Chapter 56

Birthdays are not important to him, but when he sees a birthday message, he will subconsciously remember it and subconsciously think about what he should prepare when the date approaches.

“It’s nothing…” she said simply. “Thank you.”

"What are you thanking me for?" Chen Zhou coughed. "We're all good friends, there's nothing to thank me for."

He raised his hand and patted the back of his head, his tone light and cheerful.

"Can't we thank each other since we're all good friends?" Jian asked in a low voice.

"Ah!" Chen Zhou exclaimed in surprise, "No, what I mean is, there's no need for thanks between us."

“Thank you is a polite phrase used to address other people,” he pondered, then said earnestly. “We don’t need to use such formalities to create distance between us.”

Jian Sheng frowned, finding it absurd.

But Chen Zhoujing changed the subject: "It's true, that's what everyone says online, and He Shang and the others have never been polite to me."

"Doesn't it sound a bit unfamiliar to you to say thank you?" he countered.

Jian Sheng thought for a moment and shook his head: "I don't think so."

Chen Zhou was astonished: "No...!"

"If you can maintain a relationship, there's no need to use politeness to distance yourself." He added, "That's how it is with me."

Jian Sheng pretended to understand: "Oh."

"Oh?" Chen Zhou mimicked her, "Oh."

"Oh." Jian Sheng glanced at him sideways.

"Oh!" Chen Zhou exclaimed, his surprise escalating.

She sighed, looked away, and ignored him.

"Such a temper..." She turned back, Chen Zhoujing's words lingering in her mouth before she consciously swallowed them back down, "Very good!"

Jian Sheng hummed in agreement and then turned his head away.

Chen Zhoujing was amused by her serious expression. He glanced at his watch and asked, "Are you interested in Huai'an University, which I mentioned before?"

Jian Sheng took the last bite of ice cream and was about to speak when Chen Zhoujing took the bag from her hand.

She glanced at the pair of hands, which were red and purple, and frowned slightly: "You think too highly of me."

“There’s a huge gap between us.” Withdrawing his gaze, Jian Sheng’s mood was complicated as he put his hand in his pocket.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou pressed his lips together and said, "There is no such thing as a gap between us."

"The fact is, you'll always be number one." Her breathing was slightly heavy. "And, Huai University... I don't even dare to dream of it."

Jian Sheng thought this was nonsense. Huainan University was a prestigious 985 university, and she dared not dream of achieving that level of academic success, and he was even more capable than that.

She knew he had considered it a lot and believed she had the ability, but she didn't believe in herself.

She felt that she was an unstable person.

Chen Zhoujing detected a faint self-deprecation in her tone, which inadvertently brought out the sadness in his heart.

He suddenly stopped and turned around. Jian Sheng noticed that Yu Guangzhong had stopped, so he stopped as well and looked at him.

Then Chen Zhoujing said seriously, "Negation is like a cage; it will trap your imagination."

"You should define yourself as someone whose position is as high as their aspirations."

"Negation will not give you any power; once negativity is amplified, it will go on without end."

He was very serious, and every word he uttered was an attempt to persuade the girl opposite him that she should build her own future.

But he forgot that very few people have such thoughts at this age.

Most people are just going through the motions in the exam-oriented education system.

But he believes that Jian Sheng should not do this.

Of course, she was moved by his intense words, but at this moment the influence was minimal.

She needs to recover her energy on her own. All he can do is tell her, and tell her again and again, that she should believe in herself.

Jian Sheng looked at his face bathed in light, and the hope in his eyes had not diminished.

She suddenly felt very fortunate, very fortunate that someone could tell her that she could get into Huaiyin University.

She lowered her eyes and said, "Okay, I'll try."

“Now that you’ve taken that step, there’s no going back.” His expression softened. “Since you were able to go from 40th place to average, and then from average to above average, there’s no doubt that persistence will pay off.”

"It's just a matter of time." He glanced at his watch again.

