Chapter 130: Pudding, Part 1
“Tsk…”
The evening self-study session was a bit dull. The sound of pen tips scratching on paper filled the air. He Mu Qing was stuck on a problem, her clean draft paper covered in a chaotic mess of overlapping notes. But her thoughts seemed to have hit a dead end, and she couldn’t break free.
The frustration of not being able to solve the problem, mixed with an indescribable emotion, made her face a little gloomy, which was out of place with the festive atmosphere. She threw down her pen and rested her head on her desk, burying it in her arms, silently staying in the darkness. The stuffiness in her chest finally eased a little.
She wanted to eat mango pudding.
Tonight’s self-study was a math test. With the gaokao approaching, there were endless tests of all sizes. The papers would be collected when the bell rang. Finishing this last problem could raise her score by several places, and she might even have a chance to get into the top three. But she didn’t want to do it anymore, and she couldn’t say why. Maybe it was because she had never cared much about her grades.
A note bounced onto her desk. He Mu Qing sat up in frustration, grabbed the note, and looked around. She saw her deskmate gesturing at her. She sighed, opened the note, and saw a line of urgent handwriting: “Qing Qing, quick, quick, the answers to the multiple-choice questions. Help me out.”
He Mu Qing looked at her deskmate’s cheeky expression, her gaze a little dazed. The frustration in her heart subsided. She pursed her lips helplessly, wrote the answers from her test paper on a piece of paper, and threw it back. Her deskmate said thank you and quickly filled in the answers. Then she leaned back in her chair with a relaxed expression and stretched. The pressure of the third year of high school was like a rolling boulder behind them. They had no way to escape and had to move forward with all their might. But the burden on their backs was getting heavier and heavier, and they didn’t have a single ounce of energy to look at the scenery along the way.
“Qing Qing, you didn’t prepare that today?”
Her deskmate, who had finished her test, was obviously much more relaxed. She threw her test paper aside and winked at He Mu Qing, starting to chat. “Look at this. Isn’t it beautiful? I’ll give it to him after class. If he accepts it, I’ll confess to him tonight.”
He Mu Qing looked at the peace apple her deskmate had taken out of her drawer. A normal apple, wrapped in a colorful ribbon and an exquisite gift box, suddenly became expensive. But today, people were still eagerly rushing to the store, preparing to give it to a special person on this special day.
Her deskmate had a lovesick expression. He Mu Qing couldn’t help but smile and asked, “Then who should I give it to?”
“Give… give it to…”
Her deskmate was stunned. She thought for a long time but couldn’t find a suitable answer. The fiery rose of the second… no, the third year of high school had sharp thorns, and she didn’t know how many bees and butterflies had been pricked by them. But she suddenly remembered last Christmas Eve…
“But you clearly prepared one last year. Who did you give it to?”
Her deskmate frowned, completely puzzled. She felt as if that part of her memory had been silently erased, but it also seemed as if He Mu Qing had never shown any interest in anyone. The answer had never existed from the beginning.
He Mu Qing was stunned. Her heart suddenly twitched, a slight pang of pain. A flash of pain crossed her clear eyes. She looked up at her deskmate and gently shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.
“I forgot.”
“Forgot? Okay.”
Her deskmate didn’t ask any more questions, but she thought that the other party had probably failed. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but hold the peace apple in her arms, full of anticipation and nervousness. “Hey, do you think he’s interested in me? Will I have a chance? What if he doesn’t accept it? What if other girls also give him one?”
He Mu Qing had long since become immune to her deskmate’s chatter. She sullenly began to pack her schoolbag and books, planning to take home the unfinished homework. The cloze test in English at noon had not been ideal, and she had to practice again when she got home. Then she would do a physics test to train her speed. Before going to bed, she would listen to today’s listening materials as a break. She silently made a plan for after she got home.
“Qing Qing, they all say you’ve changed a lot recently.”
She had changed?
