At night, in a private bar along the street.
The bar owner was Li Jieyi’s sister, and this was their usual place for entertainment.
Song Yifan sat on a barstool, playing drinking games with others. The tables were small, so they pushed several together, scattered with juice, champagne, and beer bottles.
The bar wasn’t crowded, more like a quiet bar with board games. On the small round stage in the dance floor area, one or two people played guitar and sang slow songs.
Xie Ci sat leaning on the sofa, having just had some alcohol and feeling it going to his head. He casually picked up a cigarette box. Legs propped on the coffee table, he pulled out a cigarette and expertly held it between his lips.
The flame licked the cigarette, a small red star flickering to life.
Li Jieyi returned from the bathroom and sat beside him, “Heavy smoker, huh? Not playing with them, just sitting here smoking alone, brother.”
“Play what?” Xie Ci asked lazily, casually tossing the lighter from his palm.
The lighter spun twice in the air but didn’t return to his hand, rolling to the edge of the sofa instead.
“Your dad…” Li Jieyi had just started asking when he stopped, looking up. Chen Jingyi had sat down next to Xie Ci.
“What are you guys talking about?”
She brushed aside the hair falling over her chest, leaning forward to find a small kumquat on the coffee table. Pressing against the person beside her, fishnet stockings covering white thighs, red high heels.
“We’d barely started talking when you arrived.” Li Jieyi started playing with his phone, fingers flying across the keyboard.
Chen Jingyi carefully peeled the kumquat’s skin, broke off a segment, and held it to Xie Ci’s mouth, “Here.”
Her gaze was somewhat seductive, with upturned eye corners and bright red lips.
Xie Ci turned his head away, yawning.
“Eat it,” she pouted as if acting cute.
Xie Ci lowered his head to play with the lighter, as if he hadn’t heard.
Chen Jingyi smiled, casually putting it in her own mouth, and chatted with Li Jieyi: “Yi, I heard you broke up with your girlfriend again?”
“Stop calling me Auntie, will you?”
Li Jieyi had a nickname “Auntie” – it started when his friends called him Yi, Yi, and deliberately changed the tone. He didn’t like anyone calling him Yi, nor did he like the nickname Auntie.
“Broke up again?” This time Xie Ci raised an eyebrow, looking at him with some schadenfreude.
Li Jieyi was chatting heatedly with his new love interest on his phone, casually replying: “What do you mean ‘broke up again’? I’m chatting with someone right now, unlike you.”
He teased casually, taking a jab at Xie Ci in the process.
Chen Jingyi laughed beside them, lightly raising her leg to brush against Xie Ci’s, asking softly: “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you have a girlfriend now?” She asked knowingly.
“No.”
The bar’s air conditioning was strong. Chen Jingyi pressed closer. Breathing fragrant breath, she whispered in Xie Ci’s ear: “I don’t either.”
Xie Ci crossed his legs, looking quite calm. His fingers held the half-burned cigarette as he said flatly: “Then go find someone.”
“After breaking up with you, I haven’t liked anyone else.”
She hesitated, her words half-true half-false, carrying hints of flirtation and testing, “What should I do?”
Unfortunately, the person in question couldn’t appreciate these subtle thoughts.
Xie Ci slightly pushed her away, moving aside a bit: “I have someone I like.”
Li Jieyi hadn’t noticed their interaction. He flipped through his phone, found a girl’s picture, and held it in front of Xie Ci.
“Hehe brother, take a look, how does she look?”
The girl in the photo looked pure, with long hair, a clean baby face, wearing black contact lenses.
“What do you mean?” After two minutes, Xie Ci asked.
“Does she remind you of someone?”
“Get lost.” Xie Ci waved away the hand in front of him.
Li Jieyi smiled mischievously, “This first-year student, my friend’s sister, I have her contact info.”
“And?” Xie Ci glanced at him.
Li Jieyi grinned wickedly, “Since we can’t pursue the real one.”
The others had tired of playing and came over to rest.
