Chapter 88: IF Line – High School (Part 2)
Ye Qizhen naturally felt embarrassed to stay at Wen Yu’s place for the entire weekend, so she went home the next morning.
The atmosphere at home was exactly as she had imagined. Chen Yin didn’t repeatedly scold her about her drop in ranking, but maintained a cold face and a low pressure.
She knew this was a sign of disappointment, meant to make her feel guilty.
This invisible pressure was more suffocating than arguments, so much so that this depressed mood accompanied her until she returned to school.
On Sunday afternoon, Ye Qizhen arrived at school early and sat in a corner of the back playground to get some fresh air.
The sky was so blue, making the clouds look as delicious as cotton candy. After looking up at the sky for a while, she rubbed her neck, hugged her bent knees, and buried her face in them.
Thinking of the unhappiness over the weekend again.
When Ye Qizhen was in a low mood, she liked to be alone like this, because she didn’t want to pass negative emotions to others, nor was she willing to let others see this side of her.
The more she thought, the more depressed and uncomfortable she felt. The corners of her eyes couldn’t help but get wet. She continued to bury her head, afraid of running into acquaintances at this time.
But just then, a slanted shadow appeared, falling on the grass beside her.
Ye Qizhen noticed it. She didn’t dare to look up, afraid of revealing she was crying. She just hoped this shadow would disappear quickly. But it didn’t; the shadow stayed by her side, and no one spoke to her.
Wen Yu stood for a while. Although the other party didn’t show her face, she recognized it was Ye Qizhen. “Ye Qizhen.”
A very light sound.
Ye Qizhen immediately recognized Wen Yu’s voice. The timbre was too special, clear and pleasant.
But she didn’t respond, pretending not to hear.
Wen Yu looked at her for a while longer, then quietly sat down beside her.
Ye Qizhen still refused to look up, just burying her head, and by the way, secretly wiping her tears.
One burying her head, one watching, neither speaking. They sat like this for a full two minutes.
“What’s wrong?” Wen Yu spoke first.
So close, pretending not to hear would be too much. Ye Qizhen looked up, glanced at Wen Yu hastily, then turned her head to stare at the green grass. “Didn’t sleep well these two days, a bit sleepy.”
Do eyes get wet from not sleeping well? Wen Yu didn’t expose her obvious lie. Instead, she handed over a tissue, silently, without saying a word.
Ye Qizhen glanced at the tissue from the corner of her eye, finally taking it hesitantly, never looking directly into Wen Yu’s eyes. Wen Yu didn’t press for details, which made her slightly less constrained.
After handing over the tissue, Wen Yu also looked at the grass silently. She thought she wouldn’t be sad, after all, she smiled so happily every day.
“Thank you.” Ye Qizhen only dared to look at Wen Yu after adjusting herself.
Eyes red, like a little rabbit. Wen Yu reminded her: “Didn’t wipe clean.”
Ye Qizhen was embarrassed, picking up the paper and wiping her eyes again.
Seeing this, Wen Yu took the tissue from her hand directly, turned sideways to help her wipe her cheek. There was still a trace of tears near the corner of her mouth.
Ye Qizhen had never cried in front of others, let alone let others wipe her tears. Her body froze like a log for a moment. When Wen Yu got close, her attention was completely on the other’s beautiful brows and eyes. What she didn’t understand was, why was her heart beating so fast? Followed by a blush.
Wen Yu also discovered Ye Qizhen was blushing, but she didn’t expose it, just gently wiping away the tear stains for her. Her lips were soft and pouty.
Ye Qizhen quickly smiled and said “thank you” again, trying to cover up her unnaturalness.
“You’re still smiling when you’re unhappy.” Wen Yu’s gaze moved away from her lips.
“I… I’m much better now.” Ye Qizhen returned to her usual cheerful appearance, although her eyes still showed traces of crying. Crying in front of Wen Yu was actually okay, and she felt Wen Yu was so gentle, not at all the annoying personality they said.
Still staring at her. Wen Yu had only been stared at like this by boys, and she was annoyed. But Ye Qizhen staring at her gave her an indescribable feeling.
Wen Yu was always direct. She also stared at Ye Qizhen and asked, “Why do you keep staring at me?”
“Ah?” Reminded by Wen Yu, Ye Qizhen was flustered. In her panic, she spoke her mind, saying shyly, “You are so beautiful.”
The corners of Wen Yu’s mouth lifted, amused by Ye Qizhen’s shyness.
The back playground of the school became the most frequent meeting place for the two. Ye Qizhen sometimes saw Wen Yu running, so she would walk around the playground and call her loudly: “Wen Yu.”
Sometimes Ye Qizhen suspected Wen Yu was also waiting for her. Every time she went for a walk, she would most likely run into Wen Yu running, which was too much of a coincidence.
Later, no matter who met whom, they would end up walking the playground together, stealing leisure from a busy schedule.
Like summer arriving quietly, their relationship seemed to be changing quietly too.
From “love rivals” to friends?
Ye Qizhen thought, they should be considered friends.
“Wen Yu.”
“Student Wen.”
“Student Wen Yu.”
“Student Wen Yuyu.”
…
Wen Yu began to be called by her name frequently. In Ye Qizhen’s “Wen Yu” one after another, she gradually experienced the taste of not being isolated.
