Chapter 45
Jian Sheng frowned slightly and subconsciously took a step back.
Jian Qingyao caught him just then: "What are you doing?"
"You know each other?" He raised his chin.
Jian Sheng didn't speak, but Yu Chao's cold gaze made her feel sinister, and she unconsciously wanted to back away.
Before Jian Qingyao could hear the answer, the person over there had already walked over.
Yu Chao was in the lead, with Shen Xuzheng next to him, and two other boys he didn't recognize, who seemed to be from Class 7 as well.
"Jian Sheng, good evening." Shen Xuzheng called out to Jian Qingyao as "Brother Jian," then waved to Jian Sheng and greeted him with a smile.
"You two know each other?" Jian Qingyao asked him, frowning.
Shen Xuzheng choked, glanced at Yu Chao, and hummed in agreement: "I've met him at school, he was in the same class as Chen Zhoujing."
Jian Qingyao asked suspiciously, then nudged Jian Sheng: "Is that so?"
Not wanting to cause trouble, Jian Sheng nodded: "Yes, I'm leaving."
After saying that, she had already taken a step forward when Jian Qingyao pulled her back: "What's going on?"
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was not hostile, Yu Chao looked at Shen Xuzheng, who suppressed the corners of his mouth and gave him a "I told you so, you're doomed" look.
Jian Sheng, who had been pulled back, looked unhappy: "It's really nothing."
"Your face is as black as a lump of coal and you're still fine? You usually yell at me, but now you look like you're dead." He pointed at Yu Chao's head and asked, "What did he do to you?"
"That's not right. He provoked you, so you should scold him the same way you scolded me, without holding back."
Jian Sheng was still unaware of how Jian Qingyao usually perceived him, and said speechlessly, "Are you crazy?"
“Yes.” Jian Qingyao clapped his hands. “That’s it, that arrogant attitude.”
"You're sick!" Jian Sheng glared at him.
"Go on," Jian Qingyao said, his joking expression fading as he turned to Shen Xuzheng.
Shen Xuzheng nudged Yu Chao with his arm.
“I insulted her,” Yu Chao said.
Silence broke through the noise and crept into the group.
After a long pause, only Jian Qingyao's deep voice rang out: "What did you say?"
Just as Yu Chao was about to speak, Jian Qingyao suddenly stopped him with a look.
He turned to Jian Sheng and said, "You go back first. I have something to do and will be back later. Grandma Wheatfield has already passed by, so you don't need to go."
Jian Sheng paused for a moment on his fierce-looking brow, then thought for a moment and said, "Don't fight."
Jian Qingyao impatiently urged, "I know, I know, you can't fight, don't worry about it, go back now."
He pretended to be fierce, gave him a simple glare, and went back with the milk tea in his arms, looking back every few steps.
After everyone left, Jian Qingyao went up and punched Yu Chao without saying a word.
Yu Chao's body swayed, he bent over, and almost fell to the ground. The old bruise on the corner of his mouth reopened, and blood slowly flowed out.
He didn't speak, but the crowd became restless.
Shen Xuzheng stepped forward and pulled him back: "Didn't you say you wouldn't fight?"
"You cursed too?" Jian Qingyao asked in a low voice, his eyes filled with disdain.
"No, no, no." Seeing this look in his eyes for the first time, Shen Xuzheng was somewhat surprised. "I didn't scold her, but I couldn't stop him."
Jian Qingyao shook him off, stepped forward, grabbed Yu Chao by the collar, and led him to a less crowded area outside.
Several people tried to persuade him, but he refused to listen.
Finally, he stopped in a place surrounded by dense trees, the dim streetlights illuminating his gloomy figure. He frowned and said, "What did you say? Let me hear it."
Yu Chao remained silent and did not resist, until finally Xu Zheng spoke.
After listening, Jian Qingyao sat on the steps and slapped himself. He was pathetic; he was now hitting someone else who was just as disgusting as him.
You can't truly understand the pain of a slap unless it lands on your own face.
Just like he didn't know what Jian Sheng had gone through, he blindly believed it based on a few words of instigation and gossip from others, and then acted impulsively.
"Calm down, he's toned it down a lot." Shen Xuzheng ran back from the supermarket, handed the two of them water, and then sat down next to him, unable to help but say, "Including you, this is the third person he's been beaten up by."
Jian Qingyao glanced at him sideways.
Shen Xuzheng glanced at Yu Chao's still bleeding hand, took out some iodine swabs from his pocket and handed them to him, then took out a band-aid. He said to Jian Qingyao, "Qian Xiao, the one I told you about last time, was the first time Yu Chao was hit with a stool. Not satisfied, he even tried to hit him with a table. Pretty impressive, luckily he dodged it."
“...There’s also Chen Zhoujing.” Shen Xuzheng explained, “He’s Yu Chao’s childhood friend, the one you asked about before. He’s from your neighborhood, and he’s very good at academics, the top student in his grade.”
