Chapter 10
Jiang Ci didn't refuse. He nodded, picked up the new towel prepared by Xie's mother and the clean set of home clothes that Xie Qingyan had found for him, and went into the bathroom.
The warm water washed away his fatigue, and the soft towel and soap-scented clothes enveloped his body, all reminding him that he was in a safe, clean, and benevolent space. When he returned to the room, drying his half-dry hair, Xie Qingyan had already quickly washed up, changed into his pajamas, and was sitting on the headboard reading an ancient book under the lamp, the warm light softening the clear lines of his profile.
"I'm all better," Jiang Ci said softly.
"Mm." Xie Qingyan put down her book, naturally moved to the inside of the bed, and patted the empty space on the outside. "Go to sleep."
Jiang Ci lay down on the bed, reached out and pulled the blanket over himself. His long sleeves slipped down, revealing a horrifying scratch on the inside of his arm.
Although it was only for a moment, Xie Qingyan keenly noticed it. A sense of unease flashed through his mind.
He grabbed Jiang Ci's arm, his eyes fixed on the scratch: "What is this?"
The scratch was man-made, winding from the elbow to the wrist like an ugly centipede, shocking to the eye.
Jiang Ci was trembling slightly, and he clenched his teeth tightly, unwilling to reveal his inner panic.
"Old wound."
The two words, "gently," seemed to have exhausted all of Jiang Ci's strength.
A sharp, tingling pain spread through Xie Qingyan's heart. She released his hand and did not ask any further questions.
Jiang Ci burrowed under the covers. Xie Qingyan opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but then realized he didn't know where to begin.
That was a past Jiang Ci didn't want to face; that old wound must have been his secret, and now he had discovered it.
Xie Qingyan suddenly felt a sense of relief and decided to help Jiang Ci keep this secret.
The 1.2-meter single bed was indeed a bit cramped for the two boys, neither of whom were short. They lay flat on their backs, their bodies inevitably touching, able to feel each other's body heat through the thin fabric of their clothes. They were both somewhat stiff, especially Jiang Ci, whose entire body seemed focused on the small patch of skin where his arm met Xie Qingyan's.
Neither of them mentioned the incident that had just occurred.
The room was plunged into darkness, with only moonlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains, casting a hazy trail of light on the floor.
After a long while, Jiang Ci lay awake in the darkness, listening to the gradually becoming even and long breaths beside her, knowing that Xie Qingyan had fallen asleep. Countless images flashed through her mind, and a complex mix of emotions surged from the depths of her heart.
He stared at the dim ceiling, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. His voice was extremely low, as soft as a sigh, yet heavy as if he had used up all his courage. He spoke to the sleeping Xie Qingyan, and to the darkness that had embraced him, uttering the words he might have found difficult to say when he was awake:
"Thanks."
There was no response. Only Xie Qingyan's soft, rhythmic breathing lingered beside the pillow, like the most soothing nocturne.
As Jiang Ci listened to the sound of breathing, his tense nerves finally relaxed one by one.
Moonlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, gently illuminating Xie Qingyan's peaceful sleeping face. Jiang Ci watched him silently in the darkness, and for the first time, she felt that perhaps there was still a glimmer of light in this world worth cherishing.
A deep sleepiness, like a gentle tide, completely engulfed Jiang Ci. In the last moments before falling into a deep sleep, he vaguely thought that this might be the first night in a long time when he didn't have to worry about nightmares suddenly descending.
Xie Qingyan, seemingly sensing something in her sleep, unconsciously turned slightly towards Jiang Ci, a hint of peace on her lips that she herself was unaware of.
The moonlight shines silently, guarding the tranquility of this room and the two lonely planets that are quietly approaching each other in the darkness.
——
Early in the morning, after breakfast, Xie Qingyan and Jiang Ci went out together. Xie's mother chased after them to the door and stuffed two still-warm lunchboxes into their hands: "Take these, lunch! Xiao Ci, come home for dinner again tonight!"
In the morning light, Jiang Ci's fingers tightened slightly as he took the lunchbox, and he responded softly, "Thank you, Auntie."
The two walked side by side on the road to school. The morning air was cool, yet held an inexplicable peace that was more pronounced than usual. They didn't exchange many words, but there was an unspoken understanding between them.
However, this tranquility was shattered the moment they stepped into the classroom by a deliberately created commotion.