Every time she heard Ye Qizhen call “Wen Yu,” her lips would smile before she even turned around.
She liked Ye Qizhen’s crisp and sunny voice, sounding sweet and full of vitality.
Not sure if it was because of Ye Qizhen, but the gossip about her in school gradually lessened. She even accidentally ran into Ye Qizhen arguing seriously with people around her, saying Wen Yu wasn’t that kind of person.
Cicadas chirped noisily, the temperature continued to rise, and in a blink of an eye, it was summer vacation.
In previous summer vacations, Ye Qizhen always hung out with Tang Tang, but this year was a bit different. Student Tang Tang seemed to have a hint of romance; the other party was a boy from the school basketball team.
“Little Zhen’er, do you want to watch the basketball game tomorrow? Then go for barbecue together.”
Ye Qizhen was eating ice cream. Hearing Tang Tang’s voice on the phone, she boldly guessed, “Are you with Li Changlan right now?”
“Mn.” Tang Tang’s voice was a bit shy.
“I knew it.” Ye Qizhen licked the ice cream and laughed.
Tang Tang: “How did you know?”
Ye Qizhen: “Your voice is so coquettish.”
“You’re asking for it!” Tang Tang only hated that she couldn’t hit her through the phone. She immediately changed the subject. “Don’t you dislike staying at home? Come out and play tomorrow, there are handsome guys.”
“Forget it, I’m not going.”
“Why not…” Tang Tang chattered on, trying to persuade Ye Qizhen.
Ye Qizhen just had two sentences: Not going, not interested.
Tang Tang was helpless.
Ye Qizhen wasn’t interested, and even less interested in the group of boys playing basketball. All sweaty, they stank to death after every game. She couldn’t understand why Tang Tang liked boys who played basketball so much.
Finished the ice cream, Ye Qizhen wrote two pages of summer homework. A WeChat message rang. She thought it was Tang Tang again, so she didn’t look, continuing to do problems.
Half an hour later, she put down her pen to rest. Looking at her phone, she found it was actually from Wen Yu.
They had added each other on WeChat before but hadn’t chatted much, since they walked the playground together every few days.
Wen Yu only sent one sentence: Want to run with me tomorrow morning?
Ye Qizhen replied without thinking: Okay.
Last semester’s PE exam, she almost collapsed in the 800 meters, an embarrassing sight seen by Wen Yu.
That day Wen Yu told her she could take her running, and passing would be no problem. She thought Wen Yu was just saying it casually, but didn’t expect her to be serious.
Agreed on a time.
Wen Yu: See you at school tomorrow.
Staring at the chat history, Ye Qizhen fell into a deep thought. Knowing she couldn’t even run fifty meters usually, why did she agree to run with Wen Yu?
Actually, she knew why she agreed without thinking. Because…
A little bit want to see her.
Run when said run. This summer vacation suddenly became interesting.
Ye Qizhen knew her own limits and admitted defeat on the first day. “Wen Yu, I can’t run anymore.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mn.”
“You only ran thirty meters.” Wen Yu was shocked.
“Fifty meters, right?” Ye Qizhen argued, trying to save some face.
“I’ll pull you.”
There weren’t many people on campus during the summer. The morning breeze blew gently, comfortable and pleasant. On the brick-red plastic track, the laughter of two girls was added.
Ye Qizhen didn’t expect that she, with zero athletic cells, would fall in love with running. Mainly because Wen Yu taught so gently—pulling her along when she couldn’t run, taking her to rest when tired, and helping her wipe sweat.
In just one week, Ye Qizhen could already run two laps, but her complexion wasn’t very good.
Sitting in the shade of a tree, Wen Yu wiped sweat for her and scolded her: “Why force yourself? Your face is all white from running.”
“It’s okay, I’ll get used to it after a few more runs.” Ye Qizhen smiled, enjoying Wen Yu’s thoughtful care with a clear conscience. If it were anyone else, she would have dodged and wiped it herself, but facing Wen Yu, not only did she not dodge, but she also moved her face closer.
Rested for a long time.
Wen Yu asked Ye Qizhen, “Still uncomfortable?”
Ye Qizhen wanted to say not uncomfortable, but what came out was a mosquito-like “Mn.”
Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen’s close cheek, reached out and touched her head, comforting the tired little cat.
“Wen Yu.”
“Mn.”
Ye Qizhen brazenly leaned on Wen Yu’s shoulder. Perhaps, the acting was a bit clumsy.
Wen Yu’s action was involuntary. When Ye Qizhen leaned over, she hugged Ye Qizhen in her arms, not letting go for a long time. A wondrous feeling… want to be like this, a little longer; want to be closer to her, a little closer.
Ye Qizhen smiled secretly. Unknowingly, her cheeks felt slightly hot, seemingly not because of the dappled sunlight falling on her face through the gaps in the leaves.
“Ye Qizhen.”
Ye Qizhen found Wen Yu looking down at her, not knowing for how long.
Wen Yu stared at her, her voice very light: “Why are you blushing?”
Ye Qizhen was mute. From running, from the sun… there were excuses to answer, but looking at Wen Yu, she was also asking herself, Why am I blushing?
