After that night, Xie Ci didn’t actively seek her out again. Although neither of them mentioned breaking up, the two had fallen into a cold war.
The last bit of winter break slowly slipped away under Xu You’s pen tip. Days passed uneventfully until school started again.
Wednesday.
After the second morning class, there was an opening ceremony where Xu Xing Chun, as the grade representative, was to give a speech.
Some boys in class were joking around.
“The class monitor is probably the best-looking grade representative in years. When he stands there at the flag-raising platform looking so dashing, who knows how many junior girls he’ll captivate…”
“Tsk tsk, Xu Xing Chun’s type, looking so upright, is exactly what young girls like most.”
Xu Xing Chun ignored the chattering boys around him, placed group two’s English homework on Xu You’s desk and left. As the representative speaker, he needed to go to the playground early to prepare.
Someone behind reminded Xu You, who was focused on her homework: “Class rep, the teacher wants you to collect all the homework and take it to the office.”
“Ah, okay.”
Xu You agreed, quickly solving the last problem she was working on.
She looked at the clock on the classroom wall and hurriedly packed up her things.
The tenth grade teachers’ office was on the third floor. Class 0’s classroom was on the second floor, and as soon as you went out and turned a corner, there were stairs going up and down, very convenient.
In the office, Chen Yue was grading another class’s English homework.
A teacher passing by with a cup of water peeked over, “Oh my, Teacher Chen, grading Liberal Arts Class 1’s homework?”
“Yes, ah… these students really make me speechless.” Chen Yue shook her head and sighed while taking the next assignment.
“How so? The liberal arts class has mostly girls, shouldn’t they be well-behaved?”
“Well-behaved? You don’t know, several troublemakers from Class 9 all ended up in this class together, really hard to manage.”
The teacher laughed and consoled her, “You have Class 0 under you too, be content.”
Just then, Xu You knocked and entered.
“Teacher, here’s our class’s homework.” She put the stack of workbooks on Chen Yue’s desk.
Chen Yue made a sound of acknowledgment, then suddenly remembered something and said to Xu You: “Oh right, I looked at your last test paper, you seem to be losing quite a few points in the listening section.”
“Ah…” Xu You was startled.
Chen Yue put down her pen and said to her: “With your grades, whether it’s seven or eight points, or even one or two points, it makes a different meaning for you, because these points are definitely not easy to get. You need to have higher standards for yourself. For example, in the last final exam, you were just three points behind the grade’s top student. Where did these three points come from?”
“English is originally a subject where it’s easy to get points, so you especially can’t lose points in simple parts like listening, understand? Teacher expects you to consistently perform around 145 points…”
“……”
Xu You silently stood there listening to the teacher’s guidance.
“Go practice more by yourself later.”
Because of the upcoming opening ceremony, Chen Yue couldn’t keep talking to her for long.
Xu You agreed, giving a slight bow, “Then I’ll go now, thank you teacher.”
“—Eh, wait.”
Wang Xia Dong called out to stop her as she was leaving.
Xu You turned back.
Wang Xia Dong pointed to a wooden sign in the corner, “The PE representative is absent today, and the class monitor needs to go to the opening ceremony speech and doesn’t have time. Take our class sign to the playground and stand at the front of the line, check the position yourself when you get there.”
Xu You was small, and carrying this wooden sign was somewhat strenuous.
In the corridor, she encountered a group of people coming towards her. Xie Ci was walking in front, holding his school uniform, with several boys and girls following him.
She froze for a moment, instinctively moving aside a bit.
As they passed each other, he strode past, looking straight ahead, not pausing.
The opening ceremony was complicated and lengthy, but fortunately the weather was nice, with some sun making people feel warm.
After the principal finished speaking, students were finally allowed to sit on the grass, and the whole field sighed in relief. Xu You exchanged positions with a girl in the second row to sit down. She hadn’t eaten breakfast in the morning and had just stuffed a piece of bread in her pocket.
Because Class 0 had few students, there were only two lines in formation, one for boys and one for girls. Students from other classes sat nearby.
Xu You ate her bread, chewing slowly and quietly without making a sound.
Suddenly, someone patted her back. A girl leaned close to her ear and whispered, “A boy from the next class, sitting next to me, seems to have been secretly staring at you, he’s really handsome.”
Xu You turned her head, accidentally meeting Xie Ci’s incoming gaze, so faint it was almost separated by air.
He quietly met her gaze.
Behind Class 7’s formation, Song Yi Fan and several other boys were chatting.
“Why did Ci, being so tall, go sit in front? Hahaha look, he’s even holding a book, I can’t take it.”
“…….. Our neighboring class is Class 0, what do you think?”
Someone was surprised: “But didn’t Ci break up with that female top student from Class 0?”
“Which one, Shen Jia Yi?”
“No, Shen Jia Yi was long ago, I’m talking about the one who was in the same class as Ci before, called Xu something, Xu You, right?”
