Fang Yuan was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of such a strange figure, and she nearly cried out. Fortunately, she had recently encountered a number of strange things, so she instinctively concealed her fear. Soon, she calmed down and remembered her purpose for sitting there: waiting for Teacher Qin Yue's friend.
He was the one she was waiting for?
Teacher Qin Yue's friend, what did he look like?
Fang Yuan said nothing, slowly turning her gaze towards him. Her eyes met, intertwined, and merged in the air. The man in black's eyes were captivating, like the depths of the ocean, unfathomable, emitting a magnificent and mysterious allure that was captivating. A wave of dizziness washed over Fang Yuan, as if she were about to drift off, lost in it. With a start, she looked away, not daring to meet his gaze again.
A dark, somber voice drifted softly, "Are you scared?"
Fang Yuan couldn't help but nod.
The man in black was silent for a moment, then looked Fang Yuan up and down. He said, "You're nervous."
Fang Yuan wasn't used to that kind of look. It gave her a strange feeling, as if she'd stripped herself naked before him.
She wanted to leave, as soon as possible.
At that moment, she suddenly remembered Teacher Qin Yue's words: "Introducing you isn't difficult, the only thing I'm afraid of is that you won't be able to stick with it. It's not about suffering, it's about... "
Now, Fang Yuan understood why Teacher Qin Yue had said that.
"I think you should go back." The man in black's voice seemed to have a hint of sarcasm in it.
"No, I need this job!" Fang Yuan mustered her courage and looked up at the man in black.
The man in black seemed a little surprised. He looked a little haggard, his eyes dimming, and he didn't meet Fang Yuan's gaze.
"Are you sure?"
"Sure!"
The man in black's voice sounded tired, yet also a touch of joy. "Okay, then. After evening study, come to the library and help me organize the books."
After a pause, the man added, "And come during the weekends."
Fang Yuan nodded vigorously. "No problem."
The man in black sat down on the bed, pulled out a camphorwood box from under it, and pulled out a thick military coat. He looked cold, shivering slightly, and wanted to put on more clothes.
"Teacher, are you okay?" Fang Yuan asked.
"I'm fine." The man in black coughed a few times, his face growing paler. Fang Yuan noticed that his cheeks were sunken, a characteristic of young people who spend too much time at night.
Could he also be spending too much time at night? Logically, he wasn't the type of person with excessive energy. If not too much, then at least he was staying up too late, not getting enough sleep, and his circadian rhythm was disrupted.
In the end, the man in black didn't put on his military coat. After coughing a few times, his trembling stopped, and his body recovered to normal. However, he was too thin, like a seriously ill patient in a hospital.
"My name is Fang Yuan."
"Xiao Jing, you can call me Teacher Xiao."
"Teacher Xiao, your health..."
Xiao Jing interrupted Fang Yuan, "I'm fine!"
"Then..." Fang Yuan glanced out the window. It was already dark, and the medical school buildings were blurred in the gloom. Lights flickered dimly in a few places, their dim glow unable to penetrate the heavy night, huddled together, appearing gloomy and cold.
"Then I'll go back and eat. I'll come back after evening study." Fang Yuan was feeling a little hungry.
"You're a freshman, right? Didn't you sleep well last night? You don't have to come today. Get a good night's rest." Even though Xiao Jing's words were caring, they still came out cold.
How did he know he hadn't slept well? Did he see the dark circles under his eyes? In such dim light, could he even see the slight circles on his face?
Fang Yuan was puzzled. Xiao Jing held many mysteries. She knew asking wouldn't yield any answers; he didn't want to talk, and he wouldn't. Just now, he'd deliberately interrupted her questioning for this very reason. He clearly had something wrong with his body, yet he insisted he was fine.
"Then—I'm leaving." For some reason, Fang Yuan suddenly felt this small room was utterly depressing, and she desperately wanted to leave.
"Wait a moment." Xiao Jing walked over to where she had been reading and handed her Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. "You can take this book home and read it."
Fang Yuan took the book, put it aside, and thanked him, "Thank you, Teacher Xiao."
A faint smile played at Xiao Jing's lips. "No need. I see you're quite engrossed. It's just that Freud's achievements in this area are quite modest, so you don't have to put too much stock in his theories."