Changing the subject, Chen Zhou exclaimed in surprise, "I'll take you back."

Jian Sheng hummed in agreement: "What time is it?"

She asked habitually, forgetting that she had a cell phone in her hand.

Chen Zhou frowned, pulled up his sleeve, and held his wrist in front of her so she could see it.

It is 11:55 PM now.

“It is indeed a bit late…” she nodded.

Chen Zhoujing was already about to take a step, but seeing her standing there hesitating, he stopped: "What...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Jian Sheng took his hand out of his down jacket pocket, holding the hand warmer he had given her earlier.

On the day she had a holiday, he even gave her the charging cable and taught her how to use it.

However, he hadn't expected her to have it on her. Chen Zhoujing asked in surprise, "This is...?"

Jian Sheng didn't speak, her hand lingering on his reddened hand for a long time before she reached out and gently grasped his hand hanging by his side.

The movement was slow; she felt as if she were holding an ice cube rather than a hand.

Even though they're freezing cold, they insist that this is just their constitution.

After placing the hand warmer in his hand, Jian Sheng let go, then turned around, said softly, "Let's go," and started walking.

Chen Zhoujing stood there alone, staring blankly at the hand warmer in his hand.

The warmth of her hand still lingered on the back of my hand.

His brow furrowed unpredictably as he struggled violently, but finally softened when Jian Sheng's gentle urging voice appeared.

"Hurry up and catch up." The voice stopped, and Chen Zhou caught up with her; the two strolled back.

When they got downstairs, Jian Sheng waved to him and was about to go up when he called her back.

Chen Zhou raised his voice in surprise: "Simple."

With a casual remark, he turned away.

In the brief moment she turned around, Chen Zhoujing stepped forward and whispered in her ear, "Happy New Year, Jian Sheng."

After saying that, he quickly straightened up, looked into her stunned eyes, and continued, "On the first day of 2017, I was the first person to see you and speak to you."

"I'm not good at saying nice things." He was a little embarrassed, his palms hanging by his side, sweaty, and his tone softened slightly, "Then I wish you happiness every day, every moment."

"I also hope that you can become what your heart desires."

After he finished speaking, he didn't give Jian Sheng a chance: "Hurry up and go up, it's too late and cold, don't catch a cold."

Jian Sheng had barely realized what was happening when he exclaimed "Oh!" and had already run away.

She chased after him for a few steps, but Chen Zhoujing's strides were too big, so she could only say to his back, "Happy New Year."

He was too far away to hear it.

However, the next second, her phone rang in her pocket.

She reached out to grab it, and suddenly touched something hard.

Jian Sheng was puzzled, reached out and took out a red envelope.

It's quite thick. Her eyes widened. When did it silently slip into her pocket...?

She took out her phone again, and in WeChat, Chen Zhoujing replied with a "Happy New Year".

I sent her a few messages and told her to hurry upstairs.

She looked up abruptly and found him standing a hundred meters away, so far that she could barely see him.

Jian Sheng squinted and saw someone wave over there. Not long after, his phone rang again.

Get some rest!

Hurry up and go up!

Jian Sheng's fingertips trembled slightly, and his typing became clumsy. He deleted and edited, and finally, in a sullen mood, he changed a paragraph into a single word: "good".

After she went upstairs, she sat on a stool, opened a drawer, and placed all the little notes she had brought back on the table.

There were messages from him bringing her things from the convenience store, inviting her to dinner during exams, and helping her with problems during study group discussions. He even wrote words of praise for her on the paper.

There were even notes he wrote to coax her when they had minor disagreements.

Jian Sheng leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on a pile of crumpled, uneven draft papers.

After looking at it for a while, she took out her phone again and looked at his last goodnight message. She silently responded to each one in her heart.

After responding to all the messages, Jian Sheng picked up the envelope that she had kept at the bottom of the drawer.

She watched it over and over again until she was too tired to continue and finally fell asleep.

From then on, Huainan University became a clear goal, etched in her heart. Whenever she slacked off even slightly, a reminder voice would appear in her mind.

