Unexpected
Temperatures rose slightly on Tuesday evening.
The sunset painted half the sky red, and it seemed as if a ball game was taking place on the playground. The boisterous noise startled the birds in the towering trees, who fluttered away, circled once in the air, and then disappeared into the dense foliage.
Shen Muwei, wearing a denim shirt, black skinny jeans, and a baseball cap, walked briskly towards a small hill in a corner of the campus.
On a corner of the hillside, Xiang Zhixing was bending over, adjusting the level, when he suddenly saw a pair of straight, long legs in the lens, upside down.
It looks familiar, but I'm not sure.
He stood up straight and looked over. Shen Muwei was walking towards him, with a vibrant red sunset behind her.
Shen Muwei met his questioning gaze and walked to his side.
Xiang Zhixing: "Why are you here?"
Shen Muwei put his hands in his pockets, shrugged, and said nonchalantly, "Speak if you have something to say."
He looked down and took his phone out of his pocket, about to check the messages, when Shen Muwei's voice sounded from the side:
"Stop looking, I didn't send you a message."
"Then how did you find me...?"
"I ran into Zhou Chengming and asked him a question."
From the other side of the hill, a student holding a measuring rod shouted, "Hey! Xiang Zhixing, can't you concentrate a little?!"
Shen Muwei: "You go ahead with your work, I'll wait over there."
After saying that, she ignored him, walked straight to a bench, took out her earphones from her bag, put them on, and started looking at her phone.
Xiang Zhixing stared at her blankly, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.
He finished half an hour later.
Shen Muwei sat quietly to one side watching the show.
Xiang Zhixing packed up the equipment and looked up. She was sitting not far away, head down, her hair tucked behind her ear, falling down along her jawline, outlining her delicate and petite face.
He only then turned on his phone and discovered that Zhou Chengming had sent him a message 40 minutes earlier:
[Attention! Attention! Shen Muwei is looking for you, seize the opportunity!]
Shen Muwei was watching a drama that she hadn't finished during lunch. Just as she finished watching it and looked up to turn her neck, she saw that Xiang Zhixing's show had already ended.
She took off her headphones and put them in her bag, stood up, and felt a little uncomfortable. This was the first time she had apologized to Xiang Zhixing and tried to make amends.
As dusk fell, the market gradually resembled a winter market, and a thin layer of mist rose from the lush green hillside.
Perhaps it was due to this thin layer of mist, but as Shen Muwei looked at Xiang Zhixing walking from a distance, she felt that his skin was unhealthyly pale.
He wore a black, hoodless, flowy jacket with sleeves bunched up to his forearms. When his arms swayed gently as he walked, the veins under his skin were visible.
He wore jeans in the same color family as his top, and Shen Muwei noticed that he always seemed to have a certain tacit understanding with her when it came to dressing.
Xiang Zhixing: "I'm done. Is there anything else?"
I was a little nervous asking this question, after all, she had just yelled at me last night.
Shen Muwei: "Are you busy later?"
Xiang Zhixing glanced back at his classmates who were waiting for him. Their group had originally planned to have dinner together that evening.
"Having lunch with my group members."
“Then I’ll make it short,” she licked her lips, her expression a little unnatural, “I apologize for what happened last night. I’m a bit grumpy when I wake up, so I spoke a little harshly.”
This was a completely unexpected turn of events for him. His eyes lit up, his heart beat a little faster, and he waited quietly for her to say what she would say next.
Shen Muwei continued, "I see you're not in very good health. I think it's better to get yourself in better shape than to rely on others. That way, you won't be afraid of anything. So I thought, why don't we exercise together? Being healthy is more important than anything else. The weather's a bit cooler now, so I'm planning to go for a night run. If you'd like, you can come with me. If not, I'll give you a fitness card. It's up to you."
He blurted out almost without thinking: "A night run! With you..."
Shen Muwei guessed that he would probably make this choice, since no one can be desensitized from the start.
"Okay, I'll contact you in advance when I'm going for my night run. If you can't make it, just let me know. Is that alright?"
Her attitude was much better than last night; she spoke softly and even tilted her head slightly to ask him if it was okay.
Xiang Zhixing hadn't expected the story to turn out this way, so of course he nodded in agreement. What else could he possibly disagree with?
Now that the matter was settled, Shen Muwei pointed behind him and said, "They're waiting for you, so I'll be leaving now."
He shouldn't have told her he was having dinner with his group members. They were just group members, just someone to have dinner with. The teacher wasn't there, so he could have easily skipped dinner.
Watching Shen Muwei's departing figure, he felt a pang of regret. He felt he shouldn't have let her go so easily; he should have abandoned his team members.
But when he came to his senses, he was already sitting in the store with his team members, enjoying the delicious barbecue.
He kept his head down, deep in thought, and finally concluded that he shouldn't have been so hasty. He had already been in contact with her too frequently before, and he should keep a proper distance from her at this point.
Thinking about this, he smiled and agreed with his own idea.
The classmate next to him nudged him with his elbow: "Hey, what are you thinking about? You've been smiling at the bowl for a while now, and then you look serious. Are you under too much pressure? Are you okay?"
As Xiang Zhixing regained consciousness, he could clearly hear the crackling sound of the meat sizzling on the charcoal fire. The voices of the people around him suddenly became louder, and his sense of smell seemed to return.
