Chapter 7
He Shang had no idea what this extraordinary person, Chen Zhoujing, was thinking.
Chen Zhoujing, however, dared not look directly at his brother. He even skipped the physical education class the following afternoon, which was free time, and did not play his favorite basketball. He sat on the steps in front of the convenience store, thinking about his brother and how to gently remind him in the right tone and with appropriate words.
As several figures slowly approached from a distance, it was Jian Sheng's group of four from noon. He clicked his tongue again and walked into the convenience store.
"I'm telling you, you've been smoking here for a whole class period. If you don't attend class, Zhong Mei will call me again." The shop owner was a middle-aged man over fifty. When no one was around, he liked to have a cigarette dangling from his lips, enjoying the smoky fairyland. He would put it out when someone came in, but the smell wouldn't dissipate. Students would feel like vomiting as soon as they came in. Everyone called him a chain smoker.
Unfortunately, he has air conditioning, and everyone loves his little air-conditioned room. Every time Chen Zhoujing comes, he has to stay in it for a while.
"You'd better smoke less." Chen Zhoujing sat down on the rattan chair inside, occasionally glancing towards the door.
Soon, he heard several girls' voices at the door, and he quickly shrank his head.
Jian Sheng stood outside the door, hesitating whether to go in or not. She clutched her empty pockets, knowing it wouldn't be right to go in without buying anything.
He shrank into a thin strip outside the thick, transparent curtain.
"Come in, Jian Sheng," Qi Jing said softly, pulling back the curtain.
Jian let out a soft "ah," and slowly walked inside. Sweat streamed down her forehead, and her school uniform clung to her body, making her feel hot and uncomfortable. The faint pain on her skin made it difficult for her to move.
She went inside, and a cool breeze instantly enveloped her whole body. The uncomfortable feeling in her body was gradually replaced by a comfortable temperature. She slowly followed behind Qi Jing, her head habitually lowered.
I had only taken a few steps inside when a deep voice sounded from the side.
"Oh, a new face." The uncle at the counter glanced at Jian Sheng, then put away his hand that was supporting him on the counter and extinguished his cigarette as well.
The students coming and going here are always the same few people. The three grades have different dismissal times. When he's bored, he likes to joke around with the students and occasionally listen to gossip. He's practically the intelligence bureau of the entire No. 7 Middle School. He knows exactly which class has a new student and which class has any scandals.
Jian Sheng's arrival added another column to his intelligence file.
Jian paused, turned around, and nodded to the middle-aged man.
Just as the middle-aged man was about to say something, he felt a hard kick to his calf. He looked down and saw Chen Zhoujing, a tall man who was almost 1.9 meters tall, huddled in his small rattan chair, frowning at him.
The old wooden counter, about half a person's height, was placed horizontally on the right side of the entrance. The glass counter was covered with a dazzling array of snacks and stationery pens, which just happened to block Chen Zhou's black head from peeking out.
He smiled, narrowed his eyes, and told Jian Sheng that he was just looking around, then fell silent. Jian Sheng, not hearing him reply again, went inside to find Qi Jing and the others.
"Wow, this old man's got some skills, he's really keeping up with the trends, he even has book covers for the new boy band!" Several girls' excited voices echoed around the small shelf.
"It just arrived an hour ago, it's brand new, don't you dare open it or touch it!" the uncle yelled.
"Don't worry, it won't happen," Xu Xiaxia shouted, excitedly clutching the stack of brand-new book covers.
"I'm going to buy them all before get out of class ends. There are four of us, so each of us can buy a stack," she said, counting the book covers.
Jian Sheng slowed her approach.
Lin You chimed in, "There are over fifty sheets in one stack, but we don't have that many books."
Qi Jing nodded quietly, already holding a few selected bills in her hand.
"Then... let's buy a few." Xu Xiaxia picked out a few, preparing to reluctantly give them back, but just as she raised her hand, she heard Lin You say from the side, "You can collect them if you like. We only need a few. There are still a bunch left for other fans at school."
Xu Xiaxia pulled her hand back, then chuckled and took the stack of papers in her hand.
The group turned around with smiles, meeting Jian Sheng's stiff and reserved figure.
"Um... shall I get you a few?" Xu Xiaxia asked, her mind preoccupied with paying at the counter.
Jian Sheng wanted to refuse, but when she looked up at the three faces staring at her, she lowered her head again: "No need, I won't buy it."
