My IQ has been increasing year by year.

The evening breeze, carrying the unique humidity and heat of the South, lifted the heat from the earth that had been baking during the day.

Chen Zhuo and Wang Dayong walked side by side on the road of the USTC campus.

The streetlights by the roadside are quite old; a few small flying insects have accumulated inside their yellowish lampshades, casting concentric halos of light on the ground.

Neither of them spoke much.

Just now, outside the school gate, watching their parents' cars merge into the traffic, the true feeling of leaving home belatedly fell on the shoulders of these two teenagers. They entered Building 4.

The light was on in the dormitory supervisor's room on the first floor, and an old 14-inch television was playing a TV series at a very low volume.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, the corridor was quiet.

Because we were supposed to arrive a day early, not many people were living in the building, and most of the dormitory doors were locked.

Push open the door to dormitory 215.

Wang Dayong casually slapped the wall, and the fluorescent light above his head flashed twice and turned on.

The room smelled of new furniture mixed with mothballs.

Wang Dayong walked to his desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

He looked at the empty dormitory, then at Chen Zhuo across the room who was hanging his shoulder bag into the closet.

"Xiao Zhuo, do you think my parents have arrived at the train station yet?"

Chen Zhuo closed the cabinet door and turned around.

"We should be arriving soon. The provincial capital's train station shouldn't be too far from here."

Wang Dayong sighed, reached out and rubbed his cheeks, rubbing the flesh of his face until it was deformed.

"More than 30 hours in a hard sleeper, rattling and clattering, just thinking about it makes me exhausted. This is the first time in my life I've been so far away from them." Chen Zhuo walked to his desk and picked up a water glass.

He looked at Wang Dayong's somewhat timid appearance and smiled gently.

"Go wash up and go to bed. School officially starts tomorrow, and the building is going to be noisy. You won't be able to find any peace and quiet then."

"Too."

Wang Dayong stood up, took a towel and toothbrush from the basin under the bed, and shook them a couple of times in his hands.

He turned around and pushed open the frosted glass door on the left-hand side of the entrance.

It must be said that the dormitory conditions for their gifted youth class are indeed quite good; it is not only spacious but also has a fairly large bathroom.

"I'm going to take a shower; I feel uncomfortable all sweaty and sticky. Are you going to shower later?"

Wang Dayong leaned halfway out and asked.

"You go ahead and wash up, I'll tidy up the table."

Wang Dayong closed the glass door.

Soon, the sound of running water came from the bathroom, accompanied by Wang Dayong clearing his throat, which sounded particularly clear in the quiet dormitory. Chen Zhuo pulled out a chair and sat down.

He looked at the clean desk in front of him, on which lay several old notebooks he had used in Zeyang, and a large flashlight that Liu Xiuying had shoved into her bag. Chen Zhuo raised his head and glanced at the night view outside the window.

The black Santana 2000 should already be on the highway.

Chen Jianguo is a reliable person. He drives slowly at night, but there are many large trucks on the road, which always makes people worry.

Chen Zhuo withdrew his gaze, opened the drawer, and put in a flashlight and a few odds and ends.

A short while later, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

Wang Dayong pushed open the door and came out, a wet towel draped around his neck, water dripping from his hair. He had changed into a large old T-shirt and a pair of shorts. "The water pressure is pretty high. The cold water feels refreshing and invigorating."

Wang Dayong stuffed the basin under the bed, grabbed a towel and wiped his feet haphazardly, then casually draped the towel over the back of the chair.

"Xiao Zhuo, go take a shower, the water is quite cool."

Chen Zhuo nodded and took his toiletries into the bathroom.

A thin layer of water had accumulated on the bathroom floor tiles. Chen Zhuo quickly washed up, dried his face with a towel, and went out. Wang Dayong had already climbed onto his bed using a ladder.

Chen Zhuo closed the door, walked to the doorway, and pressed the switch.

The room darkened, with only the streetlights from outside shining obliquely into the room, casting a long, bright stripe on the glass door. Chen Zhuo climbed onto the bed using the ladder on his side.

The mat had just been wiped clean in the evening and had a faint bamboo scent.

Chen Zhuo lay down and pulled the thin summer blanket over his stomach.

The ceiling fan overhead was on the second setting, emitting a monotonous whirring sound. The breeze blowing on my body was just enough to dispel the slight stuffiness.

"Xiao Zhuo, are you asleep?"

On the opposite bunk, Wang Dayong turned over, causing the bed to creak slightly.

