Chapter 32 P - Wind Movement

Chu Beiling was choked and coughed repeatedly, and was petrified on the spot.

He found it hard to believe that these words came from Xing Yu, who was in a temperature of minus twenty degrees Celsius.

If he hadn't been possessed—

That was quite terrifying.

Chu Beiling patted his chest and, after a while, said, "Darling, I suggest you let me go."

Xing Yu ignored him, took out his phone, and texted Li Dong to confirm one thing: "When Chu Fanfan was running, was the class monitor behind you?"

They must be busy over there; they haven't replied to me for a while.

Stepping into the school clinic once again, upon seeing the two people who had returned for the second time, Teacher Liu couldn't help but ask them a few more questions with concern: "Why are you here again? Are you still feeling unwell after the treatment? Or have you hurt yourself again?"

"Teacher Liu, could you take a look at my hand?" Chu Beiling held out her bruised hand to the school doctor. "Is there anything wrong? It hurts a lot."

"Let me see." Teacher Liu gently pressed his hand and began to examine it.

Perhaps because the school doctor was more professional, he wasn't as rough or violent as Xing Yu during the examination, and Chu Beiling felt that the pain was much less than before.

Teacher Liu let go of his hand: "It's nothing, just a little bruise and a little swollen. It will go away in a few days."

Chu Beiling felt that Teacher Liu's inspection was rather casual and said with concern, "Why don't you check it again?"

The student in front of her was probably more seriously injured than he was now, because he didn't react at all, not even twitching his eyebrows. Suddenly, Teacher Liu became nervous and checked him over again, afraid that she might have missed something.

"It's just a little bruise, I'm sure it's nothing serious. If you want the swelling to go down quickly, I'll apply some safflower oil for you."

Chu Beiling was still worried, very worried: "Are you sure the bones aren't injured? Are you sure the ligaments aren't strained? Are you sure the tendons aren't torn? What if it's not visible on the outside, but your mobility will be restricted after a while?"

Teacher Liu was amused by him: "Your terminology is quite professional. You're interested in medicine. Do you want to study medicine in the future?"

"Teacher Liu, that's not the point." Chu Beiling was almost frantic with worry, and Teacher Liu was still teasing him, asking if he wanted to study medicine. What kind of quirk was that?!

"Teacher Liu, do I have the problem I just mentioned in my hand? I'm waiting for your reply online, I'm really anxious."

This was the first time Teacher Liu had encountered a student so protective of their hands. She said, "You were covered in holes from the fall, but you weren't this nervous. Your hands are just a little swollen and bruised. Why are you so worried?"

Chu Beiling was almost in tears: "Teacher Liu, you don't know how important my hands are."

"Alright~ I know your hand is important." Teacher Liu took a bottle of safflower oil and bent down to rub it on his hand. "Your hand is really fine, just a little bruise and some swelling. It will go down in a few days. If you're really worried, I'll write you a leave slip. You can get your homeroom teacher to sign it and go to the hospital to get an X-ray to check it out."

After confirming that there was really no major problem, Chu Beiling breathed a sigh of relief and refused Teacher Liu's request for a leave slip.

Teacher Liu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: "Really, you don't need it?"

"No need." Chu Beiling shook her head: "I trust Teacher Liu's judgment."

Teacher Liu smiled and said, "Judging from your expression, you don't seem to believe me very much."

Xing Yu glanced sideways and saw Chu Beiling staring at her hands as if she had lost her parents. Her usually bright eyes were shrouded in a thick gloom, revealing her anxiety and unease.

Xing Yu wanted to ask Teacher Liu to give him a leave slip, but he opened his mouth and ultimately said nothing.

Teacher Liu massaged Chu Beiling's hands for more than ten minutes before letting go of his hand: "It's done."

After saying that, he opened another bottle of safflower oil for him: "If you want the swelling to go down faster, massage it 3-5 times a day for 10-20 minutes each time. I guarantee your hand will be fine in three or four days. By the way, you can't do this by yourself, so you need to ask a classmate for help, or come to the school clinic to find me."

Chu Beiling accepted the safflower oil and thanked him, saying, "Then, teacher, we'll be going now."

They hadn't gone far when Xing Yu spoke up: "If you weren't worried about your hand, why did you refuse to get a leave slip to go out for a checkup?"

"Anyway, the sports meet ends tomorrow afternoon and it's the weekend, so the inspection will be the same then."

"Aren't you worried about missing the deadline becoming a serious problem?!"

"Worried." Chu Beiling shrugged. "Didn't Teacher Liu say it was nothing, just one day, no big deal?"

What Chu Beiling didn't tell Xing Yu was...

If he submits a leave request now, the homeroom teacher will know, and if the homeroom teacher knows, it's the same as Ms. Li knowing, and she will definitely ask him what happened.

If he says he was careless, Ms. Li will say to him: "He can't even do this little thing right. He can hurt himself while running. What else can he do?"

If he says the class monitor accidentally smashed it, she will say the above. If she brings up the class monitor and says he did it on purpose, she will definitely confront him without asking why: Why would someone smash you? Haven't you reflected on your own problems?

Then, depending on the different questions he was asked, they would start mocking him, using different terms for serious and minor injuries.

Regardless of right or wrong, whether it was his fault or not, whether the injury was serious or minor, it was all Chu Beiling's fault. He was wrong and had no right to explain or refute.

Chu Beiling didn't want to hear it at all.

Seeing his increasingly downcast eyes, Xing Yu took out two lollipops from his school uniform pocket and offered them to him: "Want some?"

