17 Chapter 17
◎I don’t want him to disturb our alone time◎
The next morning, Sang Xinqi reached out from under the quilt and groped for her phone in a daze. The moment the screen lit up, she suddenly woke up. Three unread messages were clearly displayed on the lock screen.
"You're used to sitting behind me."
"It's getting late, go to bed early!"
"good evening!"
The sending time is 11:30 pm.
She scratched her hair in frustration. How could she have fallen asleep last night? Her fingertips quickly tapped the screen: "I fell asleep yesterday."
After sending the message, she hesitated for a moment and then sent: "Good morning!"
After sending the message, the corners of her mouth curled up unconsciously, she threw her phone on the bed, hummed a song and went to wash up.
-
In the classroom, Sang Xinqi held her chin and unconsciously drew circles on the draft paper with the tip of her pen. Liao Yishen didn't reply to her message in the morning, and the school did not allow mobile phones.
"What are you thinking about?" Chang Yisi nudged her with his elbow.
Sang Xinqi snapped back to her senses. "Ah? Nothing, what happened?"
Chang Yisi narrowed his eyes, "There's something wrong with you."
"What's wrong with me?"
"You've never daydreamed in class before, and you always listen attentively. But today you've daydreamed three times," Chang Yisi lowered his voice. "Tell me the truth, is there something wrong?"
Sang Xinqi's ears felt hot, "...I just didn't sleep well last night."
Chang Yisi made a "tsk" sound, with a look on his face that said "I don't believe you at all", but he didn't ask any further questions because the other party didn't want to say anything.
-
The first week of school seemed to be stretched out, and one day felt like a month. Although Sang Xinqi and Liao Yishen went home on the same route, the chance of them running into each other was almost zero. The first middle school ended half an hour later than the second middle school in the evening, so their times were always out of sync.
However, every night they would chat.
After school on Saturday, the streets in the evening were dyed orange by the setting sun.
Sang Xinqi sat on the back seat of Jiang Xun's electric car, with her schoolbag placed between them.
"Where are you going tomorrow?" Jiang Xun braked at a red light, supported himself with one foot, turned around and asked her.
Sang Xinqi swung her legs and said cheerfully, "It's finally the weekend, I have to prepare for the competition at home."
Jiang Xun uttered an "ow" and shook his head with pretended regret, "Alright, then I won't bother you anymore."
She snorted lightly, but the corners of her mouth curled up, "You know what's good for you."
After returning home, Sang Xinqi did her homework as usual, with the tip of her pen scratching across the paper until her mother called her to eat. After dinner, she finished the unfinished homework.
At 10:30 in the evening, Sang Xinqi had just finished washing up and got into bed when her cell phone screen suddenly lit up.
Liao Yishen: "Are you free tomorrow?"
Her heart skipped a beat, and her fingers quickly tapped the phone screen: "Yes!"
Liao Yishen: "Do you want to play ball together?"
She could almost imagine the way he raised his eyebrows when he said this, and she couldn't help but roll around in her blanket for a bit before pretending to be calm and replied, "Okay."
In the following conversation, she talked a lot more than usual, sharing interesting things about school.
Liao Yishen on the other side of the screen seemed very patient, and would reply with "Haha" or "And then" from time to time, which made her talk more and more excited.
It wasn't until the clock struck twelve that she sent her last message, still wanting more: "See you tomorrow!"
After sending this message, she pressed the phone against her chest and stared at the ceiling for a while. She thought she really enjoyed chatting with Liao Yishen.
The early morning sunlight shone through the shadows of the trees onto the ground in patches. Sang Xin walked quickly out of the unit lobby, but suddenly stopped in the next second.
Jiang Xun was walking towards them carrying a bucket of mineral water.
"Sangsang?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked around at her.
The light pink dress sets off her fair skin, her carefully tied hair bun reveals her smooth forehead, and even the ends of her hair have a carefully groomed curve.
He frowned, "What are you doing?"
Sang Xinqi subconsciously hid the badminton racket on her shoulder and said, "Go, play."
"You're going to play basketball without me?" Jiang Xun narrowed his eyes and put the bucket down heavily on the ground. "Who are you going to play with?"
"I've made an appointment with Liao Yishen," she replied.
"You're so good," Jiang Xun said, covering his chest exaggeratedly. "Yesterday I asked you if you were okay, and you said yes. So Liao Yishen asked you out, so you're okay now. You really put women before friends."
Sang Xinqi's ears felt hot, and she glared at him, "What nonsense!"
"Then take me there," Jiang Xun crossed his arms.
"Didn't you say you had something to do today?"
"When did I say I was in trouble? Even if I was, I'm suddenly fine now."
"..." Sang Xinqi bit her lip, "But I don't want to take you with me."
After saying that, he turned around and ran away. Behind him, he heard Jiang Xun's angry shout, "Sang Xinqi, wait for me!"
She trotted all the way to the gate of the community and saw Liao Yishen leaning against a bicycle from a distance. The boy was wearing a simple white T-shirt, and the sunlight was dancing on the ends of his hair, making it shine brightly.
"Liao Yishen!" She couldn't help but raise her voice.
He turned his head and smiled brightly, "Good morning."
Sang Xinqi jumped in front of him and told him about her encounter with Jiang Xun as a joke.
"Why don't you invite him along?" Liao Yishen asked.
She raised her brow slightly, "I don't want him to interrupt our alone time."
