Upon seeing that sentence, Lin Xiche was almost breathless. She truly didn’t expect the recent incident to spread so quickly, and less than an hour had passed before it was posted on the school forum.
What was even more unbelievable was how it was portrayed.
But when she thought about it, she couldn’t help but find the speculation somewhat reasonable…
Her three roommates were still discussing the matter, but they all had an attitude of not quite believing it.
Soon, Nie Yue turned to her and asked, “Xiche, weren’t you supposed to have a department gathering tonight? I remember you mentioned going to the field to play games afterward. Did you see this?”
Lin Xiche hesitated for a moment and admitted honestly, “Yes, it was me.”
Nie Yue didn’t immediately grasp what she meant and asked, “Huh?”
The other two also turned their attention to Lin Xiche, making her feel a bit embarrassed. She explained, “I meant that the situation they described was basically about me…”
“…”
“…………”
The three of them were all in shock.
Lin Xiche suddenly realized that her words were essentially an admission of what was said on the forum. She immediately waved her hand and roughly explained the recent events to her roommates.
After she finished, Nie Yue chuckled, “Your childhood friend seems quite fierce, huh?”
Lin Xiche replied, “It’s not really his fault. I provoked him first.”
Nie Yue suggested, “Should I explain things on the forum for you?”
Lin Xiche considered it and asked, “Did they mention our names explicitly up there?”
Nie Yue replied, “I don’t think so. They just said that the military training student was a freshman.”
Lin Xiche decided, “Then let’s not bother. We don’t even know who posted it.”
Nie Yue nodded and closed the webpage.
Speaking of her childhood friend, Nie Yue recalled the few times she had seen Xu Fang and said, “He seems really intimidating. When you asked him to help move books the other day, I didn’t dare to say anything…”
Lin Xiche was surprised, “Really? Why?”
Chen Han added, “Actually, I felt the same…”
Upon seeing that sentence, Lin Xiche was almost breathless. She truly didn’t expect the recent incident to spread so quickly, and less than an hour had passed before it was posted on the school forum.
What was even more unbelievable was how it was portrayed.
But when she thought about it, she couldn’t help but find the speculation somewhat reasonable…
Her three roommates were still discussing the matter, but they all had an attitude of not quite believing it.
Soon, Nie Yue turned to her and asked, “Xiche, weren’t you supposed to have a department gathering tonight? I remember you mentioned going to the field to play games afterward. Did you see this?”
Lin Xiche hesitated for a moment and admitted honestly, “Yes, it was me.”
Nie Yue didn’t immediately grasp what she meant and asked, “Huh?”
The other two also turned their attention to Lin Xiche, making her feel a bit embarrassed. She explained, “I meant that the situation they described was basically about me…”
“…”
“…………”
The three of them were all in shock.
Lin Xiche suddenly realized that her words were essentially an admission of what was said on the forum. She immediately waved her hand and roughly explained the recent events to her roommates.
After she finished, Nie Yue chuckled, “Your childhood friend seems quite fierce, huh?”
Lin Xiche replied, “It’s not really his fault. I provoked him first.”
Nie Yue suggested, “Should I explain things on the forum for you?”
Lin Xiche considered it and asked, “Did they mention our names explicitly up there?”
Nie Yue replied, “I don’t think so. They just said that the military training student was a freshman.”
Lin Xiche decided, “Then let’s not bother. We don’t even know who posted it.”
Nie Yue nodded and closed the webpage.
Speaking of her childhood friend, Nie Yue recalled the few times she had seen Xu Fang and said, “He seems really intimidating. When you asked him to help move books the other day, I didn’t dare to say anything…”
Lin Xiche was surprised, “Really? Why?”
Chen Han added, “Actually, I felt the same…”
“I don’t know, he just looks intimidating when he’s standing there,” Nie Yue suddenly felt like she was gossiping behind someone’s back and felt a bit embarrassed, “Anyway, it’s not easy to approach him. But you and him seem cute together.”
“It’s alright,” Lin Xiche recalled how Xu Fang looked when he was angry, “He does have a bad temper, but at most, he’ll just scold you a bit.”
“That doesn’t sound alright at all…”
“But come to think of it,” Lin Xiche touched her chin, “his other relatives’ kids, as well as my younger sister, cousins, and nephews, all seem to be afraid of him.”
Nie Yue was about to say something, but Lin Xiche continued, “I’m the only one who isn’t afraid of him.”
“…”
After a few seconds of silence, Xinxin, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke. Her voice was soft and gentle, as she casually asked, “Xiche, are you and Xu Fang just friends?”
Nie Yue didn’t understand, “Who’s Xu Fang?”
Xinxin’s lips moved slightly, and her gaze flickered.
“Did I ever tell you that my friend’s name is Xu Fang?” Lin Xiche couldn’t remember, and then she answered Xinxin’s question seriously, “I can’t say ‘just,’ he’s my most important friend.”
In response, Xinxin nodded thoughtfully.
Nie Yue said, “Oh, I thought you usually called him ‘Pipi.’”
Lin Xiche was puzzled, “But it’s him.”
Nie Yue asked, “Then why do I hear you calling him ‘Pipi’?”
Lin Xiche answered a different question, “Because when he introduces himself, he never tells people which ‘Fang’ in his name is.”
Nie Yue didn’t understand, “What does that have to do with his self-introduction?”
Chen Han, not connecting the two, thought for a moment and asked in confusion, “Is it just me, or is it that I can’t think of any other words with that pronunciation?”
