HomeSummer In Your NameChapter 41: Numb

Chapter 41: Numb

With winter’s short days and long nights, it was completely dark by the time Wang Lianhua finished talking.

Sheng Xia heard her chatting with Lai Yilin while coming down the stairs.

It was the same back at Second High – whenever there was a parents’ meeting, Wang Lianhua was always the last to leave. Back then, she was a top student at Second High, and many teachers knew about her father’s connections, so they were quite attentive to all the social niceties.

Now…

Ah…

She could imagine how helpless the young teachers must have felt with her mother.

She came out from under the stairs as Lai Yilin praised: “Sheng Xia is a very hardworking child. Look, everyone else went out to play, but she’s still studying vocabulary.”

Wang Lianhua sighed, “Well, we’re like the slow bird that needs to start flying early – when grades aren’t good enough, we just have to work harder.”

“It’s fine, the math average was low this time, and it was the first time testing so comprehensively. Normally, Sheng Xia couldn’t connect some of the previous knowledge structures. There’s still time.”

“Ah, ah, that’s good then. Thank you teachers for your hard work.”

“It’s what we should do. We all really like Sheng Xia.”

“…”

After another round of pleasantries, Sheng Xia could tell these words must have been repeated many times in the office.

However, what Teacher Lai said was the same as what Zhang Shu had said.

His analysis was quite accurate.

Finally saying goodbye, Wang Lianhua took Sheng Xia to eat at Pao Gongguan – the fish maw chicken soup would take quite some time to stew.

Wang Lianhua asked: “You’re desk mates with the lunch supervisor’s sister?”

Sheng Xia was startled.

Wasn’t Wang Lianhua usually very focused during parent meetings, rarely talking with others?

Sister…

Hmm, this?

Though she had created this false impression herself, now she felt embarrassed to face it.

“Mm.”

“So that girl at the hospital wasn’t your deskmate?”

“She is too, we rotate,” Sheng Xia explained the strange seating arrangement again.

“What a coincidence,” Wang Lianhua remarked, “You said before that at the lunch program, the supervisor took good care of you. When we have time, I should buy some gifts and visit her.”

“No need, no need, no need!” Sheng Xia repeatedly refused.

Wang Lianhua found it strange, “Why?”

“I can take them over myself. They’re quite busy at the lunch program.”

“That works too,” Wang Lianhua casually asked, “How are her sister’s grades?”

Sheng Xia could barely face the term “sister” anymore.

The image of the youth’s prominent Adam’s apple, larger than a pigeon’s egg, flashed before her eyes…

Uh…

“Better than mine,” Sheng Xia said.

Wang Lianhua nodded with satisfaction: “Then you should learn more from her. Teacher Wang also mentioned that your class’s top student maintains first place in the grade, with a big gap in scores. You said before you were learning from their wrong problem notebook, how’s that going?”

Sheng Xia: “I’m following his method, it’s quite good.”

“Watch and learn more. Changing platforms does make your classmates different.”

“Mm.”

Sheng Xia breathed a sigh of relief – it seemed Mother was fairly satisfied with today’s parent meeting.

Sheng Xia made it back to the classroom before the evening self-study. Zhang Shu was already there, surrounded by his usual group. The NBA games had been intense lately, and the boys often suddenly gathered to discuss enthusiastically. Hou Junqi even frequently stayed up late watching games, sleeping through classes the next day.

Zhang Shu would catch moments to watch on his phone between classes and during meals.

However, today they weren’t talking about basketball.

Or maybe they had finished that topic and were now teasing Zhang Shu… about his desk.

“This is too girly?”

“The pencil case is bearable, but what are these things stuck on the bookstand?”

“Shu, Sheng Xia did this, right?”

Yang Linyu, who had witnessed everything in the afternoon, spoke up: “You’re a genius.”

“Doesn’t it look nice? Are you blind?” Zhang Shu’s tone was unfriendly, “Isn’t it pretty?”

