The crowd had dispersed, leaving only Chen Luzhou sitting in his seat.
“Want a drink? If not, I’ll take it away.”
As the alcohol supply was running low, someone came over to Chen Luzhou’s table, noticing an unopened bottle and intending to take it.
Before he could respond, Little Fatty, peeling pistachios nearby, casually interjected, “I think that bottle belongs to Rui Jun’s girl. She hasn’t had any yet, but you can take it for now.”
“Alright, let her know later,” the person replied perfunctorily, turning to leave.
“Wait, leave it there,” Chen Luzhou said without looking up. He was focused on replying to messages on his phone, his baseball cap pulled low. The classmate who came for the bottle didn’t immediately recognize him, only noting that his style of dress resembled Chen Luzhou’s. Thinking Chen Luzhou hadn’t come today, he quietly observed for a while. Little Fatty, nonchalant, leisurely reminded him, “Stop staring, it’s your big brother.”
Chen Luzhou, benefiting from his ID card, was older than most of his classmates. Coupled with his outstanding grades, some classmates directly called him “big brother.” However, everyone knew Chen Luzhou didn’t drink. The handsome guy was disciplined and image-conscious. He didn’t smoke or drink and was quite gentlemanly. So, the classmate started to make excuses, “It’s not for me, you see. The girls are short on drinks. The owner said we’re too many, and they’ve run out of stock. He’s sent someone to buy more, but it’ll cost extra.”
Chen Luzhou finally looked up from his phone, revealing indifferent eyes under his cap brim, dark and gleaming as if dipped in water. He coolly replied, “There are girls here too. Let the class monitor figure it out herself. It’s her drink, you’d better not touch it.”
“I’m going to report you to the class monitor, you traitor,” the guy huffed as he left.
Chen Luzhou was used to being cursed at. Ever since he suggested the disciplinary teacher patrol with boxing gloves, he could hear the art class students cursing him in various ways wherever he went. He didn’t care about not being nice on this last day anyway.
Little Fatty suddenly spoke up, using Chen Luzhou’s nickname, “Damn, I’m really worried for you. Aren’t you most afraid of rumors?”
Indeed, Chen Luzhou was quite careful about maintaining distance from girls at school. Given his looks, just walking with a somewhat pretty girl would immediately spark rumors about them dating. Chen Luzhou had experienced firsthand how quickly gossip spread, even in schools with the strictest discipline, since middle school.
Everyone knew this, which was why the female class monitor instinctively clarified earlier when others teased her. Because if rumors reached Chen Luzhou’s ears, he would keep his distance from her. Little Fatty had witnessed Chen Luzhou’s rumor-dispelling speed, comparable to a rocket launch.
Chen Luzhou grunted, still texting Xu Zhi with his head down, “And then?”
Cr: “Aren’t you coming over? Everyone’s gone.”
Little Fatty looked around to see if Xu Zhi had returned, then leaned in to whisper meaningfully in Chen Luzhou’s ear: “You might not have seen her since you just arrived, but Rui Jun’s girl, she looks just like the girls from our school’s art class. Super pretty, with a slim waist, long legs, and really big breasts.”
“You checked her out?”
“Well… I glanced a couple of times,” Little Fatty said, clicking his tongue with lingering interest. “She’s too beautiful, I didn’t dare look closely—” Before he could finish, perhaps in a flash or a second or two, he felt himself suddenly jolt. He and his chair were unexpectedly kicked sideways about half a meter. “…Chen Luzhou, why did you kick me?”
Chen Luzhou sat back down sideways, looking at his phone. He unzipped his tracksuit, revealing the T-shirt and broad, straight chest underneath. Lowering his cap brim to cover half his face, his taut jawline barely visible, he languidly replied, “Oh, there was a mouse. It just scurried under your chair.”
“Really?” Little Fatty was skeptical.
“…I never lie,” Chen Luzhou said, thick-skinned.
“Right, you usually just trick people directly.”
Suddenly, the phone buzzed repeatedly. She had replied.
Xu Zhi: “Can’t you come over instead?”
Cr: “It’s not that I won’t come over. But believe it or not, if I stand up now, your bottle of beer won’t be safe.”
As soon as this message was sent, Chen Luzhou saw Xu Zhi put away her phone and prepare to come over. Feeling a bit uneasy, he sent another message.
Cr: “So I’m worth less than a bottle of Budweiser, huh? Miss Architect Xu.”
Xu Zhi replied while walking.
Xu Zhi: “I’m going to check if the barbecue is ready. Why don’t you just find a lock and chain yourself to the chair, Mr. Poet Chen.”
