The sound of returning students’ laughter echoed through the corridor, reaching Lu Yan’s ears and intensifying her panic.

Without time to think, her refusal burst out: “No.”

He paused: “Why?”

“Because I just want to focus on studying right now.” The romantic atmosphere slowly dissipated as reason returned. She sat up straight, glimpsing the homework on her desk, feeling more convinced of her decision.

“Are those things mutually exclusive?”

“Anyway, I don’t want to date before getting into university.”

She immediately regretted her words, realizing this explanation left too much room for interpretation and could give him the wrong impression. She quickly added, “I don’t like your type.”

He was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again, there seemed to be an ambiguous smile in his voice: “Really don’t like?”

This guy…

Whenever she was around him, she often felt overwhelmed by feelings of passivity, unease, and awkwardness. Now, these strange and unbearable sensations intensified. To appear less flustered, she firmly shook her head: “Mm, don’t like.”

Perhaps she appeared too “coolly composed” – the moment the words left her mouth, an invisible pressure descended.

From what she knew of Jiang Chengyi, he had probably never experienced rejection before. Now, not only had she rejected him, but she had done so completely. She didn’t need to imagine to know his expression wouldn’t be pleasant.

She withstood the pressure, lowering her eyes to stare at the open textbook on her desk.

They sat in silence for a while before he said softly, “What’s wrong with me?”

Her heart inexplicably softened. Thinking about it, this was her least skillful rejection since she’d learned to tactfully decline boys’ advances. Feeling uneasy, she couldn’t help but question herself – how had she handled it so poorly? Where had her usual grace and tact gone?

At this moment, students began trickling back into the classroom. Seeing the situation, they first froze, then someone teasingly said, “Handsome Jiang, what brings you to our Class Six?”

The students’ voices were vivid and noisy. As they reached her ears, Lu Yan was pulled back to reality. Thinking about the midterm results and rankings to be announced that afternoon, even that slight softening of her heart disappeared. She collected herself and looked up at him, and though she didn’t speak, the rejection in her eyes was even more evident.

His eyes were very black. When their gazes met, they often reminded her of Chinese ink paintings she’d seen in museums. When he smiled, the ink seemed to dissolve, seeping into one’s heart bit by bit. But now, with his emotions unreadable, that ink seemed frozen, dark, and deep, inexplicably making her heart race.

Wondering if her rejection had been too harsh, she was considering how to phrase things more gracefully when she heard the rustle of plastic bags behind her – Deng Man had returned with her purchases.

She looked hurriedly, walking straight toward Lu Yan upon entering the classroom, clearly startled when she saw Jiang Chengyi.

Jiang Chengyi slowly stood up and said flatly: “I understand.”

Understanding that she didn’t want to be his girlfriend.

Lu Yan didn’t look at him, staring at her desk until he left, then quietly letting out a sigh of relief.

“Starving?” Concerned about Lu Yan not eating, Deng Man didn’t bother asking about Jiang Chengyi, instead putting her things on the desk. Just as she was about to open the plastic bag, she noticed the takeout box. “Hey, who bought this for you?”

It couldn’t be Jiang Chengyi, could it?

Lu Yan slowly cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, saying casually, “Some classmates from next door bought extra boxes, and since I was hungry, they gave me one.”

Deng Man doubted this explanation, but since Lu Yan didn’t want to discuss it further, she didn’t press.

Lu Yan ate a few mouthfuls of rice, but it felt like chewing wax, completely tasteless.

Over the next few days, Lu Yan used her leg injury as an excuse to avoid the gymnasium. Though she learned the routines diligently when Deng Man taught her, she had already prepared herself to be removed from the team.

Seventh Middle School has always emphasized developing students’ comprehensive abilities. The student handbook explicitly stated that all students must have an extracurricular specialty, which served as an important criterion for selecting candidates for early admission in senior year.

Among all extracurricular activities, cheerleading was considered the most relaxed and lively. Thus, when freshman year began, countless girls voluntarily signed up. However, due to height and appearance requirements, only thirty girls were ultimately selected.

