Gu Li had no intention of defaulting on the payment, but he did want to stall for time. He lowered his eyes and asked, "Do you support installment payments?"
Jiang Xu thought the installment plan was pretty good. "It depends on how many installments you plan to pay."
Gu Li, "What are the options?"
Jiang Xu said generously, "We have everything."
Gu Li said after thinking for a moment, "Then let's go with five phases."
Jiang Xu, "Isn't it going to be divided equally?"
Gu Li looked up at Jiang Xu and smiled, "It's split evenly." His smile was truly gentle at this moment, and his voice, as warm as the summer sun, spoke again, "Brother Xu." His voice trailed off slightly, with a hint of curl, "See, it's split evenly, isn't it?"
Jiang Xu smiled too, as if catching the warm sun in the spring breeze, "Now, it's indeed evenly distributed."
The gym showers are not used very often, as most people don't want to work out in an overly messy way.
But Jiang Xu and Gu Li were in a pretty sorry state today.
Gu Li glanced at her watch. "If I rush over, I can still make it to half a class. Want to go?"
Jiang Xu nodded, "After you shower, take the school bus. It should take about the same amount of time. After exercising, you can go to class. It's good to balance work and rest."
Gu Li brushed her sweaty hair back and asked, "Which one counts as hard work and which one counts as leisure?"
Jiang Xu: "Either is fine, they're all pretty much the same."
Gu Li nodded. "That's true, let's go then."
The two went to the changing room to get a change of clothes. Jiang Xu looked at the closet and said, "Come and pick one out yourself."
Gu Li sat on the stool and said, "Just give me anything, I'm not picky."
Jiang Xu said, "I won't agree if Lü Chao says you're a troublemaker next time." He picked one out and handed it to Gu Li.
Gu Li nodded in agreement, "That's right, that's right. I've always thought you were a good kid, and you really are."
Jiang Xu: "Go ahead and make up whatever you want, you'll gain some advantage anyway, right?"
Gu Li: "Focus on praising you, don't worry too much about the details, go wash it off."
The shower room is new, and with infrequent use and regular daily cleaning, the whole environment looks like it was built not long ago.
The shower room was quiet at this time of day, with only the sound of the two people pushing the door open making a noise.
The floor was paved with porcelain white tiles, and there were rows of cubicles. Gu Li opened one of the cubicles and took a look. The partition wasn't very high, but the upper part was covered by a waterproof curtain. "This design is quite ingenious."
Jiang Xu, "What's wrong?"
Gu Li went inside. "It's nothing."
Jiang Xu went to the room next to Gu Li's. The sound of flowing water on both sides started almost simultaneously and clearly hit the ground. He reached out to test the water temperature and then stood underwater.
As the water slowly soaked his hair, Jiang Xu squeezed out some shampoo and rubbed it into his hair. He closed his eyes, but a sound could still be heard.
After wetting his hair, Gu Li looked around and found the room empty. "Jiang Xu," he called out, his voice muffled by the sound of running water. "Jiang Xu?"
Jiang Xu stopped rubbing his hair. "What's wrong?"
Gu Li, "Do you have any shampoo or shower gel?"
Jiang Xu: "Yes, but you don't have any?"
Gu Li said, "I guess I'm really having bad luck." He pointed at the waterproof curtain and said, "Can I borrow some?"
The white waterproof curtain became semi-transparent after being wet, and Jiang Xu could vaguely see Gu Li's raised hand.
Gu Li's fingertip touched the white waterproof curtain, and the water droplets on Jiang Xu's side of the curtain slid off, making it clearer now. Even the water droplets on his arm could be seen. "Okay, I'll hand it to you in a bit."
Jiang Xu rinsed the foam off his hands, then pulled the curtain open a little and handed over the shampoo bottle with his other hand. "Do you prefer to wash your hair first?"
Gu Li reached out and took it, their fingertips brushing against each other, water droplets mixing together. "I'm more versatile, I'm the one who washes together."
Gu Li felt that Jiang Xu's water was hotter than her own, so she scalded his fingertips as well.
Jiang Xu smiled and handed over the other bottle as well, "Okay, here you go."
Gu Li pushed the bottle; it was rather cool. "You're too kind. Today, I'll have the same treatment as you."
Jiang Xu pulled the curtain back. "I see you follow the same pattern as me every day," he said teasingly. "Just call me when you need to." He then lowered the curtain.
Gu Li watched as the hand holding the curtain was pulled away. He saw the other person's protruding wrist bones and veins. In his mind, he recalled the movements of the other person's hands during the competition with Jiang Xu, every move of which was full of morale and an indescribable ruthlessness.
Gu Li responded as he thought about it. His mind was full of that fierce determination; they should fight together. This idea of fighting was mixed with a trace of other emotions, which dissipated and gathered again in the sound of water.
The two finished washing up around the same time and stood in front of the mirror together, blow-drying their hair. Gu Li casually ran her fingers through her hair a few times before stopping. "What kind of cold dish do you think would be good?" she asked.
Jiang Xu, still drying his hair, didn't hear him clearly. He turned off the hairdryer and asked, "What dish?"
Gu Li said with a smile, "I said you're a bit mediocre."
Jiang Xu said, "Oh," and then smoothed his hair. "Then you're just as bad as me."
Gu Li raised his hair dryer, pointed it at Jiang Xu, and pressed the switch. "What kind of cold dish should I make?" he said, raising his voice to deliberately match the sound of the hair dryer.
Jiang Xu heard him clearly this time and hung the hair dryer back on the wall.
Gu Li quickly turned off the hairdryer, ran her fingers through Jiang Xu's hair, and then withdrew her hand. "It's dry now, isn't that precise?"
Jiang Xu clapped his hands. "Here's a little red flower for your skillful hands." He gave Gu Li a smile. "Class is starting. You can go to the supermarket to pick out the groceries. It's time to go now."
It only takes 5 minutes to get from Beiyuan to the school bus stop. The two were lucky; the bus arrived as soon as they reached the waiting point. The bell for the end of the first class had just rung when they arrived at the teaching building.
Gu Li: "Not bad, we can rest for another ten minutes."
Jiang Xu: "Yes, we can still rest for an hour."
Both of them were empty-handed. Gu Li suddenly realized, "I forgot to bring it. This really affects my ability to be a hardworking and motivated student." He waved his hand, pretending to sigh.
Jiang Xu said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll borrow books from others for you. It won't hinder your efforts to improve yourself." He climbed the stairs with Gu Li.
Gu Li said, "Thank you so much. Please let me see this for you. I'll make sure you get everything I need." He scrolled through his phone. "Which classroom was it again?"
Jiang Xu asked, "Why aren't you leaving?" He turned around and saw Gu Li standing on the stairs.
Gu Li: "It's on the first floor, why are we both going upstairs?"
Jiang Xu: "I followed you, I thought you knew."
Gu Li said, "What a coincidence, I followed you. Let's go downstairs."
Amidst some minor squabbles, the weekend has arrived once again.
The freshmen finished their final military training on Friday, and Saturday marked their first collective leisure activity: a cultural performance.
On Friday night, Jiang Xu called Gu Li. The call was answered quickly, and the stars were twinkling outside the window.
He asked, "Would you like to come see the cultural performance, Gu Li?"
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