Chen Luzhou sighed helplessly after reading the message, seeing Xu Zhi change direction and head toward the tent.
Cr: “Can’t outsmart you.”
However, Chen Luzhou didn’t dare stand up, fearing that if he left, Xu Zhi’s drink would be taken. He knew his classmates too well. They were all top students recruited from various counties and cities, having participated in countless competitions and met numerous experts. So they never really looked up to anyone. If Xu Zhi had mentioned earlier that she was participating in the recording today, he could have at least said something to prevent her from being treated this way.
People came and went around him like flowing water, changing in waves, but no one could persuade him to move. Chen Luzhou was truly locked to the chair. Later, when Li Ke came to invite him to play Werewolf, he didn’t agree either. Sitting steady in his chair with his arms crossed, he looked up at Li Ke, his eyes under the cap brim holding some inexplicable temper, “Aren’t you inviting those two friends to play? Your diplomatic skills seem to be lacking, Keke.”
Chen Luzhou rarely called him that. They usually addressed each other as “Science God” or “Grass Lu.” This kind of affectionate reduplication carried an indescribable sarcastic tone.
Xu Zhi and Yang Yijing sat near the BBQ tent, where mostly girls gathered. Some girls had already started playing games. Xu Zhi and Yang Yijing were fortunately not left out; the girls were very enthusiastic, including them in everything. They asked if the two wanted anything grilled, and some girls even took the initiative to add Xu Zhi on WeChat. They mentioned that in a few days, they could check admission results, and if accepted, they could notify each other and book tickets together to go to school.
They already had an A University alumni group set up and asked Xu Zhi to let them know when she received her admission letter so they could add her to the group. Some girls complimented Xu Zhi, saying she was really beautiful, looking like a porcelain doll, and predicted that once she got to A University, boys would be lining up from her dorm to the school gate to pursue her. They advised her not to rush into a relationship and to choose carefully.
Yang Yijing, still a bit confused, chimed in, “Do you all start dating in college?”
“Not necessarily, but if you meet someone you like, you’ll probably date, right? It’s not like high school where you can only have secret crushes.”
“Has no one in your class ever dated?” Xu Zhi asked curiously.
“Of course, some have,” the girl gossiped in a low voice. “Our Science God dated before. The girl was initially in our class, but later, because the course intensity was too high for her to keep up, she transferred to a regular experimental class in the second year of high school. They broke up after that. So, you see, long-distance relationships, whether international or domestic, aren’t reliable.”
Yang Yijing: “There must be many in your class who have secret crushes on Chen Luzhou, right?”
“It’s okay, haha,” the girl laughed it off, adding, “There are more from other classes. Anyway, our corridor is the most crowded right after class ends, with people coming to see him under the pretense of looking for someone. He’s quite low-key usually, especially when he first entered high school. Nobody knew he was admitted through recommendation without taking the high school entrance exam or having any scores. Later, when people heard his father was very wealthy, they thought he bought his way in. But buying your way into our class would be asking for torture, right? So for the first midterm exam, everyone was looking forward to seeing what level he was at.”
Yang Yijing listened intently, occasionally glancing at the flawless guy leaning on his chair chatting with Li Ke. The two seemed to be discussing something, with Li Ke thoughtfully glancing in their direction from time to time. Being gazed at so profoundly by the provincial top scorer made Yang Yijing wonder if there was something on his face, absent-mindedly rubbing it now and then.
Xu Zhi wondered if she would have had a chance to enter this class if she had studied hard in middle school, though the possibility seemed slim. It wasn’t easy to become the top scorer in a county or city.
“Then what happened?”
“Then he came in first, far ahead of the rest. He outscored the second place, our Science God, by nearly twenty points. Science God was excited, saying he hadn’t met a worthy opponent in years. Chen Luzhou was finally one.”
Yang Yijing gnawed on a chicken foot, feeling a bit uneasy. “So this is the world of academic gods. If someone outscored me by twenty points, I’d be devastated and bury my head in the sand like an ostrich.”
Just as he finished speaking, the girls playing games suddenly started making a commotion. Looking over, they saw Li Ke and Chen Luzhou approaching. Chen Luzhou was carrying an unopened can of beer, not drinking it, but taking it wherever he went.
The two walked over from the lawn dining table, seemingly chatting casually. Chen Luzhou had one hand in his pocket and kept his head down, watching the grass as he walked, probably to avoid stepping in dog poop. From this angle, Li Ke looked even thinner than him, like a skeleton covered in skin – the type whose ribs you could see through his shirt when the wind blew. Chen Luzhou was tall with broad shoulders and a slim waist. His back was wide, and under his open tracksuit, there was probably a thin layer of muscle – strong and lean, proportionate without any unnecessary lines. Being held by him would probably feel very safe.
