Chapter Five: An Appointment by the Dongshan River

21. Chemistry

This routine continued until the beginning of sophomore year. Students continued coming and going across campus, and the library once again regained its familiar bustle. With the start of the new semester, the younger students gradually began taking law courses, while Cai Shinan maintained his own steady routine. He attended classes, studied, organized his notes, and spent most of his time in the library. For him, university life had not changed very much.

That was, until his junior, Lin Yijun, appeared.

One afternoon, sunlight streamed through the library’s tall windows and fell across row after row of bookshelves. Carrying several law textbooks, Yijun entered the reading area and noticed the alien-like figure in the corner. Cai Shinan was sitting there with his head lowered, organizing his notes.

Thick textbooks and lecture handouts were piled on the desk, alongside several notebooks filled with annotations. He did not write particularly quickly, but he worked with great concentration. Occasionally, he would stop to think before reorganizing his understanding into clearly structured notes.

Yijun stood a short distance away and watched him for a while. She already had some impression of this senior student. In the eyes of his classmates, Cai Shinan was plain-looking and quiet, and he seemed to appear and disappear without a trace. As soon as classes ended, he would vanish into the library. He rarely attended gatherings, and he was almost never seen at social events.

Some people jokingly called him the “Invisible Master.” Yijun, however, did not join in the teasing. Her family background had taught her from an early age that some things in life could not be decided by personal interest alone; practical realities had to be considered as well. She knew exactly which path she wanted to take.

The highly competitive bar examination and special examination for judicial officers. The acceptance rates for both were painfully low. Without thorough preparation, there was virtually no chance of passing. For that very reason, she had begun paying attention to people who genuinely devoted their time to studying. Cai Shinan happened to be one of them.

A few days later, Yijun finally walked over to his desk with her textbooks in her arms.

“Excuse me, senior. How do you interpret this question?”

Shinan looked up at her. “Have a seat first. Let me take a look.”

Yijun pulled out a chair and sat down, spreading her textbook between them. She had originally intended to ask about just one question, but Shinan quickly identified the heart of the problem. Instead of rushing to give her an answer, he began by analyzing the relevant legal principles, then explained step by step the possible outcomes under different circumstances.

At first, Yijun continued looking down at her textbook as she listened. Gradually, however, the pen in her hand stopped moving. She raised her head and looked at Shinan.

“So that’s how it works.”

Shinan nodded. “If you separate these concepts and examine them individually, they become easier to understand.”

Yijun did not answer immediately. She reread the question in the textbook, but a new understanding of Shinan had begun to take shape in her mind. This senior seemed completely different from what his appearance suggested. His facial features, combined with his sparse red hair, did not conform to conventional standards of attractiveness. His clothes were plain and casual, and he rarely initiated conversations with others. Yet whenever the subject turned to academics, his thinking became remarkably clear. In his hands, a problem could always be broken down, classified, and reorganized. He was more than simply an ordinary, diligent student.

Yijun gradually sensed that Cai Shinan possessed an almost scholarly temperament. He was quiet and focused, with his own distinctive way of understanding knowledge. After that, she began occasionally bringing him questions. Sometimes they concerned a legal concept, sometimes an exam question, and sometimes something she could not figure out while studying on her own. Shinan never complained that she was bothering him. As long as he knew the answer, he would explain it patiently. With each discussion about their coursework, the distance between them gradually narrowed.

One day, Yijun happened to come across the notes Shinan had compiled. She had only intended to borrow them for reference, but after opening the first page, she could not stop reading. The notebooks contained not only classroom material but also extensive summaries, classifications, comparisons of cases, and his own interpretations. The key points from different subjects were organized in impeccable order. As Yijun turned page after page, her eyes gradually lit up.

“Senior, did you organize all of this yourself?”

Shinan was reading beside her. Hearing her question, he simply looked up and smiled.

“Yes. After I understand something in class, I find it easier to remember if I organize it all over again.”

Yijun lowered her head and looked at the notes in her hands. To her, they were no longer ordinary classroom notes. Each thick notebook was like a secret martial arts manual from a different school, compiled through Shinan’s painstaking study. Every page followed a clear line of reasoning, and every key point had its own systematic structure. She suddenly understood why this seemingly inconspicuous senior, who was so rarely seen around campus, could achieve such excellent exam results.