Fang Yuan was startled. From Xiao Jing's tone, it seemed he wasn't impressed by Freud's psychological masterpiece, The Interpretation of Dreams. Is it arrogance, or genuine insight?
She struggled to suppress the urge to ask more. Regardless, she had successfully found a part-time job that didn't interfere with her studies, and there would be plenty of opportunities to get to know Teacher Xiao Jing in the future.
Leaving Xiao Jing's small room, the library seemed somewhat quiet. Books lay slanted on the shelves, like doors in a maze, waiting to be opened. It was dinner time, and there were not many students in the reading room. The librarian who had let her in was gone, presumably gone home from work, and Xiao Jing had taken over.
Arriving at the library door, Fang Yuan froze. The iron gate was locked, and she couldn't get out. Xiao Jing must have the key, and she had to go back to his small room.
Fang Yuan turned back. The sound of her own footsteps, crisp and long, echoed lonely in the empty library. Several students in the reading room were startled by her footsteps. Their eyes shifted from their thick books to her back, staring in wonder at this beautiful and quiet girl.
Fang Yuan paused in front of the small door. It was still ajar. She heard a strange sound: "Dong-dong-dong," as if something were repeatedly falling to the ground, a dull, heavy thud. The "dong-dong" sounds grew faster and faster, blending into a single mass, tingled with the sharp clatter of metal against tile, irritating Fang Yuan's eardrums.
She felt a sense of fear, as if something terrible was waiting for her. Xiao Jing was inherently formidable. He seemed to be able to read through other people's minds, and his personality was both eccentric and stubborn. She remembered a book on criminology she had read before, which mentioned that the more eccentric and stubborn a person was, the more likely they were to develop psychological abnormalities and commit incredible crimes. For example, in the sensational British child corpse case, the elderly man who lived alone had buried the bodies of more than a dozen children in his garden.
Yet, she held her breath and cautiously pushed the door open. Xiao Jing lay on the floor, curled up in a ball, his hands clutching his head, writhing and throbbing. His body seemed to be convulsing and twitching. Several bookshelves were knocked askew by his tumbling body, metal brackets scratched the tiles, and once neatly arranged books fell one by one.
Epilepsy? This was the first thought that flashed through Fang Yuan's mind. However, she quickly dismissed it. Xiao Jing wasn't foaming at the mouth, and his body wasn't twitching noticeably; he looked more like a bow with a taut string. His condition was more like a headache.
She turned on the light and looked into Xiao Jing's eyes. A faint crimson hue lingered in his charming light blue pupils—a sign of madness.
"Medicine..." she heard Xiao Jing groan in pain.
Fang Yuan approached Xiao Jing, intending to help him up. But once his hand grasped Fang Yuan's, it wouldn't let go. His nails pierced her skin, digging into her flesh, and a trickle of bright red blood slowly flowed out.
"Medicine... in my pocket..." Xiao Jing repeated.
Fang Yuan reached into his jacket pocket. The body she touched seemed all bone, hard and boneless, with no soft fat at all, reminding her of a skeleton.
After searching for a while, Fang Yuan finally found a small bottle of white pills. She poured a glass of warm water, held Xiao Jing's head, and fed him several times, finally getting him to take two pills.
Not long after taking the pills, they took effect, and Xiao Jing gradually recovered.
"Thank you." Xiao Jing was very weak.
"You're welcome. I was going back, but the gate was locked."
Xiao Jing forced a smile. "Look at my memory."
After saying that, he struggled to his feet, his steps unsteady, as if he wanted to go out and open the door for Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan was a little worried, afraid he might fall. "Teacher Xiao, rest here for a while. Give me the key, I'll open the door myself and bring it back to you."
"No need!" Xiao Jing said firmly. "I told you, I'm fine!"
The two of them walked out of the small room, one in front of the other. Although Xiao Jing was frail, she possessed a strong character. She persevered until she reached the iron gate, pulled out her key, and with trembling hands, she finally managed to open it several times.
Fang Yuan heard Xiao Jing's heavy breathing as she passed him. She didn't look back until she had left the reading room. Xiao Jing's frail figure looked especially desolate and forlorn in the dim light of the library.