He's not normal.
Cheng Xiaorui looked down at the palm of his hand. The image of Chen Zihan fleeing in panic was still lingering in his mind. What was that expression just now... Why did he run?
A breeze blew past, but it couldn't blow away his thoughts. A familiar voice sounded from behind him.
"Hello."
Cheng Xiaorui turned his head and met Lu Ziyi's eyes. The other party was panting, as if he had just run towards him. He only heard him ask, "What are you daydreaming about here?"
Cheng Xiaorui was speechless. He was about to leave but couldn't help but stop. "None of your business. Excuse me, have you seen Chen Zihan?"
"?have no idea."
The signal between them slowly dropped to zero, and the laughter and cheers on the playground were particularly clear. Cheng Xiaorui suddenly saw a few girls holding up their phones to take selfies not far away, and a tall student doing exercise and stretching. Finally, he said, "Then I'll be leaving first."
"Wait a minute!" The words poured out like spilled water, with no time to clean up.
"Oh? Do you have anything else to say?" Cheng Xiaorui stopped and raised his eyebrows, his face full of anticipation for what the other party was about to say.
Lu Ziyi took a few steps forward, then stepped back, finally squeezing out a sentence in a low voice: "You... does Chen Zihan... come to see you often?"
Cheng Xiaorui's expression froze instantly, and he rolled his eyes in his heart: "I'm leaving first."
Lu Ziyi hadn't expected this to happen. He knew he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't help himself. He regretted it the moment he said it, and immediately added, "Forget it if it's inconvenient to say."
Cheng Xiaorui was silent for a moment, as if he had discovered something interesting, and then he said, "Why are you so curious? I have nothing to do with you, and there is no need to tell you." At this time, he had become suspicious of what the other party wanted to do.
"No, I'm just asking." Lu Ziyi actually found that his heart was beating rapidly at this moment, and he could even feel every beat.
Cheng Xiaorui hesitated for a moment, then walked over and whispered, "Then continue to be curious."
Lu Zi also froze in place, the warmth of Cheng Xiaorui's breath still seemed to linger in his ears. The light words "Just continue to be curious" were like a tiny thorn, piercing his chest. It didn't hurt, but it was impossible to ignore.
When he came to his senses, Cheng Xiaorui had already turned and walked away, his back blending into the light and shadow of the corridor, and even his footsteps were so light that they could not be heard.
Lu Ziyi opened his mouth, wanting to call out to him, but his throat felt clogged. He wanted to tell him that Chen Zihan wasn't who he thought she was, but Cheng Xiaorui's sardonic gaze flashed before him, as if mocking his unnecessary actions. In the end, he just clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.
He unclenched his fists and his head dropped. "What's wrong with me?" He laughed at himself. "Why the hell should I tell him?"
"Yeah, what does he have to do with me?"
In the early morning, dewdrops condensed outside the classroom window. The empty corridor was so quiet that Cheng Xiaorui felt his scalp tingling. He pushed open the classroom door and found that he was the first one to arrive. It was his turn to be on duty this week, so Cheng Xiaorui diligently wiped the blackboard.
"Fuck, I can't reach it." Cheng Xiaorui had jumped up for the third time to reach the chalk mark at the top. At this moment, with a "bang", the classroom door was kicked open. Zhao Dakun and Zhou Mingxuan were the first to meet Cheng Xiaorui's gaze, and behind them was naturally Lu Ziyi.
The originally quiet classroom was affected by the sudden noise. The blackboard eraser in Cheng Xiaorui's hand fell to the ground, and chalk dust rose like a small explosion, and the powder stained his school uniform.
Cheng Xiaorui patted his sleeves and cursed them in his heart for thinking he was a bully and being so arrogant. He picked up the eraser and put it away. He didn't plan to clean the chalk marks on the top of the blackboard. Instead of being laughed at by them, he might as well go back to his seat.
As he took a step forward, Zhao Dakun's voice suddenly rang out: "You didn't wipe it clean!" He pointed to the top of the blackboard, "Look, there's still some on it." He grinned at Zhou Mingxuan behind him.
The result was not as he expected. Cheng Xiaorui ignored him completely. After all, it would be annoying for anyone to hear a mad dog barking in the quiet morning.
"You don't wipe it clean?! Believe it or not, I will report you as a stinky monitor. I am assigned by the head teacher to be responsible for supervising the monitors!" Zhao Dakun crossed his arms and started yelling again.
"..." After a while, Cheng Xiaorui, who had just returned to his seat, certainly didn't want to make trouble with him. It seemed that he might as well just let them laugh at him. Unexpectedly, Lu Ziyi had already walked past the two people in front of him and picked up the blackboard eraser, which still had the warmth of Cheng Xiaorui's palm. With a stretch of his hand, he cleared all the marks on the blackboard.
