Chapter 31 We agreed to meet tomorrow...
They agreed to meet tomorrow, but Wang Kan didn't come to class until the end of morning self-study the next day, and Fang Minzhou had a bad feeling.
As expected, in the first chemistry class, Teacher Zhan first mentioned the recent change of seasons and reminded everyone to take care of their health before distributing the test papers from the day before yesterday.
"Wang Kan is sick?" Fang Minzhou heard Zheng Yanhang ask in confusion.
"Maybe it's because I got caught in the rain yesterday," Wu Cheng guessed.
Zheng Yanhang clicked his tongue in surprise: "This kid is so weak now?"
Fang Minzhou: "..."
Today was another gloomy, rainy day. The classroom lights were glaringly bright. Fang Minzhou recalled the image of Wang Kan squatting under the dim streetlights last night and felt guilty.
I never expected to actually get sick...
Teacher Zhan called her name, and Fang Minzhou walked up to the podium. This test was a bit difficult, and she got a perfect score. The silent affirmation and encouragement in Teacher Zhan's eyes were like a stone, calming the restless thoughts in Fang Minzhou's mind.
Teacher Zhan also found Wang Kan's test paper and gave it to her.
Wang Kan didn't do very well on the exam.
Thinking back to last night when he said so earnestly that he wanted to apply to Jiangnan University...
Fang Minzhou sighed silently and wrote down the solutions to the problems that Teacher Zhan had emphasized on Wang Kan's test paper.
In the afternoon, Wang Kan surprisingly showed up, receiving warm greetings from a group of her cronies. However, the boys' concern was anything but kind. Upon learning that Wang Kan had come to class after her fever subsided, they were all shocked, exclaiming, "Seriously? You still came to class like this?"
"Two math classes still!"
“Yeah, pretty impressive, right?” Wang Kan said lightly, but her voice was hoarse.
"I admire you, I admire you." Someone bowed respectfully. "But with you like this... will you still be able to play on Friday?"
The closing ceremony performance of the arts festival held on Friday night was actually just the finals of various performances plus a class choir competition.
"Please don't curse me, okay?" Wang Kan said. "I call this magnetic, okay?"
Zheng Yanhang was the first to vomit, "Your physical condition is terrible..."
Wang Kan was furious: "How dare you say that to me?"
In the midst of their playful banter, their eyes unexpectedly met Fang Minzhou's. She silently turned her gaze away, and Wang Kan's ears burned, causing her to become even more reckless with her hands.
Is Zheng Yanhang deliberately oblivious to social cues, or what? He insulted Fang Minzhou like that in front of her; anyone who didn't know better would really think he was a weakling.
Wang Kan only let go when Zheng Yanhang pretended to beg for mercy. Zheng Yanhang exaggeratedly covered his neck, "What should we do? You're fine with the competition, but you've choked me to death. If our class choir is missing my big 'T' (a nickname for a contestant)..."
Wang Kan took out a box of throat lozenges from her schoolbag and said, "Shut up."
The candy was distributed around the room before being handed to Fang Minzhou.
The surrounding air fell silent for a moment. Zheng Yanhang crunched the candy loudly, waiting for the next scene like a spectator. Seeing Fang Minzhou take a piece of candy, Zheng Yanhang exchanged a pleased glance with Ouyang Qian.
Ouyang Qian smiled slightly, a smile that made Zheng Yanhang wonder if he had missed some detail.
Ouyang Qian thought Zheng Yanhang was all brawn and no brains. She wondered where the two of them had secretly gone, and Zheng Yanhang actually took this as a sign that they had reconciled.
The school bell rang, and the math teacher walked into the classroom on time. When Wang Kan saw the teacher's posture, his head, which had recovered from the fever, started to feel dizzy again. If it weren't for that... he really would have asked for a day off.
Wang Kan glanced at Fang Minzhou next to him; she was sitting upright, so he didn't want to disturb her.
In any case, her studies should be the priority.
During both breaks, the math teacher went overtime; he had barely left when the bell rang for the next class. Luckily, the following classes were all self-study periods. Wang Kan sighed and decided to write something lighthearted first.
He took out his chemistry textbook and noticed an extra test paper, which he guessed had been handed out that morning.
He didn't care much about his bad grades, but he paused when he saw the correction marks next to the wrong answers.
Wang Kan carefully flipped through the entire exam paper. The neat, familiar handwriting, as it entered his body through his eyes, produced a strange chemical reaction. His heart was pounding, but thinking about how he had said he wanted to take the exam for Jiang University just last night, and today Fang Minzhou had seen this score…
Wang Kan blushed for himself and wanted to explain that he did poorly on the test because he was in a bad mood and not in a good state recently, but saying that would sound like he was shifting the blame to Fang Minzhou. Besides, how could Fang Minzhou not be affected? She must have done very well on the test.
So she said she was worried that dating would affect her grades, but he was the only one who was heartbroken because she hadn't even found a boyfriend... Wang Kan thought with a bit of self-deprecation, but then he came to terms with it: Fang Min Zhou came to him in the rain, and only helped him correct his test paper.
