Holding hands

After the party, most of the students packed their bags and disappeared in a flash. Deng Lianchun raised his glasses with one hand and noticed that the trash was still left behind, so he frowned.

He looked around for a while, saw Lu Er, and waved her over: "Class monitor, can you call someone to clean up this place? Where is today's duty student? They'll be punished with an extra day."

Lu Er couldn't find anyone, so she borrowed a dustpan and broom from the nearest classroom and cleaned it up by herself.

When she returned to the classroom and picked up her schoolbag, the entire campus was silent, as if the liveliness and happiness of just a few hours earlier were all just a dream.

Lu Er walked down the stairs. The incandescent light in the stairwell stretched her shadow long, extremely thin, as thin as a giraffe's neck. Lu Er lowered her eyes and stared at the highest point of her neck, and then she realized that someone had stepped on that endpoint.

Ruan Xiyan stood in half light and half shadow. Under her baseball cap, two bright eyes gazed at her.

"Ruan Xiyan?" Lu Er quickened her pace and stepped forward, unsure whether to be surprised or delighted. "You...why haven't you gone home yet?" Ruan Xiyan had been called away by his family after the party and hadn't appeared for a long time. Lu Er assumed he had already gone home.

"Of course I'll wait for you. Let's go back together." Ruan Xiyan's lips curved into a smile.

After evening self-study sessions for senior high school students, all bus routes in Huai'an had stopped running. Lu Er had no bus to take, and walking home often took almost half an hour. She had considered suggesting to Cui Feng that they take an electric scooter to evening self-study, but ultimately didn't bring it up.

During these half hours, she likes to plug in her headphones and listen to English listening exercises or her favorite songs to pass the time.

Tonight is different. But Lu Er couldn't quite put his finger on what was different.

She and Ruan Xiyan walked down the street, surrounded by traffic. A beam of yellow and white headlights occasionally shone on them, illuminating Ruan Xiyan's unconsciously straightened chin and her forced composure.

As they walked along a deserted path, Ruan Xiyan couldn't contain her nervousness and asked, "Teacher Xiaolu, are you really not lying to me?"

Her emotions had reached a climax tonight, but what followed was a belated sense of embarrassment. She slowly nodded: "I didn't."

"Then, may I hold your hand?" he asked cautiously, but his shadow under the streetlight leaned slightly towards Lu Er.

Lu Er didn't answer; instead, her half-raised hand spoke for her.

Palm to palm, fingers like a bunch of unripe cherries, you can feel each other's softness and warmth when they touch.

Ruan Xiyan glanced down, then quickly looked away. A hint of laughter lingered in his voice: "So, are we...?"

Lu Er suddenly covered Ruan Xiyan's mouth with the back of her hand, the one she wasn't holding. Ruan Xiyan was caught off guard, his eyes widening in surprise. He didn't struggle, but protested with his eyes: "...Mmm!"

"..." Lu Er lowered his hand, coughed as if trying to cover up the situation, "Don't use such misleading words."

She changed the subject: "Did you write the program introductions?"

Ruan Xiyan displayed the pride of a peacock spreading its tail feathers: "Yes, it's me." She was practically writing "Praise me!" on her sleeve.

"Good soil."

Ruan Xiyan: "..." He cast a resentful glance at her.

Ruan Xiyan wasn't really in a hurry; she just wanted to tease her. Thinking of this, Ruan Xiyan secretly lowered her thumb and drew a few circles on Lu Er's tiger's mouth (the area between her thumb and forefinger).

Lu Er jolted, abruptly pulling her hand away from his, both annoyed and amused: "Ruan Xiyan!"

"I was wrong, Teacher Lu." His attitude in admitting his mistake was so straightforward that Lu Er had no chance to take advantage of it. Looking into Ruan Xiyan's innocent and harmless smiling eyes, the anger that had been building up in Lu Er's heart instantly disappeared.

"Can I hold your hand again?"

Lu Er refused: "No."