Lu Yan felt it would be a shame to give up halfway. After a few days when her foot had healed, hearing that the teacher still agreed to let her rejoin the team, she went back.

At the gymnasium, she started her warm-up exercises.

As she was raising her arms, she saw Jiang Chengyi come out from the changing room. He wore a white basketball uniform, looking exceptionally clean and handsome compared to the other boys. However, unlike before, this time when he reached the court, he didn’t even glance at her.

During that time in the classroom, she had rejected him several times, and Jiang Chengyi was a proud person without the habit of persistent pursuit. From that day on, he never came to find her again.

This is good, she told herself.

After practice, she walked home with Deng Man, but somehow, no matter what Deng Man said to her on the way, she couldn’t focus on any of it.

She felt vaguely uneasy.

Based on her experience rejecting other boys, shouldn’t she feel relieved that Jiang Chengyi no longer sought her out? Why didn’t she feel any sense of relief, and instead felt empty inside?

After pondering for a while, a frightening thought occurred to her: Could it be that she had fallen for Jiang Chengyi?

She frantically shook her head, as if doing so could shake this speculation out of her mind.

Returning home after school that evening, she received a call from her mother.

Mom said she had to work overtime and told Lu Yan to do her homework at home. The vegetables were already cut and in the refrigerator; she just needed to stir-fry them.

Lu Yan said she understood.

After eating, she saved some food for her mother and went to her room to review her lessons.

It wasn’t until eight o’clock that her mother returned home. As soon as she entered, she dropped her bag and collapsed onto the sofa, remaining motionless and silent for a long while.

Lu Yan knew her mother must have encountered something unpleasant at work.

Quietly pouring her mother a glass of water, she gently reminded her: “Mom, the food is still warm.”

Her mother finally came to her senses, struggling to rise from the sofa as if pulling herself out of mud.

“Have you finished your homework?” she asked Lu Yan softly, walking toward the kitchen.

Before Lu Yan could answer, she suddenly remembered something and stopped: “Oh right, are the midterm results out? Your ranking hasn’t dropped, has it?”

“No.”

“Top three in the grade?”

“Second.”

Her mother’s face brightened: “Wonderful. Good girl, sophomore year is crucial. As long as you maintain these grades without dropping, we can apply to any university we want.”

“I know.” Lu Yan was happy to receive her mother’s praise.

She knew that, thanks to a failed marriage, her mother hadn’t lived happily these years. She had told Lu Yan more than once that for a girl to be independent and strong, the only way was to study hard. As for feelings, marriage vows… they were all unreliable.

These words might have been somewhat extreme, but they were lessons learned from half her mother’s lifetime, and Lu Yan couldn’t help but take them seriously.

Even when her mother wasn’t around, these words often echoed in her ears, keeping her vigilant.

Back in her room, she stared at the problems on her book pages, lost in thought.

The characters jumped inexplicably, impossible to focus on, while at the same time, a certain person’s image became clear in her mind.

A basketball in his hands looked so natural and graceful. When shooting, his neat short hair would rise and fall with the motion – after thinking for a while, she inexplicably put down her pen.

Her foot injury had long healed, but whenever she rolled up her pants leg, she could see him crouching to apply medicine. His skin tone was considered fair among boys, but when he held her ankle, he was still slightly darker than her. And though they were physically far apart, the warmth of his palm seemed to reach to her heart.

“Yanyan.” Her mother called from the doorway. “Would you like some fruit? Mom washed some, should I bring it in?”

“Oh.” She responded frantically, hurriedly dispersing the thoughts she shouldn’t have had.

Over the next few days, she rarely saw Jiang Chengyi at school. On the occasional times they met in the hallway, he acted as if he couldn’t see her at all. Though he didn’t show outright coldness, he was much more aloof than before.

At such times, she would either talk with Deng Man and Tang Jie or look straight ahead, appearing even more composed than him.

A couple of days later, the grade coordinator notified her to participate in the city’s middle school oral English competition, explaining that the school had selected four students total, two per group, and she was paired with Yu Mao from Class Four.

