Li Mo
Summer vacation is over, and senior year of high school has begun.
The books on the desks were stacked even higher, and the air was filled with the mixed smells of ink, coffee powder, and mentholatum.
From the very beginning of the school year, a sense of tension, like an arrow on a bowstring, enveloped the entire grade.
Liang Xinchong had been carefully observing Li Mo.
Since the incident at the end of summer vacation, he felt that the subtle sense of distance between her seemed to have become stronger, like a thin layer of ice, seemingly transparent but difficult to touch inside.
He longed to know exactly what had happened that day.
He was worried that the incident would affect her well-being.
However, Li Mo's performance was beyond his expectations.
She looked remarkably calm, still the same top student who arrived at the classroom early and buried herself in a sea of problems.
She takes meticulous notes, completes her assignments on time, and can even give clear and accurate answers to the teacher's questions.
She seemed to have compressed and sealed away all her emotions, and devoted all her energy to the tough battle of "senior year of high school," showing little sign of being affected.
Only Liang Xinchong could occasionally catch a glimpse of deep-seated weariness in her occasionally vacant gaze or in her more silent profile than usual.
But she never said anything, so he tacitly refrained from pointing it out, instead paying more attention to and caring for her.
Of course, she didn't always appreciate it.
Sometimes Li Mo would find him annoying and glare at him, saying, "Don't you have anything important to do?"
Liang Xinchong blurted out, "Caring about you is the most important thing." His face turned red as soon as he finished speaking.
To alleviate the excessive pressure on senior high school students, the grade leaders came up with a unique idea: to set aside two evening reading sessions each week for "class chorus" to express emotions and boost morale through singing.
The song they chose for their science class was Mayday's "Stubborn".
That evening during self-study, it was already dark, and the fluorescent lights in the classroom emitted a uniform white light.
Led by Sun Sisi, the class's entertainment committee member, the classroom, which should have been filled with the sounds of reciting classical Chinese texts and English words, was filled with a slightly immature but loud chorus.
"My last bit of stubbornness, I'll hold your hands tightly and never let go..."
"Is the next stop heaven? Even if I'm disappointed, I can't despair..."
At first, they were a little reserved, but as the melody progressed, more and more people opened up their voices.
Perhaps moved by the lyrics, or perhaps pent-up emotions found a legitimate outlet, the singing gradually became more synchronized and powerful.
To make it easier to direct, the students in the back rows all stood up. Li Mo also stood near the aisle, softly singing along to the rhythm, her voice not loud, her gaze fixed on the countdown numbers for the college entrance examination on the blackboard in front of her, somewhat lost in thought.
Just then, she sensed someone approaching her.
A familiar scent, carrying a faint fragrance of laundry detergent, enveloped me.
Liang Xinchong, without anyone noticing, had quietly moved from his position against the wall to the space next to her.
He leaned down slightly, his warm breath close to her ear, and amidst the slightly noisy chorus, he whispered in a breathy voice that only she could hear, as if sharing a secret:
"Hey, Li Mo."
Li Mo was slightly taken aback, turned her head, and met his eyes, which were so close to hers. The lamplight cast tiny specks of light into his eyes.
"You keep getting distracted, is it... because you're in a bad mood?" He asked directly, but his eyes showed unmistakable concern.
Li Mo instinctively wanted to deny it, but he didn't give her the chance.
A hand with distinct knuckles swiftly reached out from under the desk and precisely placed a fruit candy wrapped in colorful paper into her loosely clenched hand.
The sharp edges of the candy wrapper pressed against his palm, carrying the warmth of his fingertips.
"I'm just tired from doing exercises, I'm not in a bad mood." She lowered her eyelashes to avoid his gaze, her tone remaining as calm as ever, but the hand holding the candy tightened slightly.
Liang Xinchong, seeing her feigned indifference, didn't expose her, but simply smiled slightly, straightened up, and joined everyone in singing, his voice clear and bright:
"Me and my proud stubbornness, I sing loudly in the wind..."
"This time, I'll go crazy for myself, just this once, with my stubbornness..."
The singing echoed in the classroom. The teenagers sang their perseverance and uncompromising spirit with their slightly immature but incredibly sincere voices.
Standing beside him, Li Mo could clearly feel the slight vibration of his chest as he sang, and smell the clean, sun-kissed scent of his school uniform.
After the choir finished singing, everyone sat down laughing and joking, and the classroom returned to the order of evening self-study.
Li Mo opened her palm, and there lay the fruit candy quietly, the wrapper reflecting a faint light under the lamp.
She was silent for a moment, and then, amidst the rustling of pens scratching paper around her, she quietly and quickly unwrapped the candy and put the small, translucent, orange-yellow candy into her mouth.
In an instant, the sweet and sour orange flavor spread across the tip of the tongue, forcefully dispelling the lingering bitter coffee taste in the mouth and the indescribable gloom in the heart.
