ã€ŠA Brilliance, Yet Obtainedã€‹


 Prologue

    ¡°The last time I returned here, I was in too much of a hurry and couldn¡¯t clean up the house so it might be too dusty.¡± Standing at the threshold, Song Yinan¡¯s smile held a hint of caution.

    Sensing that there was no movement from behind her, Song Yinan turned her head, looked at Jing Can, and found that he was staring at the iron gate in front of him.

    "Xiao Can?"

    Jing Can blinked when he heard this call.

    "It was a long car ride, are you tired?"

    "No," Jing Can shook his head and carried their luggage bags with one hand. He looked at Song Yinan and immediately realized that he had probably missed hearing something. "What did you just say?"

    "I said the house might be dusty," Song Yinan said, and opened the metal door with the key in her hand. The door lock and the keys collided, as if signaling something in secret.

    Three steps of limestone lead up the door. Jing Can was standing under the steps, so when the iron door was pushed open, the first thing that greeted Jing Can''s eyes was the verdant green that spilled out from under Song Yinan''s beige cotton sleeves. Jing Can didn''t ask what kind of plants those were. He only knew that this was his first impression of the world within this house.

    The world inside the iron gate is actually completely foreign to Jing Can. Speaking of which, this should be counted as his maternal grandfather''s home. But when Song Yinan married Jing Can''s father, her father had already passed away and her mother was also on her deathbed. Jing Can, who was still a child then, had no chance to see his maternal grandparents.

    On the contrary... Jing Can attended Song Yinan''s mother''s funeral. In a way, it should be counted as being able to meet one¡¯s grandparent.

    At the funeral, Jing Can sat beside his father. He kept leaning forward, trying to look over his father to take a peek at Song Yinan, but he could only see her tear-stained face. A small frown already hovered at the corner of Jing Zaixing¡¯s brows and he twisted Jing Can¡¯s head back to look forward.

    For the things he cares about, Jing Can can always remember them extremely well. So that moment when he stepped past the threshold and walked towards the house, he could recall that scene in perfect detail in his mind.

    The two passed through the courtyard and finally entered the house. While walking, Song Yinan seemed to say something. But Jing Can was as always, dazed with thoughts afloat and didn''t hear anything, standing still in the room. He came back to his senses and suddenly felt very ill at ease. This kind of unease is manifested in not knowing the next step to take, where to go after, whether to put down the luggage or not, and if so, where to set it down.

    Noticing that he had been looking all over the place, Song Yinan also quickly glanced around and responded, "There are a lot of things here at home because my parents are the type who like to buy ornaments and hold on to things. Everywhere is full of their mementos."

    She put the keychain on a table in front of the window, then walked over to take the luggage from Jing Can''s hand to put it on the shoe cabinet by the door. The luggage bumped into a porcelain rabbit. The craftsmanship was not very exquisite but it still attracted the two of them to look at it. Song Yinan did not drop her hand that was holding on to their luggage back down to her side. Instead, she lightly bumped her hand on the edge of the cabinet, inadvertently scratching the wooden texture with her fingernails.

    "This is from New Year''s Day when I was nine years old. My dad took me out to the streets to play ring toss and I got it." She tilted her head, reached out and touched the rabbit''s head with her index finger. On the rabbit¡¯s head was a pink flower, its stamen black in colour. "My parents are already gone, and I discovered that all these things contain memories, so I left them exactly as they are."

    It was also after Song Yinan''s reminder that Jing Can only realised why he felt uncomfortable¡ªthere are too many things in this house. The more objects there were, the more stories and meanings belonged to Song Yinan. But to Jing Can, it was as if this was a house full of history and he was unable to comprehend a single story.

    Song Yinan walked to the window and opened it. The window was not a sliding one, but had to be pushed outwards. There was a desk in front of the window. Standing beside it, Song Yinan suddenly turned around and waved to him. Maybe it was a trick of the sunlight, but in this split-second, Song Yinan''s expression didn''t quite resemble that of a mother at home.

    The creeping vines gathered on the fence were not very dense. From beyond the gate, the street was visible. Perhaps because it was currently lunch time, no one walked by and it was very quiet.

    "I used to like to do my homework here. When I was a child, I always thought that the window had magic, because sometimes I would suddenly look out of the window and stare dazedly, and then time would pass very quickly... The longest time it happened, I didn''t realise I had been sitting and staring for a whole afternoon." Song Yinan looked at Jing Can, and suddenly quirked her lips and smiled, "I realised later that it''s not that the windows have magical powers, but that I didn¡¯t want to study."

    These words also made Jing Can smile faintly. He slightly raised his head and looked outside, a gust of wind blew in and tickled his heart.

    It''s now June.

    "I''ll get you some water."

    Song Yinan turned back after speaking, Jing Can watched her head towards the kitchen, turned around himself, thought about it, and sat down on the stool gently. He bowed down and glanced at the table, then folded his arms together on the table, like a primary school student attending class.

    There was a row of books in front of him. Jing Can swept a glance through them¡ªjunior high and senior high textbooks, which Song Yinan should have used before. He bit his lip lightly, raised his hand, and advanced a fingertip towards one of the books. But just as it was about to hit the spine, his hand hung in the air and paused.

    After a while, Jing Can withdrew his hand. He stared at the row of books, as if in this way he could see the content inside, the written notes, and the years long past.

    The wind suddenly blew hot air in, and from the previous quiet beyond the window, a sound rose, then fell. Like something repeatedly hitting the ground.

    A basketball?

    With a slight ripple in his heart, Jing Can used both hands to prop himself up and quickly stood up. He leaned forward and sure enough, he saw a basketball bouncing in the otherwise empty street. Jing Can stretched his neck forward once again, attempting to follow the path of the basketball, and to see the person following the ball. But that person seemed to be conversing with his companions, stopping a slight distance away. Even though Jing Can had stretched his head to the limit, his arms tense with exertion until the blue veins were visible, he could barely make out the face and figure of that person. Even the face was obscured by a cap, blocking that person¡¯s eyes from view.

    Someone laughed, and the man wearing the cap tilted his head and raised his chin.

    Jing Can was dumbfounded. After a brief period of doubt, his arms suddenly lost their strength and became numb. He suddenly recovered from his previous pose, body standing straight, but his feet felt extremely weak.

    "Xiao Can?"

    Song Yinan''s voice sounded so suddenly that when Jing Can turned around, he didn''t have time to adjust the expression on his face. Song Yinan observed his expression, and unconsciously clenched her hand tightly around the cup she was holding.

    Jing Can could feel the sweat quickly forming on his forehead. He quickly avoided Song Yinan''s gaze, lowered his head, and leaned his body against the table.

    "Are you having a headache again?"

    Song Yinan''s voice was very soft, and when Jing Can listened to it, he felt it was too gentle.

    "No," Jing Can shook his head, and when he felt his body regain some strength back, he looked back at her.

    Song Yinan didn''t say anything, just handed him the water glass in her hand, took out another piece of tissue, and dabbed at the sweat on his forehead.

    "It''s a little hot." Song Yinan took a homemade pole-and-hook from the wall, pushed it forward, and used it to grab the window. "I had to put a desk here so the window is not easy to close. My father can only make me this pole that I can use to close it."

    After closing the window, Song Yinan inadvertently turned to Jing Can and saw him with his head turned, still staring fixedly outside.

    "What do you want to eat tonight?" Song Yinan coughed deliberately, with a little more ease in her tone, "Your father and Xiao Wei will not be home for dinner so we don''t have to go back so early. I''ll take you out to eat, okay..."

    "Can I stay here and study?"

    "Huh?" Song Yinan was stunned by Jing Can''s question, and she paused her actions of leaning the pole against the wall.

    "What do you mean by study?"

    "At my age, what year should I be in?" Jing Can lowered his eyes, bent his index finger, and tapped the surface of the water glass, "It should be senior high school... Year two? Year three?"

    A/N:

    It''s starting~~~~~

    (I will update) Every other day. If something comes up, I will ask for a break.

 CH 1

    Number Seven Secondary is brutal. This is the conclusion that He Pingyi inferred two weeks after school started.

    "It¡¯s August, how could the school leaders come up with afternoon running exercises?" Even though he said that, He Pingyi casually tossed the open book on the table, stepped his long legs over the stool, and grabbed Wang Xiaowei''s neck to drag him out.

    "Your fucking uncle!" Wang Xiaowei, who was around 180 centimetres tall, was choked until he was out of breath. "Go away, let go, I¡¯m not going."

    ¡°A big guy like you pretending to be sick to skip class? Don¡¯t you find that shameful?"

    ¡°How am I pretending to be sick? I¡­¡±

    Wang Xiaowei had not finished speaking before He Pingyi butted in, "I know. You broke your younger sister''s potted plant, she chased after you and beat you up, so you jumped down the stairs, and then you didn''t stand still, and finally you sat on the ground, but there was a skateboard that a kid who lived on the first floor put there, and it smacked your butt. But when did this happen? Do you remember?"

    "Go away," Wang Xiaowei corrected him with impatience, "It wasn¡¯t a potted plant but a succulent. My sister has raised it well."

    "Oh, a succulent," He Pingyi thought there was no difference between the two, "Isn''t that still a potted plant? "

    ¡°A potted fart," Wang Xiaowei shook off He Pingyi''s arm on his shoulder. "Don''t tug at me."

    He Pingyi laughed lazily as usual.

    Two weeks after the start of term, Wang Xiaowei felt that this deskmate never completely woke up, his eyes perpetually half-lidded. When he was dragged up by the teacher to answer a question, his eyes would only open more than half-way at most. Wang Xiaowei straightened the collar that had been pulled askew, and glanced sideways at He Pingyi. He just happened to see the scar on He Pingyi¡¯s brow bone, shallow but extensive. Wang Xiaowei asked before where the scar came from, but He Pingyi didn''t answer. However, Wang Xiaowei was very curious about it. Everytime he sees it, the words that tumbled to his mouth couldn¡¯t be held back at all.

    "Your..."

    "Eh?" He Pingyi turned his head and looked at the railing on the second floor towards the loudspeaker on the main building. He feigned surprise, both eyebrows raised, "Hey, the song changed."

