Chapter 14
The whooshing sound of fireworks exploded the quiet night.
He Xi, curled up in bed, opened his cell phone and saw two messages lying quietly in the WeChat chat box between him and Bai Shu.
【Luo Runo Tianxi】: Happy New Year
【Sun Tree】: Happy New Year!
There was no further news.
The girl tapped the screen with her slender white fingertips, and a message was sent.
[Luo Rung Tianxi]: I have a math problem that I can't solve. Can you explain it to me?
【Runaway Tianxi】: Beautiful Sheep Emoticon Pack
[Sun Tree]: The other party is typing...
【Sun Tree】：
【Sun Tree】：Please take a photo and send it to me
"Take a picture?" He Xi muttered as she stared at the screen. How could this be possible? She hadn't had a pure purpose in asking Bai Shu math questions.
[Runaway Tianxi]: The other party is typing...
He Xi's door was looked at, and Zhang Chaomei came in with a bowl of red sugar, sweet wine, and wolfberry dumplings. She put it on the desk in a bad mood and said, "I haven't eaten anything all day. I have to eat this."
He Xi was overwhelmed and could only say, "Put it there first, Mom. I'll eat it later."
"That's more like it." Zhang Chaomei pushed open the door and walked out, thinking that she still had to keep an eye on him at home. Otherwise, He Xi would not eat properly every day. It was strange. He was fine a while ago, why did he have the problem again recently?
He Xi's anorexia had indeed recurred, but she didn't want to suffer any more. She had to take action, to take the initiative.
[Luopao Tianxi]: Taking photos is too troublesome, and typing is also tiring.
[Sun Tree]: ...Then what about my voice?
Bai Shu looked at the phone screen and thought happily, he must be right this time.
He Xi: “…”
He took a deep breath and tapped the screen quickly.
[Luopao Tianxi]: I think none of them can be as clear as the video, so just take a video.
【Runaway Tianxi】: Cute cat emoticon package
【Runaway Tianxi】Send a video invitation (turn off your own camera version)
The other party has accepted your video invitation.
White trees appear in the camera.
Under the warm glow of the light, the young man wore a tight, black, long-sleeved shirt. The first thing that appeared on the screen was his smooth shoulders and neck, his toned chest and abdomen. The camera was moved by a bony hand, and the boy's Adam's apple rolled in the middle of his neck, revealing a well-defined chin. Then, his thin, beautiful lips and a straight nose appeared. Then, He Xi met a pair of dark, clear eyes in the camera, staring intently at the camera.
It seemed as if he was also looking at He Xi intently through the screen.
He Xi felt his heart skip a beat. He heard Bai Shu say, "Why don't you turn on the camera?" His tone was questioning, the ending voice rising slightly, revealing a natural intimacy.
He Xi herself was also confused. Why did she have this illusion?
He quickly imitated Bai Shu and cleared his throat twice, "Is it not okay if I don't want to open it?"
"Okay." Bai Shu, seemingly asking casually, flipped through his math homework, page by page. The silvery white paper was already covered in dense, black ballpoint pen writing. Ever since he nearly exposed himself in front of He Xi last time, he had finished all his math homework. As for the other subjects, he hadn't touched a single word.
"Tell me, which one do you want to talk about?"
He Xi saw Bai Shu holding a pen and tapping on the homework paper, his straight back slightly leaning on the chair, his tone and expression showing a hint of nonchalance.
Any one, please.
He Xi didn't want to bother digging out his winter vacation homework again, so he just pulled out a random question from his mind. "Let's go with the geometry proof you taught me last time. I was in a hurry to get home last time, so I didn't pay attention."
"Can you tell me again?"
"Okay..." That was no problem; he knew this problem like a champ. Bai Shu flipped to page 72 of his winter math homework, problem 13. He read the problem to He Xi word for word, then held up his homework, demonstrating his thinking and process for solving it to the camera. He unknowingly took it seriously.
I didn't even notice a soft yawn coming from the receiver.
He Xi, I feel sleepy after listening to this.
He Xi also felt that the time was almost right, so he secretly encouraged Bai Shu, "You've been talking for so long, isn't your mouth dry?"
