Chapter 19
Autumn has officially arrived in the blink of an eye. After days of increasingly chilly autumn rains, the sky has finally cleared up for once.
Despite the sunny weather that made the rented courtyard feel warm, Xu Qingzhou felt cold as she was about to leave. She turned back and put on a jacket under her school uniform, running out while putting on the jacket and carrying her schoolbag.
Unlike her hurried pace in the morning, Chi Jun sat at the dining table and ate breakfast slowly, exuding the leisurely and calm aura of an old man drinking tea under a tree.
He only called out to her once when Xu Qingzhou ran out the door.
"Xu Qingzhou".
Xu Qingzhou, who was zipping up his school uniform, suddenly stopped and turned around to look at him.
Chi Jun glanced at the sky outside and casually reminded him, "It might rain this afternoon."
Xu Qingzhou glanced at the sky above the courtyard. The sky was clear and the sun was dazzling, with only a few scattered white clouds. It didn't look like it was going to rain at all.
Because it was cold, she got up a little late this morning, and now she doesn't have time to linger.
Xu Qingzhou didn't even write a word. He looked at Chi Jun, quickly pointed to the sky, and shook his head.
The implication is: It doesn't look like it will rain today.
Chi Jun said "Oh" and didn't say anything more, then stuffed another bite of steamed bun into his mouth.
The sound of footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor.
The male ghost craned his neck to look at the sky outside, then turned to ask Chi Jun:
How did you know it was going to rain?
Chi Jun casually stirred the bowl of vegetable and vermicelli soup in front of him with a spoon: "I heard it from someone while playing ball yesterday."
There's no need to make wild guesses about the weather. After all, with the widespread use of smartphones, everyone can easily get the latest information by simply browsing a weather app, even pinpointing the exact time and intensity of the rain.
Therefore, the male ghost knew that Chi Jun must have heard from others that the other person had seen the phone before speaking.
"Then why didn't you remind the little mute girl a couple more times to bring an umbrella?"
Chi Jun paused, the spoon he was about to feed paused, and he lifted his eyelids to look at him:
"Do you think I'm bored?"
Male ghost: "..."
Aren't you bored out of your mind every day...?
However, the male ghost didn't say this directly, and even if he had, it wouldn't have mattered.
After all, he clearly saw Chi Jun's attitude towards the little mute after he stayed behind—
He appears approachable and easygoing, but in reality, he draws a clear line between himself and the little mute girl, barely even asking about her, let alone acting like a caring older brother who would nag his "sister" to bring an umbrella.
This relationship is worse than that of roommates.
*
Xu Qingzhou got up a little late in the morning and basically ran all the way to school.
Unfortunately, the traffic lights on the road seemed to be deliberately working against her, and she encountered almost only red lights along the way.
Xu Qingzhou waited anxiously, and finally rushed into the classroom almost as soon as the morning reading bell rang.
Fortunately, the teacher hasn't arrived yet.
Xu Qingzhou quickly walked to his seat, hung his schoolbag on the back of the chair, and pulled out his Chinese textbook from the bag while regulating his breathing.
As she turned around, she noticed her deskmate looking at her, hesitant to speak, as if she had something to say to her.
Several classmates around her turned to look at her, intentionally or unintentionally.
Xu Qingzhou paused, about to ask his deskmate what was wrong with his eyes, when he caught a glimpse of a figure appearing at the front door.
It was our homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhao.
Old Zhao is used to patrolling the classroom during morning self-study.
Xu Qingzhou didn't take it seriously and took out his Chinese textbook to read it silently first.
Unexpectedly, after circling around the aisle between the desks as usual, Old Zhao stopped beside her and patted her on the shoulder.
Xu Qingzhou looked up.
Old Zhao beckoned: "Come to my office for a moment."
*
Xu Qingzhou spent the entire morning self-study session in his office.
It wasn't until the bell rang for the end of morning self-study that Old Zhao waved his hand and said, "Alright, you can go back to your class now."
Xu Qingzhou pursed her lips and silently turned away.
It was only half an hour of morning reading time. When I stepped out of the office again, the morning sun had already disappeared behind a large patch of thin clouds.
A gust of autumn wind blew by, carrying a few fallen leaves into the corridor, some of which landed right at Xu Qingzhou's feet.
Stepping on it, a loud "crack" sounded as it shattered.
Xu Qingzhou rubbed his eyes, his nose feeling a little sore.
She has always been obedient and dutiful since childhood, striving to fulfill the duties of a student. Since her parents passed away and she moved to her uncle and aunt's house, she has been even more cautious and restrained, fearing that she might make the slightest mistake.
Because she knew that once her parents were called in, her uncle and aunt would not come to the school.
Grandma, however, didn't want an elderly woman with faltering steps to have to pitifully travel a long way to school to listen to the teacher's criticism.
Therefore, Xu Qingzhou had never been reprimanded by his teachers during his more than ten years of schooling.
But today, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhao, held the report card, his face extremely serious and gloomy—
"Look at your grades, the situation is very serious, Xu Qingzhou."
"You've been dozing off and daydreaming in class. Two or three teachers have already mentioned this to me. Also, that evening tutoring class—did you really go to tutoring class?"
"You're already in your final year of high school! Time is running out, everyone's on edge, so what are you thinking about right now? Huh?"
"Come on, tell me now, what's the deal with all those letters on your table?"
On the way back to the classroom, Xu Qingzhou could still hear the resounding criticism from his homeroom teacher.
During breaks, the corridors are bustling with students.
Xu Qingzhou's eyes reddened from holding back her tears, and her throat felt sore and sore.
