Chapter 140: Gaze
Su Yu stood at the door. He rubbed the soft flesh of his cheeks to relax his stiff and weak muscles. He tried his best to put on a friendly smile and stared at the familiar small advertisements on the screen door. A few more had been added. It seemed that a few new lock shops had opened nearby.
He knocked on the door. After a while, the door was opened. Mother He stared blankly at Su Yu in front of the door. She was stunned for a moment. Su Yu had not notified her before he came back, which inevitably made her feel a little sudden.
“Auntie He, I brought some desserts from Qingchuan. They are a local specialty.”
“Oh, oh, you child. You really brought something. Come in, come in. You didn’t even say you were coming back. I haven’t prepared any good dishes.”
Mother He suddenly came back to her senses. She took the desserts, her smile a little unable to close. She pulled Su Yu into the house and shouted to the living room, “Old He, Xiao Yu is back from school. Go and get all the New Year’s goods I bought a few days ago.”
“Yo yo yo, Su Yu is back?”
Father He threw down the newspaper in his hand, glanced at Su Yu, patted his butt, and got up to go to the room to get snacks. He kept muttering, “I was going to hide the New Year’s goods so that Qing Qing would eat less snacks. Now that Xiao Yu is back, I can’t hide them anymore. That stinky girl will be eating snacks all day and not eating her meals again.”
Mother He took out the slippers that were always kept at home and threw them on the floor. “Are they suitable? I threw away your old ones because they were too old and replaced them with new ones.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Su Yu’s nose inexplicably felt a little sour. He twitched his nose and lowered his head, his gaze falling on the floor. He hid the moisture in his eyes with the shadow. He put on the shoes. “They are very suitable.”
Father He’s loud voice came directly from the room to the living room. “Xiao Yu, after half a year of school, have you brought a girlfriend back?”
“No, Uncle He. If I find one, I’ll definitely bring her to you for approval first.” Su Yu immediately shouted back, the corners of his mouth unable to stop rising.
“Haha, your Uncle He is just like that. He’s so talkative. When you were not here, he missed you a lot. He said there were fewer people to play chess with him.”
Mother He covered her mouth and smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes overflowing with a sincere smile. She patted Su Yu’s cheek. “I feel like you’ve lost some weight after going to Qingchuan. You should eat well at my place during the winter break. Otherwise, your dad will think I’m stingy.”
“Okay, then I’ll stay at your place during the winter break and not leave.” Su Yu heard Mother He’s joke and replied.
“Um… your dad is back, right?” Mother He turned around and closed the door, her expression changing. She lowered her voice a lot. “You didn’t fight, did you?”
“No, they left after a while.” Su Yu shook his head.
“That’s good.” Mother He was immediately relieved. “It’s unlucky to fight during the New Year. Did he bring you a stepmother? Do you think it’s okay?”
“Yeah, it’s good. Someone will be with him in the future. It’s better than fighting with me every day.”
“I’m relieved that you can think like that. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to get over it. Let the adults deal with their own affairs.”
The stone in Mother He’s heart fell. “Then you can go and have some snacks to fill your stomach. The meal will be ready soon. Stay for dinner tonight.”
“Okay, I was just thinking of your cooking.”
Su Yu nodded repeatedly. He looked at the empty living room and felt that something was missing. He asked, “Is Mu Qing still in class…”
“Yes, they are getting stricter and stricter now. The evening self-study is an hour later than when you were here.”
“That’s tough.”
“Isn’t it? That girl Qing Qing suddenly seems to have opened up. She’s either writing tests or writing tests every day. I suspect she’s possessed. I was anxious when she was playing, and now I feel sorry for her. Really…”
Su Yu smiled. He turned his head and asked, “Then she must have done well on the test, right?”
“A few days ago, there was a college entrance examination mobilization meeting. The teacher told me that Qing Qing has made great progress. There’s still half a year left. Maybe…” Mother He’s smile was still not hidden. She chuckled. “Maybe she can get into Qingchuan University like you.”
“She’s so good all of a sudden?” Su Yu walked back to the entryway and lowered his head to change his shoes back. “Mu Qing should not be out of class yet, right?”
“Ah… they still have to wait a while before they can get out of class. Why are you…”
Su Yu opened the door again and walked out, his steps large, taking two or three steps at a time. He waved his hand, and his voice came up from the narrow corridor.
“I’m going to the school to have a look. I haven’t been back in a long time. We can have dinner together when I get back.”
…
Only the classrooms of the third year of high school were still lit in the teaching building. The sharp cold wind of the winter night hit the doors and windows, making a creaking sound. A few sensor lights turned on and off. The stuffy atmosphere spread along the night, as if a heavy mountain was pressing down. Besides a few mournful meows, there was no other movement.
Ding-dong!
The bell rang, and the sensor lights in the corridor lit up one after another. The silence struggled for a moment and was finally broken. The noise began to counterattack. The classroom doors were pushed open one after another. A few lively students shouted and ran in the corridor, disappearing in an instant.
He Mu Qing was a little annoyed by the noise in her ear. She looked at the last question on the test paper and put down her pen, not in the mood to do it.
“Oh, don’t be annoyed. You frown every day. You’ll get a lot of wrinkles when you’re old, and you’ll become an ugly monster.” Her deskmate had already packed her schoolbag and came over, smiling and fiddling with the cherry-shaped hairpin in He Mu Qing’s hair. “You’re not satisfied with getting third place in the class? You’re a top student!”