Song Yifan gulped down some cold mineral water, grabbed Li Jieyi’s phone, shouting: “Secretly sharing pretty girl photos? Let me see, let me see.”
He took it, squinting his eyes, looking carefully for a while.
The more Song Yifan looked, the deeper his frown became.
He turned his head, paused, and hesitantly said: “This girl… why does she look so much like that transfer student in our class…”
Xu You had been running a fever since midnight yesterday, continuing until 3 AM when she finally got some relief after taking fever medicine.
She lay in bed without strength, head foggy, only falling asleep near dawn.
Her roommate woke her when leaving. Xu You took out her phone to send a message to the teacher, asking for half a day’s leave.
After sleeping hazily for a while longer, Xu You climbed down from bed, went to the bathroom to wash her face, and changed into her uniform.
Before leaving, she glanced at herself in the mirror.
Her small face was wet, completely pale. Black pupils, extremely light lip color.
Sickly.
In the Grade 2 office.
Xu Huiru was grading assignments when someone suddenly stood beside her. She looked to the side.
Xu You covered her mouth with her sleeve, coughing softly twice, calling out: “Teacher.”
“Oh my, aren’t you sick? Why did you come here?” Xu Huiru put down her pen, pulling Xu You in front of her.
“What’s wrong, is it serious?”
Xu You shook her head, telling her: “Teacher, my fever’s gone down, I can attend class this afternoon.”
Xu Huiru inwardly praised how obedient this child was, almost painfully well-behaved. She patted Xu You’s shoulder, “Did you come to the office looking for me for something?”
Xu You lowered her head, silent for a while, before saying quietly: “Teacher, I want to change seats.”
Friday was the start of the weekend, and students were all in good spirits.
The classroom was full of roughhousing and laughter.
Zheng Xiaolin helped Xu You move her books, watching her quietly pack things, “Genius, you’re really coming to sit with me?”
Xu You nodded.
“That’s wonderful, I can ask you questions again.” Zheng Xiaolin was satisfied, her face blooming like a flower.
She sat in the first row of group two.
It was a place no one wanted to sit, with two seats total, right under the teacher’s nose.
After this month’s exam results came out, Zheng Xiaolin had performed surprisingly well, further motivating her study enthusiasm. So she voluntarily asked to sit alone in the front row. That position was undoubtedly the most hated place in class – during lessons you could only listen and do nothing else, so Zheng Xiaolin had to sit alone.
Xu You squatted down, taking notebooks one by one from the drawer.
Her books had already been moved to the new seat, and she was collecting the last few loose items.
Soon, a familiar voice came from above:
“–What are you doing?”
Xie Ci had just returned from playing basketball, still holding a bottle of mineral water.
Song Yifan, following behind him, poked his head out, somewhat surprised: “Yo, Little Miss Xu, you’re changing seats?”
By now she had packed almost everything.
Xu You hugged a pile of loose items in her arms and shouldered her backpack.
She lowered her head, avoiding their scrutiny, “I’m sorry, my eyesight is a bit poor, need to sit in front.”
The excuse was perfunctory, clearly just not wanting to sit here anymore.
Xie Ci had one hand in his pocket, foot straddling across the aisle, not moving. Expressionlessly blocking her path.
Though he stood quietly without saying a word, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, even Song Yifan dared not joke anymore.
This was the sign before he got angry.
Xu You was silent for a moment.
She had been well-behaved all her life, never making others angry. This time, openly changing seats like this would more or less embarrass Xie Ci. Xu You knew her behavior wasn’t right and felt somewhat guilty.
But she also couldn’t continue sitting here as his deskmate. More important than getting along with classmates was academic performance.
It was also what her parents always emphasized. She couldn’t be willful.
Surrounded by noisy chatter, Xu You stood there quietly, face pale.
Sunlight from outside shone through the glass windows into the classroom. Falling on her side, making her appear soft and fragile.
The two faced off silently.
