’s neck no longer held lingering bruises, and his thin earlobes showed a reddish tint, with a small indented piercing.

When he started to wonder when Su Hui had gotten his ears pierced, he suddenly snapped to his senses, realizing he was thinking too far and too much.

The premise of breaking the ice was that the ice needed to be broken.

Ning Yixiao could indeed feel something standing between him and Su Hui. It was strange; in any social relationship he had encountered in the past, no such ice layer had ever appeared. It was thin, and they seemed able to reach out and touch each other, yet the moment they reached out, they could clearly sense the danger.

The other student who had arrived was Zhang Shuo, also a finance major and Professor Wang’s star pupil.

Honor students love to get to the bottom of things; he was very interested in the tools Ning Yixiao had programmed and in Ning himself, so he asked constant questions. Ning Yixiao showed as much patience as possible, but his attention remained on Su Hui, who was chatting with Professor Wang.

When Su Hui spoke, his tone was always light. Even when he was leading the conversation, chattering on about something, he never sounded aggressive; on the contrary, he was always soft and incredibly captivating.

“By the way, when I attended the seminar, I heard someone mention your grandfather. I heard his health hasn’t been great lately. How is he doing?” Professor Wang asked with concern.

Ning Yixiao stared at Su Hui’s back and heard him say very softly, “I don’t know.”

Unlike others who would have prepared a polite social response like “He’s better, thanks for asking,” Su Hui was honest and said he didn’t know.

Su Hui smiled, looking up at Professor Wang. “My grandfather is very strong-willed in front of me, even when he’s sick. I hope he’s okay.”

During their eye contact, Professor Wang paused for a moment, then smiled. “Your grandfather does it for your own good, too.”

Su Hui didn’t deny it. “Yeah, for my own good.”

Neither continued, and Professor Wang appropriately changed the subject, starting the group meeting. He provided a lot of input, and Su Hui, worried his thoughts might drift away too fast to catch, pulled out his laptop to record the tasks Professor Wang proposed.

In short, he hoped Su Hui would assist Ning Yixiao in writing the English paper, while Zhang Shuo would be responsible for collecting enough data.

During the second half of the meeting, Su Hui couldn’t sit still, tapping his leg lightly to alleviate his symptoms until it ended.

“Get along well, you two.” Professor Wang patted Su Hui’s shoulder and said to him, “Yixiao is a very hardworking child. You should communicate with him more; who knows, maybe by the time this paper is finished, you’ll know how to code too.”

Su Hui smiled on the outside, but inside, he was too lazy to play along. He didn’t want to learn how to code at all.

But he was very willing to spend time with Ning Yixiao.

On the way out, Zhang Shuo was still asking questions, and Ning Yixiao was answering friendly and actively, explaining for the whole walk.

Su Hui followed them two steps behind, acting with a quietness that didn’t quite fit this stage of his mood. He really wanted to go outside to the school lawn, catch some air, and just lie down.

“Now that you put it that way, I get it. Thanks, Yixiao,” Zhang Shuo said, subconsciously wanting to put his arm around Ning Yixiao’s shoulder, though their height difference made it awkward. He scratched his head and smiled. “Hey, let’s grab a meal together. I found this super delicious place near the Tech Park. Can you eat spicy food?”

Su Hui’s thoughts jumped, answering in his head—I can’t eat spicy food; I really can’t. When I eat hotpot, I have to rinse the food in plain water three times.

He wanted to get to the lawn immediately, so he quickened his pace, planning to overtake the two of them and leave first.

But just as he was about to succeed, his arm was gripped.

Turning his head, he met Ning Yixiao’s deep, dark eyes.

Then came his soft voice. “Wait a second.”

Ning Yixiao turned to Zhang Shuo, offering an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I can’t today. I suddenly remembered Professor Wang also gave me a literature translation task. I have to go do it with Su Hui now.”

Zhang Shuo immediately looked understanding. “Oh, more work, huh? No worries. We have plenty of chances later, let’s get together next time.” He added, leaning past Ning Yixiao to say to Su Hui, “Xiao Hui, you come too, okay?”

