Chapter 5
While I was frantically writing to finish my homework, something suddenly came to mind.
Why did you take so long to arrive this morning?
Tong Yao's usually calm expression suddenly became somewhat uneasy, and she clenched her hand holding the pen tightly: "I'm not feeling well."
What's wrong with you?
Lin Li pressed for an answer, but received none.
Seeing Tong Yao's strange expression, he suddenly realized something and didn't ask any more questions.
Lin Li copied the test paper very quickly, and finally finished copying it before school ended.
Although it's a make-up class for next week, it's still the student on duty this week.
So Lin Li left with Tong Yao.
Today is over, and the National Day holiday is over.
What are your plans for National Day?
Lin Li asked.
Tong Yao said, "I don't know."
Lin Li: "..."
Silence again.
"Yao Yao!"
A sweet, coquettish shout broke the silence between them, carrying a nauseating sweetness.
Lin Li exclaimed, "It's disgusting how they clamp it!"
Tong Yao paused slightly, her handbag in hand, and looked up. Cheng Yu was standing by the order counter, clutching the milk tea cup she had just picked up, a delighted smile on her face.
But when her gaze swept over Lin Li beside Tong Yao, her smile abruptly vanished.
Lin Li naturally saw it. He was already in a bad mood, and now he curled his lips into a mocking smile, his disdain in his eyes undisguised.
Upon seeing this, Cheng Yu blushed with anger, her fingers tightening around the milk tea cup until her knuckles turned white.
But the next second, as if she remembered something, she took a deep breath, suddenly smiled, and rushed towards Tong Yao, completely ignoring Lin Li.
"Yaoyao, why are you still here? Let's do our homework together tomorrow since it's a holiday?" She hugged Tongyao's arm familiarly, her voice sweet as honey.
Tong Yao frowned slightly as she was shaken, her cool voice tinged with helplessness: "I'm on duty this week, so I'll naturally be a little late. My mom should agree if I do my homework."
Lin Li stood to the side, feeling a pang of jealousy. He also wanted to go out and play alone with Tong Yao!
"I think it's clearly because he's too slow!" Cheng Yu glanced at Lin Li quickly, her tone almost overflowing with disdain and sarcasm: "He's really good for nothing."
Lin Li scoffed, took half a step forward, grabbed Tong Yao and pulled her towards him, her tone full of hostility: "It's better than some people who act like best friends on the surface, but then gossip about their friends behind their backs."
"You're talking nonsense!" Cheng Yu's voice suddenly rose, and the pearls in her milk tea cup wobbled out of her cup. "When did I ever mention Yao Yao? Lin Li, stop trying to sow discord between me and Yao Yao!"
Lin Li seized on the key point and said with a cold smile, "Heh, you didn't mention Yao Yao? Does that mean you mentioned someone else?"
The atmosphere between the two instantly became tense. Tong Yao, caught in the middle, remained expressionless, simply pulling her arm away from Cheng Yu's embrace, her voice still calm: "Alright, stop arguing. Cheng Yu, let's do our homework together tomorrow, at the library."
Her words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing Cheng Yu's anger.
Cheng Yu looked at Tong Yao's cool profile, opened her mouth, but swallowed the rest of her words. However, her eyes still held resentment as she looked at Lin Li: "Okay, I have to go to tutoring now. See you tomorrow, Yao Yao!"
After saying that, she turned and left. There were many tutoring institutions near the school, and Lin Li often took tutoring classes in this area in her previous life.
Lin Li watched her retreating figure and scoffed.
Tong Yao turned to look at him, her eyes devoid of emotion: "That's enough."
"She was the one who started it," Lin Li muttered.
Tong Yao didn't bother listening to any of this and continued walking out.
He stared at Tong Yao's fair wrist, his steps unconsciously slowing down, his fingers curling quietly at his side, and he inexplicably wanted to reach out.
His fingertips were only half a centimeter away from Tong Yao, but Tong Yao seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She paused slightly and moved her body to the side very gently, just avoiding his touch.
This is a silent rejection.
Lin Li's hand froze in mid-air, a surge of grievance welling up inside him. Why could Cheng Yu have it, but he couldn't even hold hands?
His lips drooped, his heart filled with jealousy.
Tong Yao, who was in front, noticed the stop behind her and finally stopped and slowly turned around.
Her eyes remained calm as she looked at him quietly. After a couple of seconds of silence, she finally spoke.
"Men and women should not touch each other."
Lin Li was struck dumb! He had almost forgotten that he had turned into a boy.
I thought that changing genders would allow us to get closer, but unexpectedly, it became the biggest obstacle.
Lin Li walked quickly to Tong Yao.
"Actually, I am a girl."
His tone was serious and earnest.
Two seconds after she finished speaking, Tong Yao suddenly took half a step forward. She didn't speak, but simply tilted her head slightly, her gaze fixed on Lin Li, as if she were examining a complex math problem, with a cool and focused expression.