What truly amazed people had never been his appearance. It was his quiet yet extraordinarily clear mind.

Yijun closed the notebook and looked up at Shinan. This time, her gaze had changed from the way she had looked at him initially. A new thought quietly took shape in her heart. Perhaps she had truly met someone who shared her interests and aspirations.

22. The Department Beauty and the Scholar

After the beginning of sophomore year, Lin Yijun quickly became the most admired girl in the law department. She was beautiful and graceful, with refined features and a dignified manner. She spoke in an unhurried, measured way, and whenever she walked down the corridor of the department building, she attracted the attention of numerous male students. Some deliberately slowed their pace, while others found all kinds of excuses to appear near her. A few even went out of their way to find out her class schedule, hoping to engineer several supposedly accidental encounters.

Even Chen Junsheng, Cai Shinan’s roommate, joined the ranks of her admirers.

One evening, Junsheng stood at the entrance to the department building holding a bouquet of flowers. When he saw Yijun approaching, he immediately straightened his collar and arranged what he considered to be a dashing smile on his face.

“Yijun, these are for you. Are you free tonight? Let me take you to a movie.”

Yijun stopped and glanced at the flowers in his hand. Then she looked up and smiled politely.

“Thank you for the thought, but I have to study tonight.”

“What about another day?”

“I won’t be free another day, either.”

After saying this, she left with her textbooks, giving him no opportunity to press the matter further. Junsheng stood where he was, looking down at the flowers in his hands as the smile on his face slowly stiffened. He had assumed that if he kept making romantic gestures, he would eventually win her over. Yet Yijun consistently maintained a polite but unmistakable distance.

Over the following days, he continued asking after her and showing concern. He even went out of his way to buy her drinks between classes. Yijun always thanked him politely but never accepted any further invitations.

What truly surprised the male students in the department, however, was another sight.

In the library that afternoon, sunlight streamed through the tall windows and fell across a long table. A faint scent of paper and ink hung among the pages. Lin Yijun and Cai Shinan sat side by side near the window. One was beautiful and poised; the other was plain-looking and unremarkable. Yet the two could quietly discuss the same law textbook, occasionally exchange notes, and pause to think seriously whenever they encountered a disputed point.

“If we examine this case in terms of the elements of the offense, I think there may be another way to interpret it.” Yijun pointed to a line in Shinan’s notes, her brows drawing together slightly.

Shinan lowered his head and studied it for a while before looking up.

“You have a point. But if we consider the context of the judicial precedents, another case the professor mentioned in class might help fill in this gap.”

Yijun took his notes and examined them carefully. Her eyes gradually brightened.

“You’ve organized everything so thoroughly. How did I never think of this before?”

Shinan smiled. “I’ve just read through it a few more times.”

Several male students sitting not far away, however, watched them with envy and resentment. One of them could not resist pounding the table lightly and complaining under his breath, “This is so unfair. How can the department beauty be sitting with a red-haired orangutan studying?”

Another student frowned as he watched them for a long time. Then, as though he had suddenly discovered a brilliant solution, he said, “All we have to do is study, right? We can do that, too.”

A few days later, several unfamiliar faces suddenly began appearing in the library. One student sat near Yijun with a thick volume of legal texts, yet barely managed to turn a few pages. Another deliberately wandered around with a notebook, waiting for a chance to join the conversation. Still another had little interest in legal texts but stubbornly put on the appearance of someone engrossed in serious study.

Yijun quickly saw through them. She looked up at the male student sitting opposite her, who was turning the pages with exaggerated seriousness, and raised one eyebrow slightly.

“Aren’t you usually busy with club activities? Why have you suddenly started studying civil law today?”

The student froze for a moment, then gave an awkward laugh.

“Recently… I suddenly realized that law is pretty interesting.”

Yijun did not expose him. She merely smiled faintly and lowered her head to her book again.

From that day on, she deliberately changed seats and stopped initiating conversations with those students. She understood perfectly well that what truly interested them was neither law nor scholarship, but the woman sitting across the desk from them.

To her, studying had never been a form of decoration, much less a tool for getting close to someone. Whether she could establish a genuine relationship with a classmate depended neither on appearance nor family background, nor on who was better at sweet-talking. What mattered was whether they shared common interests and goals.

