Chapter 53 All I Can Hear Is Your Voice…

Seeing this, Peng Chengyi's lips curled up uncontrollably, her eyes gleaming with slyness, and her voice carrying a clear hint of mockery: "Huh? Didn't someone swear they wouldn't wear such childish things?"

Chen Yubai's gaze drifted away unnaturally, and he said in a slightly stiff tone, "The other clothes were washed but not dry, so I just grabbed this."

After saying that, she quickly changed the subject: "Why did you come all this way so late at night? What kind of photos do you want to exchange?"

“It’s the photo booth picture we took this morning,” Peng Chengyi said, handing over the three-person group photo in her hand. “Give me back the one with the heart background, and I’ll give you this three-person group photo in return.”

Chen Yubai's expression paused subtly for a moment. He glanced down at the photo in her hand but didn't take it: "Why do you want to change it? Didn't you think that one was strange?"

"Because I didn't manage my expression well, it was too ugly!" Afraid he would misunderstand, Peng Chengyi explained anxiously, "I don't want you to have an ugly photo of me. What if you use it to blackmail me later?"

"...What do I have to blackmail you for?" Chen Yubai seemed to have heard something amusing, and slowly lifted his eyelids.

"Who knows what you'll do! Anyway, it's better to be safe than sorry!" Peng Chengyi pursed her lips and urged, "Go and get it for me quickly."

"There's no reason to take back what's been given away," Chen Yubai scoffed, his lazy tone tinged with a hint of roguishness. "Go back to sleep early, goodnight."

Before he could finish speaking, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

"..."

Peng Chengyi gritted her teeth at the closed door, but there was nothing she could do. She could only slip on her slippers and run home.

As soon as she entered the house, she grabbed her phone and angrily texted him: "Why did you have to keep that photo?!"

Chen Yubai quickly replied, "Didn't you just give me an idea?"

Peng Chengyi: "..."

Aaaaaaah!

What a blunder! It's like shooting yourself in the foot!

Peng Chengyi collapsed onto the bed in grief and indignation, burying her face in the pillow.

A moment later, the phone vibrated slightly again.

She tilted her head and glanced at the screen.

Chen Yubai: "However, I don't think your photo is ugly."

Peng Chengyi paused slightly in surprise.

A subtle and indescribable emotion, like warm bubbles, quietly surged in my heart, dispelling some of the previous annoyance.

She slowly picked up her phone, stared at his reply for a while, and then turned it off with a flick of her finger.

Oh well, let it be.

She decided to let it go for the time being.

-

The happy winter vacation always seems too short. It feels like the snow just stopped and the school season is starting again in the blink of an eye.

With Zheng Xinyue transferring to the liberal arts class, the person sitting behind her changed, and Peng Chengyi suddenly felt much more lonely around her, and her heart felt a little empty.

Although they could still arrange to go to the bathroom together, have lunch together, and return to the dormitory together, as the academic pressure in the second semester of their junior year increased significantly, the teachers of each subject seemed to have agreed to frequently extend the class time, and the time they could meet became less and less like sand slipping through their fingers.

On Friday, math class ended on time for the first time ever. Peng Chengyi immediately ran from the third floor to the sixth floor and arrived at the door of the humanities class, panting.

Before she could catch her breath, she saw Zheng Xinyue and a short-haired girl she didn't recognize walking out of the back door, arm in arm, chatting and laughing.

She stopped in her tracks, the word "Yueyue" that had almost slipped out caught in her throat.

Seeing the two laughing so happily, as if they had formed an invisible circle that she couldn't enter, Peng Chengyi felt a subtle pang in her heart, a feeling that was hard to describe.

She stood there, staring at the receding figure for a long while, before silently turning around and walking down the stairs step by step.

Back in Class 7's classroom, Chen Wei looked up at Yueyue, who was sitting back in her seat with her head drooping and looking listless, and asked, "What's wrong? Yueyue's class hasn't finished yet?"

“No.” Peng Chengyi shook her head, her fingers unconsciously picking at the corner of the book, momentarily at a loss for words to describe that subtle emotion.

Before high school, she had almost no other good friends besides Chen Yubai, and naturally she had never experienced the bittersweet feeling of watching someone find a new companion, seemingly drifting further and further away from her, even though they were still friends.

She wasn't even sure if this feeling was normal, or if it made her seem petty.

"That means... Yueyue has already gone to the restroom with someone else?" Chen Wei put down her pen and guessed again.

Peng Chengyi paused, then nodded in surprise: "How did you know?"

"With her cheerful and outgoing personality, she can easily make new friends anywhere." Chen Wei's tone was calm, as if stating a perfectly natural fact.

