Chapter 30: On Track "So what do you want me to think of you as?"...
While washing up, Jiang Ci thought about many possibilities that might happen.
For example, someone would get out of bed and follow him around, making a lot of noise and asking for details about how he got from the desk to the bed last night.
Or when he finished washing up and went in, he found that the person had already run away in a hurry.
Or maybe she would hide behind the curtains with a very malicious sense of humor and wait for the right moment to scare him, in revenge for suddenly opening the door and scaring him last night.
But he never expected that this person would lie back on his bed and continue sleeping with his eyes closed.
So when Jiang Ci returned to the room and saw this scene, he felt mixed emotions. He crossed his arms and stared at the person on the bed quietly for a while. For a moment, he didn't know whether to say that this person was too careless or what.
I can only say that maybe for Yu Xiang, nothing else is more important than sleeping.
But this is a bit like their situation when they were children - they were young at that time, and there was not so much so-called "competition". They did not have the feeling of being in a tit-for-tat relationship. At most, they would quarrel and make up quickly after the quarrel.
"Do you want anything for breakfast? I'll go buy it." Jiang Ci collected his thoughts and asked in a neither loud nor soft voice.
It didn't take him long to wash up. No matter how sleepy he was, he shouldn't have fallen asleep so quickly.
As he expected, after he asked, Yu Xiang opened his eyes, looked at the ceiling and thought for a moment, then closed his eyes again: "No, you eat it yourself, I'll sleep a little longer."
Jiang Ci's lips moved, but he swallowed back the words "Why don't you go home and sleep?" that were about to come out of his mouth: "Really not eating?"
"No."
A decisive answer.
Jiang Ci didn't force him and just let him sleep.
That day, Yu Xiang had a good sleep on Jiang Ci's bed. When he woke up, he felt refreshed, as if he could easily solve ten math problems.
But it was just an illusion after all, and the cruel fact proved that he started to feel sleepy as soon as he saw the questions.
"You've been staring at the questions for five minutes now. Do you have any clues?" Yu Xiang was still doing the questions with Jiang Ci that afternoon. Yu Xiang, who had been fully recovered and ready to fight another 300 games because of enough rest, got stuck on the first question. After five minutes, Jiang Ci finally couldn't help but ask.
Yu Xiang raised his head with a hint of resentment and met Jiang Ci's gaze: "Isn't this visible to the naked eye?"
Jiang Ci said calmly, "Hmm," and said, "I asked too much."
Yu Xiang: “…”
"If you really have no idea, I suggest you look through your freshman year math textbook first."
"Then I have to go home and get it, and I'm too lazy."
Jiang Ci seemed to have anticipated this development: "My book is in the drawer in front of you."
Yu Xiang's eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned back and reached out to open the drawer.
At this moment, Jiang Ci suddenly remembered something, his eyes flashed, and he wanted to stop him: "Wait a moment——"
But it was too late. Yu Xiang had already opened the drawer and saw a familiar object lying quietly inside.
Yu Xiang stared blankly at the green eyes of the turtle he had drawn not long ago for a few seconds, then turned silently to look at Jiang Ci.
Jiang Ci's flawless expression finally seemed to have a crack called embarrassment, and it was still expanding.
The two stared at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, Yu Xiang broke the silence first: "Why don't you just admit that you are actually a decent person? Why are you still hiding it?"
The topic developed in an unexpected direction, successfully leaving Jiang Ci confused: "Huh?"
However, Yu Xiang had already sorted out the whole story in his mind: "Even though you always complained about my ugly paintings, you actually still like and admire them, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have secretly framed them. If you like them, just tell me directly. I won't laugh at you."
"You seem to have misunderstood something... Never mind, I like it very much." Jiang Ci hesitated for a moment and gave up, then answered according to Yu Xiang's wishes.
"Hmm." Yu Xiang was clearly in a good mood after being comforted by Jiang Ci's helpless "confession." He began to flip through the math book in the drawer, and kept talking: "Why did you put the book in the drawer instead of on the bookshelf?"
"Only the two first-year high school books are in the drawer."
Yu Xiang glanced at Jiang Ci's bookshelf and asked in confusion, "Then your other textbooks aren't on the shelf either?"
Jiang Ci calmly told the truth: "Don't you think textbooks look ugly on the bookshelf?"
Yu Xiang nodded in agreement: "Which volume?"
"Volume 2."
Yu Xiang took out the book that Jiang Ci mentioned.
"Once you understand this example, you'll have a clue." Jiang Ci took the book and turned to one of the pages skillfully. Then he spread the book in front of Yu Xiang and pointed at an example question with his slender and beautiful index finger.
Yu Xiang's gaze followed Jiang Ci's finger as it moved to the example question. His scalp tingled as he looked at the densely packed process, his handsome face almost wrinkled into a bitter melon. "But what's written in the book is completely different from the actual question."
He still remembers a vivid metaphor his math teacher in the first year of high school once used: the textbook teaches about dough, the teacher talks about buns, and the exam tests about dumplings.
The main point is irrelevant.
"I want you to try to understand the solution, not to apply it mechanically. I'll explain the more detailed solution to the problem after you finish reading the example." Jiang Ci withdrew his hand. "I'll give you five minutes."