Looking at that slender figure, Song Yifan couldn’t help bumping Xie Ci, wanting him to ease up.
But he had a gut feeling, seeing his brother like this, it was hard to say. Anyway, maybe from now on, he might just fall for this girl.
Xie Ci still had no reaction, just staring at the person in front of him.
Xu You freed one hand, slowly reaching into her jacket pocket, fishing out something.
A White Rabbit milk candy.
In her view, it was something that could make people feel better.
Xu You guessed he wouldn’t reach out to take it. So she put down the loose items she was hugging.
Still lowering her head, she went to take Xie Ci’s hand.
For the first time, Xie Ci didn’t tease her, quietly watching her actions. Looking down, allowing his hand to be gently grabbed.
“Xie Ci.”
Xu You calmly called his name, released her fingers, letting the candy roll into his open palm. For the first time speaking calmly with him: “I’m sorry, can you let me pass?”
Many years later, when someone asked Xie Ci how such a good girl like Xu You had tamed a reckless thug like him who had ruled tyrannically for years.
The boss thought for a long time, then said lazily: “It was simple.”
Wasn’t it simple enough?
One candy, one sentence.
Enough to make him completely defeated.
All of it.
With her looking at him like that, a candy pressing into his palm, Xie Ci silently cursed.
“Xie Ci?” she called again.
Being called his name so gently by her again and again, he finally couldn’t resist, moving his legs apart to clear the aisle.
Xu You felt relieved inside. She didn’t delay further, holding her things and preparing to go to the front seat past him.
As she passed by his side, her arm was grabbed.
Xu You didn’t struggle, stopping to look at him.
“Trying to bribe me with one candy?”
“Xu You?”
Xie Ci’s voice was low, somewhat amused. As if savoring these two words.
Xu You didn’t know what he was thinking, just quietly listening to him speak.
This person was so strange.
When smiling he was like a child, when cold he was like a mystery.
His mood was also unpredictable. Like a melancholic boss with a maiden’s heart.
“You have to promise me one thing,” he had returned to his usual casual manner, saying indifferently.
She didn’t refuse anymore, obediently saying ‘okay’.
Without Xie Ci’s disturbance, Xu You’s life finally returned to peace.
Every day was a triangle between cafeteria, classroom, and dormitory. Apart from sleeping she just studied, time passing quickly. Soon it was the school’s autumn sports meet. First and second years held it together, each class assigned their own section in the stands.
Xu You had been sick during that period and hadn’t signed up for any events, so she had nothing to do.
The opening ceremony was in the morning, with competitions in the afternoon.
After her lunch nap, she took a literature book and her water bottle to sit in the stands by the field.
During the sports meet, there would be a cultural performance in the evening. The school was quite lenient, and many students would climb over the school fence to go play.
Just like now. Where Xu You sat, there were only scattered few people. Other classmates were nowhere to be seen.
How unruly Class 9’s students were became crystal clear during this sports meet.
She raised her hand to block the sunlight, gazing at the field. On the track, students were bending over to warm up.
It was quite pleasant being blown by the gentle breeze. A rare moment of relaxation for her.
Xu You withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, turning the pages of her book one by one, reading with great interest.
The field’s broadcast started playing, occasionally gunshots rang out bang bang bang.
“Xu You! Cutie!”
Xu You was reading when she thought she heard someone calling her. She looked up bewildered.
Fu Xueli stood at the bottom of the stands. She had changed clothes, wearing a pink and white dress and slightly heeled sandals. She waved to Xu You wearing sunglasses.
“What is it?” Xu You ran to the railing, putting both hands on it to talk to Fu Xueli.
Fu Xueli looked up, making a megaphone with her hands, “Come down first, I’ll tell you after you come down.”
Xu You thought she had something urgent, nodded, and ran down the stairs from the side. Holding her book, she turned around.
Looking up, she saw a group of people walking toward her.
Xie Ci led the way, lazily chatting with the boys beside him, not looking this way. Today as usual he wasn’t wearing his uniform, his short black hair slightly messy. Sleeves loosely rolled up, jacket zipper not properly done.
