Chapter 14
When the bell rang for the end of PE class, Song Qiuxuan and He Zhimian went to the equipment room to return the badminton rackets, chatting and laughing. The rackets were not of very good quality, and after being used for a long time, Song Qiuxuan was not used to using them at all.
Song Qiuxuan weighed it in her hand for a moment, then put it back on the shelf. She turned to He Zhimian and said, "If you want to play badminton with me again in PE class next time, I need to bring my badminton racket from home to school."
He Zhimian laughed and said, "Sure, I also really enjoyed playing badminton with my friends during free time in junior high school PE class."
He Zhimian later participated in the drawing of the bulletin board. Although she had never studied painting in an interest class, she liked cartoon characters in junior high school and would draw cartoon characters on her own when she had nothing to do. He Zhimian is the kind of person who has a talent for drawing. She explored the techniques on her own, and over time, she has become quite good at drawing.
Song Qiuxuan was responsible for writing motivational quotes on the blackboard. Their friendship in school started simply. They had similar personalities and got along well. They would chat while drawing the blackboard and share their thoughts. Since they were both loners in class, they naturally ended up together during physical education class.
When the two of them returned to the classroom, Song Qiuxuan saw a bottle of soda on her desk. Water droplets from the cold bottle slid down and wet the desk, indicating that it had been there for a while.
Song Qiuxuan subconsciously assumed it was from Lu Chengzhou, because he had given her this flavor of soda when he apologized yesterday. The seat in front of her was empty, and she looked around the classroom but didn't see Lu Chengzhou.
"Song Qiuxuan, who are you looking for?" Cheng Xun went to the restroom at the end of the corridor to wash his hands. When he came back, he saw Song Qiuxuan looking around. He wiped his hands with paper and asked in a low voice.
"I want to see who put the soda on my desk." Song Qiuxuan's forehead was covered in sweat, and her face was fair with a rosy glow after exercising. She looked up at Cheng Xun.
"It was me who gave it to her." Cheng Xun leaned lazily against the wall, turning her head to look at Song Qiuxuan, her tone seemingly carrying a hint of sadness that Song Qiuxuan hadn't expected.
He paused for a moment, then explained, "Remember the ice cream you treated my sister to at Xiou Park? You said you'd treat her to it back."
Song Qiuxuan exclaimed "Oh!" in realization. After understanding the cause and effect, she picked up the soda, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp. She needed a cold drink to quench her thirst after exercising, and the sip made her feel extremely refreshed.
The soda didn't feel as cold as if it had just been taken out of the freezer. Cheng Xun probably skipped the second half of PE class. Song Qiuxuan looked up at the bulletin board at the back of the classroom, and sure enough, it was more complete than yesterday.
"You're sweating a lot. Did you go running during free time in PE class?" Cheng Xun said jokingly.
Song Qiuxuan gave him a reproachful look and took out two tissues to wipe her sweat.
Song Qiuxuan reasonably suspected that Cheng Xun was mocking her poor physical fitness. In the last physical education class, the teacher tested the students' 800 and 1000 meters, and she came in third to last. At that time, Cheng Xun was sitting on the grass of the playground and witnessed the whole process. After returning to the class, he even mentioned to her that she should exercise more to improve her physical fitness.
"No, I went to play badminton." As she said this, Song Qiuxuan casually shifted her body back, trying to keep her expression natural.
Because Cheng Xun stayed in the classroom for the rest of the class, she didn't sweat and her whole body smelled clean and fresh. In comparison, Song Qiuxuan looked a little disheveled, with a few strands of sweaty hair falling on her side. She didn't know if she smelled of sweat, but she was still worried that Cheng Xun would be disgusted if she got too close.
Song Qiuxuan is not usually this sensitive, but she is different when she is with Cheng Xun. Although she is not ashamed, it seems that every cell in her body is on alert.
His face remained calm, but his heart was churning with emotions.
"Play badminton," Cheng Xun murmured softly, his eyes lowered as if deep in thought.
Song Qiuxuan casually said, "Hmm, do you know how to play badminton? We can have a match sometime."
Cheng Xun was about to blurt out "no" when he looked up at Song Qiuxuan, whose lips were curving into a smile. In his eyes, Song Qiuxuan was inviting him warmly, and he couldn't refuse. He swallowed the words back forcefully.
"I know a little." Cheng Xun thought that even if he knew nothing about badminton now, so what? She would find someone who knew badminton to teach him on the weekend. Cheng Xun didn't believe that he couldn't practice until he could exchange a few moves with her.
*
After school on Friday, only Song Qiuxuan and Cheng Xun remained after the students on duty left the classroom. The weather was exceptionally clear today. At six o'clock in the evening, a comfortable breeze swept through the corridor and into the classroom, feeling cool on the skin.
Cheng Xun stood in front of the blackboard, drawing with chalk in her hand. The blackboard was almost finished. He Zhimian was responsible for a smaller part and had already finished. She did not stay after school, while Song Qiuxuan, as the publicity committee member, naturally stayed to supervise Cheng Xun.
