Chapter 38 "Was that me?"...

After Tang Ci finished speaking, she immediately shook her head.

How could that be? For someone as proud as Sheng Yu to be jealous of her sounds like a fantasy.

"I was just kidding..." Tang Ci lowered her head shyly, her tone deliberately light: "Just kidding with you."

"I am indeed jealous." Sheng Yu narrowed his eyes. "I wish I could tell the whole class right now that you're mine."

Tang Cixin's heart skipped a beat, and she clenched her fists tightly: "...Don't be impulsive."

Sheng Yu's lips curled up, and he said indifferently, "Just kidding."

"..."

The boy, still holding his Polaroid camera, hesitated and asked, "Senior, are you still taking pictures?"

"Take a picture." Sheng Yu lowered his hand from Tang Ci's shoulder, maintaining a comfortable distance from her as before: "Thank you for your help."

Tang Ci cleared her throat, straightened her arms, and looked at the camera with what she thought was a serious expression.

After the boy finished taking the photo, he showed it to them, pointed to Tang Cituo's red face in the picture and laughed: "Senior, out of all the people who took photos with the senior, you are the shyest one."

"..." Tang Ci's face was stiff and red as she softly explained, "No, I'm blushing because I'm hot."

The boy hummed in response: "The air conditioning isn't on backstage."

The blush on her cheeks spread to her neck. Tang Ci clutched the hem of her clothes and glanced at Sheng Yu with a wistful look.

Sheng Yu raised his hand and loosened his tie: "It is quite hot."

Boy: "..."

Tang Ciyu caught sight of her junior classmate coming backstage and felt as if she had met a savior. She reached out and whispered to him, "There's no time to lose, come and go over the script quickly."

The junior student walked over quickly and pointed to the end of the corridor: "Okay, I just applied for a preparation room."

Tang Ciru breathed a sigh of relief and said to Sheng Yu, "I have to go now."

Sheng Yu nodded, watching as she didn't forget to take her coat from the sofa before leaving. He clicked his tongue lightly and called out to her.

Tang Ci turned her head, not understanding why.

"Give me your coat." Sheng Yu beckoned to her, "I'm going back to class anyway, I'll take it back for you."

"Oh." Tang Ci quickly folded the clothes and placed them in his hands. "Thank you for your help."

Sheng Yu glanced at the neatly trimmed clothes, gave a slight smirk in response.

/

After finishing her manuscript, Tang Ci returned to the classroom and found the seat Jiang Chan had reserved for her. Just as she was about to go over, her phone vibrated.

Sheng Yu sent her a message: 【Come over here】

Tang Ci habitually looked towards the back row and saw Sheng Yu sitting in the last row. Her gaze shifted from her phone screen to Sheng Yu.

She tiptoed upstairs and stopped in the corridor next to Sheng Yu: "What's wrong?"

Sheng Yu nodded towards the seat next to him with his chin: "Don't you want the clothes anymore?"

Tang Ci turned her head to look and saw that the coat, which had been neatly folded, was now crumpled up and lying listlessly on the chair.

"Yes, I want it." Tang Ci reached out to take it, but was caught off guard when he grabbed her wrist.

The veins in his wrist, which was pressed against his palm, throbbed. Tang Ci frantically tried to pull his arm away, but couldn't budge his strength at all.

The heat climbed up her wrist, and the bright lights of the auditorium and the noisy voices of her classmates became intense, scorching her senses.

The tension of being discovered overcame her mild-mannered nature, and Tang Ci slapped Sheng Yu's arm hard.

The crisp "smack" didn't startle the students in the front row, but it gave Tang Ci herself quite a fright.

Fortunately, Sheng Yu finally released her wrist, pulled open his shirt, and stretched out his bright red arm in front of her: "So fierce?"

"Who told you... to insist on dragging me along?" Tang Ci murmured softly.

Sheng Yu raised her eyebrows at the stage: "The dean of students is down there. Aren't you afraid of getting scolded for running back and forth like that?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Ci looked towards the stage. The head of the teaching department, holding a pointer, scanned the students who had violated the rules with an oppressive gaze.