Everyone gave insincere flattery, their tone implying the opposite: “Nice, very nice, if you say it’s nice then it’s nice.”

“What do you know, this is called loving everything associated with the one you love!”

Loving everything associated…

What kind of unfair word choice was this?

Something seemed to hit Sheng Xia’s heart.

Could she turn and leave now?

The bell rang, and the crowd scattered like birds and beasts, turning to see the slender figure in the dark doorway.

They returned to their seats one by one with knowing looks.

Sheng Xia also lowered her head, slowly making her way back to her seat with her crutch.

“Should I take these off for you?” Sheng Xia pointed to the stickers.

Zhang Shu was unconcerned: “Can they be reused after removing them?”

Sheng Xia shook her head.

“Then why remove them? Burning bridges after crossing?”

“…”

She didn’t know if he really thought they looked nice, or if he was just saving face for her behind her back. He seemed to always be like this – saying unpleasant things to her face but speaking well of her behind her back.

Not following normal patterns.

Sheng Xia didn’t dwell on it further but took back her notebook and pencil case.

After that she started studying, minding her own business, with no other conversation.

After a while, she felt the youth beside her lean closer, asking in a low voice: “How was my cooperation today?”

Sheng Xia turned her head – his face was very close. She quickly leaned back, “What cooperation?”

Zhang Shu observed her startled-bird state, “Your mom didn’t notice anything, right?”

Sheng Xia’s heart thumped, suddenly remembering the sister thing…

“N-no.”

“Don’t worry, I cleared it with my sister, they won’t be able to expose you,” his voice was very soft, his breath brushing her ear, “But… what’s wrong with having a male desk mate? Did your mom catch you in an early romance at Second High?”

Sheng Xia quickly turned her head away, shaking it like a rattling drum, “No!”

“Never dated?”

“No!”

She heard a light laugh as he sat up straight, finally moving away from her.

The teacher came in, doing the usual pre-class inspection round.

He didn’t speak again, and Sheng Xia’s pounding heart calmed down.

On the weekend, Tao Zhizhi came to visit Sheng Xia at Jade Waves Garden.

Since Sheng Xia’s leg injury, their bookstore appointments have stopped. The two sisters were each busy with their studies, only occasionally chatting on QQ.

This weekend Wu Qiuxuan happened to be back too, and Wang Lianhua had taken Ningning to the psychologist.

With no tiger at home, the monkey becomes king – Wu Qiuxuan sprawled casually on the sofa watching a talent show.

Sheng Xia and Tao Zhizhi chatted on and off.

They talked about studying, new friends, and… Zhang Shu.

Sheng Xia had told Tao Zhizhi how her leg was injured. Her best friend not only didn’t sympathize with her but exclaimed it was like a live drama scene, so she had to follow this show.

“So he carries you up and down stairs for meals every day? Gets you water, ties your shoelaces, comes when called, and goes when dismissed?” Tao Zhizhi was shocked.

Sheng Xia: “Not really, just those first few days when I had the cast. I can go up and down stairs by myself now.”

“Wait, something’s not right,” Tao Zhizhi completely ignored Sheng Xia’s explanation, “That’s not how being responsible works. Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Probably not…”

“What do you mean probably?”

Sheng Xia was confused: “How can I say for sure about other people’s business?”

“Check his QQ Space, see if there are any clues!” Tao Zhizhi said.

Sheng Xia said: “His space has nothing but game screenshots?”

“You’ve looked?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve seen everything?”

“Mm…” Well, she had seen it all in one glance.

“You’re done for!” Tao Zhizhi suddenly jumped up, pretending to look serious, “You like him!”

Sheng Xia’s heart skipped a beat, “What, what nonsense are you talking!”

“Otherwise why would you look through his entire space?”

She hadn’t! It was an accidental click?

But… wait!

“Does looking through someone’s entire space… mean… liking them?” Sheng Xia found this question a bit hard to ask.

