A Chilly Revelation

Zhou Yi pulled a chair over and sat down. He looked at Han Yan. “What are your thoughts on this project?”

Han Yan had already turned back to his computer. The screen displayed the project details released by the Professor: “To plan an innovative digital transformation proposal for a local, traditional small and micro enterprise (e.g., a time-honored brand, a family café).”

“I suggest we focus on a specific industry, for instance…”

“A café.”

Lin Wei spoke almost simultaneously. She realized she had interrupted too quickly, and a blush crept onto her face, but she pressed on to finish. “There’s a family café downstairs from my house that’s been open for thirty years. The owner, Auntie, is my neighbor. If we need a real case study, I could try to talk to her.”

Han Yan glanced at her, then added, “A real case study holds more value than a fictional one. However, you’ll need to get their consent first and make it clear that we’re conducting course practice, so we can’t promise any actual implementation results.”

“I know!”

Lin Wei nodded quickly. “Auntie has always said she wants to learn how to take orders on her phone, but she can never quite figure it out. I’ll go back and ask her if she’s willing to be our case study.”

“Alright,” Han Yan agreed. “Then you’ll be responsible for the initial needs assessment and client liaison. Make sure to record the original requirements and don’t process them yourself.”

“Understood!”

Lin Wei immediately jotted it down.

“Then Jiang Chen and I will handle the business model and promotion strategy,” Zhou Yi offered.

He added, “We can also look into whether there are any existing low-cost tools we can integrate and utilize.”

The four of them had roughly divided the work, with the basic assignments confirmed. Zhou Yi glanced out the window; at some point, the sky had turned gloomy, and the clouds hung low, threatening rain.

“Let’s discuss other details in the group chat,” he suggested. “Looking at the sky, perhaps we should all head home?”

He had left in a hurry that morning, not even thinking about bringing an umbrella. Moreover, that familiar dull ache in his chest was faintly resurfacing, making him feel a little restless. ‘It’s probably better to go back to the dorm early if I want to move.’

Han Yan didn’t even lift his head, his fingers still tapping on the keyboard. “You all go ahead. I still have some documents to finish up here.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Lin Wei interjected softly, pulling a folding umbrella from her bag. “I brought an umbrella.”

Zhou Yi shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Jiang Chen efficiently picked up his backpack and patted Zhou Yi’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

The two walked out of the classroom door, one after the other, leaving behind the subtly quiet space to Han Yan and Lin Wei, who had insisted on staying with him.

****

As they walked down the stairs side-by-side, Jiang Chen asked casually, “That case study you mentioned when you answered in class… it sounded quite interesting.”

Zhou Yi’s heart skipped a beat. He had casually used an example just now, forgetting that it was a ‘simulator-exclusive’ memory.

In reality, where had they ever participated in any proper entrepreneurship competition? At least, in Jiang Chen’s perception, she certainly hadn’t.

“It was just… some articles I stumbled upon from entrepreneurial public accounts,” he mumbled, quickening his pace. “I just casually remembered a few things.”

As he said this, his mind involuntarily flashed back to that awkward scene at the end of the simulator, which had forced his hasty exit.

Jiang Chen didn’t press further, but his gaze lingered for a moment on Zhou Yi’s slightly reddened earlobes.

As they exited the teaching building, the gloomy sky could hold back no longer. Fine strands of rain began to fall diagonally, carrying the biting chill of late autumn.

Zhou Yi looked up, the icy rain striking his face. The sudden chill on his skin seemed to clear his muddled thoughts, making him feel a few shades more awake.

“Hiss…” He was caught off guard as a gust of cold wind, laden with rain, enveloped him. He instinctively hugged his arms, rubbing them together. The thin hoodie he was wearing was utterly defenseless against the sudden drop in temperature and dampness.

Jiang Chen, walking half a step behind her, almost instinctively reached for the zipper of his own jacket.

The zipper slid down half an inch. At that precise moment, icy rainwater seeped through the gap, trickling down his nape and into his collar, sending a shiver through him. The sudden cold also jolted his muddled thoughts awake.

‘What was he doing?’

‘Putting his jacket on his roommate?’

This overly intimate, even protective gesture, absolutely should not occur between two males.

His fingers froze on the cold zipper. He looked up at the back of the figure in front of him, who was hunched, muttering softly, “What kind of cursed weather is this?”

The hoodie, now damp, clung to the body, outlining the lines of the shoulders and back. They were so slender…

So slender that it made one’s heart clench.

“Let’s hurry, the rain’s getting heavier.” Zhou Yi pulled the collar of his own useless jacket tighter, glancing back at Jiang Chen. His eyes were slightly narrowed against the rain, tiny droplets clinging to his eyelashes.

“Mn.” Jiang Chen lowered his hand, suppressing the inexplicable impulse that had surged within him, and quickly caught up.

“Run!”

“You don’t have to tell me!”

The two of them, looking disheveled and hurried, sprinted towards the dormitory building through the fine rain.

By the time they reached the dorm building, both were thoroughly soaked. Zhou Yi’s hoodie had darkened in patches, his hair was dripping wet, and his lips were tinged white from the cold.

“Go up and take a hot shower quickly.” Jiang Chen half-pushed his shoulder, ushering him into the building.

Zhou Yi nodded, then rushed into the hallway first.

Jiang Chen followed behind him, his gaze fixed on Zhou Yi’s slightly trembling back.

Fragments of memory flashed again, out of place, like a certain autumn night, when suddenly…

…a sudden gust of cold wind swept through. The thinly clad body beside him, with long hair disheveled by the wind, was also shivering from the cold. At that time, he…

…he hadn’t thought twice, simply taking off his own jacket, still warm from his body, and draped it over the other person’s shoulders.

“Just say if you’re cold.”

“No, really. Why would I wear your jacket? You’ll get cold too…”

“Achoo!” A loud, sudden sneeze pulled Jiang Chen back to reality from that warm, hazy memory.

He snapped back to attention, realizing he had already followed Zhou Yi all the way to their dorm room.

Zhou Yi was struggling to peel off his soaked jacket, muttering, “Oh no, my laptop seems to have gotten wet too…”

Jiang Chen stood at the doorway, watching Zhou Yi’s busy silhouette in the light. He saw the fair, delicate nape of the neck revealed beneath the wet clothes, and the dripping ends of his hair.

Certain questions, like vines, silently sprouted and grew, nurtured by the rain, coiling around his reason.

“I’m going to take a shower first, I’m freezing.” Zhou Yi, completely oblivious to the complex gaze behind him, grabbed a dry towel and a change of clothes, then turned and slipped into the bathroom.

The door closed, and the sound of running water soon followed.

Steam billowed in the bathroom. Zhou Yi stripped off his rain-soaked clothes, and his slightly trembling body was reflected in the mirror.

The dull ache in his chest now became even clearer, even accompanied by an unfamiliar, slightly burning sensation of distension.

His originally flat chest seemed abnormally swollen. He hesitantly pressed a finger against it, feeling a distinct throbbing pain and an unfamiliar softness to the touch.

“Ah, this…” ‘Could that collision with Xiao Ju really have caused such a serious problem?’