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The campus was finally uncovered from the fog.
Classes resumed, and the freshman military training began in full swing; the new semester finally got back on track.
Although many voices were still discussing the bizarre fog in the news and online, because it didn’t bring about a disaster with strong intensity like an earthquake or tsunami — it was only a few days of inconvenience — the buzz gradually faded. As for the cause of the fog, that was a scientist’s job.
That weekend was also the first weekend after the campus revival and the weather was incredibly hot. Even though it was already September, summer seemed unwilling to exit the stage, wanting to unleash its final energy.
Under the blazing sun, the leaves curled at the edges, and the heat rising from the ground slightly distorted the scenery.
Lin Wu walked out of the library, hit by a wave of heat.
He had been in the air conditioning all morning, had read enough books, and had planned to find a few people to play basketball and work up a sweat in the afternoon, but looking at the glaring sun, he instantly dashed that idea.
The basketball court was outdoors; he wanted to live a few more years.
Walking in the shade under the trees toward the cafeteria, Lin Wu used WeChat voice chat to contact the only person that is still in the dorm, Ren Feiyu.
The other two had gone out.
Li Junchi had gone to the neighboring college to help a senior who wanted to propose to his girlfriend, who was also his junior, providing compensation to fend off possible chaos — reportedly, at least two infatuated juniors were attempting to steal the proposal.
Xia Yang had gone out to play, apparently to an “offline Werewolf Kill” organized by the Tianjin alumni association. Who knows if this group of people would start cracking jokes while playing.
“What do you want for lunch? I’ll bring it back for you.” As soon as the voice connected, Lin Wu asked Ren Feiyu.
To his surprise, Ren Feiyu replied, “I’m swimming.”
Lin Wu was taken aback: “Huh?”
Ren Feiyu said, “It’s too hot; I can’t stay in the dorm. I came to the swimming pool.”
Going to the swimming pool in this heat was fine, but the problem was: “Why can you answer the phone while swimming?”
Lin Wu said, “Aren’t you supposed to put that thing in the locker room?”
“That won’t do” Ren Feiyu replied without thinking. “What if I get a cramp while swimming and need to call for help?”
Lin Wu: “…If you have time to swim to the edge of the pool to call for help, you could just kick your legs and climb back out. Really.”
Ren Feiyu’s sense of crisis was always directed toward useless things.
But as they talked, Lin Wu also felt a bit tempted. Although the school swimming pool wasn’t big and the lanes were crooked, the water quality was always well-maintained, cleaner than many large swimming pools outside: “Is it crowded over there? If not, I’ll head over soon.”
Ren Feiyu: “It’s alright. You can come over… wait, this isn’t good! Someone is drowning—”
Lin Wu only heard Ren Feiyu shout a single line before there was a loud “bang” from the receiver, which was probably the phone being dropped on the ground.
At the swimming pool.
Ren Feiyu vaguely remembered a classmate diving in near him, but because he had been standing by the pool talking to Lin Wu, he hadn’t paid much attention.
Until Lin Wu asked him how crowded the swimming pool was.
Instinctively, he looked at the surface of the water, but he didn’t see many people swimming. Instead, he caught sight of the lane closest to him, where something seemed to be shadowy beneath the water.
Upon closer inspection, it was the classmate who had just entered the water. At that moment, the person was face down, limbs spread out in the water, lying unknowingly at the bottom of the pool.
Ren Feiyu’s head exploded with panic, and he instinctively shouted for help: “Not good! Someone is drowning—”
Only after shouting did he realize that he could swim too, and he was the closest!
For the first time in his life, Ren Feiyu’s body moved faster than his brain. He dropped his phone and dived straight into the water.
As the cold water enveloped his limbs and dulled his senses, Ren Feiyu’s habitual negative thoughts slowly surfaced in his mind—
(I can’t do it…)
(I’m not capable…)
(Jumping in would be pointless…)
(Would I just make things worse?)
(Maybe I should’ve waited for someone who really knows how to save people…)
As these thoughts flooded his mind, his body had already reached the side of the classmate.
Ren Feiyu held his breath, trying his best to ignore those voices, swimming forward to the classmate’s position. He then reached behind and slid his arm under the person’s armpit, using the buoyancy[1]ability to float to pull them up.
He had watched educational videos on rescuing drowning people, which advised securing the drowning person from behind before bringing them to shore to prevent them from clinging to the rescuer in panic and dragging them down as well.
However, the classmate in his arms was completely motionless.
Ren Feiyu had no idea how long the person had been submerged. To be honest, he now hoped the classmate would struggle a bit, as that would at least mean there was still a chance of rescue.
Not wanting to waste time, as soon as he grabbed the person, Ren Feiyu kicked hard, hoping to bring them both to the surface quickly.
But just then, the person in his arms suddenly turned around and wrapped themselves around Ren Feiyu like an octopus.
The change happened too quickly. Focused on bringing the person up, Ren Feiyu didn’t even see their face. The upper half of his body, along with his arms, was tightly clamped by the other person’s arms, while their legs forcefully wrapped around his.
It felt as though he had been bound by an underwater rope; his body, which had been moving upward, came to an abrupt halt and then slowly began to sink.
Ren Feiyu felt a chill run through him.
The breath he had taken before jumping in was no longer enough, and bubbles began to rise.
He desperately tried to break free, but it was impossible; instead, the hold on him tightened even more.
Ren Feiyu was on the verge of panicking.
