eleven
Ning Yi'en ultimately didn't skip evening self-study that day.
It wasn't that he particularly loved studying; it was mainly because today was the math teacher's first evening study session, and it was Zhang Zixu's first evening study session in charge of their class.
Evening self-study session ended
convenience store
Ning Yi'en's gaze swept from the top shelf of the refrigerator to the bottom. Her hand, which was originally going to be on the beer, hesitated and then fell on the cocktails. Finally, she took a can of cola from the bottom shelf and put it in Lu Yunian's arms.
"It's my treat today."
"How did you know I wanted to drink cola today?" Lu Yunian asked with a grin as he followed Ning Yi'en, holding a can of cola.
Of course it was a guess, but he didn't say it that way.
"We're on the same wavelength, aren't we?" He turned around, grabbed a bottle of milk, and said, "Let's go."
"That means we're naturally suited to be friends, right?"
"Yes. Let's go, my friend."
Lu Yunian walked slowly behind Ning Yi'en, counting on his fingers as he hesitated whether to speak or not. Several times he almost tripped over the steps and roadblocks because he was distracted.
"Is there something you want to say?" Perhaps it was a true meeting of minds; although Lu Yunian's thoughts weren't particularly visible on his face, Ning Yi'en still noticed them at a glance.
"You can say whatever you want."
"Really? We're really good friends, right?"
“Of course.” Ning Yi’en didn’t know what Lu Yunian’s definition of “special” was, but he thought Lu Yunian could be considered one.
Although they hadn't known each other for very long, perhaps they had a good chemistry, or perhaps fate was just that wonderful, they became familiar with each other in a short period of time.
"Then could we have a special name?" Lu Yunian said, feeling a little embarrassed. "It can't be a nickname, can it? Just a more friendly name."
"A nickname?"
"Maybe so, but I'll also have special names for my old friends..."
“Take Yan Ting for example, sometimes we call her ‘disobedient’,” Lu Yu began his explanation, afraid that Ning Yi’en wouldn’t believe him.
"Is there any purpose behind this name?"
"Of course." Seeing that Ning Yi'en was somewhat interested, Lu Yunian could then speak freely without worry.
“We used to joke with her that her name was easy to remember, and that it meant ‘obedient’ because all the characters were the same. So we would occasionally call her ‘Xiao Cong’ in a joking way. But she told us that her father named her that hoping that she would be obedient to the family.”
Lu Yunian paused and took a sip of cola. "Although she said she didn't mind, we felt incredibly guilty at the time."
"She said that some classmates used to give her the nickname 'Congcong,' but she didn't like it."
"So after asking Yan Ting for her opinion, we always told her not to comply."
"It can be considered as giving this name a new meaning. She doesn't have to be an obedient child, nor does she always have to obey orders."
"That's really good." Ning Yi'en was actually quite moved. "What about Wen Xi?"
"Him? He's so sloppy, haha."
"Um?"
“We call Wen Xi ‘Haha’ because Xi is funny and cheerful.”
“Hey, actually my friends sometimes call me Nie Nie, you can call me that too, I don’t mind.” Ning Yi’en suddenly remembered when the nickname came up.
"So cute! It doesn't seem like you. Is your WeChat name because of this?"
"I think both my WeChat name and this are because of my name, which was given to me by a friend. It's more like a cause-and-effect relationship."
“Take the first letter of each word, and it will directly be the number 1. If you really want to spell N1E, you can treat 1 as I, which is '捏'.
“This sounds nice, and it’s also quite endearing,” Lu Yunian said.
“Oh, and another thing, when I was in the third year of junior high, I made a new friend,” Ning Yi’en suddenly remembered when the name was mentioned, “He always called me speechless.”
"Why? Although the senior does seem cold, it's not to this extent."
He said that when you put the first two letters of my name together, it sounds like "ye" and when you read it with your surname, it sounds like "ningye". When you type it out on the keyboard, it sounds like "speechless". He said that calling me by the last two letters is not original, so he called me "speechless".
Ning Yi'en shrugged and laughed, "It's kind of funny to think about it now."
“Both of them are quite cute,” Lu Yunian said, but he pursed his lips. “However, I want one that is unique.”
"So you've already thought it through before telling me this, haven't you?"
“Yes, yes,” Lu Yunian stepped forward and gently placed his head on Ning Yi’en’s shoulder. “It’s not good, senior.”
"I didn't say it was bad, what would you like to call me?"
"Yanyan... Brother, are you okay?"
Ning Yi'en tilted her head and looked into his eyes—they were very bright, as if they contained a sea of stars.
"Why?"
"You keep reading 'you're so kind, so kind, so kind'... If you read it too fast, doesn't it sound like the character for 'smoke'?"
“But it sounds more like the character ‘因’ to me,” Ning Yi’en thought to herself.
"Read it a little longer and you'll get the hang of it, okay?" Lu Yunian seemed unaware that this was against the rules, and Ning Yi'en rarely refused to answer such a question.
Actually, he initially thought it looked like "cause," and the "cause" on the top of "en" seemed reasonable no matter how you looked at it.
But when he scribbles in his notebook, he prefers the word "smoke," as it seems more free and passionate.
He wanted Ning Yi'en to be free—but this feeling had no reason or cause; it just came from the bottom of his heart.
Perhaps it was a blessing tinged with selfish motives.
From now on, every time I call your name, it will be to wish you freedom.
However, Lu Yunian felt that saying it was too sentimental. How could a man be so mushy? So he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he grabbed Ning Yi'en's backpack strap and shook it back and forth, asking him if it was okay.
“If you don’t agree…” Lu Yunian thought for a moment, “I’ll just keep pulling your backpack all the way home!” He pretended to be fierce, but in reality, if Ning Yi’en didn’t say yes, he would immediately let go and think of the next thing, as if he was trying to coax her.
