Chapter 3 The threshold is unattainable.
As soon as the lunch break signal was given, a sound like the thunder of horses' hooves suddenly rang out inside and outside the classroom, and the ground trembled.
She averted her gaze a step after Qiao Bolin.
The game had just ended, and several students turned around, grabbed their meal cards, and rushed out without hesitation.
Li Mingyuan, who used to be the most enthusiastic about making a living, was surprisingly less anxious at this moment.
He stood up abruptly, stepped forward, and put his arm around the boy's shoulder, speaking in a familiar and warm tone.
"Wow, exactly twelve o'clock, Qiao Bolin, you really know how to time it perfectly."
The narrow corridor was bustling with people. The young figures of boys and girls running were like swift arrows. As they passed the door of Class 8, they seemed to be drawn by gravity, and their speed visibly slowed down.
Even without raising her eyes, Ning Jiu could feel the piercing gaze, sharp as an arrow, penetrating the midday sun and blazing towards the doorway.
Li Mingyuan's cheerful voice rang in my ears: "Did you bring your meal card? Let's eat together later!"
Qiao Bolin stepped aside to let the students who were eating go out first, then walked around from the podium to his seat: "You ate when you came, so go ahead."
Li Mingyuan was still unwilling to give up: "Really not going?"
Qiao Bolin: "Yeah, I came to the classroom to get the roster. Old Qin told me to take the roster to the office."
"That old Qin, he never even lets you rest..."
After Qiao Bolin took the roster, the two of them went out through the door together, leaving only Ning Jiu and Gao Hexin in the classroom.
The former didn't go to the cafeteria because their meal cards hadn't been issued yet, while the latter was too lazy to queue and simply asked their parents to order takeout.
Estimating that it was almost time, Gao Hexin was about to go to the security office to pick up the takeout when he turned around as if remembering something.
"Do you like fried chicken?" She winked at Ning Jiu. "We have everything: honey grapefruit sauce, mustard sauce, chili sauce, salad dressing."
"......"
Ning Jiu understood Gao Hexin's unspoken meaning and readily stood up: "I'll take it with you."
"Oh, Xiao Jiu, you're so sweet~" Gao Hexin changed his address affectionately, "Later, you can have as many pieces of fried chicken as you want!"
Girls' friendships can sometimes be that simple.
The distance from the teaching building to the security booth was neither too far nor too close, just enough for Ning Jiu to familiarize herself with the environment of Jianglan Experimental School once again.
She has never had a good appetite, and occasionally she experiences mild stomach pain due to irregular eating habits, but it is never to the point of interfering with her studies.
I took a look and noticed there's a vending machine next to the teaching building. If my stomach problems flare up, I can buy some food there to relieve them.
Gao Hexin ordered quite a lot of fried chicken, plus three full boxes of carbonated drinks, which was a bit difficult for one person to carry.
Ning Jiu was carrying the heaviest box when she ran into many students returning from the cafeteria on her way back to the teaching building. They all turned to look at the box of fried chicken in her hand.
His eyes inadvertently glanced at the closed teachers' office on the third floor. Across the distance of the third floor, a pure white figure cast an irregular silhouette by the window, and his three-dimensional profile could be vaguely discerned.
Suddenly, she felt her fingertips, which were holding the box, being gently pinched.
Turning her head, she met Gao Hexin's bright, sparkling eyes.
"Tell me honestly, don't you also think he's handsome?"
The words were uttered through lip movements, accompanied by a vibration in the chest; simple and concise, yet the upward tone was clearly discernible.
Even though it seemed abrupt and she didn't name names, Ning Jiu understood almost instantly who she was referring to.
Recalling the moment in the classroom, amidst the restless crowd, the boy's hand holding the roster was fair but not thin, with long and distinct finger bones.
The pale blue veins on the back of his hand meandered to the cuff of his school uniform, revealing thin muscles that exuded a coolness yet also a sense of tension and strength.
A lean, strong, and proud back view that contrasts sharply with his face.
