After a long moment, she heard herself say haltingly, “But if I give you half, I won’t have enough for myself.”
The response was both subtle and direct, with a clear message of rejection. Someone as clever as Jiang Chengyi couldn’t possibly miss her meaning. To ease the anticipated awkwardness, she quickly offered him the other bread roll: “Would you like this new one instead? If not, I’ll put it back in my bag.”
However, his composure proved far stronger than she’d imagined. After only a second’s pause, he settled for the alternative, taking the unopened bread roll with a smile: “That’s fine, having something to eat is better than nothing.”
Beyond self-deprecation, his response carried a hint of patience, like someone fishing with a long line for a bigger catch.
Lu Yan felt even more unsettled. Since starting high school, she’d had no shortage of boys showing interest in her, and she’d always handled such situations gracefully. Tonight, for some reason, her usual quick wit seemed dulled.
After taking the bread roll, he didn’t eat it.
Walking side by side for a while, her gaze drifted to the side, noting his jeans and white sneakers. Looking down at herself, she realized she too was wearing white sneakers under her skirt—coincidentally, the very ones he’d cleaned.
Guessing he’d noticed this too, she felt even more flustered and stopped walking: “Um, I need to go find Tang Jie.”
She moved to take her bag from his shoulder.
“Where do you live?” he asked softly. “Is it far from here?”
“Not too far,” she adjusted the bag on her shoulder and forced a friendly but distant smile. “Bye.” She turned and left, only letting out a breath after turning the corner.
She found her classmates’ karaoke room, and shortly after, Tang Jie arrived with a dejected face. Without asking, Lu Yan knew she must have been rejected by that boy.
That evening, Tang Jie channeled her heartbreak into the microphone, becoming the room’s karaoke queen, singing song after song without pause.
Around eight o’clock, Lu Yan was thinking about heading home, and Tang Jie’s voice had grown hoarse, losing her enthusiasm for singing.
Despite their classmates’ protests, they left the room, only to find several boys, including Jiang Chengyi, standing in the hallway. Though he heard movement behind him, he didn’t turn around.
Usually, such a scene would have sparked Tang Jie’s curiosity, but tonight she remained listless, passing by without even a glance in their direction.
Lu Yan pulled Tang Jie out of the KTV and to the roadside to hail a taxi.
Though it wasn’t very late, the night air carried a hint of autumn chill. Just as they stopped under a tree, Lu Yan felt the sensation of being watched. She looked around but saw no one suspicious.
As she grew increasingly uneasy, Jiang Chengyi and his friends emerged from the building. Strangely, the moment they appeared, that unsettling feeling of being watched vanished.
Even as she felt relieved, she recalled crime reports from television news. Worried the strange feeling might return after Jiang Chengyi’s group left, she grew more desperate to catch a taxi quickly.
However, after waiting ten minutes, there wasn’t a taxi in sight.
Fortunately, Jiang Chengyi remained nearby, hands in his pockets, chatting with his friends, showing no signs of leaving. This somewhat reassured her.
Tang Jie finally noticed something odd and said to Lu Yan: “What are Jiang Chengyi and his friends doing? Waiting for someone?”
Just then, a taxi finally appeared, and Lu Yan quickly pulled Tang Jie into it.
Once seated, she glanced outside to see Jiang Chengyi looking their way. After their car started moving, he remained standing there for a moment before turning to walk in the opposite direction with his friends.
On Monday morning study period, Lu Yan learned that Tang Jie had taken several days off due to a cold.
After lunch, she and Deng Man went to the library’s reading room to study, which was much quieter than their classroom.
Soon after, Deng Man said she’d left some notes in the classroom and left to retrieve them.
Deng Man had been doing this often lately. Lu Yan didn’t think much of it as she organized her morning coursework, but the surrounding silence made her suddenly realize something strange—lately, neither Yu Mao nor any of her other admirers from other classes had been around.
That was fine by her; she’d always found them disruptive. After pondering this for a while, drowsiness overcame her, and she laid her head on the desk. With few students around, sleeping here was more comfortable than in the classroom.
She hadn’t been asleep long when she sensed someone sitting down nearby. Assuming it was a classmate, she paid no attention.
After dozing a while longer, her left arm grew numb, so she switched sides and continued sleeping.
As she turned her head, she blearily opened her eyes and noticed the newcomer was about two seats away. From her angle, she could see their shoes.
When she realized how familiar those sneakers looked, her drowsiness instantly vanished. Looking up, she found Jiang Chengyi watching her with amusement, twirling a pen in his hand.
Seeing her awake, he remained lounging in his chair but smiled, showing his white teeth: “What a coincidence.”
Doesn’t he practice basketball at lunch?
She sat up calmly: “Indeed.”
He pointed at her cheek where there was a glistening trail of drool, “helpfully” suggesting: “Maybe you should wipe that.”
Blood rushed to Lu Yan’s head.
Though she normally possessed the composure to remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before her, at this moment, a thousand curses ran through her mind as she desperately wished for the ground to swallow her up. Finding no escape, she could only endure, maintaining her composure through sheer willpower to avoid completely falling apart.
After a few seconds of composing herself, she struggled to appear nonchalant, forcing out a “thank you” through gritted teeth before turning to search her bag for tissues.
After searching for a while without success, she remembered using all her tissues during lunch. The sticky feeling on her face was unbearably obvious—if she didn’t wipe it off, it would leave an embarrassing white mark for others to see.
He smiled teasingly: “I’ll go buy some for you.”
There was a vending machine outside.
“No need,” she hurried to say.
But he had already gotten up and left, returning with not only wet wipes and tissues but also an assortment of snacks.
She opened a wet wipe and reluctantly cleaned her face. Looking up, she found him still watching her, his teasing smile replaced by an expression of indecipherable concentration.
The world fell silent, leaving only sunlight and him.