Chapter 36
As the end of the semester approached, Song Qiuxuan's mood took a sharp turn for the worse.
For the past two weeks, the breakup has been like a dense, gloomy cloud gathering in her heart, making her feel particularly bad. Now, however, there is another thing troubling her.
After the campus cleanup that day, Xia Yingjia openly and secretly spread the news among the dormitories that Song Qiuxuan had stolen her bracelet.
This month has been incredibly unlucky. Of all the things that happened, she was assigned to the dorm for the big cleaning, and of all things, she went into the bathroom where the bracelet was hanging, and of all things, the bracelet disappeared during that time.
All the suspicious signs pointed to Song Qiuxuan, and the incident became a hot topic of discussion in the girls' dormitory. Song Qiuxuan was doing her homework in her seat in the classroom, and sometimes when she looked up unintentionally, she would meet some strange gazes.
After the incident escalated, Song Qiuxuan explained to Xia Yingjia that she hadn't seen the bracelet that day, let alone stolen it, but Xia Yingjia insisted that she was making excuses. Seeing this, Song Qiuxuan stopped explaining and demanded that Xia Yingjia produce evidence.
At the time, Xia Yingjia arrogantly retorted, "Song Qiuxuan, who else could it be but you? You were the only one who went into the bathroom on the day of the big cleaning. You knew there were no cameras in the dormitory, yet you still asked me to produce evidence. What were you up to? When you stole, you probably knew that even if you were caught, I wouldn't be able to produce any substantial evidence."
"Stop talking nonsense. Get the two thousand yuan ready. If you pay me back, I won't hold it against you."
Song Qiuxuan was lost in thought again. She shook her head in frustration and then put down the pen she was holding tightly.
In order not to let what happened during this period affect her studies, Song Qiuxuan had no choice but to sit at her desk for an extra hour after returning home from evening self-study.
After glancing at the time, Song Qiuxuan turned off the lamp and lay down on the bed.
She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and thought of Cheng Xun again.
Song Qiuxuan secretly mocked herself, thinking how forgetful she was. Even after how he treated her, she still tormented herself by repeatedly thinking about him.
She even thought that if they were still together, she would definitely tell him about this absurd thing. Even though they had broken up, Song Qiuxuan still firmly believed that Cheng Xun would stand by her side. Perhaps if she had been comforted, she wouldn't feel the bitterness of youth like she does now.
It was probably late at night when emotional breakdowns were most frequent. Song Qiuxuan crawled into her warm bed, curled up into a ball, and felt so distressed that cold tears kept welling up in her eyes.
I fell asleep that night with tears in my eyes.
*
When winter arrives, the biting cold wind rushes into the classroom, usually causing a large group of students who care more about style than warmth to shiver and shrink into themselves. Therefore, the front and back doors of the classroom are closed most of the time.
I don't know when it started, but Cheng Xun gradually became one of the early arrivals at the classroom in the morning.
The soy milk cooled down quickly because of the cold weather, so Cheng Xun left it on the table for a while before picking it up again to take a sip. It was so cold that he wrinkled his nose.
After memorizing a few words, Cheng Xun turned the English vocabulary book upside down and took the empty soy milk paper cup to the trash can outside the classroom to throw it away.
As soon as he opened the back door of the classroom, a cold wind rushed in, his long, bushy hair that reached his eyebrows fluttered wildly, and his eyelashes trembled slightly.
Cheng Xun held a paper cup in one hand and braced the door with the other. He only opened the door wide enough for himself to pass through, and someone who had just arrived at the classroom door was caught off guard and blocked outside.
Cheng Xun glanced down casually and was somewhat stunned.
When Song Qiuxuan saw those familiar sneakers, her heart skipped a beat, and she looked up.
The two looked at each other for a long, drawn-out second.
Cheng Xun looked away first. He opened the door wider without making a sound, and then walked a few steps outside as if nothing had happened.
Song Qiuxuan slowly rolled her eyes, buried her chin in her scarf, and walked into the classroom. She smiled self-deprecatingly to herself, thinking how delusional she was. Cheng Xun had long since stopped caring about her, while she was still feeling her heart flutter just from a glance.
Song Qiuxuan walked back to her seat, put down her schoolbag, and sat down.
Her deskmate was looking at her notebook of wrong answers when she glanced at Song Qiuxuan, who had just arrived.
"You look unhappy." Her deskmate, biting on a milk straw, leaned closer to look at Song Qiuxuan's face.
"Really?" Song Qiuxuan took out the exercise book she had brought home and asked in a low voice with a hint of doubt.
My deskmate nodded vigorously: "Yeah, you look so worried, is it because of that thing?"
