Chapter 14 I mainly look at the face...
Class reunions always end up the same. After getting drunk, a group of people like to talk about things that happened in high school. Except for Tao Siyun and Xiang Yipeng, everyone at the table today is from the science class, and the most talked about thing is the gossip of the science class.
Since Tao Siyun couldn't get a word in, she just ate quietly. When she was almost done eating, she said goodbye to Li Huan and prepared to go to the bathroom to wash her hands.
The restroom was at the end of the corridor. Halfway through, the light above my head suddenly flickered. A light bulb went out unexpectedly, and the corridor became darker in an instant.
Fortunately, the light in the bathroom was not broken. She walked to the open sink and turned on the faucet. Just as she wet her hands, she heard a "creaking" sound from inside, and then the toilet cubicle door was pushed open.
Tao Siyun turned off the water, glanced at the mirror subconsciously, looked away, and squeezed a little hand sanitizer into his hand.
Xiang Yipeng walked to the side in her high heels, pretended to tidy her hair in front of the mirror, then took out the lipstick from her bag, unscrewed it, and started to touch up her makeup.
Seeing that Tao Siyun was rubbing the foam in his hands seriously and had no intention of paying attention to her, she took the initiative to chat with her: "Tao Siyun, after you graduate, do you plan to stay in Huxi or return to Beijing?"
"It doesn't matter. I might stay in Shanghai West."
"Do your family members agree?" Xiang Yipeng suddenly asked.
"?" Tao Siyun didn't quite understand what she said. He blinked and asked softly, "Why don't you agree with that?"
"Well, nowadays, many people from other places, including college graduates, want to stay in the west of Shanghai." Xiang Yipeng closed the lid of her lipstick, her sense of superiority as a local rising again. She said pointedly, "When I was studying in another city, my parents kept telling me to come back as soon as I graduated, fearing that I would find a boyfriend from another city and upset them. I'm not stupid."
Tao Siyun appears weak and like she's easy to bully, but that doesn't mean she'll let others act meanly in front of her. "Oh, so that's how it is. Your parents are quite conservative, but mine are more open-minded. As long as I like it, it's fine."
Xiang Yipeng's expression changed slightly after hearing this.
Tao Siyun pretended not to notice and continued, "Actually, I don't really care about those things. I mainly focus on looks, because everyone in my family is obsessed with looks."
"Zhang Qi is not my boyfriend!" Xiang Yipeng understood what she meant and explained hurriedly and angrily.
"I didn't say he was your boyfriend." Tao Siyun said innocently.
"..." Xiang Yipeng was choked by her words, her face turned red and white, and she turned around and walked away angrily in her high heels.
Tao Siyun curled the corners of his lips, turned on the faucet to rinse off the foam on his hands, shook off the water, took out a few pieces of paper, wiped his hands slowly, turned around, and all his movements stopped instantly.
Xu Ji was standing in the corridor a few steps away from her, holding a cigarette in his right hand, leaning lazily against the wall, standing in an awkward position.
The window was half open, and the few light bulbs illuminated the long corridor with extremely dim light. He brought the cigarette to his lips and took a puff. The smoke almost blended into the night outside the window.
The dim light stained his white shirt into a light yellow, and the scene looked like a blurry filter added to the dimness.
The two of them were separated by a distance that was neither far nor close, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.
Tao Siyun stared at his profile for a few seconds, then his gaze slowly moved down and landed on his shirt again.
My memories were suddenly brought back to the day of the art performance in the second semester of my senior year.
***
At that time, Tao Siyun was putting on makeup backstage. The classmate in charge of costumes came to her anxiously and said that her performance clothes had been splashed with ink.
She didn't react at all and was stunned the moment she saw the skirt.
"You can't wash it off with water. The ink will get bigger and bigger if it gets wet..."
"So what should I do now? I'm going to go on stage soon. Why not just wear my school uniform?"
"No, other classes are wearing performance costumes, but ours is just school uniforms. That's too perfunctory. How can we still win a prize?"
“…”
There was a murmur around, saying this wouldn't work, that wouldn't work...
Teacher Li was overwhelmed. In a panic, he grabbed a student and said, "It's too late. Hurry up and tell the host to let the next program go first. Where's the class monitor? Li Huan, come here and see if anyone in our class is wearing a coat. You can borrow one. Preferably a dark one..."
"Oh, okay, don't worry, I'll be there right away!"
…
"Is Cao Wenzheng any good? I can actually hear his voice in the chorus. He's led the whole class astray. It's so fucking funny. I don't know how he convinced the teacher to let him go on stage." Jiang Zhen's shoulders were shaking with laughter. He reached out and touched Xu Ji all over, trying to get the phone in his pocket: "Hey, use your phone for a minute. I'm going to take a video."
Xu Ji didn't move, opening and closing his eyes, sitting in the audience, resting his mind. "What are you doing? Are you recording this just to make it a lullaby for me?"