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Why don't you eat something and drink some water first?" His concern was obvious, but He Xi's fox tail hidden behind the screen had already been exposed, and it was wagging so obviously. My heart felt itchy as if it had been scratched by a cat, and I thought to myself, stop studying and go eat.
Bai Shu paused and said, "No, I'm not hungry now." He looked at the phone which was as quiet as a chicken, blinked at the camera, and looked innocent.
He Xi held her forehead in distress, lowering her head and smiling bitterly, "Are you really not hungry..." She decided to use her ultimate strategy, "steamed buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks, tea eggs, grilled sausages, starch sausages, cheese hot dogs, strawberry sticks, blueberry buns, chocolate donuts..."
"stop!"
Bai Shu stood up and left the camera. There was a rustling sound and the door was pushed open. He came back with a box of taro and pork floss cake, put it in front of the camera, opened the box, picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful, put it in his mouth, sipped it, and showed the empty spoon. His face showed the happy and satisfied expression that He Xi was familiar with.
"You really made me hungry." Bai Shu complained vaguely.
He Xi laughed, sat up, picked up the bowl of steaming glutinous rice balls on the table, scooped up one, blew on it, and put it in his mouth. It was sweet and delicious, sour and appetizing, and warm and comforting.
He Xi narrowed her eyes and smiled, putting another glutinous rice ball in her mouth, while the image of Bai Shu eating a meat floss box cake lay on her legs.
The night is deep, yet still long.
–
He Xi secretly heard Wei Mo complain to Bai Shu about how the winter vacation had passed so quickly, and how it would have been better if it had been longer. He Xi couldn't adapt to the new semester at all, and it was too painful. He Xi disagreed with Wei Mo's opinion. Ever since she found out that Bai Shu could relieve her anorexia, she had never been so excited about the start of school.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
When he ate steamed buns in the classroom, she followed suit and ate eggs. When he ate rice noodles in the cafeteria, she followed suit and ate fried noodles. When he ate a sandwich on the playground, she followed suit and ate a wrap.
Sometimes, like now, Bai Shu would eat a chestnut pancake in the classroom while He Xi prepared a quick lunch he'd made that morning: a crispy sesame bun, a chopstickful of chili sauce, and two leaves of lettuce.
As Bai Shu bit down on the chestnut pancake, she also bit down on the crumbly shortbread. The chili melted in her mouth, and the lettuce sizzled. A naughty piece of pancake crust was about to slip down again, and He Xi quickly reached out to catch it, grunting in surprise.
Bai Shu suddenly turned around.
He Xi quickly lowered his head and withdrew his gaze from his direction.
Bai Shu stared at the window frame behind He Xi that was blown by the wind for a while, then turned his head.
He Xi's gaze followed closely.
Bai Shu locked his gaze on He Xi the next second.
Two pairs of eyes stared at each other from a distance. It felt like a knife was placed on the back of He Xi's neck. He dared not blink, and even heard his breathing. The only sound in his ears was the beating of his heart in his chest.
Bai Shu blinked and looked away considerately.
He Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
His eyes, however, seemed to have not learned their lesson yet and boldly pressed against it. Muscle memory that had already been formed could be changed in an instant.
Fortunately, Bai Shu never turned his head again.
Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, another two weeks had passed. Perhaps it was Bai Shu's slowness, perhaps it was his tacit approval despite knowing the situation, perhaps it was the fact that the first time was strange, the second time was familiar, and the third time was familiar... perhaps there were other reasons that contributed to He Xi's audacity.
One day, He Xi was surprised to realize that the way she looked at Bai Shu was no longer a secret glance, but a blatant stare.
What about Bai Shu... maybe he had already noticed it. Several times she felt him trying to turn back, but he would just move his neck, then let out a nonchalant sigh, stretch his wrist, or pick up his half-eaten food and continue eating.
But he never looked back.
It seemed as if that day he was just curious about the window behind her swaying in the wind.
He Xi's doubts grew even greater. She couldn't help but wonder if Bai Shu had noticed. Was her actions really that obvious? Was she overly sensitive and thinking it was obvious, or was she just deceiving herself and thinking it wasn't obvious? She was just wondering...
