She remained calm, while he was heartbroken.
After running three laps, the team stood at the starting line.
Just as the PE teacher was about to assign a new task, his cell phone rang.
After finishing the phone call, he turned around and announced, "You're free to do whatever you want today, but no one is allowed to leave the playground early."
"Disband."
As soon as the teacher left, the group immediately dispersed.
Qi Xu turned and ran, intending to drag Wan Xiaoyi to find Han Xue.
Hao Nan reacted quickly and grabbed the back of her school uniform.
Qi Xu was pulled so hard she couldn't move. She turned around and glared at him: "Let go!"
"No." Hao Nan gripped his fist even tighter.
Han Xue had already met up with Wan Xiaoyi, and the two of them looked at the two people who were pulling at each other.
"They seem to need some private space to resolve their issues," Han Xue said, gesturing with her chin.
"Agreed." Wan Xiaoyi nodded, took Han Xue's arm in a tacit understanding, and turned to leave.
"Xiao Yi! Han Xue!" Qi Xu called out hurriedly. But the two seemed not to hear him and walked away.
"Why are you avoiding me?" Hao Nan's voice came from behind, carrying a hint of barely perceptible grievance.
"Let go first!" Qi Xu struggled.
As soon as Hao Nan let go, Qi Xu immediately tried to slip away.
He reacted even faster, stepping forward to block her path.
Qi Xu couldn't stop in time and bumped into his arms with a "thud".
Hao Nan froze, as if he had been instantly placed in lava. His ears quickly flushed crimson, the color spreading down to his neck.
His gaze darted around, unable to look directly at her, yet her image was clearly reflected deep within his pupils. That image was not only etched in his eyes but also deeply etched in his heart, impossible to forget.
Qi Xu jerked back as if electrocuted, annoyed: "You're the one who got angry for no reason, and you're asking me why? How should I know?"
"I didn't get angry for no reason." His voice sounded like a startled deer, with a hint of uncertainty.
"Then why are you angry?"
"Because every time I give you something, you treat me like a stranger, and you only feel at ease when there is an equal exchange."
"I...I can't just accept things from others without giving anything in return."
"But aren't we friends?" Hao Nan's voice was tentative and cautious. "Friends don't need to be so distant."
Looking into his expectant eyes, Qi Xu struggled internally, hesitant and uncertain.
He took a deep breath and lowered his voice, trying to make Qi Xu lower his guard and trust him more: "If you really insist on your principles... then that's fine too."
"Just treat me like this. You don't need to repay me for the things I give you."
Silence spread between the two.
After a long pause, Qi Xu finally spoke softly: "I don't treat you as a stranger...you are my friend."
Hao Nan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he held his breath, waiting for her to continue.
"If you don't mind... I can try doing this to you."
A smile instantly bloomed on Hao Nan's face, and he childishly raised his little finger: "Then pinky promise, you can't lie to me."
"You're so childish." Qi Xu said with disdain, but obediently held up her finger.
Two little fingers are hooked together and gently swayed.
"Pinky promise, a hundred years from now." Hao Nan's voice was filled with pure joy.
Two thumbs were solemnly pressed together, bringing this minor incident to a close.
The second semester of the second year of high school quietly came to an end with this pinky promise.
After the last two classes before the final exams, the whole school entered a deep cleaning mode.
The homeroom teacher was assigning tasks in the classroom when the homeroom teacher from the next class poked his head in: "Find two tall students to help out at the library."
The homeroom teacher's gaze swept across the room, finally settling on Qi Xu: "Qi Xu..."
"Teacher! I'm going." Before the words were even finished, Hao Nan had already stood up impatiently.
"Alright, then you and Qi Xu go to the library." As soon as the homeroom teacher finished speaking, Hao Nan grabbed Qi Xu, who had just walked out of the classroom, and rushed towards the library.
On the way, they happened to meet Tingyue and Tingxubai, a brother and sister who had also been assigned to clean the library.
"Are you going to the library too?" Tingyue asked.
"Hmm, I don't know what to do," Qi Xu said as he walked.
"I guess they're cleaning or moving books," Ting Xubai guessed.
"It should be moving books," Hao Nan added.
"Why are you calling us girls to move the books? If the books are heavy, shouldn't you be calling more boys?" Qi Xu asked, puzzled.
Hao Nan glanced at her quickly and grinned: "Working together, men and women, makes the work easier."
"I don't believe you. No job is easy to do without getting tired," Tingyue retorted without any politeness.
Hao Nan didn't reply, but his gaze unconsciously drifted towards Qi Xu.
Tired? He thought to himself, with the person he longs for by his side, that tiredness might truly turn into a different kind of sweetness.
The library's air conditioning instantly dispelled the summer heat. The librarian hurriedly assigned tasks: "Put these books back on their respective shelves according to their categories, and while you're at it, check if any books are misplaced and put them back in their proper places."
"Wipe the bookshelves and sweep the floor. You're in charge of the first floor." With that, he hurried away.
The first floor is huge, and four people are obviously not enough. Fortunately, it is well maintained, and the main workload is organizing books and cleaning certain areas.
