Chapter 16 "Shall I try it?"...
Tang Ci's eyelashes trembled slightly as she lowered her head and moved the stool to the wall, giving an irrelevant answer: "The toothbrush is too far in."
Sheng Yu closed the cabinet door without comment, unpacked the disposable toothbrush, ran his fingertip through the cheap, stiff bristles, and frowned slightly.
Tang Ci noticed his movement out of the corner of her eye. As she stood up, she pointed to his hand and said, "The brush head will be softer after being wet."
Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow.
Thinking he hadn't understood, Tang Ci paused for a moment, then tentatively took the toothbrush from his hand, squeezed toothpaste onto it in the bathroom, turned on the tap to wet it, and then put it back in his hand.
“…That’s it.” she said, puffing out her cheeks.
Sheng Yu laughed, "Oh, I really didn't know that if you hadn't told me."
Sensing the teasing in his tone, Tang Ci realized she had been worrying too much. Embarrassed, she scratched her earlobe and urged, "It's so late, you should go wash up."
Sheng Yu stopped laughing at her and closed the bathroom door behind her.
The bathroom door was made of frosted glass, allowing light and shadow to peek through. Sheng Yu stood facing the door, his upper body slightly bent over because the sink was low, as relaxed as if he were at home.
Tang Ci bit her lip and stared for a few seconds before returning to her bedroom.
I lay down on the bed, turned off the bedside lamp, and the bedroom became completely dark, with only a sliver of light shining through the crack in the door.
After a while, Tang Ci heard faint footsteps coming from the living room, and soon with a click, the sliver of light through the crack in the door disappeared.
The surroundings quieted down, and only the rain continued to fall tirelessly, drenching the strange feeling in her heart.
Tang Ci tucked the blanket under her body, trying to ignore the absurd fact that Sheng Yu was sleeping in the living room just a door away, and gradually became sleepy.
The rain stopped in the middle of the night. Tang Ci was a light sleeper, and a sudden gust of wind before the rain stopped blew broken branches onto the windowsill, waking her up.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, turned over, and prepared to go back to sleep when she heard the sound of a sliding door rolling on the balcony.
Two seconds later, the sound of a lighter's grinding wheel and Sheng Yu's lazy, magnetic "hello" rang out simultaneously.
Tang Ci opened her eyes wide in the dim light, took out her phone from under her pillow, and saw that the time on the screen was 3:30 a.m.
The old residential area had poor sound insulation, and since her room window and balcony were not far apart, Sheng Yu's voice on the phone inevitably reached her ears through the reinforced concrete.
The content is unclear.
But you could hear the gentle female voice on the other end of the phone.
Sheng Yu chuckled occasionally, her voice responding without its usual aloofness, sounding gentle in the still of the early morning.
Tang Ci clutched the corner of the blanket and closed her eyes, which were sore from the glare of the phone's light.
I kept thinking about the key points that might be on the test tomorrow before I finally fell asleep.
/
After last night's torrential rain, Nanling welcomed a sunny day.
The alarm clock rang at six o'clock. Tang Ci got up on time, got out of bed, changed her clothes, and was about to open the door when she paused and pressed her ear against the door panel.
There was no sound outside the door. She opened the door and found the living room empty.
The bedding and clothes were neatly folded on the sofa, but the clothes on the clothes rack on the balcony were gone, leaving only a bare wire hanger.
Sheng Yu had already left at some point.
Tang Ci stood there for only a few seconds. Thinking that Tang Jianwei might come home early in the morning, she put aside washing up and quickly gathered the clothes on the sofa to erase the traces that someone had slept in the living room.
Last night, when Tang Ci got clothes for Sheng Yu, she was careful and didn't throw away the packaging bag. She folded the clothes again and put them back in the bag, making them look almost exactly the same as when they were unopened. Someone as oblivious as Tang Jianwei might not have noticed.
Everything was ready, and the sound of a key turning came from the front door.
Tang Ci was startled and froze for a moment, standing there nervously as she met Sheng Yu, who had just entered the room.
Sheng Yu was wearing the clothes she had worn the night before, carrying breakfast in one hand and keys in the other.
He waved the hand holding the key at her and asked, "I borrowed your key, you don't mind, do you?"
The keys clinked crisply in his palm, and the dolphin-shaped pendant hanging from the keychain swayed incessantly.
Tang Ci stared at the dolphin's tail, shook her head, and said, "I don't mind."
Sheng Yu put the key back in the shoe cabinet. "Come and have breakfast."
Tang Ci said "Oh," and finally moved her limbs, walking towards the bathroom: "I'll go wash up first."
Sheng Yu ate quietly and quickly. When Tang Ci came out of the bathroom, he had already finished a steamed bun and was looking at his phone while drinking soy milk that was almost empty.
Tang Ci didn't want him to wait for her to eat, and she was also afraid that Tang Jianwei would suddenly come back. She quickly stuffed a bun into her mouth, packed up the rest, and said indistinctly, "I'll eat on the way."