She had come to university hoping to carve out a path for herself through her own efforts. Naturally, she was willing to devote her time to people who genuinely understood the value of it. As for those whose interests differed from hers, she did not need to dislike them or argue with them. Keeping her distance was enough.

Meanwhile, at the library table by the window, Cai Shinan continued reading with his head lowered, completely unaware that he had become the male students’ romantic rival.

Yijun glanced at him, the faintest smile appearing at the corners of her mouth. She suddenly understood that some people were worth getting close to not because they knew how to flatter others, but because when two people sat together, they could discuss something genuinely important even without talking about romance.

That was what she meant by sharing common interests and aspirations. When people followed different paths, there was no need to force them to walk together. When they shared the same interests and goals, they had a chance of staying together for the long haul.

23. Snow White and the Red-Haired Orangutan

During the second semester of sophomore year, the spring breeze swept through the treetops in front of the law department building, and the branches and leaves swayed gently in the sunlight. Every day after class, Lin Yijun and Cai Shinan would walk into the library together. Sometimes they sat side by side near the window to study; at other times, they crossed the campus carrying their textbooks and discussing the classes they had just attended.

As the two were increasingly seen together, the gossip within the department grew louder. The newly crowned department beauty, who had seemed aloof and difficult for the male students to approach, was spending so much time with Cai Shinan, a plain-looking fellow who seemed to do nothing but study. Before long, the unlikely pairing became a favorite topic of conversation during breaks and over meals.

The most astonished were Zhou Cuihua, Yu Xiaoshan, and the other girls whom the male students jokingly called the “nuns of the Emei Sect.”

One afternoon during the lunch break, several girls were standing in the corridor of the department building when they saw Yijun and Shinan approaching side by side in the distance. Cuihua’s eyes widened. Her mouth hung open for a long moment before she finally burst out laughing.

“Oh my God! Snow White has met the red-haired orangutan!”

The girls beside her immediately burst into laughter.

Yu Xiaoshan covered her mouth and said, “Who would ever have guessed that Shinan had this much going for him?”

Cuihua raised her eyebrows and deliberately lowered her voice.

“This guy has been playing dumb to catch the tiger off guard!”

Amid the laughter, someone sneaked a glance at Shinan and then looked at Lin Yijun beside him, finding the whole thing hard to believe. Cai Shinan, who was usually silent in class and headed straight for the library as soon as it ended, had actually won the favor of the department beauty.

Shinan heard their laughter from a distance and helplessly rubbed his nose. He knew that from high school through university, he had never managed to shake off the nickname “Red-Haired Orangutan.” Now he had acquired a matching “Snow White” as well, leaving him unsure whether to laugh or cry.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that his roommate, Chen Junsheng, had also begun making sarcastic remarks at his expense.

One evening, the two were walking back to the dormitory from class. Junsheng looked at the textbooks in Shinan’s arms and suddenly let out a cold laugh.

“Shinan, you really are one lucky guy. A beautiful flower has ended up planted in a pile of cow dung.”

Shinan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him.

Although Junsheng wore a smile at the corners of his mouth, there was not the slightest trace of humor in his eyes.

Shinan’s heart sank. He was not so oblivious that he could not hear the hostility behind those words. On the surface, Junsheng had made a joke, but underneath it lay unmistakable resentment. Junsheng had personally brought Yijun flowers and invited her to a movie. Now that he saw her walking around with Shinan, it was only natural that he would feel bitter about it.

He himself felt relieved, because that was exactly what he truly thought. In other people’s eyes, he and Yijun were already inseparable, practically a couple. But only Shinan knew that an unspoken distance still lay between them. Yijun was willing to study with him, discuss their coursework, and walk with him for a while after class. This closeness was already very precious to him. However, he had never asked Yijun, “Do you like me?” He was even less willing to presume that their relationship could be defined as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Sometimes, when they walked across campus, Yijun would carry her books and walk beside him. The wind swept through her long hair, and she would occasionally turn her head to discuss questions from class with him, her eyes clear and focused. Whenever Shinan looked at her, an indescribable joy would rise in his heart. But he knew very well that, at most, he was currently only her “knight in shining armor,” standing by her side to protect her. As for the words “boyfriend” and “girlfriend,” he did not yet feel entitled to use them on her behalf.

