BaiYan University was located in the northwestern part of BaiYan City and covered an area of more than 5000 acres, divided into four campuses: A, B, C, and D. Among these, the juniors and seniors of the Information Technology Department lived in the MeiYuan district of Campus C. The scenery in BaiYan University was also very beautiful. The frigid early winter had already arrived and the red maple leaves had completely fallen off. It was a bleak time, but it was said that when the weather became even colder and the winter snow fell, the MeiYuan district would be covered in red and white plum blossoms. It wasn’t just a scenic spot in BaiYan University, it was also famous throughout BaiYan City.
“Achoo!” After walking for half an hour on campus, a gust of cold wind mixed with a pile of semi-dry yellow-green leaves directly hit Shen Mu’s face, making a “pula pula” sound. The ruthless frigid wind chilled Shen Mu down to his heart.
A wonderful plan——awakening his own memory through familiar landscapes, naturally finding the right path through “muscle memory”——a complete failure. It seemed that he had even caught a cold…
Shen Mu quickly pulled out his new mobile phone, skillfully opening QianDu* map and typing in “MeiYuan Residence 5”. As soon as the search results came out, Shen Mu choked. The long, small, winding street that he was standing on now was located roughly between the four departments and the swimming pool, therefore there was still approximately 3.7 kilometres to go before he’d reach MeiYuan…..
*T/N: QianDu map is an online navigational app/website.
Taking another look, the distance from the gate to MeiYuan was just 1.9 kilometres…
Shen “with a poor sense of direction” Mu, almost wanted to call a taxi.
Thinking was just thinking and accomplished nothing. After all, there were no taxis in the school and campus buses only took the main road. Shen Mu didn’t know how to get there, and this seemed to be the main reason why the four departments weren’t open for self study. In this expanse, no silhouette could be seen. Although a map was available, this was the interior of the campus and some paths weren’t shown on the map, so it was somewhat inconvenient. At last, Shen Mu decided to take a detour to the main road in front of the building in the hopes of finding a student to ask. Suddenly he felt that something was tugging at the hem of his trousers.
Shen Mu was startled, but with a glance, he saw that it was a very beautiful cat.
Shen Mu immediately recognized that this was a Ragdoll* cat. It was really sweet and cute, with blue gem-like eyes, its ears a light coffee brown and fine fur at the tips. Its body was mostly white and the fur was long and soft, a pink ribbon was used to tie something onto its neck…
*T/N: A typically long-furred white or tan breed of cat with black markings and blue eyes.
Shen Mu crouched down and picked it up without any effort. This Ragdoll looked fluffy, but it was not heavy. Either Shen Mu’s method of holding the cat was correct, or the cat just had an innate lovable nature, because although it was picked up by a stranger, it didn’t struggle. Shen Mu brushed away the hair on it’s chest, only to find that there was a delicate copper-colored bell hanging on it’s chest, but for some reason, the core of the bell seemed to be broken and couldn’t ring, which was why it was quiet when it came over.
With a glance, it could be seen that this cat was carefully raised. It was unknown why it was here alone. Some owners regarded their pets as a pearl in their palm. If they found that the cat was missing, how worried would they be? Shen Mu took the cat back to the main road. The cat was also very obedient, and seemed to enjoy being doted on, and also didn’t care whether it was carried by its owner or a stranger.
While walking back to the main road, a few students appeared. Shen Mu continued along the main road towards MeiYuan, but since he was holding such a beautiful cat, he was very eye-catching. Many people on the road looked back at him, especially the girls. It was just that during his walk all the way to the dormitory, no-one he saw was looking for a cat. That was also expected. Although, the normal range of activities of this kind of impish cat weren’t conceivable to ordinary people, since the campus of BaiYan University was so very large, Shen Mu guessed that the cat had been raised by someone in the school. Within a few days, the owner should have posted a lost cat notice.
When he neared MeiYuan, it became noticeably more bustling and noisy. Suddenly, there was a voice behind him: “Senior, please wait!” Shen Mu was a little confused. Turning back, he saw a girl wearing a pastel-yellow down jacket and a white fleece hat running over and she’d even called out to him. The girl drew near, and Shen Mu couldn’t help but freeze. The girl’s eyes looked really beautiful. Having such a pair of eyes, while her other five features* were also delicate and harmonious, instinctively gave other people a favourable impression. It just seemed that she was in a bad mental state, and the corner of her eyes were red, as if she’d just cried.
*T/N: The six features: eyebrows, nose, lips, ears, eyes and face
“Sorry, senior,” when the girl spoke, her voice was normal and it wasn’t noticeable that she’d just cried. “The cat you’re holding seems to be one of my… friend’s …” Stopping midway in her words, the way the girl looked at Shen Mu changed, containing a trace of strangeness, as though she’d recognized Shen Mu.
Shen Mu felt the change in the other person’s eyes, but based on his limited memories, he didn’t seem to know her. Thinking of the dark history of his that Shen Xin had told him about, including what Lin Huiru had said to the others in the gaming lounge, Shen Mu understood the reason for her expression in his heart. This girl should have learned about him on the forum… Shen Mu immediately decided to pretend that nothing had happened, amicably inquiring: “Is it your friend’s cat?”
“Ah, yes, it’s Sweetie!” The girl recovered her attention and closely studied Shen Mu’s cat, before she immediately determined, “It’s called Sweetie. The little bell on its neck was even… bought by my brother before.” The girl’s voice seemed a little choked up when she said this.
Appearing to have recognised the girl, the cat in Shen Mu’s arms moved. Shen Mu, unable to restrain himself, scratched it’s soft fur: “It’s called Sweetie, a female cat?”
