Chapter 5
On Monday, just after the holiday, many students fell asleep during morning self-study. Chu Xiran sat on the podium with a class record book in her hand. In just ten minutes, several names had already lost points in the book.
The names that received the most severe deductions were still those familiar ones.
But Chu Xiran took the opportunity to scold Song Shiyue: "Song Shiyue, how come you're also leading the way in sleeping in!"
Song Shiyue's dark circles under his eyes were comparable to those of a panda: "I only squinted for a little while, and they only came to talk to me about it."
"You're the class monitor, why aren't you setting a good example?" Chu Xiran complained.
Song Shiyue tried hard to keep his eyelids open, but in the end he couldn't help but yawn.
Chu Xiran rolled her eyes, finding Song Shiyue even more displeasing. She slammed her hand on the table, sounding somewhat exasperated: "None of you should sleep. When the student council comes to inspect later, we'll just have to give up our class's performance evaluation score."
The students in the class sat up a little straighter, but they couldn't help swaying their bodies and nodding their heads as if fishing.
Sang Sui also suffers from "post-holiday syndrome." Monday mornings seem to have some kind of magical power, always making her feel incredibly sleepy. She doesn't sleep, but she can't concentrate on her books either, and her mind keeps wandering.
She thought back to the chance encounter at the music store on Friday evening, when her hand holding the pen unconsciously drew a puppy on the notebook.
"Mad Dog Audio-Visual Store"—at first glance, she thought the store name was very unconventional, but at this moment, she suddenly felt that the name was very unique. Perhaps it was her chance encounter with Liang Fengshen in the store that gave her a positive impression of the store.
When you like someone, it's like you become a fool, liking everything related to them for no reason.
Even such an unpleasant name became cute in her eyes.
Sang picked up his pen and wrote a few words in English next to the finished drawing of the puppy: “Crazydog”.
After morning self-study, it's time for the routine flag-raising ceremony on Monday.
The sun rises above the horizon, a gentle breeze caresses the face, and a pleasant lemon scent wafts through the air.
Sang Sui stood in the class line, listening to Zhao Yanqi and Qiao Chunzhao talking beside her.
Zhao Yanqi: "When will the oranges and lemons at school ripen? I want to eat them all."
Qiao Chunzhao: "These are the school's fruit trees, you can't eat them even when they're ripe."
"Once the fruit is ripe, you can steal a few without anyone noticing."
"If you get caught, dragged to the office, and given a disciplinary action that goes on in your file, will you still be able to take the college entrance exam?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yanqi trembled in fright.
After standing at attention and singing the national anthem, there was a long speech under the national flag. The speakers were all first-year high school students, with a different class on duty each week. The current class on duty is Class 5 of the first year, and the class representative is Lin Shuning.
When Lin Shuning walked onto the stage, a slight commotion arose around him.
“I knew it was Lin Shuning this time.”
"I have to say, she's really beautiful."
"Of course she's a dance student, how could she not be beautiful?"
Sang Sui looked up and saw the girl speaking on the podium. Amidst the gossip of those around her, she learned her name.
Lin Shuning wore a high ponytail, revealing her full forehead. Her school uniform was neatly worn, yet her beautiful figure was still evident.
What's even more remarkable is her composure when she stands before the entire school, her voice clear and melodious, and every word pronounced precisely.
After Lin Shuning finished speaking and stepped down from the stage, Sang Sui followed the crowd in applause.
There are many beautiful girls in the world, such as Jiang Yaoyue, the girl I met by chance at the convenience store yesterday, and Lin Shuning on stage right now.
Some people are like the sun, some like the moon, and some like the stars. Everyone has their own unique beauty.
What does Sang Sui resemble? She didn't know.
Because she was so inconspicuous.
After the flag-raising ceremony ended, the students gradually left the venue.
Sang Sui saw a row of students in flag-bearing uniforms. She had been standing far away and hadn't seen the faces of the school's flag bearers clearly. But now, as they passed by on their way to leave, Sang Sui could see them clearly.
She spotted Liang Fengshen immediately; this time it wasn't a hallucination, but a real, tangible sight of him.
Liang Fengshen was dressed in a crisp flag-bearing uniform. The dark blue uniform accentuated his exceptionally straight shoulders, and a gold sash slung diagonally from his shoulders to his waist. Beneath the brim of his uniform cap, his features appeared even more defined and sharp, with a prominent nose. He tilted his head, speaking to the person beside him.
He was different from before. He was less casual and more dashing, yet he still retained that unique, clean-cut charm.
"Look, Liang Fengshen looks so handsome in his flag guard uniform!"
"He was originally the captain of the flag-raising team; you could see him every time the flag was raised."
"Hey, what kind of girl do you think he'd like?"
"They should at least be like Lin Shuning, or perhaps even better."
The surrounding chatter rose and fell, but Sang Sui felt those voices were far away. She watched Liang Fengshen standing in the ranks, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his profile particularly sharp in the sunlight as he spoke quietly with the other flag bearers.
