Chapter 32 Part 2

“Might be friends in a couple days.” Bai Kou said. “She’s nice. Helped me and Tao Miao lift the suitcase earlier.”

Pei Yue: “…”

Bai Kou always followed through, and efficiently at that.

Before leaving the dorm in the afternoon, only Bai Kou had brought mosquito repellent spray, so she enthusiastically sprayed it on every roommate.

When it was Xiao Ying’s turn, she was especially embarrassed. Facing Bai Kou’s frank gaze, she only extended her right hand. “I, I’ll spray here, that’s enough.”

“How’s that enough? Mosquitoes don’t just bite hands.” Bai Kou held the spray in her right hand and circled with her left to gesture. “Turn around. I’ll spray you all over. Autumn mosquitoes are vicious.”

The first event of afternoon military training was grouping up to practice standing at attention.

Bai Kou and Tao Miao got separated, leaving only Xiao Ying from the dorm in her group.

During the opening ceremony, Bai Kou and Xiao Ying stood side by side.

Bai Kou tilted her head up. As she listened, her mind wandered to the string of colorful balloons hanging high up. She gazed from right to left, then left to right…

“Hm?”

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Xiao Ying seemed to be looking at her, as if she had something to say. So Bai Kou turned her head proactively and gave a very friendly smile.

But Xiao Ying panicked in an instant, her face flushing red. She shook her head, immediately straightened her gaze forward toward the podium.

Bai Kou blinked, not understanding.

Each squad had been baking under the blazing sun until five-thirty, when the instructor finally announced that they were heading to the cafeteria for dinner together.

Bai Kou’s squad had quite a few students from other classes, none of whom she knew. The others chatted as they walked toward the cafeteria.

There was some silence between her and Xiao Ying.

Bai Kou thought for a moment and took the initiative to ask, “I heard from Tao Miao that you used to go to No. 2 High School too?”

Xiao Ying glanced at her and then looked away, nodding.

“Oh.” Bai Kou fiddled with her camouflage cap and asked again, “Is the food in your cafeteria good?”

Thanks to Bai Kou’s persistent efforts, by the time they reassembled before reaching the cafeteria, Xiao Ying was no longer so reserved. She even volunteered some information: “I heard that after military training ends, you have to rush to take a shower right away. Otherwise, later on there’ll be too many people, no spot in line, and the water will be cut off at a certain time.”

“Ah?” Bai Kou whispered back. “That exaggerated?”

After dinner, night fell. They hadn’t been back in the dorms resting long when they had to assemble on the field again at seven sharp.

This time, as they went downstairs, Xiao Ying took the initiative to walk with everyone—or rather, with Bai Kou.

However, Bai Kou noticed that Xiao Ying didn’t seem to like physical contact, so during the casual chats while going downstairs, she just mentioned Xiao Ying from time to time.

In the evening, there was no training. Each squad sat on the grass for self-introductions.

“If no one goes, I’ll randomly pick someone to start. You there.”

The pointed-out Xiao Ying felt a jolt in her heart, as if her soul had been smacked right out of her.

At that moment, Bai Kou beside her suddenly stood up.

Xiao Ying turned her head in a daze to look.

In the darkness, Bai Kou had her high ponytail tied up, no camouflage cap on, and her entire face illuminated by a beam of warm light from above, fully exposed amid the surrounding blackness.

But Bai Kou stood ramrod straight, not the least bit nervous. She even spoke with a smile in her voice, boldly announcing.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Bai Kou—”

With Bai Kou breaking the ice, the other students gradually stood up one after another.

When it was Xiao Ying’s turn again, Bai Kou patted the back of her hand. As she stood, she looked down.

Bai Kou made a fist and whispered encouragement: “You got this!”

By the afternoon of the third day of military training, Bai Kou was in a miserable state—her period had arrived in full force.

And who knew if it was from drinking too many cold drinks over the past two days of training.