She lowered her head and continued working on the physics problem in front of her. No one noticed that beneath her lowered eyelids, the corners of her slightly pursed lips subtly curved upwards.
Liang Xinchong, sitting diagonally behind her, caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that she had finally eaten the candy. The weight that had been hanging over him finally lifted, and he lowered his head, turning to the next page of his workbook with a happy heart.
The evening breeze drifted through the half-open window, fluttering the curtains and gently dispelling the slight worry in the boy's heart.
-
In early September, as autumn began to set in, the atmosphere of Teachers' Day started to permeate the campus.
As is customary, the school will hold a class blackboard newspaper competition. This is not only about collective honor, but the grade group also announced that the blackboard newspaper creation team of the winning class will receive a small bonus.
As soon as the news came out, Sun Sisi, the class's entertainment committee member, immediately began recruiting members.
When Li Mo heard the word "bonus," her pen, which was working out calculations on the draft paper, paused slightly. Almost without hesitation, she went to find Sun Sisi after class.
“I want to sign up to participate in the bulletin board creation.” Li Mo’s voice remained calm, yet carried a hint of unwavering determination.
Sun Sisi was somewhat surprised, since Li Mo had rarely participated in these kinds of class activities since transferring schools, aside from studying. "That's great, do you have experience with this before?"
“Yes,” Li Mo nodded gently, without explaining further, “I was in charge of it a few times when I was at Beichuan No. 11 Middle School.”
She is indeed very experienced.
Li Mo was once a top student at a prestigious high school in Shanghai, excelling academically and serving as the class's arts and culture committee member, capable of writing and drawing.
Creating bulletin boards was also a simple task for her.
Li Mo's involvement greatly accelerated the creation of the blackboard bulletin.
She was in charge of the overall composition and the illustrations that required skill. The patterns she drew were exquisite and creative, and the text layout was also clean and pleasing to the eye.
Naturally, she spent almost all of her lunch break in front of the blackboard at the back of the classroom.
This means that her and Liang Xinchong's regular midday "secret tutoring" sessions had to be suspended.
Liang Xinchong had no complaints about this.
On the first day of the suspension of tutoring, he quickly finished his lunch and strolled back to the classroom.
Seeing Li Mo standing on a stool, tiptoeing, intently sketching the auspicious cloud pattern at the top of the blackboard, chalk dust fell in a flurry, sticking to her eyelashes and the cuffs of her school uniform.
He said nothing, walked over naturally, and handed her the exact piece of colored chalk she needed when she needed it.
When she lost her balance while drawing at a high point, he silently reached out and gently supported the edge of the stool.
When she needed to erase the corrections, she took the eraser and neatly cleared a blank space.
He naturally assisted her, quietly circling around her.
Occasionally, when Li Mo looked down at him, he would immediately give her a bright smile, his eyes sparkling, as if helping her was something to be very happy about.
His presence was so strong that other students who participated in creating the bulletin board, such as Sun Sisi and two other girls, couldn't help but exchange knowing glances and have ambiguous smiles on their lips.
Even students from other classes passing by the classroom door would curiously peek inside—after all, Liang Xinchong's "well-behaved" appearance was truly rare.
Li Mo was not a slow-witted person.
She could notice all those glances and whispers.
Looking at Liang Xinchong's undisguised concern and companionship, she felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, she craved the warmth of being cared for and protected; on the other hand, her reason was frantically warning her against it.
Her overly close, almost semi-public "relationship" with Liang Xinchong had exceeded the safety boundaries she had set for herself.
The chalk made its last stroke on the blackboard. Li Mo put down the remaining chalk, dusted off her hands, and jumped off the stool.
She took a deep breath, turned to Liang Xinchong who was bending down to help her pick up the scattered chalk, and spoke in a calm voice, but with a resolute distance:
"Liang Xinchong, can we talk alone after school tonight?"
Liang Xinchong paused in his packing, looking up in surprise.
He saw the familiar, deliberately maintained calm on Li Mo's face, and his heart skipped a beat. This was the first time Li Mo had taken the initiative to contact him, but he had a feeling that something was not good.
His bright smile froze on his face. He nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.
"good."
Liang Xinchong was somewhat distracted during the afternoon classes.
He pondered Li Mo's gaze and tone repeatedly, and a bad feeling, like damp vines, quietly crept into his heart.
The school bell rang, and students poured out of the classroom like a tide. Li Mo silently packed her schoolbag, glanced at Liang Xinchong, and walked out first.
Liang Xinchong immediately followed, and the two walked in tacit agreement toward Mingde Building, a place they were already very familiar with and which was deserted in the afternoon.
The setting sun cast long shadows, but the atmosphere was not as relaxed and tranquil as usual; instead, it was filled with a silent tension.
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