    Hearing this, Wang Xiaowei also paid attention: "Oh, they¡¯re not going to play "Chrysanthemum Terrace" anymore? What kind of song is this?"

    He Pingyi bopped his head twice in time with the song¡¯s melody. Without answering the question, he swung his arms and continued to walk forward.

    All year round, He Pingyi''s most disliked season was summer¡ªscorching and lethargic.

    The corridor was packed with people, and He Pingyi''s view was jostled up and down. Half-muddled and half-obscured, he felt like he could fall asleep while walking. When sleepy, He Pingyi can be the epitome of ultimate laziness. For example, right now, he couldn''t even spare some energy to move his body. Everytime He Pingyi stepped on the ground, Wang Xiaowei was scared that all of He Pingyi¡¯s joints and bones would tremble so hard that all his organs from head to toe would become dizzy from motion sickness.

    He Pingyi was so sleepy that he couldn''t open his eyes and gave a huge yawn. He pressed his hand against his nape and rolled his neck to relax. His shoulders were tense, and he involuntarily swung his other hand in a bigger arc.

    With this one swing of his arm, he hit the person behind him.

    He Pingyi got a shock and his head immediately cleared. He turned hastily around, and when he couldn¡¯t see the person behind him clearly, he started to apologise in a hurry, "Sorry, sorry."

    Was it due to the yawn just now that the moisture remaining in his eyes have not yet dissipated, or was it because of the sparse lighting in the corridor? Or perhaps it was just too crowded... Whatever the reason, it made him turn around this moment. He Pingyi''s entire field of vision was chaotic and indistinct¡ª¡ªhe was still saying ''sorry.'' The boy in his eyes didn''t speak; he just pursed his lips and looked at him with a smile.

    Because this happened in the school corridor, because the cacophony drowned out his thoughts, the face in front of him seemed to be infinitely magnified and became the sole, clear existence.

    Gentle and soft.

    These were actually the words He Pingyi thought of at that moment.

    Once upon a time, he used to think that these descriptions were just used in writing to make sentences sound nicer. He never thought that the first time he truly understood these two words would be in a frantic turning of his head, in a boy¡¯s smiling expression.

    If he had to describe his shock at this time, He Pingyi could only reveal the two uncultured words that popped out of his head. As if oxygen-deprived, He Pingyi lost the human ability of self-restraint. He foolishly turned his head around and backed down the last two steps.

    When the sun shone on his face again as he walked out of the corridor, inside He Pingyi¡¯s mind, something intense and incomparable suddenly gushed forth. A crazy and provocative thought¡ªif he were a girl, I would definitely pursue him and marry him.

    This was completely unlike his usual musings, and he gave himself a scare. He Pingyi was a little dazed, his body stopping involuntarily, and he spun around to look back. One after another, students in school uniforms filed out from the corridor, and for a long time he couldn''t find that face.

    Wang Xiaowei was still talking to him, and he suddenly noticed no one was at his side. He looked at him in bewilderment.

    "What are you doing?"

    He Pingyi immediately asked Wang Xiaowei, "Which class has a fair and clean looking boy? A very good-looking student?"

    "What?" The topic came too abruptly, surprising Wang Xiaowei that he moved his head forward.

    "Fair skinned, not tall, he should be quite..." He Pingyi looked around twice, saw the inexplicable expression on Wang Xiaowei''s face, and backtracked, "Forget about it, not important."

    Each class will gather first before running, and the students on duty will take attendance. The school mandates that students shouldn¡¯t be idly sitting all the time. As long as it¡¯s not a serious condition that prevents moving or standing, even if they were on leave of absence, students still had to stand alongside the others and bask in the sun. This is also the reason why He Pingyi looked down on Wang Xiaowei¡¯s excuse earlier. Even the girls who asked for leave for one reason or another were standing here, and Wang Xiaowei had the nerve to hide in the classroom and sleep.

    When they finally reached the assembly point, Wang Xiaowei still insisted on standing to one side but was dragged away by the collar by He Pingyi. Wang Xiaowei stood there mumbling to himself. On the other hand, He Pingyi still has not recovered from that look just now.

    The third years of Number Seven Secondary were assigned a separate campus building, and the experimental class was further divided within the small two-story structure. The teacher''s office and the washrooms can be found on the first floor, while the classrooms were located on the second floor. There were six classes in total, four were science-centred and two were liberal arts-focused. The science and humanities classes were separated on either of the stairs. They only had this number of classes in the whole building, how come he had never seen this person before? Was he under the humanities curriculum?

    He Pingyi shoved his hand in his pocket and frowned, his feet stamping up and down in place, stepping on the white line on the ground.

    Fair skinned and doe-eyed, not wearing any spectacles, a short stature, and as for the smile...

    "Is there anyone else asking for leave?" Chen Ji, the class adviser, stood in front of the class and asked.

    "Yes!"

    Chen Ji already started calling for the sports committee. He Pingyi suddenly shouted and raised his hand.

    Beside him, Wang Xiaowei, who had been constantly provoked all this time, was stunned by this pretentious desertion, much like how a cicada leaves its empty husk behind to fool others, and glared at him, "The hell?"

    He Pingyi''s mental quality was obviously better than Wang Xiaowei''s, and he stepped out of the queue with candour. No discomfort could be perceived in his posture while he walked away.

    When the group of students set off, Wang Xiaowei was still swearing furiously at He Pingyi.

    During the first class break in the afternoon, the sun loomed in the sky. He Pingyi could hardly open his eyes, but he squinted in perseverance at the student groups passing by. What annoyed him was how their school imitated others and made them do "plate-style" running exercises. Only the breadth of one palm separated the backs and chests of the students, practically sticking to each other like plates stacked on top of the other. Sometimes he couldn¡¯t see the people on the outside edge at all.

    He Pingyi himself didn''t know what he was doing right now. Perhaps, he wanted to know which class the boy was in. Or maybe he wanted to be friends with him, and possibly...

    Later on, He Pingyi would look back to this time, and think that maybe he just wanted to prove how that moment was not a dream. In this world, such a smiling expression truly existed.

    This sort of pressing desire to grab on to something ¡ª he has experienced it a long time ago ¡ª and has also not experienced any of the sort for a long time since then.

    He Pingyi, who was facing towards the sun, turned around. The passing teams shouted "one, two, three, four," while chanting class slogans. He Pingyi tried his best not to miss a face. Even if it was just a peek of the nose or the corner of an eye, he had to carefully identify it all. But after quite a while, He Pingyi still didn¡¯t see a shadow of that person.

    The frown on his brows, sunkissed and anxious, deepened. He wanted to try his best to render that face in perfect detail. Only then did he realise that it was such a quick encounter and all his attention had been centred around that face, that smile which attracted him ¡ª he couldn¡¯t even recall how the hairstyle looked like.

    Fair skinned and doe-eyed, not wearing any spectacles, a short stature, and the smile...

    He Pingyi''s eyes suddenly turned as round as saucers.

    The sun hid behind a cloud, and the light dimmed. The class making their way over were shouting some lines. He Pingyi ignored them completely.

    The boy on the outermost side of the first row was bouncing up and down, his running rhythm subtly different from the rest. The boy kept looking at him with a somewhat dazed expression. Except for the pair of spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose and the smile that was missing from his face, it completely matched the impression in He Pingyi''s memory.

    Immediately, He Pingyi tightened his hand in his pocket. He wanted to smile at the boy, but such an amicable action was too unfamiliar to He Pingyi. Adding on the nervousness he felt at this time, the corners of He Pingyi''s lips did not lift at all.

    But the group moved forward at a constant speed, and no one waited for him to manage his expression. Seeing that the boy was about to be blocked from his view by the person next to him, He Pingyi followed and moved two steps to the side in a hurry. The girl beside him was reciting words with her head bent. Scared and not knowing what happened, she looked up at him.

    Realising his unexpected blunder, He Pingyi coughed dryly and went back to his original spot.

    Lifting his head again, that class has already run a good distance.

    After seeing that person, He Pingyi intended to restore his usual calm demeanour and reason. When his own classmates ran by again, he counted the classes that passed through, waiting for the boy running the second lap. While waiting, he adjusted the portrait in his mind.

    Fair skinned, doe-eyed, an attractive nose and mouth, bespectacled...

    So, he wore glasses?

    He Pingyi quickly lowered his head and grinned.

    He wasn''t tall, was thin, his hair was slightly longer than other boys, and as for his smile...

    Just now¡­ He wasn¡¯t smiling...

    Mind filled with these thoughts, He Pingyi felt a little regretful.

    On the second lap, He Pingyi accurately pinpointed the arrival of the eighth class. From the moment they entered his viewpoint, He Pingyi''s gaze was already latched on that person.

    But this time, the boy didn''t look at him. Not only did he not look at him, but he also seemed to be avoiding him on purpose, always looking straight ahead.

    He Pingyi didn''t know if he was being oversensitive, but he still tilted his head and stared at him silently.

    Finally, when he was about to run right in front of He Pingyi, the boy turned his head his way. Same as before, he looked at He Pingyi in a daze.

    He Pingyi raised his hand, not too high, only at chest level, and then waved at him. He Pingyi swore that this is the most "gentle and soft" gesture and expression he could ever muster.

    Unexpectedly, the boy''s face was very calm, not a hint of fear, nor shock, and utterly no change of expression brought about by He Pingyi¡¯s hand wave.

    He Pingyi didn''t put his hand down, he kept the smile on his face and continued to look at him.

    Time seemed to have stretched on for an eternity. He Pingyi took a deep breath, thinking that the boy would just run past unaffected. The boy suddenly lifted his chin in slightly, quirked the corner of his lips, and looked at him with a smile.

    As a result, He Pingyi was able to supplement the last and most important description in his mind.

    His smile looks nice.

    The best looking one.

    On this day, He Pingyi finally met Jing Can.

 CH 2

    He Pingyi didn¡¯t know whether he and the boy could now be considered to know each other. Although he called out to him that day, he didn''t even know his name, nor where he was from. He had been waiting for the day they meet again and exchange a few words. However, it was also odd how, coming in and out how many times, he did not run into him again.

    During physical education class today, He Pingyi originally planned to lie face down in the classroom so he can catch up on sleep. However, in each class, there were always some boys who were into basketball. They could let loose and have fun during this time. The moment the maths teacher announced that class was over, Wang Xiaowei took out a basketball from under the table with his foot, held it in his arms, and urged He Pingyi to quickly go to the sports field.