He could eat steak medium-rare or medium, and he didn't expect Fang Minzhou to like him 100%.
Wang Kan pondered, twirling his pen, wondering what the boundaries of Fang Minzhou's "keeping distance" meant yesterday. He genuinely felt he was quite proper.
He found the message book and turned to a new page: Thank you for taking my notes.
Then, he did his best to draw a cute smiling bear and handed it to Fang Minzhou. Fang Minzhou glanced at it and ignored it.
It seems that passing notes during class still doesn't work.
At this moment, Fang Minzhou suddenly took the notebook away. Wang Kan was overjoyed, as if a circuit diagram had been completed and the light bulb was shining brightly.
Fang Minzhou: Did you get a fever because you got caught in the rain yesterday?
Wang Kan: ...
He wrote the word "No" in large letters, followed by an exclamation mark.
He was afraid Fang Minzhou would ask this, but... being cared for, he felt that it might not be a blessing in disguise.
Unable to quite gauge the degree of feigning helplessness, Wang Kan added: "I just suddenly get a fever every few years, which is actually a sign of good health, indicating that my immune system is very healthy."
Add a grinning emoji.
After reading it, Fang Minzhou replied: Okay, take care of yourself.
Wang Kan was about to continue writing when he saw Fang Minzhou frowning and said to him in colloquial language: Stop writing.
All right.
Wang Kan withdrew his gaze from her lips.
Finally, get out of class ended. He cleared his throat, about to speak, when Jin Baihao interrupted, "Hey, Fang Minzhou, I have a question for you..."
Wang Kan: "..."
He held his breath and listened in, then seriously asked Fang Minzhou a question. Fang Minzhou glanced at him and then casually explained the question to him.
So the problem is still there, which is about the same as before.
Wherever the current reached, the light bulbs lit up one after another.
However, when it came to discussing topics other than academics, Fang Minzhou, just like before, would only say what he could say in one sentence and not utter a single extra word. His attitude was polite and clear-cut. Wang Kan then realized that Fang Minzhou was equating his status at school with that of Jin Baihao.
But he knew he wasn't Kim Baek-ho.
Because the competition was about to start, the fourth period of self-study was requisitioned again to practice the class song.
Wang Kan had a sore throat and didn't intend to sing seriously at first, just humming. But when he heard that Fang Minzhou was still silent, he sang louder, which made Fang Minzhou look at him a few more times.
He raised an eyebrow at her, his thoughts were simple: If I dare to sing even in this state, what don't you dare to sing?
Fang Minzhou felt she couldn't let go; her voice was strained, her vocal placement was incorrect, and she didn't put any emotion into it, which is why she thought it sounded bad. Actually, many people are like that; some have even worse voices than hers and can't find the right pitch. She just sets her standards too high for herself.
After Wang Kan understood Fang Minzhou's cautious stubbornness, she couldn't help but feel that she had been very unethical before.
After evening self-study, Wang Kan waited for her at the bottom of the stairs.
Fang Minzhou wasn't frightened when she saw him in advance, but she cautiously looked around the dark surroundings.
"Don't worry, everyone's gone," Wang Kan couldn't help but say.
Fang Minzhou: "..."
She felt that anything she said at that moment would be wrong, so she simply shut up.
The rain had stopped, and the ground was wet and black. On the quiet road, she and Wang Kan sometimes walked side by side, and sometimes one in front of the other, all depending on Wang Kan's pace.
Once he started talking, he poured out his words like beans:
He first emphasized that his fever really had nothing to do with being in the rain, but pitifully said that he was home alone and woke up in the middle of the night feeling unwell, so he had to rummage through drawers and cabinets to find fever-reducing medicine; then he mentioned why he suddenly laughed in math class, because he noticed that the teacher had an Ultraman keychain on his keychain, which he guessed his son had put on it. It was an Ultraman Leo, but he preferred Ultraman Tiga. He asked Fang Minzhou if she had ever watched Ultraman and if she knew how many types of Ultraman there were...
Fang Minzhou couldn't help but criticize him: "Can you talk less? Your voice is hoarse."
Wang Kan never considered herself a chatterbox, "because you don't let me talk during the day."
"Who told you not to speak?"
"Okay, I'll correct you. It's because you don't talk to me during the day, so you're right, aren't you?"
"School is a place for learning."
Wang Kan was amused by Fang Minzhou's old-fashioned remark. He thought Fang Minzhou was really funny. "Isn't school over now?" But afraid that Fang Minzhou would get angry, and to avoid further misunderstandings, he stopped laughing and asked softly, "Do you really not want to listen to me, or... do you actually care about me a little?"
Of course, it wasn't that she didn't care, but being called out made Fang Minzhou blush and quicken her pace, only to be stopped by Wang Kan: "Hey, where are you going? The bike shed is over here."
Fang Minzhou turned around: "...You came by bike?"
"yes."
