Chapter 28 Chapter 28
"Let's go, aren't you hungry?" Wen Shuo saw that Ren Li was staring at Jinian's back and had no intention of leaving.
"Oh." Ren Li came back to her senses and walked towards the school gate with Wen Shuo silently.
Fallen leaves were floating down from the trees, and autumn was already showing its first signs. The wind blowing towards me was a little bit brighter. Ren Li was prone to catching colds during the change of seasons, and she couldn't help but sneeze.
The noise was quite loud, and Wen Shuo beside him couldn't help but turn around and ask, "Did you catch a cold?"
Ren Li sniffed and explained, "I'm fine. It always happens when the seasons change. It's a bit cold. I'll just need to wrap myself up in the classroom later."
She huddled up, trying to wrap herself in her school uniform to keep warm.
Wen Shuo looked away. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but Ren Li didn't seem as interested as she had been when they first arrived. A girl's mind was always hard to guess, and when it came to Ren Li, Wen Shuo couldn't understand why.
He decided to change to a more accessible topic: "Didn't you want to ask about Zhou Qi just now?"
Sure enough, the person next to him immediately pricked up his ears and turned his head away.
"He—" Wen Shuo tried to organize his words, then concluded, "He told me he was going to see his girlfriend tonight."
Ren Li's mouth became an O shape.
Wen Shuo ignored her and continued, "He said he was going to confess his feelings tonight. He was asking a girl to go to the river to set off fireworks. Isn't that vulgar?"
At that moment, countless images flashed through Ren Li's mind. The most impressive scene was huge fireworks rising into the sky against the dark sky, just like what was shown on TV.
In fact, Ren Li did not agree with Wen Shuo's point of view - how vulgar it was to set off fireworks by the river. On the contrary, he was surprised that Zhou Qi, who looked so frivolous, would spend so much time thinking about scenes that only appeared on TV for a girl.
She had originally intended to help Zhang Xintong prove the truth of Zhou Qi's words, but she didn't expect to get such a big piece of news out of the blue. She didn't know whether she should tell Zhang Xintong, because these things had nothing to do with her at all. As a bystander, as Wen Shuo had said before, it would be better not to get involved.
On the other side, Wen Shuo was also reminding Ren Li: "Don't worry about Zhou Qi and Zhang Xintong's affairs in the future. They are insiders, and we are just bystanders."
Ren Li nodded quickly. "You also know Zhang Xintong's, uh, thoughts on Zhou Qi?"
She thought it would be better not to use the word "like".
Wen Shuo nodded.
"Then Zhou Qi, does he also know about Zhang Xintong's, uh, 'thoughts'?" Ren Li asked.
"He knows," Wen Shuo said, "but the ending is obvious."
"Oh." Ren Li decided to keep quiet about this matter. Since everything pointed to that impossibility, the ending was meaningless.
She also understood that love only makes sense when it's a two-way relationship. If only one person is stubbornly and unilaterally humble, it's better not to start at all. She certainly hoped Zhang Xintong would get what she wanted, but in Zhou Qi's story, the heroine was someone else.
No matter how their story goes, it has nothing to do with her as an outsider.
"But we're not allowed to date in high school," Ren Li said.
Wen Shuo: "Are you serious? Don't tell me that the school you attended before had a simple and honest school spirit."
The reputation of Normal University Affiliated High School is really well-known among the surrounding schools, and Ren Li has no way to refute it.
Ren Li: "So, you have someone you like too."
She asked what was on her mind without even noticing.
Wen Shuo suddenly stopped, and Ren Li, confused, turned around and looked at him with her head tilted. She huddled in her oversized school uniform, her nose red from the cold. Her face held a touch of innocence and naivete, as if the words were just a casual remark. In that instant, Wen Shuo's mind raced with thoughts, even the urge to "forget it, why not just confess like Zhou Qi?"
But of course he wouldn't do that, so the thought at that moment disappeared.
If he had to choose a scene for his confession, he didn't want it to be on the street. No matter where it was, at least it couldn't be worse than Zhou Qi's.
Moreover, he hadn't figured out Ren Li's thoughts yet, and didn't want to scare her. Admittedly, Ren Li didn't seem to be getting the hang of things yet.
He took a deep breath and then said slowly: "Yes."
