Chapter 15

The first afternoon class was swapped between the PE teacher and the Chinese teacher.

At one thirty, they had to head downstairs to the sports field.

In deep autumn, with the teaching building blocking the way, the sunlight shone warmly, making people drowsy.

Bai Kou had drunk milk tea with her two older sisters until the very last minute before taking the bus back to school. She hadn’t slept, and now, lining up with her class, she kept yawning.

Through teary eyes, she saw another group wearing junior year two uniforms coming out of the teaching building.

Pei Yue was also in uniform, walking at the end of the crowd, talking to another girl.

Her face showed no expression.

Bai Kou slowly stopped yawning. She looked at Pei Yue for two seconds, then indifferently withdrew her gaze. She listened to the PE committee member’s instructions and shifted to the left.

They warmed up, ran two laps around the sports field, and practiced the latest set of radio calisthenics.

Before free activity time, the PE teacher, as usual, warned everyone: “No going back to the classroom! I’ll be watching you!”

Bai Kou, Lu Tongtong, and their good friends Zhang Yang and Wang Xuechun headed together to the campus kiosk by the sports field.

“Auntie, I want this fish fillet!” In the kiosk, Lu Tongtong said excitedly.

Bai Kou stood beside her and pointed to a string of QQ Candy on the shelf: “Auntie, I want a bag of apple flavor, thanks!”

She tore open the packaging and first handed it to Lu Tongtong: “Tong, do you want some of this?”

“Apple flavor…” Lu Tongtong looked closely, then happily extended her hand before withdrawing it. “Nah, no thanks.”

“Oh, Yangyang, do you want some?”

As Bai Kou turned her head to ask, she saw Pei Yue holding a silver MP3 and a tangled ball of earphone cord, walking in alone.

They happened to make eye contact just like that.

Bai Kou smiled at Pei Yue first, then turned back and continued asking: “Chuner, what about you?”

After distributing the candy, Bai Kou crouched down to bite into a Mimi shrimp strip that Lu Tongtong fed her. The group walked out of the kiosk.

A light patter of footsteps sounded behind them.

Followed by a short:

“Hey.”

Bai Kou turned her head and saw Pei Yue stopping a short distance away, looking at her. That “hey” just now seemed like it was calling her.

But Pei Yue made no further move.

Uncertain, Bai Kou raised her finger to point at herself and silently mouthed: “Me?”

Pei Yue nodded.

The others didn’t know Pei Yue, and PE free time was limited, so Bai Kou told her friends to go ahead.

She walked back to Pei Yue alone and asked with a generous smile: “What’s up?”

“You.” Pei Yue frowned, hesitating half a second. “Why did you stop talking after adding me as a friend?”

They sat across from each other at a long table in the kiosk. Bai Kou didn’t have her phone, so Pei Yue opened QQ and showed her.

Bai Kou took it and laughed as soon as she glanced at it: “Ha, who did you add? That’s not me.”

On the screen, the QQ friend Pei Yue showed was named “Crystal Love,” with the default penguin avatar with pink flowers.

“…” Pei Yue pursed her lips. “4153552XX, isn’t that right? You wrote it to me.”

“The last digit is 2, not 5.” Bai Kou said, then simply set the phone down, took Pei Yue’s hand, and drew a “2” in her palm. “That’s how I wrote it, right? Does it look like a 5?”

Pei Yue clenched her fist, withdrew her hand, and slightly lowered her face. She didn’t speak, her expression looking a bit unhappy.

Bai Kou propped her chin, puzzled, and waited a while. Seeing Pei Yue still silent, she was about to say, “How about I give you my phone and input my QQ again?” But Pei Yue suddenly stood up, reverting to her cold demeanor, her voice low and soft.

“Fine, whatever.”

At first, Bai Kou didn’t react. She sat in place, watching Pei Yue’s back as she walked a few steps away.

When she did react, she quickly stood and chased after her: “Hey, Pei Yue.”

She ignored the cold gaze when Pei Yue turned to look back.

Bai Kou smiled at Pei Yue: “Sorry, I didn’t write it clearly.” She reached out. “Can I add you directly on your QQ?”