“But the next time we meet, it will be…” Ruan Xiyan deliberately dragged out the last syllable, making him look pitiful and unloved, “a long, long time.”

Lu Er hesitated, and in that brief moment, Ruan Xiyan had already taken her hand. This time, he held her hand tightly between all five fingers, as if afraid she would slip away: "I've got you."

Lu Er pursed her lips and said to Ruan Xiyan out of the corner of her eye: Don't try any tricks this time.

This time, Ruan Xiyan really did just hold her hand obediently, and he escorted Lu Er all the way to her house. When they were still a dozen meters away from the residential area, Lu Er let go of her hand first: "Okay, you should go home now."

"Can I come to see you every week?" Ruan Xiyan was referring to Sundays, her half-day of free time.

Lu Er shook his head: "You'll be taking the provincial joint exam soon, right? It takes a lot of time to go back and forth, so study hard."

Ruan Xiyan was disappointed, but then he remembered that she was actually paying attention to his art exam progress, and his expression brightened again. He conceded, "Then can I send a text message?"

Lu Er thought for a moment and said, "Okay." After she finished speaking, Ruan Xiyan remained still, staring at her with her big eyes.

Lu Er sighed helplessly, a faint dimple appearing at the corner of her mouth, and said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Teacher Xiaolu." Ruan Xiyan smiled, revealing her dimples, and waved as she turned around, turning back every few steps. The moonlight, like pear blossoms, draped over her fair face.

-

Lu Er went back inside and changed into slippers. Cui Feng and Lu Guoyang, as usual, one sat in front of the TV watching some foreign variety show, and the other played Dou Dizhu on his phone, losing all their Happy Beans as usual.

After greeting them, Lu Er walked towards the room. Halfway there, she stopped and looked at the sofa: "Auntie, Uncle."

Lu Er mentioned her idea of ​​staying at the hotel. Cui Feng listened without saying a word, only her brows furrowed. Seemingly tired of talking, she nudged Lu Guoyang's shoulder with her elbow, signaling him to come over.

Lu Guoyang received the message, his expression still relatively gentle: "Xiao Er, why do you suddenly want to stay overnight?"

Lu Er wanted to stay at the hotel for two main reasons: first, the journey home after evening self-study was long, and it got dark early in winter, making it inconvenient; second, it was a convenient excuse to study. After Lu Er said this, Lu Guoyang hesitated and glanced at Cui Feng, who remained silent for a while as if considering something, before saying, "In that case, you'll have to pay for accommodation and also take more living expenses."

Lu Guoyang leaned closer and whispered to Cui Feng, "The workload in the senior year of high school is heavy, so studying should definitely be the priority..."

The two chatted for a while longer. Lu Er, left behind, simply maintained a sensible indifference.

“Alright, Xiao Er, you can go to your accommodation now. Is there anything we can do for you?” Lu Guoyang and Cui Feng had reached a decision and turned to ask.

Lu Er: "I'll probably talk to the homeroom teacher about this next Monday."

"Shall I take you to school on Monday? I'll help you make your bed and check out the dorm room."

Lu Er didn't want to trouble him anymore: "No need, thank you, Uncle and Aunt."

When Lu Er returned to school the next time, she told Deng Lianchun about it. He asked her to get a dormitory informed consent form for her parents to sign, and also gave her a dormitory key.

The dormitories at No. 3 Middle School are divided into four-person and six-person rooms. Most students choose to commute, so many four-person rooms are currently empty. One room in Lu Er's class is full of boarding students, so she was assigned to share a room with a girl from the next class.

The day Lu Er dragged her suitcase to the dormitory building, the weather in Huai'an turned cold overnight, and the wind blowing into her neck felt like a cold spring flowing over her.

She pulled her down jacket tighter around herself, checked the door number to make sure she hadn't gone to the wrong place, and then gently knocked on the door.

