Bai Hong
Zhu Shiyi has a public class on Tuesday evening, which can also be considered a water conservation class.
She submitted a leave request in the afternoon and left work an hour and a half early.
This is the only class she has left.
Normally, when she's not busy, she'll ask for leave to go back to class; if she's busy, she'll find someone to take her class.
Zhu Shiyi wasn't exactly free today. But since it was the last class and handwritten homework was due, Zhu Shiyi had to go to class by herself.
Kind-hearted Ni Yuqi saved a seat for her.
As soon as Zhu Shiyi sat down, he took out paper and pen.
This assignment was easy; she hadn't even started writing it yet. As a procrastinator and a master of time management, Zhu Shiyi was just waiting to finish it in class tonight.
After finishing my homework in class, I'll write today's daily report and send it to Pan Yue.
Ni Yuqi was also writing furiously.
Unlike usual, today most of the students around the classroom had their heads down, not playing on their phones, but writing. The rustling sound of writing could be heard all around, like silkworms eating leaves.
On stage.
The teacher looked around and frowned: "I'd like to ask a student to answer this question."
He raised his head a moment after sitting down, sat up straight, and then immediately lowered his head again.
When college students are randomly selected to answer questions, they just want to burrow into the ground like a groundhog, and pray to the heavens: Please don't pick me!
The teacher picked up the list, took off her glasses, squinted, and held the list further away before she could see it clearly: "Let me see..."
"Zhu Shiyi." Teacher Yan Wang called out the name.
Zhu Shiyi was wearing headphones, immersed in upbeat music.
Ni Yuqi was also wearing headphones and didn't hear anything.
"Zhu Shiyi?" the teacher called out at the top of her lungs, "Is Zhu Shiyi here? If not, it will be marked as an absence."
Suddenly someone elbowed me from behind.
Zhu Shiyi turned around for a moment and casually took off his headphones.
"The teacher is calling you!" a kind classmate reminded him.
Zhu Shiyi was terrified, her eyes widening suddenly. She stood up, raising her arms high: "Teacher! I'm here, I'm here."
The teacher asked suspiciously, "What were you doing just now?"
"I'm sorry, teacher," Zhu Shiyi said nervously, lowering her head and not daring to look straight ahead. "I didn't hear you clearly."
The teacher turned her head away and said nothing more: "You answer this question."
"Ah!" Zhu Shiyi groaned softly, looking at Ni Yuqi in despair. "Help! What's wrong?"
Ni Yuqi frowned and said, "I don't know either!"
She turned around and hurriedly asked someone else.
Zhu Shiyi broke down, stammering, "Uh, to be honest, I think it's true... to be honest, I do tend to..."
Laughter could be heard faintly from the surroundings.
Zhu Shiyi felt a heat behind his ears and tried hard to suppress his laughter.
Ni Yuqi covered her face, lowered her head, and handed her phone to Zhu Shiyi like a thief.
Zhu Shiyi grabbed the phone as if it were a lifeline and read out the contents of Baidu in one breath.
She felt guilty the whole time and didn't dare to look up.
teacher:......
"Please sit down."
Zhu Shiyi suppressed his laughter, closed his lips tightly, and sat down.
She instinctively opened a WeChat message: 【I'm telling you, I was almost scared to death just now!】
Zhu Shiyi poured out a whole bunch of crazy words.
Damn it, that's so embarrassing.
But it's okay to be embarrassed, just don't record it as an absence. This class has few hours, and if you are marked absent, you will definitely fail the course.
Thankfully, the person in the back seat was an angel. I'm so grateful!
Thankfully, the teacher was kind and let her off the hook. I'm so grateful!
Zhu Shiyi patted his chest, calming his nerves.
Another unlucky guy was called on to answer a question.
Zhu Shiyi silently felt relieved; she had already been targeted and no longer needed to worry about being targeted again.
She leisurely started playing on her phone and exited the chat window.
......
What chat box?
Zhu Shiyi opened his mouth wide again.
Her fingers trembled as she tapped into the pinned chat.