She walked slowly toward the classroom with her head down.
Just as I reached the back door, a pair of feet suddenly appeared in front of me.
Xu Qingzhou didn't look up, but moved to the side. Unexpectedly, those feet moved as well, blocking her way once again.
Xu Qingzhou looked up.
The girl in front of him seemed a little embarrassed. She looked around, her face somber, and lowered her voice to say:
"I've come to retrieve my letter. I thought you'd already given it to your brother, why were you hiding it?"
Xu Qingzhou remained silent, unable to respond.
At that moment, she turned her head and saw two girls about three meters away staring at her, looking somewhat uneasy.
Their eyes met, and the girl stepped forward as well, speaking in a similarly soft voice:
"We've come to get the letter."
Are there many letters that are read aloud in public?
"I'm speechless..."
It turned out that the boy who bumped into Xu Qingzhou's desk last night, upon seeing the letters scattered all over the floor, immediately tore one open and read it aloud with great emotion, eliciting laughter from the entire class.
Before evening self-study was even over, the news had spread like wildfire throughout most of the senior year.
Upon hearing this, the girls who had sent letters to Xu Qingzhou were all filled with apprehension.
I initially held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that as long as it wasn't my own letter being read, I could just pretend it never happened, since the envelope wasn't signed anyway.
But this morning, news of Xu Qingzhou being called to the homeroom teacher's office spread quickly.
Some people say that when he went to the office to hand in his homework, he happened to run into the homeroom teacher asking Xu Qingzhou who wrote the love letters.
News always spreads like wildfire, changing with each passing tale. Eventually, the message became that the homeroom teacher had ordered Xu Qingzhou to return the letter to him, so he could investigate which students were neglecting their studies and spending all their time thinking about romance. He was to then go to each of their homeroom teachers and have them talk to the students in their respective classes.
The girls were in a panic.
As soon as morning self-study ended, they all rushed over to ask for the letter.
Xu Qingzhou was unaware of these rumors; she simply noticed that a lot of people were looking for her today.
She walked out of the classroom again and again.
He also faced repeated expressions of dissatisfaction and ridicule from girls.
*
At 2 PM, dark clouds loomed over the city.
The classroom was dimly lit. Halfway through the math lesson, the teacher couldn't resist stopping and asking the student sitting by the wall to turn on the light.
Xu Qingzhou looked out the window.
The leaves were bent to one side by the wind, and sure enough, raindrops began to fall.
She remembered that Chi Jun had told her in the morning that it would rain, but she looked at the sky and firmly believed that today would be a good day.
And now it's actually raining.
Chi Jun is probably at home right now thinking, "Serves her right for not listening to advice; she deserves to get soaked in the rain."
Xu Qingzhou slowly withdrew his gaze and focused it back on the blackboard.
Today is destined to be a miserable day for her.
*
Because rain was expected in the afternoon, Chi Jun did not go out after lunch.
First, she took a nap, then read a book for a while after waking up. When she got tired of reading, she dragged the male ghost to play chess with her.
The male ghost was utterly hopeless at chess. Even after Chi Jun taught him for a while, he still played haltingly, looking around nervously, and couldn't find any enjoyment in it. Finally, he couldn't help but say:
"If you don't want to read, you can play that little game console."
Chi Jun glanced at the old-fashioned game console that had been abandoned in the corner, with few games and limited modes.
"I don't want to play."
"You've only played a few times and you don't want to play anymore?"
"It has to do with whether the game itself is fun or not, not with how many times you play it."
"..."
The male ghost knew he was right, but he still couldn't help rolling his eyes.
"That little mute is such an unlucky guy. I spent money to buy you all this stuff, and you don't even play with it. What a waste of money."
Chi Jun chuckled.
"How could it be a waste?"
He calmly made his move, then looked up and said, "She'll only be happy if I accept her gift. Rather than saying it's a waste, it's more accurate to say she's spending money to make herself happy."
As she spoke, she shamelessly raised an eyebrow at the male ghost.
Male ghost: "?"
Spending money on you has turned into her spending money to make herself happy?
That's a fallacy, a complete fallacy.
After thinking for a long time, I still couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
Looking down at the chessboard again, the male ghost became even more agitated, throwing a tantrum and yelling, "I'm not playing anymore! I'm not playing anymore!" To prevent Chi Jun from forcing him to continue playing, he simply waved his hand, and a gust of wind instantly overturned the chessboard, scattering the chess pieces all over the ground.
Just as Chi Jun was about to speak, the male ghost suddenly pointed outside, clearly changing the subject—
"Oh dear, it really is raining!"
Chi Jun shook his head speechlessly.
He bent down and picked up the scattered chess pieces one by one, and then he heard the male ghost chattering in his ear:
"Tsk tsk, this rain looks pretty heavy. It probably won't stop anytime soon, will it?"
"It's a pity the little mute didn't bring an umbrella."
"With this rain... and this wind alone, I'm afraid I'll catch a cold... A cold is fine, but I'm worried about getting a fever..."
Chi Jun ignored him and focused on finding the last missing "chariot" piece.
He looked around but didn't see anything. Just as he was about to go to the bedside to see if it had rolled under the bed, the male ghost suddenly rushed in front of him like a gust of wind, grinning with his big teeth and suggesting:
"Brother Jun, since we're so bored, how about we pick up Little Mute from school today?"
Chi Jun stared at him expressionlessly.
After a while—
"I'm not going."
Male ghost: "Why?"
Chi Jun: "I'm delicate and frail, and I'm afraid of getting a fever."
"..."
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