Song Qiuxuan had finished packing her weekend homework to take home. She was now lying on her desk with wired earphones in her ears, listening to her favorite songs. The cool breeze outside the window was so gentle and soothing that she almost dozed off.
Song Qiuxuan blinked, turned her head, and looked in Cheng Xun's direction.
At the time, the students did not raise any opinions, so the bulletin board was drawn according to Cheng Xun and He Zhimian's preferences and strengths. He Zhimian drew a few cartoon characters in the corner of the bulletin board, which were very cute and adorable, while Cheng Xun drew anime characters.
With Cheng Xun's back to her, Song Qiuxuan's gaze blatantly fell upon him as she scrutinized the anime characters he had drawn on the blackboard. Song Qiuxuan hadn't seen this foreign anime, only knowing that it was about youthful passion and struggle. Cheng Xun had drawn the characters vividly; five anime characters standing side by side in sportswear were raising a trophy together, their expressions filled with a triumphant and arrogant confidence, exuding a vibrant energy that perfectly matched the school's requirement for a positive and uplifting blackboard theme.
The empty classroom was quiet and peaceful. Song Qiuxuan's clear eyes were fixed on Cheng Xun's tall and slender figure. She suddenly wanted to know why Cheng Xun hadn't persisted in learning to paint.
A few minutes later, taking advantage of Cheng Xun's inattention, Song Qiuxuan secretly took out her phone, aimed it at Cheng Xun, and took a picture.
After taking the photo, Song Qiuxuan turned around guiltily, hid her phone under the table, opened the photo and examined it carefully. She smiled and looked very pleased with the photo.
The lighting in the photo was just right, with a ray of setting sun shining on Cheng Xun, giving him a slender figure that seemed to belong to a young man. The skin on his arms and neck was dazzlingly white, his profile was sharp and distinct, and his expression was focused and serious.
*
After finishing the bulletin board drawing, Song Qiuxuan and Cheng Xun walked to the parking shed together, and then pushed their bicycles out of the campus together.
"Do you want some milk tea?" Song Qiuxuan asked Cheng Xun, tilting her head as she held the handlebars of her bicycle.
Cheng Xun looked at Song Qiuxuan's eyes, whose pupils were very light in the sunlight, and remained silent for a few seconds, unsure whether he was hesitating or simply lost in her eyes.
Actually, Cheng Xun didn't really like sweet milk tea, but thinking that the walk to the milk tea shop would extend the time they spent together, he nodded.
They had only taken a few steps out of the school gate when they heard running sounds behind them. Then, Liang Shizhe, exuding a hot aura, rushed to Cheng Xun's side carrying a basketball.
Liang Shizhe glanced at Song Qiuxuan, then pretended to be angry and shoved Cheng Xun, panting as he said, "Cheng Xun, you lied to me. Didn't you say you had something to do and couldn't play basketball? What's going on now? I caught you lying. You'd better explain yourself."
Cheng Xun glanced sideways at Liang Shizhe, who had suddenly appeared, and explained casually, "I really had something to do, so I went to draw the blackboard bulletin."
As if anticipating Liang Shizhe's disbelief, he childishly added, "I'm just kidding, I'll never beat you at basketball in the future."
Liang Shizhe roughly wiped his sweat with the back of his hand, as if he had heard an outrageous joke, and patted his chest, saying irritably, "Dude, I'm better at basketball than you."
Liang Shizhe thought Cheng Xun would immediately refute him, but he found that Cheng Xun remained silent and looked at him with an unfriendly gaze, as if he had disturbed Cheng Xun's good time.
Liang Shizhe frowned, belatedly realizing that Cheng Xun was annoyed that he was being tactless and interfering with his time alone with the girl!
How come I never noticed before that Cheng Xun prioritizes romance over friendship?
Liang Shizhe looked Song Qiuxuan up and down and recognized her as the girl who had walked with Cheng Xun on the rainy day last time.
She was Cheng Xun's deskmate. Liang Shizhe would go to find Cheng Xun after class and would catch her explaining problems to Cheng Xun a few times.
Liang Shizhe tentatively asked Song Qiuxuan, "Classmate, are you leaving school so late to draw on the blackboard bulletin board too?"
Liang Shizhe was wondering why Cheng Xun would draw the blackboard newspaper, because Cheng Xun was very resistant to participating in blackboard newspaper drawing in junior high school. But if this girl also participated, then everything makes sense.
Something unusual must be going on. Cheng Xun was only willing to draw the bulletin board because of her.
Liang Shizhe knew that Cheng Xun had studied drawing for two years when he was a child. He found out by accidentally finding a white draft paper in Cheng Xun's desk drawer when they were deskmates in junior high school. The entire draft paper had no trace of calculation or derivation process. It was full of figures drawn by Cheng Xun with pencils or water-based pens. Most of the figures drawn were anime characters, which were drawn very realistically. Liang Shizhe was quite surprised at the time. He did not expect Cheng Xun to be such a good artist.
However, Cheng Xun seemed unwilling to let anyone know about this special skill. His attitude left Liang Shizhe puzzled. Did he hate or like painting?
If you like it, why have you never shown your paintings to anyone, and why don't you even have a proper sketchbook, only using simple and cheap paper?
