Chapter 26

It was an extremely long night.

The next morning, Lu Si was the first to arrive in the classroom, looking listless.

He placed the scalding hot milk on the seat in the back row, but did not sit down. Instead, he leaned lazily on the desk, propped up his long legs, munched on the bread without any appetite, and stared indifferently at the faint light rising from the window and shining into the podium.

The nights grew longer and the days came later.

The deserted school was especially lonely. Sometimes Lu Si desperately wanted to break the desolation, and sometimes he simply relished it. If the human inner world could be visualized, Lu Si thought, he would harbor a deserted school within himself.

His spiritual world is actually very barren. Apart from studying and making money, he can only give a small part to his family and friends.

Am I worthy of the passionate gaze of a star-like boy?

Is he qualified to cast his loving gaze towards the stars?

When Lu Si asked this question, he already knew the answer, but he was reluctant to admit it. Gu Fang's idol-like devotion would eventually fade after he saw his true face, just as it had for countless idol-chasers throughout history.

Lu Si finished his bread and threw the plastic bag into the trash can beside the podium, as if to vent his frustration. But the plastic was too light, and it felt like a fleeting thought, like the unrealized love of a fan.

Lu Si had to admit it. He never took the fans' love for his music seriously. Even if they did, it was only for the music and the stage, for the image of him they imagined under the spotlight.

The duty system of Class 2 is different from the classes Gu Fang has been in before.

Usually, two people work the same shift: one takes out the trash, and the other cleans the blackboard and writes the timetable. The trash collector takes turns starting at the beginning of the class, and the blackboard cleaner takes turns starting at the end.

Knowing that it was Lu Si and himself who were on duty today, Gu Fang's steps were brisk as he went upstairs.

There was no one in the classroom, and Lu Si was not there, but there was a bag of hot milk with water droplets on it on the desk.

Above the mask, Gu Fang couldn't help but curl his eyebrows. He rummaged through his schoolbag and took out a few bags of snow cakes and rice crackers, and secretly hid them in the hole of Lu Si's table.

Just as he reached the blackboard and picked up the eraser, there was a noise at the door. Lu Si hooked the blue trash can with one hand and walked in from the door, his slender eyebrows slightly frowned, with a hint of annoyance.

Gu Fang raised his hand towards him: "...Hi."

Lu Si seemed to have just noticed him, his brows relaxed, and he nodded.

Gu Fang turned around and continued to wipe the blackboard. The dust was sparse. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, but he couldn't help blinking. After the sound of the trash can being lowered behind him, a hand came from the side, cleverly avoiding Gu Fang's hand and taking the eraser.

"I'll do it," a low, cold young man's voice came from behind, "you go and write the timetable."

As he spoke, he smoothly wiped the column of his timetable for him.

The eraser had been snatched away, so Gu Fang had no choice but to say "oh" and hold the chalk to write his schedule.

"You last night—"

The two were busy with their own things. After a while, Lu Si spoke, and his tone seemed to be asking casually.

"Going to see a show again?"

Gu Fang tilted his head, Lu Si was still facing the blackboard, his nose was high and straight, the morning sun was gradually rising outside the window, the light outlining the young man's neat and clear outline.

"Yeah." Gu Fang wasn't sure what he meant, thinking he was blaming him for hanging out again, so he hurriedly explained, "Lu Qi didn't go, but I went with another sister in the fan group." He added, "That sister is an adult now."

"Oh." Lu Si listened to the explanation but didn't seem to react much.

I took another eraser and went to dust it off at the trash can. Suddenly, he asked, "Do you like listening to music?"

Gu Fang was instantly alert to this question. Since the person he liked was a musician, he answered cautiously, "I like it."

"Like music?"

"like."

To avoid being unable to answer his questions, Gu Fang was racking his brains, making up excuses one after another, but Lu Si stopped talking again. After a pause, he changed the subject: "That day, Jing Xingye's parents said that you... were hospitalized?"

"Well," Gu Fang's grip on the chalk loosened considerably, a faint smile playing on his brows, "It's nothing, just a problem I was born with. I've had a few surgeries, and now it's basically healed."

So, don't worry about him.

The sky was completely bright, and the entire campus seemed to be illuminated as well. Voices could be heard from time to time in the corridor.

