The Soft, Warm Touch
When Zhou Anran returned after getting water, she saw the boy sleeping on his desk, his backpack carelessly hanging on one side of the chair.
Was it because he hadn’t slept well again?
Anran walked quietly to her seat, silently pondering.
But after secretly observing him, she discovered that even after napping, his mood showed no signs of improvement. His bad mood was so obvious that Tang Jianrui and others went over to inquire about his situation.
However, they were all turned away by Zhu Ran.
It was clear that something had happened.
Anran was worried but didn’t know what to do.
Even his friends who usually got along well with him couldn’t intervene. She, as a mere classmate who wasn’t close to him at all, had even less idea of what she could do.
She couldn’t just secretly slip a few more candies into his desk like last time.
That had already proven to be a terrible decision.
Chen Luobai didn’t attend the evening self-study session that day. After the last class in the afternoon, he left the classroom with his backpack.
Zhu Ran followed him out but returned to the classroom alone shortly after.
Anran was worried he might be skipping class, but when Teacher Gao Guohua came by in the evening, he didn’t show any surprise at his absence.
Anran spent the entire first day of the new semester in Grade 2 feeling anxious.
She thought that even when he was in a bad mood last semester, it never seemed to last too long. She had hoped that when she saw him the next day, his mood would have improved.
Unexpectedly, the next day his mood seemed even worse. Even the usually noisy Zhu Ran was quiet all day, looking as if he didn’t dare to speak up and disturb him.
The first week of the new semester only had two days of classes.
Anran couldn’t do anything, so she could only hope that he would encounter something happy during the holiday. Yet she also worried that without friends around during the break, his mood might worsen.
Immersed in these emotions, she was somewhat absent-minded when packing up after the last class meeting in the afternoon.
Later that night, after returning home, having dinner, and taking a shower, when Anran was about to start her homework in her room, she realized she had left her math homework at school.
Anran puffed her cheeks in frustration, changed out of her pajamas, and put on a white T-shirt and skirt. She grabbed her school ID and empty backpack, left her room, and said to He Jiayi in the living room, “Mom, I left my math homework in the classroom. I’m going back to get it.”
“How careless of you,” Jiayi watched her hurrying out and couldn’t help but add, “Go ask Xianxian to accompany you.”
“Don’t you remember Xianxian is going to her grandmother’s in the countryside with her parents this week?” Anran’s T-shirt and skirt had no pockets, so she stuffed her school ID into her backpack as she walked. Her voice was still a bit hoarse. “It’s fine, it’s not dark yet, and there are still many people at school.”
Back at school, Anran first went to the girls’ dormitory to borrow the classroom key from the vice class monitor.
By the time she came out of the classroom with her math homework, it was already getting dark outside.
Anran hadn’t lied to He Jiayi.
There were still quite a few people at school on Friday night. The senior students had to stay for evening self-study, students in competition classes stayed for extra lessons, athletes sometimes stayed for additional training, and boarding students who hadn’t gone home occasionally walked around the school playground.
However, since all the first and second-year students had gone on holiday, the entire Teaching Building 2 was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. There was no one on the playground outside the teaching building that day, and now that it was getting dark, Anran felt a bit scared.
She quickly locked the door and ran out of the teaching building.
As soon as she got out, Anran saw a tall, slim figure standing not far away.
Her footsteps suddenly stopped, and her heart, which had already quickened from running, instantly accelerated even more.
Why was he back at school too?
The boy in the distance was wearing a plain white T-shirt and black sports shorts, looking particularly fresh. He had a basketball tucked under his left arm and was holding his phone in his right hand, lowering his head to type with one hand.
The light wasn’t too dim yet, and Anran could see a glaring red patch on his raised right elbow as if he had scraped it.
Her heart, which had just slightly calmed down, gave a gentle twinge.
How did he get hurt?
Did he fall while playing basketball?
Anran reached for the side pocket of her backpack.
Ms. He had prepared quite a few iodine swabs and band-aids for her in there.
Anran took out two iodine swabs and two band-aids, intending to bring them to him.
But as soon as this thought arose, her feet seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, impossible to lift. Her heartbeat, which had just slightly calmed, accelerated again, and felt like it would jump out of her throat. Her palms, holding the swabs, began to sweat.
Anran took a deep breath, silently giving herself a pep talk.
Didn’t you promise yourself you’d try to be braver this semester?
He’s helped you so many times, it’s only right that you help him too.
Besides, even if it wasn’t him standing there but another boy from your class, you wouldn’t stand by and do nothing, right? Why are you becoming timid just because it’s him?
Chen Luobai finished replying to Zhu Ran’s message and lowered his head to put his phone back in his pocket. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that the laces of his left shoe had come undone.
He half-squatted down, placing the basketball aside.
After retying his shoelaces, Chen Luobai was about to stand up when he saw a slender, beautiful hand extend in front of him. The nails were neatly trimmed, and the hand seemed to be holding two cotton swabs.
At the same time, a voice came from above. The speaker seemed to have a cold, their voice a bit hoarse and nasal, but the tone was gentle and timid: “The-there’s iodine in the swabs, for disinfecting. You can break them to use.”
Chen Luobai didn’t take them immediately. He slightly raised his eyes, intending to see who it was, but his gaze first encountered a pair of straight, long legs. Against the backdrop of the black skirt, the skin was so white it was almost dazzling, making a small black mole on the inner thigh particularly noticeable.
An unexpected scene.
Chen Luobai immediately averted his gaze.
At that moment, a voice came from behind.
“Luo.” It sounded like Zong Kai’s voice.
Chen Luobai turned his head, and almost at the same time, he felt a soft, warm touch in his hand as something was pushed into it.