Lin Li was taken aback by her gaze and subconsciously straightened his back. He felt uncomfortable and was about to speak when he saw Tong Yao's gaze stop on his hair. His buzz cut was so short that you could see the stubble.
“Girls can have buzz cuts too,” Lin Li said first, her tone a little hesitant, but she tried to appear calm.
Tong Yao didn't respond, her gaze shifting downwards to his bobbing Adam's apple. It had been moving quite vigorously when he was arguing with Cheng Yu earlier.
"I have an excessive amount of male hormones!" Lin Li quickly added, unconsciously touching her neck.
The next second, Tong Yao's gaze fell on his open school uniform collar, under which was a simple white T-shirt, the collar slightly crooked because he had walked in a hurry.
"I am an open and honest person, and I never keep anything to myself!" Lin Li raised her voice a little, quickly zipped up her school uniform halfway, then realized it wasn't right and simply left it open, trying to maintain her "open and honest" persona.
But Tong Yao's gaze continued downwards, sweeping over his waist, and further down...
Lin Li suddenly shivered, feeling a strange chill in her lower body. She instinctively brought her legs together, and even her posture became stiff.
Looking into Tong Yao's calm, expressionless eyes, a thought suddenly struck him, and he blurted out:
"Okay! I'm a man with a woman's heart! Because I was a girl in my past life!"
He was stunned when he shouted it out; he had just revealed his secret!
But he dared not look away, and could only stiffen his neck, waiting for Tong Yao's reaction.
Tong Yao blinked briefly, then looked away, her voice cold and emotionless: "I was just looking at the dust on your trouser legs, it was splashed by Cheng Yu when she ran by."
After she finished speaking, she pointed to Lin Li's trouser leg, where there was indeed a small gray stain.
Lin Li looked down and her face instantly turned as red as a ripe tomato. She didn't know whether to close her legs or not, and could only stammer out, "...Oh, then, why didn't you say so earlier!"
Tong Yao ignored him, turned around and continued walking forward. After taking two steps, the corner of her mouth curled up very quickly, so quickly as if it were an illusion, and she quickly suppressed it again.
Lin Li stood there alone, watching Tong Yao walk away.
Unwilling to give up, he chased after them again.
"I'm telling the truth, I really was a girl in my past life."
Tong Yao immediately stopped and turned around, saying:
“So,” Tong Yao’s gaze fell on his flushed face, her tone still flat but with a hint of teasing, “this girl, why would you clench your legs just because someone is looking at your trouser legs?”
These words pierced Lin Li's last pretense like a needle.
"Because I'm shy!"
As he spoke, he tried to grab Tong Yao's shoulders and shake her.
Tong Yao was prepared and gently dodged to the side, her steps not faltering, but she glanced back at him. That brief glance seemed to hold a very faint smile, so fleeting that Lin Li thought it was an illusion.
"I'm just stating the facts." Her voice drifted on the wind, broken and intermittent. Soon, Tong Yao pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Lin Li.
"Wipe it off."
Lin Li stared at the white wet wipe for two seconds before snatching it and haphazardly wiping the dust stains on her trouser legs. After wiping it a couple of times, she felt awkward and secretly glanced at Tong Yao's profile.
The girl was looking down at the speck of dust on his pants.
"Hey," Lin Li finally managed to say after a long pause, "Don't tell anyone about what happened just now."
Tong Yao hummed in agreement, her voice as soft as the wind: "I don't have time to care about other people's 'past lives'."
Lin Li choked for a moment, and was about to retort when she saw Tong Yao suddenly stop and point to the bus.
Lin Liming said, "Tong Yao, it's time to get on the bus."
"goodbye!"
Tong Yao smiled and waved goodbye.
Watching the No. 42 bus get further and further away until it disappeared from sight.
Lin Li realized that her face was about to freeze from smiling.
Enough already. Rubbing her aching cheeks, she thought to herself, "It's so good to have met you."
…………
October 1, 2022.
"Mom, did you buy your tickets for National Day?"
Lin's mother got up early and packed her luggage. When she heard Lin Li speak, she froze.
"Oh no, I forgot that we can't buy tickets for National Day. I was thinking we could go to the station later to buy them."
Upon hearing this, Lin Li quickly opened her phone to try and grab a ticket.
I was lucky enough to snag two tickets.
However, one seat was a first-class seat and the other a second-class seat, and they weren't even in the same carriage.
Lin's mother didn't mind, saying, "I'm fine with sitting anywhere."
Before getting on the bus, I told Lin Li not to wander off and to meet at the stairwell after getting off.
Lin Li, holding the train ticket, searched from beginning to end in carriage 4, room 72F.
71, how come it's 60 after that?
Oh, it's on the other side.
The location of 72f was quickly found.