The air froze instantly.
Sang Xinqi watched helplessly as the blush spread from Liao Yishen's ear to his neck. She curled her lips and quickly tried to make amends, "I was just kidding! It's mainly because Jiang Xun is such a bad basketball player..."
"Yeah," Liao Yishen responded softly, his Adam's apple rolling slightly.
Sang Xinqi pretended not to notice his strange behavior and patted the back of the bicycle. "Let's go for a ride?" Without waiting for his response, she jumped on lightly, the hem of her skirt drawing a small arc in the air.
The boy's hands gripping the handlebars trembled slightly, but his voice remained calm, "Hold on tight."
Sang Xinqi hummed.
The morning breeze blew through the hair of both of them, and Sang Xinqi quietly grasped a small piece of cloth at the corner of his clothes.
The bicycle moved steadily, and neither of them spoke until they arrived at the stadium.
The gym was empty and quiet in the morning, with sunlight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows and casting diamond-shaped spots on the floor. Because it was the gym run by Teacher Meng, he just smiled and nodded when he saw them, without even taking out the registration book.
Sang Xinqi and Liao Yishen tacitly understood each other and started fighting without any nonsense. The badminton drew a sharp arc in the air, and the soles of their shoes made a crisp sound when they rubbed against the wooden floor.
"nice shot!"
"Watch me!" Sang Xinqi said excitedly.
The quiet gym was awakened by the shouts that came one after another. Sang Xinqi felt that every time she played basketball with him, the game was particularly enjoyable. Liao Yishen could always accurately catch every tricky ball of hers and then return it with just the right amount of force.
After playing for an unknown amount of time, the ends of Sang Xinqi's hair were wet and stuck to her neck. When she swung the racket again, she found that Liao Yishen suddenly stood still and waved at her.
"What's wrong?" She trotted over and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
Liao Yishen unscrewed the iced mineral water bottle and handed it to her. The condensed water droplets on the bottle slid down his fingertips. "Take a rest."
The two sat down on the bench on the sidelines. Sang Xinqi tilted her head back and drank half a bottle of water, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Which month is the final?" Liao Yishen suddenly asked.
Sang Xinqi paused as she held the water bottle. "December."
"You will definitely get first place," he said with such certainty as if he was stating a fact.
Sang Xinqi raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "Are you sure?"
Liao Yishen raised the corners of his lips slightly, "Intuition."
"Okay, okay," she smiled, her eyes curved, "Then I'll lend you my good wishes."
The moment their eyes met, a tiny electric current seemed to flow through the air. Ultimately, Sang Xinqi gave in first, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked away, but she couldn't hide the sweet curve at the corner of her lips.
Liao Yishen also pretended to tidy up his racket, but his red ears betrayed him.
The wall clock in the stadium was ticking, and the sunlight quietly crept across the floor, stretching the shadows of the two young men very long, and finally quietly overlapping them.
After sweating and feeling uncomfortable all over, the two took a shower in a bathhouse near the stadium and went to have lunch together.
I went shopping in a nearby shopping mall in the afternoon and then went home early.
-
It was Monday morning and there were fine raindrops. When Sang Xinqi hurried into the teaching building with an umbrella, the ends of her hair were still stained with crystal water droplets.
As soon as she put her wet schoolbag on the desk, Chang Yisi rushed over and grabbed her wrist mysteriously.
"Sangsang," Chang Yisi's eyes couldn't hide his excitement. "Guess what I heard?"
Sang Xinqi was wiping the rain off her bangs with a tissue. Hearing this, she looked up and asked, "Huh?"
"My cousin came to my house yesterday," Chang Yisi leaned in closer, his warm breath brushing against Sang Xinqi's ear. "She just got into No. 1 Middle School. His school's most famous hunk is so famous, so many girls are pursuing him, but he never agreed. On the first day of school, a freshman confessed her love to him in public!"
Sang Xinqi's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and her fingertips unconsciously clenched the edge of the textbook. "School hunk...what's his name?"
"I think her name is Liao Yishen?" Chang Yisi tilted his head and recalled, "I heard that the girl burst into tears on the spot after being rejected, and even said she would never give up..."
Sang Xinqi's breathing hitched. They played basketball together yesterday. He handed her a bottle of mineral water in the sunshine, sweat dripped from her hair, and the gentle look in his eyes when he said, "You can definitely get first place." He had so many opportunities to bring up this matter, but he never mentioned it once. Did he think it was unnecessary or something?
"What's even more exaggerated is," Chang Yisi didn't notice his friend's strange behavior and continued gossiping, "that girl has been sending breakfast for a week straight, and now the whole school is talking about it."
"My sister said that the girl's homeroom teacher had a talk with her and said that if she didn't behave herself, her parents would be called in."
She curled her lips. "She's so persistent in her first year of high school. I don't know how she could fall in love with someone so quickly. Is it just because he's handsome? But I like handsome guys too, but I think it's just admiration."
Sang Xinqi forced a smile and lowered her head to pretend to organize her notes.
The pencil drew messy lines on the paper, just like her chaotic thoughts at the moment.
The math problems spread out on the desk gradually became blurred, and Chang Yisi's voice in my ears seemed to be heard through a layer of frosted glass.
Sang Xinqi suddenly wanted to know, when that girl confessed her love with tears, what kind of expression did Liao Yishen use to reject her?
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