He Mu Qing suddenly looked up, her eyes sharp from her eagerness. Her deskmate almost thought that the fiery rose had returned. She stammered for a moment. “I… I thought you already knew about these rumors.”
“I have changed. I’ve been doing nothing but writing tests every day. I’ve gained a pound this week.”
He Mu Qing blinked, her eyes softening. She was joking. She lowered her head to clean her schoolbag, but the zipper on the side was a little stuck. She pulled it for a long time but couldn’t move it. This schoolbag had been used for some time, and the zipper would occasionally have problems. No matter how hard she pulled, she couldn’t close it. She had to use a gentle force to make the teeth of the zipper align.
He Mu Qing bit her lip, but the force in her hand grew heavier. She was as if she were competing with it.
Some things seemed to be about to be exposed…
“They say the fiery rose with thorns is almost a hibiscus. It doesn’t prick anymore. And they say you like…”
Before her deskmate could finish speaking, the bell rang. The math class representative immediately stood up and shouted to collect the test papers. The classroom immediately became a mess, and the noise drowned out her deskmate’s already lowered voice. He Mu Qing wanted to know the rest of the sentence, but she could only stare blankly at her deskmate’s mouth, her lips moving…
She couldn’t guess.
“I’m leaving now.”
Her deskmate’s mind was obviously not in the classroom anymore. She packed up quickly, stuffing a few crumpled books into her bag.
He Mu Qing looked at her deskmate’s exaggerated movements and picked up a few books that had fallen on the floor for her. “Why are you in such a hurry? Isn’t he just next door?”
“What’s wrong with being next door? I’m not the only one who likes him. And… he doesn’t know I like him. He can’t be waiting for me, right?”
Her deskmate rolled her eyes at her and held the peace apple in her arms like a treasure, the first to rush out of the classroom, as brave as a knight charging into battle. Her deskmate’s last half-sentence fell on her ear, as if she were cheering herself on for tonight’s action.
“If you don’t chase him, he’ll be gone.”
Click!
He Mu Qing looked down at the lock in her palm. A few of the zipper’s teeth were broken. It was completely broken. She… had used too much force.
…
He Mu Qing had no choice. Her schoolbag was already full, and with a hole in it, the books were spilling out. But it was too heavy to take them all back. She couldn’t carry them.
Unable to think of a solution, He Mu Qing simply left her schoolbag in the classroom and only took a few unfinished homework assignments in her arms, like a shipwrecked merchant ship that would throw away valuable cargo to survive. It seemed that she couldn’t do the physics test today, and she could only look at the cloze test again during morning reading tomorrow.
It was a little annoying, but it didn’t seem to be a good enough reason.
Her ears were filled with noisy and chaotic cheers. The emotions that had been stirring since the exam were now completely released. The classroom, the corridor… the noise was everywhere. Joy, embarrassment, or the unspoken… the mixed emotions made this night, which was no different from any other, special.
The annual Christmas Eve.
What kind of mood had she been in when she had spent such a night? But at this moment, the scene, which was clearly the same as before, could not evoke any memories of the past.
It seemed that what they said was true. She had changed.
He Mu Qing was about to leave with her books, but her way was blocked. The math class representative stood in front of her nervously, holding an exquisite gift box. He frantically placed the thing on He Mu Qing’s desk, his voice as thin as a mosquito’s, and said a muffled “Merry Christmas” to her. Then he turned around in a panic and disappeared into the crowded crowd.
He Mu Qing felt it was inexplicable. Someone had also sent her such a gift in the morning, and she had politely refused. They had only had a few conversations. Why did they choose to send such a gift with an unclear meaning on such a special day, but not explain their feelings?
They were always so secretive. But she didn’t seem to be any different from them.
The boy had left too quickly. Before He Mu Qing could react, she could no longer see him.
She looked down at the peace apple that was quietly lying on her desk. The familiar sight made her feel annoyed.
She wanted to eat mango pudding again.
