On the way back, he still asked Cen Zeng if he wanted to ask the senior sister out for a meal after they were done chatting. He added that they should include Zheng Yi, saying she was the senior sister's friend, so the four of them could talk. Once they had a clearer picture, they could go find Chen Ziheng. If necessary.

Cen Zeng thought for a moment and said, "You know Zheng Yi?"

"Mhm..."

"I remember she's in the same grade as me."

"Just assume I'm well-connected," Cheng Shuo replied. "She was the one who arranged for me to meet the senior sister."

Cen Zeng nodded and said, "I see. Then let's meet."

After the plane landed, on the drive home, Cen Zeng kept staring at WeChat, occasionally typing a few words in reply.

Cheng Shuo parked the car and asked, "What's the word?"

Cen Zeng smiled and said the senior sister thought it was fine. As for the specifics, she said they could talk over a meal.

"Also."

"Also what?"

"Also, she said that you, the well-connected one, are the only one with everyone's WeChat, so you should create a group chat." His tone carried a faint hint of teasing.

Cheng Shuo looked at him and smiled too.

After arriving home, Cen Zeng took out his laptop and almost immediately went into work mode.

Cheng Shuo poured him a glass of water and said, "Let's just order takeout for the next few days. It looks like you won't have time to cook."

Cen Zeng's typing fingers didn't stop, but he turned his head. "I'll cook."

"Aren't you busy?"

"Not especially. I'm waiting for Li Aimin to keep scolding me," Cen Zeng replied. "I have some recordings and chat logs, but with this kind of thing, the more the better."

Cheng Shuo was speechless for a moment, then chuckled. "Then I'll create the group chat first."

He @'d everyone and asked when they were free for a meal.

Zheng Yi appeared quickly, saying she was basically free for lunch and dinner every day, but just couldn't talk for too long.

The senior sister checked the laboratory's schedule and replied, "Let's do lunch the day after tomorrow."

Cheng Shuo nudged Cen Zeng, who nodded.

And so it was settled. The next day, Cen Zeng finished work not too late, a rare look of ease on his face. He told Cheng Shuo he'd go see his advisor after dinner.

Today, they had braised pig's trotters with pickled cabbage and stir-fried egg tofu with pea shoots.

After eating together for so long, Cen Zeng finally felt at ease letting Cheng Shuo clear the table. He himself left in a hurry for the hospital.

Cheng Shuo played a few rounds of a game. After carrying his teammates in a promotion match, he heard a sound from the living room through the half-open door.

Walking out, he saw Cen Zeng looking a bit tired, but his expression was still relaxed. "I was asked where I've been these past few days."

"What did you say?"

"I said my dad passed away and I got sick." He smiled.

Cheng Shuo choked for a moment. "Then Uncle Cen—"

"I've never met him," Cen Zeng said. "I just consider him to be dead."

He gripped his water glass, and Cheng Shuo was almost afraid the fragile handle would shatter.

"What did Li Aimin say?"

"The usual stuff—that I didn't follow procedures, my mind wasn't on research, and I had no sense of responsibility." Cen Zeng thought for a moment. "He cursed me out pretty badly."

Cheng Shuo stood frozen. The person opposite him offered comfort, "I'm used to it. Thinking about reporting him, I almost wish he'd curse me out even worse."

So Cheng Shuo nodded and pointed to the takeout box on the table. "I ordered some barbecue. The place Zhang Yijie and I went to last time. It's pretty good."

Late at night, they ate their snack, the French window cracked open for ventilation. Spring was approaching, and the wind had lost its blade-like chill, carrying a hint of gentleness.

When they went out for their appointment the next day, Cheng Shuo had already switched from his down jacket to a coat.

The turtleneck sweater felt a bit tight, giving him the illusion of being constrained in the late winter, early spring wind.

They chose a Yunnan restaurant. Cheng Shuo was familiar with the owner and had reserved a private room in advance. He ordered deep-fried mushrooms and grilled live fish. Cen Zeng and Zheng Yi arrived together.

The medical students carried their respective heavy bags. Zheng Yi sat across from Cheng Shuo, and Cen Zeng sat beside him.

"I was just saying to Cen Zeng..." Zheng Yi said with a smile, "I never expected that the first time I'd eat with him wouldn't be because of an event in our own department, but through you."

Cen Zeng nodded and said, "Sorry, I don't really like participating in activities."

"Oh..." Zheng Yi pushed her hair back. "I get it."

"Did you guys have fun?" She turned her head to look at Cheng Shuo. "The place I recommended was good, right?"

"It was great..." Cheng Shuo smiled. "I'll ask you again next time."

They added two more dishes, and the senior sister finally arrived, fashionably late.

She greeted them, "You're all here?"

Zheng Yi handed her the menu. "We were waiting for you to pick a dish."

The senior sister ordered braised chicken.

While waiting for the food, she turned to Cen Zeng and asked, "The boss didn't do anything to you, did he? I heard him slam the table yesterday."

"It's fine..." Cen Zeng had his usual expression. "I recorded it."