“…That’s true.” Peng Chengyi pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then voiced her unease. “But I think I’m a little unhappy. Is that normal?”

“It’s normal,” Chen Wei looked at her with a clear understanding in her eyes. “People will have some possessiveness towards their good friends, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

"Oh..." Peng Chengyi breathed a slight sigh of relief, as if she had found a reasonable explanation for her emotions, but the unease in her heart still lingered, and she couldn't help but ask again: "Then how can I get rid of these emotions?"

“There’s no need to try to resolve it,” Chen Wei said calmly. “You’ll get used to it. And true friends won’t drift apart because of distance or new people.”

“Oh…” Peng Chengyi nodded gently.

Although she understood the reasoning, the vague worry weighed heavily on her heart like the gray sky outside the window all afternoon, making her somewhat distracted during class.

When school was over, she was still packing her schoolbag slowly, and her mood was obviously not high.

As they walked out of the classroom, Chen Yubai, who was standing beside her, glanced at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

Peng Chengyi opened her mouth, wanting to talk about Zheng Xinyue, but was afraid he would think she was making a mountain out of a molehill or being too dramatic, so she just shook her head and said in a muffled voice, "It's nothing."

"It's nothing. You look like a wilted eggplant, all droopy and listless," Chen Yubai chuckled lazily.

“…You’re the one who looks like an eggplant!” Peng Chengyi pouted in dissatisfaction.

She walked silently alongside him for a short distance. After hesitating for a while, she finally spoke up, a little awkwardly: "I told you, you're not allowed to laugh at me."

"Okay, I won't laugh at you. Go ahead and tell me."

Peng Chengyi pursed her lips slightly, organizing her thoughts: "It's just... Yueyue is in the humanities class, and it seems like she quickly made new friends to play with. I feel like she and I aren't as close as before, so I have this indescribable feeling in my heart."

He expected a response like "What's there to care about?" but Chen Yubai simply replied, "Oh, I understand."

"Really?" Peng Chengyi looked up at him with some surprise.

“Hmm,” he shrugged, looking ahead, the setting sun outlining his clear profile. “After all, I’ve experienced it too.”

"When did you experience that?" she asked, becoming even more curious.

"What do you think?" He put his hands in his pockets, casually turned his face, and gave her a meaningful look.

Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, then realized that after high school, because she wanted to make new friends, many things that she used to do only with him gradually involved other people.

She always thought he wouldn't care at all, and would even be happy to have some peace and quiet.

Unexpectedly, he had also cared about it silently.

This realization made Peng Chengyi's feelings complicated. She lowered her eyelashes shyly and asked him softly, "So how did you get out of that feeling later?"

"You'll get used to it. True friends won't drift apart just because of a little distance." Chen Yubai shrugged and said casually, "Look, has our relationship changed at all?"

Upon hearing this, Peng Chengyi was taken aback.

Although what he said was almost the same as what Chen Wei said that afternoon, when this principle was used as the most powerful explanation of their relationship, its weight instantly became different.

A real sense of security quickly replaced her previous uncertainty, the huge weight in her heart was lifted, and her low mood was dispelled.

“Indeed!” She lifted her long, thick eyelashes, her lips unconsciously curving upwards, and her voice regained its usual cheerfulness. “You’re still my best, my closest buddy!”

Chen Yubai tugged at the corners of his mouth and gave a very faint smile, which was considered his response to her statement.

However, after she looked away, the faint smile on his face slowly faded, and a trace of elusive, complex melancholy flashed in his eyes.

-

As it turns out, time and distance did not diminish the friendship between her and Zheng Xinyue.

Although they are usually busy and have few opportunities to meet, whenever they have free time to get together, it seems like they have endless things to talk about.

When the school organized a basketball game, Zheng Xinyue didn't hesitate and immediately slipped from the liberal arts class's stands back to Class 7's camp. She plopped down next to Peng Chengyi, picked up the cheering stick that was handed out, and cheered for Chen Yubai on the court with her.

Seeing that Zheng Xinyue's voice was so loud it almost drowned out the whole room, Peng Chengyi quickly tugged at her arm: "Keep it down! You're a liberal arts student now, it'll be so embarrassing if your classmates find out!"

"Hey, it's nothing!" Zheng Xinyue waved her hand dismissively and whispered in her ear, "There are too few boys in our liberal arts class, we can't even form a team, so when four classes are competing together, there's hardly any sense of class honor left!"

“I see…” Peng Chengyi pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively asked, “What about that friend you were pretty close to in the humanities class?”