"without."

"This bed board is pretty hard," Wang Dayong muttered.

"You'll get used to it after a few days."

Wang Dayong rested his hands behind his head, staring at the blurry outline of the ceiling.

"So, you're saying we're considered college students now?"

"I guess so."

"Wow, time flies! It feels like just two days ago I was playing Counter-Strike at the internet cafe at home, and now I'm sleeping in my dorm at USTC. When I closed my eyes just now, I could almost hear my mom chopping vegetables on the kitchen board."

Wang Dayong's voice carried a hint of excitement, mixed with a touch of bewilderment from having just left home.

Chen Zhuo turned his head and looked at the bed opposite him in the dim light.

He slightly curved the corners of his mouth, his tone casual.

"Missing home?"

"A little," Wang Dayong honestly admitted. "It's too quiet in this room. I can't even hear a car. It's a bit unusual." Chen Zhuo lay back down, looking at the fan spinning above his head.

"It's okay, you'll be fine once you fall asleep. Da Yong, do you snore?"

"Huh? It's alright. My dad said I should call him when I'm tired."

Chen Zhuo smiled, his voice gentle and calm.

"That's fine then. Snoring as loudly as you can in a bit, the sound will be almost the same as a train. Just pretend you're lying on a train." Wang Dayong paused for a moment, then couldn't help but chuckle in the darkness.

The lingering sorrow and longing in my heart were completely dispelled by those words.

"Alright, I'll take your kind words. I'll try my best to perform a symphony for you tonight."

Wang Dayong rolled over and found a comfortable position.

Goodnight, Xiao Zhuo.

"Good night."

The ceiling fan kept spinning.

Wang Dayong was a carefree person; after a few minutes, he could hear even breathing from the other side, occasionally interspersed with a soft snore or two. Chen Zhuo lay quietly.

My first night at university passed peacefully amidst the creaking of the fan.

September 1st.

It's 5:30 in the morning.

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and a layer of gray mist shone through the outside.

Chen Zhuo's powerful biological clock prompted him to wake up.

He didn't get up immediately, but lay quietly for a while, listening to the breathing on the other side.

5:40.

Chen Zhuo lifted the summer quilt and quietly climbed down the ladder.

He didn't turn on the light.

Using the dim light from the window, I took out a pair of loose shorts and a white T-shirt from the closet and changed into them.

She was wearing a pair of white sneakers that she was used to wearing in Zeyang.

I picked up the key, gently opened the wooden door to the dormitory, and then carefully closed it again.

It made a very soft thud.

The corridor was dimly lit, and there was a damp, cement smell in the air.

The entire Building No. 4 is still asleep.

Chen Zhuo walked down the stairs and out of the dormitory building.

The morning air was exceptionally fresh, carrying the scent of dew from the grass and trees.

Chen Zhuo took a deep breath and started jogging along the path in front of the dormitory building.

His steps were not fast, but very rhythmic, with his breathing evenly matching the rise and fall of his steps.

Passing through several old teaching buildings, their walls covered in ivy, one could occasionally see sanitation workers in orange vests sweeping fallen leaves from the road with large bamboo brooms. Chen Zhuo ran across the artificial lake, its surface shrouded in a thin layer of morning mist, the water still and undisturbed.

He ran most of the way around the lake, and was covered in sweat, with strands of hair on his forehead sticking slightly to his skin.

The sun began to rise from behind the buildings in the east.

Morning light filters through the leaves, wine sizzles on the asphalt road.

It was 6:40 a.m.

Chen Zhuo finished his morning run, slowed down, and walked towards the cafeteria.

The first canteen is now open.

Although the new students haven't arrived in large numbers yet, the cafeteria staff are already busy.

Several large steamers were stacked high, white steam billowing out from the gaps in the bamboo steamers, accompanied by a rich aroma of dough and meat. Chen Zhuo walked to the steamed bun window.

"Auntie, I'd like four meat buns, two vegetable buns, and two bags of soy milk."

The cafeteria ladies were quick and efficient, swiftly packing the steaming hot buns into oil paper bags.

Chen Zhuo took out the paper temporary meal ticket he had exchanged yesterday from his pocket and handed it over.

Taking the slightly hot oil paper bag, Chen Zhuo carried the breakfast and walked back the way he came to Building 4.

7:15.

When Chen Zhuo pushed open the door to dormitory 215, there was already some noise in the corridor.