"Oh." Ren Li's expression suddenly dimmed. Wen Shuo was still waiting for her next words. She seemed to be thinking, "That girl must be very beautiful. Well, she must suit your taste."
The word "taste" was just mentioned by Jinyi. For some reason, Ren Li thought of her immediately at that moment.
"Don't you want to ask who she is?" Wen Shuo almost said it directly.
"Forget it." Ren Li was deflated and shook her head. "I don't want to know."
She gave up so easily, but Wen Shuo didn't intend to give up and asked directly: "When do you plan to find a boyfriend?"
Ren Li didn't expect Wen Shuo to ask this out of the blue. Her face suddenly turned red. "Ah, what's going on? Dating is not allowed in high school."
Wen Shuo knew she would answer like this. He didn't get the answer he wanted, and Ren Li was trying to end this somewhat sensitive conversation. Wen Shuo suddenly lost interest: "Oh, it's Teacher He who said that again."
"No." Ren Li replied, "My mother said so."
Wen Shuo sighed silently. Forget it. He decided not to discuss this with Ren Li anymore. Sure enough, everything was just as he expected. Before the college entrance examination, if he brought up any issues about men and women, Ren Li would evade the topic. He figured it out and was willing to wait until the exam was over.
The topic ended there. Wen Shuo looked at Ren Li, who was about to sneeze from the cold, and took off his coat and pressed it on Ren Li.
"It's cooled down."
The sudden feeling of being wrapped in a boy's clothes made Ren Li take off her clothes reflexively in an instant.
Although I have been in the affiliated high school for a long time and have been influenced by it, I should not mind girls wearing boys' clothes, but when I put on the boys' school uniform for the first time, I still felt that it was different at all.
"No, I'm fine. I'm not cold." Ren Li pretended to find excuses for herself, trying to hide her heart that had already started pounding.
However, as soon as she took off her coat, Wen Shuo's burning gaze approached her.
"I'm borrowing the clothes from you. Please return them to me when you get to the classroom." He didn't give in at all.
Ren Li lowered her raised hand. Fortunately, it was getting dark, so no one could see what she was wearing. The coat was really warm, and she was no longer cold. Ren Li continued walking silently, even smelling the faint scent of perfume on the coat. She couldn't help but look up and glance at the person next to her.
The street lights came on, and he still looked like the male lead in an idol drama as always. He looked so good in a simple T-shirt. No wonder the girls on the basketball court liked to look at him a few more times, but he already had someone he liked.
Ren Li silently withdrew her gaze.
The two returned to school. The radio station was in the comprehensive building. After entering the school gate, they should have parted ways. Ren Li took off her coat and gave it back to him, but Wen Shuo said he wanted to go to the radio station to find Lu Rendong, so Ren Li continued to walk with him.
The complex was huge, and as a transfer student, Ren Li had naturally never been there before. It was dinner time, and the lobby was completely deserted. Ren Li had no idea where Zhang Xintong was. She searched through her phone chat history before finally piecing together the entire floor plan. Luckily, Wen Shuo was familiar with the area, and seeing how busy she was, he offered to show her the way.
She hadn't been able to get through to Zhang Xintong before, and wondered if she had her phone with her. Luckily, she'd just reached the third floor and spotted Zhang Xintong in the corridor of the radio station. She was reciting a script, and when she saw Ren Li coming over breathlessly, she smiled and waved, "Li Li."
In a blink of an eye, Zhang Xintong saw another person behind Ren Li and couldn't help but open his eyes wide: "Hey, Wen Shuo, why are you here too?"
Wen Shuo didn't respond. He walked straight past the two people, pushed open the door of the broadcasting studio behind him, and went to find Lu Rendong.
Zhang Xintong's gaze followed Wen Shuo around, and finally landed on Ren Li. He asked with a gossipy tone, "What's going on? You dragged Wen Shuo here to cheer me up."
Ren Li took a bag of sandwiches and handed it to Zhang Xintong, shaking her head repeatedly to deny Sanlian: "No, we just happened to meet on the road and walked all the way here. He must be here to look for Lu Rendong."
Zhang Xintong glanced at Ren Li suspiciously, but eventually accepted the conclusion: "Okay, but Lili, thank you, hehe, for bringing me something to eat."
