Li Tianyu didn't dream much. Or maybe he did and just forgot everything by morning. Either way, when he woke up, it was to the sound of his alarm once again at 6:45 AM, buzzing like a dying mosquito.
Same cracked ceiling. Same weird brown spot. Same trash routine. He made his usual coffee (still awful), brushed his teeth over the bucket, and dressed in the same faded hoodie and jeans combo. When he checked his phone, something was different.
[1 New Message – Unknown Number]
"Yo, this Li Tianyu? This is Zhang Wei. We're partners for Prof. Liu's group project 3 days ago, Remember? It's due Friday. You in?"
Li blinked at the message. He vaguely remembered something about a group project. Something Liu Yapping had mentioned in class, between words like "About Water" and "don't use ChatGPT."
He typed back:
"Yeah. I remember. What's the plan?"
Zhang Wei replied fast:
"Library after class today? I got the outline. You bring your brain."
"Deal."
Li pocketed his phone and walked out, another normal day underway. His first class was "Introduction to Environmental Mechanics"—aka, "How Water is Stronger Than You Think."
The professor was new, young, wore bright orange Crocs, and kept using the word "velocity" like it owed him money. Li sat in his usual third-from-the-back spot and tried to focus.
He took notes. Writing once to remember. Writing twice to lock it in.
At 10:30 AM, the class ended. He left, stretched his sore arm, and texted Zhang Wei:
"Break time. Meet me at library in 20 minutes?"
Zhang replied with a thumbs-up emoji and a meme of a tired panda holding a stack of textbooks.
By 10:55, Li was sitting in the far corner of the campus library. Zhang Wei showed up five minutes later wearing a gray hoodie with "STANFORD BUT IN CHINA" printed on the front. He looked half-awake but friendly.
"Sup," Zhang said, sitting down and opening his laptop. "Okay. So I already did the first part of the report. You're doing the middle. I'll finish the conclusion."
Li leaned over to look. "This… is actually organized. Are you secretly smart?"
"I have my Mother who hits me with a spoon if my grades drop."
"Ah. Fear-based motivation. Respect."
They worked for about an hour, going over data and splitting up the tasks. Zhang was chill, made dumb jokes, and even shared half a Burger with Li when he heard his stomach growl.
"Dude, you seriously need to eat more at home, I'm not a food Charity Man" Zhang said.
"It's a lifestyle," Li replied. "I have no money I burn calories walking up stairs in buildings."
At noon, they wrapped up.
"I'll text you tonight. Let's finish Presenting the Project by tomorrow hopefully, Don't be absent," Zhang said.
"Alr bet. See you."
Li left the library feeling… weirdly okay. It wasn't exciting. No explosion at university. No dramatic twist. Just a decent guy, a shared Burger, and a project slowly coming together.
The rest of the day passed in pieces: a nap in the study room, another lecture he barely survived, and then a text from his manager that simply said:
"On time today. Don't us screw up."
At 3:00 PM, he was in the kitchen again, folding dumplings until his fingers cramped. He finished at 9:10 PM, walked back to his dorm, and opened his laptop again. No more reading reincarnated chicken tonight. Just Netflix, running slow.
He scrolled. Clicked on a movie The Handsome Man undercover to be a poor Student in school. Watched fifteen minutes. Turned it off.
At 11:38 PM, he crawled into bed.
his group project was done, only thing left is to present it. He didn't forget his umbrella. And someone actually texted him today.
It was a good day.
Tomorrow, he'd wake up at 6:45 again.