At that moment, Sang Sui suddenly felt a deep sense of inferiority.
She looked down at her faded canvas shoes and touched the bangs that always covered her eyes. Compared to the dazzling Lin Shuning on stage, and the handsome Liang Fengshen in his uniform, she was as ordinary as a speck of dust.
Someone as ordinary as me, even secretly liking him seems so presumptuous.
She quickened her pace, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible. But just as she hurried past with her head down, Liang Fengshen's gaze inadvertently swept over her.
Their eyes met briefly in the air.
Sang Sui's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly turned her face away, her ears burning uncontrollably.
Song Shiyue walked up behind her, then brushed past her and headed towards Liang Fengshen's direction. The two then huddled together and said something.
The gaze that belonged to Liang Fengshen also shifted away.
During the plum rain season in southern China, the damp wind blew by, and Sang Sui was suddenly choked, feeling uncomfortable and unable to breathe.
A sense of shame welled up inside me for being delusional.
Liang Fengshen was indeed not looking at her.
That's true, how could he possibly look at her?
At their age, they are easily intimidated by many things. Chu Xiran is overwhelmed by the class's quantitative score, Zhao Yanqi is frightened by so-called punishments, and Sang Sui is trapped in the puberty of physical development, with inferiority complex engulfing her like a tide.
Sang Sui began to care about her appearance, her figure, and everything about herself.
And all of this is actually related to Liang Fengshen.
Back in the classroom, Sang Sui had just put down her schoolbag when the class monitor, Chu Xiran, came over carrying a stack of forms.
"A math competition registration form," Chu Xiran handed her one. "Do you want to participate?"
Sang Sui took the form, his gaze lingered on the words "Rongcheng City High School Mathematics Competition" for a moment, and gently shook his head: "I have no competition experience, so I'll pass."
Chu Xiran nodded and turned to walk towards the next classmate.
On Tuesday afternoon, during PE class, the sun shone brightly on the playground.
After running 800 meters, Sang Sui felt a dry and sore throat, so she walked alone to the convenience store.
As she approached the convenience store, her pace unconsciously slowed down.
Liang Fengshen and Cheng Xiao were talking under the camphor tree at the entrance.
Sang Sui didn't recognize Cheng Xiao, but he looked familiar. It took her a few seconds to recognize him; she had indeed seen him before—at the train station entrance.
But the next second, Sang Sui's gaze fell only on Liang Fengshen.
Today, Liang Fengshen casually tied his school uniform jacket around his waist and wore only a simple white short-sleeved shirt, revealing his smooth forearms.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, bathing him in a soft glow.
He was holding a bottle of green soda, tilting his head back to drink it. Sang Sui could clearly see the curve of his Adam's apple bobbing, and a few drops of soda sliding down the corner of his mouth, only to be casually wiped away with the back of his hand.
Cheng Xiao was saying something to Liang Fengshen, who turned his head slightly to listen, a faint smile on his lips.
After he turned to leave, Sang Sui went into the convenience store and took out the same lime sparkling water from the freezer.
Fine droplets of water still clung to the bottle of sparkling water, making it feel cool to the touch. She unscrewed the cap and took a sip. The refreshing lemon flavor spread in her mouth, with just the right amount of tartness, much like her mood at that moment.
She doesn't really like drinking sparkling water.
But this was the same style as Liang Fengshen's, as if by doing so, she could get closer to him.
When I returned to the classroom, most of my classmates were still on the playground. Zhao Yanqi was already back, engrossed in reading a novel on her desk.
"What book is so good? Did you find a new novel at the bookstore?" He Lili sat down at the table in front of her and casually placed the bottled water she had brought for Zhao Yanqi on her desk.
Zhao Yanqi didn't even look up, and vaguely replied, "Martial arts novels, they're so exciting."
He Lili smiled and said, "Can I borrow it after you're done reading it?"
“I’ve already made a reservation,” Rocco said, appearing out of nowhere.
Before He Lili could speak, Zhao Yanqi looked up from her book and said, "Luo Kewei, you can read after He Lili."
Luo Kewei's eyes widened: "How can this be? There has to be a first-come, first-served principle."
Zhao Yanqi: "Can you compare to my friendship with He Lili?"
Luo Kewei cursed, "What? That's so unprincipled, I'm speechless."
He Lili grinned and gave the middle finger.
Luo Kewei naturally wanted to retaliate, and he was probably really angry. He accidentally stumbled and bumped into the corner of Sang Sui's table.
The lime sparkling water, which was placed in the upper left corner, rolled onto the ground.
The bottle cap wasn't tightened properly, and when it was dropped on the ground, the sparkling water spilled all over the floor.
Even though Rocco quickly picked up the sparkling water, most of the bottle was still spilled.
"I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to," Luo Kewei said apologetically.
Zhang Da, never one to shy away from a good show, egged them on: "Oh my, little Weiwei, you're finished!"
"It's nothing." Sang Sui took the water and wiped the bottle with a tissue. "It's just a bottle of water."
