fourteen

"Nonsense, who dares to say that our top scholar is illiterate?"

"Then I'll tell you later." Ning Yi'en walked to the stone steps at the edge of the green belt, spreading her arms as if she were playing on a balance beam.

"Careful! Don't fall." Lu Yunian stood to the side, walking forward but his eyes never left Ning Yi'en. "Are you drunk?"

"Guess!" Ning Yi'en suddenly leaned down to look him in the eye. "Do I look like I'm drunk?"

The streetlights were dim, so Lu Yunian probably couldn't see clearly, but even in the dim light, he could tell that Ning Yi'en's face was really, really red.

He might really be drunk. Would it be okay to hug him again? No, wait, what if Yanyan is the type who gets drunk but doesn't black out? What if he remembers everything when he wakes up tomorrow? Would he think I'm being too mushy and keep his distance?

That won't work; let's be on the safe side and forget about it.

The next morning, for the first time ever, Lu Yunian went out first.

When Ning Yi'en went out, her bangs were still damp, hanging wetly on her forehead.

“I fell asleep on the sofa yesterday, and there was no food in the fridge. We still have time,” he glanced at his phone, then turned it to silent and casually slipped it into his pocket. “Let’s go out to eat together.”

"Okay, there's a noodle shop I really like near the entrance of the neighborhood." Lu Yunian slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Um... do you remember what happened last night?"

"What?"

"It was last night, you...I...and then we...hmm...hmm!"

"I...you hummed? What was it?" Ning Yi'en imitated Lu Yunian's tone.

"Um... it was just a hug." Lu Yunian spoke very quickly, in a low, mosquito-like voice.

"Okay, we hugged." Ning Yi'en smiled. "You seem so embarrassed. I thought I kissed you forcefully yesterday."

"I'm worried you might not be able to accept things between friends..."

“Although I don’t hug my friends very often, it’s perfectly acceptable.” Ning Yi’en’s eyes crinkled. “But if I forget them all, wouldn’t I be at a huge loss?”

"That's not how it works, Yan Yan. But if we have to go through with it this way, you took advantage of my inattention..."

Before speaking, Lu Yunian looked around for a while. Fortunately, there was no one else in the community except for an old man who was focused on his morning exercise.

Lu Yunian spoke hesitantly and haltingly. Is this the right way to make friends? No one has taught him, so he doesn't know.

But before she could finish speaking, she was embraced—in a fleeting moment.

Ning Yi'en hugged him briefly, her movements incredibly swift, and in those few seconds she patted Lu Yunian's back.

"Thanks."

"What."

"Lu Yunian, thank you for listening to me and comforting me. Thank you, Lu Yunian."

You're welcome, cigarette.

“Ning Yi’en, I will always be here for you.” After a pause, Lu Yunian added.

It was September 27th.

On the eve of the sports meet, even the air felt a bit restless. Adding to this the pre-National Day holiday break, the added pressure of being a senior high school student meant today was already the seventh consecutive day of classes.

Since yesterday morning, complaints of "unbearable pain" have been heard endlessly in the senior high school building.

Fortunately, the grade level management wasn't so inhumane; the afternoon exam, which was usually scheduled, was changed to self-study today.

The teacher was called to a collective teachers' meeting again, and no one patrolled the classroom, which was noisy.

Which one do you think looks better?

Lu Yunian said he was taking leave to go to the restroom and hadn't returned for half a day; nobody knew what he was doing. Ning Yi'en was slumped over her desk, absentmindedly working on her problems. Tang Xuanling, unusually, wasn't buried in her problems; she was discussing lipstick shades with Yan Ting across two seats.

Yan Ting was holding the three and looking extremely conflicted, but in fact Tang Xuanling had hardly ever worn makeup and wasn't very familiar with it. "They're all okay, I don't really know much about them."

"Does it make a difference?" Lu Yunian had slipped back at some point and stood next to Yan Ting's seat, gesturing for her to let him in.