The wailing and howling of ghosts seemed to leap off the screen.
The sender's name was Pan Yue.
With a sudden jolt, a string in my mind snapped.
"I don't expect your answers to be highly professional," the teacher was commenting on the speech of another unfortunate student who had been called on, "but at least there shouldn't be any common sense errors. Listen to yourself, is what you said appropriate?"
Zhu Shiyi: ......
Inappropriate.
She meant that the person who sent the message was not Zhu Shiyi.
Ahh!
Zhu Shiyi went crazy.
Did you just send it over like that, all fresh and clean?
She quickly withdrew.
Ha ha!
Timeout has occurred.
The daily report hasn't been published yet, and there's been no preparation at all.
Would it be too obvious to just look for him like this?
......
It's over.
She is an excellent and diligent student!
How could a good student slack off in class...?
Zhu Shiyi tried to make amends.
She sent a picture of her handwritten homework: "Actually, I was so focused on thinking about the problem that I didn't hear the teacher call my name."
At 7:06, a new message was sent.
The last time was 7:01.
......
Ahh!
Is it too deliberate to explain that you waited five minutes to post it?
--
Returning to urban living.
The school in the suburbs is close to the subway terminal, and you can sit anywhere.
Zhu Shiyi plopped down on the side and raised his arm to open WeChat for the twenty-eighth time.
The chat box finally has a small red dot: Tencent News.
His arm slipped, and Zhu Shiyi fell straight toward the billboard beside him, his eyes lifeless, his heart ashen, and he had no will to live.
Girls survive by chatting.
Eating out, shopping, and having afternoon tea all depend on one condition: being able to chat.
Zhu Shiyi has one skill: he can talk a lot.
It's also a flaw: talking too much.
This leads to two scenarios:
First, the good situation: Treats people sincerely and finds it very easy to open up to them;
Second, the bad situation: being noisy and annoying, and saying too much will inevitably lead to mistakes.
......
Is Pan Yue busy again? Is he out socializing again?
Is he still this busy after get off work every day?
But he always goes to the gym with her on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and nothing seems to happen between them.
Maybe they just think she's inexplicable.
After all, they didn't have any special relationship, so why should she take the initiative to share her daily life with him?
Isn't that going too far?
Or is he simply not interested in this topic?
After all, he was already a career elite and didn't care about the student's trivial matters at all.
Ahh!
Zhu Shiyi covered his forehead, desperately trying to keep his eyelids open.
A young couple was sitting opposite me.
The girl took the boy's arm and whispered in his ear. It's unclear what she said, but the boy pinched her cheek, then kissed her on the cheek, his eyes full of affection.
Zhu Shiyi: ......
What are you laughing at! What are you kissing for!
Having a partner is a big deal?
In public, can't this guy have a little more self-control? He's laughing so hard his wrinkles are showing.
It's all the fault of those passersby; they were laughing too happily, which made her look pitiful.
Zhu Shiyi looked away.
snort!
The whole world is bullying single people.
...Zhu Shiyi glanced at her again.
The girl nestled in the boy's arms.
Waaah.
She also wants to be in a relationship.
But this moment of attraction may end here.
It's 11 p.m.
Zhu Shiyi had already recited the Tightening-Headband Mantra eighty times—
Don't worry, don't be sad; don't force it, don't force it, a forced relationship won't be happy, a ball forced won't be round...
She lay paralyzed on the bed, her heart calm, like a stagnant pool.
From 7 to 11 o'clock.
What kind of social engagements require eating until 11 PM on a weekday? And why didn't you even glance at your phone once during that time?
Can modern people really go so long without touching their phones?
Zhu Shiyi was skeptical.
Pan Yue has definitely read the message but is not replying.
It means they don't care, it's not important.
That makes sense.
She was dispensable to him anyway, and she wasn't anyone to him.
How could she think that Pan Yue had to reply to her?
Pan Yue was very sensible.
He almost never texted her first, which is the proper boundaries between friends.
She crossed the line. They are just ordinary friends. If they were to have an ambiguous relationship, things would end up like this, where they can't even be friends anymore.
