Chapter 18 Numb.18 Come Here
No one looked away first.
The cool night breeze made Xu Wu suddenly feel much calmer, and the emotions that had initially aroused her anger had completely disappeared.
She looked at Jieying and never realized that this alone could calm her down.
Then, she saw Jian Ying slowly stand up, supporting himself on his knees with his hands. She wasn't sure if he was going to turn around and leave or walk straight towards her.
These thoughts flashed through Xu Wu's mind, but none of them came to mind; he simply stood up.
With this movement, Xu Wu saw the figure more clearly.
Jie Ying is tall but lean, with excellent proportions. Any clothes he wears look like high-end works of art on his face. The only flaw is that he is too thin, like a frail butterfly that needs to rely on its natural markings to hide on a tree trunk.
Not far behind Jie Ying were groups of students leaving the teaching building after school. The bustling crowd surged like a torrent, but Jie Ying was not disturbed. He stood there quietly, looking up and meeting Xu Wu's gaze.
Time continues to flow, but he alone remains still.
"Are you really not going down?" Fu Xi had been watching for a few minutes, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two of them. He felt that if they kept watching like this, they wouldn't be able to go home tonight. He couldn't help but interrupt them.
Xu Wu glanced at her sideways, then turned back, and said two seconds later, "Go down."
There was no other reason, I just wanted to see what was in those eyes right now.
"Then I won't go with you." The two took a step back, and Fu Xi reached out to close the window, shutting out the cold wind that was trying desperately to get in.
Xu Wu was puzzled.
"I told Zheng Liangwen to wait for me." Fu Xi waved her phone. Before get out of class ended, she had asked Zheng Liangwen to go back to class and get her bag to wait for her. According to the time, he should be downstairs by now.
Upon hearing this, Xu Wu nodded to indicate that he understood.
Watching Fu Xi bow her head to reply to messages and leave, Xu Wu only glanced at her twice before gathering her attention and following her downstairs.
Once downstairs, the two said a brief goodbye and went their separate ways.
The crowd behind Jie Ying had thinned out, and it was estimated that most of the students on campus had left in twos and threes. As Jie Ying watched her walk over, her hands, which were hanging by her sides, unconsciously clenched and then relaxed, clearly stiff and unnatural.
“I thought you had left.” Xu Wu slowly stopped in front of him, maintaining a safe social distance between them.
The wind lifted some of Jie Ying's bangs, which were covering her eyebrows and eyes, and scattered them to both sides. Her eyes, which were exposed, were bright and clear under the streetlights, and her amber pupils were fixed on her.
Xu Wumei's heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, the wind changed direction and blew from behind her, making her long hair, which was blowing in the opposite direction, flamboyant and unrestrained. The ends of each strand of hair seemed to be frantically trying to get closer to the person in front of her.
"I..." Jie Ying hesitated before speaking, subconsciously pinching the side of her pants and then letting go.
"Your hair is a mess." Xu Wu interrupted him before he could even finish a word, commenting expressionlessly, "It looks terrible."
Jie Ying hurriedly raised his hand to smooth the bangs on his forehead, but the stray hairs still didn't block his eyes. After he was almost done, he put his hand down and looked at her again.
I know what you're asking—is it okay now?
"Ugly." Xu Wu's expression remained unchanged.
"I'm...I'm sorry." Jie Ying lowered his head, his face still covered by a mask, but the redness that spread from his neck to his ears was still visible. His voice stammered, "I...I...I'm not...too good at..."
"Come here." Xu Wu said without changing his expression.
Jieying obediently walked over, but he didn't dare get too close. The scent of freesia lingering around her seemed to be unceremoniously snuggling into his arms and even touching his skin whenever she saw someone familiar.
This made him both nervous and dizzy.
Before long, he saw Xu Wu raise her hand, her long, slender, white fingertips reaching towards his face. Jie Ying closed his eyes tightly, his whole body tense, not daring to breathe, his heart pounding rapidly, almost as if it would jump out of his chest and be crushed.
He thought the hand would land on his face, but it didn't.
