Dazzling and Eye-catching
It was a Tuesday.
With only three days left until the agreed match day, Chen Luobai’s group wouldn’t return to school until just before class. Zhou Anran had given up hoping to run into him anywhere outside the classroom.
In the afternoon, she went out for dinner with Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen, then returned directly to the classroom.
When she got back to her seat, Zhang Shuxian was in the front row, memorizing English vocabulary while eating a sandwich.
Yan Xingxi casually asked, “Why are you eating a sandwich here alone? Where’s Lou Yiqi?”
Zhang Shuxian didn’t look up: “She went to watch Chen Luobai’s training with Yin Yizhen. She completely forgot we had plans to eat together.”
Zhou Anran’s hand paused as she pulled out her chair.
Both Sheng Xiaowen and Yan Xingxi looked surprised.
“With who?” Yan Xingxi thought she had misheard.
Sheng Xiaowen asked at the same time, “Her and Yin Yizhen? What’s going on? How did she end up hanging out with Yin Yizhen?”
Zhang Shuxian still didn’t look up, just snorted, her mood clearly not good: “How would I know?”
The English teacher had said there would be a vocabulary quiz the next day, and other teachers had also assigned some homework. Yan Xingxi and Sheng Xiaowen didn’t ask further and returned to their seats.
Zhou Anran slowly sat down and took out her math homework.
Just before evening self-study began, Lou Yiqi returned to her seat.
Almost at the same time, Zhou Anran heard Zhu Ran complaining about being tired in the back, and Chen Luobai mockingly asking if he was already tired. Amidst the sound of chairs being dragged in the back row, she caught a glimpse of Lou Yiqi’s face, which couldn’t hide her excitement.
She pushed a small box of hard candy towards Zhang Shuxian: “Want some? Chen Luobai treated us.”
Zhou Anran’s fingertips tightened on her pen for a moment.
“Chen Luobai, Chen Luobai.” Zhang Shuxian looked up, her tone harsh, “Is Chen Luobai all you have in your head?”
Because the group of boys had just returned, the classroom was temporarily quite noisy, almost drowning out the pre-self-study bell. Zhang Shuxian’s words were actually quite low, and those not nearby couldn’t hear them, but Lou Yiqi still nervously glanced back.
Zhou Anran kept her head lowered as Lou Yiqi’s voice reached her ears again.
“What’s wrong with you? If you don’t want it, just say so. Why are you talking nonsense?”
The self-study bell rang at that moment.
The noise from both the front and back of the classroom ceased instantly.
Yan Xingxi pushed her draft book over from the side with a note: “Did they have a fight?”
Zhou Anran looked up slightly, seeing the box of hard candy Lou Yiqi had placed on the desk but hadn’t put away. She lowered her eyes and wrote back: “I don’t know. You should focus on memorizing vocabulary.”
Yan Xingxi drew a funny face and passed it back.
Zhou Anran couldn’t help but smile, but then felt an inexplicable bitterness rising in her heart.
She lowered her head to continue memorizing vocabulary, repeatedly writing down words with irregular spellings that were easy to mix up.
Her thoughts began to wander involuntarily.
What did “Chen Luobai treated us” mean?
When she came back to her senses, Zhou Anran found that among the row of English words, a conspicuous Chinese character had appeared.
She had written the character “Chen” extra.
Zhou Anran’s heart skipped a beat. She raised her hand to cover her draft book and looked up, realizing that everyone was seriously studying and no one had noticed her.
Her rapidly increasing heartbeat gradually calmed down.
Zhou Anran, half-covering the paper with her hand, used her pen to slowly cross out that character.
It was as if she was slowly pressing a secret that had almost been exposed back into the depths of her heart.
The atmosphere in the front row had turned cold.
Neither of them spoke to each other.
This continued until the end of morning classes the next day. After the physics teacher left the classroom, Zhou Anran tidied up the books on her desk and stood up, intending to go out for lunch with Yan Xingxi. She saw Zhang Shuxian hesitantly glance at Lou Yiqi.
“I—”
Lou Yiqi, whether she heard or not, heavily threw her pen onto the desk.
Zhang Shuxian’s unfinished words were cut off.
A sweet female voice came from behind.
“Yiqi, are you coming with us today?”
Zhou Anran unconsciously looked back and saw Yin Yizhen leaning against the back door of their classroom. Chen Luobai seemed to be just leaving through the back door.