If you hate it, why do you still persist?
Some time later, Liang Shizhe went to Cheng Xun's house to play video games and learned that Cheng Xun's journey of learning to draw had begun and ended because of his older brother. His brother, Cheng Ting, had developed an interest in drawing, and their parents were very supportive, sending both brothers to an art school without hesitation. When Cheng Ting considered giving up, they immediately stopped attending the school's classes. From beginning to end, no one asked or cared about Cheng Xun's thoughts. He entered the hobby class in a daze, slowly accepted drawing until he even liked it, and then abruptly withdrew.
Cheng Xun was like a drifting boat, unable to decide which direction it would take.
By acting indifferent, by acting as if he didn't really like drawing, everything seemed less regrettable, and he seemed less unimportant. Cheng Xun began to deceive himself.
Song Qiuxuan, who had been walking quietly beside them, was suddenly mentioned by him. She paused for a second, then shook her head: "I am the publicity committee member, so I stayed in the classroom as well."
Liang Shizhe gave a meaningful, drawn-out "Oh," which made sense; in short, Cheng Xun had made an exception for this girl.
"You two get along well, I won't bother you anymore." Liang Shizhe backed away and waved to the two of them, then swayed away with the basketball in his arms. Before turning around, he gave Cheng Xun a "I understand" look, as if he were a very good person.
Ten minutes later, Song Qiuxuan and Cheng Xun came out of the milk tea shop.
Song Qiuxuan took a sip of milk tea, savoring the smooth taro paste and soft, chewy mochi, and inwardly praised it with satisfaction.
As dusk settled, pedestrians came and went on the streets, and the trees along the road rustled in the wind, dropping a few withered yellow leaves.
Song Qiuxuan's shoes crunched on the fallen leaves with a crisp sound. She turned her head to look at Cheng Xun, who was drinking lemon tea, which she rarely ordered. The straw was pressed against his lips, making his lips glisten with a hint of luster.
Cheng Xun noticed her gaze, turned her head to meet her eyes, and asked, "Song Qiuxuan, when did you say we'd play badminton together?"
Song Qiuxuan stared blankly and said "Ah." The topic came suddenly, and it seemed like she took two seconds to understand his words. In fact, she didn't expect Cheng Xun to remember this. It was just a casual remark at the time, and there was no agreement that the two of them would actually play badminton together.
Song Qiuxuan said, "I made a promise with He Zhimian for PE class. If you have time on the weekend, we can go to the gym together to play."
The thought of playing badminton with Cheng Xun brought a secret joy to Song Qiuxuan's heart.
It seems that anything becomes very different when it's related to someone you like; it becomes profoundly meaningful, something to look forward to, and something to be overjoyed with.
Cheng Xun said with some distress, "This weekend won't work."
Song Qiuxuan didn't ask Cheng Xun what he was going to do on the weekend, but just smiled and said, "It's nothing, a semester is so long, we can play together whenever we have time."
After walking for a while, Cheng Xun said again, "Can I video call you this weekend?"
Upon hearing this, Song Qiuxuan choked on her milk tea, and then heard Cheng Xun say, "I want to ask you a question you don't understand."
Song Qiuxuan felt ashamed of the speculations that had popped into her head. The other person just wanted to ask a question, but she had misunderstood. Song Qiuxuan turned her head away, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and said casually, "Sure."
When Cheng Xun heard her agree, a smile appeared in his eyes, and the aloofness around him dissipated somewhat.
*
On both weekend evenings, Song Qiuxuan would receive messages from Cheng Xun between 8:30 and 10:00 PM. Cheng Xun probably knew that she would be going to the library in the afternoon, so he would only contact her during that time. The calls usually didn't last long, only about 30 minutes, as if he was trying to minimize the impact on Song Qiuxuan's life.
Cheng Xun would always ask her if it was a convenient time for a video call before making a call; he would never call her without her consent.
On Sunday, after finishing explaining the problem and hanging up the video call, Song Qiuxuan was about to put down her phone when it vibrated.
Cheng Xun: Do you have any songs you like to listen to?
Song Qiuxuan: Yes.
After sending the message, she immediately recommended her favorite songs to Cheng Xun.
Song Qiuxuan: Do you have any songs you like to recommend to me?
Song Qiuxuan did not receive a reply from Cheng Xun immediately, so she picked up her cup and went to the living room to get water.
"Xuanxuan, I bought a carton of milk at the supermarket today. Remember to take it to school tomorrow." Xu Yanzhen, who was lying on the sofa, pointed to the carton next to the refrigerator and said this as if giving a reminder.
"I'll remember." Song Qiuxuan glanced at the idol drama playing on TV with little interest, then took her water glass and went back to her bedroom.
At this moment, Cheng Xun sent a message recommending his favorite songs to Song Qiuxuan.
Song Qiuxuan put on his headphones and listened to his favorite songs.
Song Qiuxuan typed as she listened: So you like listening to sad love songs.
She categorized songs with lyrics that conveyed regret and made listeners feel calm and melancholic as "bitter love songs."
Cheng Xun: So this is called a sad love song.
Song Qiuxuan smiled and said: "Yes."
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