The next second, he felt the loose, wispy bangs hanging over his eyebrows being gently moved, the hair that had been scattered on both sides being pulled back by fingers, covering his eyes that had been barely exposed. In the movement, the other person's breath lingered on his mask, and then on his lips.
The moment Jie Ying suddenly opened her eyes, Xu Wu had already lowered her hand.
She smoothed his hair for him.
Realizing this, Jie Ying's breath, trapped inside the mask, became exceptionally hot as it hit his face, and his chest also felt burning. He suddenly wanted to ask something, but the words, which hadn't been processed by his brain, wouldn't come out.
"How long have you been here?" Xu Wu asked calmly, seemingly unfazed.
This was the first time she had ever touched a man's hair. Jie Ying's hair was very soft and fine, and it felt a little cool after being outdoors for a long time, but she had to admit that it felt comfortable to touch and she didn't feel any resistance.
"I want to see you go back first," Jie Ying answered honestly, but her voice was so low it was almost inaudible.
"Why?" Xu Wu asked.
Jie Ying was taken aback: "Huh?"
"Why did you wait for me?" Xu Wu stated calmly, "After saying those words, I thought you had already left."
For a fleeting moment, she almost found herself bewitched by those closed eyes, and before she knew it, she was about to place her hand on his trembling eyelashes.
His hair was cool, but Xu Wu knew his skin was warm and had a temperature.
If you keep touching it like that, his hair must be very soft.
In that instant, this is what Xu Wu was thinking.
She even noticed Jie Ying's spiky hair, which reminded her of a kitten she had glimpsed from afar a few days ago when she passed by a cat cafe, licking its own fur.
The movements were slow, the pink tongue methodically combing the stray hairs on the right forelimb.
Xu Wu was mesmerized when she noticed that the kitten looked very much like Jie Ying's WeChat profile picture, and also had a pair of beautiful eyes that resembled emerald gems.
The kitten, having finished licking its fur, seemed to have noticed her. It obediently opened its mouth towards her, and a faint meow reached her ears, giving her a jolt to the heart.
"I didn't..." Jie Ying paused, then said cautiously, "Are you... angry?"
“Me?” Xu Wu raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a half-smile: “What makes you think I’m angry? In other words, what makes you think you can cause me to have emotional fluctuations?”
Who do you think you are?
An inconspicuous and easily overlooked pervert.
Jie Ying tried to speak in a panic, but Xu Wu didn't give him the chance.
She stepped around Jie Ying to leave, casually uttering, "Don't bother me."
Without caring about the chemical reaction his words would cause, he walked towards the school gate without even looking up.
She was late coming out after all that time; there were only two or three students behind her, most of them had already left.
As Xu Wu walked, she took out her phone. The screen lit up, and apart from the few pictures sent by Fu Xi, Jie Ying still hadn't sent her any messages.
He probably wouldn't dare use that number again after she exposed him, and the messages remained unanswered.
Xu Wu scrolled up and looked at the messages that had been sent before.
My hand slipped through the first two days, then stopped, and I focused—
"My dreams were bizarre and fantastical, until I discovered that you existed within them."
"It feels so good to be able to see you. I feel like I'm dying of excitement just taking one step towards you."
"Excuse me, will you be angry or offended if I say this?"
"But when I imagined Wu's expression, I thought it was so cute."
cute.
Xu Wu sneered, wondering what he was daydreaming about all day.
While saying she's cute, when actually facing her, I stammer and can't bring myself to say it.
Xu Wu put away her phone and stopped thinking about the matter.
There was one last bus at that time, and just as she arrived, the bus pulled up from not far away.
Besides her, several other day students from the same school boarded the bus at the same time. After glancing around and finding no seats, Xu Wu simply walked to the back door, grabbed the handrail, and stood there. It wasn't far anyway; it would only be two stops away.
"It's you." A middle-aged male voice suddenly rang in my ears.
Xu Wu tilted her head to find the source of the sound. A middle-aged man was sitting on a single seat opposite her. When he saw Xu Wu looking over, he gave her a friendly smile. Noticing her puzzled look, he patiently explained, "We met before, also on the bus, don't you remember?"
