"Is there anything you want to say today?" The doctor asked, scanning through the medical records and sitting at the table.

"Nope. No, a lot. Chen Ying licked her cracked lips and stared out the window with bloodshot red eyes, "No, no." ”

"Didn't sleep all night yesterday?"

"Not just yesterday."

"Shall I prescribe you some sleep medicine first?"

"Don't bother, I never trusted psychiatrists."

"Then why did you come to me?"

"Because you're my only friend."

"Okay, tell me what happened to you." Liang Jing took off her white coat, put it on the chair next to her, rolled up a corner of her sleeve and hung it down on the dark marble floor.

Whenever Chen Ying remembers the past, it starts in Chicago, although the origin of the story is obviously Beijing. Chicago is a city located in the Midwest of the United States, near the north, next to Lake Michigan. In the tourist postcards printed by the locals, it is the Windy City. Chen Ying loves it, loves the allegorical name, as if she can spread her wings and soar just by being in it, completely forgetting its dark city label in the eyes of the locals.

Before coming to the United States, Chen Ying already had a boyfriend who had been talking for three years, not at the same level, not from the same college. Chen Ying, who is not tall, is a weird person in college, does not like to participate in student unions, does not like club activities, and spends her days in the library, reading all sociological books that have nothing to do with professional classes. She wears plain clothes, wears rimless glasses, and never wears makeup. Every day when she goes to class, she walks silently along the edge of the campus path, step by step with her head down, and it is difficult for her to raise her head even if a boy rings the car bell behind her back. Unlike most girls who dressed up in school, Chen Ying's hobby at that time was to earn money part-time - even if the family conditions did not require her to do so, on the way back to the dormitory, Chen Ying would collect the empty drink bottles discarded on the side of the road or in the corridor one by one, save up to a considerable extent, and then sell them at the scrap yard behind the adjacent dormitory building, and carefully stuff the hard-earned few dollars into her purse.

Chen Ying met this senior brother completely by accident.

On that day, Chen Ying was selling old textbooks for a semester on the campus BBS. SHE CAREFULLY RESEARCHED THE PRICING AND NEWNESS OF EACH BOOK, CAREFULLY TAKING NOTES ON AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET ON HER LAPTOP, FIGURING OUT HOW TO GET THE MOST REASONABLE RETURN. Her long, thick black hair fell down and fell softly over her shoulders, the early spring sun gilding her whole body with a golden glow.

Roommate Sun Wei is back with a new boyfriend.

Chen Ying didn't look up. She knew that Sun Wei often changed boyfriends, and sometimes Sun Wei would cry bitterly because of this, and even couldn't sleep all night talking nonsense. Chen Ying has always believed that these people have nothing to do with her. By this time, she had spread out the books and placed them on the iron bed next to the beige desk, and walked around the bed with a digital camera, hoping to find a better angle to make the old books look more energetic in the photos.

Sun Wei took the scarf and left with her boyfriend.

That night, Chen Ying came back from the library, took a shower, put on a crumpled pajamas with small white dots on a turquoise background, and sat at her desk. She found the gray wire hanging from the wall and expertly plugged it into her computer. Then she got up while she waited for her computer to turn on, washed up, and went to bed after arranging tomorrow's used book deal.

"Chen Ying, why don't you have a boyfriend?" Sun Wei's voice sounded behind him.

"There's no need." Chen Ying turned her head with a wry smile, her long wet hair kept dripping down, "Besides, there is no suitable person." ”

"People always have to be flexible," Sun Wei's face was full of slyness, "Look at Wu Yun, the last time I went to the New Year's party of the computer department, I fell into the arms of their grass He Si by getting drunk - how natural ......"

"Sun Wei, be quiet!" Wu Yun took off the big blue-black headphones on his head and looked at them dissatisfied, "I'm video chatting with He Si!" ”

"Happened to fall into the arms of a boy?" Chen Ying stood at the door and snorted, his left hand bent into a bucket to hold his mouth, frowning slightly, carefully weighing the possibility of the whole thing happening, "I'm afraid I can't do it, and...... What is the probability of success? ”

Sun Wei still wanted to say something, but saw that Wu Yun had turned off the computer happily, and walked between them with a basin of foot soaking water that was still slightly steaming, and the big headphones were now hanging on her small neck. She looked contented and in good spirits.

"Go brush your teeth." Wu Yun pushed Sun Wei away, sat on her seat, and put the footbath on the ground, and the water in it almost splashed out. Sun Wei pursed his lips and walked towards the water room with a mouthwash cup. "Let me tell you a secret." Wu Yun looked at the door, made sure that Sun Wei had gone away, and whispered, "Have you seen Sun Wei's new boyfriend today?" ”

Chen Ying nodded.

"What do you think of him?"

"I was busy with something else, and I didn't see what he looked like."

"I met the two of them in the corridor when I came back from lunch, and I heard him asking Sun Wei about you."

"Huh?"

"What do you think?"

"How's that?"