This is a three-seater configuration.
Lin Li unfortunately bought the very middle seat.
But he didn't care.
Although Yancheng is a small city, it has long been connected by high-speed rail. It only takes half an hour to travel from Yancheng to the provincial capital, which is probably enough time to play a game.
With more than 10 minutes to go before the train departs, Lin Li stared blankly at the scenery outside the window.
In my previous life, he and his mother went to the provincial capital by bus. At that time, I was only thinking about having fun and didn't pay attention to these things. It takes two hours to get to the provincial capital by bus because it goes around in a circle, unlike the high-speed rail which goes directly there.
After my sister married and moved to the provincial capital, she lived a good life. Her nephew was taken care of by his parents-in-law, and her husband treated her very well.
Most men gain weight after marriage, but my sister gained almost 60 pounds after getting married.
At the time, my sister's family was not satisfied with the man she was looking for, fearing that she would suffer after marrying him. But unexpectedly, their life became more and more prosperous.
Just then, two people walked into the aisle of the carriage. The woman in front was pushing a suitcase and carrying a backpack.
A girl followed behind, holding a train ticket and looking up to find her seat number, but most of the girl's face was blocked by the old woman's back.
“72a……72b……” The girl’s voice was soft, with a hint of seriousness in checking the information.
Why does that voice sound so familiar? Lin Li's heart skipped a beat. She thought it was impossible for it to be such a coincidence, but she still subconsciously called out, "Auntie, this is seat number 72!"
Upon hearing this, the woman immediately stopped and turned around to confirm that this was indeed the place. She thanked Lin Li repeatedly, saying, "Oh, thank you so much, young man! Yao Yao, come on, our seats are here!"
As she spoke, she reached out and pulled the girl behind her over, inviting her to sit inside.
Lin Li stared blankly at Tong Yao in front of her.
Wasn't she supposed to go to the library with Cheng Yu to do her homework today? What's she doing here?
"Lin Li." Tong Yao spoke first, her tone as cool as ever, but a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. She pointed to seat 72b next to Lin Li, "Excuse me, I'll sit inside."
Lin Li then came to her senses and hurriedly moved to the side, her movements somewhat stiff: "Oh... okay."
The woman was bending down to stuff her suitcase under the seat when she heard their conversation. She straightened up and asked Tong Yao with a smile, "Yao Yao? Is this your classmate? She looks very energetic."
"Yes, Lin Li, in the same class." Tong Yao answered while taking the backpack off the woman's back and placing it on her lap. "Mom, the backpack is heavy, I'll carry it myself."
Lin Li then realized what was happening and greeted the woman, "Hello, Auntie."
After saying that, he looked at the girl sitting next to him with a puzzled look in his eyes.
After settling her luggage, the woman stood up and said, "Yaoyao, I'm going to the restroom. You and your classmate can chat for a while."
Tong Yao nodded slightly and said, "I understand."
As soon as Lin Li saw Tong Ma leave, she immediately asked the question that had been bothering her.
"A relative is getting married in the provincial capital," Tong Yao answered directly, without any further explanation.
"What about Cheng Yu?" Lin Li hadn't finished asking.
Tong Yao opened her schoolbag and took out a vocabulary flashcard book.
She planned to memorize some vocabulary words while waiting for the bus.
Hearing Lin Li speak, the hand flipping through the vocabulary cards paused for a moment, "It's canceled. I told her when I got home last night."
She turned her head to look at Lin Li, "What are you doing here?"
Lin Li was taken aback for a moment before realizing that she was being asked a question, and quickly replied, "My sister had a baby, I'm going to see her."
Tong Yao hummed in agreement, then lowered her head again to look at the vocabulary cards.
Lin Li sat beside her, saying nothing more. He stared blankly at Tong Yao's focused profile.
Occasionally, a pedestrian would pass by, stirring up a gust of wind that would gently sway the stray hairs on her forehead. She would simply raise her hand and quickly tuck her hair behind her ear with her fingertips, her gaze never leaving the vocabulary card.
Two minutes later, Tong Yao suddenly stopped turning the page, turned her head to look at him, her eyes were calm, but her tone was a little softer than before: "Do you prefer sweet or savory?"
Lin Li was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding: "Huh?"
"Never mind, it's nothing." Tong Yao took back her question.
"I like spicy food."
"My teeth are bad. Eating sweet things will hurt my teeth, and salty things are not as good as spicy things, so I still prefer spicy food."
"Um."
Tong Yao simply hummed in agreement, and Lin Li continued, "And you?"
Tong Yao thought for a moment and said, "Everything is fine."
Lin Li remained silent.
He really didn't know what to say.
Just then, Tong's mother returned from the restroom. Lin Li was actually a little shy around strangers.
Those who are complete strangers are fine, but those with some connection are more likely to fizzle out.
So the two of them didn't speak again until they reached their destination.
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