Monday was the exam. It would last three days, from Monday to Wednesday.
Wednesday was Christmas Day. After Xu You finished her last English exam and returned to the classroom, she saw a huge “Merry Christmas” written in colored chalk on the blackboard.
The classroom was noisy. Due to the holiday and the end of exams, everyone was in good spirits.
Since the classroom was used as an exam venue, the desks and chairs were rearranged. Xu You’s desk was in the last row.
As she walked back to her seat, someone suddenly called out: “Xu You.”
Xu You turned around and saw an unfamiliar male classmate.
The boy seemed somewhat shy, standing behind Xu You, about half a head taller than her.
The classroom wasn’t very crowded, with groups of three to five students comparing answers.
Xu You was confused and asked quietly: “Is something wrong?”
The boy scratched his head and handed Xu You a small gift box, chuckling, “Merry Christmas.”
She was caught off guard and stepped back two steps, waving her hands: “No, no, I can’t accept it.”
“It’s fine, it’s just an apple1,” the boy tried to push the gift into Xu You’s arms.
Some classmates noticed this scene and playfully whistled: “Oh my, the class representative is feeling romantic, publicly flirting with a girl!”
Xu You was still refusing when she heard commotion outside the classroom.
A group of boys from their class who had been playing basketball had returned.
She didn’t pay attention, but suddenly there was a loud crash behind her.
The sound of a basketball violently hitting the classroom’s back door.
Such a loud noise startled most people.
Xu You looked back and immediately saw Xie Ci. Despite the cold winter, he was wearing just a black sports t-shirt. He had no expression as he stared in their direction.
Their gazes met directly.
Xu You stared at him blankly, feeling inexplicably guilty.
The group of basketball players behind him didn’t know what had happened, looking at each other in confusion.
Not knowing who had angered him this time.
The class representative naturally didn’t know what was happening either, looking completely bewildered as Xie Ci asked with an ambiguous smile: “What are you guys doing?”
Song Yifan, standing beside him, secretly thought “oh no.”
Was this class representative stupid from studying too much… Everyone in class knew Xie Ci liked Xu You, yet he still dared to approach her…
“Don’t get excited, don’t be impulsive, impulse is the devil.”
Song Yifan quickly stepped forward and grabbed Xie Ci’s arm, “Bro, calm down, calm down, take a deep breath with me.”
Xie Ci shook off his hand, cursing softly: “Get lost.”
Xu You didn’t know why, but she felt guilty, like she had been caught doing something wrong.
She lowered her head and hurriedly walked back to her seat.
That evening was English self-study, but because it was Christmas, the teacher had approved showing a movie in class.
After the exam, everyone went to eat, so the seats weren’t changed back.
Winter nights always came early.
It was just six o’clock, but outside was completely dark. The classroom lights were off, pitch black. The English class representative moved the computer to the podium, turned on the projector, and crouched there fiddling with it.
The English teacher came by once, briefly instructing them to be quiet during the movie and not disturb other classes.
However, no one really took the teacher’s words to heart.
Perhaps darkness made young people more excited. While the movie played, the classroom was as noisy as a market, the atmosphere quite lively.
Xu You had originally planned to sit in the front row to focus on the movie, but Fu Xueli came to chat with her.
She sat in front of Xu You, eating an apple while making small talk.
Everyone’s emotions were particularly high that evening, with occasional bursts of laughter from various corners.
Fu Xueli looked down at her phone, suddenly remembered about choosing majors, and casually asked, “Cutie, which track are you planning to choose, arts or science?”
“Science track, what about you?” Xu You rested her chin on one hand.
Fu Xueli put down her phone and thought for a moment, “Xu Xingchun will take science, but I plan to take arts.”
“Oh…”
Xu You rarely inquired about others’ private matters or gossip. She just nodded.
Fu Xueli continued, her expression somewhat complicated, “But… Xie Ci will probably choose arts too…”
“………..”
He was suddenly mentioned.
After two seconds of silence, Xu You nodded, “Mm.”
The large apple was slowly eaten down to the core. Fu Xueli hesitated for a long time before asking: “Youyou, you and Xie Ci… well…”
She struggled to organize her words, still not knowing how to say it.
“Um… just… don’t you think it’s a waste of time?”
“Huh?”
