Chapter 27
After the college entrance examination results came out and the application process was completed, He Xi was admitted to the Sports English major at Beihai University.
He Xi sat at her computer desk, looking at the expected result, her mood remained relatively calm. She was more concerned about Qiao Bei's situation than anything else.
Perhaps it was a telepathic connection, Qiao Bei called He Xi first.
"You passed? Sports English major... not bad." He chuckled softly on the other end of the phone. "Me? Didn't pass. Well, I was accepted by my second choice and stayed in Anshan."
"Major in Chinese Language and Literature at Ansan University."
This major had nothing to do with Bai Shu's original ideal. He Xi's heart felt as if it were being tightly grasped by a pair of large hands, and she could barely breathe. She suppressed the sobs that burst from her throat and feigned calmness, saying, "Ah? How could this happen?"
"So, do you want to repeat the year?"
He Xi sniffed and raised his head to prevent the tears from flowing out.
"No." Bai Shu had a kind of dead calmness on the other end of the phone, and his tone was a little indifferent. "Anyway, it's all the same."
"It's good. At least I'm going to school. Otherwise, with how crazy I was about basketball, I might not have passed the entrance exam." He said lightly, as if he didn't need any comfort, and quickly changed the subject. "Want to go out for dinner? I know a good new buffet."
"I'll treat you, just to celebrate the bright future and promising prospects we all have."
"good."
He Xi quickly hung up the phone and burst into tears. Her shoulders trembled with each cry, shaking as if she were coughing, wanting to cry out all the tears in her chest. This way, when they met face to face, Bai Shu wouldn't notice that something was wrong with her. If one of them had to cry in front of the other, it would be Bai Shu. As for her, she absolutely could not cry.
She wanted to laugh, laugh hard, and blow away all the rain falling on the white tree effortlessly as if nothing had happened.
He Xi stood in front of the wardrobe, her fingers skimming the rows of hanging clothes. She knew this was just like any other time, just a meal with Bai Shu, but she still carefully selected a lively new Chinese cheongsam and fished out matching earrings from her jewelry box.
After dressing up carefully, He Xi put on his shoes and prepared to go out.
In the living room, Chen Linlin and Chen Wutao were looking at her phone, discussing the voluntary admissions process. Zhang Chaomei looked up from the sofa and asked He Xi, "Have you heard the results yet?"
"It's out." He Xi said calmly, "I passed the exam."
"Ah—that's great, Dad! I received the acceptance letter." Chen Linlin leaped up from the sofa, her expression and tone filled with joy. "I was accepted into Ansan University."
Ansan University. He Xi's ears moved and he was slightly moved. It was the same university as Bai Shu.
"Yeah." Chen Wutao reacted calmly, but the tense corners of his mouth visibly relaxed. He looked at He Xi who was about to leave, "Did you pass the exam?"
"Very good." Without waiting for He Xi to respond, he had already answered his own question. Then, remembering something, he asked, "Are you still going to see your friend Bai Shu today? Did he get into Beihai University with you?"
He Xi was silent and found that Zhang Chaomei was also looking over at him. She was even more curious about the answer than Chen Wutao.
He Xi pursed his lips and shook his head: "No."
Chen Wutao's reaction was indifferent, but Zhang Chaomei's expression changed. She said unhappily, "Don't go to him again in the future."
"Why?"
"Your mom doesn't like his poor grades and doesn't want you to be friends with him anymore," Chen Wutao said, speaking for Zhang Chaomei. "But I think your mom is right. No matter how good Anshan University is in our area, it can't compare to Beihai University. No matter how close you are to that classmate named Bai Shu, you're from two different worlds. Try to limit your interactions from now on."
He Xi frowned, laughed at herself, and did not answer. Instead, she looked at Zhang Chaomei first, "Do you think so too?" Compared to Chen Wutao, she cared more about what Zhang Chaomei thought and whether she would stand on her side.
Zhang Chaomei raised her head and looked at He Xi as if she were looking at someone who was stubbornly obsessed with something. She said to He Xi, "Is there something wrong with what your father said?"
He Xi took a deep breath, did not answer Zhang Chaomei, turned around, opened the door and ran out.
She didn't think they were right, not at all.
-
The buffet restaurant is located inside a shopping mall. It has a good location and you can sit by the window at night and see the lively night view outside.
Both of them were a little absent-minded during the meal.
He Xi kept talking, not letting the atmosphere cool down. Bai Shu was also very cooperative, laughing cheerfully along with whatever she said. They both tacitly kept silent about their grades, university, or the future.
He Xi: "The quality of the beef here is really good..."
Bai Shu: “Yes.”
He Xi: "The lamb kebabs over there are ready, let's go get them quickly."
Bai Shu: "Okay."
He Xi: "Look what I got back? Fruit wine, would you like some?"
Bai Shu: "That's fine."
He Xi lifted the bottle cap and opened it. The light blue liquid sloshed around the bottle. He Xi raised his head and took a big sip, letting out a comfortable sigh. "It tastes good."
Bai Shu was amused by her cute appearance and took a sip along with her. His eyes lit up and a shooting star seemed to flash across his calm black pupils. "It's really good."
He really liked drinking it, and he didn't eat much afterwards, but he drank several bottles in a row. He Xi looked at him with slightly wide eyes, "Drinking so much?" The table was already filled with a row of bottles, why did it feel like he was drinking it like water?
Bai Shu touched his head sheepishly, revealing a bit of youthful shyness, "It tastes good."