Lu Si looked at him with his back to the scorching morning sun, his face shrouded in shadows and his expression difficult to discern.

"I remember a little fan who came to listen to my music and he also got sick," he said casually. "He was pushed in front of me by the crowd and asked for my autograph. I asked if he wanted to write something, and he said he wished him a successful recovery from surgery."

After finishing the schedule, Gu Fang put down the chalk, lowered his eyes and did not move.

"Was that the summer vacation of my freshman year in high school?" Lu Si's voice was very low, as if he was only sharing it with him.

"I remember that summer was very unhappy. I had lost an important family member not long ago, and the band was about to be suspended by the school. I participated in the music festival just to win an award and keep the club."

He paused for a moment, and his sharp eyebrows rarely relaxed into a soft arc.

"The band doesn't have many fans, and that sick kid is one of them. I wrote him a few words, and he told me to persevere. As long as I persevere, looking back, no matter how difficult the current situation is, it will be nothing. He also said that he will definitely come to see the performance again after he recovers."

Gu Fang twisted the chalk dust on his fingertips, still not looking up, and pursed his lips: "Did he come to see it?"

"Come on." Lu Si's eyes were fixed on his face.

"He's coming." Gu Fang curled his lips, a smile brighter than the morning sun blooming between his eyebrows, "He must be coming."

Lu Si got the answer he wanted and didn't ask any more questions.

After evening study that day, Gu Fang pushed a book of easy mistakes onto his desk.

Lu Si saw how he looked when he was copying in the milk tea shop that day, and felt complicated for a moment, but accepted it silently.

Gu Fang was not in a hurry to leave. He stared at his profile and asked, "After taking out the trash, do you still want to go to work?"

Cleaning the blackboard took all day, and taking out the trash wasn't easy either, requiring multiple trips a day. Gu Fang remembered the schedule he'd gotten from Lu Qi: Lu Si had work at the cake shop from Tuesday to Friday nights.

Lu Si nodded his chin, put the notes into his schoolbag, raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Gu Fang smiled, his thick eyelashes curling up naturally. "I organized the notes myself. If there's anything you don't understand, you can call me after work tonight. I'm still awake."

Lu Si waited until most of the students had left before he picked up the trash can and went downstairs.

He spent the entire trip agonizing over whether he should call tonight. When he returned, the corridor was deserted. He passed the window without noticing, and only when he entered did he realize there was still a girl in the class, hunched over the desk, her shoulders heaving and sobbing softly.

“…”

Lu Si was at a loss as to whether to advance or retreat.

After all, the girls should have thought that everyone in the class had been exposed, but who would have thought that Lu Si would come back and surprise them.

Lu Si didn’t know many girls in the class, and the one in front of him happened to be one of them.

He calmly put down the trash can, making a deliberate noise. The girl was startled and looked up. While Lu Si was not looking back, she hurriedly wiped away her tears.

But after searching for a long time, she only found a piece of tissue left on her body.

Lu Si sighed inwardly, took out a pack of tissues from the outer pocket of his school uniform, walked over and handed it to her.

"...Thank you." Shu Nanzhi paused, tore open the package and wiped her tears silently.

Shu Nanzhi was the class's arts committee member, and Lu Si had often interacted with her when she was working on the bulletin board and organizing various arts activities. Although they were both taciturn and spoke very little, they were still somewhat familiar with each other.

"Are you okay?"

Lu Si asked thoughtfully, vaguely remembering Shu Nanzhi's strict upbringing and her seldom staying at school so late. In the past, when she'd been required to stay after school for an event, Lu Si had encountered her parents running to the school looking for her because she was an hour late.

"Yeah." Shu Nanzhi nodded without any expression, "I feel much better now."

"...Don't put too much pressure on yourself. One or two failures are nothing."

It was rare for Lu Si to say so much. However, since they were in the same situation, he couldn't find any extra comfort.

Shu Nanzhi was not someone who didn't appreciate it. She wiped her tears, forced a smile and said, "I'm fine. You go first. I'll do some more homework and I'll turn off the light."

Lu Si had no choice but to say, "Okay."

Said he was calling.

At 10:30 that evening, after Gu Fang had finished doing today's homework and painted a watercolor of the light purple gladiolus in the porcelain vase, his cell phone rang with a special attention tone.