"And then there's you." He sighed after saying that. "Chen Zhoujing misunderstood him, but you shouldn't have hit him."
"He confronted her because he felt you were being bullied."
Jian Qingyao lowered his eyes. Indeed, ironically, he was pretending to be a good person again. His misunderstanding was exactly the same as Yu Chao's misunderstanding.
But he really wanted to know: "Whose rumors did you hear?"
The group fell silent. Suddenly, Yu Chao focused his attention and looked at Shen Xuzheng.
Shen Xuzheng exclaimed in disbelief, "Qian Xiao?"
"That's fucking insane."
A cold glint flashed in Jian Qingyao's eyes. While the others pondered, he slowly spoke.
"Her father is her father, and she is her. Even if I dislike Jian Zihua, it has nothing to do with her..."
Jian Sheng was unaware of what Jian Qingyao had been up to outside, and only knew that the house had been much quieter these past two days.
Winter activity classes were changed to running exercises.
Jian Sheng put down his pen and waited for a while until the sound from the desk behind him disappeared. Then he slowly stood up, walked to his desk, and looked around.
Everyone around had already left. She tugged at the hem of her school uniform, struggled for a moment, then took out a handful of candy and some cookies from her pocket, put them in his desk drawer, and then hurried away.
She sat in her seat for a while, trying to calm herself down, but her fingers were still trembling slightly.
The tingling sensation in her heart reached its peak when someone called her. She turned her head sharply, and Qi Jing was running in through the back door: "Quick, quick, quick, I heard the announcement downstairs."
"I just went to the restroom, and everyone's already gone." She tugged at Jian Sheng's hand, about to walk out, but when she caught sight of her face, she suddenly said, "What's wrong with your face? It's so red. Are you sick?"
Jian Sheng's pupils contracted slightly: "No, no, no, please go downstairs."
Qi Jing asked a few questions but couldn't get any answers, so she had no choice but to follow Jian Sheng and run quickly to the playground.
After a few words of advice came through the microphone, the music switched to cheerful tunes. Class 13 waited for the classes in front to run out of the playground, then followed and started running around the entire school.
The seriousness of the campus run during free time is much lighter than in the morning; after running two laps, you can relax.
After one lap, the group had scattered, and Jian Sheng's pace slowed down. As they approached the finish line, he put his hands on his hips and started walking.
"Simple." A moment later, Qi Jing followed from behind.
She gasped for breath, "So tired, so tired. I ran halfway and saw them all just strolling around."
Jian Sheng turned her head and helped Qi Jing, who was bent over, saying, "I'm not running anymore, I can't run anymore."
"Let's take it slow." Qi Jing sighed, her face full of worry. "Final exams are coming up soon, and I have a headache."
She seemed terrified of exams, getting anxious as exams approached. Jian nodded quietly, "Time to head to the battlefield again."
Qi Jing, who had been hanging her head, smiled when she heard her sudden sigh: "Yes, I was practically battered and bruised!"
"There are thousands of enemies on the battlefield. How can I become the leader of these small fry? I am so ordinary and unremarkable."
Jian Sheng was somewhat surprised when she heard her say that: "Ordinary and commonplace are also defined."
In her opinion, Qi Jing has many excellent qualities. When you first meet her, you might think she is very quiet, but in reality, she is a very cheerful and humorous person.
It's just that this personality is sometimes suppressed, which is similar to her. She deliberately restrains herself when facing the many definitions that the outside world has of what kind of person she should be and what kind of things she should do.
She turned her head and continued, "Whether grades are good or bad is an additional condition for whether emotions are supported."
"You have a good personality, a good temper, and you are very kind to people, which is already very rare."
"Achievements are only one aspect, but the world is multifaceted."
These words touched Qi Jing's heart, offering her a brief moment of comfort.
“You’re such a smooth talker,” she said, putting her arm around Jian Sheng’s shoulder. “You say all the things I love to hear.”
Jian Sheng smiled sheepishly: "Then I'll talk more in the future, and you'll be happy every day."
"Of course."
Back at the starting point of the playground, there were many people strolling around. The two walked side by side, preparing to cross the basketball court back to the classroom.
Suddenly, a group of people walked in through the opposite gate, and the sound of a basketball hitting the ground could be heard.
Jian Sheng looked up, then pulled Qi Jing aside: "There are a lot of people."
The two then walked around the basketball court towards the outer lane.
The path back to the teaching building is on one side of the basketball court gate.
Jian Sheng had just turned around when Chen Zhou exclaimed in surprise.
She slowly turned her head and saw him running towards her, carrying clothes in his arms and panting, asking, "Are you going back?"
Jian Sheng's body stiffened slightly, but she quickly recovered. She nodded and pointed to the clothes in his hand: "Do you want me to take them back for you?"
Chen Zhou's eyes lit up: "Oh my, how did you know?"