To avoid rigid test-oriented education, the competition organizers had intentionally moved up the competition date. It would be held over the weekend, meaning they only had one day to practice.

When she went to the foreign teacher for intensive training at noon, she learned that the other group consisted of Jiang Chengyi and Wang Na from Class Seven.

She should have guessed. When she first joined the cheerleading team, she had heard Ding Jing mention that Jiang Chengyi had lived abroad for a while as a child, and his spoken English was quite authentic. He should excel in this kind of competition.

When she entered, the foreign teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Jiang Chengyi stood facing the window, while Wang Na was looking down at her script, occasionally looking up to exchange words with Jiang Chengyi.

Seeing her enter, Wang Na smiled at her warmly.

“You’re here.” Yu Mao approached, saying excitedly, “Lu Yan, I never thought we’d be paired together.”

Lu Yan took the script Yu Mao handed her and asked, “Is the competition process all written here?”

“Yes.” Yu Mao nodded. “There are three scene dialogues, each one minute long, then contestants draw lots for a question from the judges. The final dialogue is improvisational and carries the highest score proportion among all segments.”

“Then let’s familiarize ourselves with the first three scene dialogues,” she said.

After practicing for a while, she heard Wang Na say to Jiang Chengyi: “Time is too tight. Jiang Chengyi, I’m afraid I’ll hold us back. How about we practice for another hour after school?”

Her ears perked up, listening for his response.

She heard him say: “Oh.”

Such a quick agreement.

Perhaps inspired by this suggestion, during the afternoon break, Yu Mao specifically came to Class Six to find her, asking her not to leave right after school so they could practice together.

However, as school was ending, Wang Na came to inform her that the teacher wanted them all to meet him after school so the four of them could practice together.

Just that noon during class, the teacher had shown no such intention. How had his mind changed so suddenly in just one afternoon?

Though finding it strange, she agreed immediately.

When she arrived after school, Wang Na was practicing with Jiang Chengyi. He wore a black T-shirt with jeans and white sneakers below. He held the script but was looking out the window. Wang Na sat across from him with her legs together, sitting very straight.

Compared to Jiang Chengyi’s casual demeanor, Wang Na appeared very proper.

From this angle, she noticed that Wang Na had naturally curly hair. Her black curls complemented her fair skin, her small round face showed dimples when she smiled, giving her a refined, doll-like quality.

She withdrew her gaze, entered the room, took out her materials from her bag, and sat down in a chair.

After a while, Yu Mao arrived, smiling: “Lu Yan, you know what? There’s a new Xi’an liangpi shop behind the school. I remember you like it – after class, I’ll go buy some with you.”

Before Lu Yan could respond, she heard Wang Na say: “Jiang Chengyi, stop daydreaming, what’s the next line?”

After the teacher arrived, practice continued for an hour. When it ended, it was getting dark.

Wang Na said she and Jiang Chengyi were heading the same way, so they could go home together. Jiang Chengyi didn’t seem to object, so they left first.

Yu Mao still insisted on walking with Lu Yan. Being Friday, there were still some students at school, though notably fewer than during the day.

Unexpectedly, after walking a short distance, several boys from Class Four appeared from somewhere, saying the soccer team needed him, and took Yu Mao away.

Lu Yan reached the school entrance alone. Remembering the feeling of being watched these past few days, she decided to take a taxi home for safety.

After waiting a while, she happened to look back and discovered Jiang Chengyi had somehow appeared behind her. He wasn’t looking at her, just standing in the distance with his hands in his pockets. Wang Na was gone; he was alone.

After a while, the taxi came, and she quickly got in.

At home, she followed her usual routine – homework, washing up, bed.

But whenever she closed her eyes, she could see Jiang Chengyi sitting by the window. When talking with Wang Na, he was so polite; when correcting Wang Na’s pronunciation, he would even smile.

The two of them sitting across from each other actually… looked quite compatible.

Her heart felt as if it were soaking in lemon water, bitter and sour.

How annoying. To ease this helpless and contradictory feeling, she curled up completely under her blanket.

Half-asleep, she had a frightening thought: if Jiang Chengyi were to come find her one more time, she might say yes.