Chapter 41
You Congxi tried to stuff the flag into his bag.
This flag looks small, but it's actually quite difficult to stuff it into a bag.
Seeing that it wouldn't fit horizontally or vertically, You Congxi tilted it and continued to stuff it in.
Even the most stubborn flag can't beat a person who's determined to win!
You Congxi was filled with excitement, but he remained expressionless as he thought about it.
She looked up and scanned the surroundings. Within a ten-meter radius, besides herself, there was only a section of the flagpole that she had stuffed into her bag and was sticking out.
She lowered her head and continued to struggle against the stubborn flagpole.
You Congxi thought he had just heard a noise, like something had been stepped on.
She didn't pay attention and continued stuffing the flags in.
Go go go! Keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing! Success, success...
"Let's go hiking in Congxi!"
The laborer who was placing the flag paused and subconsciously looked up.
"Shen Yue?"
What is he doing here?
You Congxi's expression was somewhat solemn, and he subconsciously pushed the backpack, which was still sticking out, behind him.
She met the inexplicably gloomy gaze of the person in front of her without changing her expression. She took a step forward, tilted her head slightly, and seemed to have a "dead pig doesn't fear boiling water" attitude.
Who was she doing the flag for? It was all for her team to win. As the squad leader, it's one thing to not support the cover, but to then make an example of her is absolutely unacceptable…
"Team leader!" a quack suddenly shrieked. "Why are you running?! I said You Congxi snatched the flag and hid it! Go and do something about it!"
The word "ba" was drawn out, swaying and circling in the somewhat empty artificial hill forest, before finally landing tremblingly beside the two people's ears.
Chen Yue, You Congxi: ...
She glanced at the male duck, who was panting and leaning on his knees, then at Chen Yue, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and narrowed her eyes.
"You've come to demand an explanation?"
Shen Yue remained silent.
You Congxi sneered and took a step back.
She said that this person had been giving her the cold shoulder for several days, and today he was glaring at her like an enemy. Why did he suddenly come to find her? It turns out he really did come to confront her.
She pursed her lips, her lower back, which had been slightly aching from being poked by the flagpole during her movements, suddenly dissipated, leaving only a mess.
The boy in front of her remained silent throughout.
As I looked away from the stream, I suddenly felt utterly bored.
never mind.
She moved the backpack she had been protecting behind her to the front, deftly pulled out the flag, handed it to the male duck next to her, and started walking forward.
If you can't afford to offend her, can't you at least avoid her?
People gradually climbed to the top of the mountain. You Congxi slung his backpack over his shoulder, found a less crowded direction, put his hands in his pockets, and walked down the mountain on his own.
They should have found a place to sleep in the first place.
"Team leader," Gong Yazi said, holding the flag and watching You Congxi's figure disappear into the distance with Shen Yue, as if only just realizing something, "You ran so fast, did you think something happened to You Congxi?"
He didn't hear a reply, so he reluctantly handed the flag to Shen Yue, glanced at the man's calm face, and didn't dare to say anything more.
Regardless, the district bully's influence still lingered. He withdrew his gaze, and it seemed that the rumors circulating in the group about the discord between the two were mostly true. At the very least, You Congxi was definitely at odds with Shen Yue on one side.
He wasn't very familiar with Shen Yue to begin with. The man with the hoarse voice handed the flag to Shen Yue, feeling his mission was accomplished, and turned to leave. But the inexplicable aura surrounding the school bully made him stop in his tracks. After a few seconds of hesitation, he finally spoke hesitantly, "Um..."
Shen Yue looked up at him.
"Team leader, I didn't mean anything by it," the hoarse-voiced man cleared his throat and said, "It's just that, back then, I had a crush on a girl, and I just kept it to myself, secretly, quietly, only heaven and earth knew, you didn't know, only I knew—"
Seeing that Shen Yue was frowning and clearly getting impatient, the man with the hoarse voice quickly sped up his speech: "What I just want to say is, if you like someone, you should say it. Otherwise, people will think you're provoking her and staring at her."
He rattled off a string of words in a hoarse voice, his mouth a little dry. He coughed a few times and swallowed.
Shen Yue looked at him without saying anything.
The man with the hoarse voice got goosebumps from Shen Yue's stare and said, "I was just kidding," before running away as if his life depended on it.
Are you kidding me? If I don't run, am I just going to let the school bully get angry and hit me with his flag?!
Shen Yue's face was expressionless, as if he were standing there casually looking at the scenery. Only the back of his hand, which was holding the flagpole, betrayed his emotions. The veins were bulging, and upon closer inspection, one could see that his clenched fist was even trembling slightly.
After a moment, he slowly exhaled, the flag he was holding fell to the ground, he glanced down at it, and bent down to pick it up.
"Is your team all here?"
The fallen flag was picked up first. Shen Yue looked up and unexpectedly met the girl's gaze.
He took the flag and thanked him.
The girl smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Shen Yue said, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't your class be rowing a boat right now?"
The girl joked, "You still care where our class is going?"
Shen Yue opened his mouth as if to speak.
"Team leader, do we consider this a win?" A girl next to them interrupted their conversation.
The two looked over at the sound and saw Cheng Siying, arm in arm with a tall girl, skipping over excitedly.
"An'an, what brings you here? Did you enjoy boating?" Cheng Siying let go of her girlfriend's hand and snuggled affectionately against the girl in front of her.