    A half-court game of 3 versus 3 ¡ª for He Pingyi, it was a piece of cake. On top of that, among the students, several could be considered pretty good. He Pingyi could play smoothly. When he took aim to shoot the ball, he felt an exhilaration that he had not felt in a long time. But in the second half, when He Pingyi''s state became even better, the rhythm of two people on the court suddenly became disharmonious. For example, when Wang Xiaowei shot the ball, he wouldn¡¯t look at the hoop so he didn''t know where he was aiming. During the intermission, He Pingyi stepped forward and asked Wang Xiaowei strangely, "What are you doing?"

    Wang Xiaowei''s face was a little unnatural and he evaded eye contact, unlike his usual shameless appearance.

    He Pingyi took a look in the direction of where Wang Xiaowei was sneaking a look and saw a girl sitting on the third step of the bleachers. She had long curly hair spread over her shoulders and had on a polo shirt that was commonly worn in summer. Even He Pingyi had to sincerely compliment her beauty.

    He Pingyi glanced without any expression, then slapped the back of Wang Xiaowei¡¯s head with his hand. ¡°Stop looking and play ball.¡±

    But he turned around only to find that at present, on the sports field, Wang Xiaowei was not the only one stealing a look.

    He Pingyi held the ball in both hands, head tilted. He had a feeling that the second half of the game might not be so smooth.

    "Hey." To the side, Wang Xiaowei suddenly caught up with him and whispered in his ear, "Do you know her? I''ll tell you, Wen Xiangying, from class eight..."

    "Class eight?" He Pingyi paused and immediately became enthusiastic. He turned around and swept the grounds with his eyes.

    What about that little smiling face?

    "He Pingyi!"

    A teammate suddenly called for him. He Pingyi¡¯s reaction was somewhat slow. He had just looked in the direction of the teammate and the ball was already flying over his head. He looked at the basketball that had rolled a distance, turned back and raised his hand to his teammate, and apologised for his mistake.

    He Pingyi ambled off towards the ball and picked it up. He hasn''t given up searching in the huge area. A group of people gathered in front of the climbing wall on the other side of the sports field. He could not clearly see the person climbing, but he heard the rowdy jeering from the people below.

    "Girls can climb faster than you!"

    "It''s no use, just come down!"

    He Pingyi could not clearly hear the specific content of their jeers, but he squinted and saw two people suspended on the wall, one on the left and the other on the right. One of them was thin, revealing his fair forearms.

    He Pingyi turned and ran a few steps towards the basketball court. He threw the ball over and shouted to Wang Xiaowei, "Let Da Xiao go first!"

    During this brief period of time, when he turned back to walk towards the climbing wall, the boy had already moved up a short distance. In fact, this climbing wall was not high at all. It was more like child¡¯s play for him. However, He Pingyi could see the boy¡¯s struggle. He guessed that the boy had run out of strength and was merely holding on, yet was unwilling to come down.

    He Pingyi softly shook his head, sighed, and walked over.

    The girl on one side had reached the top, and the boys on the ground seized this chance to talk rubbish again. Their jokes were becoming more and more relentless, asking the person above if they could do it or not.

    He Pingyi frowned and noticed that the boy''s arms and legs had a slight tremble. He glanced around and saw that the physical education teacher of class eight was also looking upwards nervously.

    "Jing Can, come down if you feel tired. It''s normal if you can''t finish climbing the wall the first time."

    The physical education teacher also estimated that it was impossible, hurriedly trying to find a way down for the boy who was stuck above. But the boy did not seem to hear. One hand trembled while the other reached upwards.

    He Pingyi was not the type to study hard, nor was he addicted to the internet. He luckily still had excellent 20/20 vision in a campus where the myopia rate was steadily rising. He finally stood in the middle of the noisy crowd. At this moment, on the back of the boy¡¯s hands, he could distinctly see the blue veins bulging from the force of exertion.

    The sun still loomed in the sky. He Ping thought that the boy at the top must be terribly uncomfortable.

    The boy slowly moved his hands and feet, and finally, with much difficulty, he reached the top.

    He Pingyi stood quietly, facing the dazzling sunlight, keeping his head raised all this time. It wasn¡¯t until he saw the boy get off the climbing wall safely that he gave a sigh of relief, and headed off to the washroom.

    The tension left his body and he walked slowly. He Pingyi began to carefully recall what name the others called him with just now. Jing Cai? Jing Can?

    He Pingyi turned his head and saw that the boy did not stand with his classmates. Instead, he walked forward with his head slightly lowered towards the shade of the trees on the side of the sports field. A billboard stood at the entrance. He Pingyi walked to the toilet entrance, and the boy hid behind the billboard. He Pingyi stood for a while, but being blocked by the billboard, aside from the occasional small movements of a pair of shoes, he couldn¡¯t see anything else and didn''t know what the boy was doing.

    He Pingyi estimated that the boy would not be able to run for a while. He hasn¡¯t really figured out how to get acquainted with each other. So he went to the toilet, washed his hands, and walked back with his hands in his pockets. Halfway there, He Pingyi felt that something felt odd and pondered for a moment. He ran to the equipment room to borrow a basketball.

    He tossed the basketball back and forth in his hands, feigning indifference. When he reached the shade of trees, He Pingyi exerted a little force with his left hand and intentionally let his right hand slip, and the basketball was "accidentally" pushed out.

    The boy was squatting on the ground. The basketball rolled right in front of him and stopped.

    Pingyi trotted after the ball, delighted. A three-pointer, game set and match.

    "I''m sorry, uhm..." He Pingyi hesitated, and one hand unconsciously patted his leg. "I wasn''t careful."

    The boy looked up and seemed astonished when he saw He Pingyi. He Pingyi looked down and followed the line of his arm. It turned out that he was not tying his shoelaces, but had rolled up his pants leg to examine the wound on his ankle.

    "Are you hurt?" He Pingyi asked immediately.

    The corners of the boy''s mouth twitched, but he still looked straight at him without opening his mouth.

    "Is it from wall climbing?" He Pingyi asked naturally, as if he didn''t care about his silence.

    This time, the boy pulled down his pants leg and stood up.

    In fact, He Pingyi was really not easy to get along with. If it were someone else, He Pingyi would have already left without a second glance. But it was baffling how He Pingyi''s mind was preoccupied with what to say next, he didn''t even have the time to think about why he was being ignored, let alone be able to feel any resentment.

    He Pingyi raised his hands, extended out his index fingers and pointed to himself, "Don''t you remember me?"

    The first time was in the corridor, and the second time was in the sports field. Both only lasted a few seconds. Yet those two fragmented seconds have been passed through He Pingyi¡¯s mind thousands of times.

    The boy kept on ignoring him. But He Pingyi clearly couldn¡¯t see any dislike towards himself in the boy¡¯s eyes. When he was about to tell the boy how they met, the boy opened his mouth.

    "Have we met?"

    Calm, hesitant, these were the tones He Pingyi could understand.

    This was the first sentence spoken to him, and was also the first time he heard his voice ¡ª the first time he heard him say "we". For a long, long time in the future, these words will move He Pingyi¡¯s heart when he thinks about it.

    "Yes, we have." He Pingyi said.

    The boy listened and pushed his spectacles up with a hand, drooped his eyes and lowered his head. He Pingyi tilted his head and leaned forward slightly, continuing to look at his face. He Pingyi noticed that the boy''s eyelashes were extraordinarily long. Just now, the boy¡¯s glasses rested low on the nose bridge, so He Pingyi was unable to notice. But looking at him now, he found that those eyelashes seemed to sweep against the lenses.

    "On the basketball court," He Pingyi appreciated the boy¡¯s eyelashes, his words tumbling out unscripted. "Oh. No, I accidentally hit you on the stairs and I also waved hello to you during the running exercises."

    Unable to breathe, unable to swallow, He Pingyi can only ask tentatively, "Do you remember?"

    The sun''s rays flew down to touch the eyelashes that quivered.

    He Pingyi was patient and waited long enough. Unexpectedly, the boy who smiled at him a few days ago shook his head and said, "I don''t remember."

    This time, He Pingyi was completely shocked. But under the boy''s gaze, he quickly nodded and said, "It doesn''t matter. My name is He Pingyi, from class 21[1]. Just a moment ago... I heard them call you, but I didn''t hear it clearly. What''s your name? I''m afraid I remembered it wrong."

    He Pingyi tried his best to make it so that his words were hard to reject, and in his heart, he sweated hard for himself in fear that he would still be rebuffed. He Pingyi has never taken the initiative to make friends before. He didn¡¯t expect to get off to a bad start. He looked down at the basketball he had brought over on purpose. Thinking about it, he insisted on getting to know someone in such an embarrassing way, rather like a formal marriage interview, who could endure it?

    "Jing Can."

    Before he could despair, He Pingyi heard a voice very clearly.

    He looked up at him, just in time to meet his gaze. This look gave him a familiar feeling. It was the way he smiled at him that day in the corridor and during the second lap of the run. Like the smile, this sight softened He Pingyi''s heart until it melted into a puddle.

    At this time, He Pingyi was certain that the boy was probably too wary of him. Such as during the running exercises and just now, too.

    "Mhm," He Pingyi suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction. He looked into his eyes and tasted the name repeatedly on his lips. He couldn''t restrain the corners of his mouth from lifting up. If Wang Xiaowei sees He Pingyi''s smile at this moment, he probably won¡¯t believe that this was his deskmate who can only smile in a lazy manner.

    "Which ¡®Can¡¯ character?"

    "That one with a lot of strokes."[è²]

    Unlike before, after Jing Can said his name, he was a lot less taciturn. He did not allow He Pingyi to carry on a one-sided conversation. This also confirmed He Pingyi''s conjecture about his wariness.

    "Oh... the one with a lot of strokes."

    He Pingyi repeated in a murmur, turning his eyes to the direction of the playground and saw different groups of students playing various sports. It was highly peculiar that even though it was so noisy over there, the place where He Pingyi stood with Jing Can was serene and comfortable.

    "Our class is going to assemble."

    What broke the silence was the silence itself. He Pingyi immediately nodded after hearing those words.