He shook his head and thanked him, saying, "No, it's nothing. I was thinking about something."
After saying that, he picked up his chopsticks, took the piece of pork belly from his bowl, and put it in his mouth. Only then did he realize that the meat was cold and he didn't know how long it had been sitting there.
He picked up the tongs next to him and put some more meat on the grill.
Just then, he heard his classmate next to him exclaim "Oh dear!" and say repeatedly, "What a pity, damn, such a good ball."
Upon hearing this, he looked up. Directly in front of the barbecue restaurant was a wall-mounted television tuned to a sports channel, where a thrilling basketball game was playing.
The broadcast was currently in halftime, and the director switched the camera to the two commentators, who were explaining the situation of the first half and the unfortunate three-pointer that missed at the end.
Xiang Zhixing only glanced at it briefly before lowering his eyelids and continuing to flip the meat over.
The male classmate next to him said arrogantly, "Damn it, he couldn't even make that last three-pointer, what a loser."
Xiang Zhixing paused slightly as he flipped the roasted meat, but quickly resumed his normal hand movements.
Another person laughed at him: "Three-pointers are hard to make, you're talking like you can make them."
"Believe it or not, I can actually make the shot. I played basketball with the instructor before, and our team beat him to a pulp."
"Don't pretend! Did you play that? It was the guys you were with who were awesome! Those guys on our school basketball team, if they hadn't been short one player at the time, would you have made it?"
"Hey! Why don't you believe me? I really did make a three-pointer. Xing Ge saw it. You can ask him if you don't believe me."
Xiang Zhixing was suddenly brought up, but his gaze didn't waver at all. He put the cooked roast meat into his own bowl and said casually, "I didn't see it. I'm not interested in basketball."
but……
Suddenly, the image of that male classmate's pathetic state on the basketball court flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but chuckle, thinking, "He really knows how to brag."
-
Shen Muwei didn't feel much better after apologizing to the person. Although she has her own personality and can curse or even jump over walls when angered, she has too strong a sense of morality. Often, when she hurts others with her words, she will still blame herself for a while even after apologizing.
Although this period usually passes quickly, for some reason, she becomes particularly concerned about Xiang's trip.
I had army stew with my roommates in the underground pedestrian street next to the school tonight.
Qian Eryun comforted her, saying, "Alright, don't take it to heart. I don't think he cared about this at all. If he really cared, why would he have agreed to go for a run with you at night?"
Shen Muwei: "They might be trying to mess with me."
Zhao Ranzhu chuckled: "Just want to mess with you? If that's all you want to do, it would be too easy."
Now, she is the only one in the dormitory who harbors a strange hostility towards Xiang Zhixing. Whenever Xiang Zhixing is mentioned, she inevitably makes sarcastic remarks about him.
With a piece of rice cake in her mouth, Shen Muwei asked, "Then tell me, what else can he do?"
Zhao Ranzhu shrugged: "They might be thinking of selling you."
"Sell me out? He has that kind of ability? Impossible."
Zhao Ranzhu wasn't referring to selling her literally, but something else. Qian Eryun understood immediately and chimed in, "That's possible."
Zhao Ranzhu raised an eyebrow and gave Qian Eryun a high five.
Shen Muwei was completely confused and didn't understand what was going on. She asked sullenly, "What kind of riddles are you two playing? Can't you just talk normally?"
Qian Eryun blurted out: "It means he might like you."
Shen Muwei looked at her expressionlessly: "What you're saying is ridiculous. Who would pursue a girl in such a stupid way? Right now, I'm just going through the motions of interacting with him."
"Not necessarily. High-level hunters often appear as low-level prey to gain your sympathy, which makes things much easier later on."
Shen Muwei: "Pshaw, nonsense. Do you think I don't know what it feels like to like someone? Even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen pigs run, haven't I?"
Zhao Ranzhu patted her shoulder: "You should be more careful."
Shen Muwei pointed at her own nose and said, "Me? I'm more careful?"
The two nodded slowly.
She angrily ate two bites of fried chicken: "Fine, I'll be more careful. I'll call him later and let you hear whether he likes me or not."
Shen Muwei found it laughable.
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned her head and saw Xiang Zhixing in the open-air square not far away. He was talking to his friends, and the neon lights next to him flickered on his face, making his features appear even more deep.
Shen Mu only had an impression that one of her friends was the one she saw on the hill behind the school this afternoon.
She took off her gloves, took a sip of milk tea, picked up her phone from the table and said, "Okay, you guys wait, I'll go ask him now."
Qian Eryun: "You're not really going?"
She had already reached the store entrance, and before pushing open the glass door, she turned back and said, "Of course it's true."
Shen Muwei pushed open the door and waved to Xiang Zhixing, shouting his name.
Xiang Zhixing was clearly surprised to see her there, and waved to her with a slight smile.
She ran a few steps to Xiang Zhixing's side, smiled politely at the classmates next to him, and said, "Hello, may I say a few words to Xiang Zhixing?"
"Of course, of course, do as you please."
She smiled sweetly: "Thank you."
Shen Muwei took his arm and led him to the flower bed, getting straight to the point: "Xiang Zhixing, do you like me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com