It was the first time Su Hui had heard a classmate from the same major call him that. He didn’t say okay, just smiled.

“Goodbye.” Ning Yixiao watched his back, the smile on his face fading slightly.

“Why didn’t you go eat with him?” Su Hui raised his eyes to look at him, speaking very directly. “Do we have other tasks?”

Ning Yixiao didn’t answer directly; he released his arm.

“Treat me to a drink, forgot?”

He gave Su Hui a different smile than before, as if to say: You promised.

Su Hui stared into his eyes, a subtle smile appearing on his face. He blinked. “Almost forgot. What do you want to drink?”

“You have enough money today?” Ning Yixiao walked outside, his tone teasing.

Su Hui gave a soft “Mm.” “I haven’t spent any money today yet. I was going to buy some tools, but I got called over at the last minute. I don’t know if they’re closed by now.”

He started talking about irrelevant things again, but Ning Yixiao didn’t find it strange.

The burning twilight fell on his face, leaving even the fine hairs shimmering in light gold. Ning Yixiao watched Su Hui speak, his lips parting and closing, and thought he looked like a flower.

“Oh, right, I know a type of soda that’s delicious—grapefruit flavor.” Su Hui jumped to another topic, leading Ning Yixiao toward the convenience store with light, quick steps.

His neckline was always wide, the top hanging off him, restraining him—it didn’t serve as decoration because he was already beautiful enough on his own.

When Su Hui looked into the distance, his eyes were deep, but when he turned to look at Ning, he revealed a naive, pure side.

Ning Yixiao realized he should say yes.

Entering the store, Ning Yixiao followed Su Hui, watching him cross a large row of shelves, walking straight to the cooler. He stared intently for a while, then took out a bottle of light pink drink, then subconsciously went to reach for others, taking many different beverages.

Then, as if waking from a dream, he stopped, freezing in place, and with reddened ears, put the extra drinks back into the cooler.

“It’s this one.” Su Hui eventually only took the one he’d originally picked, turned around, and walked to the checkout counter, pulling some paper bills from his bag to pay.

“You try it.” He tried to twist the cap, but the side effects of his lithium salt medication left him with little strength in his hands.

“I’ll do it; these are hard to open.” Ning Yixiao said it was hard to open, but he barely used any force, twisting it open with ease. He tilted his head back, taking a big gulp, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down.

Sitting side-by-side on the bench outside the convenience store, Su Hui tilted his head to look at him. The evening breeze blew the light laundry detergent scent from Ning Yixiao onto him, like a wave of lime mixed with grapefruit.

“Pretty refreshing, not too sweet.” Ning Yixiao put the bottle down, giving a very simple, honest evaluation.

“Really?” Su Hui looked at him, and honestly said, “Actually, I’ve never had it before.”

Ning Yixiao’s eyes narrowed subconsciously. “That’s not what you said just now.”

“A lot of people recommended it; everyone said it was great.” Su Hui leaned against the bench, eyes on a child playing with a ball nearby, his tone flat. “But they don’t let me drink soda, so up until now, I’ve only heard about it.”

“Your grandfather?” Ning Yixiao guessed.

Su Hui gave an “Mm” and said lightly, “Because my health is bad.”

“Makes sense. Consuming too many additives isn’t very healthy.”

He heard Ning Yixiao obey the so-called rational logic, just like when he heard Professor Wang say, “He does it for your own good.”

But the difference was, when Ning Yixiao said it, it seemed to have a greater impact on his emotions.

Just as Su Hui was feeling confused by this, suddenly, a hand holding a soda bottle reached over. He raised his eyes and looked at Ning Yixiao.

“But it doesn’t matter if you try it once in a while. This dosage is practically equivalent to zero.”

There was no smile on his face, but his voice was very gentle.

Su Hui stared at that hand, and a moment later, took hold of the glass bottle, which was beading with condensation.

He tilted his head back and took a big gulp. The sweet, bubbly liquid flowed into his body, setting his heart to bubbling, too.

“How is it?” Ning Yixiao asked.

Su Hui accidentally choked, coughing for a long time. Once he steadied himself and took a few breaths, his face was flushed, his lips full and moist.