Perhaps because of the phone call that morning, Ning Jiu felt irritated when she first heard the name, and now that Gao Hexin was asking her this question, she felt a rebellious feeling arise inexplicably.
She didn't answer immediately, and Gao Hexin assumed she was shy.
“We had the same reaction at the time,” Gao Hexin sighed. “But being handsome is useless, since you can’t win someone over anyway.”
Jianglan Experimental School had already divided students into arts and science classes as early as the second semester of the first year of high school, especially Class 8, which was a science experimental class. Ning Jiu transferred in the second year of high school, so they only met each other one semester later than some of the other students.
Her words were too absolute, which piqued Ning Jiu's interest.
How will you know if you don't try?
Gao Hexin simply asked meaningfully, "Do you know how to play video games?"
Ning Jiu recalled a popular app that had just been uninstalled a few days ago: "I know a little bit."
Gao Hexin used seasoned gaming terminology as an analogy.
"He's like a hidden bug; you grind through all the ranking tasks just to get a chance to appear in the gacha pool, but with that drop rate, you still can't pull him—"
She shrugged slightly.
"In the end, we can only admire it from afar."
Ning Jiu obediently responded.
This is a bug-level bug, for God's sake.
"By the way, tell me about you," Gao Hexin said, already feeling a connection with Ning Jiu, and once the conversation started, he couldn't stop. "You transferred to the science experimental class in your second year of high school. As far as I know, you're the first person to do so. What score did you get on your final exam in your first year of high school?"
The issue of academic performance, which is of utmost concern to students in the experimental class, has finally arrived.
Ningjiu was prepared and stated a number.
"Holy crap, Duo Shao???" Gao Hexin stopped abruptly on the stairs. "You scored so high on the combined science exam, you're definitely in the top three in our class."
Qiao Bolin, who ranked first in the science comprehensive exam last time, has now fallen to second place in the city.
Noticing that Gao Hexin's gaze towards her had changed, Ning Jiu gave a faint, non-threatening smile.
"The exam content in Lingcheng is relatively simple."
Is this a question of whether the exam is easy or not?
With Ning Jiu's grades, he could have easily gotten into Peking University if he had stayed in Lingcheng to take the college entrance exam. Why did he transfer to Jiangcheng, where the college entrance exam competition is much fiercer?
Gao Hexin didn't ask the question aloud, but his eyes betrayed nothing.
However, noticing that Ning Jiu wasn't very interested in discussing the topic, she wisely shut her mouth in time. Just as she was digging her toes into the ground, Li Mingyuan's voice came from the corridor, saving her from her predicament.
"Yunhe, what are you doing here?"
In the corridor, a girl in a school uniform held a very thin book in her arms, as if she cherished it.
Her appearance is the kind of "first love face" that's been trending online lately, and now, with her cheeks flushed and her trying-to-be-composed demeanor revealing a shy girlishness, she looks even more pitiful.
It only takes a few steps from the stairwell to the front door of the classroom, and the conversation between the boys and girls is like a summer breeze blowing towards Ning Jiu and Gao Hexin.
Song Yunhe: "I've come to return the book."
"Return the book?"
"Yes, I'm looking for Qiao Bolin."
"Oh, you borrowed the book from Berlin?" Li Mingyuan's tone was a little disappointed, but he quickly recovered. "He just came back from Beijing and is in Lao Qin's office now. If you're in a hurry, I can help you—hey, Berlin."
He quickly grabbed Qiao Bolin, who was walking out of the office, and pulled him in front of his goddess.
"Yunhe just came from Class 5, saying she wants to return your book."
At the stairwell, Ning Jiu and Gao Hexin exchanged a glance. The latter spread his hands, with an expression that said, "I told you he was Song Yunhe's simp," and pulled Ning Jiu toward the back door of the classroom.
Several tall boys had just wiped the windows that morning, making them sparkling clean and reflecting the figures of the young men and women outside clearly.
By this time, most people had returned from the cafeteria and were still going in and out as usual, but they were all intentionally or unintentionally casting their gazes toward the corridor.