Alarm bells rang in her mind, and Tang Ci hurriedly sat down next to him. Only after the head of student affairs left did her tense shoulders relax.

"I'm so pathetic." Sheng Yu rested her chin on her hand and looked at her with a mournful tone: "I tried to help you but got a beating in return."

Seeing the red marks on his pale skin, Tang Ci was overwhelmed with guilt and reached out her hand to him: "I'm sorry, hit me back."

"I don't have the habit of hitting people randomly."

"So what do you want to do?" Tang Ci asked, her face puffed out in worry.

"Press it for me," Sheng Yu said, placing her arm on her desk.

His words were so matter-of-fact that Tang Ci had no reason to refuse. She tentatively tapped his slightly cool skin twice with her fingertips and asked, "Is the pressure okay?"

Sheng Yu lazily commented, "It's passable."

Tang Ci swallowed hard and pressed even harder.

As the party was about to end, Tang Ci kept kneading until the class dispersed, and Sheng Yu still didn't tell her to stop.

Seeing the students in the front row stand up, Tang Ci lowered her head and asked softly, "Can I stop now?"

Sheng Yu glanced at her back as if he were not paying attention: "Press for one more minute."

Tang Ci let out a soft "oh" and, while diligently massaging the area, prayed in her heart that the students around them couldn't see them.

Just as I finished praying, Song Ke's voice came from behind me.

"Tang Ci".

Her heart skipped a beat. Ignoring Sheng Yu's anger, Tang Ci quickly withdrew her hands and turned to Song Ke, saying, "Class monitor."

Song Ke looked at Sheng Yu's arm resting on Tang Ci's desk and hesitated before saying, "I'll get my coat."

Tang Ci turned around and looked at Sheng Yu, who was standing motionless in front of her: "The class monitor needs to get his coat."

Sheng Yu looked up to indicate that she had heard him, then reached out and took the coat, handing it to Song Ke.

Song Ke politely replied, "Thank you."

Sheng Yu smiled amiably: "It's nothing."

Song Ke opened his mouth, but instead of looking at Sheng Yu, he turned to Tang Ci and asked, "The classmates are going to have barbecue, are you coming?"

Tang Ci wasn't very hungry, and it was getting late, so she shook her head and said, "I think I'll pass, you guys go eat."

As classmates passed by one after another, Song Ke moved closer to Tang Ci to avoid blocking their way: "Jiang Chan is waiting for you at the door. If you are sleepy, you can leave early. Besides, this meal is paid for by the class fund, so you don't need to worry about the money."

Having said all that, Tang Ci couldn't refuse any longer and nodded in agreement.

When she stood up, Sheng Yu also stood up.

"Are you going too?" Song Ke paused, then asked him with a smile, "I thought you weren't very familiar with your classmates."

Sheng Yu put his hands in his pockets and laughed, "Then we need to get to know each other better."

Song Ke: "..."

Tang Ci sensed the subtle hostility in the air, and figured it wasn't Song Ke's fault, who was usually so kind. So she helplessly tugged at Sheng Yu's sleeve and said, "Let's go."

Sheng Yu let out a soft "hmm" and smiled again as he passed Song Ke.

/

In the noisy bar booth, Zhou Yiyang pulled away from his chat, picked up his phone and casually scrolled through it. After seeing the group photo in the class group chat, he made a call to Sheng Yu with a roguish grin.

The phone rang for a while before being answered. "What's up?"

"You actually have the leisure to attend a class reunion?" Zhou Yiyang asked knowingly. "Little Tang Ci didn't go too, did she?"

Sheng Yu leaned back, his gaze falling on Tang Ci's fair neck: "Why don't you come and examine her yourself?"

Zhou Yiyang chuckled twice, cleared his throat, and got down to business: "I just heard from people at the vocational high school that Lin Yao has been locked up in a drug rehabilitation center, and they say he's causing trouble there every day."

Sheng Yu tapped her phone lightly with her fingertip, her voice indifferent: "Good thing, it won't stop him from coming out to continue his studies."

"He brought it on himself," Zhou Yiyang sighed.