That incident refers to the false accusation that Song Qiuxuan stole a bracelet. The news had spread between the two dormitories, and her deskmate had already heard about it, but she believed it was a misunderstanding and that Song Qiuxuan was not that kind of person.
My deskmate asked, "She brings this up with everyone she meets; what exactly does she want to resolve?"
These past few days have been incredibly frustrating for Song Qiuxuan, and when the topic came up again, her tone involuntarily turned somber: "She wants me to pay back the money for the bracelet."
My deskmate asked curiously, "What are you thinking?"
Song Qiuxuan said, "I didn't take the bracelet, and I never thought about returning it. Let her say whatever she wants."
“That’s how you should think,” her deskmate agreed with her assertive attitude.
*
Cheng Xun raised his arm and threw the soy milk paper cup into the trash can.
As he turned around, the image of those slightly wet eyes he had just met flashed through his mind, their sockets still a little swollen, suggesting he hadn't slept well the night before.
Cheng Xun returned to his seat, still wondering why she hadn't slept well. Was it because of the final exams? In any case, it shouldn't be because of him.
In the afternoon PE class, Cheng Xun didn't play basketball because he thought the wind was too strong. He wasn't interested in any other sports besides basketball, so he went back to the classroom before get out of class ended.
Several female students were gathered in the classroom, chatting and laughing while eating snacks. The front and back doors remained closed. Cheng Xun was standing outside the back door, about to push it open, when he heard the female students change the subject and mention a name that made his heart skip a beat.
Cheng Xun lowered her hand, turned around and leaned against the wall, feeling the wind blowing through the corridor.
Since returning to school after a month's leave, Cheng Xun has only been able to look unabashedly at the third row of seats in the middle during class, gazing at her focused back as she attends class. Otherwise, he tries his best to restrain his gaze and prevent himself from unconsciously paying attention to her movements.
So now he wants to find out a little bit about her from other people.
Whispers drifted from the classroom—
"Is the story about that bracelet true or false? Did Song Qiuxuan really steal Xia Yingjia's bracelet? Song Qiuxuan usually seems so obedient; she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do something so disgusting."
"Who knows if it's true or not? Let's not get too involved. That Xia Yingjia isn't exactly a saint either."
“I heard from others that the bracelet is fake and not worth two thousand at all. Also, Xia Yingjia said that her family is rich just to show off, but she actually comes from an ordinary family.”
"It's fake? Every time Xia Yingjia talks about Song Qiuxuan stealing her bracelet on the day of the big clean-up, she looks heartbroken. It turns out she was just faking it!"
"Nobody knows how the bracelet went missing, so let's not assume that Song Qiuxuan took it."
"But Xia Yingjia said that when she was tidying up her room, she casually hung the bracelet on the hook in the bathroom. Song Qiuxuan went into the bathroom once and then disappeared. Moreover, everyone in the dormitory saw her stay in the bathroom for a few minutes. It's really suspicious."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. If Xia Yingjia really wants to resolve this, she should tell the homeroom teacher to investigate thoroughly. Why has it been several days and it's still not resolved?"
"Yeah, never mind. Hey, who corrected the weekly test paper? Can I borrow it? I need to study hard while I still have a few minutes left. Maybe I can get a few more points on the final exam."
"I need to make the most of my time to study!"
Cheng Xun's gaze darkened outside the classroom. He wondered if what they were talking about was only circulating among the girls, or if Cheng Xun, who was usually uninterested in gossip, only found out about this incident now.
School cleanup, bracelet.
Cheng Xun suddenly recalled that Song Qiuxuan was criticized by the teacher for being distracted in class on the afternoon of the school-wide cleaning. Was she worried about this at the time?
And today, her eyes are red and swollen, and she didn't sleep well last night, is it also because of this?
Cheng Xun stood in the corridor as if unfazed by the cold, his brows furrowed, his eyes revealing a stern look, as if he were seriously contemplating something.
He had warned himself not to pay too much attention to Song Qiuxuan, but at this moment, his heart was still clenched because of her.
Cheng Xun undoubtedly believed that she wouldn't steal anything; they had spent some time together, and Cheng Xun knew how good she was.
Xia Yingjia, upon hearing this name, Cheng Xun instantly grasped a thought: a few days ago, when they bumped into each other at the stairwell, he helped her pick up the bracelet that had fallen to the ground!
Cheng Xun thought about it carefully and remembered that it happened after the big clean-up.
Was Xia Yingjia deliberately framing Song Qiuxuan? This thought popped into Cheng Xun's mind, but he couldn't be sure of Xia Yingjia's motives. Besides, Cheng Xun wasn't sure if the bracelet he picked up was the same one she had lost.