"Dating this boy!"

"Not good." Chen Ying's mouth curled, shook her head and said, "This is not good." Sun Wei will ......" She stopped before she finished speaking, because Sun Wei came back and stood next to them with a curious look, his ears pressed to him, as if he wanted to join them in the conversation.

"Sun Wei, I think the two of us have to come on," Wu Yun suddenly raised his head, his thin eyebrows were raised upward, and the heart-shaped red garnet earrings were swinging around, very eye-catching, "Chen Ying is afraid that she won't be able to get married, so we have to recruit a boyfriend for her on BBS." ”

Chen Ying felt teased and got up and went to the water room. She hurriedly brushed her teeth for the precious few minutes before the lights went out, and when she returned, the hallway was already dark. She fumbled to the side of her bed, slipped into the curtain, tucked in a pair of apricot-yellow sponge earplugs, and tucked her whole body under the covers, completely oblivious to the roommates' chatter.

But it didn't end there. In the evening of the next day, when Chen Ying returned from the library with her tired body in tow, the information of the defendant's recruitment of friends had been posted on BBS early that morning, and there were already more than a dozen responders to the letter on the site. Sun Wei and Wu Yun discussed the situation of the reply aloud, and by the time Chen Ying made the bed and was ready to rest, they were still in high spirits, and their two black heads were put together and each reply was read aloud.

"This is not good, I plan to delete him," Sun Wei laughed and waved his mouse, his big brown wavy curls trembling slightly, "He didn't write his height - I think Chen Ying should still find a tall one so that she can protect her." ”

"This one is okay!" Wu Yun said loudly, "One level higher than us, from the School of Environment, likes to play basketball - doesn't Chen Ying like to run around the lake at night?" This one fits perfectly. ”

"It's too ugly, and you put a photo like this up?" Sun Wei shook his head while watching, and clicked the mouse arrow towards the "Delete" button, "I can't even eat after reading it." ”

"Do you think this is okay?" Wu Yun opened another letter of belief, "One meter eight tall - a bit tall for Chen Ying, but it's okay - from the School of Electronic Information, and our first-level ("Maybe I've seen it during military training!" Sun Wei shouted. - Well, I like to run, read books, and listen to music - it's very atmospheric - and I like to feed the cats......"

"That's a good fit." Sun Wei also agreed.

"Do you have contact information?" Chen Ying asked without raising his head. She was trying to smooth out a fold on the side of the blue plaid sheet.

"I didn't find it." Wu Yun said regretfully.

"I can only contact with the station letter - what a fool, this kind of thing should not be hurried." Sun Wei added.

Chen Ying took a long breath and felt that tonight's farce could finally end decimately.

"Chen Ying is just too picky," Sun Wei took out the books in her schoolbag and stuffed them back into the bookshelf, "Last year, the boy from the School of Archaeology chased her, and she ignored others. ”

And the last time she went to the School of International Relations to review Level 4 English, the boy sitting next to her asked her for her mobile phone number, and she refused to give it. Later, the boy posted BBS headlines for three days in a row, just to know her news. Wu Yun said reproachfully, "I couldn't help but want to reply to him at that time!" ”

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you this time." Chen Ying lifted half of her body and fumbled for earplugs under the bran pillow.

"This person left his phone number!" Sun Wei interrupted them, "Two levels higher than us—law school—how come there are so many law schools—well, like to play basketball, like to read—oops! My computer hasn't turned off yet! ”

When the lights out time came, it immediately became dark in the dormitory.

"Why don't you use my notebook to keep reading?" Chen Ying said in a daze.

"No, the power on the network port has also been turned off." Sun Wei cautiously walked towards the door and kicked down an enamel basin with a loud noise.

"Chen Ying won't want to run away again, right?" Wu Yun's voice came from the upper bunk. She made the bed in the dark, and the whole bed frame was shaky.

"Hurry up and contact him tomorrow morning, or don't come back!" Sun Wei gave an ultimatum.

Chen Ying rolled over.

At that time, it was early autumn in Beijing, and the whole campus was in a colorful display that was unique to this season. Khaki fruits with white bark birch fluff hang from the branches, two rows of ginkgo trees in front of the dormitory building are dressed in golden autumn clothes, palm-sized dark green poplar leaves sway in the cool wind, and white daisies are still in bloom on the grass. Crickets and gnats murmur in the dark green grass, as if celebrating the departure of the summer heat. Black-backed house swallows flutter beside the ancient building, streaking across the pale blue sky from time to time. The crimson sunset is dipping into the east, and the whole sky is gradually turning purple red. A weather plane had just passed by in the sky, leaving a long line of white practice.

Chen Ying got up early in the morning and sent a text message to the boy who had left his mobile phone number as agreed, but did not receive a reply until noon. So they agreed to meet again in the evening, and the meeting place was set on the path between the two dormitories.

In order to avoid embarrassment, Chen Ying deliberately went a little late.