"Instructor, do you check hygiene on Sundays too?" A round-faced girl opened the door, and when she realized it wasn't the instructor, she looked at Lu Er with a surprised expression. After a few seconds, she suddenly understood, "Oh, the teacher told me that a new student moved in. It's you! Please come in."

Seeing that she was dragging a suitcase, the girl said warmly, "Let me help you?" Lu Er shook her head and said no, and went inside.

The girl was from the neighboring Class 19, named Huang Lingling. She was usually very talkative, chattering like a little bird whenever she spoke to anyone. But Lu Er only said two sentences from the moment she opened the door until she entered the room, displaying a clearly indifferent attitude that made Huang Lingling unusually quiet.

Lu Er knelt in front of the bed, making it up. Huang Lingling, having nothing to do, sat down on her own bed. She glanced back at her new roommate, whose fair skin made her hair look like black fungus soaked in cold water.

Huang Lingling pouted slightly, feeling that the days ahead would be much more boring.

–

Lu Er packed the clothes from her suitcase into the closet, picked up a bucket, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

When I finished washing it, my phone on the table had received several messages.

[Slow Momo]: I heard from Chen Xiang that you stayed at the hotel.

【Slow Momo】: Why didn't you tell me?

Lu Er sat in the chair, the towel draped over her shoulder still steaming. She tapped the keyboard with her thumb and replied, "I don't have time to talk to you."

【Slow Momo】:QvQ

【Slow Momo】: Where do you live? Do you have any roommates?

[Slow Momo]: I remember many of the dormitories at No. 3 Middle School were empty.

[11]:306, has a roommate

【Slow Momo】: It would be troublesome if it were at school.

【11】: What's the trouble?

[Slow Momo]: I can't call you because my roommate is here.

Lu Er paused for a moment, then leaned back involuntarily, a slight smile playing on her lips. She said, "Ruan Xiyan, we've only been apart for three days."

After a moment, the person on the other end said.

【Slow Momo】: But I've liked you for more than just three days.

Lu Er's face flushed slightly from Ruan Xiyan's words. She slumped in her seat, thinking, "Ruan Xiyan is like a little dog. A little dog that can't live without people."

She beckoned and changed Ruan Xiyan's WeChat nickname to: Ruan the Little Dog.

Now, someone using the nickname "Little Dog Ruan" sent a message: "Teacher Xiao Lu, I want to go back to No. 3 Middle School."

Lu Er teased him deliberately, "Do you enjoy coming back to outwit and outmaneuver the director?"

Last fall, when everyone was separating into arts and sciences tracks, and everyone was saying goodbye to familiar faces and sitting next to unfamiliar ones, Ruan Xiyan became famous throughout the entire second year of high school.

The reason was that Chen Xiang and Ruan Xiyan were late side by side; the former was assigned to sweep the playground, while the latter was exempted from punishment. When Director Vulture learned of this, his gaze towards the boy immediately became peculiar. In his eyes, all students should be treated equally; it was better to wrongly punish than to let someone go free.

So the vultures started targeting Ruan Xiyan. Today Ruan Xiyan was penalized for not keeping the classroom clean because she put a drawing board there; tomorrow Ruan Xiyan will be accused of damaging the greenery because her basketball rolled off the playground.

In just a few days, the disciplinary wall was filled with names, taking up half of it, and all the second-year students were curious about Ruan Xiyan. The storm was only eased when the principal intervened.

But Ruan Xiyan's popularity didn't wane. Later, people still occasionally passed by Class 18 and caught a glimpse of the legendary Ruan Xiyan from the entrance.

Looking back now, it was around that time that Lu Er began to pay some attention to Ruan Xiyan. Although it was only for three minutes.

"Little Dog Ruan" bluntly stated, "I want to go back to see you."

Lu Er typed: "I'll come find you next time."

On the other end, Ruan Xiyan was sitting in a milk tea shop with Ji Sibai. He inadvertently saw these words, and his heart skipped a beat: "When is the next time?"

"When you listen to me."