-I don't quite understand this place.

-[picture]

Gu Fang couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips. Although he had expected Lu Si not to call, he still couldn't help but laugh.

He pressed his lips to suppress his smile and typed with one hand.

-Anything else?

The "typing" on the other side is visibly tangled.

Gu Fang was so interested that he simply did nothing but hold up his phone and watch the "typing" sign light up and disappear over and over again.

The note given to the other party was Brother Lu Si.

Gu Fang's double standards come naturally. He brings trouble when others call him that, but feels comfortable when he calls himself that.

-[picture]

-[picture]

-[picture]

Brother Lu Si finally came back.

-I don't quite understand any of this. What does it mean to choose this based on your intuition? What does it mean to not match the question?

Lu Si tightened his jaw under the lamp, twirled his pen, and frowned.

Am I asking too many questions?

Suddenly a voice call sounded——

Lu Si's hand holding the phone suddenly trembled, his heart was still beating fast, and his fingertips subconsciously slid over to answer the call.

"Are you there, Lu Si..."

It was obvious that the last two words were swallowed, but Lu Si didn't make it out and was frantically looking for his headphones.

"Yes." After putting on the headphones, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon, Gu Fang's clear and pleasant voice came as if covered by a layer of fog, and it was as if an electric current penetrated into Lu Si's ears, making his ears, which were extremely sensitive to sound, feel hot.

"Don't you understand these questions? Then let's look at the first picture first."

Lu Si isolated his hearing and forced himself to concentrate, with remarkable results.

When he got to the last question, just when he understood, Gu Fang asked him, "Did you understand? This question is quite difficult. Do you want me to explain it again?"

Just as he was about to say he understood, something suddenly occurred to him. Lu Si's fingers gripping the pen trembled nervously. He bent his thumb and lowered his voice: "...I don't quite understand."

Gu Fang was very patient: "Then I'll tell you again."

This time, Lu Si was finally able to indulge himself and immerse himself in this voice wholeheartedly.

He slowly found a similar description. The sound was neither slow nor fast, low, mellow and gentle, like a pleasant and noble violin.

I could almost imagine Gu Fang, under the light, pursing his lips as he carefully explained things. The boy's skin was porcelain white, his lips rosy, his eyelids drooping, his eyelashes casting a thick shadow on his skin...

"Lu Si."

Suddenly my name was called.

Lu Si suddenly came back to his senses and quickly pretended nothing happened, saying seriously, "Well, I understand this time."

Gu Fang, however, was talking about something irrelevant: "You chose this name... because you were born in April?"

"Yes," Lu Si said, "It's the day of Grain Rain in the lunar calendar. How about you?"

"I was born in June," Gu Fang said, "on Children's Day."

Lu Si couldn't help but laugh: "It suits you very well."

"I'm only two months younger than you," Gu Fang said with a hint of dissatisfaction, just a hint, nothing more, "Stop calling me kid."

"Two months is a long time." Lu Si seemed to be teasing him on purpose. He raised his eyelids casually and twirled the pen with his fingertips. "Do you know how many children are born in the world every day? Two months is a long time."

The other end fell silent.

Lu Si thought he was really teasing him and was about to change the subject.

"Lu Si," Gu Fang paused for a precious moment, then spoke slowly, "Brother."

The spinning pen fell to the ground with a "click".

Lu Si: “…”

Now it was his turn to freeze and be speechless.

When he got no response, Gu Fang was silent for a moment, then lowered his voice, as if afraid of waking something: "Can I call you that?"

Lu Si felt like he had lost his ability to speak, but luckily he could just say "hmm" and didn't need to organize any additional words.

Gu Fang's voice instantly sounded like a child who had received a handful of candy.

"Then I'll call secretly," Gu Fang said, "Don't worry, not many people will hear it."

"……oh."

There is no need to organize your words to say "oh".

"Then I'll hang up." Gu Fang's voice was as light as a cloud of mist, almost unreal, "Good night... Lu Si, brother."

Lu Si took off his headphones and touched his ears belatedly.

I was so burned that I almost lost consciousness.

He ruffled his hair in frustration.

...How can this be?

How could an ignorant O do this?

The author has something to say:

Fang Fang: So I am ignorant?