Hearing him say that, Xu Wu finally had a slight recollection, and her gaze towards him became subtle and disdainful.
She asked who it was, and it turned out to be the middle-aged man who had tried to chat her up when she went home for the holidays last week.
Ninety-five percent of men in the world, no matter what age they are, will never learn to be honest with their lower bodies; this is probably a case of "don't underestimate a poor middle-aged man."
Xu Wumo gripped the handrail tightly without saying a word as the bus arrived at the first stop.
"I don't really remember it." She smiled. "I never remember unimportant things."
Simply put, it means not taking it seriously.
The middle-aged man clearly understood, so he chuckled awkwardly twice, and seeing Xu Wu open the ride-hailing QR code, he immediately asked, "Are you also getting off around here?"
Xu Wu glanced at him: "No."
"Oh, I was just thinking of giving you a ride if it's on my way," the middle-aged man quickly tried to make amends.
Xu Wu didn't say anything, but the girl standing next to her who had just finished scanning the code heard her, rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man with disdain, gently poked Xu Wu's arm, and whispered, "Hey, I'm getting off at this stop, do you need me to take you home?"
She was wearing the same school uniform as Xu Wu, indicating they were students at the same school.
Xu Wu smiled at her and replied in the same voice, "It's okay, I'll get off at the next stop, thank you."
The girl wanted to say something, but the bus had already stopped at the stop. She didn't have time to speak, so she could only nod to Xu Wu and get off the bus.
The bus doors closed, and the next stop was a shopping mall. Across from the mall was the Xuefu residential area, where many students lived.
Xu Wu got off the bus with several students. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the man. He didn't get off, but his gaze remained fixed on her.
From the neck hidden by hair, to the girl's well-developed body, and finally to the pair of straight and slender legs encased in school uniform pants.
Naked and undisguised greed.
The moment Xu Wu heard the bus engine start, she turned around, gave the middle finger to the middle-aged man, and silently mouthed "idiot."
The middle-aged man seemed to widen his pupils slightly, but before he could react, the bus had already brushed past Xu Wu and driven away.
Xu Wu turned and left. When she got back, she insisted on staying in the bathroom for ten or twenty minutes, scrubbing her entire body. It was so disgusting that she almost threw up.
It's a bit of a distance from the mall back to the previous bus stop, but if you're not in a hurry, it should take about fifteen minutes.
As the weather gradually turned cooler at the end of October, Xu Wu looked up at the few stars in the dark sky and, if she was lucky, saw a passing plane, leaving a long trail of exhaust fumes.
Once this Friday is over, it will be early November.
The new policy recently implemented at No. 1 Middle School is "three weeks of classes followed by one week of rest." As the name suggests, this means making up for three weeks of classes on Saturdays and then taking a two-day break.
This week happens to be a rest week.
Ten minutes before the end of get out of class, the homeroom teacher walked in and clapped his hands: "Quiet down."
The voices below quieted down.
Upon seeing this, the homeroom teacher added: "The first monthly exam will be on Monday and Tuesday next week. After the exam, there will be a parent-teacher meeting on Friday. We will try our best to ensure that all parents attend. If there are any special circumstances, please go to the class monitor and explain. I will send the form to the class monitor later."
It's a long-standing tradition at No. 1 Middle School that a certain day at the beginning of each month is the time for the monthly exam, and a parent-teacher conference is held two or three days after the exam.
Xu Wu frowned, and when the school bell rang, she got up and went to find the class monitor.
The class monitor was a petite girl with short, ear-length hair. She was rather round, with a chubby face and baby fat, and two deep dimples on her face when she spoke.
"Do you have an invitation this year?" Xu Wu asked.
"It seems not," the class monitor said after thinking for a moment. "The teacher hasn't given me any yet. I heard from the class next door that they're not wasting paper this year."
Xu Wu breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the class monitor, and quickly packed her things to head to the bus stop.
Actually, the invitation letter is what she wants to complain about the most. Every time, she insists on having the parents sign it to make sure they have received it.