Lin You had obviously guessed this already, so he said, "It's alright, let's go."
The three of them went to pay.
Jian Sheng raised her hands to cover her cheeks, and through her fingers, she could see the pair of white shoes with peeling paint on her feet, which seemed to weigh a ton on her back.
Through her white shoes, she saw the gloom and darkness of her life, and the incorrigible nature of her personality.
It's not about whether she can afford a new book cover, it's not about whether she knows about the new boy band, and it's not about the peeling paint on her white shoes.
An unprecedented sense of embarrassment and shame gradually welled up in my heart due to the huge differences.
The school in Jeju is located in a town, with only a few students in each class, mostly left-behind children. The school provides a free lunch, which she can rely on to make ends meet every day. Here, however, students have to top up their meal cards and order food at the overcrowded cafeteria.
Originally, she could walk just a few steps home after school without having to worry about interpersonal communication or whether her image or personality would make others feel uncomfortable. Now, she has to walk on this bustling street and encounter every stranger and strange look in her eyes.
These past two days have made her feel uncomfortable all over, and she is finding it difficult to readjust to a life that is completely new to her.
She was also afraid that some of her actions might annoy others, so she tried her best to minimize her presence.
But she didn't expect that there were flaws everywhere, flaws that she might not be able to patch up.
"What are you standing there for? Lin You has already left." Jian Shengxin felt a jolt when his shoulder was patted hard.
"You walk without making a sound?" She took a step back and looked up at him.
Her fair cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were moist.
Chen Zhou was taken aback, swallowed hard, and then forced a smile: "I'm sorry."
"Did you two have a fight?" he asked curiously.
Jian Sheng didn't respond and walked past him, but he grabbed her after she took only one step.
The force on her wrist made her stop. She glanced sideways at the large hand that was gripping hers, her eyes dark as she looked at him: "Let go."
Chen Zhou was stunned by that look.
The weather outside was getting hotter and hotter. The newly paved asphalt road during the summer vacation was filled with a burning smell, which made people complain. The noise outside the curtain got louder. It was time for get out of class to end, and the curtain of the air-conditioned room was pushed in from the outside.
"Holy crap, uncle, two bottles of iced Coke!" A familiar voice rang out from the doorway.
Before Chen Zhoujing could react, Xu Xiao turned around the corner and exclaimed, "Holy crap!!! Oh my god!"
He looked up and met Xu Xiao's shocked eyes, then abruptly let go.
"You two." Just then, He Shang came out from behind him. "You two, new classmates."
"No, no, no," Chen Zhou panicked and said to Jian Sheng, "You can go out now."
Jian Sheng walked past the two of them, looking embarrassed.
"Hello, new classmate."
"Simplified pronunciation".
Several classmates greeted her, but she didn't respond and hurriedly pulled open the curtain.
A wave of heat hit her face, colliding with the scalding heat that was spreading throughout her body, and she gasped for breath.
"Class is about to start," a calm voice came from the side.
Jian Sheng turned her head and saw Lin You leaning against the door frame on the side, looking at her.
"They haven't finished their homework for the next class, so they've gone home. Let's go." After she finished speaking, she lowered her arm, took two bottles of iced orange juice from the table behind her, handed one to her, and opened the other herself, chugging it down her throat.
Jian Sheng held the orange juice with pulp in her hand and quietly said thank you, then followed her into the nearby teaching building.
Inside the convenience store.
"Monk, let me explain." Chen Zhou walked over, his smile gone, replaced by a serious expression.
The two stepped back, and Xu Xiao said, "Big brother, what are you doing..."
"Don't worry, I won't tell the teacher. You...you're pretty fast. The new student just arrived and you've already..." He Shang was a little flustered. It wasn't that he hadn't seen Chen Zhoujing with a stern face before; on the contrary, he had seen him when he was serious, which was a bit scary.
Chen Zhoujing interrupted him: "No, there was a slight contradiction just now. I don't like him, no... I mean, I don't date."
"No, no one will say anything if you talk about it," He Shang said, looking completely bewildered.
"Don't you like him...?" Chen Zhoujing didn't say the rest of the sentence, "I like women."
He Shang was completely stunned, his expression gradually turned strange, and an inexplicable heat surged up: "Chen Zhoujing, what rumors are you spreading!"
He rushed forward, wrapped his arms around Chen Zhoujing's neck, and pulled his head down hard.