Li Ming, with his legs crossed, raised his voice, facing his deskmate Zhang Qiang, but glancing sideways at Xie Qingyan and Jiang Ci who had just entered: "Some people, don't think they're so great just because they've made a little splash online. They still have to obediently delete what needs to be deleted, don't they?"
Zhang Qiang immediately understood and laughed heartily, "That's right! With Brother Li on the case, one is worth two! Even the most arrogant person has to back down!"
The two sang in unison, their voices particularly jarring in the early morning classroom. Many students stopped what they were doing, their eyes darting back and forth between Li Ming and Xie Qingyan, some with the excitement of watching a spectacle, others with indifferent apathy.
They awaited Xie Qingyan's reaction—would she angrily retort, or awkwardly bow her head? Or would Jiang Ci, who seemed so formidable, erupt again?
However, the anticipated conflict did not occur.
Xie Qingyan seemed not to hear the sharp words at all. He walked to his seat with a normal expression, put down his schoolbag, took out his lunchbox, and carefully put it in his desk drawer. Then, he took out his Chinese textbook for morning reading, opened it, and calmly focused his gaze on the words, completely immersed in them, as if Li Ming and Zhang Qiang were just insignificant background noise.
Jiang Ci's actions were even more decisive. He didn't even lift his eyelids, directly pulling out a chair and sitting down, taking out his earphones from his bag and putting them on, then taking out a thick collection of competition problems and starting to work on them. His cold profile and focused posture completely isolated him from the noise of the classroom, forming an absolute domain that strangers should not approach.
One of them is immersed in the world of words, and the other wanders in the ocean of rational logic, as if they have created their own world, completely shielding themselves from the noise and malice of the outside world.
Li Ming's smile froze on his face. He mustered all his strength to throw a punch, only to find that he hadn't hit a hard wall or a soft sandbag, but rather a void of air. His opponent didn't even give him a reaction. This utter, condescending disregard was more humiliating than any angry retaliation.
He was like a clown performing energetically on stage, while the only audience member turned their back on him, admiring a different scene.
Zhang Qiang's laughter caught awkwardly in his throat. He touched his nose sheepishly and lowered his head, pretending to organize his books.
An eerie silence fell over the classroom for a few seconds. Several students who had been waiting to watch the drama unfold lost interest and turned away. Only Li Ming remained standing there, his face flushed and paled in turns, his fists clenching and unclenching, a tightness in his chest that felt like he was about to suffer internal injuries.
He stared intently at the two composed figures, especially Xie Qingyan's straight back and serene profile, a surge of anger mixed with an inexplicable jealousy burning his reason. But their unyielding and utterly dismissive attitude left him without any grounds for further provocation.
In the end, he could only kick his own chair leg hard and sit down angrily in front of more dissatisfied people.
The bell for the morning reading session rang at just the right time, and the sound of students reading aloud drowned out the last trace of discord.
Xie Qingyan turned her head slightly and glanced at Jiang Ci, who seemed to be isolated from the world, out of the corner of her eye. The corner of her mouth curved almost imperceptibly.
---
In the days that followed, time seemed to be sped up.
Xie Qingyan's life became an extremely simple cycle: school, library, and his desk at home. Like a completely dried-up sponge, he frantically absorbed all the modern knowledge he could access.
He memorized the formulas and theorems of mathematics, physics, and chemistry, then tried to integrate them using his powerful comprehension. The desk lamp often stayed on until late at night, and his eyes gradually became bloodshot, but the light in his eyes grew increasingly intense.
Jiang Ci observed all of this. He remained indifferent, but he maximized the efficiency of his tutoring. His explanations became more concise, his key points more precise, and he even began compiling "problem-solving formulas" tailored to Xie Qingyan's thinking style. He could see Xie Qingyan's desperate efforts—a mixture of resentment, the pride of a scholar, and an urgent desire to gain a foothold in this new world.
One late night, Xie Qingyan frowned as he stared at a physics problem he had repeatedly gotten wrong, his fingers unconsciously tightening so much that he almost poked the draft paper through.
"That's enough." Jiang Ci suddenly reached out and pressed down on the paper.
Xie Qingyan looked up blankly.
Jiang Ci looked away, his tone as calm as ever, but his words carried a subtle softening: "It's just a mock exam. With your current knowledge, a normal performance is enough to shut many people up." He paused, his voice even lower, "Don't push yourself too hard."