Someone had lit a bonfire by the tent. Xu Zhi happened to be sitting by the fire with Yang Yijing and another girl. The flickering light seemed to melt that person’s figure, making him appear soft and heated, like a cloud scorched by the sun – unreachable yet tempting to touch.
Seeing him walk towards her, Xu Zhi’s thoughts might have differed from Chen Luzhou’s. Chen Luzhou wanted to introduce these people to her, understanding that they’d all be classmates at A University later. But for Xu Zhi, this circle of top students was neither here nor there. Even if she went to Beijing, she probably wouldn’t keep in touch with them. She didn’t want to complicate her relationship with him. Once their social circles intertwined, things would be completely different.
Would she have to occasionally go out to dinner with them in the future and listen to them reminisce about past campus experiences related to him? With his strong presence, how could classmates’ casual conversations not include him?
Wouldn’t that just make people miss him more? And then what? He’d be thriving abroad, perhaps even blissfully dating a girlfriend, completely forgetting about this summer before senior year. Just thinking about it made Xu Zhi feel like she’d be trapped by a scumbag for her four years of college.
So, as Chen Luzhou was about to cross the bonfire towards her, Xu Zhi unhurriedly stood up from her chair and asked Yang Yijing, “I’m going to grill some mushrooms. Do you want any?”
Chen Luzhou paused, his fingers tightening slightly on the beer can. He watched the slender, tall shadow in the dim bonfire light. Her waist was indeed very thin. As she walked past the girls from his class, one of them touched her waist and exclaimed admiringly, “Xu Zhi, how are you so thin?”
Standing by the grill, she focused on brushing chili sauce and cumin on the food, sincerely replying, “I jump rope every day. You can try it; you’ll see results in a week. In ninth grade, I weighed about 110 pounds. After a year, I dropped to 90 pounds.”
“How much do you weigh now?”
“About 90 pounds.”
“Wow, weighing less than 100 pounds usually means either flat-chested or short, but you’re neither. I’m so envious.”
“Try jump rope. It’s faster than running.”
…
After the BBQ, there was a small fireworks display for Li Ke, the provincial top scorer. Li Ke humbly said he didn’t deserve it, stating that Chen Luzhou was the true provincial top scorer, given his highest raw score in the province. Chen Luzhou couldn’t be bothered to respond, leisurely leaning back in his chair watching a movie. He was now sitting next to Li Ke, in the middle of the table, with four or five people between him and Xu Zhi.
Li Ke was the only one who knew about their relationship. He suddenly stood up, walked to Xu Zhi, and politely said, “Let me switch seats with you. Yang Yijing just asked me a question about quantum mechanics that I haven’t finished explaining.”
Hearing this, Chen Luzhou lost interest in his movie, locked his phone, and tossed it on the table, giving a speechless look to the meddling Li Ke.
As if he needed to play matchmaker.
Hearing chairs being moved, Chen Luzhou also stood up and walked out. But unexpectedly, Xu Zhi was also walking out, not heading in his direction at all, probably not knowing where to go. In the urgency of the moment, they both chose the same and only available path – towards the restroom.
The classmates behind them were dumbfounded for a moment, then began to speculate and discuss freely, finally concluding –
“Honestly, Chen Luzhou’s avoidance is a bit obvious. He’s truly a model of propriety!”
“He should avoid someone like Xu Zhi. She’s even prettier than the girls in the art class. If he’s not careful, she could be the next Gu Yan.”
“If I were Chen Luzhou, I’d have PTSD after the Gu Yan incident. I’d run away at the sight of any beautiful girl. Everyone in our school knows what happened. Gu Yan had a one-sided crush, but because she had just ranked first in the art exam and was trending, netizens didn’t believe us. We even argued with them in the comment section. They insisted Chen Luzhou had the face of a scumbag. But we spend every day with him, and he’s such a principled person. How could he possibly be involved in anything ambiguous with someone else?”
**
The restroom was on the hotel’s back hill. Since they weren’t staying overnight, the hotel directed them to use the public toilets on the back hill. Xu Zhi followed Chen Luzhou, watching him stride through the hotel lobby and back into the night. The moonlight stretched his shadow long, and he walked slower and slower. Xu Zhi trudged along, staring at the ground. That sharp, long black shadow inched closer and closer to her, like the ebb and flow of ocean waves, about to wash over her ankles. Finally, he simply stopped, and Xu Zhi, caught off guard, stepped right into his shadow. It was as if the wave in her heart crashed against her foot, the warm seawater gently brushing against every inch of her vibrant skin.