Sheng Yu put away his phone and glanced at her round, puffy cheeks as he stood up.
From her home to school, she had to walk one kilometer to the subway station. In order to keep up with Sheng Yu's pace, she ate an extra amount of food faster than usual along the way.
When she arrived at the subway station, she jogged to throw away the trash. As she pulled out a tissue to wipe her mouth, she burped twice.
Sheng Yu glanced down at her slightly protruding belly. "Are you full?"
"I'm full." Tang Ci swallowed hard and flattered politely, "The breakfast you bought was delicious."
Sheng Yu smiled slightly, swiped her card to enter the station, and said, "That's good."
The train arrived at the station, and the two entered the carriage one after the other, luckily securing one of only two empty seats during the morning rush hour.
After sitting down, Tang Ci took out a notebook from her bag, turned her head to Sheng Yu and said, "As a thank you, I can tell you about the test points I have carefully predicted."
Sheng Yu remained unmoved: "No need."
Tang Ci grunted, opened her notebook on the push-top, subtly shifted her position towards Sheng Yu, and began to quietly read the important and difficult points.
She spoke very softly, keeping it at a level that only the two of them could hear, and knowledge inevitably flowed into Sheng Yu's ears continuously.
As Tang Ci spoke, she glanced at Sheng Yu's expression out of the corner of her eye, preparing to stop while she was ahead. When she reached the third page, Sheng Yu finally looked up and clicked her tongue.
She immediately stopped lecturing and asked apologetically, "Did I disturb you...?"
Sheng Yu crossed his arms and glared at her coldly, "You might as well just read it into my head."
Tang Ci swallowed hard, then apologized in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry, I just felt it would be more useful to read it aloud..."
Sheng Yu's thin lips were flat. Before he could say anything more, the aunt sitting next to him frowned and glared at him.
"What's wrong with you, kid? That girl studies so hard, and you don't even know how to follow her example, yet you're making sarcastic remarks."
"..."
Sensing Sheng Yu's oppressive aura, Tang Ci remained silent, her head hanging low, looking quite aggrieved.
Seeing this, the aunt pushed Sheng Yu towards Tang Ci again, "What are you standing there for? Follow along and learn."
Tang Ci felt Sheng Yu's arm close to hers, and her nerves tensed up. But under the pressure of her aunt's expectant gaze, she could only point to the words on the notebook and say to Sheng Yu, "Let me explain Newton's Third Law to you. It should be on the test today."
Sheng Yu, with a dark expression, simply grunted in response.
Tang Ci breathed a sigh of relief and mustered up the courage to tell him.
After exiting the subway, Tang Ci still had one important and difficult point to explain. She jogged to keep up with Sheng Yu's pace while tirelessly imparting her knowledge.
Sheng Yu answered her phone when it vibrated, "Hello."
"Brother Yu, shall we go together today?"
Upon hearing Zhou Yiyang's voice, Tang Ci immediately fell silent and slowed her pace.
Sheng Yu said, "I've arrived at school."
Zhou Yiyang exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Awesome! Old Xu will definitely give you a banner when he sees this."
Sheng Yu ignored his teasing and hung up the phone after exchanging a few casual words.
Just as he reached the corner, a group of commuters in a hurry walked towards him, causing him to pause for a few seconds.
Tang Ci followed slowly, and when he reached Sheng Yu's side, he lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Why did you stop reading?"
"It wouldn't be good for Zhou Yiyang to hear my voice..." Tang Ci twisted her fingers and looked up.
Sheng Yu asked knowingly, "Why isn't it good?"
“He might misunderstand…” Tang Ci tugged at her backpack strap, her tone understanding, “If he asks you why we go to school together, you won’t be able to explain it, will you?”
Sheng Yu put his hands in his pockets and said in a calm tone, "Then tell the truth."
Tang Ci pursed her lower lip and then relaxed it, feeling embarrassed by her own coy behavior. She lowered her eyes and repeated, "Okay, it should be okay to tell the truth."
Turning the corner, with no one around for a moment, Sheng Yu suddenly bowed, met her gaze, and said in a low, slow voice: "I just told him that Tang Xueba insisted on letting me stay at her house last night."
/
Tang Ci and Jiang Chan were in the same exam room. Before the exam, she sat in the empty seat behind Tang Ci and anxiously confirmed the key points and difficult points with her. Tang Ci answered accurately one by one, but her expression was unfocused.
Jiang Chan waved her hand in front of her eyes: "You look like you haven't woken up yet."
Tang Ci rubbed her ears. "I didn't sleep well yesterday because it rained."
Just as Jiang Chan was about to speak, her gaze was drawn to the scene outside the window. She nudged Tang Ci's arm and said, "Look! Isn't that the class beauty from Class 9? She's chatting with Sheng Yu."
Upon hearing this, Tang Ci looked out the window and saw a group of people chatting animatedly in the corridor outside the classroom of Class 9 across the street.
A girl with light makeup was looking up and talking to Sheng Yu in the center of the crowd. Sheng Yu responded with a calm expression and her head slightly lowered.