His body touched the bottom of the pool.
Ren Feiyu was completely hopeless.
So this was how he was going to die? Here?
He thought it was better to let a professional handle the rescue, and he shouldn’t have acted recklessly…
So this is what the underwater world looks like.
Hazy, dreamy, a chilling blue.
Ren Feiyu’s consciousness began to drift away, and his body felt weightless in an illusory state.
His vision blurred.
Suddenly, the force pressing down on him intensified several times, as if a group of people had come to help squeeze this unfortunate guy.
Ren Feiyu jolted awake, or rather, he was woken by pain; the pressure squeezing him felt as though it could crush his bones.
There weren’t a group of people; it was just one person. A long arm reached out and managed to pull both him and the classmate together.
Wasn’t the classmate supposed to let go? The person didn’t let go; with one pull, they lifted both of them out of the water.
Once on the shore, the “ungrateful” classmate finally released his grip, lying limply on the ground, as if everything that happened before had nothing to do with him.
Ren Feiyu had been unable to hold his breath while underwater and had choked on quite a bit of water. Now, he slumped at the edge of the pool, coughing so hard that he felt like his lungs were about to come out.
Finally able to speak, his first words were to thank his savior: “Th-thank you… cough cough, thank you, teacher…”
There was a lifeguard at the swimming pool. He had acted impulsively by jumping in, and now he realized how foolish it was, turning what could have been a simple rescue into one that involved two people.
“Not at all” the rescuer’s voice was somewhat cold. “But I’m not a teacher.”
Ren Feiyu was stunned and looked up.
In front of him was a male classmate, around his age, very tall, with broad shoulders and long legs, and a body that was so well-proportioned it made one envious. He was handsome, but his skin was too pale, the kind of “cold white” that girls often discuss. Ren Feiyu couldn’t appreciate it, always feeling it resembled a vampire.
Especially since this guy’s gaze matched his skin tone, cold and indifferent, as if he was merely helping him out of coincidence, without any significant intent, and didn’t require gratitude in return.
“Wait a minute, he has a pulse and is breathing!” A voice suddenly came from beside him.
Just now, he was pushed to the surface of the water by the male classmate in front of him, and immediately, someone came over to help pull him to the shore. It should be those two teachers. They focused on the classmate who had been submerged longer, only because he seemed to be coughing without any serious issues.
However, CPR hadn’t actually been performed.
One of the teachers discovered that the classmate lying on the ground, who appeared to have completely lost consciousness, actually had a normal breathing and heartbeat.
At the school hospital.
The unconscious classmate was taken to the emergency room for a full examination and treatment, while Ren Feiyu and the classmate who saved him were sent to the observation room.
Ren Feiyu’s throat was sore from coughing, but he didn’t have any major issues otherwise. The classmate who saved him was also perfectly fine. However, just to be cautious, the hospital required both of them to stay for observation for two hours.
The observation room had only two beds; Ren Feiyu lay on one, while the male classmate sat on the other. There was only about a meter between the two beds.
But because the classmate was so aloof, he made that meter feel like a chasm[3]wide gap or space.
Ren Feiyu tried several times to strike up a conversation but failed each time, so he could only lie on his side, staring at his benefactor and imagining a warm scene filled with laughter.
“Mechanical Engineering Class of 2019, Jiang Tan. Environmental Engineering Class of 2019, Ren Feiyu…” The school doctor pushed the door open and entered the observation room, returning the completed medical records to both students.
When handing Ren Feiyu his record, the doctor couldn’t help but glance at him for a few seconds with the deep gaze characteristic of educators.
This was Doctor Hu, who was on duty in the emergency room today, the most spirited female doctor in the school hospital, no doubt about it.
Yes, Ren Feiyu recognized this doctor; he had long received the highest praise from her: “I give up, I really can’t be angry with you anymore.”
So his benefactor’s name was Jiang Tan, and he was in the same grade as Ren Feiyu. Although they were in different faculties, they were both in the engineering field. What a coincidence!
Ren Feiyu sat up to take the notebook, pretending not to notice Doctor Hu’s educating gaze: “How’s that classmate doing…”
“He’s awake” Doctor Hu said, “All his tests are normal, and he just needs to rest. However, he can’t remember how he drowned or how he was saved. I told him you two saved him, and he asked me to thank you.”
(All normal?)
When he found the classmate drowning, he had already lost consciousness. After flailing in the water for so long, even Ren Feiyu nearly drowned himself. The classmate really was okay?
Ren Feiyu felt suspicious but also thought the doctor had no reason to lie to him. Moreover, if something had really happened to that classmate, Doctor Hu wouldn’t be so calm now.
In the end, he convinced himself to let it go: “That’s good, as long as he’s okay.”
But Doctor Hu couldn’t relax.
She spoke the truth, but not the whole truth. The drowning classmate had indeed woken up, but he had done so on his own. He had just been pushed into the emergency room, opened his eyes groggily, and sat up. His heart rate and blood pressure were all normal, and he didn’t even have a cough from choking on water. If anything, Ren Feiyu seemed more like a drowning victim.
Lhaozi[Translator]
To all my lock translations, 1 chapter will be unlocked every sunday. Weekly update for all my ongoing translations. For all my complete lock novel translation, If you want to purchased it for offline reading DM me in Discord: Lhaozi(I'm a member in Shanghai Fantasy discord) or Send me message in my Email: [email protected]