“En.” The girl nodded, “It’s a little princess and is 4 years old this year. ”
Shen Mu nodded, and handed over the cat in his arms. “I met it near the fourth department. At the time, there wasn’t anyone around. I felt that it was lost and wanted to bring it back before finding its owner. Since it’s your friend’s cat, then take it back to him!”
The ragdoll cat named Sweetie was delivered into the arms of the girl with a white hat, yet it didn’t struggle, only rubbing itself against Shen Mu a few times, as though to express its satisfaction with this temporary caretaker.
The girl held the cat with a somewhat distressed look, smoothing out Sweetie’s tail before touching the bell on its neck. Seeming to notice the signs of damage on the bell, her expression appeared to become even more sorrowful in a split second. “Sweetie, do you still remember me, I am Youyou.”
Sweetie gave a meow, though it was unknown whether that was because it remembered or not. The girl named Youyou reacted swiftly and lightly smiled at Shen Mu, saying: “I still haven’t thanked Senior after speaking for so long. Senior mustn’t recognize me yet, my name is Xie You and I am a freshman in journalism. Thank you for your help in looking after Sweetie. She seems to like you very much! Since you also live in MeiYuan, if you have a chance, then come over to play with her in the future!”
“Sure!”Shen Mu’s eyes brightened. He really did like cats. Having merely held it for a while, he already couldn’t bear to let go of this Sweetie kitten. He then thought of something else, “Your friend also lives in MeiYuan? I thought the Journalism Department wasn’t in MeiYuan?”
Xie You shook her head: “He isn’t in journalism, he’s in communications. He had some matters these few days and isn’t at school, so I kept Sweetie instead. Senior, you should add my WeChat. Wait for my friend to come back and you can go find Sweetie in MeiYuan directly.”
Shen Mu and Xie You added each other on WeChat, before Xie You thanked him again and left with the cat.
Shen Mu carried his bag to door 417, but when he faintly heard a noise from the other side of the door, he put the key back into his pocket, before choosing to knock on the door instead.
Following the sound of footsteps, the door was quickly opened. The boy who opened the door was wearing a dark blue jacket with cotton slippers. Seeing Shen Mu as the door opened, he stared blankly for a moment: “En? You are looking for… Shen Mu! You are Shen Mu, right?” Then they immediately shook hands. “Come in, this is your dormitory. Currently, I’m the only one here since Brother Meng went to self-study, while fourth brother… he had some family matters and took a few days off.”
“Thanks!” Feeling the other’s kindness, Shen Mu’s mood couldn’t help becoming cheerful as he stepped into the warm room.
“Achoo!” The second he entered the room, a stream of warm air flowed over him from head to toe, causing Shen Mu to rub his nose. “It’s really warm.”
“Isn’t it?” His new roommate seemed to be a very outgoing person, “The temperature has dropped a lot these few days and soon it will be the three months* during which we’ll freeze into dogs. Oh right, this is your bed, bed No. 2.”
*T/N: Winter
MeiYuan hadn’t been around for long and as a result, both the environment and the facilities were very new. The dormitories were all standard 4-people rooms, with a separate balcony and bathroom for every room. The bathroom was next to the balcony and the door to the balcony was always closed in winter. Despite the curtains being half-closed, MeiYuan had very good lighting and as the afterglow of the sun was sprinkled into the room from the window, half the room had been dyed gold.
If one were to open the curtains during sunset, the sunshine would definitely feel very moving.
With this thought in mind, Shen Mu turned his attention to his bed. MeiYuan had the standard upper bunk with the desk below. The bed had already been made, and the quilt was neatly stacked on top. The door of the wardrobe didn’t have a lock. He opened the wardrobe, and as expected, it was filled with clothes of every season. On the desk, books for various courses were also placed, as well as necessary supplies such as a table lamp and a pen holder. Evidently, Secretary Wang had arranged for someone to handle the matters of arranging the room and moving the books.
Looking at the neatly stacked textbooks, Shen Mu curiously opened up 《Digital Circuit》 which lay at the top of the pile. Looking at pages filled with formulas and concepts of which he didn’t understand a word, Shen Mu’s expression swiftly changed from calmness to panic, “Was this our junior textbooks from the last semester?”
“Yes! By the way, you should’ve learned all the knowledge from junior year already, Shen Mu!” The kindhearted roommate said enthusiastically.
Shen Mu quietly put back the learning materials. Did I not study well in my junior year, I thought I only failed the second half!
Shen Mu chatted with his roommate for a while and learned that his name was He Feizhou, and that he slept in bed No. 3. After chatting for a while, they became more familiar with each other, and He Feizhou said to Shen Mu: “Liu Dao’s home isn’t in this province, so you won’t see her until next week.” After saying this, He Feizhou hesitated slightly, but he still directly said to Shen Mu: “Director Liu called me today. Brother Meng is in Class 4 and isn’t under the control of our director. Fourth brother isn’t here so Director Liu told me about your situation. Don’t misunderstand, there is no need for everyone to know about your amnesia, but it can’t be hidden from your roommates. We can take better care of you.”
Seeming to find the atmosphere a bit heavy, He Feizhou, with his lively personality, brightened up the mood by saying: “Every cloud has a silver lining. At least the amnesia hadn’t affected our knowledge! Repeating junior year is just a small thing for Brother Mu!”
“En, yes.”…
While the two were talking, the sound of a door opening came from the entrance. Then the freezing air flowed in, followed by a large brown figure who had been wrapped into a dumpling.
“Weather raised by ghosts, f…” The “bear’s” voice came to an end with a grunt as his gaze fell on Shen Mu’s body, and his eyes widened, his expression changing. Seeing that the “bear” was frowning, it was difficult to say what, exactly, had dissatisfied him, but the tightly knitted brows of his showed that he definitely wasn’t in a pleasant mood.
Timeless Translations 
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