Over the wall again
At 4:30 p.m. in the Science Building restroom, sunlight streamed in through the air vents, creating a few shaky patches of light on the tiled floor. Cheng Xiaorui was squeezing detergent into a plastic bucket. The pale blue liquid slid into the water like melting jelly, creating a fine foam. Chen Zihan leaned against the doorframe, his school uniform sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his forearms.
Zhao Dakun deliberately slammed the mop into the bucket, sending dirty water splattering outward, heading straight for Cheng Xiaorui's shoes. Chen Zihan, quick-witted, tugged on Cheng Xiaorui's arm, and the two of them dodged to the side, splashing the water onto the wall and trickling down the tiles like a crooked tear.
"Ouch, my hand slipped." Zhao Dakun grinned, revealing a fang, but his eyes were sinister.
Cheng Xiaorui said nothing, lowering his head to continue scrubbing the sink. His fingers brushed against the edge of the stainless steel faucet, feeling a slight numbness from the coolness. Chen Zihan glanced at him, then suddenly picked up the mop and swung it at Zhao Dakun's feet. Water splashed everywhere, and Zhao Dakun jumped away, still getting a wet spot on the tip of his shoe.
"You!" Zhao Dakun glared.
"Ouch, my hand slipped." Chen Zihan imitated his tone, curling up the corners of his mouth, but there was no smile in his eyes.
Zhou Mingxuan burst out laughing beside him, then quickly stifled it, pretending to study the spiderwebs on the ceiling. Lu Ziyi leaned against the innermost compartment door, twirling a coin between his fingers, silver light fluttering between them, and remained silent.
Over the next half hour, Zhao Dakun's slips increased significantly—his mop accidentally knocked over a bucket, his rag smacked Cheng Xiaorui's back, and he even accidentally dropped his broom across the aisle, trying to trip him. But each time, Chen Zihan precisely tugged at Cheng Xiaorui, making him dodge like a leaf, a move that made Zhao Dakun's back teeth grind in frustration.
Finally, when Zhao Dakun accidentally splashed the dirty water on Cheng Xiaorui for the fifth time, and Chen Zihan once again led him to dodge sideways, Chen Zihan threw off his rubber gloves with a "snap", and foam splashed all over the floor.
"Lu Ziyi." He looked directly at the person at the cubicle door and said in a low but clear voice, "Don't ask your little brother to do these boring things all day long."
The air suddenly froze. The coin stopped at Lu Ziyi's fingertips. He raised his eyelids but said nothing.
"Not only is he crazy, he's also stupid." Chen Zihan continued, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather. "What's the point of just bullying people? What's the point? Only idiots would have that much free time."
Zhao Dakun's face flushed crimson, his fists clenched tightly. "Chen Zihan! Don't think you can be so arrogant just because you're number one in the grade! What's the point of having good grades? They're nothing! Just relying on good grades means you're just—"
"Shut up." Lu Ziyi suddenly shouted in a low voice. The voice was not loud, but it was like a knife blade passing by, and Zhao Dakun was silent in an instant.
The restroom suddenly became so quiet that only the sound of dripping water remained—tick, tick, tick—like a countdown. Lu Ziyi stood up straight, dropping the coin into his pocket. He glanced at Cheng Xiaorui, then at Chen Zihan, then said nothing. He turned, pushed the door open, and walked out.
Zhao Dakun froze for two seconds, then gave the mop bucket a hard kick, sending it crashing over and spilling dirty water all over the floor. He ran after him, cursing. Zhou Mingxuan hesitated for a moment, then followed suit.
The moment the door slammed shut, Cheng Xiaorui breathed a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping slightly. Chen Zihan bent down to straighten the bucket, the foam clinging to his fingertips like a small cloud.
"Thank you." Cheng Xiaorui said in a low voice.
Chen Zihan shook the water droplets off his hands and suddenly smiled: "How about...we just paint the toilet rainbow colors? It's already like this anyway."
Cheng Xiaorui was stunned for a moment, then curled his lips: "Okay, at worst, we'll just have to sweep for another three rounds."