"What about you, Senior Sister?" Cheng Shuo asked.

"I've made recordings too," she said. "If we decide to speak up, we can release them. My situation involves—"

She fell silent for a moment. Zheng Yi covered her hand and gently stroked it.

"It's not just PUA, it also involves sexual harassment and stealing my paper." She smiled, and though her voice trembled, it was still firm. "We can discuss how to post about it, the timeline, whether to be anonymous, and whether we should symbolically send a complaint letter to the university."

They sorted through everything, all the rotten things Li Aimin had done to these two students, and to many more.

Both of them were as calm as Cheng Shuo remembered, their tones carrying a persistent coolness and a numbness he was reluctant to admit.

They calmly discussed the potential reactions of other students, whether it was possible to persuade a certain PhD student who was continuously having their graduation postponed, or a fifth-year student threatened with expulsion by their advisor if they didn't comply.

They exchanged logic, supplementing each other's points. It was so familiar, as if each had considered exposing him countless times. Only now did they finally meet each other's eyes and grow closer.

Towards the end of the conversation, the senior sister smiled and said, "Cen Zeng, actually, I've always felt a bit sorry towards you."

"For not mustering the courage to tell you what kind of person Li Aimin is."

"No need to apologize..." The person next to him said in a light tone, "Senior Sister, when you're in a mire, so deep you can't even cry for help, you shouldn't blame yourself for not catching someone who is falling."

Zheng Yi's expression shifted through a myriad of emotions, as if countless words were stuck in her throat. Her teacup lid abruptly fell to the floor with a crisp clatter.

They both bent down to pick it up at the same time. Cen Zeng passed a thick napkin from the table.

Once they were seated again, Zheng Yi said softly, "Senior Sister, you did nothing wrong."

The girl just smiled and said, "But at least the two of us are planning to stand up now, right? Even if nothing comes of it, I hope no more junior sisters and brothers walk into this pit of fire."

She spoke calmly, and Cen Zeng, across from her, nodded slightly.

As they finished eating, they planned, without much hope, to ask major media outlets and write some complaint letters. In the end, they would most likely have to post an anonymous exposé on Weibo.

"What if we post anonymously and no one believes it?" the senior sister asked.

"If we expose it and the outcry isn't loud enough, it could be deleted very quickly," Zheng Yi added with a frown. "Besides, both your case, Senior Sister, and Cen Zeng's are too easy to trace back to you. You two..."

She looked at the person sitting beside her, her face full of unconcealable worry.

"Then I'll use my real name," Cen Zeng replied.

"No," the senior sister said. "Let me do it."

Cheng Shuo put down the piece of chicken that had gone completely cold, looked at the two of them, sighed, and said, "Let's take it one step at a time. Slowly."

Starting over, he had unexpectedly become the one to say these words.

No one spoke, but no one shook their heads either.

There was no clear path forward, but if one could first grab hold of a rock on a cliff face, those who came after could at least grasp an edge that had been worn smoother, and continue onward.

In the end, it was Zheng Yi who broke the silence. "We can also ask Chen Ziheng. He's the Student Council president."

"Ask him how the university usually handles complaint letters, and also how to stir up public opinion. He's more experienced with that."

Cheng Shuo had experience too, but unfortunately, it was from his past life.

—

I'm going to secretly post a sweet little extra for everyone. If you don't want to read it, you can just pretend you didn't see it? I'm afraid it might pull you out of the story, but I also feel like the current part is too depressing and wanted to balance it out... If you don't want to read it, please just skip it, okay?

It's probably from some unknown number of playthroughs (I know but I can't say). Anyway, after they got together: "Can you change my contact name?"

Cheng Shuo abruptly spoke up during lunch.

"What do you mean?" Cen Zeng asked him.

"We're together, right?" Cheng Shuo found it hilarious just asking this question.

Cen Zeng nodded as if it were a matter of course, completely baffled as to why the other person would say such a thing.

"Then can you... not just have my contact name as Cheng Shuo?" He felt a chill saying this.

Cen Zeng stared blankly for three seconds, as if it had finally dawned on him.

His eyes curved into a smile. "Oh, sorry. I don't have much experience."

Unbelievable.

"I..." Cheng Shuo said, "Are you jealous? I really have nothing to do with Xing Ji anymore, or never did, and also..."

"I know," Cen Zeng said. "I was a little jealous at first, but I know now, and you've already explained it clearly."

"So can you change it?"

Cen Zeng thought for a moment, then, right in front of him, opened his pinned chat and changed the contact name to Moon, adding a question mark.

"Satisfied?" he asked, turning his head.

"Very satisfied."

"Then what's my name on your phone?"

Cheng Shuo took a deep breath and showed him.

Very unoriginal: Boyfriend.

Cen Zeng looked at it and laughed out loud. He said, "Cheng Shuo, how come you also seem so inexperienced?"

"What's that supposed to mean!" Cheng Shuo sucked in a breath. "Then you tell me what to change it to."

"Think of it yourself." The person opposite him had eyes curved like crescent moons. "Change it after you've thought of something good."