“Don’t touch it. You’ve messed up my hair.” He Mu Qing’s tone was reproachful, but she burst out laughing. “It’s better to be an ugly monster than to be a fool when you’re old.”
“Ah… I don’t care. You’re the fool.” He Mu Qing’s waist was suddenly grabbed by her deskmate. The two of them laughed and played for a while, and the stubborn academic pressure that had been accumulating in their hearts dissipated a lot.
He Mu Qing steadied herself by the corner of the desk and packed her things into her bag.
“Alright, alright, no more fooling around. Go back early.”
“Okay, you fool, Qing Qing.”
“You’re the fool!”
…
There were many students in the corridor. He Mu Qing and her deskmate held hands and carefully passed by the students who were fooling around in the corridor. They walked down the dimly lit stairs. When they passed the second floor, her deskmate, who had just been smiling, suddenly stopped. She stared at a couple who were being intimate in the shadows, biting her lip, looking a little sad.
“What? He told me that he had to study hard for the college entrance examination in his third year of high school, but he still agreed to someone on Christmas Day. Liar.”
“Alright, out with the old, in with the new. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Forget him… there will be plenty of men waiting for you in the future.”
He Mu Qing patted her deskmate’s hand and comforted her in a soft voice.
“Wuwuwu~ Qing Qing is still the best to me. That dog man can go to hell.” Her deskmate stuck her tongue out at the boy and laughed as she cursed, but her smile was a little bitter and forced. “It’s my own fault for being so useless. I’m still thinking of him after being dumped. If only… if only there was a pill that could erase memories. I would buy it no matter how much it cost.”
“Okay, okay. Then I’ll be a doctor in the future. When I invent it, I’ll let you try it first.”
Her deskmate immediately shook her head. “Huh? Then forget it. I don’t want to have a second time.”
“Hahaha, see if you still dare to be a flirt.”
The two of them looked at each other and laughed together.
They walked down the second floor without any reluctance. Just as they passed the corner, a few boys rushed out from the shadows. They didn’t know what they were fooling around about, but they were entangled together, cursing. It seemed that they had deliberately chosen a spot on their way out of school, which scared the two of them.
He Mu Qing frowned and didn’t say anything. If it had been her with her fiery temper before, she might have cursed a few times. The boys were all from their class, and she was a little disgusted by their behavior. Girls were naturally more mature… the little thoughts of teenage boys were so obvious. She ignored the boys’ peeking gazes, pulled her deskmate, and quickly left, heading towards the school gate.
“Qing Qing, why are you walking so fast? Are you shy? Hmm?” Her deskmate squinted at the expressionless He Mu Qing and teased her a little. “It seems our rose is still quite popular. Even with thorns, someone is still thinking of her.”
“If you say that again, I’ll never let you copy my homework again.” He Mu Qing’s eyes flashed with a smile. She gritted her teeth and warned her fiercely.
“No! I won’t say it.” Her deskmate immediately raised her hands in surrender and changed the subject. “By the way, the winter break is coming up. We can finally rest for a while.”
“Winter break…”
He Mu Qing’s hand, which was holding her deskmate’s wrist, suddenly tightened. Her deskmate’s cry of pain echoed in her ear. She seemed to not have heard it and was in a daze. She suddenly remembered… it seemed that someone was coming back soon. These days, she had been buried in a sea of questions and seemed to have forgotten everything. But after a moment of recollection, they came back to her, like the sticky feeling of milk tea accidentally spilled on her hand, which was uncomfortable but could not be wiped clean.
“What’s wrong? Why are you in a daze?”
The pain in her deskmate’s hand passed. She waved her hand in front of He Mu Qing’s eyes.
“Oh… it’s nothing.” He Mu Qing let go of her deskmate’s wrist. She shook her head and smiled. “Do you think… my hair looks good short now?”
Her deskmate was a little confused and paused for a moment before she said.
“Why are you suddenly asking this? I think it’s pretty good. It’s a little more energetic than before. Do you still have to worry about this, Qing Qing? The boys behind you are almost staring their eyes out. Besides, it’s so troublesome to take care of long hair. After the college entrance examination, it will grow back in a summer.”
“I was just asking. I’m a little not used to having short hair all of a sudden.”
He Mu Qing tried the length of her hair with her fingers. The short hair that fell to her ears was lifted by the cold wind. When the wind stopped, the slender strands of hair fell down again, casting a small shadow on her forehead.
Actually, long hair was not that troublesome, but she had still cut it short. What kind of mood was she in when she had cut off the hair that had grown wildly with a certain raw emotion in her heart?
The howling cold wind came out from some dark corner again, lifting the messy hair on her forehead. The shadow suddenly disappeared from her eyes. He Mu Qing’s gaze was pulled up by a thread hidden in the darkness. It passed over the noisy crowd at the school gate. The figures swayed with the cold wind, but only that tall and handsome figure, like a jade tree in a courtyard, was still standing there.
With an unintentional glance, her gaze met his in the chaotic crowd.
A moment later, his gaze warmed, melting the coldness of the long winter night. The seed that had been buried in the black soil thought it had met spring and eagerly came out of the barren and desolate soil, growing a small, tender sprout, swaying gently in the breeze.