The light shone in obliquely from the air vent, falling on the wet ground, reflecting a small piece of swaying light.
A week after the punishment of cleaning the toilet ended, Cheng Xiaorui squatted in the small garden behind the teaching building, poking a slowly crawling snail with a branch.
"One month..." He sighed, and the snail seemed to sense his depression and retracted into its shell.
There was a rustling sound of footsteps behind him, and Chen Zihan sat down next to him, shaking a bottle of iced cola in his hand. Water droplets from the bottle dripped onto the concrete floor, spreading a small dark mark.
"What? Are you still thinking about cleaning the toilet?" Chen Zihan unscrewed the bottle cap, and bubbles spurted out with a "hiss", splashing a few drops on the cuffs of his school uniform.
Cheng Xiaorui didn't answer, but just stared at the spiral patterns on the snail shell in a daze.
"Not convinced?" Chen Zihan raised his eyebrows.
"No." Cheng Xiaorui responded sullenly, "I'm just a little worried."
Chen Zihan tilted his head back and took a sip of Coke, his Adam's apple rolling, then he grinned: "Then... flip it over again? Let's go out and relax."
Cheng Xiaorui looked up at him: "Still flipping?"
"We're not going to the internet cafe this time." Chen Zihan lowered his voice, his eyes shining like a cat at night. "Let's go to a milk tea shop."
“…”
"Newly opened, second cup half price."
Cheng Xiaorui stared at him for two seconds, and finally couldn't help but raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "...Okay."
They chose the safest time - lunch break.
Chen Zihan's climb over the wall was much more skillful than last time, and he landed without making a sound. Cheng Xiaorui followed him, his heart pounding like it was about to burst out of his chest. They trotted along the narrow alley outside the wall, turning two corners before finally spotting the newly opened milk tea shop, "Cha Yan Cha Yu." Its sign was pastel blue, and two giant cartoon milk tea cup figurines stood at the entrance.
"It's safe." Chen Zihan looked around and confirmed that there were no teachers around before pulling Cheng Xiaorui and pushing the door open.
The cold air hit him in the face, and Cheng Xiaorui just breathed a sigh of relief, but the next second he froze in place.
In the window booth, Lu Ziyi lazily leaned back in his chair, silver-gray headphones dangling from his neck, his fingers tapping the tabletop intermittently. Zhao Dakun and Zhou Mingxuan sat across from him, one frantically adding pearls to his milk tea, the other swiping his phone.
"..." Cheng Xiaorui subconsciously took half a step back and almost bumped into Chen Zihan behind him.
Chen Zihan was also stunned, but he quickly reacted and whispered, "...No way?"
Zhao Dakun looked up and saw them, his eyes widening: "What the hell?!"
Lu Ziyi slowly raised his eyelids, his gaze lingered on the two of them for two seconds, and then - the corners of his mouth rose slightly.
Zhou Mingxuan's hand trembled, and his phone fell to the table with a "clack". "Hey." He said lazily, "First and second in the grade, want to have some milk tea too?"
The air froze for a second.
Chen Zihan took a step forward and stood in front of Cheng Xiaorui, a fake smile on his face: "What a coincidence, you guys are here to enjoy the 'Second Cup Half Price' too?"
Zhao Dakun sneered, "We've taken our leave openly, unlike some people—" He glanced at Cheng Xiaorui meaningfully, "who forget their lesson right after cleaning the toilet."
Cheng Xiaorui pursed his lips and said, "Don't you guys have to sweep too?"
Lu Ziyi suddenly stood up, walked to the counter, and said to the clerk, "Two more cups, the same."
Cheng Xiaorui was stunned.
Zhao Dakun's eyes widened: "Brother Lu? You invited them?"
Lu Ziyi ignored him and just pushed one of the cups in front of Cheng Xiaorui, saying calmly, "Drink it, it's my treat."
Cheng Xiaorui stared at the cup of milk tea without moving.
Chen Zihan raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"
Lu Ziyi glanced at him and suddenly smiled: "Nothing interesting, I just think--" He paused, his eyes meaningful, "You guys are quite interesting."
Zhou Mingxuan muttered quietly: "Why is Brother Lu acting so weird today..."
