Chapter 13 He has always been deep within her life…
When Chen Jizhou went to get his car, the rain had almost stopped.
Unable to get a spot on the indoor court due to the rain, he didn't play basketball today. After class, he walked towards the bike shed, passing the school's artificial pond. He glanced at it briefly and spotted a familiar figure. He saw the boy walking with her, holding an umbrella for her. Chen Jizhou paused for a few seconds by the pond, his gaze unobstructed to the other side. In the middle of the figures, a misty fog rose, like a stage backdrop, and he was behind it all.
Li Shuheng was also very tall, slender, steady, and gentlemanly, with the umbrella tilted towards her.
Jiang Meng was smiling and saying something to the other person, but Chen Jizhou couldn't hear her.
Sometimes, it's hard to say whether it's just bad luck that keeps running into such glaring scenes. Or is it fate guiding us, letting our paper-thin thoughts be drenched by the rain?
A faint sense of loss lingered in the water's reflection, but it was dispersed by the water droplets falling from the branches. The moment he stepped across the pond, the loss quickly dissipated and returned to normal.
Because of the rain, many people parked their cars in the carport. Due to poor management, many cars were parked haphazardly.
"This is so annoying, how did it get like this? This broken electric scooter is so heavy, even Yu Gong would curse it." Wei Zhiwen wanted to get his bicycle out of the corner, but he was frustrated because he couldn't move the electric scooter outside, so he muttered to himself.
Out of the corner of his eye, someone was approaching, and Wei Zhiwen glanced back.
A tall boy stood in the shed, watching him. Behind him was a curtain of drizzling rain, and the light was dim. His expression was calm and relaxed, with a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
...Why does it sound like you're gloating?
Wei Zhiwen clicked his tongue, and Chen Jizhou immediately composed himself, raising his hands to prove his innocence, "I didn't laugh."
Wei Zhiwen let him off the hook, and continued to curse and swear as he moved the cars, his face turning red from the effort.
Chen Jizhou waited for a while, then finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Come out."
Wei Zhiwen looked relieved, as if he had finally heard those words, and quickly made way for them, saying, "Hmm, see if you can move it."
Chen Jizhou walked over, didn't touch the cars, reached out and easily lifted his bicycle out.
Wei Zhiwen stared in disbelief, then quickly sighed, "No, you're just making me look weak."
"..." Chen Jizhou couldn't stand it anymore as soon as he put the car on the ground. "Fine, I'll put it back for you."
"No, no, no, I accept." Wei Zhiwen smiled ingratiatingly and pressed the car back to the ground.
While Wei Zhiwen was unlocking the door, Chen Jizhou carried his own car out. As he pushed the car forward, the person in front of him suddenly stopped, and Chen Jizhou almost bumped into his rear wheel.
Chen Jizhou followed Wei Zhiwen's gaze to what he saw.
Li Shuheng is taking photos of Jiang Meng.
Behind the girl was a magnolia tree carved into pieces, and she generously showed her beautiful smile to his camera.
Even Wei Zhiwen couldn't stand it anymore: "Why is it this guy again? I'm going to report him to Lao Tao."
Chen Jizhou withdrew his gaze from the distance and glared at him.
Wei Zhiwen hesitated: "Forget it, I'll protect my goddess." He shook his head and lamented the decline of morality, "These days, anyone can find a girlfriend."
Wei Zhiwen really dislikes Li Shuheng.
Chen Jizhou didn't have such intense emotions as him, even though they had clashed head-on.
He knew Li Shuheng because he sat near Jiang Meng in their first year of high school, and Chen Jizhou had seen him a few times while waiting for her at the school gate after school. Their real contact began at the sports meet earlier this year. There was a boy in Chen Jizhou's class named Lu Yixuan, the sports committee member. He was tall and strong, and dominated many events. Aside from the sports students, he basically won all the rankings, achieving a brilliant record.
After the first day of competition ended, they were playing basketball as a team that night. When Li Shuheng collided with Lu Yixuan while fighting for the ball, Lu Yixuan twisted his ankle. Although there was no external injury, he was unable to participate in the events the next day.
Chen Jizhou asked him what other events he had planned to participate in, and he said there was one he would compete against Li Shuheng in: the high jump.
Chen Jizhou often wondered, is first place really that important?
The answer is, of course.
Everyone says how glorious it is to be number one, whether in an exam or a competition, because that's how they've been taught since childhood.
No one can say for sure that he deliberately crashed into it, or that he used such a treacherous tactic to eliminate a formidable opponent and retain his first-place position for tomorrow's competition.
But everyone has their own intuition.
Chen Jizhou could tell that this taciturn boy, who even showed concern after the other person was injured, was not a kind person.
Chen Jizhou took on the task; why shouldn't they accept the spot for their class? However, by the time he tried to register, it would be too late.
So that day, he went up wearing Lu Yixuan's number tag.
The class pinned their hopes on Chen Jizhou, and before the competition, they all came over to help him massage his shoulders and legs, saying, "But you didn't register, so your results can't be recorded, right?"
