Chapter Sixty-Six
Shen Yue was leaning against the railing, looking like an idiot, enjoying the breeze.
The rooftop door is always locked, and students are strictly prohibited from entering. Only maintenance workers occasionally get a key from the logistics department to open the door and come up.
But high school students are more interested in things that are explicitly forbidden. Even if eating feces is forbidden, they will still go to the toilet to taste it.
Shen Yue is a member of this group.
The young master has always been free-spirited since childhood. Even a small rooftop couldn't contain his agile skills, intelligent mind, or the audacity to provoke a tiger.
In his first year of high school, he sneaked into the logistics department when Da Hai wasn't looking and stole the key to the rooftop. He secretly made a new one and put it in his pocket. From then on, he would go up to the rooftop from time to time to enjoy the breeze and skip class.
When Shen Yue came to the rooftop today, the door wasn't locked. How is that any different from a blatant invitation?
He gladly accepted the gift and leisurely stepped onto the rooftop to enjoy the breeze.
...Although standing on the rooftop in the dead of winter with the cold wind blowing is a bit silly.
It was a bit windy, so he pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt and put it on. It was green, and from a distance, he looked like a potted plant.
Squinting at the distance, the question that had been swirling in my mind for so long rose and fell like a landlubber in the surging waves, almost drowning.
......Why.
Shen Yue sighed as he looked at the residential buildings of varying heights in the distance.
What is love in this world?
“Chen Yue”.
A familiar voice suddenly came from behind me.
Shen Yue was humming "Only those who are willing to die for each other" when he heard the sound and was startled, so he turned around to look.
A gentle breeze blew by.
He shivered almost imperceptibly. You Congxi looked at him for a few seconds, then handed him the ugly coat she was holding: "Put your flowerpot on."
“…Oh,” Shen Yue said.
He took two steps forward, wondering how You Congxi had come here.
"You..." He stopped in front of the girl, took her coat and put it on, asking hesitantly, "How did you get here?"
He harbored a secret hope, after all, he hadn't shown up for several classes, and he hoped the girl was looking for him out of concern, and that she might say something to show her concern... Actually, it was quite cold on the rooftop.
Although this hope seems like a pipe dream given You Congxi's personality, well... what if it happens?
Shen Yue thought for a moment and put on the coat. To be honest, the coat was a bit ugly, but it was thick enough, even thicker than a mink coat. The ugly hoodie that had been chilled by the wind earlier finally had some warmth.
You Congxi remained silent for a while. Just as he was about to zip up his jacket, he looked up at her.
“Big Tree sent me to call you back,” You Congxi said. “...You skipped two classes.”
She lowered her eyes after she finished speaking, missing the fleeting look of sadness in the boy's eyes.
The rooftop was suddenly quiet for a second.
Downstairs, some class was having a PE class on the playground. The shouts of slogans were carried by the wind to the quiet rooftop, breaking the sudden silence.
"Mm," Shen Yue responded.
He lowered his head slightly, tightened his grip on the zipper, and then suddenly loosened his grip.
He exhaled and picked up the zipper again, trying to get the zipper pull back in.
But whether it was because the wind had been blowing on his hands for too long and they were stiff, or because the zipper on this ugly jacket was too unique, he fiddled with it for a long time but couldn't get it to go in, and all the heat he had managed to gather dissipated.
"never mind."
He was so upset that he simply threw off the zipper and decided to take off his coat directly.
I still need to go get some fresh air...
Shen Yue stared blankly as the girl picked up the zipper he had thrown down, got it stuck twice, and then pulled it up steadily all the way to the top.
The body, which had been marinated by the cool breeze, was finally wrapped up again in thick cloth.
“Chen Yue, do you regret it?” You Congxi straightened up, took a step back to create distance between them, and suddenly said, “Be with me.”
"No, I just feel a bit hot," Shen Yue said, startled. "I was feeling restless, so I came here to get some fresh air."
You Congxi looked at him without saying anything.
"Really, if you don't believe me, touch my hand..." Shen Yue cupped her hand in his palm as if afraid she wouldn't believe him.
You Congxi sighed, "They're almost frozen solid."
Shen Yue stopped talking, but tightened his grip on her hand, as if her palm was hotter than a heater.
You Congxi sighed again, and the hand that had been grabbed moved slightly.
Shen Yue thought she was going to pull her hand away, and his heart sank, but the next second he felt a warm sensation.
You Congxi pulled his hand into her pocket, met his surprised gaze, and coughed awkwardly, "Um...didn't I say...that you...that..."
"What?" Shen Yue was taken aback.
“Well,” You Congxi felt that these words were a bit too hot to say. She frowned, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly relaxed her mouth. Under Shen Yue’s questioning gaze, she opened her mouth and said, “Well… I, well, you.”