Ren Li turned around and glanced at the other people standing in the corridor who were also here for the interview. She encouraged Zhang Xintong, "I see that many of the people here for the interview today are from lower grades. I'm sure you'll be fine."
"I've let it go. Now that I'm here, I'm actually not that nervous anymore," Zhang Xintong said. "After all, having the courage to take the first step has already defeated my timid self, so I have no regrets."
Ren Li: "Yeah, that makes sense."
At this time, someone came out of the broadcasting room and started calling names for interviews.
Zhang Xintong quickly stuffed the half-eaten sandwich into Ren Li's hand, drank a few sips of water, and tidied herself up: "It's my turn, Lili." She clenched her fists as if she was talking to herself, and whispered "Come on".
"Come on!" Ren Li said to her.
Zhang Xintong went in for the interview. Ren Li stood in the corridor, staring at the door of the broadcasting room, and inexplicably began to get nervous.
After a long time, Zhang Xintong still didn't come out. Several people had already gone in for the interview. Ren Li didn't know what was going on. Evening self-study was about to begin, and people in the corridor gradually dispersed. She didn't wait for Zhang Xintong, but waited for Wen Shuo.
He saw Ren Li standing in the corridor and didn't seem surprised at all.
"Has Zhang Xintong passed the interview?" Ren Li asked.
Her eyes were full of anticipation. Wen Shuo knew that Ren Li was not so positive towards him on ordinary days, but when it came to Zhang Xintong, she cared about her more than her own affairs.
"I'm hungry." Wen Shuo deliberately kept it a secret, "Let's find a place to eat first."
Ren Li had just finished her sandwich. It turned out that Wen Shuo had not had dinner yet. She couldn't help but look back at the closed door of the broadcasting room.
Wen Shuo: "Zhang Xintong passed the interview, don't worry about her. They had something else to do, so Lao Lu kept them here. I think they'll be away for a long time. She asked me to tell you to leave her alone and go back to evening study."
Hearing these words, the expression on Ren Li's face became visibly happy.
"Thank you." She couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth, reached out and took out a box of milk from the convenience store shopping bag on her arm, and handed it to Wen Shuo without saying anything, "Here you go."
Wen Shuo took it, looked at it in his hand and said: "Have you eaten? Why don't we eat somewhere else?"
Ren Li looked at another carton of milk in a plastic bag, thought for a moment, and replied, "Okay, but class is about to start, so we have to finish eating and go back."
Wen Shuo: "Okay."
Ren Li originally thought that eating here would disturb everyone in the broadcasting room, so she agreed to Wen Shuo. She thought that the place Wen Shuo was talking about was the classroom, but she didn't expect Wen Shuo to take her through a tiered classroom and up several flights of stairs, but they still hadn't reached their destination.
The upper floors of the complex were the club's territory. At this hour, the classroom doors were locked, and no one was inside. Even the sound of footsteps was amplified. The more Ren Li walked, the more she felt like she was in a school scene from a Japanese anime, as if some terrifying creature was about to jump out from the corner.
Fortunately, this is a real campus, and Wen Shuo is not as imaginative as Ren Li. He just took Ren Li to a platform outside the top floor with a wide view.
The General Building is the tallest building on campus. Standing here, one can overlook the entire Fourth Middle School campus. The wind is quite strong on the platform. Looking down, the campus has already shown the signs of autumnal decline. A thick layer of fallen leaves has accumulated on the ground. The basketball court is empty and seems quite lonely. Lights are lit in the teaching building. In the distance, sports students are running on the playground, looking like small, moving black dots.
Ren Li didn't know why Wen Shuo brought her here. It was very cold here and they couldn't have dinner.
"The timing is perfect."
Wen Shuo glanced at his watch, and Ren Li also turned around and looked at him in confusion.
"look."
Ren Li turned her head back and suddenly opened her eyes wide again.
Her sight passed the teaching building and fell on the far distance, where was the office area with tall office buildings. At dusk, the buildings were completely opened, and the neon lights were like a playground at night, with something fascinating. Huge electronic fireworks bloomed on the glass curtain wall. Looking at it from afar, she felt an inexplicable sense of happiness.
Wen Shuo still brought Ren Li here.
He still lost to "vulgarity".
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