"No, I filmed it and sent it to Ji Yao. It's just this song. Can you sleep at night after listening to it? It would be strange if you don't suffer from insomnia."
“…”
Li Huan quickly scanned the audience, locked onto his target, and crouched down through the crowd. It took him a while to squeeze in front of Xu Ji. "I declare that your shirt and jacket have been temporarily requisitioned by the organization. Take them off quickly!"
"?" Xu Ji raised his eyes and leaned lazily on the seat, not even moving. His tone was indifferent and casual: "No, I won't take it off. If you say it's requisitioned, then it's requisitioned. Do you have any official documents? Bring it to me and see it."
“…”
"Oh my god!" Jiang Zhen saw this and quickly intervened, "No, no, no, squad leader, what are you doing? How can you, a grown woman, ask someone to take off your clothes? Please don't do this in public. There are so many people watching. It will have a bad influence. Besides, our Xu Ji is very reserved. Hahahahaha."
"You're such a pity!" Li Huan glared at him fiercely, almost wanting to beat him up. "Someone splashed ink on Tao Siyun's skirt, and there's a big stain on the back. The teacher asked me to find her a coat!"
"Huh?" Jiang Zhen's smile dropped immediately. "Oh my god, who the hell would throw ink on someone's clothes? That's so wicked! I was wondering if things between you girls are so complicated? Are you risking your life to play such a big game?!"
Li Huan gritted his teeth and said, "If I find out who did it, I'll beat her to death!" Then he continued to urge Xu Ji, "Why are you so slow? Take it off quickly, Tao Siyun is about to go on stage!"
Jiang Zhen couldn't help but push him: "That's right, your deskmate is about to get angry, why are you still acting like a little girl? What's there to be embarrassed about? You're not naked underneath, you're still wearing a short-sleeved shirt, come on, let me help you take it off."
Xu Ji: "Get lost."
Jiang Zhen: "Okay, okay, come by yourself, come by yourself."
“…”
Li Huan got the clothes and returned to the backstage as quickly as possible. Tao Siyun's eyes were red and tears were welling up in her eyes. With the comfort of her teachers and classmates, she had already changed into the white gauze dress that was stained with ink.
***
"The monitor said your deskmate started learning the cello at the age of six. Wow, look at his level, this is professional level."
Jiang Zhen pointed the camera of his mobile phone at Tao Siyun on the stage and pressed the record button.
Xu Ji crossed his arms and inadvertently glanced at the picture being filmed on the mobile phone screen. He paused, not knowing what he was thinking. After a while, his eyes involuntarily drifted back to the girl in the center of the stage.
He has always known that Tao Siyun is very beautiful and has been recognized as the school belle since high school.
When school just started, the boys from the neighboring classes would follow her on the bus in groups every day. During that period, the 91 bus would be especially crowded at school dismissal time.
As her deskmate, Xu Ji had seen love letters, small gifts and other things stuffed into Tao Siyun's drawer more than once.
In fact, after entering high school, there are many students who secretly fall in love under the noses of their teachers and parents. The young couples in school pretend to be unfamiliar with each other, as if their secret will be discovered by others if they look at each other for one more moment.
But what secret is there?
The boys and girls' love is clearly written on their faces. They think they are disguising it very well, but in fact everyone can see it, it's just a tacit understanding.
Xu Ji had also accidentally seen several senior boys confess their love to Tao Siyun, but without exception, they were all rejected by her.
"Senior, thank you for your love. I wish you can get into your dream university..."
It's always this sentence, and there's no other reason.
Tao Siyun politely rejected all those who liked her. She looked calm and composed without any embarrassment or helplessness, as if this kind of confession was something she was already accustomed to.
Instead, the boy who confessed his feelings felt embarrassed first, blushing and saying, "Well, then, you have to study hard too..."
Xu Ji stood not far away and watched the whole process of his deskmate being confessed to. He found it a bit funny. What a girl. If she doesn’t like someone, just say so. Why bother with so much hesitation?
The girl's black hair was tied up, revealing her slender white neck. Her sleeves were folded up, and layers of fabric piled on her arms, making her wrist holding the bow look particularly slender in contrast.
It was the first time Xu Ji saw Tao Siyun like this. She was glowing all over, and she was proud and confident when she played the violin, just like an unattainable princess.
Tao Siyun vaguely felt that the button on her cuff swayed slightly every time she plucked the strings.
It seems like it is shaky and about to fall down at any time.
The dirty performance clothes and the loose buttons are not important. None of that matters. It will not have any impact on her. None of it matters.
The black shirt on her body was covered over the white gauze skirt in a protective way, covering all the dirty areas.
She chose to ignore it for the time being, forget all the accidents that had happened, and gently closed her eyes under the ever-changing stage lights.
The cello's melodious transition and sudden rise in pitch made Xu Ji's heart beat faster even though he was still in a daze.
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