"What what me?" Shen Yue followed You Congxi's eyebrows intently for a while, thinking he had missed some clue to the code, and tried to find the answer from the girl's face. "Are you going to beat me up?"
"No!" You Congxi scratched her hair irritably with her free hand. After a long pause, she grew impatient, thinking, "What's the big deal? It's just a sentence, what can't I say?" With a determined look, she cleared her throat, "I..."
Clang!
The door behind them slammed shut.
The two turned their heads at the same time and heard a clattering sound of keys, followed by a click—
The door was locked.
They were locked on the rooftop.
A wisp of wind blew the hair on their foreheads up and down, and the rooftop was quiet for two seconds.
“…Damn it.” Shen Yue pulled his hand out of You Congxi’s pocket, walked to the tightly closed door, and pulled hard.
It can't be pulled apart.
This iron gate is quite old; the rust on it has turned it a dark red color, with patches of rust covering it. Chen Yue pulled on the rusty handle a few more times, and apart from the falling iron filings, everything remained quietly as it was.
“Little Fish,” he released the handle and turned his head, “we’re locked up…”
You Congxi, sitting on a platform extending inward from the railing, beckoned to him: "Come here."
Are you calling the dog?
Shen Yue ran over excitedly.
“I told them in the group chat,” You Congxi waved her phone at him, “They’ll come and open the door after class.”
“Oh,” Shen Yue sat down next to her and nodded, but then suddenly looked up again, “You said it in the group chat? You said you and I were trapped on the rooftop together?”
You Congxi hummed in response and glanced at him, asking, "What's wrong?"
Shen Yue looked at her without saying anything.
Those gossip leaders in the philosophy group can find all sorts of stories out of nothing, let alone living together in a closed space with solid evidence... He thought You Congxi would avoid suspicion.
Sure enough, my phone kept buzzing in my pocket; I didn't even need to look to know it was my friends from the group chat.
You Congxi tossed her phone back into her pocket, glanced at him, then looked down at the tips of her shoes.
The two sat very close together. The rooftop was so quiet that they could hear each other breathing.
This unanswered yet tacitly understood answer hovered above their heads for a moment before slowly settling onto their curled fingers.
My finger was touched.
You Congxi turned his face, and an earphone was stuffed into his palm.
"Want to listen to music?" Shen Yue asked.
You Congxi subconsciously clenched his hands, making the earphones in his palms even more noticeable.
She glanced at Shen Yue and put the wired earphone into her left ear.
Shen Yue put the earphone into his right ear, swiped his finger across the screen, and paused on a song title with his fingertip.
A soothing piano melody flowed into my ears through the headphones, followed by a gentle, narrative singing voice.
"Because I dreamt you left me, I woke up crying / As the night wind blows through the window, can you feel my love...?"
You Congxi couldn't help but turn her head to look at the boy's profile, and unexpectedly, their eyes met.
She pursed her lips, turned her face away, and could hear the chattering noise from downstairs in her right ear (which wasn't wearing headphones), while in her left ear, she heard a gentle love song.
Old love songs as ancient as the iron gate on the rooftop.
To be honest, it's a very strange feeling.
Especially... sitting next to me is my boyfriend, who's listening to the same... old love song with me using the same headphones.
As the chorus began and the harmonies started, You Congxi's left hand, which was resting on the platform, was grasped and gently squeezed.
"How many people admired your youthful beauty, but who is willing to endure the relentless changes of time..."
You Congxi paused, taken aback.
Shen Yue softly hummed along: "So many people have come and gone in your life, but know that I will always be by your side..."
The boy's voice was a little hoarse and low, and when it reached You Congxi's empty right ear, her heart felt like it had been scratched.
“The first time I heard this song was in a small bar,” Shen Yue looked at her, his fingers gently cupping her hand. “There was a folk singer at that bar, holding a guitar, quite stylish. He strummed a few strings and, without even looking up, let us choose any song we wanted.”
You Congxi didn't say anything, just listened quietly as the song in his headphones automatically switched to the next one.
“He Qizheng was here too. I drank a bit too much and my head was spinning. I don’t know what someone shouted, but when the guitar started playing,” Shen Yue paused and laughed, “I was thinking, I should be sitting here with the person I love most to listen to this song, not with that idiot He Qizheng.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned to look at You Congxi, who was also looking over.
You Congxi never knew that eyes could convey far more than words could.
Something welled up inside her. That light yet heavy sentence, like a balloon filled with air, floated up from her chest, slowly, slowly, to her throat, past her tongue and teeth, and touched her lips... It couldn't wait to burst out.
The song in my headphones is still playing.
“Chen Yue,” You Congxi said, “I like…”
"We're here!"
The iron gate was smashed open with a loud crash.
At this point, all members of the philosophy group had gathered on the rooftop.
Shen Yue stared at He Qizheng's face, who was in the lead, and closed his eyes tightly.
"......Hold."
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