    Seeing that he still had no intention of leaving, Jing Can asked again, "I''m leaving. Are you not going to play basketball?"

    "Ah," He Pingyi finally recovered his consciousness. "I¡¯m going, I¡¯m going."

    He took a step forward and bent down to pick up the ball. He stood up and saw Jing Can looking at it.

    "Are you good at basketball?"

    "I, uh," He Pingyi thought for a while and decided to be more modest. "I can still be considered not bad. Do you want to play basketball? I''ll teach you."

    Jing Can''s smile this time was much wider than when He Pingyi first met him. It was still the best looking.

    "I''m too short."

    "That''s okay. It''s all just for fun and height doesn''t matter." He emphasised again, "If you want to learn, come to me and I will teach you."

    It couldn''''t be determined if it was because the class eight physical education teacher whistled, or if Jing Can really wanted to learn. In any case, Jing Can nodded with a smile and said, "Okay."

    After receiving this reply, He Pingyi held the basketball and planned to leave.

    "Oh, by the way," He Pingyi glanced at Jing Can''s ankle when he turned around. He Pingyi recalled the broken skin and bruises he saw. "Do you want to go to the infirmary to get your wound looked at? If you don''t treat it, it''s easy to get inflamed during summer."

    "It''s okay," Jing Can didn''t care much about it. He also lifted his foot and rolled it around. "It''s not serious. I''ll apply some medicine after school."

    He Pingyi nodded.

    He Pingyi ran a certain distance holding the ball in his arms. When he looked back, he found that Jing Can was still standing beside the billboard, looking at him fixedly. His expression seemed to be tranquil again. He Pingyi''s heart trembled, he turned his body and stepped back, waving his hand at Jing Can.

    Jing Can had no reaction. He Pingyi stopped, tilted his head and wrinkled his brow, but looked at him with a smile.

    Until Jing Can finally smiled at him, and gently waved his hand.

    --------------------

    A/N:

    (Sorry) for the wait!

    Notes:

    [1] He really did say Class 21.

    Qiqi:

    He Pingyi¡¯s thoughts and actions make me blush ///

    I tried to time myself how fast I can finish a chapter. In between translating + editing the grammar and prose, it takes the most part of a day. I hope I can gain speed as I do more chapters otherwise idk how I will finish once I¡¯m back to studying full-time while working.

    Also, if you get stuck midway while wall climbing, you can be safely brought down using the harness attached to you. Wall climbing is a great experience. I highly recommend it! (says the blob who also got stuck the first time she went wall climbing before like Jing Can babey)

 CH 3

    Two bouts of rain fell twice consecutively in Huihe City, dousing away the summer heat. Because He Pingyi¡¯s mum caught a cold, she went to receive four intravenous fluid infusions, right when Papa He was away on a business trip. He Pingyi went to apply for four days¡¯ vacation leave to care for her. When he came back to school, a pile of test papers sat on his desk, making him suspect that the university entrance examinations were already being held the following month.

    Seeing his countenance of suffering through a headache, Wang Xiaowei pulled six or seven sheets from the pile of papers and said, "Do this first. This is what we will discuss these two days."

    He Ping stared at the words on the paper in puzzlement, "We haven¡¯t finished our class yet, have we? How can there be so many problems for us to do?"

    "That¡¯s right, we haven''t finished discussing it yet." Wang Xiaowei finished writing the character for "proof", took his pen and tapped it twice on top of a stack of papers. "These are lessons for af¨C ter¨C class."

    When the bell signalling the start of classes rang, He Pingyi frowned and took a breath, rolled the papers and stuffed them into the desk drawer for the time being. The Chinese literature teacher walked into the classroom, textbook in hand. Wang Xiaowei wrote the last formula, flipped the pages over to the back where four blank questions remained, and finally could not help complain in a whisper, "Keep on talking about what all-rounded education, what nonsense.¡±

    During the day, the teacher¡¯s lectures were ongoing. He Pingyi could only desperately work during the evening self-study period. But the problem is¡­

    He Pingyi looked at the geometric figure on the paper and tossed his pen aside.

    The problem is, he can''t do it either.

    "Ugh." He Pingyi sighed, not wanting to write anymore. But he knew that he wouldn''t gain anything in the future without working hard for it, he wouldn''t get a chance to become rich overnight, and now he could only resignedly pick up the pen he had thrown away.

    "Not going?"

    "You can go first." He Pingyi looked at his watch and mulled over how once he finished the maths paper, he had to do the physics questions next. Those problems were so difficult. If he didn¡¯t do it, he was afraid he wouldn''t be able to understand half the words when the teacher discussed.

    The people in the classroom left one by one. It was almost half-past eleven at night when He Pingyi finished. He massaged his aching shoulders, stood up, yawned and switched off the light.

    At this time, the school was practically empty. Even the dormitory building has entered the last period of noise before lights out. He Pingyi locked the gate and gave a glance towards outside the railing. Several street lamps were still lit so his vision was not filled in darkness and some light seeped in.

    It was He Pingyi¡¯s first time to see such a quiet campus. On weekdays, he was always arriving at school in a rush, hovering on the borderline of lateness, along with a large number of university entrance examination candidates who were hurriedly leaving the campus. The school bell, the sounds of lectures, the voices during class recitation, the sounds of discussion, and the shuffle of papers were the most indispensable sounds in school. He Pingyi stopped and leaned against the railing, stretching out his arm on it while gazing down. A figure appeared from under his viewpoint, wearing a school uniform, carrying a schoolbag, and wearing thick glasses.

    He Pingyi was startled.

    Jing Can?

    He poked his neck out again and took a careful look. After confirming that it was Jing Can, He Pingyi bent his arms and leaned forward on the railing to see what he was doing.

    On the ground, Jing Can took small steps forward, extended a leg to the side at a drain, struck a pose as if drifting a car, drew an arc on the ground, and turned the corner.

    He Pingyi lifted his chin from where it nestled on his arm and saw Jing Can run two more steps, then stop and look back at the road he had just run.

    "Hello."

    He Pingyi suddenly opened his mouth. Jing Can below trembled with fear and looked up.

    Seeing his flustered expression, He Pingyi kept smiling and asked, "I heard you used the gutter to turn the corner. Is it true or not?"

    As if building some kind of rapport, Jing Can quietly maintained this pose of looking up at him for a long period. He Pingyi stooped down, bent his body back, and then leaned forward again, burying his chin on his arm and looked at Jing Can.

    "Huh?" Jing Can''s response was very normal, with a somewhat confused expression.

    "Let¡¯s drive one lap?" He Pingyi said this line, then turned around with a smile and headed down.

    "Why haven''t you left yet?" He Pingyi saw Jing Can looking at him and raised an eyebrow at him and asked.

    "Doing homework."

    A burst of wind suddenly stirred. Jing Can was originally standing on a small stone step. When the wind blew, he did not know whether it was cold or he was just not standing firmly, but he got down from the stone step and stamped his feet. Jing Can''s forehead fringe was of a longer length. At that moment, he lowered his head so the hair strands hung floating in the air.

    "The temperature has dropped recently and it¡¯s even colder in the morning and evening. You should put on more clothes."

    The two people walked out side by side along the school building. Hearing what He Pingyi said, Jing Can glanced at him and replied in all seriousness: "I even wore our school uniform jacket but you only wore a short-sleeved shirt."

    "Uhm," He Ping said without thinking, "The main point is that I''m not cold."

    Jing Can kicked the stone under his foot and whispered, "I''m not cold either."

    Saying that, Jing Can took two steps and sneezed. He Pingyi bowed his head and laughed. Jing Can glanced at him gently, and then pursed his lips without saying anything.

    "How do you go home?" He Pingyi changed the topic and asked, "Riding a bike?"

    "I walk."

    Probably in order to create a quiet learning atmosphere for the third year students, the senior three campus of Number Seven Secondary was no longer located in the centre of the city. But to what extent? The campus has been built for five or six years, but the surrounding area has not been fully developed yet. There were not a lot of cars here during the day, and at night, there wasn¡¯t even a shadow of a person in sight. Fortunately, Huihe City was small. Even if this place was considered to be in the outskirts, it was not very far from the downtown area.

    It was Jing Can¡¯s first time to stay this late at school. After saying this, he gazed at the direction of the school gate and lowered his eyes helplessly.

    A stone rolled out again. Jing Can thought, Can''t they put up more lights?

    He Pingyi has been watching the minute changes in Jing Can''s expression all along. He suddenly felt that Jing Can, this person, was very contradictory, and he suspected that his previous understanding of Jing Can was wrong. Previously, when he saw Jing Can during the times he was not talking, He Pingyi could not guess what he was thinking at all. But at this moment, each shift in emotion was instantly synchronised to his facial expressions, it couldn¡¯t be any simpler than this.

    Seeing him frown while still not saying anything, He Pingyi patted his shoulder, ¡°Then, come with me on my bike? It¡¯s too late. Let¡¯s go back together.¡±

    In a split second, an expression emerged on Jing Can''s face ¡ª pleasant surprise coupled with a impression of something being liberated ¡ª which did not dissipate when he looked up at He Pingyi.

    He Pingyi once again negated his previous assumptions regarding Jing Can. Such a child, how could he think that he could hold such crafty thoughts?

    The two turned into the bike shed with He Pingyi leading the way, and went straight to the side of a small electric-powered scooter.

    Looking at the two small purple flower patterns on the handlebar, Jing Can hesitated for a few seconds and asked the person who was unlocking the vehicle: "This is your bike?"

    "Then whose is it?" He Pingyi nudged the kickstand with his foot and pushed the bike out. "Am I going to steal one here so late at night? Get on, you¡¯re not allowed to be scared."

    Jing Can moved to the back seat, turned around and gestured twice, but still did not sit down.

    "Straddle the seat securely." He Pingyi said and reached his hand backward, "Give me your school bag."

    He waited for a while but no weight was placed on his hand. He Pingyi turned his head and caught Jing Can staring at his hand dazedly.

    "What are you in a daze for?" He Pingyi inclined his body and reached out again. "Give it to me."

    The school did not allow riding a bike within its premises, but at this time, He Pingyi and Jing Can circled the electric bike around the school twice with no one giving a care.