Chu Beiling was taken aback, looked down at him, took a blueberry-flavored one from his palm, and left the strawberry-flavored one for Xing Yu.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the sunlight filtering through the leaves was still a little hot, and the tree-lined path was long and quiet.

The two boys walked back to their dormitory in the afterglow of the setting sun, their mouths still sweet with the taste of lollipops.

The school finally showed some consideration for the students during the evening sports meet, realizing that they had fully released their energy during the day, and whether or not they had to study in the classroom during evening self-study was entirely up to them.

No student likes to attend evening self-study sessions. It's all voluntary, which is the same as not attending at all. A bunch of hungry wolves, eager to be fed, swarm into the cafeteria for dinner, and then go back to their dormitories to shower and change clothes.

Who would be so bored as to go to the classroom for evening self-study?

The dormitory was poorly lit, and Xing Yu and Chu Beiling, feeling full and bored, decided to go to the art classroom for color practice after dinner.

Chu Beiling arranged the ceramic jars and fruit, adjusted the lighting, and sat back down in front of the easel. As soon as she sat down, she glanced at Xing Yu, who was also in front of the easel. She wondered what had happened, but Xing Yu's lips curled into a beautiful smile.

A pure, heartfelt laugh that belongs to the youthful spirit of this age.

Chu Beiling suddenly changed his mind. Instead of painting the ceramic jar, he wanted to capture Xing Yu's smile.

Just as he pulled out his sketchbook and was about to start sketching, Xing Yu looked over. With Xing Yu's approval, Young Master Chu became even more confident and no longer acted like a thief.

He gestured with his chin towards Xing Yu, a rather sly smile on his face: "You agree."

Xing Yu didn't mean to stop him from painting; he was just a little confused: "I'm painting, what's so interesting about this?"

He wondered, "Do I look a lot like a ceramic jar?"

Young Master Chu chuckled twice, clicked his tongue, winked, and saluted him: "Let me tell you what's so great about this painting. Just wait a moment."

"Do as you please." Xing Yu lifted his eyelids and began sketching the shape of his ceramic jar.

Xing Yu's phone vibrated, and he took it out to check.

A message came in from Li Dong: "[He's behind us, what's wrong?]" Immediately following was another message: "[You suspect the class monitor?]"

[Uncertain.] It's unclear whether Xue Ziang caused Chu Beiling to fall on the track, but Xing Yu is certain that injuring Chu Beiling's hand was intentional.

The surveillance cameras on the school playground had been broken for some time, so he could only confirm with Li Dong first before considering how much revenge to take.

"What's there to be unsure about? It's definitely him." Thinking of what happened on the playground during the day, Li Dong made a definitive statement without hesitation: "Sneaky tactics, disgusting."

She usually seems carefree and nonchalant, and she was spoiled by her two mothers since childhood, so she's used to being unruly. If someone makes her unhappy, she'll make them pay. She doesn't have the same level of restraint and tolerance as Chu Beiling and Xing Yu.

[Was it Chu Fanfan who injured him? I'll go calculate it together.]

Xing Yu: [I'll be with you.]

"What if we beat him up? Will we still be roommates? Do you think Wang Caiyan will let you off so easily?" Li Dong directly refused: "Don't worry about it. I have my own methods. Your involvement will affect my performance."

Xing Yu certainly wasn't going to beat him up; impulsive behavior wasn't something he would do. But that didn't mean he would do nothing. He had his own methods to ensure the other person wouldn't get angry.

When Li Dong said that, he didn't insist, only saying, "Just take it easy."

Xing Yu had already figured out how to get revenge, so that Xue Ziang wouldn't dare to make any more of these underhanded moves.

While they were chatting, Chu Beiling had finished the drawing and handed the sketchbook over for him to review: "Take a look."

Xing Yu curiously took the picture book:

"The stars twinkled outside the window, and the silvery moonlight and the warm yellow floor lamp inside mingled and shone on him. He sat in front of the easel, turned his head, and saw countless twinkling stars reflected in his eyes, with a carefree and flamboyant smile on his lips."

Xing Yu, 16 years old, was admitted to Xi'an High School of Fine Arts on October 25, 2012.

The scene clearly showed him looking at an unknown place and laughing, but Xing Yu immediately thought of the cinematic language of 'breaking the fourth wall'—

Breaking through limitations, bridging the distance between fiction and reality, looking directly at Chu Beiling who is painting outside the frame.

Xing Yu thought:

After that, every time Chu Beiling opened the album and saw this painting, he was looking at it.

Suddenly, the Bodhi leaves outside the window rustled violently; it was the wind.

Seeing that he had been staring at his painting for a long time without moving, Chu Beiling snapped her fingers at him.

When Xing Yu came to his senses.

Young Master Chu smiled, revealing two small, white tiger teeth: "How's my painting?"

"No one can match me," Xing Yu said truthfully.

Chu Beiling's paintings always use bright and flamboyant colors. Even the simplest actions and expressions are always depicted with a sense of story, possessing a power that penetrates the heart, as if it can dispel all gloom.

He seemed to have been born to paint.

Chu Beiling raised an eyebrow, her amber eyes filled with pleasure: "It's rare to hear you praise me, it feels so good!!"

He was laughing, and Xing Yu laughed along with him.

The two boys sat in front of the easel, looking at each other and laughing. They didn't know what was so funny, but they were laughing, completely absorbed in a strange joy.

The school bell rang softly and gently, carrying a gentle breeze that echoed through the art classroom, breaking the silence of the open space.

Just as Xing Yu was about to speak, Chu Beiling suddenly leaned closer and pinched his cheek: "Brother Yu, you look very handsome when you smile, smile more often?"