It was class time, and the silence was profound.
In the dimly lit triangular space of the stairwell, only the sound of their breathing broke the stillness.
The air carried faint scents of fresh grass and orange blossoms.
Lu Xingyan was completely stunned.
What was she doing?
Did she not know that boys and girls shouldn’t have physical contact?
Didn’t she know that boys’ lips are very sensitive?
Why did she look so calm, as if she were just applying lipstick to herself?
Damn, she’s too close! Move away from me!
Before Lu Xingyan could finish mentally dramatizing the situation, Shen Xingruo withdrew her hand.
“All done.”
She quietly exhaled and took a step back.
Lu Xingyan stood there, motionless and silent, his gaze falling slightly on Shen Xingruo’s lips.
It wasn’t until Shen Xingruo pulled him to the classroom door that he snapped out of his daze.
Shen Xingruo knocked lightly on the door and called out, “May we come in?”
Seeing the two of them together, Mr. Wang Youfu was slightly surprised.
When he first entered the classroom, Mr. Wang noticed that the two attractive students were absent.
He casually asked about them, but no one in the class knew where they were. Only the class monitor, He Siyue, mentioned that neither of them had attended the morning assembly.
Mr. Wang didn’t pay much attention to it, intending to look for them after class.
He had already imagined numerous reasons for Shen Xingruo’s absence. As for Lu Xingyan, he had already mentally stamped him as a class skipper.
“What happened? Why are you just getting here?”
Shen Xingruo, calm as ever, looked at Mr. Wang and said, “Mr. Wang, on my way to school this morning, I saw Lu Xingyan sitting by the roadside, unable to move. I asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t say. He looked very pale, so I suggested taking a taxi to the hospital. He refused, saying it was an old ailment and didn’t need a hospital visit.”
She turned her head and glanced at Lu Xingyan, “Lu Xingyan has a chronic back problem. He often experiences intermittent soreness and numbness. I went to the pharmacy to buy him some medicine, and after applying it, we rested by the roadside for half an hour before he could walk again.”
Just as Mr. Wang was about to ask something, Shen Xingruo continued, “Mr. Wang, I didn’t have my phone with me, and Lu Xingyan’s phone was dead, so we couldn’t call to inform you. Sorry about that.”
Mr. Wang paused, his mouth opening and closing as if reconsidering his next words.
Hmm… the explanation seems complete and believable.
Besides, with Lu Xingyan looking so pale and expressionless, it seemed like he was ill.
As Mr. Wang let his thoughts wander, he speculated that Lu Xingyan’s frequent tardiness might be due to his back pain.
So young and not even an adult, how did he end up with chronic back pain?
Mr. Wang looked at Lu Xingyan with some pity and offered a few words of encouragement, advising him to seek proper treatment. He then praised Shen Xingruo for her helpfulness, calling her a role model for everyone. After that, he let them return to their seats.
Only half the class remained.
Before long, the bell rang to signal the end of the period.
Shen Xingruo helped Ruan Wen carry a stack of workbooks, following Mr. Wang out of the classroom.
As soon as Mr. Wang left, Lu Xingyan’s friends swarmed around him—
“Whoa, Xingyan, what’s going on? You have back problems???”
“Dude, if you’re not feeling well, you should just take a sick leave and go home.”
“When did you get this chronic issue, Xingyan? I had no idea!”
“Is it a herniated disc or what? You need to treat that early. This stuff can mess with your future happiness!”
Lu Xingyan, who had been resting his head on one hand and spinning a pen with the other, was suddenly surrounded by these chattering friends, all talking about his “back.” His brows twitched, and his wandering mind started to refocus.
From their babble, he pieced together the situation he had overlooked earlier.
He got annoyed. “Can you all shut up? Who said I have back problems?”
They all turned in unison to look at Shen Xingruo, who had just returned to the classroom after delivering the workbooks.
The bell for the next class rang, and the group scattered. Shen Xingruo returned to her seat, took out her book, and said to Lu Xingyan, “By the way, you should borrow some makeup remover from one of the girls you know.”
Makeup remover, my foot. During that half of the class, he’d unconsciously licked his lips twenty-eight times.
Lu Xingyan didn’t respond, directly asking, “Did you just tell everyone I have back problems?”
“…”
“You heard what I said. What’s the issue?”
She looked quite innocent.
“If you wanted me to pretend to be sick, couldn’t you have said I had a stomach ache and sent me to the infirmary?”
Shen Xingruo thought for a moment. “You have a bit of a reputation at Mingli. If you were too sick to walk and needed a girl to take you to the infirmary, wouldn’t that be embarrassing? Just imagine that scene…”
“Besides, realistically speaking, if you were in too much pain to walk, I wouldn’t be able to help you to the infirmary. You’re too heavy for me to support.”
“Besides, the infirmary is a place with so many loopholes. If Mr. Wang suddenly decided to check, we’d be exposed.”
“…”
This was devilish logic.
Lu Xingyan stared at her for a while. “Then imagine me being unable to walk because of back pain, sitting by the roadside with a girl beside me. Doesn’t that look like we’re begging for money? How is that dignified?”
“And do you know how important back strength is for a man? You can’t just make up stories about it!”
Shen Xingruo paused, “You’re such a fragile soul.”