“You stepped on my shadow,” he said, turning his head without moving.
Xu Zhi sighed and yielded to him, “Then I’ll walk in front.” After a moment, she turned back and said seriously, “Don’t step on my shadow.”
“…”
When Xu Zhi came out of the restroom, Chen Luzhou was still leaning against the streetlight opposite in the same posture as when he went in. The night seemed to elongate his entire figure, making him look particularly slim and sharp. Xu Zhi suspected he hadn’t gone in at all, so she walked over and asked, “Are you going back?”
“Do you have somewhere to go?” Chen Luzhou asked, arms crossed, looking down at her.
“I just saw a small slope on the back hill where we can watch the fireworks,” Xu Zhi checked the time on her phone. “Isn’t there a fireworks display at 8:30?”
Besides fireworks, the small slope on the back hill was also home to countless mosquitoes and flies. They had barely sat down when Xu Zhi noticed several mosquito bites on Chen Luzhou’s hands. She suddenly remembered the first time she saw him, in the corridor of the senior year review building, where various brands of used and unused mosquito repellents were strewn about. At the time, she thought this boy must be hard to please. Quite picky in personality.
Seeing more and more mosquito bites on his hands, Xu Zhi couldn’t help but say, “Why don’t we go back? If this continues, I’m afraid your hands will swell up like pig’s trotters.”
Just as she was about to stand up, Chen Luzhou pulled her back. “Let’s watch from here. Fewer people, quieter.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Mm,” Chen Luzhou didn’t seem to mind much. They sat side by side on the grass, Chen Luzhou with one leg stretched out and one bent, hands propped behind him, head tilted back to look at the starry sky. Then he casually asked, “Does it remind you of the night we watched shooting stars?”
“A bit, but the sky that night was more beautiful than now. I think Uncle Fu should open up more stargazing spots. It would make money.”
Chen Luzhou gave her a cold glance, “Why don’t you just major in finance? Huh? You’re so good at calculations.”
A master at ruining the mood.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Xu Zhi retorted. “Why don’t you study National Defense Electronic Technology? First-class at keeping secrets.”
Chen Luzhou chuckled and said lazily, “My mom used to say I was the champion of sarcasm, but now I realize you’re the real number one.”
“No, my dad says I’ve always been the champion of outward compliance and inner resistance,” Xu Zhi corrected.
Chen Luzhou ignored her and looked at his watch, his expression relaxed. “The fireworks start in five minutes. Do you want to hear my explanation first, or watch the fireworks?”
“No need for explanations. We’re not in any special relationship. I just realized why you can be so confident. Indeed, Chen Luzhou, you deserve it.”
“Fine, then you explain,” he said.
Xu Zhi:?
Chen Luzhou laughed coldly. He brought his hands back from behind him, hunched his back, and sat cross-legged on the grass, his gaze falling sideways on her face. “What was that about avoiding me earlier? Am I so embarrassing to be seen with?”
“I just don’t want our social interactions to be too complicated, you know?” Xu Zhi said honestly.
“What do you mean by not wanting our social interactions to be complicated?”
Xu Zhi remembered that the night sky that evening was very clean, with few stars. She thought Chen Luzhou’s phone must have malfunctioned because the fireworks didn’t explode five minutes later, but in the next second after she finished speaking. Suddenly, a burst of light exploded on the horizon, countless brilliant sparks falling from overhead with wind and rain, breaking through with overwhelming force. Her eyes were filled with light and fire, and successive “boom boom boom” sounds rang in her ears, deafening and making her chest feel slightly warm.
The crowd’s screams and cheers were jubilant, rising and falling. She vaguely heard someone shouting Chen Luzhou and Li Ke’s names; after all, this fireworks display was for them.
Xu Zhi looked into his eyes, which reflected the passionate light of the fireworks, and said softly, “Because the puppy is wagging its tail.”
Did you hear? Because the puppy is wagging its tail, the cheers for you will never stop. The rain in Qingyi might still fall often, but in this boiling sea of people—
I’m saying I like you.
Author’s Note: For those who didn’t understand the last part:
The puppy wagging its tail — A dog wagging its tail is a way of expressing liking someone.
The cheers correspond to the fireworks set off for the top scorers. The rain in Qingyi might still fall often — Zhou Zhou’s life is brilliant and passionate, but fireworks can’t be set off on rainy days. However, whether it’s sunny or rainy, Zhou Zhou’s life will be boiling and full of flowers and applause.
Saying I like you in the boiling sea of people — I’m just one among many.