At first glance, the boy’s arm appeared to almost brush against the girl’s shoulder.
Zhou Anran’s eyes felt as if they had been scalded, and she quickly averted her gaze.
“Coming, wait for me,” Lou Yiqi called back loudly, hastily taking her phone from her desk and stuffing it into her pocket before quickly walking towards the back door.
Zhang Shuxian lowered her head and rested it on the desk.
Yan Xingxi tugged at Zhou Anran’s arm: “Anran, let’s go. I’m starving.”
“Wait a moment,” Zhou Anran said softly, then pointed to Zhang Shuxian in the front row.
Yan Xingxi looked forward again and only then noticed that Zhang Shuxian’s shoulders seemed to be trembling slightly. She turned to Zhou Anran and silently asked, “Is she crying?”
Zhou Anran also mouthed back: “Seems like it.”
She then took out a pack of tissues from her desk, pulled out a few sheets, walked to the front, and gently tucked them into Zhang Shuxian’s hand.
Zhang Shuxian’s shoulders stopped shaking.
Zhou Anran asked softly, “What do you want to eat for lunch? Xingxi and I can bring something back for you.”
Zhang Shuxian didn’t respond, just shook her head.
Some classmates were already curiously looking in their direction. Zhou Anran thought that if she were crying, she definitely wouldn’t want to be surrounded.
She pressed her lips together and said quietly, “Then we’ll be going now.”
After eating lunch outside, Zhou Anran stopped by a convenience store to buy sandwiches. Remembering Zhang Shuxian crying at her desk earlier, she hesitated.
Zhang Shuxian had shared candy with them yesterday, so she probably preferred sweets.
Zhou Anran picked up an extra cake.
When the two returned to the classroom, Zhang Shuxian was sitting at her desk, head down, seemingly doing homework.
Zhou Anran stopped beside her: “Shuxian, have you eaten? I bought an extra cake, do you want it?”
Zhang Shuxian looked up, her eyes still red: “Okay, how much was it? I’ll pay you back.”
“No need,” Zhou Anran shook her head. “Didn’t you share candy with us yesterday?”
Zhang Shuxian didn’t stand on ceremony and took the cake from her: “Then I’ll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning.”
Zhou Anran sat back in her seat and carefully explained to Yan Xingxi a physics concept from the last class of the morning that she hadn’t understood.
After finishing the cake, Zhang Shuxian turned back to them and complained: “Actually, yesterday was my birthday. We had agreed to have dinner together, but she stood me up in the afternoon. She didn’t even apologize, and when I tried to make up first, she got angry and threw her pen.”
Zhou Anran and Lou Yiqi had always been on good terms.
Zhou Anran didn’t know how to respond, so she just said, “Well, happy belated birthday! Consider the cake as my gift to you, so you don’t need to bring me breakfast tomorrow.”
Yan Xingxi chimed in: “Happy birthday, Shuxian.”
Fortunately, Zhang Shuxian seemed to have just wanted to vent briefly and didn’t intend to discuss her fight with Lou Yiqi further. She changed the subject following their words: “Thanks. Can I join you for dinner this afternoon? I don’t want to eat alone.”
Zhou Anran nodded: “Sure, but we’re eating in the cafeteria today.”
“That’s perfect, I’m almost out of money,” Zhang Shuxian paused, her voice lowering, and the last sentence seemed more like she was talking to herself, “I saved for days, planning to treat her to a meal.”
Lou Yiqi again returned just before class started.
This time she was holding a bottle of milk, though it wasn’t clear if she had bought it herself or if someone else had treated her.
At the end of the afternoon classes, Lou Yiqi’s milk bottle remained untouched. She closed her book and turned to ask Zhang Shuxian, “Where are we eating this afternoon?”
Zhang Shuxian replied: “I’m eating with Anran and the others. What, did Yin Yizhen not invite you, so now you remember me?”
Lou Yiqi’s face turned cold again: “Eat with whoever you want.”
The relationship between the two in the front row continued to be strained, and it hadn’t thawed by the day of the basketball game.
During this time, Lou Yiqi went with Yin Yizhen to watch Chen Luobai and the others train once more, returning with a bottle of yogurt.
Sometimes Zhou Anran really envied Yan Xingxi’s personality.
Being a bit thick-skinned was good too. She didn’t notice some small details, so she wouldn’t make wild guesses in her heart, unable to control even herself.
On Friday, the whole class was restless.
By the last class of the afternoon, which was homeroom, even Teacher Gao had trouble keeping them under control.