For the first time, the pain made her break out in cold sweat. During combat training, her legs gave out, and she was gently blocked by the opposing Xiao Ying and fell to the ground.

Half-kneeling on the ground, face lowered, she was in too much pain to respond to the concerned voices around her.

The instructor let Bai Kou return to the dorm alone to rest.

She barely supported herself against the wall as she went upstairs. With a thud, not caring if her clothes were dirty, she collapsed directly onto the bed.

“Ha… ha…”

She closed her eyes, pressing her lower abdomen and taking deep breaths repeatedly, but the wrenching pain showed no sign of easing.

Unable to bear it anymore, in her agony, Bai Kou suddenly remembered the box of painkillers she had stuffed into Pei Yue’s bag not long ago…

【Pei Yue T T I have some menstrual cramps. Did you bring the medicine I gave you last time? I’ll come get it.】

With this hopeful thought, she sent Pei Yue a text.

She waited one minute, two minutes… five minutes passed with no reply.

The surroundings were extremely quiet; she could faintly hear the “one-two-one” chants from the field in the distance. Bai Kou let her arm drop, tossed her phone aside, closed her eyes, and thought, forget it—Pei Yue must be in class. She’d rest a bit, and if it got better, go to the infirmary to ask.

Bai Kou lay exhausted on the bed, cold sweat breaking out in waves on her back.

When she heard a knock at the door, she didn’t even have the energy to open her eyes, figuring it was probably a roommate back to grab something.

The next second.

A familiar breath—Pei Yue’s—leaned close to her face. A hand touched her forehead, then gently shook her face. Her voice trembled slightly: “Bai… Bai Kou, Bai Kou?”

Bai Kou opened her eyes.

Surprised.

It really was Pei Yue.

Pei Yue’s forehead was sweatier than hers, her hair a messy frizz like she’d been zapped by static. Breathing in short gasps, she swallowed and looked into her eyes. “I… I brought the medicine… Water too. Can you get up now? Take one first, okay?”

Bai Kou blinked in a daze, then reacted. “Weren’t you in class?”

“I’ll help you.” Pei Yue didn’t answer her question. She just reached out, cradling the back of her neck. “Come on.”

Bai Kou sat on the edge of the bed and swallowed a pill, tilting her head back.

Unlike every previous interaction, as soon as Bai Kou finished drinking and went to twist the cap, Pei Yue took the plastic bottle from her hand, screwed it on, and tucked it into her arms.

Then Pei Yue leaned down again and pulled two palm-sized abdominal warming patches from her school uniform pocket.

“The shop only had these. I’ll help you put one on.”

Bai Kou wanted to say no need, but before she could open her mouth, Pei Yue had already squatted down and carefully lifted the edge of her training uniform jacket.

“Is it hurting more here?”

Pei Yue pressed her fingertip against Bai Kou’s lower abdomen and looked up, asking very seriously.

Some nerve in Bai Kou twitched oddly in a chain reaction. Why did she suddenly feel… like the Pei Yue in front of her was like a big sister? Clearly, she’d always felt like they were friends the same age…

Bai Kou stayed silent.

Pei Yue moved her fingertip left and pressed again. “Or here?”

“Uh… cough.” Strange, why was her throat hoarse? Bai Kou coughed and refocused. “Mm, yeah, this area hurts more, but—”

She paused, leaned her upper body back a bit, propped herself up with her right hand on the bed, lifted her jacket with her left, and gently grasped Pei Yue’s wrist, guiding the hand a tiny bit further.

Through a thin T-shirt, Bai Kou pressed Pei Yue’s hand over the center of her own lower abdomen and frowned affirmatively. “Mm… this spot seems to hurt the most, most, most, most!”

She let go after saying that, thinking Pei Yue would just stick it on.

But unexpectedly, Pei Yue pulled her hand back and suddenly stood up.