Never mind, Cheng Xun felt he shouldn't get too involved with Song Qiuxuan, so he pretended he hadn't heard anything. Cheng Xun straightened up with a sullen face, pushed open the classroom door, and returned to his seat.
The door opened and closed quite loudly, causing several girls in the classroom to look towards the back row.
Cheng Xun ignored these stares, but some people took the opportunity to secretly glance at him.
He was always a quiet and reserved person in the class. Because of his quiet and aloof personality, almost no girls would take the initiative to talk to him. However, because of his outstanding and eye-catching appearance, he was not marginalized in the class and was often the center of girls' conversations.
After sitting down, Cheng Xun planned to work on her workbook, but her mind was a jumbled mess and she couldn't concentrate at all. Frustrated, Cheng Xun threw down her pen and rubbed her hair with both hands.
He took his backpack, which was hanging on the chair, and moved it to the front, unzipped it, and took out his phone.
Before she could touch her phone, she touched a notebook. Cheng Xun looked down and saw it was a calligraphy book that Song Qiuxuan had given her.
He always kept this calligraphy copybook in his bag, and he didn't understand the point of doing so. He thought about finding an opportunity to put it on Song Qiuxuan's desk, but every time he did, he felt reluctant to part with it.
Cheng Xun blinked slowly, completely stunned.
The thought that he couldn't just sit idly by suddenly came to Cheng Xun's mind.
He didn't want to see her sad anymore.
*
As the final exams approached, He Zhimian studied even harder. Boarding students need to plan their tasks in a reasonable order to squeeze out more time to study. Before evening self-study, she washed the clothes she had changed out of after showering and then hurried to the classroom.
He Zhimian never expected that Cheng Xun would stop her outside the classroom corridor.
The boy, who seemed unapproachable and taciturn, took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her.
"Can I take a few minutes of your time?" He Zhimian heard his clear and pleasant voice.
"You... what do you want to say?" He Zhimian was so nervous that she became incoherent.
"I want to ask you something. What's been going on among the girls lately?" Cheng Xun paused, "that misunderstanding about Song Qiuxuan taking a classmate's bracelet. Do you know anything about it? Or do you know what that bracelet looked like?"
He Zhimian was stunned. She thought this matter was only being discussed among the girls in the dormitory. She did not expect that Cheng Xun would also know about it.
Xia Yingjia had shown off the bracelet in the dormitory more than three times, and even though He Zhimian didn't want to see it, she couldn't help but look at it several times.
Although she didn't understand the look in Cheng Xun's eyes when he asked this question, He Zhimian still described it to him truthfully. When she mentioned that there was a star with a small diamond embedded in the bracelet, He Zhimian saw Cheng Xun's eyes light up and he showed an expression of knowing.
"Thank you." He Zhimian heard Cheng Xun say this sincerely, and then she turned and left in a hurry.
He Zhimian watched his tall, straight back as he walked away, and then suddenly saw him turn back. Her eyes darted away.
"Can you ask me this without telling Song Qiuxuan?"
He Zhimian nodded, her expression unclear.
Soon, He Zhimian understood what was going on.
After evening self-study ended, most of the students living off-campus left the school, but He Zhimian stayed in the classroom to study a little longer.
In class, He Zhimian had no other close friends besides Song Qiuxuan.
When only three female students remained in the classroom, she picked up her backpack and went back to her dormitory alone.
When she reached the corner of the stairs on the second floor, she faintly heard a sound coming from the base of the wall. It sounded somewhat familiar, and out of curiosity, He Zhimian took a few steps closer.
"Student, your bracelet wasn't lost at all. Why are you creating the illusion that it's missing and someone stole it? Do you know how much psychological harm this kind of slanderous accusation of theft can cause to the person involved?"
"If we announced your slander against your classmate in front of the whole class, you probably wouldn't be able to handle being pointed at and talked about. So please try to put yourself in their shoes."
He Zhimian's heart skipped a beat. She recognized Cheng Xun's voice. His attitude was completely different from when he spoke to her a few hours ago. Now, she could even detect a hint of coldness and ruthlessness in his voice.
Immediately afterwards, He Zhimian heard another voice.
"Cheng Xun, please don't tell the other classmates. I'm sorry, I only found the bracelet later, and I only realized later that I had misunderstood Song Qiuxuan." Xia Yingjia said in a panicked tone, "Tomorrow, I will definitely apologize to Song Qiuxuan tomorrow, please don't tell anyone."
This was the first time He Zhimian had heard Xia Yingjia speak in such a flustered tone. Afraid of being discovered, she tiptoed downstairs.
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