He would rather take things slowly than let his own impatience ruin this hard-won closeness. To Shinan, genuine affection was not something to seize by force. It meant waiting until both hearts were ready and then naturally coming together. So when their classmates began teasing them, and when Junsheng made jokes tinged with jealousy, Shinan merely smiled.

Only he knew the truth: being by her side did not mean he already had her. True love required waiting until the other heart was willing to draw near as well.

24. The Promise by the Dongshan River

During the winter break of his junior year, winter in Yilan was damp, cold, and rainy.

At Lin Yijun’s invitation, Cai Shinan took a bus to Luodong. By early evening, the Luodong Night Market was already lit with rows of glowing lights. Vendors’ cries, the clatter of spatulas against cooking pans, and the aromas of food mingled together. The entire street was so lively that there was hardly room to catch one’s breath.

Yijun’s mother ran a noodle stall in the night market. It consisted of a simple metal frame and a few folding tables. Though the stall was small, it was an important source of income for the entire family. Wearing an apron, Yijun stood behind the steaming counter, cooking noodles while deftly slicing braised foods. When she saw Shinan approaching, she looked up and smiled.

“You’re here! Have a seat for a moment. I’ll make you some noodles.”

“Do you need any help?”

Yijun shook her head without stopping what she was doing. “No, you’re a guest.”

She put the noodles into boiling water, skillfully added vegetables, slices of meat, and seasonings, and finally brought the bowl to Shinan.

“Eat while it’s hot.”

Shinan picked up his chopsticks and looked at the steaming bowl of noodles before him, but an indescribable warmth welled up inside him. Until then, he had always seen Yijun sitting in the classroom, concentrating on her studies, or bending her head over her notes in the library. Only today had he seen her for the first time working skillfully at her mother’s noodle stall, doing an ordinary job with practiced ease. It turned out that the graceful, quiet girl he knew from campus also carried the burden of supporting a family.

After the night market closed, the crowds gradually dispersed from the streets. A cold wind blew in from the river as the two of them walked slowly along the banks of the Dongshan River. The water shimmered faintly beneath the night sky. From time to time, the sound of traffic drifted from the distance, while the shadows of trees on both banks swayed gently in the wind.

Yijun pulled her coat a little tighter around herself. After remaining silent for quite some time, she finally spoke.

“Shinan, my father worked on ships, and he’s been missing for a long time.”

Shinan slowed his steps and turned to look at her. Yijun’s gaze rested on the distant river, and her expression was heavier than usual.

“We’ve never known what actually happened to him. All these years, my mother has been holding the family together on her own.”

As she spoke, the corners of her mouth lifted into a faint, bitter smile.

“That’s why I realized at an early age that doing well in school isn’t enough. I have to make something of myself so that I’ll be able to give my mother a better life.”

Shinan did not answer immediately. Looking at Yijun beside him, he suddenly realized how little he had understood about her. At school, she was the department beauty, known for her excellent grades and graceful appearance. But at that moment, standing beside the Dongshan River, she was simply a daughter who wanted to help her mother shoulder the burden of making a living.

Yijun stopped walking and turned to face him.

“So, I want to make a promise with you.”

Shinan froze for a moment. “What kind of promise?”

Yijun looked into his eyes, her expression unusually serious.

“If you pass the bar exam or qualify to become a judicial officer before you turn thirty, I’ll agree to be your girlfriend.”

The night wind blew between them. Shinan stared at her, stunned, unable to speak for a moment. He had thought that Yijun was merely willing to be close to him. He had even told himself that, for now, he was only her knight in shining armor. But now she had personally stated the conditions under which they could become a couple.

At that moment, for the first time, he truly felt the pressure coming from the girl he loved. It was neither a rejection nor an attempt to hurry him along. It was a goal as clear as could be.

Before turning thirty. The bar exam or the judicial officer qualification.

Shinan took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

“Are you serious?”

Yijun nodded. “I’m serious.”

Her voice was calm, and she did not avert her gaze.

Shinan lowered his head and remained silent for a moment. In the past, he had studied simply because he knew he was supposed to. After entering college, he had wanted only to master the law and find himself a stable path in life. But starting that night, his life seemed to have acquired a new deadline: thirty years of age. It was more than just an age. It was an examination of his love.

