The Ordinary Daily Life

Waking up at ten in the morning, Lin Yu gave a long, satisfying stretch.

After loosening up his body, he didn't get out of bed. Instead, he closed his eyes again, choosing to lie quietly for a bit longer, waiting for his soul to fully return to his body.

"Holy shit!"

"It's freezing outside!"

Lang Hua shoved the dorm door open. Huddling into his thin winter coat, he walked in, shivering uncontrollably.

Lying in bed and still trying to wake up, Lin Yu heard Lang Hua's complaints and scoffed dismissively.

"Cold?"

"How cold could it possibly be?"

They were deep in the south; even at its worst, the cold couldn't be that bad.

Just how freezing could it get?

Instead of answering, Lang Hua walked over to Lin Yu's bed, stood on his tiptoes, and shoved his hand right down the back of Lin Yu's neck.

"Holy shit!!!"

Lin Yu jolted violently, instantly springing up from the bed.

"What the hell was that?"

Shocked and bewildered, Lin Yu glared down at Lang Hua, half-suspecting the guy had just rubbed a block of ice against his neck.

No!

That freezing sensation had been instantaneous upon contact, hitting him even faster than the chill of actual ice!

Lang Hua withdrew his bright red, frozen hand and asked with a cheeky grin,

"Now do you know how cold it is outside?"

The lingering cold on his neck made Lin Yu shiver again. He turned to look out the window, still struggling to accept it, and asked,

"What's the temperature out there today?"

"Negative seven degrees."

Lang Hua checked his phone before looking up to answer.

"How many?!"

Lin Yu's voice completely cracked.

Negative seven degrees?

God, did you make a mistake?

This is the deep south!

How the hell did you drop it below zero?

"This isn't even the worst of it. I checked the forecast, and tonight's low might hit negative ten."

"Plus, the forecast said it's going to snow today!"

Lang Hua looked visibly excited. Although his hometown wasn't City S, it was still a fairly southern city where snow was a rare sight.

"Impossible."

As the two were chatting, a faint but incredibly certain voice chimed in.

Lang Hua looked over in confusion at Wu Zhen, who was sitting by the window, completely engrossed in his video game. He didn't understand how Wu Zhen could make such a bold claim with such absolute certainty.

"I was born and raised here in City S. In over twenty years, I haven't seen so much as half a snowflake."

"There's no way it's going to snow here!"

Wu Zhen stated without even turning his head.

"Huh?"

"Is that true?"

Lang Hua looked a bit disappointed. It seemed he had gotten his hopes up for nothing.

"Well, maybe you'll finally get to see it this time."

"Why don't you look out the window?"

Still sitting on his bed, Lin Yu watched the heavy, goose-feather-like snow falling outside and turned to tease Wu Zhen.

"It doesn't matter if I look, it's impossible for City S to ever..."

His words of denial came to a screeching halt. Staring out the window at the swirling blizzard, Wu Zhen's eyes practically bulged out of his head.

"Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!!"

"Holy shit!!!"

Wu Zhen yelled three times in sheer excitement. He shot up from his chair, completely abandoning his mid-progress game. After staring out the window for a moment, he threw on his jacket and bolted for the door, eager to head downstairs and play in the snow.

Lang Hua, having rarely seen snow himself, was equally thrilled. Ignoring his freezing, bright red hands, he spun around and dug a thick sweater out of his closet. Shoving it on under his thin coat, he eagerly trotted downstairs right behind him.

"Finish my game for me!"

The dorm door slammed shut with a loud bang, and Wu Zhen's voice echoed down the hallway, drifting faintly back into the room.

Lin Yu sat on his bed, not wanting to move a muscle.

But after a brief moment, he let out a sigh, put on his clothes, and climbed down from his bunk.

He had no choice. When a son causes trouble, his old man always has to step in and wipe his ass for him.

By the time he finished the match, Lin Yu's body had fully woken up, and his stomach was rumbling with intense hunger.

He dug two thicker layers out of his closet and threw them on. Then, he opened the dorm door, planning to head off-campus to grab something good to eat.

Reaching the ground floor of the dorm building, Lin Yu looked out at the heavy, drifting snowfall. He sniffled, pulled his hood up, and stepped out into the blizzard.

Thinking back on his peaceful, mundane life over the past while, Lin Yu felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

Ever since they parted ways that day, Tao Yaoyao hadn't shown up in front of him again.

The same went for all those other messy people in his life—Ye You, Wang Yanyan, the Zhou sisters, and the rest.

Even if they occasionally bumped into each other, they wouldn't so much as exchange a greeting. This total stranger dynamic was honestly quite heartwarming.

Then there was his reputation on campus.

If there was one thing college was never short on, it was fresh gossip.

Today, someone was confessing their love downstairs; tomorrow, someone's roster of side pieces would get exposed; the day after that, there'd be rumors of some baseless teacher-student romance.

Within a few months, he had gone from being the man of the hour to an invisible nobody that no one paid attention to.

Yeah.

It was the best possible outcome.

And then there was Tang Manman.

Two months ago, just a few days after getting his phone fixed, he had announced his relationship with Sister Zhuzi on his WeChat Moments.

There hadn't been a single peep from Tang Manman.

This was absolutely fantastic news. It seemed she had finally gotten the message.

Going their separate ways and finding their own happiness wasn't a bad ending at all.

As for the others, they were even less of an issue.

It was all finally over.

Lin Yu let out a long exhale. For the first time in a long while, he felt a liberating sense of relief.

After wandering around off-campus for a bit, Lin Yu eventually settled on a hot pot restaurant.

Hot pot was an absolute godsend on a snowy day!

The red tomato broth quickly came to a rolling boil, and Lin Yu tossed in some meat, and then more meat.

Yep.

That's right.

Nothing but meat!!!

Thinking about the blizzard outside, Lin Yu's thoughts naturally drifted to City H.

If it was snowing in City S, he wondered if it was snowing in City H right now.

With that in mind, Lin Yu picked up his phone and started a video call with Xia Muzhu.

The call connected quickly. Her phone seemed to be resting flat on the kitchen counter, and from that angle, most of Xia Muzhu's face was out of frame.

Lin Yu wasn't complaining, though; he watched with eager interest anyway.

Xia Muzhu was bustling about non-stop, clearly in the middle of preparing lunch.

"Sister Zhuzi, is it snowing over in City H?"

Lin Yu picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, dipped it into his sesame oil bowl, and asked casually.

"It is."

"It's a bitter winter this year, so the snow came really early."

"We had a heavy snowfall a few days ago, and the forecast says we might get another big one in the next couple of days."