Chapter Forty-Nine
It's another week of flag-raising ceremonies.
City C is located in the north. As November arrives, the weather turns cooler. It's no longer just cold in the mornings and evenings. Students are wearing thicker school uniform jackets and windbreakers, and some health-conscious students have already put on thermal underwear without their parents having to remind them.
For example, a trip to Congxi.
You Congxi has been afraid of the cold since she was a child. I don't know if it's because she's cold-sensitive or what, but she's sure to catch a cold as soon as the weather gets colder, more accurate than the weather forecast. Qu Qi said she was a duck because "something something duck is a prophet".
You Congxi was speechless: "That's called 'Ducks are the first to know when the spring river warms,' even I, who failed Chinese composition, know that. You're illiterate."
The temperature dropped sharply this year, so she put on thermal underwear early to protect herself and even added a vest under her school uniform.
But someone else caught a cold.
"Achoo!" Shen Yue sneezed for the tenth time in five minutes, and with a look of utter despair, he pulled out two tissues and blew his nose for the twentieth time.
"You Xiaoyu, I've been blowing my nose so much it's almost raw..." Shen Yue complained to You Congxi, his voice so nasal that it was unrecognizable.
"Who told you not to wear long johns?" You Congxi didn't even look up. Unlike Chen Yue, who was playing around, she had made a study plan during the break. At this moment, she was looking down at a book called "Teach You How to Write Conference Papers in Ten Minutes" and occasionally making notes in the notebook next to her.
"If you're wearing long johns now, what are you going to wear in winter?" Shen Yue was annoyed by her perfunctory attitude. He reached out and closed the reference book that the girl was reading so intently, acting like a rascal. "I told you I'd tutor you after school, but you insisted on studying it yourself. You'd rather believe a book that's obviously a scam than believe me!"
You Congxi clicked his tongue: "If you cause any more trouble, go back to your seat."
Shen Yue had some kind of problem; ever since she forgave him for his crimes last time, he insisted on sitting next to her during every break between classes.
At first, he just carried a stool and sat down in the aisle, but the aisle was only so big. He was a tall guy, 186cm, and when he stood there with the stool, only ants could fit through the aisle. He had no shame, but he did. You Congxi could only tell him to get lost while moving to the side, hoping that he would move a little further in and make room for him.
Who knew this person would take advantage of her kindness and continue to squeeze in silently. You Congxi was almost squeezed onto Qu Qi's table, not to mention Qu Qi sitting inside. In her words, why didn't Shen Yue just sit on her head? She was almost squeezed into a human meat pancake and stuck to the wall.
Later, no one knew what benefits Shen Yue had promised Qu Qi in private, but the next day during break, You Congxi was quite happy not to see Shen Yue in the aisle. But when she turned around, she saw him leaning against the wall, grinning at her in a nonchalant manner—Shen Yue, that bastard, had directly sat in Qu Qi's seat and become her deskmate.
You Congxi turned her head to look at where Shen Yue had been standing. Qu Qi smiled with his lips pursed, his eyes darting between her and that bastard Shen Yue, a typical case of getting the benefit and then acting innocent.
You Congxi turned his head expressionlessly. He couldn't control either of them; they were both incredibly unruly. A sense of sadness welled up in his heart. Afraid of angering himself to death, he simply pretended not to see them.
But Shen Yue is clearly the type of person who will take advantage of any opportunity, like a chicken coop or sunshine. After testing You Congxi's limits, he went wild and wanted to stick to her all the time. Yin Zixuan said he was like a crazy husky, but Shen Yue ignored her.
"Wear cotton-padded pants in winter." You Congxi glanced at him, looked him up and down at his light outfit of a short-sleeved shirt and summer school uniform pants, and looked away in annoyance. "Stay away from me."
After she finished speaking, she continued to look down at her book, and only after a while did she realize the unusual silence beside her.
Did I say something too harsh?
What did she say?
I felt a little apprehensive about traveling to Congxi, but mostly I felt lost.
Did she say anything harsh just now?
Unable to resist, she turned and glanced at the silent boy next to her.
You Congxi was stunned.
The boy lay on his crossed arms, his face turned to her, his eyes closed, his dark eyelashes rising and falling slightly with his regular breathing, and his nose was a little red from blowing it frequently, making the usually aloof boy appear vulnerable.
—He had fallen asleep.
After the initial surprise, You Congxi's heart softened.
She had never seen this soft side of Shen Yue, who usually always acted like he was the best in the world. Her heart felt like it had been tickled by a feather.
"Hey Congxi," someone called out to her, "you..."
You Congxi shuddered, abruptly withdrawing her hand. She turned to look at the person who had come in, a hasty smile appearing on her lips: "What's wrong?"
The person had clearly seen You Congxi's unfinished action and was somewhat embarrassed, as if she had stumbled upon some terrible affair. She scratched her face in a panic and quickly said, "N-nothing, it's just that I didn't quite understand the problem the teacher explained in the last math class, so I wanted to ask you about it."
Before You Congxi could speak, she quickly said, "But I already know how to do it, so I won't trouble you anymore! Well, I'm going back now, thanks Congxi!"
After saying that, she ran back to her seat in a flash, took something out of her bag, and then ran out of the classroom.
"..." You Congxi sighed.
