Jian and Lao hang out in the cafeteria chatting about stupid shit and waiting for someone, anyone, to interrupt them. They're not going to percolate through the student body looking for people to talk to, that just looks desperate, but if someone approaches them, well. That'd be fine.

That's a lot of people. Xue Yang's not sure he's ever seen that many people in his whole life. Certainly not that many wizards. He knew, vaguely, that there were people who didn't speak Mandarin or Shanghainese, just like he knew vaguely that there were people who aren't Chinese. But he keeps hearing all these sounds that he can't make into words, and people are pale and brown-skinned and black-skinned and have hair in colors and shapes he's only ever seen in magazines he couldn't afford to buy and that weren't worth it to shoplift.

If Xue Yang were self-aware, he would identify this feeling as scared and small. He isn't, so he identifies this feeling as murderous. 

She's not dead she's not dead she's not dead she's not dead--

She's not dead!

He sees Yanli's face smiling across the cafeteria. She's sitting and she looks pale-- is she eating enough, he doesn't think she's eating enough-- but she's alive, he's seeing her again, and two years of frantic denial haven't prepared him for his sister actually being alive.

He runs across the cafeteria and hugs her so hard that she falls over. 

"A-Jie-- a-jie* you're alive--"

*Translator's note: sister, affectionate

"Yes. a-Cheng*, I'm so glad to see you." She smiles weakly. "No lotus root soup here, I'm afraid."

*Translator's note: affectionate nickname.

"I don't care, it's so good to see you again-- are you eating, you look thin, you need to eat-- did Wen Qing find you a potion for your fibro--"

"I'm eating, a-Cheng."

"You have to eat, a-jie, you have to take care of yourself or you're never going to be able to get out of the Scholomance-- are you giving other people food, you can't do that--"

Smile. "Only sometimes, a-Cheng!"

"Xiongzhang*."

Translator's Note: brother, extremely formal.

"Wangji. It's good to see you again. Have you been keeping up with your sword?"

"Yes."

"I would like you to meet my sworn brother*, Meng Yao."

*Translator's Note: Husband, but like platonic. Sometimes. Not in this specific case, but you know, in general. 

He bows politely. "I've heard so much about you, Lan Wangji. It feels like we've already met."

"Pleased to meet you."

He has never seen Meng Yao before. Meng Yao's not an enclaver. Trying to join the enclave? I He's going to succeed, if he's Lan Xichen's sworn brother.

Are they in love?

Lan Xichen looks at Meng Yao with tremendous softness.

Yes.

He stands near Lan Xichen and looks for Wei Wuxian. It's not a surprise that Wei Wuxian isn't here yet. He's always late. But Lan Zhan still worries. 

"I thought you wouldn't make it."

"I did, jiejie."

They don't have to talk about why he made it, or what's going to happen to him. 

"Have you been practicing your English?"

"Yes, jiejie. Every day. --I don't, um. I'm not good at it. I can't make the sounds."

"Not everyone is cut out for incantations, a-Ning. Maybe you can be an artificer. Or an alchemist."

She doesn't say you are going to die and I am so glad that I got to see you one last time to say goodbye. 

"I'm going to study as hard as I can."

He doesn't say I'm so glad I got to see you too.

"Shijie!*" Wei Ying says with so much affection that it sounds like he's saying jiejie. "You're all right."

*Translator's note: Martial sister, usually used to refer to anyone who shares your enclave and is of approximately the same generation. 

Oh good he survived the walk to the cafeteria.

"You don't have to sound so surprised. Obviously a-jie is all right, she's a Jiang."

"Yeah! Attempt the impossible."

"A-jie surviving is not impossible."

"It kind of is, a-Cheng! I had a lot of close calls. I'm very lucky I had such good friends to take care of me."

"Some friends," he grumbles, "haven't even come up with a treatment for your fibro--"

Nie Huaisang is the last of the enclave to arrive, because surviving involves going very very slowly, and there are enough kids that he won't be alone no matter how slow he goes. 

He looks around for da-ge*. He's more than six feet tall, he'll be easy to spot--

*Translator's note: older brother.