The boys behind him all had a swagger about them, heading toward the basketball court.
That large group passing by sparked low discussions among people near Xu You.
“Are those second-year boys?”
“Yeah, quick look look, that boy in the blue and white jacket.”
“I see him, what about him?”
“That’s Xie Ci I told you about. How is he? Really handsome right!”
“He’s the grade boss?”
“Don’t know, probably just rumors, but he probably knows a lot of people…”
“He looks really good, even more handsome than the school’s official heartthrob, just heard he’s a bit fierce…”
Xu You pressed against the wall, watching until Xie Ci walked far away before running in the other direction to find Fu Xueli.
“Xueli, what is it?”
Fu Xueli was playing with an iPad, seeing Xu You finally arrive, she sighed, taking off her sunglasses.
“Youyou, I need a favor.” Fu Xueli handed a black phone to Xu You, “Help me give this to Xie Ci in half an hour, he’s at the basketball court.”
Xu You reached out to take it, belatedly reacting: “Ah? Give it to him…”
Fu Xueli sighed, patting her shoulder, “I have something to do now, sorry to trouble you.”
Before leaving, she seemed to remember something, turning back to shout at Xu You who remained standing there: “Dress up nicely tomorrow, taking you out to play.”
Xu You didn’t really want to go find that group, but since her friend asked, she couldn’t refuse.
Even though it was sports day, the basketball court was just as lively.
Boys were sweating on the court, the ball thumping loudly, with some girls screaming on the sidelines.
Xu You was slightly nearsighted and couldn’t distinguish between the groups playing basketball, only able to see clearly when she got closer.
Among this crowd, she stood out somewhat in her blue and white uniform.
She was just thinking whether Xie Ci’s group might not be playing basketball, having gone out to play instead…
When someone called her name nearby.
It was Song Yifan.
He had just left the court, running to Xu You’s side, dripping with sweat, wiping it while grinning and asking: “Looking for Ci?”
Xu You recognized who it was, secretly relieved, nodded and handed over the phone, “Oh, yes, I came to give something, can you help me give it to him?”
Unexpectedly, Song Yifan immediately waved his hands in refusal, saying frankly: “No no no, if I help deliver this, my hands might get broken.”
He pointed in a direction, telling her: “Ci is still playing ball, just wait a bit.”
Xu You never understood boys playing basketball. She just watched them running back and forth on the court, shooting.
After waiting patiently for a while, cheers erupted from the crowd. Someone had made a three-pointer.
Finally, Xie Ci deigned to leave the court. Three or four girls rushed over, offering water and towels.
He rejected them all, casually lifting the hem of his basketball jersey to wipe his sweat, walking toward the basketball hoop.
His lean waistline was exposed with the movement.
Xu You waited until people dispersed a bit before walking over.
Xie Ci was sitting casually on the ground, leaning against one side of the basketball hoop. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he tilted his head back to drink water.
He caught sight of Xu You approaching from the corner of his eye.
She stopped two meters away from him.
She quietly waited for him to finish drinking.
Xie Ci stared straight at Xu You, crushed the empty water bottle in his hand and tossed it aside.
“Your thing.” Xu You took two steps forward, holding out what was in her hand.
Both sleeves of Xie Ci’s top were pushed up above his shoulder blades. He rested one hand on his bent knee, just looking at her like that.
Him sitting, her standing. This position wasn’t very good.
Xu You hesitated for a moment, then squatted down to be at eye level with him. “Here.”
Xie Ci’s face was covered in sweat, even his eyelashes were wet, lacking his usual lazy demeanor.
Since there was no class, her hair was tied up casually. At her collar, a thin red string wrapped around her fair neck.
Sweat rolled down his taut neckline as dark light flickered in his eyes.
“Xu You.” Xie Ci called her name, voice a bit hoarse, taking the phone from her hand.
Xu You made an “mm” sound.
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