"Is there no difference?" Yan Ting stood up. "It's obviously different, isn't it?"

“Forgive my poor eyesight,” Lu Yunian spread his hands. “Ning Yi’en, look, can you see the difference?”

When he sat down, Ning Yi'en had just closed her book and was looking this way.

"It's not very easy to tell."

"See? I told you I wasn't the only one like this. But if you insist on distinguishing between them, then it can only be red, very red, and extremely red."

"Hmm." Ning Yi'en found Lu Yunian rather amusing and agreed with him under his eager gaze. "But the one on the far right should suit you best; it will make you look fairer."

"See? They're nothing like you." Yan Ting seemed to have won back some ground, smiling at Lu Yunian. "But you seem to know a lot about this."

“My friend likes to do these things, and coincidentally, her skin tone is similar to yours.”

"Yanyan, you're amazing." After the discussion ended, Lu Yunian whispered in Ning Yi'en's ear.

Are you bored right now?

In fact, the answer is most likely no. Ning Yi'en just took out another set of questions and was writing furiously.

"No, what's wrong?" Ning Yi'en glanced at him sideways, not looking up because she was working smoothly on the problem. "Do you need me to explain the problem? I'm available anytime."

"No, but could you be bored for a bit for now?"

"Then ask again." Ning Yi'en put down her pen and tilted her head to look directly at Lu Yunian.

"Yanyan, are you bored right now?"

"It's okay to be bored."

“Let’s fold stars together.” Lu Yunian held up the paper strip he had just brought in and waved it in front of Ning Yi’en.

When Lu Yunian left the classroom, there were first-year high school students doing a physics acceleration experiment in the opposite experimental building. Although he couldn't remember how he magically connected the timing tape with the stars, he wandered over there as if possessed.

Lu Yunian may be very lucky lately, as the teacher who conducted the experiment had previously taught his class in physics for a period of time and happened to have a good relationship with him.

I got some paper strips without any problems, and didn't run into any teachers along the way, so I made it back to the classroom in one go.

“Okay.” Ning Yi’en stretched her hand out onto Lu Yunian’s table.

"What?"

"Paper strips, fold into stars. Stars."

"Oh right." Lu Yunian handed over two.

Ning Yi'en hadn't folded stars in a long time. She made a couple of movements and then laid them flat on the table.

"What's wrong? Don't you remember folding it?" Lu Yunian came over. Although he hadn't folded anything in a long time, he quickly tidied up a star—but it was a sloppy version, particularly shriveled and with a small corner sunken in.

“It will break.” Ning Yi’en said, reaching her hand onto Lu Yunian’s desk again.

"What, you want more?"

"No, I thought you would give me one that you folded." Ning Yi'en smiled, withdrew her hand, and picked up the pen.

“This one won’t do, it’s too imperfect,” Lu Yunian said. “What are you doing with the pen? Do you have to calculate acceleration before you can fold stars?”

The paper tape the teacher gave him was a mix of old and new, and coincidentally, the one given to Ning Yi'en was the one that had been used in the experiment.

"Do you really need to work this hard?"

“No,” Ning Yi’en said, “I’m making a wish, from a star.”

"This is so ceremonial! I want one too."

Lu Yunian wanted to lean over to see what Ning Yi'en was going to write, but Ning Yi'en stepped aside and said, "It's a secret."

“Then I want one too.” Lu Yunian turned around and sat up straight, using his body to block Ning Yi’en’s gaze from coming as he wrote.

“Here you go,” three minutes later, Lu Yunian finally folded out a round and beautiful star that satisfied him.

Ning Yi'en held it in his palm for a while, then put it in his pencil case. He then placed the one he had folded on his palm and said, "It's only fair, but you can't look at it now." He handed it to Lu Yunian.

What's written in his star is—

May the stars always be stars, shining forever.

Much later, the one Lu Yunian gave him was opened—

Carefree, free, and peaceful, Yan Yan.