......
Ordinary friends can also share their daily lives.
Judging from Pan Yue's attitude, they might not even be considered ordinary friends.
What kind of partner, what kind of closeness, what kind of care, what kind of concern.
It was just something she did casually, but she treated it like a relationship.
It was all just wishful thinking on her part.
Zhu Shiyi felt a lump in her throat and blinked hard.
What's there to cry about? Don't be so weak.
It was something that was never even close to happening.
Zhu Shiyi sniffed, patted his head, and rubbed his face.
Be good, be good, you're the best, don't be sad or upset.
As Vicky once said, don't get hung up on a man who doesn't love you. Let's not chase after him anymore, it's okay!
......
Zhu Shiyi tossed her phone aside and closed her eyes.
She tends to overthink things, but thankfully she's gotten used to it.
Her greatest skill is comforting herself.
For the first time in many years, Zhu Shiyi closed his eyes so early at night.
......
midnight.
Zhu Shiyi squinted, half-asleep.
Once again, I instinctively reached for my phone.
1:40.
WeChat has finally released a new notification.
She regained some consciousness. She opened her remaining half-eyelid and checked her messages.
12:30.
Pan Yue: [Sorry, I had a meeting and dinner with clients afterward, so I didn't check my phone.]
Pan Yue: [My phone was accidentally muted.]
Zhu Shiyi was dumbfounded, and all sleepiness vanished instantly.
Pan Yue is so busy, isn't he tired?
......
So, all that self-consolation was for nothing?
She continued looking up.
12:20.
Pan Yue: [Where's your daily newspaper today?]
Zhu Shiyi: ......
He's such a workaholic, all he cares about is the daily newspaper.
Zhu Shiyi felt a little guilty. Of course, she had finished writing the daily report, but she decided at the time that she would never contact Pan Yue again. The daily reports were all out of the question.
12:03.
Pan Yue quoted the homework image: "The handwriting is quite nice."
Zhu Shiyi pinched his lips.
He has good taste. How could it not look good? The handwriting reflects the person.
Previous message.
Pan Yue: [University professors still love taking attendance.]
Zhu Shiyi's heart softened.
She forgave Pan Yue so easily.
He replied to each question individually and proactively explained the reasons.
In this situation, forgiving him shouldn't be considered spoiling him, right?
......
Zhu Shiyi wanted to reply, but held back.
It's too late now; if she replies now, it will seem like she's waiting for him on purpose.
Also, what if Pan Yue isn't asleep and we have to ask her to do the daily report?
This is exactly the kind of thing he's capable of doing.
Besides, replying so late seems a bit too ambiguous.
Zhu Shiyi dared not reply.
She can't afford another internal conflict.
......
I slept exceptionally well that night.
In the morning, Zhu Shiyi woke up before the alarm clock, which was unusual for him.
She grabbed her phone and sent yesterday's daily report to Pan Yue.
My phone vibrated.
Pan Yue wiped his hands and picked up his phone.
Zhu Shiyi: [Good morning.]
A slight smile unconsciously curved the corners of Pan Yue's mouth as he let out a soft breath, the tension in his body easing slightly.
Pan Yue replied: 【Good morning.】
He opened the document with one hand and continued frying eggs with chopsticks in the other.
Her daily report this time was perfect.
Pan Yue quoted a daily report document: "[Good.]"
After thinking for a moment, he added: "Next time I'm not online, you can just send it to me directly."
Zhu Shiyi replied instantly: 【Okay.】
She held a toothbrush in her mouth, her lips pursed.
This means, in essence, that you should speak frankly and directly.
Of course she could leave a message if she needed anything, but she didn't have anything specific to say; she just wanted to chat with him.
Pan Yue glanced at the screen, put his phone aside, turned off the stove, and served breakfast.
When I picked up my phone again, the chat interface remained unchanged.
Pan Yue tensed up again and casually scrolled up the chat history.
Zhu Shiyi...why have you become so quiet?
It's so early in the morning, and he's speaking one word at a time, without even sending an emoji. It's really unusual.
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