One by one, the new students who arrived early got up, and you could hear the sound of the door being pulled open.

Chen Zhuo placed the oil paper bag in his hand on his desk.

A noise came from the bed opposite.

Wang Dayong, with his messy hair, rolled over.

He sniffed, and before he even opened his eyes, he mumbled something.

"What does it smell like? It smells so good."

Chen Zhuo pulled out a chair, sat down, wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, and turned to look at him.

"These are freshly steamed buns from the cafeteria. I also brought you a portion. Get up and eat them, or the skin will harden when they get cold."

Wang Dayong suddenly opened his eyes and poked his head out from behind the bed railing.

He glanced at Chen Zhuo, then at the steaming oil paper bag on the table.

"Xiao Zhuo, you're up way too early! Did you go buy breakfast?"

"I went for a run and bought this on the way."

Wang Dayong touched his stomach, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

He hurriedly climbed down the ladder and casually put on a pair of shorts.

He plopped down next to Chen Zhuo, grabbed a meat bun, and took a big bite.

"Hmm! These buns are good, thin skin and generous filling, much better than the ones at my previous school."

While chewing on a steamed bun, Wang Dayong used scissors to cut open the soy milk bag, tilted his head back, and took a swig.

Chen Zhuo also took a vegetable bun and ate it slowly.

"These meat buns are quite substantial, but they're not as flavorful as the beef buns we had last night."

Wang Dayong finished one in two bites and then reached for the second one.

As the two were eating, the corridor outside the dormitory began to get noisy.

The sound of suitcase wheels rolling on the ground came from the stairwell.

It was accompanied by a variety of dialects and voices.

"Yes, it's this building, go up to the second floor."

"Keep that bag handy, don't let it rub against the ground, there's sauce inside."

"It's so hot in the south, I'm covered in sweat first thing in the morning."

Today is September 1st, the official registration day for new students.

Students and parents from all directions began to flood into the once quiet red brick building.

The entire Building 4 came alive, bustling with noise.

Wang Dayong swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth and threw the oil paper bag into the trash can behind the door.

He wiped his mouth with a tissue and stood up.

"There are more people now, Xiao Zhuo. I'm soaking the dirty clothes I took off yesterday; they smelled so bad from sweat."

Wang Dayong is a person who can't sit still.

He walked to the balcony, threw his clothes into the washbasin, poured in laundry detergent and added some water.

Feeling a bit stuffy in the room, Wang Dayong casually opened the wooden door of 215 completely, letting in some fresh air from the corridor. Chen Zhu finished his steamed bun and cleaned the table.

He took the cup to the bathroom and rinsed his mouth.

As soon as I stepped out, I heard Wang Dayong's loud voice ringing out in the corridor.

"Dude, that's impressive. You brought this on the very first day of freshman year?"

Chen Zhuo followed the sound and went outside.

The door to the neighboring dormitory 216 was wide open.

There were no parents in the house, nor were there any large or small bags of bedding and blankets.

There was only one boy who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old.

The boy had slightly long hair, with some wisps of hair obscuring his eyes. He wore a loose white T-shirt, baggy jeans, and sneakers. He was squatting on the ground, sweating profusely as he disassembled several large cardboard boxes.

He tore the sealing tape off the cardboard box into a mess, and white foam fragments fell all over the floor.

Wang Dayong shook the water off his hands and stood at the door of 216, craning his neck to look inside.

Chen Zhuo walked over and glanced at the situation inside the room.

The boy had already taken several items out of the box and placed them on the desk on the left.

One-size-fits-all machine.

A huge, bulky, gray-white CRT monitor occupied most of the desk, next to which sat an equally heavy white computer case. In those days, many college students had barely even touched a keyboard; these things were incredibly expensive and incredibly heavy, and very few would carry the entire setup into their dorm room on the first day of school. The boy ignored Wang Dayong standing at the door.

He had a lollipop dangling from his mouth, his brow furrowed tightly.

He was bending over, plugging a blue VGA video cable into the graphics card slot on the back of the computer case, and tightening the screws on both sides. Then, he plugged in the keyboard and mouse, and turned on the power strip.

The boy exhaled and reached out to press the round power button on the front panel of the computer case.

"Buzz"

The power supply fan inside the computer case started spinning, emitting a low rumble.

Immediately afterwards, the motherboard emitted a crisp beep.

The huge CRT monitor on the desktop flickered and then lit up.

The classic Windows 98 boot screen appears in the center of the screen.

