Chapter 41

She glanced sideways, and a hand reached out from her right shoulder, holding a small square piece of paper between her index and middle fingers.

A faint fragrance wafted into Jian Sheng's nostrils, and she reached out to take the note.

The note contained an invitation: "Want to go home together tonight?"

Jian Sheng stared at the wild handwriting for a long time before slowly putting pen to paper.

good.

Attracted by the snowy scenery, no one could concentrate on reading, and Xu Shu slammed his hand on the table several times.

"What are you all going to do, heavens!" The iron table's voice was shrill, but it couldn't bring the person whose mind had wandered back. He sighed.

Looking at the students' faces below the stage, they were full of mischievous energy, at an age when their tempers were getting more and more stubborn.

"It hasn't snowed in Jiangzhou for several years," Xu Shu murmured.

He looked out the window. The blizzard hadn't lasted long; now, a light snow was falling slowly, gradually decreasing in intensity.

"Alright!" Xu Shu said in a deep voice, and after a few seconds he turned around and shouted to a group of curious students, "Everyone, line up at the door."

As soon as the word was spoken, the class erupted into chaos.

"What's Old Xu doing?" the sports committee member asked.

“Yeah, Lao Xu, calm down. Why are you making us go running in this snow? This is corporal punishment! Punish us severely! I want to learn from this.” Xu Xiao stood up.

The class's curiosity was greatly diminished by Xu Shu's command, which frightened them quite a bit.

Xu Shu chuckled and leaned against the table: "I said go out and line up, so go out and line up. Hurry up, we're not going to study anyway, so get out!"

After saying that, he walked out first.

The automatic noise reduction system silenced the entire classroom and corridor of Class 13, leaving only the sound of heavy footsteps.

Along with the sound of footsteps came the somber expressions on everyone's faces.

Jian Sheng stood behind Lin You, still holding a hand warmer in his pocket. When they went downstairs, the snow had lessened considerably. They walked out of the teaching building and onto the long path between the basketball court and the dormitory building.

She looked at the snow, slowly reaching out her hand to welcome it.

All my fingertips touched was a cold sensation.

She took it a few times, then put it down and looked up to meet him.

Behind the crowd, Chen Zhou glanced away, took his hand out of his pocket, palm up, and waited for a long time, but didn't receive anything.

He raised an eyebrow, looking at her slow, deliberate steps and her momentary ease.

It involuntarily brought a smile to my face.

"You can still laugh." He Shang clicked his tongue, put his hands in his pockets, and leaned his entire upper body on his shoulder.

"Is he having a fit?" he asked.

Chen Zhou glanced at Xu Shu, who was walking at the front, and shook his head casually.

"Damn it, I just started a game." He Shang gritted his teeth. "I should have known better than to cause trouble."

The two walked several steps side by side, then He Shang suddenly turned around, frowning, and said, "What happened to you last week? That incident almost made her mother come looking for you?"

After the words were spoken, Chen Zhoujing did not respond. After a long while, he finally curved his lips into a smile, his tone somewhat cold: "It was settled privately."

“You haven’t been this impulsive in a long time. Qian Xiao is a coward. Don’t get angry with someone like that. It’s not worth it.” He Shang turned his head toward him, relaxed his eyebrows, and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Whose order is this?" he hissed. "Could it be Yu Chao?"

Chen Zhou glanced at him in surprise: "No."

"That guy's got some kind of mental illness, why is he following her?" He Shang said angrily, raising his chin at Jian Sheng's retreating figure.

"I don't know." Chen Zhou chuckled softly. "You're just being a jerk."

“We’ve caught up.” He nodded toward the group that had fallen far behind, and the two of them followed closely behind.

Walking through the sparse grove of trees towards the platform, a class of students stood dejectedly under the platform as punishment.

Xu Shu turned his back to them and took a few steps forward.

A vast expanse of white, everything adorned with makeup.

After standing still for a few seconds, he suddenly turned around, glanced at the group of solemn faces, and chuckled: "Weren't you quite a sight to behold just now?"

"You're down here, not going to look anymore?" He paced back and forth a few times with his hands behind his back. "Is the snow heavy today?"

"Nobody's responding?" he scoffed. "Lifeless!"

"It hasn't snowed in Jiangzhou for years, I didn't expect it to snow so heavily all at once." Xu Shu chuckled, making many people in the group uneasy.