He Xi curled his eyes, stood up and touched the hair on his forehead, "Then drink more."
"Hmm." Bai Shu picked up the bottle again and took a sip. When he put the bottle down, his eyes were wet. He Xi remembered the soft look in the puppy's eyes when he tilted his head and frowned.
After finishing their meal, the two came out of the mall and walked on the street. There were dim lights behind them, the night wind blew their hair, and the air was free.
"Where do you want to go next?"
He Xi, who was walking in front, lowered his outstretched arms, looked back at Bai Shu, brushed his messy hair away from his face, and smiled at him, "Will you accompany me wherever I go, Bai Shu?"
The smile on Bai Shu's face gradually disappeared. Only he knew what he was thinking. He slowly lowered his head, and his eyebrows and eyes could not be seen clearly in the shadows cast by the light.
"It's already quite late."
Perhaps because he was a little tipsy, He Xi didn't realize that he had said the wrong thing, nor did he realize that something was wrong with Bai Shu.
"Then let's go home." Bai Shu raised his head again, shrugged his shoulders and smiled at He Xi, "I'll take you home."
Bai Shu's eyes were filled with tenderness as he looked at He Xi, but He Xi didn't know that was the last time Bai Shu was gentle to her with all his might.
He Xi walked up the stairs to go home, one step at a time, and suddenly turned around. Bai Shu had not left yet.
"Go up, He Xi."
He was standing in the garden downstairs in the community. As soon as he met her gaze, an uncontrollable smile appeared in his eyes, like the soft moonlight flowing on a long river.
The familiar panic appeared again, and He Xi shook his head, "No, you have watched me leave so many times, this time I want to watch you leave."
"Okay." This is the word Bai Shu said the most recently, as if he would agree to whatever He Xi said as long as she opened her mouth.
He slowly turned around, took one or two steps, and suddenly his body froze. He slowly turned his shoulders back, lowered his eyes, covered his tearful eye with his hand, and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, He Xi, I can't do this."
"Let's go first." He let out a light laugh. "Let me give you a ride again, just like before."
"Okay, He Xi?"
Bai Shu couldn't refuse He Xi, or to put it another way, He Xi couldn't refuse Bai Shu. She turned around without warning and went upstairs in a huff, leaving Bai Shu with only her back.
Bai Shu was quietly watching He Xi downstairs until her figure disappeared in the stairwell. Then he turned around, and walked back home like a zombie, as if he had lost all his strength.
He Xi returned home and locked herself in her room and cried. She couldn't understand why she and Bai Shu had a very happy day, but why did she cry so sadly when she was alone?
Later, the contact between He Xi and Bai Shu became less and less.
It was not until before school started, when He Xi took the high-speed train to Beihai, that he turned on his phone and mustered the courage to contact Bai Shu again.
Surprisingly, this time when He Xi sent a message to Bai Shu, he did not reply immediately.
After getting off the high-speed train, He Xi should have rushed to school, but she kept checking WeChat for the latest news, which infuriated Zhang Chaomei, who complained that she was "possessed and didn't even notice she was missing out on important work." He Xi didn't take it seriously until Bai Shu replied with a "Sorry, I'm busy" message. Only then did she look up from her phone.
He Xi understood Bai Shu because she was also busy. Busy with military training, busy with classes, busy with joining clubs, busy with making new friends... At the beginning of the school year, He Xi was almost overwhelmed by the endless stream of things.
When she came to her senses, she realized that she and Bai Shu had not been in touch for some time.
He Xi tried to send Bai Shu a message, but it went nowhere. His Moments hadn't been updated since the day before he left for Beihai for a physical education test. Undeterred, she continued to message him, spouting a lot of nonsense, but received no reply. She even thought something had happened to him. She asked Wei Mo and Chen Xiufang, but they both said Bai Shu was fine and nothing seemed amiss.
There was no one in the dormitory. He Xi was confused. She bent her shoulders and lowered her head to reminisce with the phone in her hand. Suddenly, she understood why she was so sad at the time, because - Bai Shu was saying goodbye to her in his own way.
Since he didn't say it explicitly, she subconsciously avoided it and pretended not to know, but his abnormality, his gentleness, he... that was what he meant.
He Xi finally came to her senses, but she couldn't accept it. Her heartbeat was erratic, her breathing heavy as if swallowing lead. She hadn't intended to cry, but when she touched her face, it was already wet. She didn't understand Bai Shu, nor did she understand herself, and now she didn't understand her inexplicable tears. These confusions made it impossible to deceive herself about her sadness. She burst into tears, and her sobs turned into piercing howls.
-
"Bai Shu is fine... I'm sorry..." When He Xi heard Chen Xiufang crying on the phone, he knew something was wrong.
He had changed a lot. She had changed too, but he had changed so much that she could hardly recognize him. Bai Shu was now frustrated and decadent, his eyes had lost their former brilliance. This was a side of Bai Shu that he would never show to He Xi before. He Xi panicked.
"Why are you looking for me?" After not seeing each other for a while, Bai Shu spoke as if there was a thorn in his throat, and his expression showed a hint of alienation.
But in He Xi's memory, he will always be that simple, sincere, and gentle boy. She is most familiar with him, trusts him the most, and tolerates him the most.
"I'll help you." He Xi raised his head and looked at Bai Shu firmly.
In return, Bai Shu refused without hesitation: "No need, I'm fine."
After saying that, he put his hands in his pockets and turned to leave.
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