Fang Rumei had only attended one parent-teacher conference since she was a child. She vaguely remembered that it was when she had just married her stepfather, before her younger brother was born. It was the first and only time she had ever attended.
At first, she would feel bothered and awkward, and envy other people's mothers. But as time went on, she realized that it was nothing serious, so she figured it was fine if they didn't come. When she saw her classmates being scolded by their parents with their report cards, she would comfort herself by saying that it was good this way, at least no one would talk about her.
She signed most of the invitations herself after high school, since the school would take them back.
Fang Rumei had noticed it once before and complained that she hadn't told Xu Wu about the parent-teacher conference. Xu Wu casually replied that she had forgotten. Fang Rumei didn't mind and instead happily pulled her aside, saying, "Let me help you pick out what to wear to your parent-teacher conference."
At that time, Xu Wu was only a freshman in high school. She appeared indifferent, but when faced with Fang Rumei's pickiness, she would still give her opinions seriously. She thought to herself, "What if?"
There was no chance of anything going wrong, because at the parent-teacher meeting that day, only her parent was absent, leaving one empty seat in the otherwise packed classroom.
Afterwards, Fang Rumei asked her with a look of surprise, "Was it today? I thought it was tomorrow."
Xu Wu understood, and from then on, Fang Rumei never discovered her invitation again.
When the bus arrived at the station, Xu Wu headed towards her mother's house with practiced ease.
It had nothing to do with Fang Rumei's urging; it was simply that she realized she hadn't brought a bank card she rarely used. When she moved out, she had found all her important documents, but this card was the only one she couldn't find. She had thought of asking her mother if she had noticed it, but her mother said no.
There wasn't much money in my card, only two thousand yuan.
For Xu Wu right now, these two thousand yuan are almost as important as his life.
Just when she was about to give up, Fang Rumei suddenly sent her a photo in the morning, asking if it was this bank card.
This card was taken to the bank by her father before. Because the image for the mobile phone reservation can be customized, she chose SpongeBob SquarePants.
Xu Wu arrived at the entrance of the residential area at 5:30 pm and took the elevator upstairs.
He took out his keys from his bag and opened the closed door. He paused for a moment when he saw the person standing in the living room, then his face quickly turned cold, and the veins on his hand gripping the doorknob bulged: "What are you doing here?"
The man seemed surprised to run into Xu Wu. He stopped after taking only one sip of the Sprite in his hand, and his expression became slightly unnatural.
Lin Huiqing is the child of his stepfather's elder brother.
Logically speaking, he was her half-brother's cousin, and had nothing to do with her.
He is seven years older than Xu Wu, and is twenty-four years old this year. After graduating from university, he stayed in the neighboring province to work, and only recently returned this month.
I have stayed here before; I briefly stayed here for two months when Xu Wu was twelve years old.
I haven't seen that person since that incident.
He's different from before; he's gotten taller and thinner, and his features are the kind that grow on you.
"My aunt said you might come back. She took my cousin out because she had something to do." Lin Huiqing finished the can of Sprite in one gulp and threw it into the trash can at her feet.
His voice sounded really harsh to Xu Wu, who frowned.
She stood in the doorway, glanced at the blanket on the living room sofa, her heart sank, and she asked, suppressing her anger, "Who gave you that blanket?"
"My aunt gave it to me, what's wrong with that?" Lin Huiqing asked, puzzled. "Didn't I use this quilt before?"
"Before...?" Xu Wu's lips curled into a sarcastic smile, her face as cold as ice.
Realizing he had said the wrong thing, Lin Huiqing felt embarrassed.
But when he heard Xu Wu's pedantic speech, he finally turned his gaze to her and took a good look at her.
She's grown up and is even prettier than when she was twelve.
She had large breasts, a slim waist, and fair skin; even the slightest touch would leave a red mark there. Her eyes seemed to be alluring.
To be fair, his sister is the most captivating girl he's ever met.
Lin Huiqing pressed the tip of her tongue against her cheek, quickly putting on a warm smile. She stepped aside and said gently, "Did you come back to get something? Do you need any help?"