Using the aisle as a boundary, the Ting siblings were responsible for the left side, while Qi Xu and Hao Nan were responsible for the right side.
Qi Xu looked up at the messy books on the bookshelf and sighed, "It seems like everything here is in chaos."
"Then let's take them all out and rearrange them," Hao Nan said, starting to pull out the books that had been misplaced.
Following instructions, Qi Xu pulled out the books from the high place one by one and gently tossed them down, like an assembly line.
Hao Nan, who was engrossed in organizing, was suddenly hit on the head by a book that fell from the sky, and cried out "Ouch!"
Qi stopped, and saw Hao Nan squatting on the ground with his head in his hands.
His aggrieved yet slightly fierce expression inexplicably tickled Qi Xu's funny bone, and she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Hao Nan stood up, displeased, and lightly tapped her on the head with a book: "Still laughing? You're still happy even after I hit you?"
Qi Xu smiled and said, "Can't resist? Why don't you hit back?"
Hao Nan tightened his grip on the book.
The two were very close, and Qi Xu's unintentional words, when they fell into his ears, felt like a feather gently brushing against his heart.
He forced himself to remain calm and turned back to continue organizing his books: "No one asks to be beaten."
"Because I know you definitely won't really hit me," Qi Xu said matter-of-factly.
"Are you so sure?" Hao Nan suddenly stopped what he was doing, turned around and looked directly at her, his eyes filled with inquiry.
Qi Xu gave a firm "hmm".
Hao Nan's heart stirred, and he had the urge to tease her.
He slowly took a step closer to her, the distance instantly shrinking to the point where they could hear each other's breaths.
Qi Xu seemed frozen in place, standing motionless, her clear eyes calmly looking back at him.
Within arm's reach, one's heart is as still as water, while the other's is turbulent beneath the surface.
Hao Nan's palms, hanging by his sides, were damp with a thin layer of sweat, and his knuckles were slightly curled.
A blush spread from her neck all the way up to her cheeks.
He stared intently into her eyes, trying to find a ripple in that calm lake. Why? Why was she so calm? Did she... really feel nothing for me?
He was unwilling to give up, and his gaze uncontrollably slid down to her lips.
Just a little closer... and we could touch. Their hands clenched tighter. Their breaths were clearly audible, burning hot.
This time, Qi Xu's heart was no longer at peace.
She finally realized where Hao Nan's gaze was fixed, and her heart skipped a beat.
She tried to back away, but her feet seemed glued to the ground, unable to move. Her throat also felt blocked, preventing her from making a sound.
What was he going to do? Her mind was in complete disarray.
Hao Nan's gaze struggled to leave those alluring lips and met her eyes again, those same clear, unreadable eyes.
He's already like this... why? He so wished that Qi Xu could push him away, even if it was just by taking a step back.
But she didn't. This left him feeling a sense of powerless confusion and a hidden heartache.
Does she allow everyone to get close? If others treated her the same way... would she not resist? This thought pierced his heart like a thorn.
A trace of indescribable pain and loss flashed across Hao Nan's eyes.
He tentatively moved closer to her lips again, even closer than before, so close that he could almost feel her breath brushing against his skin.
However, Qi Xu remained motionless, though a faint trace of bewilderment seemed to flicker in his calm eyes.
Hao Nan eventually stepped back, creating a safe distance, but his gaze remained fixed on her face.
His voice was hoarse and choked with emotion: "Qi Xu, why didn't you push me away?" There was a faint glimmer of tears in his eyes.
Qi Xu seemed to be stung by that glint of water, and subconsciously reached out to touch the corner of his eye, but stopped in mid-air.
She heard her own hesitant voice, clumsy like someone learning to speak for the first time: "Why...why are you crying?"
Hao Nan stared at her hand, which was suspended in mid-air, her fingertips so close to him.
He wanted to hold it, but was afraid of disturbing this moment.
The restless desire in his heart was ultimately suppressed and controlled by him.
"I want to know... why didn't you push me away?" The pain in his voice was clearly audible. "What if... what if I did something terrible to you?"
He stared intently into her eyes, as if trying to pierce through the calm surface of the lake and see the truth beneath.
Qi Xu slowly withdrew her hand, her voice returning to calm, yet carrying a naive conviction: "But you won't, will you?"
That statement is a double-edged sword. She's right, he really doesn't know how.
But that wasn't the reason behind it. She was completely unguarded around him, perhaps because she didn't have any special feelings for him at all, which made him feel even more frustrated and powerless.
Hao Nan abruptly turned his face away, as if trying to escape the suffocating air.
He took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent emotions, his voice low and almost hoarse:
"Let's tidy up the books." He bent down, almost awkwardly picking up the books scattered on the ground, his back to her, his knuckles turning white from the effort.
Qi Xu looked at his tense back, her lips moved slightly, but in the end she said nothing.
She also silently squatted down, her expression calm, and picked up another book.
Only the rustling of pages and the lingering, complex emotions between the two remained in the library.
A purple butterfly flew into the library through the window at some point, landed on a bookshelf, quietly observed the two people, and fluttered its wings, circling around them once.
It landed on Hao Nan's shoulder, as if awaiting its death.
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