Chen Jizhou's sharp gaze turned to the distance. The check-in announcement came on, and he grabbed the number and stood up. His voice was calm but arrogant: "Don't care about the ranking, just go for it."
...
There were still a lot of people after school, and Chen Jizhou hadn't even left the school gate yet, so he could only push his bike and walk forward while wearing headphones.
A very soft English song was playing in his headphones, not loud enough to block out the noise of the bustling crowd. So, he could clearly hear a girl's clear, bright voice coming from beside him—
"It seems Uncle Xiangzi is quite difficult to deal with. He only gave you two rides as a token gesture, and now you're back to your arduous commute on your rickshaw."
Jiang Meng put her hands behind her back and looked up at Chen Jizhou.
The same smile was shared with him, and the wind chimes in his heart were awakened. The dark clouds would dissipate in an instant, and even the twilight of the rainy season had the gentle, scattered light of the setting sun.
He wiped the slate clean of his unhappiness.
Jiang Meng appeared with a beaming smile, making the surrounding wet scenery seem dim, so that his eyes could only see this beautiful face.
"It's not hard work, I'm relaxed."
Chen Jizhou took off his headphones and put them in his pocket, then slowly pushed the bike and walked with her.
He glanced around briefly, as if to make sure her companions had left and that the fishbone-like figure wouldn't suddenly reappear, pressing against his throat and silencing him.
She will walk the rest of the way with him.
Jiang Meng's heart was not as bright as her expression.
From Chen Jizhou's perspective, she kept her head down, looking at her toes, not even looking at where she was going, and seemed preoccupied.
He held the handlebars with one hand, the other in his pocket, his fingertips twirling the tangled headphone wire. After a while, he asked her, "What did you say to him in the equipment room that day?"
Jiang Meng looked at him: "Which day?"
After asking the question subconsciously, the keyword "equipment room" triggered a memory from not long ago, and she guessed who he was asking: "Oh, didn't I want to be a model before? I asked Li Shuheng to take photos for me to train my sense of the camera and my expressiveness."
She answered casually, then lowered her head again, clearly not caring much about the matter and preoccupied with other things.
Chen Jizhou gave a low "hmm".
He wanted to ask her if she was coming home for dinner tonight.
In the past, when Chen Jizhou treated her to meals, he didn't need to mince words; he would simply drag her into the shop and force her to sit down. Jiang Meng would inexplicably pout and ask him, "Don't you have any other friends?!"
He cupped his chin in his hands, making his face look like a flower, and stared at her with a beaming smile: "Yes, there's a whole bunch, but I just like eating with you. Eat up, eat up, I'm rich."
Later, it became less appropriate to casually say the word "like".
Chen Jizhou tangled the earphone cord for a while longer, until he had probably made about ten knots, then he cleared his throat and finally asked, "Shall we have dinner together today?"
"Okay." Jiang Meng answered quickly, as if she hadn't thought it through, which didn't match the way he had carefully crafted his invitation.
Chen Jizhou looked down at her delicate eyebrows and pretty nose: "What do you want to eat?"
Jiang Meng said, "I'm so hungry for Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste)! Some guys were eating it in class at lunchtime."
"good."
There's a famous snack shop nearby, run by an old lady, which Jiang Meng frequented for a while.
Chen Jizhou said, "You go first, I'll find a place to lock the car."
Jiang Meng went to the shop and ordered two bowls of noodles.
As she sat down, the sticky raindrops from earlier seemed to still cling to her neck.
The older folks all say that you shouldn't get wet during the plum rain season, so she took out a wet wipe and started wiping. Although the rain streaks had disappeared, Jiang Meng kept doing this, trying to wipe away something—the mottled, moldy, things that would corrode her—until the movements became mechanically tiring and her skin ached from the friction.
Chen Jizhou came in.
"Have you ordered?"
She looked at him without replying, then suddenly blurted out, "If only everyone were as confident as you."
Chen Jizhou pulled out a stool and sat down, asking with amusement, "Who's lacking confidence?"
The name she wanted to say was on the tip of her tongue, but Jiang Meng swallowed it back.
She had a gut feeling that the two of them didn't get along, probably because of what happened in the high jump last time. Chen Jizhou beat Li Shuheng, and won in a very impressive way. Although it was just a small sports meet, the competitive spirit between boys could be quite subtle, and she couldn't really empathize with him.
But it always felt strange; Chen Jizhou wasn't the type to fight for attention.
The people around Jiang Meng don't have very straightforward personalities, including herself.
Jiang Meng avoids conflict because she is afraid that if she falls into the cracks in the seemingly harmonious human relationships, she will be at a loss.
Xie Zhuo has his own set of wise thinking. He is always as steady as Mount Tai, never argues with fools, and will not quarrel with people he gets along with. When he encounters people he doesn't get along with, he will silently nod and say that they are right, and will take the initiative to avoid their sharp edge and quietly stay away.
Chen Jizhou is incredibly shrewd and worldly-wise. His motto is "flexible thinking," and he can get along with anyone. His popularity is off the charts. Such a person is complex and cunning. But he is not without principles. When necessary, his youthful sharpness can leave no one alive.