Zhao Dakun kicked him angrily.
On the way back to school, Cheng Xiaorui held the cup of milk tea, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the water droplets on the wall of the cup.
"What does he mean?" Chen Zihan frowned. "Suddenly treating us is kind of creepy."
Cheng Xiaorui shook his head: "I don't know."
"Could it be..." Chen Zihan suddenly stopped, his expression serious, "He poisoned the milk tea?"
Cheng Xiaorui: “……?”
Chen Zihan: "Like laxatives or something, causing us to perform poorly on the test?"
Cheng Xiaorui was speechless: "...You should watch less suspense dramas."
Chen Zihan chuckled, reached out to grab Cheng Xiaorui's milk tea and took a sip: "Mm, not poisonous, sweet."
Cheng Xiaorui: “…”
When the two climbed over the wall to return to school, Chen Zihan jumped down first and opened his arms: "Jump, I'll catch you."
Cheng Xiaorui hesitated for a moment, then closed his eyes and jumped.
Then--
“Crack.”
A blinding flash of light appeared.
The two turned stiffly and saw the dean holding up his phone, his bald head glinting in the sunlight, a triumphant smile on his face: "I caught you."
In the principal's office, the five people stood in a row again.
The principal looked at the newly taken photos of the wall-climbing and sighed. "You five... do you have some obsession with climbing over the wall? You just cleaned the toilets last week, and you're climbing over the wall again this week?" His fingers trembled with anger. "What's your excuse this time? An internet cafe? Did you even know there's surveillance at the school gate?"
Then he continued, "When the dean checked the video, he saw three people the first time, and two the second time. Monkey-like figures climbed over the wall one after another. One of them—" He glanced at Chen Zihan, "was even carrying the top-grade backpack. Was he afraid that others wouldn't recognize him?"
Chen Zihan adjusted his glasses and said, "Teacher, I'll help them carry their schoolbags."
"Bullshit!" Zhao Dakun blurted out, then quickly shut up.
The principal took a deep breath and asked, "So what's the reason?"
"Buy milk tea." Lu Ziyi said.
"Buy milk tea." Zhou Mingxuan echoed in a low voice.
"Buy milk tea." Cheng Xiaorui nodded.
"Buy milk tea." Zhao Dakun repeated with gritted teeth.
Chen Zihan was silent for two seconds, then said sincerely, "Principal, the second cup is half price."
Zhao Dakun muttered quietly: "Actually, we really did ask for leave this time..."
The dean sneered: "Where's the leave application?"
Zhao Dakun: “…”
The principal rubbed his temples and said, "Well, since you guys like climbing over walls so much, especially"—he slammed the table hard—"Lu Ziyi, if the graffiti 'I was here' appears in the cubicle you're responsible for again, your moral education score for this semester will be reset to zero!"
"Starting today, every day after school, run ten laps around the playground, then clean the toilets. Do this for two weeks."
Cheng Xiaorui: “…”
Chen Zihan raised his hand: "Principal, I am the top student in the grade."
Principal: "So?"
Chen Zihan: "...So I can run two fewer laps?"
Principal: “No.”
Lu Ziyi suddenly said, "Principal, I have a suggestion."
The principal raised an eyebrow and said, "Speak."
Lu Ziyi: "Let them—" he pointed at Cheng Xiaorui and Chen Zihan, "run in a group of three with us."
headmaster:"……?"
Lu Zi also smiled slightly: "Supervise each other, and if we can't finish the race, we will be punished together."
The principal thought for two seconds and nodded: "Okay."
Cheng Xiaorui: “…”
Chen Zihan: “……?”
Zhao Dakun and Zhou Mingxuan looked at each other and smiled with gloating smiles.
On the playground after school, the setting sun stretched the shadows of the five people very long.
Zhao Dakun panted as he ran: "Brother Lu...why did you drag them along..."
Lu Ziyi ran in front without looking back: "It's fun."
Zhou Mingxuan wailed, "I, I can't do it anymore..."
Chen Zihan passed him and turned around to make a face: "Come on, Diamond Player."
“…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