    "Hey, do you guys in the humanities class also have a lot of homework?"

    "What?"

    He Pingyi spoke suddenly, and Jing Can was spacing out and did not hear clearly.

    "Homework, why do I feel that the teachers give us too much homework? I have been writing papers until now, and still have a lot of unfinished work." He Pingyi adjusted a little and drove by the side of a speed bump. "What homework were you rushing to finish? Was it also an after-school exercise?"

    In the back seat, Jing Can pushed up his eyeglasses, paused for a moment, and then answered in a stilted manner, "No, it''s for the literature homework... essay composition."

    "Huh?" He Pingyi thought he misheard, "Composition?"

    "Mhm," Jing Can answered honestly, "I can''t write."

    He Pingyi did not know whether it was his own misperception. From Jing Can behind him, he could hear a tinge of grievance within these three words.

    "Me too," He Pingyi laughed and rescued the situation. "I¡¯m also not good in formal composition writing."

    Maybe because it was not a flattering topic, Jing Can didn''t speak again. He Pingyi tended to become lazy when he rides a bike. Especially at this time when the street was so quiet. If not because he had Jing Can with him, he might have ridden unhurriedly until he fell asleep. He squinted slightly and enjoyed the slightly cool evening air. The person behind him also remained quiet.

    "These last few days why did I not¡­ did not see you?"

    Somewhat unexpectedly, after driving past one block, it was Jing Can who spoke first and broke the silence.

    "Oh, something came up at home so I asked for a few days of vacation." He Pingyi finished and thought for a while, "But I also haven''t seen you before. Maybe because I don''t really go out of the classroom so I didn''t have many opportunities to meet you."

    "Is that so?" Softly, Jing Can asked.

    When he stopped at a red light, He Pingyi looked towards the direction of his home and it suddenly occurred to him that he offered Jing Can a ride and then drove off without asking where his house was.

    "Hey?" He Pingyi felt that his brain was not very bright right now. He wanted to laugh a little, "Where is your house? I forgot to ask you and you also didn''t tell me. If I kidnapped you and sold you..."

    He didn¡¯t have time to finish his words because Jing Can suddenly reached his hand out and grabbed the clothes at the side of his waist. If not for the clothes tightening up and sticking to his skin, He Pingyi could hardly feel that slight weight.

    The finger protruding from the side of his waist was white, almost to the point of transparency. He Pingyi glanced at it and suddenly forgot what he wanted to say.

    He turned left.

    "39 Yanchao Road."

    He Pingyi drove to Yanchao Road and stopped, but Jing Can still didn¡¯t let go. He Pingyi thought he drove so steadily that Jing Can fell asleep in the back seat. He turned his back and patted his arm. "We¡¯re here."

    "Oh." Jing Can¡¯s answer came half a beat late and he quickly stepped off the car.

    He Pingyi glanced sideways at the big house and found that all the lights inside were turned off. He raised his chin and said, "Go back quickly, then. Your family is asleep."

    Jing Can nodded obediently, turned around, and He Pingyi watched him walk toward the house. Unexpectedly, after taking a few steps, Jing Can suddenly turned back and looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

    "What''s the matter?" He Pingyi took the initiative to ask.

    "Just now, you said it wrong." Jing Can¡¯s appearance seemed somewhat apprehensive. He said this very slowly, as if testing whether He Ping would feel bad because of his words. "It should be, ''I want to go with you for a round, do you have time?''"

    He Pingyi understood then that Jing Can was referring to what he said earlier.

    "Oh?" Actually, he could not remember this sentence clearly. He reckoned that Jing Can was right, but when he was corrected so earnestly, he suddenly wanted to tease him. "How come I think what I said is right? Did you remember it wrong?"

    "Impossible." Jing Can had no hesitation at all this time. He looked at He Pingyi with stars shining brightly in his eyes. "It¡¯s impossible for me to remember it wrong."

    In this single moment, there was something on Jing Can''s face that He Pingyi had never seen before ¡ª a sense of self-confidence and certainty.

    He Pingyi was taken aback for a moment.

    Seeing that he did not respond, a hint of distress appeared momentarily on Jing Can''s face. He thought his words were too brash and made things difficult for He Pingyi. He hastily said, "Goodbye." and turned away to run.

    "Hey." He Pingyi didn''t understand why he was fleeing all of a sudden. He leaned his body forward slightly and stopped him with a smile.

    Jing Can turned around, stopped where he stood and looked towards him. He Pingyi lifted one corner of his mouth and laughed without restraint.

    "I have time," He Pingyi said. "I''ll pick you up tomorrow morning at 6:50."

    --------------------

    A/N

    *These lines are from the ''Initial D " movie, more of this joke later.

    Qiqi:

    Surprise chapter! I''m loving all the Initial D references here. I have to rewatch the live action some time to check whether I translated Xiao Can''s correction right.

    Sticky He Pingyi is just grabbing all the opportunities to be with Xiao Can, heh.

 CH 4

    As soon as Jing Can entered the courtyard gate, He Pingyi twisted the handlebar and walked forward a short distance. It was uncertain how the creeping vines grew on the metal grilles just enough to leave a gap. He Pingyi retracted his neck and lowered his head. Through the gap, he could see the house inside with the lights shining bright.

    He Pingyi was initially so sleepy that he couldn''t keep his eyes open while he was doing his test papers. But after driving Jing Can back, he was not sleepy anymore. He Pingyi was not in a hurry to leave. Rather, he leaned over the handlebars and stared blankly at the window illuminated yellow by the light.

    Apparently, from the first time they met, Jing Can has always made him brim with curiosity. First, he was curious about Jing Can¡¯s identity. Second, he was interested about why the boy always kept silent. And then, he wanted to know about what kind of person he was. He obviously had a very small face, but he gave He Pingyi the impression that he has already accumulated a lot of worries in his heart for over ten years.

    A silhouette suddenly appeared behind the window, and He Pingyi got a shock.

    It''s Jing Can.

    He stood there motionless, too far and against the ambient light direction. He Pingyi couldn''t see his expression clearly, but he thought that Jing Can must surely be looking at him. He Pingyi then took a deep breath, switched on the headlights, and waved farewell to the person standing inside.

    And after He Pingyi left, Jing Can stood in front of the window for a long time. It was only when his legs ached that he turned off the light and sat down on the chair by the desk.

    When he got home, He Pingyi looked at his wrist watch. It took 11 minutes to drive his scooter home from Jing Can''s house. He turned his head to look inside and saw that the light in his mother''s bedroom was already turned off, so he groped his way in the dark towards the bathroom, keeping his movements light, and washed up in a hurry and returned to his room.

    Lying on the bed, for some reason, his mind was full of the image when Jing Can told him that he got the actor¡¯s lines wrong. He Pingyi opened his eyes, crossed his hands on the pillow behind his head, and gazed at the ceiling while pondering . This scene replayed in front of his eyes again, and he suddenly turned over and sat up to switch on the computer.

    The next day, He Pingyi set off 20 minutes earlier, humming a song along the way with one hand in his pocket. He stopped in front of the entrance to Jing Can''s house. He Ping whistled leisurely and let out a sigh of relief.

    He didn¡¯t expect that as soon as the whistle sounded, the door of Jing Can''s house opened. The person standing in the entryway had a head of messy hair and a pair of big eyes with a layer of hazy mist that looked at him through the lenses.

    "So early?" He Pingyi laughed. Seeing Jing Can standing still, he beckoned him with one hand, "Get on."

    This time, He Pingyi didn''t say anything and directly took the schoolbag from Jing Can''s hand when he approached him.

    "Did you continue studying when you got home last night? You also brought your school bag back."

    Compared to last night, Jing Can was already adept at riding a bike. When he was about to turn a corner, he would grab He Pingyi''s clothes ahead of time, and then release his grip once they were stable.

    "No, it''s just..."

    Jing Can thought for a while, and answered honestly, "I''m just not used to not carrying anything."

    He Pingyi heard this and tilted his head slightly, trying his best to understand what kind of habit this is.

    And so, Jing Can actually regretted it after saying this. He was afraid that He Pingyi would think his behaviour was quite strange. But looking up at the back of He Pingyi''s head, Jing Can opened his mouth, but couldn''t say anything to salvage the conversation. He could only bite his lip lightly and turned his head to look at the road they passed by.

    He has already been in this city for a month. But looking at it today, this strip of road that he passed by many times before had many unfamiliar shop fronts. Jing Can''s eyes were fixated on a chicken cutlet shop. The electric bike already swept past that family shop, and still, he was turning his head to look at it.

    "By the way," He Pingyi stopped at a red light on the intersection and suddenly turned his head, talking to Jing Can, "I went back and watched "Initial D" again. You were right yesterday."

    As if he was discovered while doing something shameful, Jing Can turned his head back hastily after hearing He Pingyi''s voice.

    Seeing the panic written across his whole face, He Pingyi couldn''t hold back, and smiled: "Why, do you want to eat fried chicken cutlets?"

    Jing Can felt his face was burning hot, and denied in a low voice: "No."

    He was stared at by He Pingyi so he turned his head to the other side, but he heard He Pingyi say again: "Have you ever driven a car?"

    Driven a car?

    Jing Can was shocked for a moment, then looked back at He Pingyi: "You can only take the driving licence test at eighteen."

    "I know," He Pingyi said with a laugh, "What about go-karts? Have you tried driving it? Or went go-kart racing?"

    Jing Can looked to the side, frowning minutely. He stared at the crevice on the ground and slightly shook his head.

    "No."

    Because his head was lowered, He Pingyi could only see a hair whorl at this moment. He raised a hand, and before he could react, that hand was about to touch the top of Jing Can''s head.

    The light turned green and the other cars started moving.

    He Pingyi''s hand hung in mid-air, and when he thought about it, he was a little startled by his behaviour.

    "Then let''s go play together next time." Casually turning around as if nothing had happened, he moved the electric scooter forward. He Pingyi said this line in a relaxed manner.

    At the school gate, sleepy-eyed studying machines rushed into the gate one by one. He Pingyi and Jing Can went to the bike shed to park the scooter. When they reached the stairs, Jing Can suddenly took the initiative and asked He Pingyi.

    It seemed that this was the first time he called out to him.

    "Hmm?" He Pingyi stopped turning the key and turned to look at Jing Can.