"Could you do me a favor?"
He smiled and said seriously, "If it's heavy, I'll take it myself. You guys go back first."
After saying that, Jian Sheng reached out his hand: "What's so heavy about a down jacket?"
Chen Zhou looked at her fair hand, murmured an "Mmm," and gently handed her the clothes.
Jian Sheng took it, and a faint, refreshing fragrance wafted into her nose; it smelled wonderful.
"Is Chen Zhoujing still going to play?" someone shouted from the court.
Chen Zhou winked at her and said, "Thank you! I'll take you to get some sweet soup next time."
Jian Sheng looked away and said "Oh".
Qi Jing tugged at her sleeve and teased, "Oh my, how did you know?"
"Oh my, what's so heavy about a down jacket..." she repeated their conversation.
"I'll take you to eat sweet soup next time. You two even went to eat sweet soup separately before..."
Jian Sheng felt embarrassed, clutching the clothes in her hands, her ears turning red: "Don't say anymore."
"I didn't say that, you're overthinking it." She leaned closer to her cheek, her eyes narrowing into slits.
Jian Sheng gently pushed her, trying to pull her away. Just then, a few people came down from the back door of the stadium across the street and were heading this way.
The distance wasn't far, and the group of tall people took long strides, so they quickly walked over.
She looked up and met his gloomy gaze; Jian Sheng's expression also softened.
Qi Jing noticed that her expression was off. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around and saw who it was. Her smile vanished along with her cheerful tone.
The group stopped at the fork in the road.
"What's wrong? Why are you laughing so happily?" Shen Xuzheng spoke first, raising his chin at Jian Sheng and then glancing at Yu Chao.
Jian Sheng didn't speak. Thinking of something, he subconsciously looked at Qi Jing. She seemed vaguely uneasy, her cheeks were pale, and her drooping eyelashes couldn't hide her panic.
Seeing that no one spoke, Shen Xuzheng tried to smooth things over, but the basketball had already been thrown over there. He quickly caught the ball.
His heart pounded in his chest, and for the first time, his expression cracked: "Are you crazy?"
Chen Zhoujing slowly walked over from the side and asked, "Are you sick?"
"What are you doing now? Looking for trouble?" He stood in front of the two girls, successfully blocking their view.
Shen Xuzheng's smile vanished, and his face looked frightening: "Can you please curb your habit of acting impulsively at the slightest provocation?"
“We didn’t do anything.” He was furious at Chen Zhoujing’s overprotective temper.
"I'm asking you a question, are you mute?" Chen Zhoujing ignored him and turned to Yu Chao, who was standing with his hands in his pockets, to ask.
The atmosphere was tense, and Jian Sheng tugged at his sleeve from behind.
She looked over his shoulder at the person opposite her, then at Chen Zhoujing's angry hair, and whispered, "This is a school."
Chen Zhou touched her wrist from behind, giving her a reassuring gesture.
Jian Sheng paused for a moment.
A group of people playing basketball walked over, and He Shang stood next to Chen Zhoujing: "What now? Are you guys causing trouble again?"
"I need to speak with her," Yu Chao said calmly, glancing at Jian Sheng behind Chen Zhoujing.
"Just tell me what it is," Chen Zhou said in surprise.
"What's it to you?" His face darkened.
"How come our class has nothing to do with us?" The first to speak was a boy from Class 13 who came out from behind. The group stood in a row next to He Shang with their arms crossed, instantly overwhelming the other side with their imposing presence.
After a moment of awkward silence, Shen Xuzheng had already processed the situation and stepped in to smooth things over: "Why create conflict? Let's all be friendly."
He sighed, "He just wanted to apologize to her, there was no need to make such a fuss, let's all go play ball..."
"You've had your fill of talking, and now you're starting to apologize? What are you pretending for?" He Shang said.
Yu Chao's gaze sharpened, and he gritted his teeth: "Yes, you're right, I'm fucking sick, okay?"
"I'm leaving." He glanced at Shen Xuzheng, then turned left and walked towards the teaching building.
The people behind him also left. Shen Xuzheng closed his eyes, tossed the basketball to He Shang, and laughed, "You're leaving now. I'm really sorry, Jian Sheng. I apologize to you. When are you free? I'll treat you to a meal another day. I'm sorry, I'm leaving now."
"Who asked you to invite me?" Chen Zhou exclaimed in surprise.
Shen Xuzheng had already run away.
After everyone left, Chen Zhou waved his hand, and He Shang led a few boys back to the court.
He turned his head, a little nervous: "How are you?"
Jian Sheng looked up and said, "I'm fine."
"Go play ball."
Chen Zhoujing wanted to ask something more, but Jian Sheng had already gone to see Qi Jing, so he could only go to the basketball court, looking back every few steps, and only turned his gaze away after the person disappeared around the corner of the teaching building.
I took a shot, but I was too unsettled. After the game, I went back to my classroom.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