The boy’s rough voice rang out without hindrance, causing several people from neighboring classes to look over.
Song Yi Fan slapped the back of the boy’s head, exasperated: “Will you die if you speak more quietly? Who said they broke up? Stop spouting nonsense, go say that in front of Ci, see if he doesn’t beat you up.”
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
No one knew who first spread the gossip. That Xie Ci from tenth grade, in his lifetime, was actually dumped by a girl.
The news spread wider and wider, eventually reaching the person himself.
During PE class, Xie Ci and Song Yi Fan were sitting by the ping pong table smoking when someone brought up this matter, laughing: “Brother Ci, can you handle it anymore? Lately everyone’s been saying…”
“—Fuck off.”
Xie Ci sat on the ping pong table, his expression bland, clearly not wanting to joke about this with that person.
Only Song Yi Fan knew that his inner state was actually far from as calm as he appeared on the surface.
Since the falling out with Xu You during winter break, almost two months had passed, and those who were close to Xie Ci all knew he had developed a habit. No matter where he went, whether to the bathroom, playing basketball, going to or leaving school, he would definitely take a detour through the stairs in the middle of the second floor. Everyone knew why, so Song Yi Fan never dared to actively mention Xu You’s name in front of Xie Ci, afraid of reopening his wounds.
Song Yi Fan kept giving that boy eye signals until his eye corner was about to cramp, and finally the boy realized something wasn’t right and shut his mouth.
Xie Ci jumped down from the table.
“—Where are you going, Ci?” Song Yi Fan called out to his retreating figure.
After Xie Ci left without looking back, the boy dared to speak, carefully asking: “Did I hurt Brother Ci’s proud ego?”
“No.”
Song Yi Fan glanced at him, “You just hurt his sensitive and fragile young man’s heart.”
Xie Ci held a cigarette between his fingers, looking up at the distance.
After spacing out for two or three seconds, there were light footsteps beside him, stepping on leaves.
He turned his head.
Deng Ying walked out from behind a tree. She didn’t dare get too close to him, stopping several meters away.
Seeing her face, he was stunned for a second, then came to his senses, shifted his gaze away, and didn’t speak.
Or rather, he couldn’t be bothered to speak.
So Deng Ying took two more steps forward and hesitantly said: “Senior, are you alone?”
After a pause, she added: “Smoke less, it’s not good for your health.”
Xie Ci looked at her for a while, then asked coldly: “Why do you care what I do, want to date me?”
“………”
Deng Ying’s face reddened, and she didn’t speak.
After holding back for a while, she opened her mouth: “No… I just heard from your friend that after you broke up with Senior Xu You, you’ve been drinking heavily late into the night, that’s too harmful to your health…”
“Who said we broke up?”
“………”
Deng Ying smiled somewhat dejectedly. She bit her lip and gathered her courage to say: “Senior, can you give me a chance?”
Before Xie Ci could speak, she quickly continued: “I want to be with you, to take care of you. What Senior Xu You can do, I can do too. I really don’t want to see you hurting yourself like this anymore.”
“Actually… I’ve liked you for a while, I just knew you had Senior Xu You, so I didn’t want to interfere, but now she doesn’t know how to cherish you…”
He asked with a half-smile: “What she can do… you can do too?”
Deng Ying froze.
“Comparing yourself to Xu You, who do you think you are?”
Xie Ci’s gaze was cold as he put out his cigarette and walked past her.
Deng Ying’s eyes reddened. She turned her back to him and shouted: “Xie Ci, I really like you—”
Xie Ci didn’t even pause his steps.
Just after leaving school, Xie Ci received a call from Zeng Qi Lin.
He didn’t want to answer and hung up directly. But after walking a few steps, Zeng Qi Lin still caught him.
“Fuck, you won’t even answer my calls now?”
Zeng Qi Lin grabbed his neck in a headlock. Xie Ci struggled, frowning, clicking his tongue in irritation, “Stop it.”
It was afternoon dismissal time, students were coming and going, occasionally casting examining glances at them intentionally or unintentionally.
“Don’t go to evening self-study, come take a walk with me.”
Zeng Qi Lin’s words left no room for argument.
April had arrived imperceptibly, the cold air hadn’t lingered long, and spring’s characteristic lively atmosphere mixed with warm breezes slowly arrived. The street lights outside the school lit up in a row, the daylight thin.
Xie Ci squatted by the roadside. The street was bustling with traffic, people weaving between cars.
Zeng Qi Lin crossed his arms, leaning against a lamppost. Seeing Xie Ci spacing out again, Zeng Qi Lin kicked his bottom, “You can’t go on like this, you know?”
He was now completely, visibly lifeless during this period.
Before, although Xie Ci was wild, at least he had some youthful energy, now he had no vitality at all.
“Song Yi Fan told me you got dumped?”
Xie Ci finally reacted to these words, “Who the fuck is spreading that bullshit, we haven’t broken up yet.”
