Li Banfeng left the train station and got on the subway.
Taking a taxi from the university to the station had only taken half an hour.
Returning to the university by subway from the station took more than an hour.
Li Banfeng lived in the Sixth Dormitory, which was not close to the main gate. By the time he reached the dormitory building, the doorman looked at Li Banfeng, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "You haven't left yet?"
Li Banfeng's mouth curled upwards. He gave the old man a dull smile before heading straight up the stairs.
The university hadn't issued an eviction notice yet. What business is it of yours whether I leave or not?
The First Layer was occupied entirely by graduates, and the building was deathly silent; most people had probably left.
Li Banfeng went up to the sixth floor and entered his dorm room, only to find it enveloped in darkness.
According to the rules, lights-out was at eleven o'clock. It wasn't even nine yet, but that old man had already turned them off.
That dorm supervisor sure knows how to save electricity for the university.
Everyone else in the dormitory had left. Those with jobs had gone to report for duty, and those without jobs had gone home to wait things out.
He Jiaqing hadn't found a job, so he took his girlfriend home to wait things out with him.
Now, Li Banfeng was the only one left in the dormitory.
Li Banfeng couldn't find a job because he had a history of mental illness.
He also had no home to return to. It wasn't exactly possible to move back into the welfare home.
What will I do in the future?
Go back to working on a construction site, hauling bricks?
Thinking of his 'bright' future, Li Banfeng's furrowed brow relaxed, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile.
This is just emotional instability. Anyone would be unstable in this situation.
There was another job fair tomorrow. He would try his luck again then.
Tonight, I'm alone in the dormitory. At least I can get a good night's sleep.
Li Banfeng went to the communal bathroom for a cold shower. He was about to get into bed and play with his phone when he suddenly remembered something—he needed to call He Jiaqing.
What if he really wet his pants?
What if he caught a cold from wetting his pants? That wouldn't be good.
He made the call. It rang for a long time, but no one answered.
He must have actually fallen asleep.
Li Banfeng dialed again. After another long series of rings, the call was finally picked up.
"Ban Feng..." He Jiaqing's hoarse voice came through the phone. He sounded like he wasn't fully awake yet.
"Jia Qing, get up and pee!"
He Jiaqing's voice was full of confusion, "Pee? Pee where? Where is this..."
Where is this? He's really sleeping soundly!
Li Banfeng didn't say anything more and hung up. In the pitch-black dormitory, he fumbled for the ladder to his bunk and started to climb, preparing to get into bed.
Just as he reached the edge of the bed, Li Banfeng noticed that his quilt was bulging as if someone was wrapped inside.
Someone wrapped in my quilt?
Is it really a person?
Li Banfeng lifted the quilt.
It was indeed a person!
The person was facing the wall, their back to Li Banfeng, lying completely silent.
Who's sleeping in my bed?
A strong smell of alcohol hit him. This person seemed to have drunk too much.
Even if you're drunk, you can't just pick any bed to sleep in!
"Get up! Who are you? Get up!" Li Banfeng pushed the person, but they didn't react at all.
The curtains weren't drawn, and moonlight shone on the bed, allowing him to vaguely see the person's indistinct figure.
Suddenly, Li Banfeng found the figure somewhat familiar.
He grabbed the person's shoulder and turned them over. When he saw the person's face, Li Banfeng nearly fell off the ladder.
It was He Jiaqing!
Just an hour and a half ago, Li Banfeng had seen He Jiaqing off at the station.
And now he's sleeping in my bed!
"Jia Qing, what happened to you? Jia Qing, wake up..."
Shaking He Jiaqing a few times, Li Banfeng suddenly pulled his hand back.
Something's not right!
I just called He Jiaqing. Wasn't he on the train? Wasn't he supposed to go pee?
If He Jiaqing is sleeping here, then who answered the phone just now?
The hairs on his arms stood up one by one. The previously stuffy dormitory suddenly felt much cooler.
Is this really Jia Qing?
Li Banfeng switched on his phone's flashlight and shone it on the face of the person on the bed for a long while.
It was indeed He Jiaqing!
This was his best Brother from university. Li Banfeng would never mistake him.
THUD!
Li Banfeng fell from the ladder, knocking over the wastebasket on the floor.
He calmly stood, righted the wastebasket, and quickly left the dormitory.
He closed the door behind him and leaned against the corridor wall, standing silently.
The voltage was unstable, and the dim corridor lights kept flickering.
Li Banfeng forced himself to calm down, took out his phone, and called He Jiaqing again.
The earpiece was filled with a suffocating silence. After more than ten seconds, a woman's voice said:
"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable."
He tried several more times, but the call still wouldn't go through.
Call Lu Xiaolan?
Li Banfeng didn't have Lu Xiaolan's number. He didn't usually have much contact with her.
There wasn't a sound in the corridor. It seemed everyone on this floor had left.
Li Banfeng turned to look at the dormitory door, pondering his next move.
Was the person lying on the bed really He Jiaqing?
Just moments ago, I was sure I hadn't seen wrong, but now I'm somewhat uncertain.
Go back and check again?
Am I crazy? If I go back, I should at least find someone from another floor to help!
Where can I find help now?
If all else fails, I'll call the dorm supervisor up here.
What good would that do? He wouldn't be any help and would probably just make things worse.
I might as well go back and check by myself!
Li Banfeng was arguing with himself.
A normal person definitely wouldn't go back to the dormitory alone right now.
But Li Banfeng was not normal.
He had been to the hospital for an evaluation. He wasn't insane, but his mental state wasn't exactly normal.
A slight smile touched his lips.
His emotions were unstable, yet he felt a strange sense of pleasure.
He used his own special method to calm himself.
He had come up with a reasonable explanation for what had just happened.
Hallucinations. It must have been hallucinations!
I have a mental illness. It's perfectly reasonable for me to see hallucinations occasionally.
If I walk back into the dormitory now, as long as I stay clear-headed, I definitely won't see He Jiaqing again.
With a smile, Li Banfeng opened the door and walked back in.
Hallucinations. All hallucinations.
The closer he got to the bed, the stronger the smell of alcohol became, as if warning him that this was no hallucination.
Li Banfeng climbed the ladder again, raised his phone, and looked at his bed.
He Jiaqing lay there, eyes tightly closed, his face deathly pale.
Li Banfeng touched He Jiaqing's face. It was warm.
Then he checked He Jiaqing's breathing. He was still breathing, but it was faint and intermittent.
Climbing down the ladder, Li Banfeng decisively called for emergency services.
After explaining the location and situation, Li Banfeng hung up and quietly waited for the ambulance.
He stood by the bed. On it lay He Jiaqing, who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
The two of them remained in the silent dormitory room.
CLICK-CLACK.
A message notification sound broke the dormitory's silence.
It was from He Jiaqing.
He was certain the He Jiaqing before him couldn't possibly have sent a message.
Yet he had indeed received a message from He Jiaqing.
The message contained only four characters.
"Ban Feng, save me!"
*PS: The doctor said that after finishing this chapter, I can be discharged from the hospital. I think he's lying to me, so I've decided to write another chapter.*