After he hung up the phone, Tang Ci turned around, holding a small porcelain plate with a freshly grilled scallop on it: "Would you like some scallops?"

Aren't you going to eat?

“I’ll wait for the second batch,” Tang Ci said, placing the small porcelain plate on his table.

Sheng Yu looked up and saw that the waiter had just put the second batch of scallops on the grill, and it would take some time for them to cook.

Tang Ci turned her head away and continued eating her corn kernels.

Suddenly, the hem of her sweater was tugged, so she had to turn her head again. She saw that the scallops on Sheng Yu's plate were intact and urged, "Eat quickly, or they'll get cold."

Sheng Yu rested his elbow on the table and casually asked her, "You served me the food first, are you taking such good care of me?"

Tang Ci paused, glancing hesitantly at the lively banquet.

Sheng Yu sat next to her, neither too close nor too far from the other boys, exuding a faint sense of aloofness. It wasn't that he was unsociable; on the contrary, he was very popular, and he had his own unique insights into any topic the boys started.

However, he didn't initiate conversations or take any food.

Tang Ci thought for a moment, then leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I'm afraid you'll be too embarrassed to take what you want to eat."

Sheng Yu silently raised the corners of her lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing: "Then I'll trouble you to take care of me."

With the sizzling sound of oil, several plates of meat skewers were cooked, and the atmosphere at the table became lively.

Someone suggested playing games.

The table was laden with dishes, and there wasn't enough room for large board games, so everyone decided to play Truth or Dare by rolling dice.

Each person takes a die, and the person who rolls the highest number punishes the person who rolls the lowest number.

Tang Ci was terrible at these kinds of games that relied on luck, and she always lost. Before she could even think of an excuse to quit, Jiang Chan shoved a dice cup into her hand.

After the boy who suggested playing the game said "start," everyone shook the dice cups on the table.

When she covered the dice cup, Tang Ci saw that the dice showed a five. In order to keep that number, she only shook the dice cup symbolically twice.

A sneer reached my ears.

Tang Ci's ears felt hot when she glanced to the side.

Sheng Yu winked at her dice cup: "Cheating?"

He didn't lower his voice intentionally, and the girl opposite him looked over when she heard him. Tang Ci glared at him without thinking.

Her eyes were round and bright under the light; they didn't seem threatening, but rather reproachful.

Sheng Yu raised his hands in surrender: "Good Tang Ci, if you lose to me, I'll let you off the hook."

Upon hearing this address, Tang Ci abruptly turned her head away, her ears turning red, and remained silent.

Even so, Tang Ci relaxed because of Sheng Yu's words and rolled the highest point in the first round, punishing Song Ke who rolled the lowest point.

Song Ke pondered for a few seconds and chose truth.

Tang Ci took the stack of cards with truthful answers printed on them and chose a relatively calm question: "Please name the person who has had the greatest influence on you and explain why."

Song Ke first glanced at Sheng Yu next to Tang Ci, and then turned to Tang Ci: "You."

Tang Ci's breath caught in her throat, and she was somewhat dazed.

The classmates sitting next to Song Ke started to jeer, and some even whistled.

"Squad leader, tell me why?"

How has Tom Cruise influenced you?

...

After the cheering subsided, Song Ke put down his wine glass and recalled with his eyes lowered: "When I was in junior high school, my parents divorced and no one cared about me. The school was also terrible at the time, so I just started to live a carefree life."

He paused, looking into Tang Ci's eyes: "I remember once in the second year of junior high, I got the lowest score again. When the parent-teacher conference was held, I called both my parents. After they heard about my score, they scolded me severely and didn't come to the conference until it was over."

“I was young and proud back then, so I hid in the stairwell and cried. You happened to pass by and saw that I only got 27 points on my math test. You thought I was crying because of that. You must have been quite embarrassed, but you were too embarrassed to just leave, so you gave me a pack of tissues and your perfect score test.”

“After I took it over, I told you that one failure doesn’t mean anything, and you’ll have many more chances in the future. It’s too early to be discouraged now.” At this point, Song Ke smiled and said, “Actually, at that time, let alone the future, I didn’t even know where I was in the textbook.”