Nie Yue added, “I can’t think of any either…”
Xinxin said, “Me neither…”
Lin Xiche blinked, “Indeed, there isn’t.”
The conversation inexplicably turned in this direction. Lin Xiche explained, “When he introduces himself, he doesn’t need to specify which ‘Fang’ in his name.”
“Mainly because I used to introduce myself with a lot of words, and he said I talked too much. So, I found it annoying when he introduced himself so succinctly, just saying ‘Xu Fang’ in two words.” Lin Xiche rubbed her chin, “Then one time, when he introduced himself, I couldn’t help but speak…”
…
…
“After that, I just kept calling him that.”
While Lin Xiche didn’t mind what was said on the forum, she certainly intended to take this opportunity to scold Xu Fang. Besides, it was already past eleven o’clock, and Xu Fang probably wouldn’t reply to her.
This gave Lin Xiche a sense of achievement, as if Xu Fang was silently enduring her scolding.
Feeling quite accomplished, Lin Xiche scolded him and then turned off her phone to go to sleep.
Lin Xiche had a dream about her middle school days. Xu Fang’s bad temper had always been there since childhood. There was no particular reason for it; it was mainly because he had poor health from a young age. He was constantly getting sick, and even after trying traditional Chinese medicine, there was no improvement.
The elders in Xu’s family didn’t know what to do. Xu Fang was their only child, and they couldn’t bear to see him suffer like this. So they pampered him excessively, and he grew accustomed to being treated like a prince.
Lin Xiche, on the other hand, didn’t want to play with Xu Fang. She disliked him because he had a quick temper and often scowled at her. If they did something wrong together, she would get scolded by her parents, but Xu Fang wouldn’t.
Going to school together was something her mother insisted on, and Lin Xiche had no choice but to comply. However, once they arrived at school, she rarely spoke to him.
Their relationship in the past wasn’t good at all. She used to despise Xu Fang.
Lin Xiche had even secretly wished that she had the same poor health as him because then her parents would treat her better.
One morning, she went to find Xu Fang to go to school together as usual, but when she arrived, it was Xu’s mother who opened the door. She bent down and touched Lin Xiche’s head, her eyes filled with concealed concern. “Xu Fang is sick today and won’t be going to school. You can go on your own today, Xiche.”
Lin Xiche was taken aback. Why was he always getting sick? Why couldn’t she get sick like him?
She even suspected that he might be pretending to be sick to skip school.
Lin Xiche raised her head and looked at Xu’s mother, softly asking, “Can I go in and see him?”
Xu’s mother nodded and made way for her to enter.
At that time, Xu’s family hadn’t moved to the current villa area, and their house had only three bedrooms and two living rooms. As soon as Lin Xiche entered the house, she could hear the agonizing sounds of vomiting coming from the bathroom.
All her previous thoughts vanished instantly. She clenched her fists and walked slowly toward the bathroom.
The bathroom door was not closed.
Lin Xiche had planned what to say to him when she entered. She wanted to say, “Take good care of yourself. If you’re sick, I won’t share today’s lesson or homework with you.” What else…?
However, as she approached the bathroom door and saw the scene inside, Lin Xiche couldn’t utter a single word.
Xu Fang seemed to have no strength at all. He was sitting beside the toilet, his face as pale as paper, cold sweat dripping down, his eyes bloodshot, trembling as if he was shivering, and he looked utterly disheveled.
He caught a glimpse of Lin Xiche’s figure out of the corner of his eye, and his gaze froze. But unlike his usual impatient expression, he simply turned his head away without saying anything.
After a while, as if unable to control himself, Xu Fang bent over the toilet and began vomiting again.
Xu’s mother rushed over anxiously with the family doctor.
Lin Xiche stepped back and closed the door. After leaving Xu’s house, she silently closed the door behind her.
The scene inside the bathroom haunted her. He was crying.
Lin Xiche remembered that day vividly. She took meticulous notes and packed Xu Fang’s homework even more carefully than usual, thinking that if he was sick, she wouldn’t let his grades fall behind.
But despite everything being ready, Xu Fang wasn’t there.
He had been vomiting until he went into shock and had to be taken to the hospital.
Lin Xiche stood in front of his house for a while, and then walked away silently. That night, she did her homework alone, just like any other night, but tears fell from her eyes as she wrote.
Then, she picked up her diary and wrote a single line:
“Hope no one in this world ever gets sick.”
Her pen hesitated for a moment, and then she continued:
“Especially Xu Fang.”
…
…
Lin Xiche woke up from her dream, her heart heavy and uncomfortable. It was still dark, and her roommates were all asleep, lightly snoring.
She picked up her phone and quietly walked to the balcony.
The next day, Xu Fang was awakened by his alarm clock.
He lazily turned off the alarm, glanced at the time, squinting as the phone’s light pierced his eyes. Then, he opened WeChat and saw that the only person with a pinned message had sent him over a dozen messages.
Xu Fang was puzzled as he scrolled through the messages. The first few were full of scolding, accusing him of being unreasonable and tarnishing her reputation. It made him feel irritable. He sat up and looked at the dozen or so voice messages, but he had no desire to listen to them.
Xu Fang rubbed his temples and lowered the volume. He reluctantly clicked on the voice message.
“Xiche, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“I shouldn’t have strangled you today. I shouldn’t have told the teacher that you were skipping class. I shouldn’t have opposed you on everything.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
…
…
As she continued, she burst into tears as if mourning for him, “I’m sorry! Pipi, you must live a long and healthy life!!!! Please!!!!”
“…”
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