The little cunning hand - draft, further edits are needed
Su Shi and Wang Xiaoer were classmates in the same group. They only had limited contact, usually at group meetings. Sometimes they didn't even say hello when they bumped into each other on campus, which was commonplace for university students those days. Their lack of more frequent contact had also to do with their different personalities. Wang Xiaoer was from a small town in the north of the country. He was a very motivated student, and could easily be one of the best in their class. He would spend most of his time studying, and had no intention to date before graduation. Su Shi was completely the opposite to him in personality. She was from a capital city of a province in the south. Although she was very smart, she didn't take study as seriously as he did. She started to date shortly after she became a sophomore. This was relatively early at the time. Her boyfriend was already a senior then. He was from the same city where the university was located. He appeared to come from a family that was well off judging from the way he dressed himself. He was good-looking. Although Su Shi was not a beauty, she looked very sensual with a little make-up, and a seducing figure. She was lively and cheerful, and had no shortage of pursuers in an university that had an huge imbalance between male and female students. The two were a very good match, and one of the few couples on campus that seemed to be inseparable, "like painted or glued together", an idiom that was so much better understood by Xiaoer when seeing them together!
Their group was sent to a prefecture-level city for internship in their senior year at a steel mill, doing field surveys. There was not a lot to do. The group had ten students, seven boys and three girls. They often went to different places together at night. Their nightlives were very rich by the standard then. Several classmates who liked to dance often went dancing with the local youth who were trendy. Although Wang Xiaoyi could have been a good dancer, with his generous height and long legs, he did not put his mind to it. Besides he was still preparing for tests for graduate school. So he had neither time nor interest in going with his classmates. After several unsuccessful tries, his classmates stopped inviting him.
Unlike Xiaoer, Su Shi would usually participate in activities like this. In fact she would normally be organizing such events. However, this time uncharacteristically, she chose not to go. What was even more surprising was her interest to study with him. He could not believe his own ears when she told him about it the first time. Upon confirmation, he did not say anything. So began their nightly routine of going to an office near their dormitory when the others went out dancing. They didn't have much to say to each other. There was probably no common language besides their common interest in reviewing the same books. Better that way because it was at least safe. In fact, she was actually a good study partner. Most of the time, she was very serious. She would be very open-minded and asked for his help If there were things that she didn't understand. Occasionally she would take a little announced break, playing with her hair, and looking at him through the glasses with her big eyes. She wouldn't speak. He would always pretend not to notice her staring at him. Soon, it was time to go back to the university for the test. They had to take a long-distance bus ride of more than four hours. Although the two did not talked much normally, it wasn't unnatural for them to talk when they traveled together. After two months of spending almost every night together studying, he had already got accustomed to her. He was subconsciously taking care of her. He helped her with bags on the way to the station. He even bought some cookies to for her while waiting for the bus. After getting on the bus, he asked her to sit by the window.
On the bus, the two didn't say anything. He didn't want to read his textbooks any more. He took out a pile of newspapers he had bought at the newsstand, while she was looking at the scenery outside the bus. In less than three months since they came this way, trees on the roadside had gone from leafless to full of big green leaves. Crops in the fields had grown tall, reminding him of his hometown to the north. The fields there should have just started to become green.
She seemed to have gone asleep while he was thinking. Her head slowly leaned over his shoulder. He did not know what to do. He wanted to push her over but was afraid to wake her up. He was unsure about his feelings. After all, she already had a boyfriend. He decided not to push her in the end. So she rested her head on his shoulders all the way. People who didn't know them would think they were a couple. In fact, they would have been very suitable for each other. Although he was not as social as her boyfriend, he was also a gentleman, and good-looking one, one might say. Then he laughed at himself about those silly thoughts. Having never dated anyone, he had no idea about what it was like between a man and a woman. He felt that his thoughts were already out of bound. Suddenly, he felt her little hand under the newspaper, pinching his hand from underneath, he did not know how to react or respond. He let her hand nibble at his hand without moving it himself at all. She stopped after a couple of minutes. But her head was still on his shoulder. He looked at her. Her little face seemed to be full of happiness, so much so that every time he thought of her years later, he always remembered the little face, the small nose and the upturned rosy lips.
After a while, the bus arrived. He saw from afar his boyfriend waiting for her. After getting off the bus, he said goodbye to them, and walked off on his own. He walked and walked, all by himself, without turning his head in the longest walk to his dorm.