"Is he crazy?" Xu Xiao stood next to Xu Xiu, stroking his thick eyebrows, his nose red from the cold weather.

Xu Shu made a few words, glanced at the students' faces in the line again, and suddenly chuckled, a deep laugh.

He then relaxed his brow and said in a fairly easy tone, "Go have some fun."

As soon as he finished speaking, the team was silent for a few seconds, and the heavy atmosphere instantly turned into jubilant cheers.

"Holy crap, Lao Xu, what are you doing?" someone shouted.

"Old Xu, what does this mean? Holy crap, are they letting us play in the snow?"

"Old Xu, I love you."

"Hahahaha, you scared me! I thought we were going to go for a run."

"Which do you prefer, playing outside or running?" Xu Shu shouted.

"Of course we'll come down and play! It's been so many years since it snowed in Jiangzhou!!" Several boys were already eager to try it out.

"Heh, don't go too far! Don't play too hard, everyone. Put on your clothes so you don't catch a cold!" Xu Shu took a few steps away, then turned back. "Especially you boys, no fighting!"

After saying that, he walked step by step around the playground along the long snow track.

After he left, the group dispersed, and several figures ran off in a frenzy.

The empty playground instantly came alive with cheers and shouts of declaring war by throwing snowballs, turning the gloom on their faces into childlike smiles.

"Wow, Lao Xu is amazing..."

"The first teacher who let us go out to play during PE class... it's been drizzling for the past few days, so we haven't been able to go out for PE class. It's so stuffy..."

A few people walked past Jian Sheng. She stood still, watching their playful and chasing figures, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curled up.

“Now, Xu Shu is going to get a lot of flak…” Lin You shook his head.

Jian looked at her, and Xu Xiaxia hummed in agreement, then smiled and said, "Then..."

Before she could finish speaking, Jian Sheng felt something cold brush against his cheek. Seeing the group standing there dumbfounded, Xu Xiaxia took out a snowball she had made at some point and prepared to throw it at them.

"Oh my god!" Qi Jing realized what was happening, grabbed Jian Sheng who was standing next to her and ran to the side, shouting indignantly, "Xu Xiaxia, you ambushed me! Shameless!"

Jian Sheng finally realized what was happening, touched his face, and began to dodge her attacks.

The group started playing in a small patch of snow. Jian Sheng watched them having a great time, and a warm feeling rose in his chest.

Lin You suddenly walked up to her and said, "Quick, quick, she's attacking us, let's throw it back!"

She shoved a shaped snowball into Jian Sheng's hand, and then threw one at Xu Xiaxia herself.

"Hey, you two, wait! Qi Jing! Come help me!" Xu Xiaxia kneaded a large pile of snow behind her, then turned and ran towards the two of them.

"Jian Sheng, run!" Lin You shouted.

Jian Sheng took a step and ran to the other side. The person behind her chased for a few steps but couldn't catch up. She slowly stopped, panting, and a surge of pleasure welled up inside her.

As she watched the group chasing after her, she unconsciously smiled, her eyebrows curving upwards.

Behind her, Chen Zhou walked over quietly and was surprised to see her face and nose flushed red. She bent down and laughed at Xu Xiaxia and the others who were playing around in front of her, and the corners of her mouth followed suit.

He slowly walked up behind her.

Jian Sheng sensed the movement behind her and straightened up instantly. Just as she was about to run away, her shoulders were restrained.

The next second, she heard the gentlest words in her ear: "I won't hit you."

Before the coldness came the softness beside her ear and the blush rising on her cheeks.

She swallowed hard, slowly turned around, looked up, and met his gaze from half a meter away.

His nose and cheeks were red from the cold, and his hair was still damp from the melting snow. When he smiled at her, his eyes held a gentler warmth than usual.

Jian Sheng only looked at it for a few seconds before turning his head away, overwhelmed by a surge of emotions.

She touched her reddened ears, then casually asked, "Is there something you need...?"

After asking her, I regretted it; the atmosphere was awkward and unsettling.

Chen Zhou frowned slightly and coughed softly: "Did you turn around in the classroom to tell me something?"

He moved around to the side where her head was turned to the side, leaned closer, and asked, "Why don't you ever look at me?"

"Am I really that unattractive to your taste?" he sighed with a worried look.

"Well, life is like that sometimes. Sometimes you're disappointed and sometimes you're successful. Disappointment is actually the norm..." Seeing that she ignored him, he sighed again, raised his hand and brushed the snow off the back of his head a few times.

