Light in the corner of the library
On an autumn day in southern China, the afternoon sun lazily streamed through the tall glass windows into the second-floor library of a key provincial high school. The air was filled with the dry scent of old book pages and a fine dust cloud. This was the domain of top students and those seeking peace and quiet, so quiet that only the rustling of pages and the occasional suppressed cough could be heard.
Ye Shu sat in the corner closest to the window, where he would be least likely to be noticed. He wore a neatly ironed white school uniform with short sleeves, the cuffs buttoned meticulously. Spread out before him was an extremely thick philosophical work that seemed unrelated to his high school curriculum. His gaze fell on the pages, yet seemed to penetrate the paper and fall on a more distant void. Everything around him—the occasional classmates passing by, the faint noise coming from the playground outside the window—seemed to be isolated by an invisible barrier. He was a frequent visitor to the library, but few dared to approach this quiet area that seemed to have an aura of "keep away from strangers."
Suddenly, a hurried sound of footsteps broke the tranquility of the area. A figure rushed in like a stone thrown into still water.
It was Chen Xu. He was also wearing his school uniform, but his collar was casually open, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and he clutched a basketball in his arms, his jersey still damp against his chest. He had clearly just come off the court, his whole body radiating the warmth and excitement of a workout.
He glanced around as he walked, his eyes anxious, as if searching for something important, or perhaps simply unable to calm down. His gaze swept across the rows of bookshelves, past the students immersed in their studies, and finally landed on the quietest corner.
Ye Shu's existence itself is like a contrast, making Chen Xu's restless energy seem particularly abrupt.
Chen Xu's eyes lit up, and he seemed not to notice (or perhaps not to care at all) the low pressure in the area, and walked straight over. The basketball spun restlessly on his fingers, making a slight friction sound.
"Classmate! Classmate!" He lowered his voice, but the urgency in his tone did not diminish at all, and even sounded a little familiar.
Ye Shu's reading rhythm was interrupted. He very slowly raised his eyes, his gaze shifting from the page to the uninvited guest. His eyes were calm, without any displeasure at being interrupted, nor any curiosity. Instead, they were filled with pure, indifferent observation, as if he were observing a strange cell suddenly appearing under a microscope.
Chen Xu paused for a moment at the look, but immediately smiled broadly and brightly, revealing his white teeth. "Excuse me, excuse me! Have you seen a... uh... blue-covered, thick one?" He gestured with his hands. "Do you see a math workbook? I think I left it here!"
His breathing was still a little unstable from running just now, and his voice had the unique clarity of a teenager, which seemed particularly penetrating in the silence.
Ye Shu didn't say anything, but simply lowered his gaze, quickly scanning his desk and the empty seat next to him. Then, he extended his index finger and very lightly pointed under another table across the way—there, a dark blue exercise book lay alone on the ground, with a faint shoe print on the cover.
"Wow! Found it! Thank you so much!" Chen Xu felt relieved. He took a few steps over to pick up the exercise book, dusted it off, and then hurried back with an even brighter smile. "Thanks, brother! I almost forgot. Old Zhou will check it tomorrow! You've been a great help!"
Ye Shu just nodded very slightly as a response, and his eyes returned to the pages of his book. The meaning of seeing the guest off was self-evident.
Chen Xu, however, didn't seem to be planning to leave immediately. He held his basketball and exercise book, and curiously glanced at the book Ye Shu was reading. The densely packed text, filled with obscure terminology, made his scalp tingle.
"What are you looking at? It's so thick?" He couldn't help but ask, his tone full of pure curiosity, without any sarcasm. "Isn't it harder to understand than Old Man Zhou's math problems?"
Ye Shu's fingertips paused on the page. He raised his eyes again, looking at this peer who seemed to have boundless energy and a smile that was too bright. The sunlight fell on the tips of Chen Xu's sweaty hair, reflecting tiny points of light and making him feel dizzy.
"Entertainment." Ye Shu gave a two-word answer, his voice as light as a glass of water, without any desire to explain.
"Oh..." Chen Xu nodded, half understanding. He thought this student sitting in the corner was truly peculiar, cold and quiet, like an ancient well. But he had a natural ability to defuse awkwardness, and didn't feel left out. Instead, he said with a smile, "Well, you see. I won't bother you anymore! Thanks again! I'll buy you a soda later!"
After saying that, without waiting for Ye Shu's response, he hugged his basketball and the exercise book that he had lost and found, and left like a gust of wind. The sound of his footsteps soon disappeared at the other end of the library.
Silence returned to this corner.
But something in the air seemed different. The absolute, frozen silence had been broken. The air still seemed to linger with the youth's agitated energy, the sunlight and the court, and the afterimage of that overly brilliant smile.
Ye Shu's gaze fell on the floor, where Chen Xu had just stepped and slapped his exercise book, kicking up a fine dust cloud. He stared at it for a few seconds, then pulled a plain white tissue from his pencil case and, with great care, gently wiped away the few, almost invisible specks of dust on the tabletop, stirred by the air currents.
The movements were slow, precise, and focused like restoring order.
Then he returned his attention to the page.
However, the faint sounds of dribbling and cheering coming from the playground outside the window seemed a little clearer than before.
The classmate named Chen Xu who suddenly burst in like a little sun was like a point of light that accidentally fell into a deep pool. Although he disappeared quickly, he left a very subtle but not completely negligible ripple under the overly quiet water surface.
Silence is still his domain.
But for the first time, someone left a clumsy and warm footprint on the edge of this territory in such an unexpected and vivid way.
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