Tang Ci glanced at it and then looked away.
Jiang Chan turned her head and leaned on the table, chatting idly, "How much do you think Sheng Yu's ranking will improve this time?"
Based on Sheng Yu's current accuracy rate in answering questions, Tang Ci thought for a moment and said, "It can probably improve his ranking by fifty places."
Jiang Chan's eyes widened in surprise. "Aren't you being a bit too optimistic?"
“He has a solid foundation, and he understands it after I teach him a little bit,” Tang Ci said. “As long as he finishes writing it properly, there won’t be any problems.”
"That depends on the young master's own willingness." Jiang Chan curled her lips. "I heard that he handed in a blank paper last time because he was too sleepy and just fell asleep."
Tang Ci became worried upon hearing this and hesitated whether to send Sheng Yu a reminder message. However, the proctor entered the classroom with a sealed bag, so she had to give up.
After finishing her exams in the afternoon, Tang Ci had some time before evening self-study, so she ate dinner and went back to the classroom to study.
She was engrossed in her work when the window to her side was opened from the outside, and Jin Ming poked his head in: "Hey, bookworm."
It took Tang Ci a few seconds to realize he was calling her. She looked up and asked, "Is there something you need?"
Has Brother Yu come back yet?
Tang Ci glanced at Sheng Yu's empty desk and shook her head: "I don't know."
Jin Ming nodded, leaned against the window frame, and called Sheng Yu. The phone rang for a long time before he hung up but was not answered. He muttered something and picked up his phone to send a message.
Tang Ci hesitated for a second, thinking that Jin Ming and Sheng Yu were in the same exam room, and then asked, "Excuse me, do you know how Sheng Yu did on the exam today?"
“Yu-ge slept in the second half,” Jin Ming said nonchalantly, looking up from his phone screen. “This stupid exam really makes people sleepy.”
After Jin Ming finished speaking, he typed and left. Tang Ci watched his retreating figure and frowned.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone alarm; it was time to take her medicine. Tang Ci took out her medicine box from her bag and found that one of the over-the-counter medications was finished, so she had to go to a pharmacy outside the school to buy more.
When she went to pay, the clerk noticed she was wearing a school uniform and strongly recommended a calming oral liquid to her, saying, "Student, you guys at No. 1 High School are so busy with your studies, you must stay up very late. Try this oral liquid, it'll guarantee you a deep sleep all night—"
Before the shop assistant could finish speaking, Tang Ci quietly interrupted her, "I'd like one box."
"Okay, ninety-eight." The shop assistant said with a big smile.
"..." Tang Ci's action of taking out money stopped.
The shop assistant, still smiling, continued to persuade him, "Young student, this oral liquid is a product with a very high repurchase rate in our store. Many students come back to buy it again."
Tang Ci gritted her teeth and reluctantly pulled out a large bill: "Put it away."
When they arrived at the classroom, there weren't many people there yet. Tang Ci took the opportunity to slip the box of oral liquid into Sheng Yu's desk drawer. Just as she sat down, Song Ke brought a stool over to find her and ask her for the answers.
Tang Ci was so focused on discussing the question types that she didn't notice the figures entering behind her.
Sheng Yu and Zhou Yiyang walked ahead, and Jin Ming peeked out from behind them, his sharp eyes spotting the box in Sheng Yu's drawer. "A calming and brain-boosting oral liquid? Hahahaha, that's hilarious! What kind of girl with a weird thought process would buy you this?"
Zhou Yiyang also found it unbelievable and laughed, "Are there still people buying this kind of oral liquid these days?"
Sheng Yu took out the box of oral liquid and glanced at the back of the person in the front seat out of the corner of his eye.
Tang Ci was writing down the solution to the final, most challenging problem for Song Ke when she heard the discussion behind her. Her pen paused, and her back slumped again.
An uncontrollable sour feeling welled up in her chest; it turned out that the gift she had bought with so much money was a laughable thing in their eyes.
Tang Ci waited for a while, but didn't hear Sheng Yu's reply. Fearing that he would just throw it away, she turned around and said to Sheng Yu embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, this is mine. I accidentally put it in your drawer just now."
Sheng Yu repeated calmly, "An accident?"
Feeling guilty under his intense gaze, Tang Ci glanced around nervously and said again, "I'm sorry."
"Since it's here with me—" Sheng Yu lazily lowered his eyes and directly tore open the packaging of the oral liquid, "Shall I try it?"
Tang Ci curled her fingers as she gripped the back of the chair. "Okay, okay, you can try it."
Jin Ming, who loves to join in the fun, grinned and reached into the box: "Then I'll try some too."
Tang Ci pursed her lips, quickly calculated the price of each bottle, and said softly with heartache, "...Okay, then."
Sheng Yu suddenly closed the box of oral liquid and put it back in his desk drawer.
Jin Ming: "?"
Sheng Yu, with the oral liquid dangling from his mouth, glanced at him and said, "If you want to drink it, go buy it yourself."
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