“…Let’s take a car,” Fang Minzhou suggested. “Be careful not to catch a cold if the wind blows.”
Her voice inexplicably grew softer and softer, and if it weren't for the quiet surroundings, Wang Kan might not have been able to hear her clearly. But after realizing what was happening, he suppressed his excitement and said, "I'm not that weak, but it's okay, I'm fine. Let's go."
Fang Minzhou really couldn't understand the boy's bravado, while Wang Kan became radiant with the slightest bit of encouragement, even walking backwards while singing, each step perfectly in rhythm.
It was another Cantonese song she couldn't understand, but as she listened, Fang Minzhou kept feeling that the lyrics contained a pronunciation similar to "Minmin"... He watched her sing those few lines over and over again, until Fang Minzhou became increasingly annoyed. Thinking about what he had done before, it was hard not to suspect his intentions. She put on a stern face and refused to take the bait.
Unable to resist, he deliberately called him a hoarse-voiced man, but Wang Kan didn't care: "So what if I have a hoarse voice? Many singers have hoarse voices; it's a personal characteristic."
Okay... Fang Minzhou felt a little embarrassed. Regardless of whether Wang Kan was angry or not, she shouldn't have said that to her.
"Do you sing when you take a shower?" Wang Kan suddenly asked her.
Fang Minzhou was startled, "Why are you singing while taking a shower?"
“There’s a saying that you feel most beautiful and handsome when you look in the mirror after taking a shower,” Wang Kan laughed. “Singing in the shower will also make you feel like you’re the best in the world. You can try it.”
As Fang Minzhou happened to walk under a tree, she was splashed by water. She shuddered and thought of the dripping showerhead in the bathroom.
Wang Kan touched his neck and silently followed to the bus stop, where there were very few people still waiting for the bus. He casually continued the previous topic, "Actually, you sing much better than you think."
Fang Minzhou glanced at him, as if she thought he was lying to her, and Wang Kan felt inexplicably embarrassed.
His shyness actually calmed Fang Minzhou down.
Bus route 126 arrived quickly. She told Wang Kan to go home and rest early, but Wang Kan refused and wanted to get on the bus with her. Fang Minzhou had no choice but to bring up her father again, but Wang Kan looked like she had been tricked.
...They really don't appreciate kindness.
Back home, as Fang Minzhou went into the bathroom to shower, shame washed over her once again.
What is she thinking? It's all Wang Kan's fault for saying all that nonsense...
Fang Minzhou covered her face, letting the hot water wash over her body, but as her body gradually relaxed, she was still thinking about what Wang Kan had said, and a restless feeling stirred within her. Afraid of being heard by her parents, but with the house being fairly soundproofed and the sound of the running water masking it, she finally managed to quietly sing a line of a song.
The moment the sound escaped, she immediately stopped, cautiously waiting for the echo in the bathroom to disappear. But she finally understood why Wang Kan said that singing in the shower sounds better.
He really knows how to encourage people; it's like he has a built-in audio enhancement, turning even a puppy's bark into heavenly music. I can't help but wonder if he sings while he takes a shower every time? That's something only a child would do, but he doesn't sound like a child when he sings.
"You did it on purpose!" The next day, as they rode their bikes home, Wang Kan, still determined to settle the score with her, acted childishly again.
Fang Minzhou ignored him and rode her bicycle quickly. Wang Kan was taken aback and sped up to overtake her. Her open school uniform jacket billowed in the wind like a blue and white cape, but Fang Minzhou wasn't about to be outdone. For the last stretch, they raced each other, and her sudden burst of energy surprised Wang Kan. As they turned a corner behind Fang Minzhou, Wang Kan called out, "Be careful!"
They stopped at the bus stop near Fang Minzhou's house as usual, looking at each other slightly out of breath. In the damp night, their lungs were filled with fresh air, and their hearts pounded like newly sprouted grass. They were speechless.
After a moment of silence, Fang Minzhou urged Wang Kan: "...You should go home now."
Wang Kan was still a little reluctant to leave, fiddling with the handlebars of his bicycle.
The wheels of emotion rolled over their hearts, squeezing out a thick, inexplicable feeling. Fang Minzhou whispered, "Good luck in tomorrow's competition."
Wang Kan looked up with bright eyes. He liked hearing those words. "Okay, no problem."
Fang Minzhou pursed her lips, turned the car around, and drove away.
“…Hey!” Wang Kan couldn’t help but shout from behind. Fang Minzhou turned around and suddenly pointed to his feet.
Wang Kan pressed the brake, followed Fang Minzhou's finger and looked down at the ground, understanding that she meant he was not allowed to take another step forward.
When she looked up again, Fang Minzhou tilted her chin up and smiled: "Let's go, be careful on the road."
Wang Kan remained rooted to the spot for a long time until Fang Minzhou entered the residential area and disappeared into the night. Only then did he lick his lips somewhat helplessly.
He realized how little he knew when he needed it most, and he had no idea how to describe her smile just now, but he felt like a hero at that moment.
Unfortunately, the hero lost his voice the next day.
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