    Jing Can walked very slowly, nodding his head slightly with each step he took on the stairs. He didn''t give He Ping an answer. When they reached the top of the stairs and were about to turn towards their respective classrooms, he said, "Can I really drive a racing car?"

    He Pingyi thought that he was holding back something serious for so long, but as soon as Jing Can spoke, he knew that he still overestimated Jing Can''s social skills.

    "Is there something wrong with this?"

    Hearing He Pingyi''s words, Jing Can''s hand holding the schoolbag tightened. He bowed down and lightly nudged the pattern on the floor with the toe of his foot. He Pingyi saw the corners of his mouth slowly curling up, and accidentally revealed a deliberately concealed smile.

    Students kept coming up the stairs, and Jing Can heard the voices of other people. and his originally pleased expression became quite unnatural. He nodded and said, "Then I''m going first."

    "Ehm, wait for me during break later," He Pingyi finished speaking, then raised his chin, "Go, then."

    There were two self-study periods in the morning for senior students of Number Seven Secondary. The first period was from 7:00 to 7:30, followed by a 20-minute break for breakfast. The second period started at 7:50. There was a five-minute break in the middle, and the first class began at 8:30.

    In order to prevent everyone from getting sleepy in the first self-study period, the school allotted this time for morning reading. Jing Can took out a newspaper published in English, spread it out, glanced at the recitation content instructed by the teacher, and then lowered his head, staring vacantly.

    He didn''t sleep much last night. As a matter of fact, he has not slept well since coming to Huihe City. He recalled that when he asked Song Yinan if he could come here to study, Song Yinan''s face had an impressive expression. After a brief silence, she smiled softly and promised him that she would discuss it with Jing Zaixing. Jing Can didn''t know how Song Yinan persuaded Jing Zaixing, but Song Yinan saw him off on the day he left home. Song Yinan said that Jing Zaixing''s company was busy and couldn''t see him off, but Jing Can knew that his father was actually in the study.

    Jing Can unknowingly tightened his hand, until the short nails dug into his palm, and he stopped remembering in pain. As if staying in a sealed room for a long time, when the content of the English newspaper reentered Jing Can''s vision, he suddenly began to breathe heavily.

    Surrounded by chaos, Jing Can raised his eyes, only to realise that the self-study period had already ended at some point.

    He Pingyi.

    He sobered up in a split second, and in a flurry, used his arms to push up on the table, wanting to stand up. At the same time, the window next to him was suddenly pushed open from the outside, accompanied by an ear-piercing sound from the friction.

    "So studious?" He Pingyi poked his head in, with a faint and helpless smile, "Not gonna eat anymore?"

    "I¡¯ll eat!" Jing Can realised how urgent his tone was after the words flew out of his mouth. He swallowed, steadied his frenetic heart, and restored his usual pace in speaking: "I''ll come out right away."

    When in a hurry, mistakes are bound to happen. Jing Can raised his leg and overturned his deskmate¡¯s stool which made a loud sound. Several classmates who were lying on their stomachs to catch up on sleep were startled and looked up at him.

    He Pingyi watched Jing Can''s face blush at a speed visible to the naked eye. He whispered comforting words to the person who was squatting down to straighten the stool: "It''s nothing, don''t worry."

    Being pulled all the way to the bike shed, Jing Can suspiciously watched He Pingyi''s movements to unlock the bike, and eventually slowly inquired, "Aren''t you going to class?"

    "I¡¯m going," He Pingyi tossed the wheel lock into the basket, "Let''s go eat first."

    Jing Can wasn¡¯t clear on why was being driven away from school, following the road they took earlier. It wasn''t until he smelled the familiar aroma that Jing Can understood what He Ping was trying to do.

    He Pingyi ordered two chicken cutlets. The shop owner first deep fried the cutlets then handed one to them. He Pingyi immediately stuffed it in Jing Can''s hand, "Eat it quickly."

    Jing Can bowed down and saw the cutlet sliced into pieces, glistening yellow.

    The chicken pieces were only packed in a paper bag. Holding it for a period of time would scald one¡¯s fingers. Jing Can sucked in a breath, and quickly shifted his fingers.

    "Is it hot?" He Pingyi was amused by him and laughed, so he raised his hand without undue effort and stroked his hair, "Silly."

    Feeling the touch on his head, Jing Can suddenly raised his head, eyes widened slightly.

    Unable to control his hand, He Pingyi was a little embarrassed by Jing Can''s gaze. He coughed lightly and urged him, "Quickly eat."

    He turned his head, pretending to wait for his portion but his hand shoved in his pants pockets moved nervously. He Pingyi frowned and squeezed that hand, thinking, It''s over, I scared him.

    Jing Can blinked again, eyes staring fixedly at him for a while. Eventually, the chicken cutlet¡¯s aroma lured Jing Can to look back down and pick up the bamboo skewer.

    He Pingyi stealthily glanced at the corner of his eye, and saw that Jing Can was engrossed in eating in all seriousness, like a little mouse.

    After the second chicken cutlet was done cooking, the two left the cutlet shop side by side. After walking a few steps, He Pingyi stopped abruptly and called Jing Can. Jing Can, who was chewing on the chicken, raised his head and looked at him.

    "Let''s discuss something." He Pingyi leaned closer to Jing Can and lowered his voice, "I treated you to eat chicken cutlet. In exchange, can you answer a question for me?"

    Jing Can paused then continued to chew. He swallowed two or three times, and asked a little strangely, "Is there a problem?"

    "Why do you always look so dazed?"

    Jing Can heard this and didn''t speak, just staring blankly at He Pingyi.

    "Of course, if you don¡¯t want to, you don¡¯t have to answer," He Pingyi explained, "When I look at you, it seems like you like to be lost in thought so I¡¯m a little curious.¡±

    After about a few seconds, Jing Can lowered his head and quickly pierced a slice of the cutlet. He looked into He Pingyi''s eyes, and mumbled softly in reply, "I can¡¯t be in a daze?"

    Although He Pingyi suspected that he was fabricating things in his mind, Jing Can''s tone when he said this was really different from the shy tone he used before. At this moment, Jing Can was distinctly a lot more lively, in so much as his reply just now held a slight hint of shamelessness.

    He watched in amazement as Jing Can walked in the direction of the electric bike while stuffing a piece of chicken cutlet into his mouth. After stopping, Jing Can turned his head and said, "We will be late if we don¡¯t leave."

    Hey¡­¡­

    He Pingyi turned a corner in his heart and sighed. While other people drank wine to boost their courage, this person did so by eating chicken cutlets?

    He shook his head twice with a grin, and walked over, thinking to himself, if only he had known earlier that chicken cutlets were very effective. The second time they met, he should have bought a lot of chicken cutlets, offered them up to Jing Can and said, ¡°Let¡¯s be friends?¡±

 CH 5

    On the third weekend after the start of the school term, Song Yinan came to Huihe. When she entered the house, Jing Can was sitting on a small wooden stool, dealing with a pile of dirty laundry. Song Yinan opened the door and came in, called out twice in the living room, but no one answered. Following the indistinct movements, she found Jing Can who was washing clothes in the bathroom. Seeing his appearance, Song Yinan immediately held on to the door frame and laughed lightly.

    "How did it become like this?" Song Yinan reached out and stroked his damp forehead, "Why didn¡¯t you use the washing machine?"

    Song Yinan didn¡¯t expect that she would see his miserable appearance. Jing Can picked up the white jacket he was holding, smoothed out a section of cloth, and showed it to Song Yinan. He frowned, and his tone was somewhat frustrated, "Some oil got on it, and the washing machine can''t wash it off."

    "Hmm..." Song Yinan bent down and took a closer look. The long hair at her ears slipped down when she bent low, and she quickly hooked it up with a finger and tucked it back in place. She took the clothes in Jing Can''s hand and patted him on the shoulder. "I understand, I''ll wash it for you. Go and wash your forehead first. It''s already covered with laundry detergent, it will seep into your eyes soon.

    After a slight hesitation, Jing Can nodded and stood up.

    "Take off the one you¡¯re wearing so I can wash it too." Seeing that the clothes on his body were also a little damp, Song Yinan raised her finger, "It''s wet."

    Jing Can bowed his head and looked down, nodded again, then returned to his room. He changed into a clean short sleeved shirt. These past couple of days, the temperature has risen, the air terribly dry. When Jing Can undressed, he accidentally hit his nose and felt something warm seep out. He quickly grasped the shirt still on head and pulled away from his cheeks and flung it down. Looking in the mirror again, as expected, the nosebleed was already dripping to the corner of his mouth.

    Jing Can and the person in the mirror gazed at each other for a while until his reflection frowned in discomfort. He raised his hand to rub against the nosebleed.

    Seeing his nostrils blocked with tissues, Song Yinan was slightly stunned, "Nosebleed?"

    "Mhm." Jing Can replied in a thick nasal voice.

    "The weather is very dry," Song Yinan thought for a while, and said, "We''ll go to the supermarket later and buy you some fruit. From now on, remember to eat some fruit every day."

    Jing Can raised no objections and nodded. He originally turned around to leave, but he caught a glimpse of Song Yinan bending over, lowering her head while washing his clothes. He pursed his lips and moved another small stool from the side, placed it diagonally opposite Song Yinan, and sat down. Song Yinan looked up at him with a smile, and asked, "How is it? Have you adjusted at school?"

    "Mhm, it''s pretty good." Jing Can crossed his arms and folded them over his knees. His shoulders were slightly raised because of his body leaning forward, hiking his light blue shirt up. The expression in his eyes quietened down, and he thought of He Pingyi again.

    "Do you get along well with your classmates?"

    Get along well¡­¡­

    Jing Can remembered that big piece of cutlet and pressed his mouth on his arm.

    Noticing the change in Jing Can''s eyes, Song Yinan paused in washing clothes. She leaned forward and looked at Jing Can with a smile, not saying a word.

    "Huh?" Jing Can, who was being distracted, gave a response. Unconsciously, his hands left his knees and he couldn''t figure out what to do with them for a while. In a panic, he ended up propping them on both sides of the small stool. With great effort, he controlled his expression, bowed down, and raised it quickly: "It''s fine, all my classmates are fine."