Xu You felt somewhat awkward.
Fu Xueli leaned towards her, about to say more, when she caught sight of the back door opening. She stopped speaking.
A large group of boys filed in one after another.
They must have just finished eating outside; there was a smell about them.
After a while, someone called Fu Xueli away.
When she went out, it was a friend from another class bringing her apples.
Fu Xueli gestured with her apple core, “Just finished eating.”
Chen Jing smiled: “Have another one, or save it for later.”
She stuffed the small gift box into Fu Xueli’s arms, asking seemingly casually: “Are Song Yifan and the others around?”
Fu Xueli knew her real intention and lazily yawned, saying: “Xie Ci and the others just left, come back later.”
With no one talking in front of her anymore, Xu You continued focusing on the movie.
However, her seat was too far back, and the boys around her were noisy. Someone even brought a flashlight, and a group gathered to play cards.
All sorts of shouting voices.
Xu You was considering whether to move her chair a bit forward.
Since the classroom seats hadn’t been changed back, it was still in the single-seat exam arrangement. She was still sitting in the back.
As her eyes were searching for a suitable spot, she felt a dark figure stand beside her.
“What are you looking for?” Xie Ci’s deep voice came from above.
Xu You didn’t dare look up and didn’t speak.
Xie Ci casually hooked a chair over with his foot and sat down beside her carelessly, his long legs stretched out into the aisle.
“What are you doing?” Xu You couldn’t help but ask quietly.
In the darkness, she couldn’t really see his expression clearly, so she was a bit braver.
Xie Ci looked at her but didn’t speak.
Xu You felt a bit uneasy under his gaze.
Fortunately, someone called him at this moment.
“Ah Ci, come watch with us!” Song Yifan was sitting in the position next to them. Several other boys were around.
“Watch what?”
“Tsk, good stuff of course!” Song Yifan grinned mischievously.
Seeing Xie Ci not moving, some people grew impatient, “Quick, quick, come join us, Brother Ci, definitely good stuff.”
“Not interested.”
Song Yifan didn’t say another word, took his lit-up phone, stepped over in a few strides, and held it in front of Xie Ci’s face.
He pulled out one earbud and put it in Xie Ci’s ear.
The volume was a bit too loud, and Xu You was close enough to faintly hear strange screaming sounds.
Xu You didn’t think much of it and turned her head slightly.
The image of two naked people frantically entangled on a bed suddenly entered her vision…
Even if she was innocent, she instantly realized what this was.
Xu You immediately froze, her face turning red from the ears.
Her mind was filled with shock.
They… they were actually watching such things… in the classroom…
Such…
Song Yifan noticed her and gave a strange smile.
“Little kids can’t watch, quick, turn around,” he held up his phone and smiled wickedly at Xu You.
Xie Ci leaned back in his chair, watched expressionlessly for a while, then took out the earbud and tossed it to Song Yifan.
“How was it?”
“How was what?”
Song Yifan looked at his friend teasingly, “Don’t play dumb with me.”
“Nothing special.”
“Was it hot?”
“The woman’s moaning was a bit exaggerated,” Xie Ci commented flatly.
Song Yifan laughed and cursed, “F**k.”
Xu You kept her face buried in her arms, too embarrassed to lift her head.
The two brothers continued critiquing such things beside her, each comment more vulgar than the last.
After a few more comments, Song Yifan took his phone back to his original spot, joining a group eagerly watching together.
What’s worse, they discussed while watching, their lewd laughter clearly audible to everyone around.
Xu You heard Xie Ci call her, “Hey, are you embarrassed?”
She quickly covered her ears and turned away, refusing to listen to him.
Seeing her like this, Xie Ci let out a muffled laugh.
He still wouldn’t leave her alone, nudging Xu You’s calf with his foot.
Xu You was annoyed by the harassment. Her cheeks were red as she looked down and swatted at her pant leg, “Don’t touch me!”
Xie Ci moved closer, “Can’t even touch you now?”
“Don’t get so close either…”
Her face was still burning hot as she leaned back.
Xie Ci’s jacket was open, his breath carrying a hint of alcohol. His hand rested lazily on Xu You’s chair, his index finger curled, lightly tapping her back.
She was ticklish and tried to dodge.