There's no da-ge.

Nie Huaisang moves towards the Shanghai enclave. Da-ge's late-- but he'd never be late, not to see Nie Huaisang. He's hiding. He was delayed. There's-- he's not-- he can't be-- 

Da-ge was the best fighter in the entire Shanghai enclave, he was tall and strong and fast, he knew sixteen languages and had mastered dozens of spells before he even got to the Scholomance, he was part of the enclave, he couldn't be, not when Jiang Yanli is still--

Nie Huaisang bursts into tears. 

(--and part of him is calculating, because part of him is always calculating, behind every one of his feelings there's a part of him trying to figure out how to use it to survive because if he's going to stay alive then absolutely nothing else has to matter, part of him is going how do I use this to find a new protector, part of him is going family reunion family reunion family reunion Jin Zixun is an asshole Jin Zixuan isn't a great option but it's better than turning off one of the others by interrupting their special moment--)

He throws himself into Jin Zixuan's arms.

"Uh. What."

"Da-ge is DEAD!"

"It happened three months ago. It was kind of gristly."

Nie Huaisang sobs harder.

"I give him three days."

"Shut the fuck up, asshole," Wei Ying says from his position enfolded in Jiang Yanli's arms. "He's grieving."

"Well, he's not going to be grieving for very long, because he's going to be mal food."

"Fuck you."

Da-ge is dead.

He doesn't know if he's crying for himself or for da-ge, who was always there, da-ge who kissed his scrapes when he was small and taught him to hold his first sword and was so proud of him when he got his first spell right, da-ge who let him follow him around everywhere and who smiled at his art and who always loved him even if he didn't understand him. 

"He kept this," Lan Xichen says. "I'm sure he would have wanted you to have it."

He hands Nie Huaisang a picture of a bird. Nie Huaisang had drawn it when he was twelve, a month before Nie Mingjue had left. It is crumpled, but like someone had very carefully smoothed it out afterward, had tried to save it. 

As he cries, the only thing Nie Huaisang can think is I'm so much better at perspective now and da-ge is never going to get to know. 

Dunya walks up to Jian and Lao and , interrupting, says "Hello, I'm Avdotya Kuzmina." in formal Mandarin in a strange accent.

"How do you do?"

His sister confirmed definitely alive (!!!) and not dead, Wei Wuxian starts to look around for something else interesting going on.

There's this white girl who looks like she is considering wading into the Chinese half of the room!

Julian hesitates for a moment between the English and Mandarin sides of the room. One the one hand, most of his mail is for Shanghai and Beijing – on the other, David Lau Tak-wah knows his face, and he's about to realize that his little brother isn't there and start thinking about who might be instead. 

Ah, might as well get it over with. He wades in. 

Most of Shanghai enclave seems to be absorbed in a freshman sobbing into the arms of an upperclassman who looks extremely discombobulated by this state of affairs.

Wow, that's.... a thing that is happening. What.

Ayako finds the Kyoto enclave first; she and Mei have a few letters to hand out and news to deliver-- who made it out of graduation, accomplishments of older and younger siblings and cousins, a few people have gotten married or had children since last year's induction. Haruto calls her Suzume-chan* just like he did when she was little and she hadn't quite realized how much she'd missed it.

And then she sets her attention on the Shanghai enclave, because seriously, what?

*little sparrow

There is clearly drama or fatality Huang has not been party to in Shanghai. She stays a polite distance back with the other rubberneckers in case information filters outward.

There's an audience!

"Da-ge is DEAD!" he says, to catch everyone up.

Tintin arrives as this is being shouted and winces. That does not sound like anyone is having a good time. He almost wants to stay away from Shanghai, except for how that would be idiotic because they are Shanghai and he should at least pay his respects. He steels himself and heads over.

Tomonori takes a water and thanks the upperclassman who hands it to him. He looks around with undisguised curiosity, looking for the Kyoto enclave, people demonstrating interesting magic, as well as anyone on the Mandarin-speaking side of the cafeteria who looks like they have a story.