“Her,” Zheng Xinyue gestured toward the opposite stands, “she went back to her original class to cheer on the team, which is now Class 7’s opponent, Class 10.”

"Oh." Peng Chengyi followed her gaze to the imposing cheering squad of Class 10 on the other side. For some reason, her competitive spirit was suddenly ignited, and she especially hoped that Class 7 could win this match.

So she took a deep breath, cupped her hands to her mouth, and shouted with all her might towards that familiar figure on the field: "Chen Yubai—Go for it!!!"

Chen Yubai, who was dribbling and breaking through, seemed to hear her voice and, in his busy schedule, took a moment to glance in her direction from the stands.

In that instant, he seemed to be injected with extra energy, and his momentum in attacking with the ball instantly became more intense. He used several beautiful feints to dodge the defenders one after another.

However, just as he seized the opportunity to leap up and prepare to complete a stylish dunk, he failed to notice the opponent coming to his side to help defend.

Chen Yubai, who was hit hard, lost his balance instantly. Although he managed to dunk the ball into the basket in time, his foot twisted when he landed and he fell heavily to the ground.

Peng Chengyi's heart jumped into her throat, and she almost jumped out of the stands.

Before she could even think, she instinctively pushed through the crowd and anxiously squeezed to the edge of the court. The school doctor had already run over with his first-aid kit, and several teammates surrounded Chen Yubai.

He sat on the ground, his brow furrowed, his hand tightly clutching his right ankle, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead, clearly in considerable pain.

"How is it? Is it serious?" Peng Chengyi squeezed to the front, her voice trembling without her even realizing it.

Chen Yubai looked up and saw it was her. He seemed to try to force an expression that he was okay, but he gave up after only twitching his lips because of the pain.

"Not bad." He squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, but his pale face completely betrayed him.

The school doctor did a preliminary examination and looked somewhat serious: "It's quite a sprain. Your ankle is already swollen. You need to apply ice to see if that helps. If not, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible to get an X-ray to check if any bones are broken."

His teammates rushed forward, and Ling Baizhou bent down, saying, "Then I'll help you to the infirmary to apply ice!"

"It's alright, you guys continue the competition." Chen Yubai glanced at Zhang Yang, who was rushing over behind Peng Chengyi. "Someone's helping me."

“Yes, I can help him up!” Peng Chengyi said, reaching out to help him up.

"Stop joking, you can't possibly support me." Chen Yubai endured the pain and glanced at her with amusement. "I was talking about Zhang Yang."

"Oh." Peng Chengyi pursed her lips slightly awkwardly and took a step back.

Zhang Yang hurriedly stepped forward, took Chen Yubai's arm, and slowly helped him up from the ground.

Seeing that he was not very steady, Peng Chengyi couldn't help but step forward and support his other arm.

The surrounding crowd automatically made way, their eyes falling on the three people.

But Peng Chengyi had no time to care about other people's stares at the moment; all her attention was focused on how to hold him steady.

Upon arriving at the infirmary, the school doctor carefully applied an ice pack to his swollen ankle, gave him some instructions on the key points and precautions for ice application, and then returned to the sports field.

“Brother Yu,” Zhang Yang was still a little worried, so he stepped forward and asked, “How about I call a car for you to go to the hospital for an X-ray? Just to put your mind at ease.”

"No need, it's not that serious." Chen Yubai said calmly, holding the ice pack in one hand. "Just go to the convenience store and buy me a can of iced Coke."

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Yang replied and immediately dashed out of the infirmary.

Only Peng Chengyi remained by his side, watching his swollen ankle, his brows furrowed even more deeply than Peng's.

"It's really nothing," Chen Yubai said, feeling a little uncomfortable seeing her anxious expression. "It's just a sprain, it'll be fine in a few days."

"What if you break a bone..."

"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile," Chen Yubai scoffed.

"Does it still hurt now?"

"Much better."

Seeing that the color had indeed returned to his face and his tense jawline had relaxed considerably, Peng Chengyi breathed a slight sigh of relief. But then she frowned and couldn't help but scold him: "Why are you playing ball so hard? If you really break a bone, it won't heal for at least three months, and it will ruin so many things!"

"It's because someone was shouting too loudly. If I don't hurry up and score two goals, I'll have to listen to you yelling for ages. It's so noisy." Chen Yubai leaned against the hospital bed and shrugged innocently.

"...I wasn't the only one shouting on the field, how can you shift the blame like this!" Peng Chengyi glared at him speechlessly.

Chen Yubai chuckled lazily, saying in a tone that was both teasing and not teasing, "But, I can only hear your voice."

-----------------------

Author's Note: [doge]

Thanks to uoow for the nutrient solution!