He looked at Ning Yixiao and smiled, without commenting on the soda.

“You know? The way you talked just now was just like coaxing a child.”

“Just saying.” Ning Yixiao looked at him. “Since you can’t even drink soda casually, they probably forbid you from smoking even more, right?”

Su Hui said naturally, “Of course I smoke in secret.”

He tilted his head back, squinting into the sunset. “Smoking makes me happy—happier than drinking soda. Both things get me punished if caught, so I’d rather do what I want to do more, even if there’s a bigger price to pay.”

“Anyway, everything in this world has a price.”

After finishing, Su Hui opened his eyes with some difficulty and looked at Ning Yixiao. “What about you? Do you smoke?”

Ning Yixiao didn’t say yes, didn’t say no, only said, “I don’t smoke.”

Smoking was too much of a waste for Ning Yixiao—a waste of money and a waste of time.

Worst of all, cigarettes reminded him of many unpleasant childhood memories. In a smoke-filled room, what awaited him wasn’t his mother’s tears, but a beating without restraint.

“That’s right.” Su Hui agreed. “Don’t learn; it’s not good for your health. Being healthy is the most important thing. If you smoke too much, your head will hurt a lot.”

He looked like he was drunk. Ning Yixiao looked down at Su Hui’s hands; there were fine metal rings on his index and middle fingers.

“What about you?” Ning Yixiao asked. “What about your own health?”

Su Hui smiled. “I’m fine; it couldn’t get much worse.” He stood up, as if intending to leave.

“I’m going back.” Su Hui said, “Thanks for the congee last time.”

Ning Yixiao stood up too. “I’m heading out too, let’s go together.”

The two walked along the tree-lined path, the distance between them varying.

Su Hui suddenly spoke up. “Is the tool you wrote working well?”

Ning Yixiao had already begun to get used to his sudden topic changes. He thought for a moment and answered, “It depends on how you define good or bad. According to current indicators, the predicted results are relatively close to the experts’ evaluations. In any case, these tools are useful, especially for data collection.”

Su Hui listened, nodded, and asked a somewhat nonsensical question. “So when can it completely replace humans?”

Ning Yixiao laughed at his question: “You want it to completely replace them? At least I can’t do that yet.”

“I don’t want to do this kind of work.” Su Hui said to himself, “In a few years, let’s just phase this profession out entirely.”

The strange thing was, Ning Yixiao didn’t find his flights of fancy strange.

“You don’t have to do it, as long as you want to.” Ning Yixiao’s tone had a feeling different from before. “Computers can’t help you, and neither can I. Only you can decide for yourself.”

Su Hui didn’t speak again, remaining silent for a long time, until they were about to reach the school gate.

When it was time to part ways, Su Hui subconsciously searched with his eyes for his family’s car, the orange sunset halo blurring his vision.

Where is it?

Suddenly, he heard Ning Yixiao’s voice.

“The tissue you gave me before got wet in the rain, and I can’t see the number clearly.”

Perhaps because it was hard to say, Ning Yixiao didn’t look at him, talking to himself as he walked forward, not noticing Su Hui had stopped his steps.

Receiving no response, Ning Yixiao turned his head, but there was no one beside him.

Is he angry?

Turning back around, he realized Su Hui was still standing four or five paces away, head lowered.

Before he could speak, Su Hui raised his head and walked toward him, hurrying a few steps. “Here.”

Ning Yixiao took it. It was an empty, torn cigarette box with two lines of ballpoint pen ink on it.

“How about this?”

Birds flying over the school gate swept across the sky, leaving reflections in Su Hui’s clear eyes. “It’s my first time leaving this for someone. I have no experience, and it seems like it’s really not easy to keep it written on a tissue. I’m sorry.”

Ning Yixiao was stunned.

After Su Hui finished speaking, he suddenly laughed again. “But the cigarette box doesn’t seem much better, either.”

“Forget it, there really wasn’t any other paper to write on.” He stepped closer as cars honked and the crowds pressed in. Only the sunset’s glow separated them.

Su Hui’s voice was soft, scattering into the wind.

“You should have contacted me sooner.”