Chapter 85: IF Line – High School (Part 1)
Early summer evening, just at dusk.
The campus was noisy after class, like a cage of chirping birds ready to spread their wings and fly.
High school life was always monotonous: teaching building, cafeteria, dormitory—a three-point line. Students hurrying could be seen everywhere.
Before evening self-study, Ye Qizhen was used to hiding behind the teaching building to read for a while. She felt stuffy staying in the classroom for too long, and the flowerbed by the back playground was a secluded place.
Midterm exams were in a few days. She should have been concentrating on reviewing today, but at this moment, holding a collection of wrong questions, she flipped a few pages and then looked in the direction of the classroom next to her, appearing absent-minded.
The first floor of the teaching building in front of her was the art studio.
At this time, most people had gone to the cafeteria for dinner. Only one girl was in the studio, quiet.
The girl was very beautiful, but her brows and eyes were cold. Sitting motionless in front of the easel copying a sketch, she seemed to isolate herself in another world.
Her name was Wen Yu.
Ye Qizhen knew her name; or rather, many people in the whole school knew her.
While hesitating and struggling with something, Ye Qizhen’s shoulder was suddenly patted. Startled, she looked back to see Tang Tang sneaking up to scare her on purpose. “What are you doing?”
“What are you spacing out here for?” Tang Tang asked back.
“I’m reading.” Ye Qizhen argued.
Tang Tang sized up Ye Qizhen with a meaningful look and urged, “Class is starting soon, go back to the classroom.”
Ye Qizhen checked the time; it was indeed time to go back.
On the way back to the classroom, Tang Tang’s gossiping mouth didn’t stay idle. “Ye Qizhen, what’s going on with you and Guan Ming? Confess honestly to your big sister.”
Guan Ming was the sports committee member of the class next door. Mentioning this matter gave Ye Qizhen a headache; it was really hard to explain in a few words. “There’s nothing between him and me, stop gossiping.”
“If you like him, you like him. What can’t you tell me?” Tang Tang was dying of anxiety. Already bored, as soon as there was any movement in her friend’s love life, she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“I don’t like him.” Ye Qizhen emphasized word by word.
“You don’t like him…” Tang Tang said, then lowered her voice a bit, “I saw on the forum that you and… your love rival almost fought.”
“Inexplicable.” Ye Qizhen almost rolled her eyes. She had seen that post on the No. 1 High School forum. The “love rival” Tang Tang mentioned referred to Wen Yu.
A few days ago, she just accidentally spilled a cup of lemonade on Wen Yu, and people embellished the story, saying the two girls liked the same boy and almost fought, spreading it as if it were true. That day, before she could apologize to Wen Yu, Wen Yu left directly.
This was what she was struggling with just now: should she take the initiative to apologize to her? Otherwise, there would be a knot in her heart. But the other party probably hated her, right?
At noon, Ye Qizhen usually went to the cafeteria with Tang Tang. Tang Tang wasn’t feeling well today, so she let Tang Tang go back to the dorm to rest first. “Don’t go to the cafeteria, I’ll pack something back for you.”
“I’m not hungry, no appetite. Just bring me a cup of milk tea when you come back to the dorm.”
“Milk tea cures all diseases, huh?” Ye Qizhen laughed at her.
“Bring my favorite flavor.”
“Got it.” Ye Qizhen blinked.
“Our Little Zhen’er is the best.” Tang Tang pouted exaggeratedly and blew a kiss.
Going to the cafeteria alone for the first time, Ye Qizhen felt quite unaccustomed.
Most students in the cafeteria were in groups of two or three, talking and laughing. At their age, they liked to have their own small circles for everything. Conversely, being alone often made one appear like an outlier. No one wanted to be an outlier, so usually, even introverted people had friends to eat and go to class with.
“Thank you, Auntie.” Ye Qizhen got her food and held the tray looking for a seat. After scanning the hall halfway, she suddenly stopped. She saw someone, also alone.
Wen Yu sat by the side, eating lunch calmly and composedly.
Ye Qizhen had encountered Wen Yu in the cafeteria more than once. Wen Yu was probably an outlier-like existence in everyone’s eyes, doing everything alone. But she had never seen anyone calmer than Wen Yu. No matter how the outside world pointed and discussed, Wen Yu maintained a calmness disdainful of everything from beginning to end.
“Classmate, can I share the table?” Ye Qizhen approached and asked Wen Yu, who was eating. This action was a decision she made after thinking for a minute. She still wanted to apologize for that day.
Wen Yu looked up, her expression freezing for a moment.
Even though Wen Yu was hard to read, Ye Qizhen still caught a trace of surprise.
Wen Yu was quite surprised. Except for some guys, no one usually dared to approach and talk to her, whether with good or bad intentions. She looked at Ye Qizhen casually, not understanding the other party’s intention.
So beautiful, a beauty that gives a sense of distance. Ye Qizhen didn’t judge people by appearance, but at this moment, she still remembered the nickname others gave Wen Yu: Vixen. Seeing Wen Yu silent, she asked softly again, “Can I?”
Wen Yu looked indifferent and hummed an “Mn.”
Ye Qizhen sat down to eat, occasionally paying attention to the opposite side from the corner of her eye. Wen Yu was as quiet as ever, not exchanging pleasantries just because someone shared the table.
“Sorry about that day.” Ye Qizhen mustered up the courage and said to Wen Yu, “I didn’t mean to.”