At the same time, she also picked up painting again, which she had once vowed to continue.

Between the Lunar New Year and the start of the new semester, Jian Sheng spent almost every day working on exercises with Chen Zhoujing and doing artwork at the institution.

Her life was no longer aimless, a matter of taking things one step at a time.

On the first day of school, Jian Sheng, carrying her schoolbag, stepped out of the elevator and habitually looked at the gray wall next to the glass door.

There was no sign of him.

She slung her backpack over one shoulder and was about to open the door when a dark figure burst out from the area blocked by the gray wall on her left.

Before she could react, she exclaimed "Ah!"

She looked up and saw Chen Zhoujing clinging to the glass door, his breath blurring half his face.

Jian Sheng looked at the corners of his mouth curving upwards, and the fear on her face finally subsided.

The door was pulled open by Chen Zhoujing.

Jian Sheng brushed past his shoulder without waiting for him at all.

He gently closed the door and ran towards her, saying, "Good morning..."

Seeing that she didn't speak, he leaned closer and said, "Why is your face so pale? Did I scare you?"

"Are you alright?" Chen Zhoujing suppressed his smile, walked beside her, scratched his brow, and glanced at her every now and then.

"Are you angry?" he asked cautiously.

Jian Sheng turned his head away: "Childish."

“Where is it childish!” he hissed. “Well… I apologize to you.”

"I'm sorry." Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow to look at her face.

Instead of getting a "it's okay" response, Jian Sheng simply said expressionlessly, "So we weren't friends after all."

"Huh?" Chen Zhou was startled. "Why?"

Jian pursed her lips and said, "You said there's no need for formalities between friends."

After saying that, she turned her head away.

Chen Zhou was startled and hesitated for a moment before he came to his senses.

She meant that "thank you" and "sorry" are equivalent to being polite!

She still remembered what he said!

He smiled, took a step forward, and walked quickly to her side, then slowly slowed down.

Jian Sheng sensed that he was catching up, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

She hadn't walked more than a few steps when her shoulder suddenly felt empty. She turned her head and saw that her little white backpack was already in Chen Zhoujing's arms.

He winked at her naturally when she looked at him.

Jian Sheng didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit consent.

"Hey, what's in your bag?" Chen Zhou asked, patting her bag a few times.

He glanced again at her back, which looked slim even in a down jacket, and frowned.

"Bricks," Jian said abruptly.

"Huh?" Chen Zhou was taken aback, then laughed and said, "When did you start joking?"

“I learned it from you,” she said.

"Really? I can learn such great things from you?" He picked up the bag with one hand, took another step forward, opened the iron gate, and waited for Jian Sheng to pass before holding the bag firmly in his arms again.

"Is this considered a good thing?" Jian said slowly.

"How can this not be a good thing? You know, joking around occasionally can not only lighten the mood of our conversation, but also make both of us feel happy and relaxed, without too much pressure..."

He pondered, "Furthermore, being able to joke shows that you have a quick mind, and having a quick mind means what? It means you're very smart!"

"This leads to the conclusion that you have a great talent for learning and comprehension!"

"My God! This further proves that Huai'an University is beckoning you!!!"

Simplified Chinese:

Someone once told her that silent response is the best response, and isn't that true?

But this silence was troubling to the speaker, so she nodded and replied, "You're right."

Upon receiving affirmation, Chen Zhou let out a long sigh and continued his lengthy argument.

"So, the human brain is actually meant to be developed. You have to step outside your own thinking and look at yourself from a third perspective, peeling back the layers of yourself from your words and actions. Your own perspective will always have barriers. Stepping outside your perspective may not change the facts that have already happened, but it can change how you see things."

"You have to believe me...because..."

Jiansheng interjected, "Because one of your friends taught you this?"

Chen Zhou asked in surprise, "Hmm?"

"Hmm." He then confirmed.

"Li Jing?"

"Um."

"It's him."