"OK."
Another afternoon passed quickly.
When it was over, Yu Xiang felt relieved and stretched out like a cat.
He was sure that this was definitely the most fulfilling vacation he had ever had since he started high school, no doubt about it.
"Come to think of it, why didn't I come to harass you when I was in the first year of high school... and ask you more questions? I feel that if I had asked you more questions back then, maybe my math skills wouldn't be so terrible now." Yu Xiang felt emotional after stretching.
"Maybe it was because you were busy hating me at that time." Jiang Ci's pen had not stopped yet, but it did not affect his answer at all.
Yu Xiang sat up straight with a jerk: "I don't hate you, just stop slandering me."
"Then explain why you avoid me as if I were the plague."
"I'm not walking around, that's normal social distancing. I can't just stick to you like we did when we were kids, right?"
"Why not?"
"Because..." Yu Xiang paused after saying this - because he really couldn't seem to think of any particularly strong reason to refute it.
After a long while, he finally admitted with a deflated look: "Okay, actually, I felt a little...that way towards you back then."
"You've been having this problem since you were in junior high." Jiang Ci had already put down his pen and turned around. "I've always wanted to know the reason."
This was already a clear indication. Yu Xiang pressed his lips into a straight line, realizing that the situation was imminent and he had no choice but to answer.
"Are you sure you really want to listen?"
"Sure."
"Okay. Let me think about it—no, let me organize the words." Yu Xiang's expression changed again and again. He racked his brains for two minutes, then covered his face in frustration: "I can't seem to organize it."
Jiang Ci didn't say anything. He secretly observed Jiang Ci's expression through the gaps between his fingers: "Anyway, now we are considered... reconciled? There's no need to talk about the past anymore, right?"
"But I care a lot." Jiang Ci looked serious, his calm eyes were like a deep pool, making it impossible to guess his emotions.
Although they are both teenagers of seventeen or eighteen years old, due to his personality, he always seems to be much more mature than his peers.
This maturity will not make him old-fashioned, but will only allow his more outstanding personal abilities to be more intuitively reflected.
To put it simply, it means having a strong aura.
At this moment, Yu Xiang naturally felt this aura deeply. His messy thoughts seemed to be suppressed, and his thinking began to gradually become clear.
"If I have to say it, maybe I was too self-righteous at that time. I thought that we had different ideas and could not work together..." Yu Xiang spoke slowly after thinking for a while.
He and Jiang Ci had very different personalities, especially since he had also entered his rebellious period at the time and could not concentrate on studying like Jiang Ci. He also made new friends, and their relationship gradually seemed to fade.
Yu Xiang was quite a headache during his rebellious period. Putting him together with Jiang Ci, it could be said that he was a problem child and an excellent student. At that time, Ms. Chen Xiaomie mentioned Jiang Ci almost every day, trying to use Jiang Ci's excellence to awaken her son's conscience to be more disciplined. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
"That's it anyway... But to be honest, I really don't hate you. I just don't want to be outdone by you." Yu Xiang recounted his journey since junior high school to Jiang Ci in his own words. "But even after trying my best, I still can't compare to you. I feel very unwilling and conflicted."
A distressed look appeared on his face as he spoke. He continued, "I can't really explain how it feels. Anyway, thank you for teaching me math. That's all I need to learn today. I'm going home first—"
Yu Xiang was about to stand up when Jiang Ci pulled him back, "Wait a minute."
"...What's wrong?" Yu Xiang had no choice but to stop.
"You don't have to compare yourself with me. You have always been excellent." Jiang Ci looked at him steadily and said in a deep voice.
"It's okay, you don't have to—"
"I'm serious." Jiang Ci didn't let go of his hand and emphasized his tone, "So I don't want you to think of me as a competition."
Yu Xiang was confused and asked subconsciously, "Then what do you want me to think of you as?"
Jiang Ci didn't answer for a moment, and the air fell into a brief silence.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone in through the balcony door, casting a warm glow on their faces.
Yu Xiang lowered her eyes, her gaze landing on Jiang Ci's bony hand still clutching her wrist. The warmth of his body was transmitted through her skin, seemingly all the way to her face.
"Why are you blushing?" Just when Yu Xiang's mind was in a mess and he didn't know what to think, Jiang Ci suddenly spoke up and brought him back to reality.
"Who's blushing?!" Yu Xiang was immediately startled, then reacted angrily, "That's the sunlight! Isn't your face red too? Look at yourself in the mirror!"
"That's called sunset." Jiang Ci's eyes were full of smiles as he teased, "With such poor word choice, I really don't understand how you usually get such high scores in your essays."
"Because essays are all argumentative and don't use any beautiful adjectives... Don't deliberately change the subject. You haven't answered my question yet." Yu Xiang rolled his eyes at him angrily, "Answer quickly."
"The answer to that question is up to you."
"What's the meaning?"
"Isn't the meaning obvious enough?" Jiang Ci took this opportunity to withdraw his hand. "No matter what, I just hope that every choice you make will follow your heart."
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Author's words: Next chapter will be updated on Wednesday night [Red Heart]
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