Pei Yue’s gaze shifted from annoyed to shocked. She felt like she was possessed, but she obediently handed over her phone again, slowly.

“I was probably in a rush then, afraid you’d leave the office… The 2 didn’t come out right… Um… I thought you didn’t want to add me since you never did… Misunderstood you…” Bai Kou muttered to her while tapping the keys.

In that instant, Pei Yue stared blankly at Bai Kou’s face. When Bai Kou said “OK, done!” and handed back the phone, she dazedly raised her hand to take it.

She touched Bai Kou’s fingertip again.

Pei Yue immediately pulled her hand back.

Bai Kou blinked.

Perhaps due to the light difference between inside and outside the kiosk, Bai Kou was enveloped in light and floating dust in the air. It all reflected in Pei Yue’s eyes, blanking her mind.

Then someone ran back to the kiosk and shouted from the top of the steps: “Bai Kou! Teacher’s calling assembly!”

“Oh! Coming!” Bai Kou immediately went around Pei Yue and ran up the stairs.

Two or three seconds later, Pei Yue heard Bai Kou calling her from above: “Pei Yue—”

She turned her head and looked up.

Bai Kou, backlit, waved at her: “Bye bye! See you next time!”

“…Ha.”

Long after Bai Kou left, Pei Yue leaned back against the sloped concrete wall of the kiosk and let out a deep breath.

The high school division of City Middle had strict daily access controls. It was hard for outsiders to enter during daytime classes.

Not to mention contacting the principal and having a student in PE class summoned to the administration building.

Yang Wanxi had her hair in a ponytail, wearing the summer uniform with white and deep blue trim and deep blue autumn school pants. She held a badminton racket in her right hand and greeted upon entering: “Hello, Principal.”

Sitting across from the principal was Song He, who had run into Yang Wanxi by chance in Hong Kong and had been pursuing her relentlessly. She called herself an actor’s agent the whole time.

Song He smiled slightly at Yang Wanxi and nodded politely, apparently not planning to reveal they already knew each other.

Yang Wanxi said nothing more and patiently walked further in, sitting on the third empty sofa.

They formed a triangle.

The principal in the middle introduced to Yang Wanxi: “Student Yang, this is Director Song He. That hit drama this year, Thirteen Curses of the Broken Gate, is her work. Have you seen it?”

“Oh.” Yang Wanxi curved her eyes in a smile and shook her head. “No, I don’t like watching TV.”

Even though Song He had gone to the trouble of finding Yang Wanxi’s school, Yang Wanxi still refused the jelly ad invitation.

After hearing Yang Wanxi out, the principal clasped his hands into fists, pursed his lips, nodded, then smiled and said: “Alright, since you’re not interested, go back to class.”

“Okay.” Yang Wanxi stood and also said to Song He, “Thank you for liking me, Director Song He. Sorry for the trouble today.”

The chat had taken a while. By the time Yang Wanxi left the administration building, the bell for the next class had rung.

Yang Wanxi “tch”ed in annoyance, gripped her badminton racket tightly, and hurried toward the teaching building in double time.

On Saturday, Yang Wanxi had promised to treat Bai Kou and Lu Tongtong to a big meal, but—

“We have to wait until evening, when Sister Yuqiao gets off class, then pick her up together.”

Before, Bai Kou would have flopped disappointedly onto the sofa: “Evening… What do I do during the day then…” This time, she didn’t object at all and even said: “Perfect, I’ll go out with a classmate during the day, back around five to find you and Tongtong, then we can pick up my sister!”

Yang Wanxi had been frowning while scrolling through the text Song He sent her. Hearing the slightly happy tone in Bai Kou’s voice, she turned her head: “A classmate? Who? Do you have classmates I don’t know?”

“You don’t know a ton of them now.” Bai Kou said. “Don’t forget, I’m in middle school now, dear Yang Kuikui.”

“Oh right, you’re in middle school.” Yang Wanxi calmly set her phone down first.

The next second, she spun around with lightning speed, lightened her force, pressed both hands on Bai Kou’s shoulders, and pinned her against the sofa back.

“Which classmate? Spill!”