Zhao Dakun: “…”
Zhou Mingxuan: “……?”
Cheng Xiaorui: “…” This guy is really sick. He was acting weird last night and now he’s going crazy again. But it’s okay. He doesn’t have to dirty his hands anymore.
"Yeah, it seems that Brother Lu is in the same group with that guy. Look at my memory, I actually forgot..." Zhao Dakun coughed to hide his embarrassment, and suddenly thought of something: "Ah! No, this week it's Cheng Xiaorui..." The expression on his face looked like a ghost.
"Brother Lu! Why are you helping him wipe it? He's already touched the blackboard eraser. It's unlucky. Last time, Li Jun failed the exam after touching his pencil case." Zhou Mingxuan suddenly grabbed Lu Ziyi's sleeve, "You can tell at a glance that you're good—"
His voice abruptly stopped, and Lu Zi frowned. "So, you're pulling me like this now, expecting me to get a zero for you?" His tone was so different from usual that it startled the two younger brothers beside him, their eyes widening. Zhou Mingxuan's fingers froze in mid-air. W-What! He, you're actually speaking up for Cheng Xiaorui!? The two were inwardly shocked, but kept silent.
Silence spread among the three of them. No, four of them. "Alright, stop staring blankly. Why are you standing there like an idiot?" Lu Ziyi broke the silence, putting down the things in his hands and turning to walk back to his seat. As he passed Cheng Xiaorui, he suddenly stopped and said, "Go in. I'm going to sleep."
"..." Cheng Xiaorui slowly moved into his seat. As expected, the other party fell asleep on the table as soon as he sat down. Cheng Xiaorui took out his textbook and began to recite Chinese, but his deskmate kept moving around and couldn't find a comfortable position. At this time, Lu Ziyi simply turned towards Cheng Xiaorui.
He always felt like someone was watching him, but when he looked at his deskmate, he saw that he was still quietly closing his eyes. Thinking of this, it was the first time he saw Lu Ziyi sleeping. The sunlight shone on his deskmate's face, and his eyelashes seemed to tremble slightly. Cheng Xiaorui saw Lu Ziyi frown and couldn't help but reach out to close the curtains for him.
"..." No, never mind, just... this time. When Cheng Xiaorui realized what he was doing, it was too late. The curtain rail made a slight sound, and Cheng Xiaorui retracted his hand suddenly. Lu Zi also opened his eyes and watched his every move.
Discovered.
He stood up in a panic and tried to pull back the curtains, but Lu Ziyi gently tugged at the corner of his clothes. The two looked at each other for a few seconds before he said something lightly.
"That's it, don't move."
The bell rang for the last class of the morning. Lu Ziyi had slept through all four. "Hey, let's move aside after school." Seeing that he didn't respond, Cheng Xiaorui quietly moved the table behind him and carefully squeezed out without disturbing him.
At this moment, Lu Ziyi seemed to wake up from a nightmare and suddenly grabbed his wrist. The two of them froze at the same time. Cheng Xiaorui turned around and saw that Lu Ziyi's forehead was covered with sweat, his face was pale, and his expression was full of fear.
Chen Zihan had been waiting at the classroom door for a long time. He couldn't help but look in and saw this scene. Everyone else had left, and only these three people were left. Chen Zihan knocked on the iron door and met Lu Ziyi's eyes.
Seeing this, Cheng Xiaorui pulled his hand back and walked towards Chen Zihan without looking back, "Let's go, sorry for the long wait."
In the corridor, Chen Zihan grabbed the schoolbag from Cheng Xiaorui's shoulder. "Why is he holding your hand?" Chen Zihan lowered his voice. "Are you two getting to know each other?"
Cheng Xiaorui paused: "Don't think too much, he's having a nightmare."
"Okay, okay, he does have nightmares."
“…”
"By the way, last night—" they both said at the same time. Chen Zihan answered quickly, "I, ah, last night..."
"Why did you leave last night? You haven't answered my question yet." Cheng Xiaorui questioned. If the other party hadn't left first last night, Lu Yi would not have found him later.
Chen Zihan blinked his eyelashes rapidly. "I'm sorry... I won't do it again next time." He suddenly bent down and rested his chin on Cheng Xiaorui's shoulder. His warm breath swept over his neck, and even his voice changed a little. This was the first time Cheng Xiaorui had endured such a coquettish attitude. His mind heated up and his face flushed instantly.
"I know, there's no need to be like this..." He quickly turned his head to hide his condition, but Chen Zihan still saw the slightly red tip of his ears and chuckled.
"Hehe, let's go and have dinner!" Chen Zihan showed a triumphant smile.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
