Three Steps Brother

Wednesday lunch break, the corridor of Grade 11 (5) class.

Sheng Shuo carried his tray, head down, and walked quickly, silently counting: Three, two, one—turn!

At the corner, a bright red hair suddenly flashed out, like a fuse that had been lit prematurely. He couldn't brake in time, and his plate crashed against the wall with a clatter, splashing soup all over his trouser leg.

Yu Chen stood with his arms crossed, leisurely blocking the way, and drawled out, "Mr. Sanbu, why are you avoiding me?"

Sheng Shuo's ears instantly turned bright red, and his eyes darted around: "N-no... I'm in a hurry to memorize the text."

"Recite a text?" Yu Chen raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. "Then recite it for me. Recite the first three lines of 'Ode to the Red Cliff'."

Sheng Shuo opened his mouth, but his mind automatically replayed the scene of yesterday's burnt food—

He held onto the person tightly and wouldn't let go;

He stuffed a lemon candy into the back of someone's neck;

He even muttered, "Three steps would also work..."

The moment I uttered the phrase "the autumn of Renxu," the audio switched to electronic music, causing the computer to completely crash.

Yu Chen chuckled and was about to say something else when footsteps sounded behind him—

An Yi, carrying a stack of monthly exam answer sheets, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms, said in a clear voice, "Excuse me."

He turned his head, his gaze moving back and forth between the two of them, finally landing on Sheng Shuo's bright red earlobe. He raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he were marking a checkmark on an easy question.

Sheng Shuo's inner monologue instantly screamed: "You're insane! You really know how to pick your timing!"

An Yi nodded politely, her voice neither too loud nor too soft: "Student Sheng, your face is so red—has your fever not gone down yet?"

In short, the "three-step" meme was upgraded to a "fever reduction" meme. Sheng Shuo almost evaporated on the spot, and could only laugh awkwardly: "It's gone... thank you for your concern."

Yu Chen, always eager for drama, casually snatched the top answer sheet from An Yi's arms—148 points, a big red checkmark. She shook it, her voice even more drawn out than before:

"President An, is the analysis finished? Someone next to me needs to 'cool down'."

An Yi pushed up his glasses, his gaze falling on the lemon candy wrapper peeking out of her pocket, a slight smile playing on his lips:

“I’ve finished writing the third solution. As for calming the fire, it depends on the person involved—” He turned his head to look at Sheng Shuo, “Do you want me to help you recite… ‘Ode to the Red Cliff’?”

Sheng Shuo: ...

At this moment, all he wanted was to disappear on the spot, or travel back to yesterday and knock out his delirious self.

At that moment, Yu Chen stepped forward, blocking his way. With her back to An Yi, she lowered her voice so that only Sheng Shuo could hear her:

"Stop hiding from me. You've already taken three steps, and for the rest—I'll wait until you're fully recovered and catch up with you yourself."

After she finished speaking, she folded the 148-point answer sheet into a small square, stuffed it into Sheng Shuo's school uniform breast pocket, and patted it twice:

"A good way to cool down is to check your score if you can't memorize it. Take a moment to calm down."

Then he turned around and gestured with his chin towards An Yi: "Let's go, give me the analysis, don't tease him."

An Yi's gaze lingered for a second on Sheng Shuo's bright red ear tips, a slight smile playing on her lips, as if she were writing a note on a bonus question:

"Okay, I won't tease you anymore."

The two walked away side by side, their silhouettes bisected by the corridor window, creating a play of light and shadow. Sheng Shuo stood still, his knuckles tapping lightly twice in his breast pocket—

The answer sheet was stiff, and the lemon candy wrapper rustled, like a dash being drawn over the delayed "three-step" answer:

At the end of the corridor, sunlight is cut into squares by the window frames, some bright, some dark.

Sheng Shuo stood there, his knuckles still tapping on the stiff answer sheet on his chest, but his ear tips felt like they had been set on fire, burning so hot that even his breath felt hot.

Ahead—

An Yi walked outside Yu Chen, the cuffs of his white shirt swaying slightly with his steps, like a flamboyant flag; he turned his head, his voice low and clear, saying "analysis" and "cooling down". Yu Chen listened attentively, nodding occasionally, the ends of his hair flashing in the red grid, like a line of fire that Sheng Shuo could not reach.

Sheng Shuo's mind instantly flooded with comments—

[Crazy! What a timing!]

Of all times, they had to come when I was already furious!

[Analysis, analysis, analysis... what kind of analysis is this?!]

He wished he could tear his three-step recollection into pieces and stuff them into the back of the answer sheet, so that his score of 148 would immediately drop to 37.2—at least lower than the temperature of blushing.

But the reality is—

An Yi raised his hand and gestured "please." Yu Chen followed suit and walked towards the stairwell. His shadow was stretched long by the sunlight, like an unfinished axis of symmetry, gradually moving away from his coordinates.

Sheng Shuo's internal cursing intensified—

[An Yi, you jerk who knows how to pick your timing!]

[They took my people away, and then put on that 'I was just delivering the analysis' kind of serious face!]

He lifted his foot to chase after him, but then abruptly stopped—

What should I say if I chase after them?

"Do I need a copy of the analysis too?"

Or is it still "I haven't finished taking three steps yet"?

My feet circled in place, and the answer sheet on my chest rustled in the wind, like a referee reminding me that the round was not over, but no one rang the bell.

Suddenly, Yu Chen turned around—

Across the dimly lit corridor, she raised her hand to him, her little finger slightly hooked, silently mouthing the words:

"wait for me."

Sunlight fell on her knuckles, like drawing a temporary coordinate for a delayed answer.

The fire in Sheng Shuo's heart was instantly extinguished, leaving only the tips of his ears still red, but his heart no longer pounding wildly. He raised his hand and tapped twice in his breast pocket, as if writing a note on the other side of the axis of symmetry:

Okay, I'll wait for you.

—But next time, don't let An Yi pick the time!