Before Jian Sheng could respond, he clicked his tongue and said, "Actually, I don't care at all..."

"Oh." She suddenly looked up, her expression blank, and Chen Zhou's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly explained, "I...I care, I really care..."

"What do you care about?" Jian Sheng frowned, her tone indifferent. "You talk too much."

After saying that, she turned and left, leaving Chen Zhoujing bewildered.

Chen Zhou was startled and froze. He waited until the others had walked a few meters away before running up to them.

As Jian Sheng turned her back, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. After taking a few steps, she finally regained her composure and prepared to go find Lin You.

A few meters away, she slowly heard footsteps behind her, and her pace unconsciously slowed down.

A cool breeze ruffled her eyelashes, and she blinked, about to turn away.

Suddenly, the person behind him cursed under his breath.

Then, she heard the sound of shoes sliding on the ground. Jian Sheng turned around sharply, instinctively raised her hand, and pulled Chen Zhoujing, who was about to slip and fall.

"Are you alright?" She used her strength to support him with both hands.

Chen Zhoujing knelt on the ground, cursing inwardly, "This ground is too slippery."

He looked up and saw her worried expression; his panic was replaced by a throbbing in his chest.

Seeing him lost in thought, Jian Sheng asked anxiously, "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Did you hurt your leg?" She had to pull him up several times before she could get him up.

Chen Zhoujing used her strength to get up, patted the snow off his legs, and then raised his head.

"What happened? Did you fall and get stupid?" Jian asked in a low voice.

Chen Zhou laughed in surprise, and the laughter grew louder and louder, as if he couldn't stop.

Jian Sheng frowned: "What's so funny? You fell down and you're still laughing?"

He hadn't expected him to fall, nor had he expected her to submit to him after he fell, and even more so, the worry on her face.

He would be captivated by her expressions and movements, and his emotions would follow her every move.

Chen Zhou laughed for a while before stopping, looking at her dark face. He pursed his lips and said, "I'm sorry."

"Apologizing again? You're sick." Jian Sheng was genuinely angry this time and started to speak rudely.

Chen Zhou suppressed a slightly cheeky laugh and reached out to tug at her sleeve: "Are you angry?"

"No." Jian Sheng pulled her hand away, turned around and walked away without saying anything more.

Chen Zhou closed his eyes in surprise and pinched his hand: "I was wrong, I was wrong."

"This ground is so slippery, I almost fell down, but luckily you caught me." He leaned towards her, his eyes crinkling, his smile carrying a barely perceptible hint of flattery.

Jian Sheng turned his head away and remained silent.

Chen Zhoujing bit her lip and winked at her, "I was wrong, I was really wrong, don't be angry."

“I was laughing just now because I realized you actually care about me. Wow, my status as a good friend has risen to another level.” He nodded, seemingly very satisfied, and then smiled at her again, “That means our relationship has taken another step forward.”

"So..." he thought for a moment, "So, you can't be angry, and you can't refuse to walk home from school with me."

Jian Sheng chuckled at his childish tone: "Oh."

"Oh? What does 'oh' mean?" Chen Zhoujing hummed in surprise. "Oh means agreement."

"Okay, I'm satisfied, no arguments accepted..." Before he could finish speaking, a snowball slammed into his back.

Snowballs exploded on the back of his black down jacket. The two of them turned around together, and the next second several more snowballs flew over.

Along with the snowball came the cheeky voices of He Shang and his companions.

"Chen Gou, where are you going?!" He Shang was running towards them, still holding a large snowball in his hand.

Chen Zhoujing's first reaction was: "Quick, dodge!"

He shielded her, and then the two of them ran together into the crowd.

Soon, the boy behind rushed into the group that was building a snowman, and the commotion startled the people who were decorating.

A group of people rushed in, carrying snowballs they had picked up from the ground, and began an indiscriminate attack.

Jian Sheng and Chen Zhoujing weaved through the crowd, causing chaos behind them. They ran to the railing where the pull-up test was being conducted, looked over there, and smiled at each other.

He Shang couldn't find them, but after circling around, he successfully found the two of them.

Ultimately, Class 23 of Senior High School was forced to engage in a large-scale snowball chase.

Cheers and wails rose and fell, echoing through the empty space.

This sound can penetrate mountains, rivers, and seas, and it can also transcend time.