Not long after, in another group without Chen Yue and You Congxi, a rumor spread like wildfire, like boiling water being poured into a pot of oil, instantly causing a huge uproar.
Shocking! You Congxi pinched a school bully's face while he was pretending to sleep, and apparently, out of hatred, he committed murder!
"......"
Although You Congxi and Shen Yue are not in the group, Qu Qi, the socialite from No. 1 Middle School, is.
According to Qu Qi herself, no gossip from this school can escape her discerning eyes.
So this explosive news spread through the Chinese language group almost immediately.
[Daiy: @IamaFish, why are you touching my cheek?]
I am a fish: ......
[Drink Jia Duo Bao when you're sleepy: Ugh]
[Rat Poison Cookies: Vomit]
【。：Ugh.】
[I am a fish: ...You had something on your face, I just picked it off for you.]
【Daiy: Oh^^】
[DaiY: Can you two get out here and start flirting?]
[When you're sleepy, drink Jia Duo Bao: Can you two go outside and flirt?]
【: Can you two get out here and start flirting?】
【DaiY: @IamAFish, shall we go out and flirt?】
【I am a fish: @. Xuanbao, kick him out and I'll tell you what Liang Jing likes to eat.】
【"Daiy" has been removed from the group chat】
-
After school that evening, Shen Yue would pester You Congxi like a leech to take him home.
"Stay away from me," You Congxi reiterated.
“I was wrong,” Shen Yue said, clinging to her side shamelessly. “I shouldn’t have talked nonsense in the group chat.”
Upon hearing this, You Congxi walked even faster.
Shen Yue caught up with her in a few steps, grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let go: "Slap me, Xiaoyu, slap me to death, the one who truly loves you."
Qu Qi, who was lagging behind, couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he simply separated from the two at the intersection.
Shen Yue's cold hasn't gotten better yet; his voice is very nasal, and he sniffles frequently, making him look rather pitiful.
So You Congxi didn't pull his wrist away, but just said, "Go and die by hitting your head against the wall."
Seeing that the soft approach wasn't working, Shen Yue resorted to a hard one: "You Congxi! I'm angry."
You Congxi didn't even spare him a glance.
Shen Yue pulled the girl's wrist and put it into the warm pocket of her coat. When she looked over, he said softly, "I'm so cold."
What could You Congxi say? She couldn't very well just grab someone by the hand and throw them out of her pocket. She turned her gaze away and gave a cold snort.
The boy was too tall and had broad shoulders, so it looked awkward for him to put his hand in the pocket of the girl who was shorter than him. He could only bend over slightly and lean against the girl's slender body, sticking together like two conjoined twins.
Shen Yue walked on the outside, chatting with You Congxi about random things, while subtly shielding You Congxi from most of the wind.
The streetlights on both sides cast long shadows of the two people.
-
Stepping out of the elevator, You Congxi's body, which had been stiff the whole way, finally relaxed. She walked towards her front door without looking back.
The cook's grandson is hospitalized, and she has taken the past few days off to take care of him at the hospital. You Congxi was thinking about whether to order takeout or cook instant noodles for dinner while turning on the light and changing her shoes.
The phone on the shoe cabinet vibrated.
After changing her shoes, she picked it up and looked at it. It was a news push notification: "Besides eating dumplings, here are ten customs you might not know about the Beginning of Winter."
beginning of winter?
She opened the calendar and glanced at it.
Time flies so fast; it feels like summer wasn't long at all, and now it's already winter.
She went to the bathroom to wash her hands, changed into her pajamas, hesitated for a moment at the kitchen door, and then plopped down on the sofa, deciding to scroll through her phone for a while before moving on.
After scrolling through her WeChat Moments for a while, she liked Yu Junya's post and then looked at the nine-grid layout.
Dumplings, You Youyi, You Yuanming and You Youyi.
Yu Junya doesn't post about You Yuanming much on her WeChat Moments, but she frequently posts about You Yuanming and You Youyi.
For example, in this photo, Yu Yuanming is teaching Yu Youyi how to make dumplings. He flips the dumplings over to let them cool so that Yu Youyi, who is in a hurry to eat, can eat more.
Since the last conversation with You Yuanming, apart from a chance encounter with Yu Junya at the mall entrance where they exchanged a few words, there has been no further contact with them.
You Congxi breathed a sigh of relief. At least she no longer had to wait anxiously for You Yuanming to issue a family dinner invitation at any time. Every time she went to You Yuanming's house for dinner, she would start to feel nauseous and have stomach pain the moment she received the message. It had become a conditioned reflex. Whenever You Yuanming sent her a message, she would get goosebumps all over her body.
This week was the most peaceful time she had ever had. She didn't have to worry about the unexpected trap that might come at any time, she didn't have to force a smile and eat a meal that made her stomach hurt, and she didn't have to pretend to be a loving father and daughter to satisfy You Yuanming's hypocritical fatherly love.
During this period, Jingling didn't talk to her on the phone much, probably because he was busy with company matters, if You Congxi hadn't seen the egg retrieval report she mistakenly sent.
She felt a little breathless, finding the overhead fluorescent light too glaring. She turned off her phone and raised her arm to cover her eyes.
The house was eerily quiet, with only the occasional faint hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of the clock.
Knock knock.
The quiet atmosphere was broken by a knock on the door.
You Congxi lay on the sofa without moving.
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