What?
Insulting who?
Shen Xingruo added, “Don’t stare at me like that. Do you want me to go around clarifying that Lu Xingyan’s back is perfectly fine, capable of seven times a night? — That’s not going to happen.”
Lu Xingyan was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter out of sheer exasperation. “What nonsense are you spouting? You’re a girl, you—”
“Shut up, the teacher’s here.”
Thanks to Shen Xingruo, Lu Xingyan was plagued all morning by rumors about his “bad back.”
The news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the entire second-year students, and soon even the first-year girls who had crushes on Lu Xingyan knew about it.
Nowadays, girls are practical.
Being handsome might be attractive, but you need substance along with it. Eating plain rice all the time leads to malnutrition.
So during the break, when Lu Xingyan was mentioned, it was always with a tone of regret.
At noon, while resting in the dormitory, Shi Qin also brought up the topic, asking Shen Xingruo, “Hey Xingruo, why didn’t you come back to the dorm last night?”
“I had some things to do, couldn’t make it back.”
Shen Xingruo, feeling sleepy, sat on the bed and pulled back the covers, ready to lie down.
Zhai Jiajing, who was reading on her bed, looked up at her and asked, “By the way, Xingruo, do you live with your family here in Xingcheng? Where is your house? I don’t think you’ve mentioned it before.”
“I live near Luoxing Lake now.”
Shen Xingruo had already snuggled into bed and put on a steam eye mask.
Shi Qin exclaimed, “Luoxing Lake? The housing prices there are insanely high! We looked at a house there last year but it was just too expensive!”
Li Ting, who had been silent, chimed in, “I heard that Lu Xingyan’s family also lives near Luoxing Lake, but they have a lakeside villa.”
Shi Qin remarked, “That’s not comparable. I think four or five of the housing developments around Luoxing Lake are owned by his family…”
Zhai Jiajing’s page-turning paused briefly.
After listening to Shi Qin and Li Ting discuss Luoxing Lake for a while, Zhai Jiajing suddenly chimed in, “Next time we go to the city library, we could visit Xingruo’s place too.”
She waited to see Shen Xingruo’s reaction.
“Xingruo, Xingruo?”
Shi Qin leaned closer and suddenly made a “shh” gesture, whispering, “Quiet, Xingruo’s asleep!”
After the nap, Shen Xingruo felt much better.
The first class in the afternoon was P.E., so they headed straight to the playground.
Walking along, the spring sunshine was warm but not scorching. Shi Qin and Zhai Jiajing were discussing the upcoming school anniversary while Shen Xingruo sipped on some milk, squinting at the blooming cherry blossoms not far away.
“Shen Xingruo!”
A clear male voice called from behind.
The three girls turned around.
He Siyue smiled as he approached and greeted them.
Then he naturally moved next to Shen Xingruo and said, “Shen Xingruo, Mingli’s school anniversary is coming up. Each class has to submit at least two programs for the celebration. Mr. Wang asked me to find out if any students have special talents. I heard you play the piano, so I wanted to ask if you’d like to submit a performance.”
Shen Xingruo replied, “I haven’t practiced in a long time.”
Siyue smiled gently, “That’s okay. You know our class is an experimental class with very few students with artistic talents. The school only requires us to submit programs, but they don’t have to be selected. Participation is enough.”
Shen Xingruo, not one to be shy or reserved, nodded after He Siyue’s explanation.
They continued chatting as they walked toward the playground.
Over at the small court, some boys were playing basketball. Looking closely, it was Lu Xingyan and his group.
They were in the middle of a break. After making a final three-pointer, Lu Xingyan and Li Chengfan walked to the sidelines to drink water.
The class hadn’t started yet, and many passing girls couldn’t help but steal glances and whisper among themselves.
The boys were used to it. As Li Chengfan often said, “What’s the fun in playing basketball without some girls to cheer us on?”
Usually, the guys would tease Lu Xingyan about the girls, and today was no exception, though the topic had shifted a bit.
Zhao Langming remarked, “Hey, Young Master Lu, do you know your morning antics have spread throughout the school?”
“What?”
Lu Xingyan didn’t react immediately.
Li Chengfan laughed and chimed in, “It’s about your bad back. A lot of girls are talking about it.”
The moment Lu Xingyan heard “bad back,” he felt a sudden surge of anger. He kicked out in frustration and snapped, “Back my ass! I told you I’m fine.”
His friends just thought he was embarrassed and angry, finding the situation particularly amusing.
Zhao Langming added fuel to the fire by mimicking the girls’ regretful tones, “Oh, Lu Xingyan is handsome, but it’s such a shame about his back.”
Lu Xingyan grabbed a water bottle and swung it at Zhao Langming’s head, his gaze cold. “Why don’t you worry about missing out on February 2262 instead?”
He had only heard Shen Xingruo mention that once on the train. Although he didn’t fully understand it, it sounded sophisticated enough to use as a comeback.
Recognizing the familiar phrase and voice, Shen Xingruo paused in her steps.
Almost instinctively, after delivering his retort, Lu Xingyan looked back.
Through the iron fence of the basketball court, their eyes met in mid-air.
And then, Lu Xingyan heard his clueless friend’s critical question—
“What? Why does 2262 have two Februaries?”