"If I did meet my future husband in this way, it would be nice to look back on it years later." Chen Ying thought when she went downstairs.

As night began to fall, students in the dormitory building without bathrooms walked towards the public baths with colorful basins. Some students had just finished evening class, and they hurried to the cafeteria on their bicycles with their school bags on their backs. As soon as the lights come on, small vendors selling fruits and magazines begin to spread out their red and blue nylon rain shelters and carefully place their goods. Walking through the bustling crowd, Chen Ying looked at the intersection they had agreed upon, where a boy was talking to two girls under the street lamp. At this time, a strong wind was blowing with sand and dust, and many people quickly turned their backs to the wind, and Chen Ying was also forced to close his eyes. After the wind passed, the two girls were gone, and the boys were still standing there with their hands in their pockets. He was about 1.75 meters tall, wearing a light blue sweater, khaki pants with folded creases, and white touring shoes on his feet were very clean. He was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses and was looking aimlessly.

"Hello." Chen Ying walked from the dark corner to the street lamp.

"Hello." The boy naturally shook her outstretched left hand.

"I'm Chen Ying, from the School of Economics."

"I'm Qin Hong, from law school."

While chatting, they walked along the path towards the lake, and met several law school classmates on the way, and Qin Hong greeted them one by one. The moon gradually rose, the silver moonlight cast a layer of atmosphere on the campus, the figure of the teaching building has been blurred in the night, there are clubs organizing activities on the lawn, and the light of the flashlight flashes like fireflies. After passing through a rustling bamboo forest, they reached the edge of the lake.

"How about we go for a jog together?" Qin Hong suggested.

"Okay."

Chen Ying re-combed her ponytail, and they began to run, very slowly, chatting as they ran.

“…… Are you a sophomore? Qin Hong said briskly, "I'm already a senior and will graduate next year, and I've been submitting resumes and looking for jobs everywhere recently." ”

"Not planning to go to graduate school?" Chen Ying asked softly.

"Well--I still don't want to continue studying-and the law major is more applied in society, not something that can be learned by reading books, and if it's just an endorsement, no matter how many diplomas you get, it's not valuable."

They slowly chatted about the content of their respective majors, the books they usually liked to read, the courses they had taken together, their thoughts on the future and their understanding of the school, and before they knew it, they had run half a circle around the lake. Then, they began to talk about their hometown and anecdotes about their childhood.

“…… At our site, you can sandboard – of course, I've only played it once, but it's still fun. The man sits in a small boat like a dustpan, the bow of the boat is tied with a rope, and you have to put the rope in your hand like this, and hold it tightly, and lean back as much as you can, so that the boat does not capsize - this is not very easy to control, but you will become familiar with it after playing with it once or twice - sit as straight as possible on the sand slope - like this - and then there is a person who pushes you behind and slides down with a bang - very fast - and there are also people who do not control it well, and as soon as the boat capsizes, the person is planted in the sand. ”

Chen Ying watched him describe all this vividly, as if they were standing on the sand slope at the moment.

"There are camels there, you can ride and take pictures – and the walls and palaces of the ancient city – which are now ruins – and although they are very weathered, you can still see what they were."

"I envy you, I haven't been there." Chen Ying slowed down and walked side by side with Qin Hong towards the way he came, a full moon was rising, and the moonlight stretched the shadows of the two people long.

"I'll invite you to go when I have time, take you over there, we have a lot of fun there." Qin Hong said generously.

"Okay."

When we arrived at the girls' dormitory, the lights were out. There are still people in the corridor who are washing by the light of the emergency lights, and the glimmer of light and shadow from the window at the door of the water room is sufficient. The carport in front of the building was already stuffed with bicycles, and vendors at the intersection were hurrying to cover the rest of their goods with army-green canvas. The campus is exceptionally quiet at this moment, and the fiery red maple leaves are rubbing in the breeze.

"Tomorrow...... Still going for a run? Qin Hong asked cautiously.

"yes, okay." Chen Ying nodded.

"So—see you here at half past seven in the evening?"

"Okay."

Qin Hong took a long breath, put on woolen gloves, waved his hand briskly, and ran quickly towards the dormitory building next to him. Chen Ying waited until his shadow turned a corner and disappeared at the door of the building, then took out the access control card from the pocket of his close-fitting jacket, turned around and pushed open the brown glass door, and walked towards his bedroom.

"Chen Ying is back!" Sun Wei opened the door and saw her and shouted loudly.

"How?" Wu Yunjiao ran over with his slippers, and there seemed to be stars twinkling in his eyes.

"It's fine." Chen Ying felt that her face was burning in the dark.

"Is there a handle? Hugging, kissing? Sun Wei couldn't wait to ask.

"None of them."

"So what did you all do?"

"Run, talk." Chen Ying said dryly.

"Talked all night?"

"Hmm."

"So-are you going again tomorrow?" Wu Yun asked hopelessly.

"Go, I'll go tomorrow afternoon when I come back from tutoring." Chen Ying shrank into the warm quilt.