“Oh ho.”
Zeng Qi Lin laughed angrily, “You’re really set on this?”
Xie Ci didn’t speak.
“I thought with how she’s treating you, it would definitely be over, didn’t expect my brother could persist at this point, not easy.” Zeng Qi Lin half-joked.
“Brother, I really like her.”
Zeng Qi Lin’s smile faded. After a long while, he asked blandly: “Xie Ci, are you stupid? Why are you being serious about a girl at this age?”
“Besides, she’s not our type, you understand?”
Xie Ci stared at him for a long time, motionless. Then, he turned his gaze away, looking elsewhere.
“Then I’ll go to her path.”
A few days later, the grade started organizing basketball tournaments.
During this time, except for Song Yi Fan, others felt that since Xie Ci ‘broke up’ with Xu You, his whole person had become strange. It wasn’t anything specific, just that whenever there were activities and people invited him out to play, he was too lazy to participate. He wouldn’t go to bars, had no interest in girls, didn’t skip classes anymore, and even if he slept, he would wait until evening dismissal to leave.
Some people found it very strange and went to ask Fu Xue Li what was wrong with Xie Ci.
Fu Xue Li was very calm, casually saying: “People have to grow up, can’t stay in middle school forever.”
Everything else aside, Song Yi Fan felt the worst thing was that Xie Ci had even lost interest in basketball.
Like now.
Song Yi Fan knocked on Xie Ci’s desk, “Ci, want to play basketball? Our class has a game this afternoon.”
“No.” Xie Ci didn’t even lift his head, turning a page in the book on his desk.
Song Yi Fan held back, but still said: “Come on, can you even understand what you’re reading, Brother Ci…”
Xie Ci looked up and glanced at him, “Can you get lost?”
“Ahem.” Song Yi Fan’s expression became playful, and he asked again, “The game’s about to start, you really won’t come? Brother, last warning, our class drew lots and got grouped with Science Class 1.”
Xie Ci froze.
“Class 0?” he asked.
Song Yi Fan raised his eyebrows, “Science. Class. One. What do you think?”
Before Xie Ci could speak, Song Yi Fan saw his expression and continued: “Heard the PE teacher got some girls from the science class to keep score.”
Basketball court.
When Xie Ci, who had been absent from everyone’s sight for a long time, suddenly appeared at the basketball court, many people couldn’t react.
Xie Ci wore a white jersey and put on wristbands. Someone on the court whistled and threw him the ball.
The girls from Liberal Arts Class 1 went wild, with cheering screams rising and falling.
Xu You stood by the scoreboard with another girl.
The red team was Liberal Arts 1, the black team was Science 1.
Xu You watched the group running on the court, while the girl beside her complained quietly: “The boys in our class are so bad…”
Xu You lowered her eyelashes, lost in thought, absent-mindedly turning over another page of the red scoreboard.
The girl continued: “The boys in the liberal arts class are so tall… several of them are so handsome… but they probably have girlfriends already.”
Just before the final whistle blew, Xie Ci made a three-point shot from outside the line. The basketball drew a half arc in the air and swished straight through the hoop.
The whole court erupted, with Liberal Arts 1 winning by an overwhelming margin.
Xie Ci was drenched in sweat, lifting the hem of his shirt to wipe it off. Some girls who couldn’t contain themselves rushed over to offer him water.
He didn’t take it, his eyes searching around for something.
Song Yi Fan came over laughing, putting his arm around his shoulder, saying cheerfully: “How was it, bro? Showed off a bit on the court, feels good right?”
Xu You quietly finished organizing the scoring materials, handed them to the PE teacher, then took her bag and left.
Xie Ci finally found that thin figure, walking alone towards the exit of the basketball court.
“Hey.” Xie Ci elbowed Song Yi Fan, saying quietly: “Bring my school uniform over with me.”
“—Xu You!”
Hearing the familiar voice, Xu You stopped.
Xie Ci was still wearing black sports shorts, his calves exposed. He ran up a few steps, grabbed her wrist, panting.
They looked at each other wordlessly.
Xie Ci spoke first, saying: “Can we make up?”
Xu You: ……..
Seeing no reaction from her, Xie Ci paused, looking at her seriously and said: “Cold war is fine, but I’ll never agree to breaking up even if I die.”
Xu You said: “I never thought about breaking up.”
This time it was Xie Ci who was speechless.
He had prepared many things to say, but now couldn’t say a single word, an indescribable emotion spreading in his chest.
Xu You stepped back two steps, looking him over, her lips curling slightly, “You’re wearing the school uniform…”
“Fuck.”
Xie Ci’s face reddened, sweat from the intense exercise still flowing down his face. He stammered: “Does it look weird?”
His shoulder lines were smooth, shoulders extending along the seams of his shirt, making even the simple, plain school uniform look particularly good on him.
“No, you look handsome.”
Xu You smiled.
She just never thought he would obediently wear the school uniform.
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