Wen Yu remained unmoved.
Ye Qizhen intuitively felt that Wen Yu didn’t care at all whether she meant it or not, but she still said sincerely, “I accidentally spilled lemonade on you, sorry.”
Another “sorry.” Probably because this girl looked too obedient, Wen Yu didn’t sense any aggression towards herself, just a simple apology. Being apologized to so seriously for the first time felt a bit strange. Usually, Wen Yu would ignore others’ attempts to talk, but today, she broke precedent and hummed: “It’s okay.”
The stone in Ye Qizhen’s heart landed.
Because they weren’t familiar, both ate very silently.
Wen Yu had hardly ever eaten with classmates. Suddenly having someone next to her, she couldn’t describe her mood. She occasionally glanced at Ye Qizhen inadvertently—eating with such relish.
Review, exams. The brief tense time ended, followed by step-by-step classes again. Relatively speaking, freshman year was still quite relaxed.
The leaves outside the window had just been washed by rain, verdant and dripping.
As soon as the twelve o’clock bell rang, students couldn’t sit still. Once the teacher said “class dismissed,” they all hurried out.
Ye Qizhen was still burying her head in solving a problem.
Tang Tang ran over with an umbrella. “Scholar, let’s go, if we don’t go the cafeteria will be full.”
Ye Qizhen: “Just one last step.”
Tang Tang said: “Not active in eating, problem with thinking.”
While chatting with Tang Tang, Ye Qizhen calculated the answer. She closed the book and smiled at Tang Tang: “Okay, let’s go.”
Just delayed for a few minutes, and the corridor was deserted. Tang Tang linked arms with Ye Qizhen, complaining as they walked: “Edible dishes must be gone, told you not to be slow.”
When they reached the corner of the stairs on the second floor, they happened to bump into a tall figure face to face. Seeing it was Wen Yu, Ye Qizhen was stunned, then smiled faintly at her as a greeting.
Wen Yu’s reaction was faint, like smiling yet not smiling.
Ye Qizhen couldn’t help looking at Wen Yu’s back again, thinking: This person is so mysterious.
When they were slightly further away from Wen Yu, Tang Tang secretly discussed with Ye Qizhen, “She is quite beautiful.”
Ye Qizhen nodded and didn’t say anything else. She didn’t like discussing others behind their backs. But regarding Wen Yu, she had heard quite a lot of words. Wen Yu was definitely a legendary figure with the most rumors in the school.
Walking out of the teaching building. Tang Tang looked at the sky and cursed, “Brought an umbrella and the rain stopped again.”
Ye Qizhen took a breath of the damp air. It was exceptionally fresh after the rain; she liked this smell.
Tang Tang trotted, pulling Ye Qizhen along.
With poor stamina, Ye Qizhen couldn’t run at all. She tried hard to follow Tang Tang, laughing out of breath: “Sweetie, slow down.”
Clear laughter rang in her ears—
Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen who brushed past her. Her high ponytail swung because of running, drifting further away. She couldn’t help but watch entranced.
Arriving a bit late, past the peak period, there weren’t many people in the cafeteria. But there weren’t many slightly delicious dishes left either; Student Tang Tang’s prediction was quite accurate.
While eating, Ye Qizhen noticed Wen Yu by the window at a glance.
Alone again.
Before long, a pattering sound came.
Tang Tang: “Seems to be raining again, lucky we brought an umbrella.”
Ye Qizhen subconsciously looked out the window; it was raining. She noticed Wen Yu didn’t bring an umbrella.
Tang Tang wiped her mouth. “I’m done eating.”
Ye Qizhen came back to her senses: “Mn.”
Few students chewed slowly in the cafeteria; everyone could finish in ten minutes. Many seniors didn’t even let go of eating time, eating while flipping through notebooks.
Heavy rain poured outside.
The rain was heavier than imagined.
There were also those without umbrellas, but they could all find companions to walk with. After all, they were familiar classmates, just a matter of saying hello.
Ye Qizhen subconsciously looked in Wen Yu’s direction. The other party stood alone under the eaves, watching the heavy rain, just standing there, always alone.
Tang Tang opened the umbrella. “Little Zhen’er, let’s go.”
Ye Qizhen thought for a moment. Happening to see a classmate passing by, she called out to her, “Li Fang.”
The girl named Li Fang turned around and said enthusiastically to Ye Qizhen, “Didn’t bring an umbrella? Together.”
Ye Qizhen smiled sweetly. With a good personality, she naturally had good popularity, belonging to the most popular type of girls in the class. She looked at Tang Tang and said, “Sweetie, you go back to the classroom with Fangfang, lend me the umbrella.”
Tang Tang asked, “Still need to buy something? I’ll accompany you.”
“No.” Ye Qizhen said, taking the umbrella from Tang Tang’s hand. “You go back to the classroom first.”
“Okay.”
Holding the umbrella, Ye Qizhen dawdled for a while before walking to Wen Yu’s side. “Together?”
Wen Yu turned around; it was her.
Meeting eyes, Ye Qizhen said again, “I have an umbrella.”
“No need.” Wen Yu blurted out. The refusal popped out almost habitually; she had always been used to keeping a distance from people, coming and going alone.
“The rain is so heavy.” Ye Qizhen’s voice was light. She opened the umbrella, held it over Wen Yu’s head, and looked at her. “Let’s go.”
Wen Yu was slightly at a loss…
Does she not hate me?