“?” Bai Kou’s gaze followed upward. Pei Yue had clearly taken a deep breath. Worried, she asked, “What’s wrong? Dizzy from squatting too long?”

“Mm.” Pei Yue said. “Dizzy.”

Pei Yue paused for two seconds, then quietly bent down again to apply the womb warmer for Bai Kou.

Perhaps the painkiller had kicked in, though Bai Kou figured it shouldn’t be this fast—probably psychological.

In any case, thanks to Pei Yue, she wasn’t in pain anymore.

Bai Kou stood up, zipped her jacket, grabbed her phone and camouflage cap, and asked Pei Yue, “Are you heading back to class now? I can sneak you back.”

Going downstairs, they had to circle around behind the building.

Bai Kou was about to habitually take Pei Yue’s hand, but the other girl—whether on purpose or not—lifted her hand to touch her nose tip.

No hand-holding.

Then, after many years, in the glow of dusk, Bai Kou suddenly noticed the faint, tiny mole on Pei Yue’s nose tip.

Her gaze lingered on Pei Yue’s nose tip, the smile at her lips gradually fading as she straightened her mouth and thought for a moment.

After evening dismissal, everyone rushed back to the dorms to line up for showers.

Bai Kou had a plastic basin and towel by her side, leaning against the corridor tiles, head tilted back, gazing at the slender crescent moon beyond the balcony.

—“Is it hurting more here?”

—“Or here?”

Her gaze traveled from the farthest moon, to the mid-distance buildings, to the nearest tree below.

At the same time, her left hand slowly moved downward, toward the now-cold abdominal warmer.

Rip.

She tore one off.

Bai Kou held it between both hands, flipping it front, back, front, back, examining it repeatedly.

On the evening military training ended, Bai Kou went to Bai Yuqiao’s room to borrow a notebook.

Opening the drawer, she surprisingly found the letter she had written to her sister back then.

Delight flashed in Bai Kou’s eyes. She took out the letter, opened it, and laughed after just one glance—thinking it was truly magical. No matter when she came to this room, that letter was always right on top in this drawer.

She read it quietly for a while, then put the letter back, took her sister’s math notebook, and left.

Sitting in front of the computer, notebook open, Bai Kou stared blankly at the unlit screen.

She thought for about a minute.

She picked up her phone to message her sister: 【Sis, I think I have a worry.】

“…” Deleted.

She propped up the phone, buried her head low with her forehead against it, and tapped irritably: thump, thump, thump.

Bai Kou flopped onto the bed and called Yang Wanxi.

Twice.

Yang Wanxi finally picked up. “What’s up, Little Bai Dou, calling me so late? Having fun with military training?”

“Yang Wanxi.” Bai Kou said gravely. “Do you remember back then when you bought the electric scooter and made me keep it secret? You still owe me a favor.”

“…” Yang Wanxi was silent for two seconds, then laughed. “Ha, my scooter’s been stolen for two years, and you choose now to cash it in.”

Right, back then after Yang Wanxi asked, Bai Kou had thought for a long time and didn’t have anything she wanted right away, so she let her owe it.

“Mm…” Bai Kou tugged at the bedsheet in agreement. “Is it okay? Still valid?”

“Of course it’s valid.” There was a door-closing sound on Yang Wanxi’s end, then it quieted. “Spill it.”

“I—” Bai Kou hesitated for two seconds. “Have a friend.”

“She recently has a worry and came to ask me. This worry… I think it’s kinda… boring, and I have no experience, can’t give her good advice. Want you to hear it.”

“…” Yang Wanxi. “Oh, go on.”

“It’s like this. She said during military training—uh, not it, she told me during our military training days. She said she suddenly feels some strange feelings toward her friend.”

Yang Wanxi was quiet for a long time before asking, “What do you mean by strange feelings? Be specific.”

“It’s just—”

Bai Kou pinched the bedsheet between her fingers again, then let go.

“She might like her friend.”