The so-called loneliness is a disease of youth. I don't know if I'm still young, but I really want to get sick and go crazy.

  Because tomorrow is the day to hand in the paper, but I haven't finished writing it yet. Now I can only hope that I get seriously ill and be able to delay Liu Mingming for two days.

  Although it's said that you can't escape the first day of school, but you can't escape May 1st either. At least this is a delaying tactic. I'll try to gain some time, so I don't have to rush out a thesis like I am now, staying up all night. At this moment, I'm sweating profusely in front of the computer in my rented small room, typing away and thinking that this graduation thesis is really annoying. Originally, they're just some meaningless topics, but you're required to forcibly write 20,000 words to pass, this is simply formalism! Formalism can really kill people.

  Time really flies, it seems like just a blink of an eye and now we're already in the second semester of our junior year. We basically don't attend classes anymore, and my fellow classmates have all joined the ranks of job seekers in society, and I'm no exception.

  Actually, I still haven't written my thesis yet, and there's a reason for that. These past few days have been crazy busy, and graduation is just around the corner, which means I'll have to move out of the dorm soon. But as it stands now, I'm one of those "three nos" - no money, no house, no nothing. If I had to rent a place on my own, there's no way I could afford it. My only option is to find someone to share an apartment with.

  Luckily, Bao Long and his girlfriend were also looking for a house, which was just what I needed. So I shamelessly asked him to count me in and rent a two-bedroom apartment together. Bao Jinlong is indeed a very brotherly person, not the type who is afraid of his wife. One time, I saw his wife hitting him with a mop handle, but he just stood there motionless.

  Later, when we were drinking together, he told me that the reason he didn't move was that the more you move, the harder you get hit. This is a valuable experience. Looking at him smoking and hiding in the toilet to smoke, I couldn't help but sigh, it turns out being single isn't bad either.

  Although his wife is indeed very fierce, our relationship has always been good, and I also have a skill for cooking. So his wife agreed that I could rent an apartment with them.

  Because I've been busy with finding a house for the past two days, I put off my thesis. Today, after finally moving out of the dorm and tidying up the rented house, it was already around 10 pm, and we three were all exhausted. After messing around and eating some midnight snacks, we each went back to our own rooms to sleep.

  They've calmed down, but I remembered that damned thesis. No choice, I had to force myself to open my precious second-hand laptop and start searching online for all sorts of useless information, then awkwardly cramming it into my thesis. My head was full of curses for the person who invented graduation theses.

  Actually, thinking about it, my three years of university are almost over, and the things I've learned are pitifully few. My major courses didn't go very well, but "The Three Pure Ones" made me understand a general idea.

  Since that trip to Mirror Lake, I have been studying the "Three Pure Ones" book every night before bed. And on the 15th of each month, I would shamelessly ask Ninth Uncle to tell me some stories about ghosts and spirits. So now, I wouldn't dare say I'm comparable to Mr. Liu from back then, but if I were to encounter another character like Wu Tongshen, I could easily dispatch him without much effort.

  But these are all dragon-slaying skills, and they can't be used to make a living. You know my current situation is quite perilous, graduating and facing unemployment, if I couldn't find a job, what face would I have to go back home and see the folks of Jiangdong?

  Ugh, just thinking about this makes me angry. I've been through life and death, but now I'm being driven crazy by such trivial matters. However, the anger I find is something I have to dispel myself. So, after lighting a cigarette, I can only resign myself to my fate and continue writing, damn formalism.

  At nearly four o'clock in the morning, I finally coded out a neat and tidy graduation thesis. I let out a long sigh, and at this moment, I can finally understand what it means to squeeze out six words in two hours. Coding is really not a job for humans, it's too brain-consuming.

  I was exhausted and after setting my alarm clock, I quickly took off all my clothes and dove headfirst into my bed.

  It seems to have become a habit, now as soon as I think of sleep, I will naturally enter the realm of "San Qing Shu", and my mind will emerge with mountains, rivers, birds and beasts. This is indeed 'thousand peaks opening, ten thousand folds unfolding. The sun shines on the misty light, gently locking in the green, the rain clears the dark color, coldly containing the blue. The withered vines entwine the old trees, the ancient ferry crosses the secluded path. Strange flowers and auspicious grasses, tall bamboos and towering pines.'

  Unconsciously, I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the alarm clock rang. It was already 9 o'clock in the morning. I hastily got out of bed, but Bao Jindong and his wife were still sleeping. After washing my face and brushing my teeth in a hurry, I went out to take the bus to school. The buses in Harbin are very crowded in the mornings, but fortunately, I'm young and strong, so after two stops, I quickly grabbed a seat. Thinking that there were still several stops before reaching school, I closed my eyes to rest for a while. However, this peaceful moment didn't last long. Just as I sat down in my seat for a short while, the bus stopped again and a woman carrying a child got on.

