pretend
Seeing Zhang Ningxia's fearful look, Xu Zhiyi wiped the chopsticks for her and handed them back to her.
"Don't be so nervous. I don't think Xie Lin would be like that."
"Her? Why not?"
After saying that, Zhang Ningxia looked around and whispered, "Last time they said bad things about you in the bathroom, you heard it with your own ears."
"That's Gao Xingxing, not Xie Lin."
"They are in the same group."
“…”
Xu Zhiyi knew that it was useless to say anything, so he simply didn't refute.
"We're going to the auditorium for evening rehearsal later. Do you want to go?"
Zhang Ningxia glanced down at her watch and shook her head. "I can't go. I was assigned to work on the bulletin board today. Didn't you see I wasn't in the classroom that afternoon? Otherwise, I wouldn't have missed such a great show."
Xu Zhiyi nodded, "Oh, okay."
"Student Councillor..." Zheng Yan ran over excitedly, carrying the milk tea he had bought. "This is for you."
Xu Zhiyi took a glance, reached out to take the milk tea, and nodded slightly.
"Thanks."
Seeing that she accepted it, Zheng Yan seemed to be relieved and waved his hand hastily, "Then... Student Councillor, I'm going to play basketball."
Zhang Ningxia picked up the milk tea, took out the straw, and without thinking, poked it in.
Then she took a sip and found it refreshing and sweet.
"Um--"
“Not bad, it tastes okay!”
"Zhang Ningxia!"
Someone came to the door to urge her, and Zhang Ningxia decisively left with her milk tea.
“Here it comes!”
"I'm leaving, don't miss me too much!"
Before Zhang Ningxia finished speaking, he had already run several meters away.
Xu Zhiyi shook his head, looking helpless.
She was about to sit down when her toes suddenly kicked the corner of the table. The sound of metal collision surprised her.
She looked down and saw that it was a pen, which was a little dirty.
There is a tiny "R" engraved on the inside of the pen clip, which is the abbreviation of Song Chengrui's English name.
Nowadays, few people in the class use fountain pens to write, most of them use black signing pens.
She usually uses a black signing pen, but seeing that Song Chengrui always kept the habit of writing with a fountain pen, she also learned from him and bought one that is exactly the same.
But now the nib of this pen is cracked.
It’s definitely not usable.
She thought for a long time, then carefully put the pen into her pencil case. The coolness of the metal lingered on her fingertips for a long time.
—
In the evening, Xu Zhiyi went to the auditorium. Originally, the assigned students only needed to remember their seats, but later the grade director asked everyone to go on stage for a group photo.
Therefore, they can only wait to be assigned actions and positions.
What Xu Zhiyi hates most is these leaders who come to assign tasks at short notice. They talk a lot and speak slowly, and don’t care about the preciousness of their time at all.
It took me most of the day just to move around on the stage. Besides, the auditorium didn't have air conditioning, and there were only two large fans standing nearby that were blowing loudly, which was a bit harsh.
Xu Zhiyi stood on the stage, listening to the grade director's repeated requests to adjust the standing positions, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
She tilted her head slightly and glanced at the busy student union members below the stage.
They are moving props, debugging equipment, and preparing for tomorrow's event.
Suddenly, her gaze paused.
Song Chengrui was standing by the side door of the auditorium, talking to someone from the student union with his head down.
He held a flow chart in his hand, occasionally looking up at the stage direction with a calm expression, as if he was just confirming the progress of the arrangement.
Xu Zhiyi was a little surprised.
Is he here to help set up the venue?
Why haven’t I heard my classmates mention it?
Just as she was thinking about it, the teacher on the stage suddenly called her: "Xu Zhiyi, stand in the middle of the second row!"
She came to her senses and moved hurriedly, but her mind had already drifted away.
After the rehearsal, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Xu Zhiyi hesitated for a moment, but still walked towards the side door.
Song Chengrui was bending over to tidy up the wires on the ground. When he heard footsteps, he looked up.
When their eyes met, Xu Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that Song Chengrui discovered something?
She was extremely nervous.
She paused slightly, her fingertips unconsciously clenching her school uniform pants.
Song Chengrui's gaze stayed on her face for a second, then he calmly looked away and continued to lower his head to tidy up the wires.
She pursed her lips, but ultimately didn't speak. She just slowed down her pace as she passed by him.
The corridor outside the side door of the auditorium was dimly lit, and the night wind blew in through the half-open window, bringing with it the slightly cool dampness of late summer.
Xu Zhiyi stood at the corner, looked down at the black ink stains on his fingers, and rubbed them hard.
She found that she still couldn't rub it off, and frowned a little angrily.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she subconsciously turned around, but saw other members of the student union hurriedly walking by with equipment, but there was no sign of Song Chengrui.
She lowered her eyes, turned and walked towards the teaching building.
When I reached the stairs, a cold voice suddenly came from behind me.
"What do you want to talk to me about?"
Xu Zhiyi's back stiffened, and she turned around to see Song Chengrui standing two steps away, wearing the blue and white school uniform stained with the scent of lemon. His eyes fell on her with an indifferent expression.
She opened her mouth, but her throat seemed to be blocked by something. After a long while, she whispered, "...No."
Song Chengrui glanced at her, said nothing, and walked straight past her.
