Early in the morning, Zheng Tan was sleeping with Youzi when they were awakened by a knock at the door. It was Jiao Yuan.
Finals had ended; the only thing the kids had to do was wait for the results. Feeling good about the test, Jiao Yuan was excited and was planning out his new year present.
The two kids usually slept in during the first few days of the holiday. Last night, they didn’t go to bed until midnight to watch Space Jam on a movie channel. It was only 7 am now. They were supposed to wake up at 9 o’clock, though most days, Jiao Yuan often slept till noon.
What was wrong with him today!
Zheng Tan covered his ears with his paws and curled into a ball to resume his sleep. He tried his best to ignore Jiao Yuan’s knocking and yelling at the door.
It was so cold that Zheng Tan didn’t want to leave the bed. Ever since the two kids started their holidays, he moved activities such as running and climbing trees to the afternoon, so he could sleep longer in the morning.
"Wake up, hurry! It’s snowing outside! All white! Come and play with me!"
Jiao Yuan was still shouting aloud outside. Xiao Youzi left the bed but remembered to cover Zheng Tan with the quilt.
Zheng Tan gave a yawn— no point staying in bed alone.
Time to get up!
He had grown up in a coastal city in the south where there was barely any snow in the winter. Once in middle school, he and a few friends drove illegally to another province just see snow. He had never really experienced snowy days, not even after coming here.
It was the first snow of the year.
Crawling out of the quilt, Zheng Tan shook his fur and got out of bed.
Jiao Yuan was already dressed and was washing up excitedly.
The phone rang. He left the wet towel on the shelf and hurried to answer the phone. He knew who it would be.
Jiao Yuan’s laughter could be heard from the bedroom. By the sounds of things, the children were inviting him out to play.
Zheng Tan took a dump and let Youzi wipe his face and comb his fur for him. The two kids then went downstairs after having breakfast. Zheng Tan followed.
It was freezing cold outside. He hopped at the corner of the stairwell.
Qu Xiangyang, who was going downstairs to take some pictures of the first snow, saw the crazy black cat jumping up and down on the spot. He stopped and said a quick greeting before rushing off again. Any later, the snow would be ruined.
Jiao Yuan, together with Youzi and other kids, was making a snowman on the basketball court near the quarters. His clothes were covered in snow. They must have just had a snowball fight.
Daisy, the Saint Bernard, was playing with the children. She had thick fur and wouldn’t feel cold even if she rolled in the snow. She ran after the children leaving strings of paw prints on the ground. Mighty, who was taking a walk with his owner was leashed. He licked the snow and barked and looked longingly towards the basketball court on the other side. But he was soon attracted by the two meat buns his master held in front of him and continued home happily.
Zheng Tan had no intention of joining the children. He watched along on the side. Fatty was sitting on the balcony looking at them play, with no intention of coming out. Tiger had come out and walked for a while, but he quickly moved to a corner.
It was said animal habits were related to their birth months. For example, dogs born in summer usually liked playing in water, while those born in winter would avoid even a small puddle. But the theory seemed incorrect.
The birth months of Tiger and Sheriff were very close, but their personalities were so different. The only thing they had in common was that they were both silly and stupid. At the moment, Tiger was hiding from the wind in the corner of the building, whereas Sheriff was running merrily in the snow. A child from the neighborhood removed the hood from his coat to tease Sheriff. The cat chased the kid everywhere. The only cat paw prints were all left by him.
After a while, Tiger came out from his hiding spot, trembling. He ran towards the basketball court to where Daisy was lying and panting. Tiger used the dog as a windshield and a fireplace.
Zheng Tan felt warmer after climbing a few trees. He was still a little sleepy, but the house was no place for a nap at this time. He decided to go to Papa Jiao’s office. After all, it had air conditioning with the electricity bill reimbursed by the university. During summer and winter, all the air conditioners in all the offices and the labs were on, some of which worked day and night. The school only forced freshmen to save electricity.
Zheng Tan started walking towards the Biology Department.
The snow on the road had been swept and the little that remained had melted.
The university paid special attention to the campus environment. Even though the leaves of the parasol trees that lines the roads had all fallen off, there were still many evergreen plants, such as camphor trees and pines.
It was still snowing. Not like a blizzard, but still enough to dampen one’s clothes.
A couple of students wandered around with umbrellas. They were taking pictures. They probably came from southern provinces like Zheng Tan and had never seen snow growing up.
One of the girls pushed away the umbrella passed over by a boy, "I don’t need this. I want to feel the snow."
"Let her be. It’s so embarrassing!" Another girl said while laughing.
"It's her first time experiencing real snow. It’s understandable."
"Hey, look! There’s a black cat over there! Take a photo! Quick!" Someone shouted.
Zheng Tan scratched his ears and ignored them.
"I want a photo with that black cat!" The girl who wanted to feel the snow now ran to Zheng Tan. He couldn’t hide so he stopped for the girl and watched her make silly ‘V’ gestures. The girl was quite good-looking.
"I want a picture too!" One of the boys walked up.
He was not stopping for a boy. Zheng Tan walked away immediately.
The Biology Department could be seen around the corner. Just as he was ready to speed up, he heard someone mention Papa Jiao’s name.
Turning his head, Zheng Tan saw two people also walking towards the building. They smelled like hot pot and were probably just at the small restaurants near campus.
"I don’t mean to break your spirit, but without a high enough score, you probably won’t make it. In my department, most professors prefer students from our university or those with really high marks. Priority, however, is given to the former. For example, if you and I both scored barely above the line, I have a bigger chance of being accepted. There could be exceptions, but Jiao Mingsheng’s standards are quite high. A lot of students want him as their postgraduate mentor, but he has refused all recommendations. He’s quite strict. If you are just slightly above the line, you’re doomed."
He went on and on. Zheng Tan suddenly remembered that tomorrow was the National Entrance Examination for Postgraduate students. Papa Jiao spent most of his time in the office grading finals. He also had to attend meetings on admissions and organize research projects. Besides work at the university, he still had his company to worry about. A few days ago, Zheng Tan heard Papa Jiao say that he wanted another graduate student to share Yi Xin’s workload.
"Jiao Mingsheng?" The other student was obviously confused. He was from another university, and knew little about the teachers in the Biology Department at Chuhua University. He had only heard the names of a few very well-known professors.
"I should have realized that you would know nothing about Jiao Mingsheng. It’s true that he is not that famous yet, but this year had been his year. Many students regretted not applying to him. He is an up and coming star in the academia world."
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