Just as they were getting playful, someone suddenly called from behind, “Xie Ci!”
He turned his head.
A boy sitting in the back opened the door and nodded towards outside, “Some girls are here to give you apples.”
After a while, seeing Xie Ci sitting in his spot without moving, the boy called out again, “Hurry up, Brother Ci, they’ve been waiting forever.”
Xu You’s gaze unconsciously drifted outside.
The motion sensor lights in the corridor weren’t on. Only the fluorescent lights from the neighboring classroom cast some shadows, showing two or three girls standing there vaguely.
Xu Xiangcheng was watching a football match intently and was annoyed at the boy in the back having no sense of timing.
He shouted at that direction: “Damn it, Li Xiaoqiang, hurry up and close the door, it’s freezing!”
So stupid.
Xie Ci didn’t even lift his eyelids.
Xu You was lying on the desk, the finger on her back still tapping occasionally.
She sat up straight and with a ‘pat’ sound, swatted his hand away, moving aside a bit, “Stop bothering me, it’s so annoying.”
“Oh ho.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled lazily, “Quite the temper you’ve got there.”
Xu You stared at him, biting her lip tightly, not responding.
Xie Ci found her amusing and after thinking for a moment, asked indifferently: “What are you angry about? That someone’s giving me gifts? Or that I watched that video?”
Watched that video…
Such things were spoken so plainly from his mouth, as if it was nothing unusual.
Xu You was stunned for a moment.
“Don’t all guys watch it? It’s such a normal thing, what are you getting worked up about?”
She instinctively retorted: “You still shouldn’t watch it in the classroom… and…”
“And what?”
Xie Ci smiled even more, “Don’t be jealous, those women’s moaning didn’t affect me at all.”
Xu You belatedly realized he was teasing her again.
“Anyway, my former classmates never watched such things,” she said somewhat petulantly.
Xie Ci said: “I’m different from your classmates.”
“You know there’s a difference between boyfriends and male classmates, right?” he continued speaking without restraint.
The class was quite noisy, with few people actually watching the movie, everyone doing their own thing.
Some were eating, some playing cards and chatting, some playing on their phones watching videos.
Song Yifan found the video increasingly boring, but occasionally glanced sideways to see Xie Ci still flirting. He could only silently swallow countless instances of dog food.
Xu You placed both hands on the desk, eyes on the screen, appearing to be seriously watching the movie.
The person beside her just kept joking around.
Xie Ci sighed and continued pushing: “Your boyfriend is too attractive, so many people want to date me every day, it’s scary.”
Xu You heard his tone sounding quite serious. She couldn’t help but reply: “You’re not money.”
As soon as she finished speaking.
Xie Ci suddenly pointed at Xu You’s feet saying: “Hey, a mouse just ran past!”
“—Ahhh!”
Xu You’s body jumped, screaming, lifting her feet up.
It was pitch black below, she didn’t dare look carefully, closing her eyes with her feet raised high, asking in a trembling voice: “Is it still there, is it still underneath, the mouse…”
Xie Ci didn’t laugh at first, but later couldn’t hold it in, bending over laughing out loud.
He laughed harder and harder, unable to stop.
Xu You only then realized she had been tricked.
She was somewhat angry from embarrassment, but didn’t know how to curse, so she could only sit in her seat and sulk.
After Xie Ci finished laughing, he cleared his throat and leaned over.
“Really, your screaming sounds the best.”
He was very improper, dragging out his words, “I was about to feel ecstatic just hearing it.”
This level of dirty talk made Xu You clench her fists.
She couldn’t take it anymore and kicked Xie Ci.
“Oh, resorting to domestic violence?”
“Xie Ci!”
“What?”
Xu You: “Can you watch less of that stuff in the future, it’s so vulgar!”
“Can’t help being vulgar.”
He smiled lazily, not even bothering to make excuses, “I want to watch it.”
“And.”
Xie Ci’s Adam’s apple moved, suddenly laughing and coughing softly, pausing for several seconds in the darkness.
He told her word by word: “In the future, either you watch this stuff with me, or you let me watch you.”
- Apples in Christmas became a popular tradition, especially amongst younger people. It’s because apple in mandarin (pingguo) sounds similar to Christmas Eve (pinganye). ↩︎
Leave a Reply