The boy's expression was just about to relax when it suddenly froze.

Wang Dayong, who was standing at the door, also let out a sound of surprise.

The boot screen appeared, but the colors in a large area in the upper right and lower left corners of the monitor were completely wrong.

What should have been a clean background had turned into a large, distorted patch of purple-green, like watercolor paint spreading on the screen. It was neither red nor purple, and extremely glaring to the eye.

The boy paused for two seconds.

He slapped his thigh suddenly and cursed in frustration.

"Hold."

He took the lollipop out of his mouth and held it between his fingers.

"Oh no, oh no, this damn logistics must have damaged the picture tube on the way. If it leaks, the monitor will be completely ruined." The boy scratched his hair in frustration, staring at the two ugly purple spots on the screen, his face looking very grim.

Wang Dayong stood guard at the door.

"Dude, this is a big item! Didn't you have them pack it securely when you shipped it?"

The boy didn't say anything, but plopped down in the chair and stared at the screen, sulking.

"It's not broken."

A gentle voice sounded at the doorway.

The boy turned his head.

Chen Zhuo stood next to Wang Dayong.

He looked at the boy in the room, his gaze calmly sweeping across the table.

Under the boy's desk, besides the computer case, were two black wooden speakers, one of which was a very large subwoofer. "When you packed it, did you put that subwoofer and the monitor in the same cardboard box?" Chen Zhuo asked.

The boy was stunned for a moment.

He looked at Chen Zhuo and nodded subconsciously.

"Yes, to save space, I placed the subwoofer next to the monitor. Why?"

Chen Zhuo smiled faintly.

"It's not broken, nor is it leaking. It was just pulled off course by the magnet in your subwoofer, and the screen became magnetized."

Chen Zhuo gestured with his chin to the physical buttons directly below the monitor.

"Press the menu button on the monitor panel, go in and look for it. There should be an icon inside that looks like an inverted U-shaped horseshoe with a diagonal bar in the middle." The boy looked at Chen Zhuo suspiciously.

But he still turned around and reached out to press the menu button on the monitor panel.

A blue adjustment box popped up on the screen.

He used the arrow keys to move the cursor and quickly found the icon that looked like an inverted U-shaped magnet in the corner of the second page.

"Found it, and then what?" the boy asked.

"Select it and click OK," Chen Zhuo said.

The boy pressed the confirm button.

Hey!

Bang!

A dull yet loud demagnetizing sound came from inside the monitor, as if something had exploded inside.

The table even vibrated slightly.

The image on the screen jolted violently, then contracted and bounced back in an instant.

When the image stabilizes again.

The two large purplish-green patches in the upper right and lower left corners have disappeared.

The screen colors were restored to perfect, and the Windows blue sky and white clouds desktop was clear and clean.

The boy opened his eyes wide and looked at the screen, which had returned to normal.

He let out a sigh of relief, turned around, and casually tossed the lollipop in his hand onto the table.

He stood up, dusted off his hands, looked at Chen Zhuo, and raised his chin.

"Thanks, bro."

The boy pointed to himself.

"My name is Chu Ge."

Chen Zhuo nodded.

"Chen Zhuo".

Wang Dayong, who was standing next to him, was already stunned.

Although he enjoys tinkering with things, he has never actually touched this kind of thing before.

After the two finished greeting each other, Wang Dayong quickly pointed to himself and then to Chen Zhuo.

"Wang Dayong! We live next door to you, in room 215. Hey Chu Ge, your computer specs are pretty good."

Chugo pulled over a chair, plopped down, and expertly gripped the mouse.

"I just saved it up randomly. I can't sleep at night without this thing, so I just got through it."

He glanced at Chen Zhuo and Wang Dayong at the door, a smile playing on his lips.

"If your computer gets a virus or needs to be reinstalled in the future, call me."

Wang Dayong grinned.

"Okay, you can start packing now. Come visit sometime."

Wang Dayong waved his hand and walked out of room 216 with Chen Zhuo.

The corridor was getting more and more crowded.

The sounds were a mix of different kinds of noise: people pushing suitcases, looking for their dorm rooms, and shouting greetings.

Chen Zhuo walked on the terrazzo floor, listening to the crisp clicks of a mouse coming from next door, 216, and the occasional creaking of floorboards overhead. Sunlight streamed through the window at the end of the corridor, casting slanted rays onto the walls.

Chen Zhuo's university life officially began amidst this hustle and bustle.