An Jingwen smiled and pinched Cheng Siying's soft cheek: "I didn't play. If you want to play, you can go and see with Wang Fu. It seems pretty good."
As she spoke, she glanced at Wang Fu, who had remained silent, and subtly avoided Cheng Siying's hand that was holding hers.
“Yingying, come back,” Wang Fu said.
Cheng Siying pouted and said reluctantly, drawing out her words, "Okay—"
Taking advantage of the moment, Shen Yue said, "You guys chat, I'm leaving first."
"Why--"
Before Shen Yue could take a step, Qu Qi's voice boomed in his ear.
"Trying to be a scoundrel, is that it?"
He stopped and closed his eyes in despair.
Depend on.
Turning around, Shen Yue pointed to the flag on the platform, then shrugged, indicating that he knew nothing.
"Stop pretending!" Qu Qi roared. "Didn't you see that even You Congxi from your group has abandoned the darkness and embraced the light?"
Shen Yue was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Qu Qi's side.
I was so busy making excuses that I didn't notice she was here too.
Didn't they leave?
You Congxi played quietly on his phone, seemingly unconcerned about what had happened, and as if he had tacitly accepted Qu Qi's statement that he had voluntarily switched groups. His indifference was outrageous!
Shen Yue suppressed the sudden surge of anger, calmed himself down, and said, "Let's go to Congxi."
The girl looked up from her phone.
Shen Yue said, "Are you sure you want to switch groups?"
You Congxi looked at him without saying anything.
Shen Yue remained silent, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment.
The people around were completely confused, having no idea what kind of trouble the two were up to.
It wasn't until You Congxi nodded that Shen Yue said "Okay," then turned around deftly and disappeared in a few seconds.
None of the people present uttered a sound, creating a small vacuum that made the surrounding noise seem unusually loud.
After staring at each other for a while, Qu Qi nudged You Congxi's arm and whispered in her ear, "You two..."
You Congxi grunted in agreement, glanced at An Jingwen who was idling beside her, tugged at Qu Qi's sleeve, and led the bewildered Qu Qi away.
With only three people remaining in the vacuum area, Cheng Siying was the most impatient. She scratched her face, looked at this person and then at that person, and tentatively asked, "You... all know each other?"
Wang Fu had been watching the show from the sidelines. When he heard his girlfriend's innocent question, he couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't want to get involved, but seeing Cheng Siying's hungry eyes for gossip, he sighed inwardly and asked, "When did You Congxi arrive?"
An Jingwen chuckled: "When I greeted Shen Yue."
Tsk.
Wang Fu looked at her without saying anything.
“What?” An Jingwen chuckled. “I didn’t do anything, okay? Who would have thought she would come? I was just saying hello. Why are you looking at me like I’m a vixen?”
"Whatever." Wang Fu was too lazy to argue with her. Although she was more familiar with An Jingwen than You Congxi, she wouldn't have asked that question if the child wasn't curious. Besides, it didn't mean she would get involved in this kind of thing. She was just a troublesome person she couldn't get rid of. "I'm taking Cheng Siying boating. Do as you please."
An Jingwen shrugged, indicating that she could do as she pleased.
Qu Qi took a bite of ice cream and glanced at You Congxi, who was lost in thought, before swallowing the ice cream and turning to ask, "What's wrong? What are you thinking about so intently?"
You Congxi realized what was happening, tore open the packaging, and stuffed the popsicle into her mouth. She was immediately jolted by the cold and her eyes squinted.
She mumbled, her mouth full of ice cream, "No."
Qu Qi said, "Oh."
You Congxi was clearly surprised that Qu Qi didn't press the matter, but even so, she couldn't possibly deny it and then shamelessly tell people that she had actually encountered some trouble.
No, it's not a big deal at all.
Qu Qi ate like a glutton. She had only taken two bites of the first ice cream when she had already stuffed the second one into her mouth.
You Congxi glanced at her twice, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but didn't.
Qu Qi pretended not to know and focused on eating her ice cream.
A little while later, Qu Qi heard the girl next to him cough and mumble something.
What did you say?
You Congxi paused for a moment and said, "Do you still want to eat ice cream?"
Qu Qi was speechless: "I'm not eating! I'm not filming a mukbang. If I ate three popsicles in one go, my mom would kill me."
You Congxi nodded: "Oh."
Seeing that she had nothing else to say, Qu Qi turned back to playing on her phone.
You Congxi also took out his phone and scrolled aimlessly.
The park rest stop, usually deserted, has returned to its usual tranquility.
After an unknown amount of time, Qu Qi felt an itch on her exposed arm when she rolled up her sleeves, as if ants were crawling on it.
Ant? !
She jolted awake and turned her head sharply, but instead of seeing the ants, she saw You Congxi's hand, which he hadn't had time to retract.
"What are you doing!" Qu Qi was furious.
The sound was so loud that it startled a flock of birds in the trees.
You Congxi rubbed his sweaty fingertips.
"Do you know the girl who was talking to Shen Yue just now?"
Her voice was low, and there was a hint of barely suppressed anxiety at the end of her sentence.
Qu Qi was surprised that she would ask this, and was speechless for a moment.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
You Congxi regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but then mumbled something vague.
With a "buzz".
You Congxi's palms trembled. She looked down and saw that someone had called.
Caller ID: Shen Yue.
You Congxi's heart skipped a beat.
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