“Quiet down,” Gao Guohua tapped the podium. “I know you have a basketball game later, but we’re still in class now. Everyone focus, especially you, Zhu Ran. This is the third time I’ve caught you talking to Chen Luobai.”
Zhu Ran laughed from the back: “Teacher Gao, what if I absolutely can’t focus? Right now, my mind is filled with a desire for victory and aspirations to bring glory to our class.”
Gao Guohua laughed despite his annoyance and threw a piece of chalk at him: “What to do? Deal with it. Bringing glory to the class? Are you so sure you’ll win later?”
The whole class turned around laughing to watch.
Zhou Anran also turned back. Zhu Ran was now sitting at the very end of her row, so she couldn’t actually see him.
But she could see a bit of the person next to Zhu Ran.
She only wanted to look at him.
The boy was leaning back in his chair, his posture not very proper. He tilted his head slightly to avoid the chalk that Teacher Gao had thrown off course, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth: “Teacher Gao, if we’re the army, you’re our general. You shouldn’t be dampening our morale before battle like this.”
Gao Guohua knew that he had stopped the boys from the two classes from almost fighting last time, so he didn’t throw chalk at him. He just smiled and pointed the chalk tip at him from afar: “You’re joining in the trouble too, huh? How about I let you out five minutes early from homeroom class? Would that boost your morale?”
Zhu Ran jumped up from his seat: “Long live Teacher Gao!”
“Sit down, don’t make noise,” Gao Guohua tapped the desk again. “I specially applied to your grade director for this. Consider it a reward for getting first place in the grade. But there’s one condition: when you leave early, everyone must be quiet. If even one person disturbs other classes, you’ll all come back, understand?”
Zhou Anran, from a short distance away, saw the boy in the back row raise his hand in a standard salute gesture, but with a casual smile: “Yes, sir.”
Gao Guohua was true to his word and indeed let them out five minutes early.
Chen Luobai and the others had to go to the bathroom first to change into their basketball uniforms.
Zhou Anran was pulled by Yan Xingxi to run to the playground and secure seats.
On the stairs, some classmates were running in front of them, while others were walking behind.
Everyone obediently didn’t make much noise.
Everyone’s faces also had undisguised excitement and smiles.
The location of the match was the one Chen Luobai had chosen when they agreed to play ball. He said it wasn’t a very formal match, so they wouldn’t apply for the indoor stadium from the school. Since the conflict happened on the third court of the first row, they would resolve it there.
Class 2’s front court for the first half was on the side closer to the road, so most of Class 2’s students gathered on that side of the half-court.
Zhou Anran stood with Yan Xingxi outside the sideline near the second court of the first row. Sheng Xiaowen and Zhang Shuxian originally wanted to stand with them, but Dong Chen had taken the spot first, casually hooking his arm around He Mingyu’s shoulder and pulling him over.
Sheng Xiaowen rolled her eyes dramatically but didn’t say anything.
Yan Xingxi, however, looked at him with disgust: “Why are you standing next to me?”
Dong Chen acted as if he had just noticed her and also put on a disgusted expression: “Is this place your property?”
Yan Xingxi couldn’t be bothered to deal with him and moved closer to Zhou Anran.
Zhou Anran couldn’t help but smile.
This area was already some distance from the teaching building. The excitement of being let out early and having a basketball game to watch seemed impossible to suppress, and the whole field was noisy.
Some boys brought over two boxes of water.
Lou Yiqi naturally walked over: “We agreed that Yizhen and I would help hand out water today.”
The smile on Zhou Anran’s face faded again.
“Who agreed?” Zhu Ran’s voice cut in. “Weren’t you two volunteering yourselves?”
Lou Yiqi’s motion of opening the box paused almost imperceptibly, then she looked up, still smiling: “Well, you didn’t object at the time.”
Another boy interjected, asking Zhu Ran: “Why are you the only one here? Where are Luoge and the others?”
Zhu Ran seemed to have just made that previous comment casually. Hearing this, he started casually stretching his arms and legs while changing the subject: “They’re dawdling behind.”
Someone called out: “They’re here, they’re here!”
Zhou Anran turned around.
The sunset was about to fall, and the sky in the distance was a gradient of red.
The boy walked into the first court of the first row with his companions, his handsome features made even more profound by the fire-red basketball uniform.
Someone beside him said something, and he turned his head with a smile, dazzling and eye-catching.