Ning Jiu followed their gaze, observing this frozen scene on campus through the thin glass as an outsider.
The most prominent figures in adolescence never lack an audience.
Not to mention there are two.
Song Yunhe is beautiful and well-mannered. Even the way she hands over the gift after returning the book is impeccably elegant and graceful.
She had built a beautiful, exquisite model of the Brandenburg Gate and carefully took it out of the elegantly packaged paper bag.
The Brandenburg Gate, a classic building in Berlin, echoes the title of the book cover, "Gehen, Ging, Gegangen," immediately revealing its thoughtful, carefully considered, and well-chosen gift.
Several girls in the corridor stopped, their faces filled with barely concealed excitement, looking as if they had just bumped into something.
Qiao Bailin stood in the corridor, casually glancing at the gift in her hand, calmly accepting the book and thanking her.
He turned to leave, but Song Yunhe called out to him softly.
"Is there anything else?"
A summer breeze swept through the corridor, bringing with it a burst of clean light that vividly outlined his bright and defined features.
He stood in the wind, his voice low and calm, drifting lightly into Song Yunhe's ears.
But the gentler the tone, the less approachable people become.
A still lake, precisely because it appears calm and undisturbed, offers no angle from which to strike.
"...Actually, it's nothing," she said, forcing a smile as she put the model back in the paper bag, "I just want to thank you for lending me the book. I got quite engrossed in it during the summer vacation and accidentally took some notes. If you mind, I'll buy you a new one."
When Song Yunhe said she was going to add the second half of her sentence, she made sure to cheer herself up.
If Qiao Bolin says he doesn't mind, it means he can accept the notes she left behind. If he does mind, she still has one more chance to return the book. This way, they can have more time to spend together.
Thinking of this, her beautiful eyes instantly brightened, and the sunlight shining in made them particularly eye-catching.
Qiao Bolin: "It's okay."
Just as Song Yunhe's lips curled into a slight smile, he continued speaking.
"These books originally belonged to the Class 8 book corner, so they don't belong to me. I will explain this to Teacher Qin."
Qiao Bolin had thick eyebrows and eyes, but his pupils were dark and bright. When he looked at people, his eyes were as clear as glass that had been soaked in sunlight.
Under that gaze, Song Yunhe felt as if he had seen right through her little thoughts.
His tone remained calm: "But don't do it again next time."
"......"
Inside the classroom separated by a wall, Gao Hexin, busy eating fried chicken, didn't hear much of the noise in the corridor. When she turned around, she could only see the girl with a pretty and dignified smile, holding the gift she hadn't given away, saying goodbye to Qiao Bolin.
The glass acts like a perfectly soundproof curtain. Outside the window, the main characters are performing a ready-made idol drama, while behind the scenes of youth, there are many onlookers who are gossiping and discussing.
Some people couldn't help but sigh.
"He really is a top student who's guaranteed a spot at Peking University..."
"People like this usually have a very high psychological threshold, so it's unlikely they'll be able to win you over."
"What's the point of chasing after someone like that?"
His tone remained gentle, but the words he uttered were abrupt, direct, and crisp, like a drop of cold water falling straight into the heart of a lake, plunging into the calm surface without leaving any room, splashing up cool and sharp water droplets.
Gao Hexin's movement, still holding the fried chicken bone, froze in a still frame. He turned his head in disbelief and met the voice of the girl who had spoken.
"For this type of person, even holding hands would require setting some rules."
The girl spoke in a light, casual tone, as if she were talking about something trivial.
Doing that thing was more like a routine, at most once a week.
Before Ning Jiu could finish her sentence, the air around them seemed to freeze, falling into a deathly silence.
She met Gao Hexin's hesitant gaze, tilted her head in confusion, and suddenly heard a soft laugh behind her—
Its gentle, spring-like texture is irresistible, yet it stirs a longing within.
A note from the author:
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Check-in caption 1 [Sunglasses]
Xiao Xiao will make a cameo appearance in the next chapter.
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