"Hey, you——" A faint scent of lime entered his nose, and the boy's clear voice brought He Xi's wandering attention back to reality.
The girl raised her eyes with trembling eyelashes and was horrified to find that the boy who should have been sitting in the seat chewing on a hamburger had walked up to her at some point.
Is this... a face-to-face confrontation with her? He Xi swallowed nervously, the breath coming out of his nose trembling slightly.
His eyes moved to the other side like a frightened fish.
"It's He Xi, right?" He said in a declarative manner. How could he not know who she was?
Yet, he still had to speak to pull her gaze back, forcing her to meet his eyes. He Xi deflated, resigned to her fate as she stared at the boy's face so close to her. Even when he was explaining math problems to her, their two faces, their two eyes, had never been so close.
"Why do you always stare at me secretly?" Bai Shu breathed a sigh of relief after saying this, and deliberately paused, waiting for her reaction.
He Xi didn't respond. He didn't dare move or look, frozen in place, like a ghost held captive by a Taoist priest.
Isn't she just being caught red-handed as a little kid?
"I've been noticing you for a long time." This time Bai Shu will not let her off just because she remains silent.
The boy's intolerable tone made He Xi feel even more embarrassed.
I wish I had the ability of Sun Wukong to take out the golden cudgel from my ear and become bigger, so that I could hit the white tree in front of me with one stick and make it lose its memory.
But she couldn't. Firstly, it was impossible. Secondly, it was more likely that she would not be able to control herself and knock herself out first.
"You--" Bai Shu took a deep breath.
"I--" He Xi also took a breath.
Bai Shu lowered his eyebrows and said, "You speak first."
He Xi let out a long sigh. At this point, there was nothing he could do but confess the truth. He told him everything he was thinking.
After saying this, he looked up at Bai Shu's expression, thinking that he would relax a little, but unexpectedly his brows became even more furrowed.
"So you refused me bread because you are anorexic?"
He Xi nodded affirmatively.
"You threw up the kebab I gave you because of anorexia?"
He Xi nodded excitedly, almost moved to tears.
"You're asking me math questions because you're anorexic?"
"...Also, you're staring at me?" Isn't it because you have a crush on me?
Hmm? Hmm? He Xi's proud expression froze on his face. Why, so damned lucky... did they ask this?
Bai Shu looked at the girl's expression, which suddenly changed, and he didn't understand what it was, but he couldn't accept it. He couldn't accept premature love in the first place.
"Tell the truth." He said in a tone of urging.
"I can't help it, Bai Shu..." He Xi rubbed his hands together, raised his head, and tried to express the sincerity of his heart through his eyes and the words that were about to come out. Success or failure depends on this one move, come on -
"The way you eat is so appetizing!"
Bai Shu was silent, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.
-
When Wei Mo got on the bus, his eyes would always look for another pair of eyes.
Although when he first saw the other person, he saw a tall and thin figure, wrapped in different styles of dresses, with always different hairstyles and eyes of different colors.
But he remembered the shape of her eyes, the look in her eyes, the glances that flickered inadvertently when she glanced up. He saw her eyes, like a beautiful, crisp peach-pink petal falling into his palm.
The bus was quiet again today.
He caught sight of the other person in the sparse crowd.
A passenger got off the bus and the seat next to her became empty. Wei Mo didn't care whether the hot breath of the person sitting on that seat had dissipated or not, and sat down directly, raising his eyes to look at her next to him.
She seemed a little frightened, moved her legs which were placed side by side, and avoided the gaze.
Not... unwillingly? Wei Mo lifted his hips and moved closer. He could feel the tension spreading from her, but he didn't want to retreat politely. Besides wanting to see her, he also felt a curious familiarity with her.
"Hi." He greeted her with a malicious smile on his lips. He knew that this would leave her with nowhere to hide, and he would make it even more impossible for her to escape.
"We meet again."
"...Hmm." A soft, muffled sound was a response.
Wei Mo smiled, leaned back on the seat, and moved her restless legs. She looked out the window, while he looked at the glass.
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