Tao Zhizhi replied matter-of-factly: “Isn’t it obvious? Otherwise, why would you bother? It’s different from casually liking or commenting – scrolling through from start to finish means you want to know about him, understand his past, understand those days you weren’t there, and how he spent them. Or maybe, you just missed him. Isn’t that it? Only…”

There was a buzzing in Sheng Xia’s ears, and Tao Zhizhi’s later words gradually became unclear.

Was it like that?

Did he want… to understand her past?

Or, did he… miss her?

Did he scroll through her entire space because… he liked her?

This realization hit like a sudden frisbee, spinning rapidly before being abruptly stopped, the impact so great it left Sheng Xia completely frozen.

After talking to herself for a while without a response, Tao Zhizhi waved her hand. Seeing Sheng Xia still not responding, she dramatically called out: “You’re done for, you’ve fallen in love!”

Wu Qiuxuan looked over curiously at these words.

Tao Zhizhi asked: “Isn’t this show from two years ago? Xuan, why are you only watching it now?”

Wu Qiuxuan said: “I’m watching my bias. Since he’s not active, I can only keep doing historical research, with a magnifying glass.”

Tao Zhizhi: “Go to Bilibili to find some cuts, they can make old stuff look new!”

Wu Qiuxuan: “I’ve looked, watched everything watchable, bought all the merch worth buying, followed all the content creators worth following. But even the creators have run out of rice to cook with, I’m starving for content, wuwuwu…”

“Create content yourself, don’t you know how to draw?”

“I’m not worthy, I can’t capture his soul.”

“…”

Sheng Xia had come back to her senses and was quietly listening to them talk. This was another one of those conversations where she understood every word individually but couldn’t make sense of them together.

Tao Zhizhi patted Sheng Xia: “I think out of that whole bunch, none of them look as good as Zhang Shu, what do you think?”

As soon as she said this, she received a death glare from Wu Qiuxuan and quickly corrected herself, “Ah no, except for your bias, everyone else is less handsome than Zhang Shu!”

Sheng Xia felt she couldn’t handle hearing that name right now.

Although Wu Qiuxuan insisted to death that her bias was the most handsome, she was still curious and asked, “Sister Zhizhi, who is Zhang Shu?”

“A…” Tao Zhizhi raised her eyebrows, elbowing Sheng Xia, “Ask your sister!”

Wu Qiuxuan suddenly sat up, eyes full of interest as she leaned toward Sheng Xia, “Sis, who is it? Your boyfriend?”

Sheng Xia’s eyes widened slightly as she scolded, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

Wu Qiuxuan became even more interested, “Then who is it?”

Tao Zhizhi saw her best friend’s reaction – whole body stiff but eyes avoiding, obviously not normal!

She said mysteriously: “He’s your sister’s desk mate, a guy with no flaws – handsome, good at studying, good at singing, plays guitar and drums, good at basketball, amazing at games, very tall, can even draw…”

Sheng Xia looked at Tao Zhizhi in surprise: “How do you know he can draw?”

And being good at games, singing, guitar, and drums – even she as his desk mate didn’t know about these things?

Sheng Xia was just confused and asked instinctively. But this instant reaction convinced Wu Qiuxuan that her sister had something going on with Brother Zhang Shu!

Tao Zhizhi said: “I heard about it of course. Don’t you know how popular he is now?”

Sheng Xia: … She must be out of the loop. He was around her every day, but she hadn’t noticed him being popular anywhere.

“Is it that exaggerated?” Had it spread to other schools? Sheng Xia didn’t quite believe it. At least she had never heard gossip about boys from other schools.

Tao Zhizhi smiled: “Of course, I paid extra attention because of your connection! But still! There had to be people discussing it for me to pay attention, hehe!”

Hehe what nonsense, what connection to her?

Sheng Xia didn’t respond, but Wu Qiuxuan got excited: “Really? Is there a photo?”