"Huh?" Xu Xiao was dumbfounded. "What are you two talking about? Who likes whom?"
"Is it related to simplified pronunciation?"
It wasn't until two days later that Jian Sheng realized what Chen Zhoujing had been watching her for.
I wonder what this careless, tall guy is thinking.
She stood at the top of the stairs, watching Chen Zhoujing stride towards her from the opposite building. He had long legs and a tall body, with near-perfect proportions; his head-to-body ratio was quite suitable for comics.
"Hey, I went to check out the exam venue and memorized the route. You can come with me tomorrow. It's on the third floor of Building D, the experimental building. We have to go in early tomorrow to see the location; we can't go now, the door is locked." He stood in front of her, panting, his body slightly bent, his hands on his knees, his head hanging down. Due to the scorching sun, sweat soaked his hair and slid down from his chin.
On Friday, when Zhong Mei was handing out the list of test takers, she asked everyone to go to the podium and write down their exam room number. Jian Sheng wanted to wait until everyone had gone before she moved, but Chen Zhoujing was the first to rush up. After looking at the list, he called out Jian Sheng's name directly from the podium: "Jian Sheng, one exam room, I'll write it down for you."
Feeling the gazes of the entire class once again made her very uncomfortable, so she could only nod.
Now, looking at the head of the person in front of her, she softly replied with an "Mmm".
Hearing her reply, Chen Zhou looked up in surprise and was caught off guard by Jian Sheng's beautiful eyes.
"Which direction is your house in? If it's on our way, we can..." He looked away, stood up, and was interrupted halfway through his sentence.
"It's not on my way." After saying thank you in a simple voice, she walked towards the school gate.
Chen Zhoujing stared at her retreating figure for a long time, lost in thought. It wasn't until the school's ancient bell rang again and the entire campus fell asleep after the students left that he slowly walked towards the direction marked Chenfu Road.
The following morning, the first subject was Chinese.
Jian Sheng arrived a little late, just before the time for the exam papers to be handed out. When she arrived, Chen Zhoujing was already sitting in the corner catching up on sleep.
"Everyone's here, let's hand out the papers," one of the proctors said.
Another teacher on the podium nodded and patted the metal table: "Wake up, everyone. You're sleeping during the exam."
A loud crash behind them made everyone turn around repeatedly.
Jian Sheng didn't turn around, looking at the test papers that had been handed out with a worried expression. The test papers from Jeju and Gangju were different, with different content and even different layouts, which was really agonizing for her.
She didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the exam was over, but her tense expression hadn't completely relaxed.
She and Qi Jing lived on the same floor. At noon, Qi Jing asked her to wait for her. After finishing the history exam, she put away her paper and got up to walk towards the back door. She almost bumped into someone as soon as she turned around.
He had a faint, refreshing scent, like mint but very subtle, with a hint of floral fragrance; it smelled quite pleasant to the nose.
Jian Sheng knew who it was without even looking up. She quickly stepped back and looked up at him: "What is it now?"
"How about we have dinner together?" Chen Zhou smiled at her.
"..." Jian Sheng was very confused. Why was this person bothering her every day? "I'm going to find Qi Jing."
Chen Zhoujing didn't understand why she hung out with girls every day. In fact, he asked her directly, "Aren't you embarrassed to be with those girls every day?"
"?" Jian Sheng's expression changed, slightly shocked. "What are you talking about?"
Chen Zhou hesitated before speaking, "You're a grown man, I understand your relationship with Lin You, but you can't be with them every day, can you?"
Jian chuckled softly, the laughter coming out in a breathy tone.
Chen Zhoujing, on the other end of the line, exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent: "Holy crap, you can laugh?"
Jian Sheng didn't want to deal with this idiot. She raised her slender finger and pointed to the gender column on the upper left corner of her exam desk, where her admission ticket number was located.
"I am female." Without waiting for Chen Zhoujing's reaction, she left the room.
She wondered why the man was acting so strangely, thinking he knew her, but it turned out he had mistaken her for someone else. She had always thought that's how city people socialized, calling each other "brother" and "buddy."
No wonder he keeps mentioning Lin You and saying it's a secret.
She thought he was being abstract.
Chen Zhou's face turned pale, red, yellow, and green in shock. He stiffly turned his head and leaned closer to look at the examination admission ticket number in the upper left corner.
Holy crap!!!
What? Is he blind or something?
Is she a girl?
She's a girl!!!
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