    Song Yinan watched this series of actions, and indistinctly guessed something in her heart. But Jing Can avoided her gaze, so she then smiled and didn''t probe deeper.

    Jing Can brought the clothes hanger. Song Yinan put the clothes on it, and suddenly asked Jing Can, "Have you ever gone to the rooftop?"

    Song Yinan''s house was a single detached home, not too big, but the layout was very excellent. The two bedrooms on the upper floor both faced southwards, were spacious and each also had a balcony. There was also a bedroom on the first floor that was converted to a study. Jing Can has never been in that room. He guessed that it should have belonged to Song Yinan''s father.

    When he was certain that he would study in Huihe, Song Yinan packed and cleaned up the house for him. She told him that the house was designed by her own father. They had limited funds to construct the house and their circumstances were bad. Still, her father put in a lot of work in the design and spared no effort to attain the best result possible.

    As for the rooftop that Song Yinan mentioned, Jing Can actually noticed it, but without Song Yinan''s lead, he didn''t attempt to open that door.

    Song Yinan pushed open the door, followed the slightly narrow stairs, and led Jing Can to the rooftop. Jing Can looked around in a circle and discovered a clothesline there.

    The sun¡¯s rays were searing. Song Yinan squinted and put the basin on the ground. Jing Can then walked over, helped Song Yinan wring out the clothes and hung them up on the line.

    "I like it here."

    Song Yinan flattened the clothes, straightened the collar, and was about to call Jing Can to leave when she heard Jing Can say this line.

    "Huh?" She turned around in amazement. It was the first time she heard Jing Can express his thoughts with this kind of outspokenness.

    And Jing Can''s eyes kept staring into the distance. Like a child bouncing up excitedly when he had something he liked very much, he moved his feet and slowly turned around in place. Afterwards, he said again, "This rooftop is very wonderful."

    The behaviour was similar, but contained a differing extent. Despite saying such a compliment, Jing Can''s tone was still restrained and calm.

    For reasons unknown, whether it was due to the sun or because he was happy, Jing Can''s face was tinged red, the contrast against his skin made the light in his eyes shine more luminously. This current state of Jing Can brought great gratification to Song Yinan.

    The two stood on the rooftop for a while. Jing Can didn''t intend to leave, but Song Yinan saw that it was getting late, so she discussed with Jing Can about having a meal first. Jing Can immediately agreed. When she turned around, she saw two small puddles of water on the ground, formed from the dripping clothes she had just hung to dry. The water stains reflected the sunlight, glimmering brightly.

    Jing Can took a few more steps, carefully scrutinised the damp stains, and then looked up at the dazzling sun. A thought came to his mind and he quickly suppressed it.

    "What''s wrong?" Song Yinan asked from behind him.

    Jing Can looked at the ground again, and finally lightly shook his head. Song Yinan swept a quick look at the ground before leaving with Jing Can.

    The two of them had dinner and then went to the supermarket. Song Yinan picked and bought a bag each of kiwis and apples

    "Do you want to eat some mangoes?"

    Jing Can picked up one, pressed it lightly in his fingers, and set it down again.

    "I won¡¯t eat it. This mango is too ripe to keep."

    Song Yinan looked at the pile of golden-bright mangoes, and then at Jing Can¡¯s departing figure. She still picked up three and put them in the bag.

    It was very odd that the two children in their family were obviously not born from the same mother, but they both liked mangoes the most. Song Yinan asked Jing Zaixing if it was because he liked to eat mangoes so the two children followed after him. But Jing Zaixing told her that he had allergies to mangoes. As a result, sometimes Song Yinan felt that the reason why they could become a family was also because fate brought them together.

    After paying the bill, Song Yinan walked a couple of steps toward the entrance, turned around and suddenly Jing Can was nowhere to be found. Stretching her head to look around, she saw Jing Can still standing by the checkout counter. When she saw him, Song Yinan suspected that something was wrong with her eyes, because Jing Can''s expression was evidently filled with joy¡ªhis lower jaw was raised, his mouth was slightly opened, and the corners of the mouth were slightly tilted upwards. Song Yinan followed his eyes and saw a row of wall of refrigetator shelves. As she walked towards Jing Can, she glanced in that direction again, chest feeling somewhat strange. Why couldn¡¯t she see any pretty girls?

    "Did you see someone you know?" She walked to Jing Can¡¯s side and asked.

    "Uhm..." Jing Can turned his head, saw her, and made a sound in response.

    Originally, when he said this, Jing Can''s face was still relaxed. But for some reason, when Jing Can looked towards the wall chillers again, he suddenly pressed his lips tightly together and lowered his eyes. He was silent for two seconds, finally smiled at Song Yinan, and said, "I saw it wrong."

    Song Yinan stayed with Jing Can in Huihe for one night. Early the next morning, Jing Can saw her off at the train station. Before leaving, Song Yinan took her bag from Jing Can, and suddenly said with a smile: "That rooftop, if you want to use it for something, you can do as you please."

    Jing Can was obviously shocked. He didn''t expect Song Yinan to say this out of the blue.

    "Xiao Can, like I said before, this is where I grew up, and it''s also your home now, so you can do whatever you want, okay?"

    Song Yinan clearly understood that Jing Can was tight-lipped regarding the things he liked. He didn''t like to make demands, and moreover, never took the initiative to ask for anything. He has always been like this since he was a child. Even tiny things such as liking to eat mangoes, Song Yinan only realised it after moving in for quite some time. Back then, she had just become Jing Can''s mother, and she was very cautious when speaking and when doing things. When he was a child, Jing Can was not naughty at all, and he was never noisy like other children. Even when they went shopping, Song Yinan would ask him what he wanted to eat and Jing Can wouldn''t answer. Even when standing in front of the fruit stand, Song Yinan would also ask him to pick a fruit he wanted to eat, but Jing Can never picked any. Initially, Song Yinan thought it was because he was not familiar with her, so he couldn¡¯t choose. But later on, she found out that Jing Can was just like this. As if inside his small world, the words ¡°I want¡± did not seem to exist. At most, for the things that he liked more, he will stare at them just a few more times. Song Yinan''s emotions were soft and abundant since she was a child, so it was natural that she genuinely felt distressed for Jing Can. She felt that because of Jing Zaixing¡¯s upbringing, Jing Can can be this taciturn and calm. From then on, she had been trying to coax Jing Can, telling him that if he liked something, he could tell his mother. There was no way to know if this kind of guidance could bring about results. Afterwards, Jing Can slowly grew up. Although like before, he still didn¡¯t take the initiative to tell her what things he liked and disliked, whenever she asked him to choose, he can already choose the things he liked for himself.

    She couldn''t completely guess what Jing Can was thinking about yesterday, but with that sort of behaviour, Song Yinan believed that Jing Can must have had an unspoken request.

    Qiqi: Song Yinan deserves the best stepmum award!( ??????????? )

 CH 6

    Early that Monday morning, Jing Can¡¯s biological clock woke him up. He sat at the desk in the living room and read a book for a while. When it was almost time, he got up and got ready to leave.

    Speaking of which, actually, He Pingyi didn''t specifically make arrangements with Jing Can to bring him up to school every day. But after the first time, they seemed to have made a silent agreement. Every day at the same time, Jing Can would step out of the house. And as soon as he stood outside the gate, from the end of the road, he could see He Pingyi ride a small electric scooter, watching him traverse the distance until he came near.

    Jing Can would stare in that direction each time, until He Pingyi would stop at his side and say, "Good morning."

    To Jing Can, any person and thing would always start from being unfamiliar until he got used to them. He Pingyi''s appearance was like that too.

    "What did you do during the weekend?"

    "I went to the supermarket with my mother." Riding pillion, Jing Can has now gotten used to leaning forwards slightly and raising his voice at He Pingyi.

    "The supermarket? What a coincidence, I also went. You went shopping in the supermarket two days ago?" He was not paying attention to the change of the traffic light and suddenly hit the brakes. Jing Can was caught off guard and due to the inertia, his face knocked into He Pingyi''s back.

    "My bad, my bad," He Pingyi turned around, and quickly admitted his mistake, "I was distracted and didn¡¯t see that the light was about to change. Did you get hurt?"

    Jing Can quickly shook his head. He Pingyi''s body build was relatively broad, not like the thin body type that was popular nowadays. If he had to describe it, it should most resemble the appearance of figures sketched by fashion designers.

    Soft, with vigour, warm... Even though he straightened his body in a panic, so many adjectives appeared in Jing Can''s mind simultaneously. He glanced up, met He Pingyi''s eyes filled with concern, and immediately felt the cheeks that had just touched He Pingyi rapidly heat up, wreaking havoc to his ears and neck. In embarrassment, Jing Can shoved both hands into his school uniform¡¯s pockets seeking stability. His fingers accidentally touched two slightly cool objects and got a shock. After that reaction, he lowered his head, put his hands together and worriedly clenched them.

    This was the rush hour period when students arrived at school. Jing Can followed He Pingyi to go park the bike, all the while keeping his hands in his pockets and sneaking glances at the people around them. He Pingyi was solely engrossed in locking the bike, not noticing his small movements. And so, after standing up straight, He Pingyi got a scare by the mango that suddenly appeared in front of him. His gaze followed the arm holding the mango towards Jing Can. Jing Can looked into his eyes in all seriousness, and said slowly, "For you."

    Before He Pingyi could speak, Jing Can stuffed the mango into his hand and squeezed into the crowd past him.

    "Hey, wait a minute..." Seeing that this person was about to slip away, He Pingyi quickly tugged at Jing Can''s arm. Before he could organise the next sentence, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the pocket on the other side of Jing Can''s school uniform. He Pingyi immediately had a hunch. He raised his hand, pointed to the bulging pocket that was hanging low with his key, and deliberately teased Jing Can. "Only gave me one?"

    Jing Can stared blankly and afterwards immediately appeared ill at ease. He Pingyi watched his face turn red up to the tips of his ears, and just as he was about to speak, Jing Can quickly fished out another mango from his pocket and foisted it on him.

    "I..." Jing Can raised his eyes and looked at He Pingyi.

    What this looked like, Jing Can himself probably didn''t know. But seeing such an unconsciously aggrieved expression from up close, the lethal power was a bit too great for He Pingyi. He Pingyi tugged at Jing Can''s hand and shook it, his eyes fixated on Jing Can''s face, unable to move away.