What doesn't belong to her, she can't force.
Perhaps it is the will of Heaven.
Luo Kewei mopped the floor, and Sang Sui took out the physics textbook for the next class. This was the weekly self-study period, which was held without fail every Tuesday. The classroom was quiet, with only the sound of turning pages and the faint chirping of cicadas outside the window.
Just as Sang Sui opened her textbook, the boy in the front row by the window suddenly whispered, "The Abbess Miejue is here!"
A flurry of activity erupted in the classroom. Zhao Yanqi, startled, frantically tried to stuff the novel into her drawer, but accidentally flung it out, where it landed right at Sang Sui's feet.
Just then, the homeroom teacher, Yuan Ying, entered the classroom. She immediately noticed the books on the floor and quickly walked over to pick them up.
Yuan Ying glanced at the cover, her gaze sweeping between Sang Sui and Zhao Yanqi: "Whose book is this?"
Zhao Yanqi's face turned pale with nervousness, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes tightly. Sang Sui noticed her like this, recalling her focused expression while reading the novel earlier, and said softly, "Mine."
Yuan Ying remained expressionless and closed her book: "Come to my office after class."
She walked around the classroom again, collected two cell phones and a few gadgets, and then left.
Zhao Yanqi let out a long sigh of relief, clutching her chest, looking utterly shaken. "That scared me to death."
"Yuan Ying is really everywhere, always doing surprise inspections. Luckily, I was on guard today." Qiao Chunzhao pulled out a romance magazine with an extremely eye-catching title—"Those Years of Unrequited Love with the School Bully".
Zhao Yanqi looked up to the sky and wailed, "Damn it, aren't you just showing off? Ah, my novel!"
After wailing for a while, she turned her head to look at Sang Sui gratefully: "Thank you so much for not giving me away. I'll treat you to shaved ice this weekend."
Sang Sui gently shook her head: "It's alright."
"Something's up. Abbess Miejue is no joke," Qiao Chunchao said mysteriously.
Zhao Yanqi's guilt deepened, but unfortunately Sang Sui didn't understand.
When the bell rang, Sang Sui went to the teachers' office alone. Yuan Ying was grading homework. When she saw her come in, she pointed to the chair next to her.
"Sit down." Yuan Ying placed the novel on the table. "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is a good book, but it shouldn't be read during self-study class."
Sang Sui lowered his head and did not refute.
She developed a habit from a young age: when scolded, she would just quietly accept it. Silence is sometimes much more effective than talking back or arguing, because even if she lets it go in one ear and out the other, no one will notice.
“I know that people your age like to watch these kinds of things,” Yuan Ying said, her tone not stern, “but you need to distinguish between what’s important and what’s not. The monthly exam is coming up soon, and you’ve just transferred here, so you should make the most of your time to adapt.”
"I will prepare well," Sang Sui replied softly.
Just then, the office door was pushed open. Sang Sui subconsciously looked up and saw Liang Fengshen walk in. His gaze swept over her indifferently, as if it were just a casual glance, without lingering, and he went straight to the physics teacher's desk.
"Teacher Li, I've come to get my physics test paper." His voice was clear and bright.
Sang Sui's face turned red instantly.
She had imagined countless times that she would run into him at school, but she so wished it wouldn't be in such a disheveled state.
Liang Fengshen quickly left with the exam paper, coming and going in a hurry, without ever glancing at her again. Perhaps he didn't even remember who this girl who had been criticized in the office was.
Sang Sui felt a dull ache in her heart, as if something was blocking her throat.
Yuan Ying rambled on for a few more minutes, probably because she had just seen Liang Fengshen and unconsciously brought him up: "That classmate from Class 6, he's a music student, but his grades are also very good. If you don't work hard, your competitors won't wait for you."
Sang Sui took these words to heart.
She left the office and walked towards the teaching building with her head down. At the corner of the stairs, she unexpectedly saw Liang Fengshen.
He was carrying a stack of test papers, walking alone on the tree-lined path. The setting sun cast a long shadow of him, and his white shirt fluttered gently in the breeze.
Sang Sui unconsciously slowed her pace, following behind him at a distance that was neither too close nor too far. She looked at his back, at the tips of his hair that were slightly blown by the wind, and at the straight lines of his shoulders.
The orange and lemon trees on campus are in bloom, and a faint fragrance floats in the air.
He walked quietly ahead, completely unaware that there was a girl behind him, cautiously watching his back.
Reaching the fork in the road near the teaching building, he turned and headed in another direction. Sang Sui stood there, watching him disappear at the end of the corridor, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside her.
Sang Sui sat back down in her window seat and could see her face reflected in the glass.
When she met Liang Fengshen, she became a 15-year-old with many worries on her mind, and she began to consciously or unconsciously compare the distance between herself and him.
She looked out the window and saw the sky darkening and patches of dark clouds, indicating an impending storm.
The heavy rain of the plum rain season also touched Sang Sui's heart.
2013.05.07
Liang Fengshen, you are so good, how can I possibly be worthy of you?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