Tao Zhizhi: “There’s a video, it was posted on the Affiliated School’s Weibo.”

Wu Qiuxuan: “Is he handsome?”

Tao Zhizhi pointed at the TV: “Probably more handsome than about eighty- no, ninety percent of these guys!”

Wu Qiuxuan picked up the iPad to check Weibo. Tao Zhizhi directed expertly from the side, “Go to the school’s homepage and search for ‘celebration ceremony’, there are several videos. The one with ‘Music Club’ in the thumbnail, yes, scroll to around three and a half minutes…”

“Wow, these play counts are impressive for an amateur…”

The two heads squeezed together in front of the tablet, not noticing that Sheng Xia, who had seemed uninvolved before, had also sat up straight and was leaning forward, supported by her arms.

The video played.

Under the spotlight was a well-organized band. After slightly adjusting their instruments, the drummer struck a beat, starting a lively rhythm, and a lazy male voice came through—

“Waiting for a natural sunny day, I want to take you to the seaside…”

Surprisingly, the lead singer wasn’t the guitarist but the drummer, Zhang Shu.

He wore a simple black T-shirt, his body moving with the drumming rhythm, completely natural and coordinated. The microphone was positioned beside the drums, and he sang with his head slightly turned, without affecting his drumming at all. He never looked at the audience, his attitude too casual and relaxed to seem like a performance.

He was just playing around.

“Don’t need profound words, while there’s still a bit of time…”

“Can you please focus a little more, please don’t be absent-minded…”

This voice was completely different from when he gave speeches. Though the timbre was the same, the articulation… Sheng Xia couldn’t quite describe it. Like a cat’s paw, lazily scratching you, suddenly revealing its hook in the trailing notes, making you both itch and tingle.

After the chorus, there was a heavy and urgent instrumental section. His drumstick movements were large and dramatic, so fast they left afterimages. Even his fluffy hair swayed with the movement. His whole person was immersed in the rhythm, expressing freely, hormones radiating to the maximum.

The audience’s cheers and screams came in waves.

Outside the screen, the two girls hadn’t stopped their “Ahhhhh!”

“Let’s see each other again in the time we torment each other…”

Near the ending climax, there were several near-shouting high notes. Zhang Shu sang with his head tilted back, the spotlight shining directly on his face from above, outlining his high straight nose and sexy profile.

And, perhaps not noticed by many, the shadow cast by his prominent Adam’s apple.

Sheng Xia unconsciously averted her gaze.

“Waiting for a natural sunny day, I want to take you to the seaside…”

The performance ended, the music stopping abruptly, but his microphone was still on, completely capturing his rapid breathing and the short laugh he gave between pants as he smiled at his bandmates…

That laugh, Sheng Xia knew all too well. He often gave a short laugh, the sound coming through his nose, breathy, carrying his lazy irreverence.

She already couldn’t handle it, and now he was panting…

“Stop panting, bro.”

“I’m numb.”

The video faded out, moving to the next performance, but the screaming outside the screen continued.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

“Damn, why isn’t he debuting?”

“Is he handsome or what?”

Is he handsome or what?

Sheng Xia lay back on the sofa, her dry throat swallowing unnaturally.

Numb.

“This, what’s he thinking not debuting?” Wu Qiuxuan kept repeating.

Tao Zhizhi snorted: “What debut? He’s going for valedictorian!”

“Damn! Another one of those good students I look down on but can’t beat,” Wu Qiuxuan took verbal advantage but turned to pull at Sheng Xia, “Sis, catch him and make him my brother-in-law?”

Sheng Xia’s heart beat unsteadily as she grabbed a cushion and threw it!

“Talking nonsense, you’re only 14! Wu Qiuxuan!”

Wu Qiuxuan: “Why so flustered and angry with embarrassment? You can do it, my gentle, graceful, heavenly beautiful, universally beloved sister!”

Tao Zhizhi: “Hahahahahahaha!”

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