  That woman looked quite young, probably under thirty years old. It was really pitiful to see her holding a child and still having to squeeze onto the bus. I didn't see anyone giving up their seat for her. I thought that she wasn't having an easy time either. In any case, if she were to be squished with the kid, it would be troublesome. Anyway, I'm just a big guy, standing for a bit longer won't kill me. So I quickly got up and told the woman to take my seat.

  She sat down and said thank you to me. I smiled at her, because there were many people around and it was not easy to move, so I held onto the handrail of the bus and stood beside her.

  He was holding a little boy who looked very cute, probably around four or five years old, with a tiger-like head and a pair of big eyes that shone brightly. At this time, his small hands were seriously gnawing on two large meat buns wrapped in an environmentally friendly paper bag. As I watched him eating so happily, I suddenly thought that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and the aroma of the meat buns in his hand coincidentally drilled into my nostrils. It stirred up the hungry worms in my stomach.

  The hungrier I get, the more I think about not being hungry. Looking at a kid eating a steamed bun, I'm thinking to myself, "You little devil, just eat and don't smack your lips, you're making me starve to death!"

  Just as I was about to divert my attention, I suddenly found that this little fat boy seemed a bit off, specifically what's wrong with him I couldn't say for the time being, only feeling that at this moment he sat on his mother's body, between his eyebrows there seemed to be a black air.

  I should be quite experienced by now, to know that if a black aura appears between the eyebrows, it's usually not a good sign, either the fire energy is weak or there's a calamity looming. But this little kid should still be at an age when their fire energy is the purest, logically speaking they shouldn't have any evil influences near them, so how could a black aura appear?

  Was I seeing things? Just as I was thinking of taking another look, the bus announced its stop. I had arrived, so I could only get off the bus with a sense of doubt.

  Because I just saw that kid eating baozi so beautifully, so I ran to a Nanjing soup dumpling store and bought a basket of steamed buns. As I walked out the door, I thought to myself, maybe I really did see it wrong.

  Forget it, even my ancestors' tombs can't be cried out, so I won't go cry at the chaotic burial mound. So I walked into a copy shop while eating a bun, took out a U-disk from my pocket, and asked the boss to help me print out my graduation thesis. Then, holding this life-and-death thesis, I arrived at school.

  It's been a long time since I last saw Liu Mingming. When I walked into his office, I found him playing Happy Landlord on the computer. He seems to have the intention of jumping ship recently, after all, this school is too broken, so he plans to send us away after this semester and leave directly. After chatting with him for a while, I handed over my thesis to him.

  He asked me what I've been up to lately, and I told him nothing much, just messing around.

  He said to me: "You've been mixed for three years, shouldn't it be enough? Have you found a job recently?"

  I thought to myself, I don't want to just drift along either, but do you think it's easy to find a job, big brother? So I said to him: "I'll go to the talent market tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to take a look around. By the way, how many people in our class have found jobs and started working?"

  Liu Mingming sat on the chair, with his legs crossed and a small cigarette in his mouth. He looked at me and said: "You should have at least half of it by now. Nowadays, everyone is working from 9 to 5, you should also seize the opportunity. You're not young anymore, you should have some proper business."

  I know in my heart that Liu Mingming, although not lenient with his words, has a very kind heart. He is also thinking for me, but finding a job is not something that can be done overnight. Moreover, with my skills, I still need to have enough luck to find one.

  Thinking of this, I felt anxious again in my heart, when will I have good luck?

  But I couldn't lose face in front of him, so I stood up and said to him: "I know, Old Liu, when the thesis defense is scheduled, remember to give me a call. I'll leave first, we can grab drinks together another time."

  He nodded and continued to fight with the landlord tirelessly.

  I walked out of school, three years have passed, it's really fast, I looked at this small broken school, as if the day I just arrived in Harbin was yesterday. The surrounding environment has not changed, those small vendors next to the school who are not afraid of the city management and set up stalls against the wind, are still standing guard here. Only the pancake fruit vendor has raised prices, now three yuan a set, the cockroach medicine seller is now selling rat poison, and the stall selling pirated discs no longer plays Lao Ma Wang's songs, now playing the famous folk rock song "Free Flight".

  I don't know when I'll come back to this school again, looking at the scenes around me, I couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. That little kid who once left his small county town for the big city because of his girlfriend is now going to have to learn how to make a living on his own. And as for the person I used to love, where are they now?

  Du Feiyu, Dong Shanshan, how are they doing now? Are they also like me, lost and confused? Do they also occasionally think of the past, and sigh that life is actually very short, not long at all.

  It's autumn now, and the leaves on both sides of the road have turned yellow. With a gust of wind, they float everywhere.

  I put my hands in the pockets of my old windbreaker, feeling a bit uncomfortable. But I understand that the road still needs to be walked on, no matter if it's shrouded in fog ahead or if my heart is confused.

  So I put away that somewhat melancholic heart, and started thinking, is there anything else I haven't done in school yet? And then it hit me, so I turned around and walked back to the school gate, and spat at the sign that read 'XX Art Academy Harbin Base'.

  Haha, I'm out of here, goodbye to your damn school.