"Get lost." Xu Wu showed no mercy, not even bothering to feign genuine resistance and disgust.
Lin Huiqing didn't insist. Only after watching Xu Wu walk into the room did she suddenly come to her senses and calmly sit down on the sofa.
Xu Wu went in and came out less than two minutes later, carrying a bank card and a book in his hand.
Before Lin Huiqing could react, the book was thrown at her, opening as it hit the ground and revealing a photo album of the female protagonist in a swimming pool.
“If this kind of thing appears on my bed again, I’ll make sure your head explodes, just like before,” Xu Wu coldly warned him.
Upon hearing this, Lin Huiqing's expression became incredibly complex, and she gritted her teeth.
He could only obediently watch as Xu Wu slammed the door shut.
Once outside the building, Xu Wu felt liberated from the polluted air.
She was so close, so very close, that she almost grabbed something and threw it.
Memories may fade, but bodily reactions will not.
Xu Wu walked out of the residential area and bought a pack of wet wipes at a nearby convenience store. She carefully wiped the bank card and her hands, which had touched the book, inside and out.
It's filthy, incredibly filthy.
Bacteria will grow if you touch it.
After getting the card back, Xu Wu put it aside and didn't touch it.
Her online class and tutoring fees are paid weekly, depending on the number of students and the duration of the class, and are deposited into her account every Wednesday.
In November, the weather cooled down.
The long-sleeved school uniform was pulled out.
After the last monthly quiz on Tuesday afternoon, the class monitor led everyone to put their desks back in their original positions.
This week, Xu Wu was moved to the second group. Jie Ying was in the last position of the group next to her. The two hadn't exchanged a single word in the past few days. Occasionally, when they bumped into each other on the street, Xu Wu would pretend not to see Jie Ying's hesitant gaze.
A message popped up on the phone screen.
Fu Xi: Are you done with the exam? Come out, I'll be waiting for you outside.
Xu Wu replied with an "okay," then got up, picked up her bag, and walked outside.
After going downstairs, she saw Fu Xi standing in front of the flower bed waiting for her, with a boy she didn't recognize beside him. He was quite tall, probably about 1.8 meters.
-Who is that?
Xu Wu's eyes seemed to ask this question.
Fu Xi chuckled twice, pulled Xu Wu aside, and only after making sure the boy couldn't hear the conversation did he lower his voice and whisper, "Our class's academic representative, he said..."
"What did he say?"
Fu Xi hesitated, "Back then, we were short of a knight, so I went back to my class to ask, but they all said they couldn't come. After we confirmed Xie Ying, he suddenly asked me if I could give it a try."
Xu Wu paused for a moment: "You didn't tell him?"
"Why didn't I say that!" Fu Xi turned around and glanced at the class representative who was watching them, then forced himself to say to Xu Wu, "But he said that since it's not New Year's Day yet, there's still a possibility of competition."
"so......?"
"So..." Fu Xi sighed, rubbing his forehead, "What about Jie Ying..."
"You want to fire him?" Xu Wu frowned.
"Of course not," Fu Xi denied, then said with difficulty, "How about... you go and talk to the class representative?"
Then she added quietly, "Anyway, I came here specifically for you."
"......"
Xu Wu had a headache.
Unable to bear Fu Xi's pleading gaze, she had no choice but to walk towards the boy. When she got closer, she realized that he was actually about the same height as Jie Ying.
Unlike Jie Ying, his gaze towards Xu Wu was filled with undisguised joy, and he was the cheerful type.
Before Xu Wu could think of how to start the conversation, the boy smiled and extended his hand first: "Hello, I'm Shang Xu from Class Two."
Xu Wu hesitated for a moment before extending her hand: "Hello."
Just as their fingertips were about to touch, their wrists were suddenly grabbed by the person who came to them.
She was startled and subconsciously glanced to the side.
Author's Note: I'm holding back a little bit, hehehe, I wanted to refine it a bit.
I'll make some minor revisions tomorrow, and the word count will be a bit higher then.
I'll hold a giveaway later. Thank you so much everyone for the nutrient solution! (chewing) So delicious! [panda head][panda head]
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