"Later, I watched you studying every day and started picking up my own textbooks. I actually got into the top high school. A few days ago, Lao Xu and I were discussing which key university we wanted to attend in the future. I suddenly realized that my life seemed to have been changed by a casual remark you made."

Song Ke breathed a sigh of relief: "Tang Ci, I've always wanted to thank you."

"Thank you for taking the initiative to talk to me back then."

After he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the table.

The charcoal fire burned steadily, making a soft crackling sound.

Jiang Chan suddenly pulled out a tissue and wiped away her tears: "Oh my god! I'm so moved! What kind of divine salvation is this, waaaaah—"

During the intense pressure of senior year review, everyone rebuilds hope through repeated failures, so they can all deeply understand Song Ke's past despair.

The sentimental students all had tears in their eyes.

Tang Ci snapped out of her reverie. She couldn't recall the scene when she first spoke to Song Ke. She only remembered that from that day onwards, Song Ke became her study partner. The two didn't talk much; their conversations mainly revolved around studying.

Realizing she hadn't really helped Song Ke much, Tang Ci said gently, "My words were just a catalyst. You were able to make such a big change because you've wanted to do this for a long time."

"Class monitor, if you really want to thank someone, thank yourself for all your hard work."

Song Ke's eyes flickered, moved by her words.

"Why are we getting all sentimental over a game?!" A cheerful boy shouted to ease the tension: "Class monitor, don't just talk the talk, you have to do something for Tang Ci! Tang Ci, if the class monitor wants to thank him, let him. Graduation is coming soon, why don't you take this opportunity to squeeze some money out of him?"

Tang Ci smiled, amused by the boy's playful tone.

Song Ke's tense jaw relaxed a little, and he smiled, "No problem, you can have whatever gift you want."

"Then you two can discuss it privately. We outsiders aren't listening." The boy shook the dice cup. "Hurry up! Let the game continue!"

After several more rounds of the game, Tang Ci was blessed by Lady Luck and was not punished even once. Her nerves were completely relaxed, and she noticed that Sheng Yu beside her had not spoken since.

Taking advantage of the break while someone was being punished, Tang Ci turned her head and asked, "Have you eaten enough?"

Sheng Yu lifted his eyes to look over, his gaze devoid of emotion: "Are you kicking me out?"

"..."

Tang Ci, annoyed by his retort, puffed out her cheeks and turned away without saying a word. Her luck, too, seemed to slip away; in the next game, she landed the second-lowest position of the entire match.

The male host stood up and surveyed the entire situation: "Brother Yu, you have the highest score, so you're in charge of the punishment."

Sheng Yu took the few remaining playing cards and glanced at Tang Ci: "Truth or Dare?"

Tang Ci is shy, so she chose to answer truthfully.

Sheng Yu played with the playing cards printed with questions in his well-defined knuckles, his gaze slowly sweeping over Tang Ci's face.

Tang Ci's throat tightened, and she whispered a reminder: "You said you would let me go."

Sheng Yu gave Tang Ci a reassuring smile, and Tang Ci's heart finally settled down. But when she heard what Sheng Yu said next, her heart jumped into her throat again.

Do you have someone you like right now?

Compared to other explicit questions, this one is almost insignificant.

But with Sheng Yu sitting right in front of her, Tang Ci could barely contain her pounding heart and instinctively wanted to shake her head.

"Don't lie." Sheng Yu noticed her movement and warned her coldly.

Tang Ci averted her gaze from his face and nodded hesitantly.

Seeing Tang Ci nod, the room instantly erupted in excitement, with all the students chattering and asking Tang Ci who that person was.

Jiang Chan's eyes widened, and she grabbed Tang Ci's arm and shook it violently: "How come I didn't know you had someone you liked?! Who is it? Do I know them? What do they look like? Let me see their picture!!"

Tang Ci was overwhelmed with gratitude, her ears turning so red they were almost bleeding.

Sheng Yu calmly tapped the table to quiet the noise, then lowered his head slightly, his gaze level with Tang Ci's.

Then he asked, "Was that me?"