“Okay. I didn’t say it was bad.” Ning Yi’en turned to look at him. “If you want to keep holding my hand, that’s fine too.”
good......
Perhaps due to excitement, Lu Yunian momentarily forgot to open his mouth and also forgot to let go.
After a while, he came to his senses, let go of her hand, and quickly walked alongside Ning Yi'en. "Yanyan, you belong only to me, okay?"
It seems to be ambiguous.
"I mean, this title belongs only to me, okay? Don't let others call you that, okay?"
"Okay." Ning Yi'en raised her glass of milk and made a toasting gesture. "It's a promise."
"So, Lu Yunian, what would you like me to call you?"
Do I want to?
"uh-huh."
"Could you think of one? I feel awkward calling myself by my own name."
"Then I've thought about it and I'll tell you."
"Then I will keep waiting."
Friday, September 5th
The second period was Zhang Zixu's. During the long break, since it was raining and we didn't have to go to the playground, Zhang Zixu called the people who had fought last time to the podium to read their self-criticisms, as a warning to the other students.
"Dear teachers and classmates," Ning Yi'en was the last to speak—her opening remarks sounded more like a speech under the national flag.
The reason I wrote this is that I didn't know how to reach the word count, so I copied a large section of a speech I had written before.
"As students of Shinsida High School, I believe we should...and also have responsibilities and obligations..."
"Keep it simple and clear, and omit the formalities," Zhang Zixu advised.
"Oh, okay." Ning Yi'en kept her head slightly lowered while reading the manuscript. When she heard Zhang Zixu speak, she only looked up but did not raise her head.
"I admit that I shouldn't have hit someone. Next time I encounter someone insulting me, I will use the correct methods or seek help from my teacher... I will not be so reckless and impulsive again."
The emotionless reading sounded more like a declaration of war than an apology.
"Alright, go down now." Zhang Zixu knew his character and didn't insist.
"Ning Yi'en," Xu Qi came to him before lunch, "Can I treat you to lunch today? I've thought about it and I think it would be more appropriate to apologize to you again."
"There's no need. You can say whatever you want to say right now." Eating together just ruins the mood.
"Then I'll say it here."
"Go ahead and tell me, I'm listening."
"You probably don't remember me." Although he said that, there was still a hint of expectation in his eyes, hoping that Ning Yi'en would say that he actually remembered.
But Ning Yi'en didn't even look up at him. "I won't remember someone who is insignificant to me."
“I confessed my feelings to Senior Song Moxiao before.” Xu Qi stared straight at Ning Yi’en.
Ning Yi'en finally remembered where that familiar look he had first seen came from, and he nodded to signal Xu Qi to continue.
"But he rejected me. At that time, you were getting really close to him, so I thought..."
"You thought he liked me. Is it possible that you were rejected simply because he doesn't like you, and it has nothing to do with whether he likes anyone else?"
“I know now, but back then… I really hated you… I could even say I loathed you. That’s why I thought of that way to get revenge on you a while ago. I’m sorry.” Xu Qi seemed to be somewhat sincere; at least at this point, Ning Yi’en felt he was being earnest.
"Um."
"So, have you forgiven me?"
"No." Ning Yi'en looked out the window. Lu Yunian had returned from the restroom and was leaning against the door frame, waiting for him to go eat together.
Does it matter whether I forgive you or not? Are you done talking? If you are, I'm leaving.
"Wait, actually I still think it's quite important."
"Then consider it my forgiveness, if you think it's important." Ning Yi'en didn't want to give him another look and prepared to leave.
"But now... Ning Yi'en!" Xu Qi's voice grew louder and louder. "I've realized that I actually like you." The last few words were almost shouted.
Ning Yi'en could hardly believe his ears; he couldn't understand why some people's affection was so cheap.
"Is this how you show your affection? Disgusting." Ning Yi'en didn't turn back, and pulled the stunned Lu Yunian away.
I like you.
--nausea.
Lu Yunian hadn't even had time to process the fact that a boy had confessed his feelings to Ning Yi'en in public when he was hit with another blow by Ning Yi'en's "disgusting" response. But he didn't know where his emotions came from.
"Do you find all boys' crushes on other boys disgusting?" Lu Yunian remained silent the whole way, but finally asked Ning Yi'en during dinner.
"You've been holding this in all this way just to ask this, haven't you?" Ning Yi'en thought he was kind of...cute.
"Can't I ask?" Lu Yunian quickly lowered his head and stared at his rice.
"No," Ning Yi'en laughed. "It's just that his affection is too cheap, which is why I find it disgusting. Everyone has the right to take love seriously and to genuinely like someone, regardless of gender or the person in question. And it's not disgusting at all."
"Oh, oh..." Lu Yunian finally managed to dispel his inexplicable displeasure and stared at his bowl, nodding repeatedly.
“But judging from your appearance,” Ning Yi’en teased half-jokingly, “you’re probably quite straight, no, definitely a straight man. You probably can’t understand love between men.”
"Straight man! Of course I'm a straight man." Lu Yunian said this very loudly, as if the louder his voice, the more straight he was.
"But I haven't encountered it yet, so I can probably understand it..." The voice trailed off.
"Okay, okay, I'm not joking with you anymore. Hurry up and eat, or you'll look like you've seen a hole in the food."
“But,” Lu Yunian looked up again after only a few bites of rice, “it’s okay if you really don’t like or hate it. Anyway, it’s just the two of us here, so whatever you think, I’ll…”
He paused again, perhaps choosing his words carefully, "...I support everything."
"OK."
"And, Yan Yan, you will definitely have the best, most precious love in the world." Lu Yunian smiled and looked at him. "Trust me."
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