Xu Zhiyi stood where he was, listening to his footsteps gradually fading away, and finally quickly caught up with him.
"Song Chengrui."
He stopped and looked back at her.
Xu Zhiyi took a deep breath and thanked him.
"I was planning to come over to thank you for speaking for me."
Song Chengrui's fingertips paused slightly, but his face remained calm.
He lowered his eyelashes and said in a light tone: "You're welcome, I'm just telling the truth."
The night wind blew through the corridor, ruffling the strands of hair on his forehead and covering up the blush on the tips of his ears.
"Then...thank you anyway."
Afraid that he might say something wrong, Xu Zhiyi quickly fled the scene without staying for long.
It's no exaggeration to say that she was running away. At this moment, her palms were sweating from nervousness. She repeatedly replayed her previous actions and expressions in her mind, afraid that the other party would see any unnecessary thoughts.
But when she walked to the open space, she regretted not having said a few more words to Song Chengrui, and ended the topic with just a few words.
—
Ever since Xu Dongxing gave the task of opening the door lock to Xu Zhiyi, she has been coming to the classroom half an hour early every morning.
However, this task fell on her temporarily.
Class monitor Jiang Siyu broke his leg while traveling during the summer vacation. He hasn't been seen in the past week since school started, and most of the class affairs have fallen on Xu Zhiyi's head.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around when the door was open, Xu Zhiyi secretly ran to the small balcony and repeatedly practiced the process of presenting flowers and what she needed to say.
In fact, there are only a few steps to the stage, and there is only one line.
"Welcome to this school exchange meeting."
But what happened last time left a shadow in her heart, and she must not make any mistakes again this time.
Xu Zhiyi was facing the glass door of the small balcony, repeatedly adjusting the posture of the bouquet and muttering the line in a low voice.
"Welcome to this school exchange meeting."
She pursed her lips, feeling her tone wasn't natural enough, and took a deep breath, smiled again, and tried again.
"Welcome to this school exchange meeting."
As soon as he finished speaking, a slight sound suddenly came from behind him.
Xu Zhiyi turned around suddenly and found that Song Chengrui was standing at the balcony door at some point, holding a stack of documents in his hand, his eyes fixed on her quietly.
Her face flushed instantly, and she put down the bouquet in panic, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corners of her clothes.
"You...why are you here so early today?"
Song Chengrui looked calm and raised the basketball in his hand.
"Come over early to play ball."
Xu Zhiyi said "Oh" and looked down at the tip of his shoes, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
He saw it!
She must look silly when she practices, and he might even think she's making a big deal out of nothing, rehearsing such a simple thing over and over again...
Just as he was daydreaming, Song Chengrui suddenly spoke.
"You said it very well!"
Xu Zhiyi was stunned and looked up at him.
Song Chengrui's eyes were calm, but his tone was softer than usual.
"Don't be nervous, it's really possible!"
Xu Zhiyi's heartbeat suddenly quickened, and the tips of his ears became hot uncontrollably.
She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but was afraid that her voice would tremble, so she could only nod slightly.
"……Thanks."
Song Chengrui said "hmm" lightly and was about to leave when he was suddenly stopped by Xu Zhiyi.
"Wait a moment."
Song Chengrui turned around and saw Xu Zhiyi walking into the classroom, so he followed her in.
Xu Zhiyi hid the pen in the innermost layer of the pencil case and opened and closed the zipper three times before taking it out.
She was deeply impressed by the "R" mark on the metal pen cap, and she handed the pen to Song Chengrui.
"This... is back to you."
"I found it under the seat." Xu Zhiyi turned his head away and added casually, "But the tip of the pen is cracked, so I took the initiative to replace it for you. See if it works. If not, you can try another one."
Song Chengrui put the pen into his pocket, and clenched his fingers quietly in his pocket: "Okay."
"Um?"
Xu Zhiyi was a little surprised. Song Chengrui didn't even look at it and said it was okay without even using it. It was a bit too perfunctory.
"oh……"
There was a brief silence between the two.
The back door was suddenly pushed open, and Zhang Ningxia rushed in:
"Zhiyi! Guess what limited edition stickers I bought—"
Her voice stopped abruptly, and her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.
"Did I... disturb you?"
Xu Zhiyi hurriedly turned around to wipe his eyes, but felt dry eyelids.
It turns out that the most painful loss is that you can't even find a reason to shed tears.
Song Chengrui had returned to his usual indifferent look and put the pen into his pocket as if nothing had happened.
"Going to play ball."
Zhang Ningxia waited until Song Chengrui was far away, then immediately came over and winked: "What were you guys doing just now? The atmosphere was so subtle~"
"Nothing, I just found his pen and gave it back to him."
Xu Zhiyi looked a little unhappy. He lowered his head and sorted out his textbooks, looking absent-minded.
“Eh—”
Zhang Ningxia's face instantly fell. "I thought there was some secret I didn't know, but this is it?"
Xu Zhiyi said coldly: "What else? What else can it be?"
Zhang Ningxia slowly echoed, putting stickers on the side: "Yeah, there's no hope for you two."
“…” Xu Zhiyi instantly tore off Zhang Ningxia’s sticker and put it back on her own hand.
"Come on, go on, stick it on your desk!"
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