This wasn't some fancy consolation; it even sounded a bit harsh. Yet, it was like a perfectly placed pebble, gently dropped into Xie Qingyan's anxious heart, creating ripples of reassurance.
Xie Qingyan paused for a moment, then slowly relaxed his tense shoulders. Looking at Jiang Ci's profile, which appeared exceptionally clear under the light, he softly hummed in agreement.
However, deep down in Jiang Ci's heart, another worry was surging like an undercurrent beneath the seemingly calm daily life.
Xie Qingyan's striving spirit and the deepening bond between them made him cherish this hard-won warmth and tranquility. But the more he cherished it, the more fear gripped him. He was afraid that their nominal home would suddenly shatter everything. A phone call, a sudden visit, or even a whim of his father's could drag him back to that cold, suffocating environment and shatter the peaceful life he and Xie Qingyan had carefully built.
Every time he walked home from school with Xie Qingyan, his vigilance would unconsciously increase; every time his phone vibrated, even though he knew it was unlikely to be a call from that family, his heart would inexplicably tighten. This hidden worry was like a sword hanging over his head, making him always keep a taut string in his heart, even in his most relaxed moments.
He knew that the tranquility before him was as fragile as morning dew.
In these days intertwined with struggle, concern, and hidden worries, time quietly slips away from the tip of the pen and between the turned pages of the book.
As more pages were torn from the countdown board in front of the teaching building, and as the unique atmosphere of exams began to fill the air, the day arrived for the city's first mock exam for senior high school students.
---
On the day of the mock exam, the sky was slightly overcast, and the air was filled with the oppressive atmosphere of an impending rainstorm.
Senior high school students were gathered in the open space in front of the teaching building. The noise was deafening, and an invisible tension permeated the air. Some were still frantically flipping through the last few pages of their notes, while others took deep breaths to calm their racing hearts.
Xie Qingyan and Jiang Ci followed the crowd up the stairs to their respective examination rooms. Their examination rooms happened to be next to each other.
At the corner of the corridor leading to the third-floor examination room, the crowd thinned out slightly. Jiang Ci's pace slowed almost imperceptibly, and Xie Qingyan, sensing this, also stopped.
Jiang Ci didn't look at Xie Qingyan; his gaze was fixed on the gray sky outside the window. Instead, he reached into his pencil case and pulled out a ballpoint pen that was entirely black with fine, dark gold lines running along its shaft. This pen looked different from his usual simple style; it was heavier and more refined.
He said nothing, but simply raised his hand and handed the pen to Xie Qingyan.
Xie Qingyan looked down at the pen and paused slightly.
“Use this.” Jiang Ci’s voice was very low, almost drowned out by the noise in the corridor, but every word was clear. “The brushstrokes are steady, the ink flows evenly, and it feels good to write essays.” He paused, then turned his head to glance at Xie Qingyan quickly before looking away again, adding, “Don’t be nervous. Answer the questions like you would when writing a test. There’s enough time.”
There were no fancy words of encouragement, only the most practical advice and the simplest words of advice. This pen was perhaps the only encouragement Jiang Ci could think of.
Xie Qingyan took the pen, the paper still warm from the other's palm. He gripped it tightly, and the last trace of tension caused by the unfamiliar exam format strangely dissipated. He met Jiang Ci's gaze, his clear eyes reflecting the other's image, and nodded solemnly: "Okay."
Just then, a discordant voice, deliberately raised in pitch, broke the brief silence.
"Hey, still giving extra help even though the exams are almost here?" Li Ming appeared out of nowhere, a mocking smile on his face, his eyes scanning back and forth between Xie Qingyan's pen and the two of them. "Jiang, you're really doing a good job as a deskmate, even taking care of your exam supplies? Too bad, you're hopeless. No matter how well you prepare, you'll still show your true colors when the time comes."
He deliberately emphasized revealing his true form, which drew the attention of several students who were also waiting to enter the examination room, who began to whisper among themselves.
The air pressure around Jiang Ci instantly dropped. He slowly turned around to face Li Ming. He was taller than Li Ming, and at this moment his eyelids were slightly lowered. His gaze was like a solid icicle, piercing straight through his dark eyes. There was no anger, only an almost indifferent coldness, and a chilling sense of oppression beneath that coldness.
He didn't say a word, he just looked at Li Ming like that.
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