    "I bought three in total, and I ate one yesterday..."

    "Jing Can." Nearby, a female student suddenly called Jing Can, interrupting what he was already unable to say.

    "Hey." Normally, Jing Can¡¯s reaction would be rather slow. However, this time he actually turned his head quickly and responded.

    He Pingyi also looked over along with him, and at first glance, felt that the girl looked familiar, but couldn''t remember where he had seen her before. Moreover, he was still lost in that expression in Jing Can''s eyes. How could he even muster the energy to try to remember other people.

    The girl didn''t say anything else, she just waved her hand in greeting, and left with her companion. On the other hand, Jing Can seemed to have found a rhythm from within this minor interruption. He quickly said to He Pingyi, "The bell is about to ring, I''m going first."

    He Pingyi, who had his hand shaken off for the first time, leaned against the railing, watched Jing Can scamper away and turn a corner at the end of the narrow corridor. He weighed the two mangoes in his hand, smelled them, and grinned.

    They were quite fragrant.

    In the first part of self-study in the morning, He Pingyi didn''t do anything else. He just took the two mangoes and clutched them in his hand. Wang Xiaowei was pretentiously holding a book, watching his deskmate contemplating the two mangoes, giggling stupidly. Ten minutes later, he poked He Pingyi with his arm and said, "If you really don''t know which one to eat first, I''ll eat one first on your behalf."

    He Pingyi didn''t move his eyes, and waved his hand, "Go away."

    "Oh oh oh," Wang Xiaowei moved closer, and in the spirit of gossip and entertainment cultivated by his younger sister, asked "Which little miss gave this to you, let me quickly see, see what kind of love proverbs are written on it. Isn¡¯t it a promise of undying love?"

    "Tsk." He Pingyi held the two mangoes and moved his hands aside.

    "Tell me."

    "Don''t be annoying."

    "So boring." Wang Xiaowei, who completely couldn''t see the gossip potential, retracted his neck, slumped his waist, on the desk in mud-like paralysis. "The deskmate is not cute, life is boring."

    He Pingyi didn''t seem to hear Wang Xiaowei''s grumbling and he stared at the two mangoes for a while. With reluctance, he turned his face slightly towards Wang Xiaowei, and asked, "Do you have a marker pen?"

    Wang Xiaowei gave He Pingyi an empty look, took one out of the desk drawer, and slapped it on his desk.

    He Pingyi pulled out the pen cap, randomly took out a piece of draft paper, and drew a stroke: "It''s too thick, is there a thinner one?"

    Seeing that He Pingyi was finally willing to look at him, Wang Xiaowei was silent for two seconds, turned his head towards the textbook and recited loudly: "Ah, yikes! How dangerously high! The daunting route into the region of Shu is more daunting than climbing the sky.¡±

    There was a flag-raising ceremony on Mondays. He Pingyi stood behind Wang Xiaowei. He saw the boy in front of Wang Xiaowei turn around, and he asked, "Is it Class Eight who is raising the flag today?"

    Wang Xiaowei didn''t speak, he clicked his tongue sharply, turned his head to the side of the sports field, and smiled like a flower in bloom.

    He Pingyi also looked in the direction of Class 8, but he was not looking towards the same person that Wang Xiaowei and the others were looking at.

    Wang Xiaowei and the boy in front of him soon started slinging their arms over each other¡¯s shoulders, sighing with each other, exclaiming how life as a senior high school student was beautiful, and there were many fairies in the world. Someone said, "How can there be someone this good-looking?"

    These words reached He Pingyi''s ears. He Pingyi crossed his arms, stared at Jing Can, and fully approved, "Yeah, how can there be someone so good-looking?"

    He Pingyi was purely and unconsciously talking to himself, but Wang Xiaowei thought a ghost came out from behind. He turned his head and with a face full of trepidation looked at He Pingyi who suddenly expressed his opinion on this kind of discussion. But he saw He Pingyi looking in the direction of Class Eight, revealing a smile similar to when he looked at the mangoes just a moment ago.

    "Damn..." Wang Xiaowei, frightened by the speculation in his heart, immediately hit He Pingyi with his fist.

    "Huh?" He Pingyi turned his head to look at him, "What are you doing?"

    Out of protection for his tablemate, Wang Xiaowei released the buddy in front of him and pushed him forward. He then approached He Pingyi and asked in a low voice, "Your mango is not from Wen Xiangying, is it?"

    Wen Xiangying...

    He Pingyi felt like he had heard this name before.

    He seriously tried to remember for a moment, but he couldn¡¯t recall, and asked Wang Xiaowei, "Who?"

    The flag-raising ceremony was about to begin. Chen Ji, who was standing at the back of the line, saw that the two people in front of him were still talking, and came over to warn them. Wang Xiaowei had no choice but to turn around reluctantly. But not long after, Wang Xiaowei took advantage of Chen Ji walking towards the front of the line, and turned around again: "You..."

    "Oh, no, no," He Pingyi said, raised his eyelids, and glanced at Jing Can, "Although I can''t remember clearly, it''s not her. You, stop talking."

    Jing Can was standing fifth in line with the other boys from Class Eight, his location at the very front, a little far away from He Pingyi who was standing at the end of the line. But luckily, He Pingyi''s height was enough for him to see Jing Can clearly across three classes. Hence, the flag-raising ceremony was not as boring as before.

    The flag-raising team included a flag-raiser, a flag-bearer, and someone who delivers a speech under the flag. Originally, He Pingyi didn''t know who Wen Xiangying was, but during this flag-raising ceremony, he remembered the girl who greeted Jing Can early that morning. She was memorable because first, she delivered an impromptu speech beneath the flag. Second, because after her speech, she raised three objections to the school¡¯s recent requirement that girls should either cut their hair short or tie it up in a ponytail.

    This was the first time that students have openly protested against school policies in this manner. The students, who were already standing listlessly, raised their heads and looked towards the platform. He Pingyi glanced at the back of Class Eight and saw the class teacher wrinkle his brows, looking at Wen Xiangying who was fluently delivering her speech. He Pingyi silently adjusted his line of sight and it landed on Jing Can. He saw Jing Can also tilting his head, dazedly looking at the platform.

    They were obviously far away from each other, but for some reason, He Pingyi was certain that Jing Can must be lost in thought. Thinking of this, He Pingyi felt his chest swell. At the very least, he felt that Jing Can already revealed more facial expressions in front of him.

    This unconventional speech directly influenced the discussion after the flag-raising ceremony, causing the din over the sports field to increase by a number of decibels. He Pingyi didn''t do anything else, and immediately after they were dismissed, he stepped forward with his long legs, inserted himself and walked slowly beside Jing Can.

    "Why were you in a daze just now?" He glanced left and then right, bowed his head slightly, looked at Jing Can''s profile and asked, "Thinking about those two mangoes?"

    "No!" Jing Can rarely frowned at He Pingyi, and refuted him somewhat anxiously, "I''m not that stingy!"

    He Pingyi choked back his laughter and didn''t speak. The two walked for a while, and when they were about to reach the stairs, Jing Can suddenly raised the hand hanging by his side, and touched He Pingyi''s arm.

    He Pingyi looked over at him and heard him whisper, "It''s my fault..."

    "Huh?" He Pingyi didn''t understand. He thought it was too noisy around and misheard. He lowered his head close to Jing Can: "What fault?"

    "I should have given you both mangoes."

    Jing Can didn''t let He Pingyi know, but he spent the entire self-study period in regret. The more he thought about it, the more ashamed he became, and the more he couldn''t understand what his head was thinking at that time. Two mangoes were already too little, why didn¡¯t he give all to He Pingyi? Why did he keep one for himself? This person invited him to eat chicken cutlets, took him to and from school, and he only gave him one mango.

    Seeing that He Pingyi still didn''t speak, Jing Can wanted to explain more, but didn''t know how to start. He finally lowered his head in dejection

    "What are you thinking about?" He Pingyi''s silence during this time was actually due to some astonishment from Jing Can''s display, so he quickly explained, "I was teasing you."

    They were already on the second floor, standing at the top of the stairs. In the crowd, He Pingyi raised his hand and rubbed his head, "I was really teasing you. I ate a mango just now, it''s super sweet."

    Jing Can raised his head and glimpsed at him, wondering if he should believe him or not. Or even if he believed it, obviously he had dug himself into a dead-end and would not be able to come out for a while. The expression on Jing Can''s face didn''t ease up much, but he cheered up and said goodbye to He Pingyi with some reluctance.

    His mood was low, but everyone around him was very excited. Many students gathered together, on one hand praising Wen Xiangying for her bravery, and on the other, expressing that if the school blamed her, they would definitely back Wen Xiangying up. In comparison, Wen Xiangying, the person involved, was serene as if nothing had happened. With her long hair still draped over her shoulders, she directly walking to Jing Can''s side, and tapped the desk twice.

    "Last week''s essay composition can''t be delayed any longer."

    Jing Can nodded, and reached into the desk compartment to find his essay paper. Unexpectedly, when he explored inside, he didn''t touch the composition paper, but instead touched something slightly cool and a little soft.

    After only feeling it twice, Jing Can knew what it was.

    His heart palpitated violently at once. His eyes following his actions, he forced himself to remain calm, carefully putting the thing in his hand aside, and continued to search for the composition paper.

    One hand pulled out the essay paper, the other hand remained in the drawer, reluctant to take it out.

    After Wen Xiangying left, his deskmate also happened to run to chat with others. Jing Can grabbed that cool object and pulled his hand out bit by bit.

    He lowered his head and furtively looked at the yellow mango in the gap between his body and the desk

    Unexpectedly, there were pictures and words written on it.

    Jing Can turned the mango around, and saw a small head with large eyes, wearing glasses, with a dazed expression on.

    Lifting the corner of his mouth slightly, he gently turned the mango 180 degrees, and saw the words written on the other side ¡ª¡ª "one for each person".

    Jing Can was by the window, and a ray of sunlight shone down coincidentally on these words. Jing Can felt that his eyes were burning hot from the illumination.

    Unable to restrain the corners of his mouth, Jing Can made a serious and objective comparison. This feeling right now was even sweeter than when he ate the mango for the first time.