He raised his head and looked at Yijun. At last, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“All right. I promise.”

Yijun smiled too, but said nothing more. The two continued walking along the Dongshan River. The cold wind remained bitter, yet a strength he had never felt before filled Shinan’s heart.

He knew that from that night onward, he would no longer be studying solely for his own future. He would also have to work hard to earn the right to have a girl willingly draw close to him.

And this time, the examination would not take place in a classroom. It would take place in the course of his life, before he turned thirty.

25. The Silver Cross

In the summer of his college graduation year, Cai Shinan received two disappointing pieces of news in succession. He had fallen a few points short of passing the judicial officer examination, and he had also narrowly missed passing the bar exam. His score reports lay spread across his desk. Outside the window, cicadas chirped one after another, while heat poured into the room through the half-open window.

Shinan stared at those painfully disappointing scores and remained silent for a long time. He had thought he had already come a long way toward the goal he and Yijun had agreed upon. Yet when he finally reached the threshold, he had still fallen just a little short.

“I didn’t pass,” he said, lowering his head, disappointment hidden in his voice.

Yijun sat across from him. She showed no sign of disappointment. Instead, she reached for the score reports on the desk and looked them over.

“How many points were you short?”

“Just a few.”

Yijun looked up and smiled instead. “What’s there to be so upset about?”

Shinan stared at her in surprise. “You’re not disappointed?”

“Why should I be disappointed?” Yijun placed the score reports back on the desk and looked at him earnestly. “If you missed passing by only a few points, it means you’ve already come very close. If you prepare more thoroughly next time, you’ll certainly have another chance.”

As Shinan looked at her, the heavy stone in his heart seemed to have been gently lifted at one corner.

“But our promise…”

Yijun knew what he meant, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

“The promise hasn’t been canceled. I said before you turn thirty, not before you graduate from college.”

Her words made Shinan smile despite himself. He suddenly understood that genuine love and support did not mean standing beside someone only when they succeeded. It meant continuing to believe that they could move forward even when they failed.

Before long, Shinan received his military service notice and was assigned to serve as a reserve officer on Kinmen. Before he enlisted, Yijun made a special trip with him to Xiaogang in Kaohsiung. The sunlight was intense at the harbor. Sea breezes swept through the port area, and warships lay anchored in the distance, their hulls gleaming with a cold, austere light beneath the sun. The servicemen preparing to board gathered one after another, their duffel bags neatly placed beside them. The air was filled with the sense of impending departure.

With his luggage on his back, Shinan stood beside Yijun at the edge of the pier. Neither of them hurried to speak.

Suddenly, Yijun reached toward her chest, and a thin silver chain emerged from beneath her collar. She unclasped the necklace, revealing a small silver cross resting in the palm of her hand.

“This is for you.”

Shinan lowered his head and stared at the cross in her hand, momentarily stunned.

“For me?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Yijun stepped closer and put the cross around his neck for him. When her fingers brushed his collar, her movements were gentle, but her expression was unusually serious.

“Once you get to Kinmen, take good care of yourself.”

Shinan lowered his head and held the cross in his hand. The cool silver touched his palm, yet a warmth gradually spread through his heart.

“This belongs to you. Why are you giving it to me?”

Yijun raised her eyes. After a brief silence, she spoke softly.

“Let it be a token of our promise.”

Shinan’s heart leaped. He looked up at Yijun, wanting to say something, but suddenly he had no idea where to begin. In the distance, the assembly whistle sounded aboard the warship.

Yijun stepped back and straightened his collar, as if she were afraid the cross might be hidden beneath his clothes.

“Go on.”

Shinan nodded. He shouldered his luggage and walked a few steps before turning around. Yijun was still standing where she had been, her long hair fluttering gently in the sea breeze. She did not wave. She simply watched him quietly.

Shinan touched the cross on his chest. At that moment, he suddenly felt that his military service on Kinmen was not merely another journey in his life. The small silver cross resting against his chest had become the keeper of their promise and of a girl’s trust in him.

All he had to do was carry that trust with him and keep moving forward until the day came when he would truly have earned the right to return to her side.