When he turned back, he only saw a slender figure running into the teaching building, the black skirt swaying in a beautiful arc.
The object in his palm still carried a warmth that wasn’t his own. Chen Luobai looked down and saw two cotton swabs and two small band-aids.
“Luo.” Zong Kai had already walked up behind him.
Chen Luobai stood up and turned to see Yin Yizhen beside Zong Kai. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Ignoring Yin Yizhen, he looked back at the entrance of the teaching building and asked Zong Kai in a low voice, “Did you see clearly who that girl was who just handed me something?”
Zong Kai opened his mouth, about to speak, when he felt a hand tugging at the back of his T-shirt. He paused for a second: “I didn’t see clearly.”
*
Zhou Anran stood against the wall, her heart pounding harder with each beat. She bit her lip, feeling regretful.
Why did she run away just now?
He and Yin Yizhen didn’t have any ambiguous relationship at all.
She and he were classmates. It was perfectly normal to offer a few cotton swabs when she saw him injured on the way. Her running away made it seem more like she had a guilty conscience.
But since she had already run—
Anran unconsciously moved to an even more hidden spot, so that if they also came back to the classroom to find something, they wouldn’t see her.
He probably didn’t see her just now, right?
Anran lightly knocked the back of her head against the wall in regret.
If she had known she would run into him at school today, she would have changed into a prettier skirt.
After waiting for a while and not hearing any footsteps coming in, Anran became curious again.
Why did he come back to school anyway?
He was holding a basketball just now, did he come back to play with Zong Kai and the others?
Why did Yin Yizhen come too?
Anran couldn’t help but tiptoe a few more steps to the side, all the way to the corridor outside Class 5’s classroom. She peeked out from the wall to look outside.
Zong Kai and Yin Yizhen were gone.
The boy was holding the basketball under his arm, standing with his back to the teaching building at the edge of the playground. Maybe it was because the sky had darkened a bit more, or maybe it was because he usually had a large group of friends around him, but Anran felt that at that moment, that tall figure looked lonely.
Why didn’t he ask his friends to stay with him?
Was he still unhappy?
Anran pursed her lips, took out her phone from her backpack, first turned on silent mode, and then sent a message to He Jiayi: [Mom, I ran into a classmate at school, I’ll be home a bit later]
He Jiayi quickly replied: [Don’t be too late]
Anran sent back an “OK” emoji.
She couldn’t help him with anything, so she’d just quietly keep him company for a while.
Even though he couldn’t see her.
Outside, the sky had completely darkened, blurring the boy’s figure in the darkness. Only a vague tall, slim silhouette could be seen.
But being able to see him not far away, Anran didn’t feel scared staying in the still pin-drop quiet teaching building.
She just felt that the wind on this night was particularly gentle.
After who knows how long, her phone screen suddenly lit up again.
It was He Jiayi messaging to urge her to come home: [It’s already 8 o’clock, haven’t you finished chatting with your classmate? It’s not safe to come home too late]
Anran bit her lip, wondering if she could find another excuse to stay a bit longer.
But perhaps worried because she didn’t reply immediately, He Jiayi called her directly not long after.
Anran’s hand slipped, and she accidentally hung up.
But she also knew she couldn’t continue to stay and keep him company.
She lowered her head and sent a message back: [I accidentally hung up just now, we’re done chatting, I’m coming back right away]
Anran slipped out from the doorway quietly. Chen Luobai didn’t turn around, so of course he didn’t see her. She should have felt relieved, but her heart remained slightly suspended.
Would he be okay staying alone?
Why was he in such a bad mood anyway?
It wasn’t until she saw Zhu Ran walking towards her that Anran finally felt slightly relieved.
However, perhaps because there weren’t many people on the road when Zhu Ran was about to pass her, he suddenly looked curiously in her direction.
Whether it was because she had used up all her courage earlier when she slipped the cotton swabs into Chen Luobai’s hand, or because secretly staying in the teaching building to keep him company made her particularly guilty when seeing his friend, even though Zhu Ran was still some distance away, the moment he looked over, Anran quickly stepped aside a large step.
Then she ran away quickly.
Zhu Ran looked back somewhat puzzled, but didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until he saw Chen Luobai standing alone in front of the playground that he was slightly confused: “Why are you alone? Didn’t Zong Kai say he had already come over?”
Chen Luobai looked at the half-lit, half-dark playground under the lights: “He brought Yin Yizhen, so I sent him back.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Zhu Ran frowned slightly. “He likes Yin Yizhen himself, but he keeps bringing her to you.”
Chen Luobai didn’t respond.
Zhu Ran tilted his head slightly and saw that his friend’s lips were pressed into a straight line, the lines of his profile tense. After hesitating for a moment, he still asked, “Are your uncle and aunt planning to divorce?”
Chen Luobai made a sound of agreement: “My mom is planning to draft the divorce agreement.”
Zhu Ran scratched his head, sighing inwardly.
Faced with this kind of situation, he didn’t know how to comfort his friend. It seemed that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t help. After thinking for a while, he could only choose a lighter topic to divert his attention.
“By the way, I just met a strange girl on the road ahead. As soon as she saw me, she avoided me like the plague. Do I look that scary? She was wearing white clothes and had pale skin. If anything, I think she looked scarier. If her hair was a bit longer, she could cosplay as a ghost.”
Chen Luobai suddenly remembered the girl who had run into the teaching building earlier: “Was she wearing a black skirt?”
“Yeah, good thing it was black. If the skirt had been white too—” Zhu Ran’s voice suddenly stopped. “Wait, how do you know she was wearing a black skirt? Did you see her too?”
Chen Luobai didn’t answer his question, only asking, “Did you see what she looked like?”