On the playground that day, the high jump was the last event to be held. Chen Jizhou performed more than twenty standard Fosbury Flop moves almost perfectly. The boy's superior and healthy physique was fully displayed in this sport, showing his steadiness, agility, and vitality.
The spectators enjoyed the game immensely. Some were tense about the constantly narrowing score, while others secretly raised their cameras to admire the cool poses. One high jump was even styled like a contestant's move.
The field was packed with onlookers, and the six-story girls' dormitory building directly opposite the field was surrounded by people on every balcony.
Jiang Meng stood outside the crowd, unaware of the situation. She had long been used to Chen Jizhou's unruly temperament. He was fresh and handsome in the eyes of others, but as his childhood friend, Jiang Meng was no longer very interested in him.
When Jiang Meng came out after dinner, there were still as many people as before, and the competition even seemed to be more intense. She finally couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why are you still competing?"
Su Yu also wondered, "Is Chen Jizhou at odds with that person?"
Chen Jizhou easily jumped over the 1.85-meter bar, walked out of the crowd, wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts, exuding a clean and dazzling youthful vibe. Tall and eye-catching, he casually and quickly pulled his hair back, revealing his deep-set, small face. Then he picked up his water bottle and drank half of it in two gulps.
Majestic, wild, and spirited.
Even the boys passing by couldn't help but exclaim in a vulgar, "Damn, Chen Jizhou is on fire! If I were ten centimeters taller, I'd train for high jump too. He's so damn handsome!"
He stood at the starting line, supporting his back, without looking in Jiang Meng's direction.
But she saw the arrogance and ambition in his eyes, which was aggressive.
He is not that kind of person.
Chen Jizhou never strives to be number one.
He disliked exam rankings the most; the desire to win or lose was not in his vocabulary; he never cared about the things that trapped everyone's youth.
During dinner, Zhao Yuanting came over and said, "Breaking news! Li Shuheng, who won the high jump championship for three consecutive years, has been overtaken by Chen Jizhou. Is this news reliable?"
Su Yu raised her hand to speak, very proudly: "It's true, you could say it was absolutely crushed."
As she spoke, she made a rubbing motion on a washboard.
While reminiscing about that match, Su Yu analyzed it with great professionalism: "It seems that Li Shuheng used to win..."
Firstly, he has a significant height advantage, which is very obvious when clearing the bar. Chen Jizhou's waist bends very flexibly. If you see how beautifully he jumps, you'll realize that Li Shuheng's body is actually a bit stiff. He has difficulty with that arched back posture; he goes straight over, and his movement isn't very fluid.
Zhao Yuanting only half understood what she was hearing, but she gave a meaningful "Oh~" and nudged Jiang Meng next to her: "Looks like you have a good back."
"..."
Jiang Meng almost stabbed herself in the mouth with her chopsticks because of her nudge, and quickly glared at her.
Su Yu still analyzed naively: "Not entirely. Maybe the basic skills in training weren't up to par, but the second place is still very impressive."
After much deliberation, two bowls of noodles were served.
Jiang Meng stopped researching the matter and didn't bring up the topic of confidence or lack thereof. Suddenly, she asked a question that jumped from her thoughts: "Chen Jizhou, what kind of flower do you think I am?"
I thought that if I asked that question, someone would ridicule me, saying, "What's wrong with you?"
But Chen Jizhou answered the question seriously: "Rose."
He answered the questions too quickly, even appearing perfunctory.
Jiang Meng was a little surprised. She slightly parted her lips to look at him, then pursed them tightly after a while: "But some people say I'm too fragile. Isn't this too passionate?"
The completely different answer made her delicate eyebrows furrow, and Jiang Meng fell into thought again.
Chen Jizhou looked at her and chuckled.
He was genuinely laughing; his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and his expression was full of mockery. Sure enough, he didn't say anything nice: "You're quite fragile. You actually care what kind of flower people say you're like. Is that normal human thinking?"
"..."
What a sharp tongue!
Jiang Meng puffed out her cheeks, about to retort, when she heard him say, "But there's more beauty in it."
Chen Jizhou looked her over, not with a deep, penetrating gaze, but with just a brief glance. Yet, her confusion was easily resolved in his eyes: "A wilted rose is still a rose."
Just when she was almost tricked into a state of weakness, a hand gently straightened her drooping head.
The little struggle she had just gone through ten minutes ago was gently resolved by him; no one understood her better than Chen Jizhou.
Jiang Meng smiled, a smile that seemed to brighten after the storm. She thought to herself, "Ordinary classmates and good friends really can't be compared."
He didn't need to zoom in or zoom out to understand her.
He has always been deep within her life.
This is true tranquility, this is true gentleness.
Jiang Meng broke apart her chopsticks and looked down. She realized that she had been preoccupied with something and had forgotten to tell the owner she didn't want shredded carrots. She had only been frozen in this action for two seconds when Chen Jizhou had already tacitly brought his bowl over.
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