Chapter 90: IF Line – High School (Part 3)
After the summer vacation, Ye Qizhen started her sophomore year of high school.
Apart from the heavier and more intense schoolwork, everything else seemed to remain the same, but some changes were quietly taking place: for example, the relationship between her and Wen Yu.
The two frequently went to the cafeteria and left evening self-study together, starting from this semester.
Speaking of which, the time she spent with Tang Tang had decreased. Tang Tang’s ambiguity with the boy from the basketball team continued, with a strong scent of romance.
As soon as the bell for the end of evening self-study rang, the long-quiet classroom erupted in noise. Some were laughing and chatting playfully, some were hurriedly packing their books, and some continued to bury their heads in problems, steady as a mountain.
Ye Qizhen didn’t like crowds, so she was always unhurried after class. By the time she walked out of the classroom, the people in the corridor had basically dispersed.
A chill outside.
It was the end of November, and the early winter wind blew in gusts, rolling up the withered leaves on the old tree branches.
Ye Qizhen shrank and shivered. She thought: Wen Yu should be waiting for me downstairs now, right?
She hurried downstairs, looking around the familiar corridor, but didn’t see Wen Yu’s figure. She stood by the window again, tiptoed, and poked her head into the classroom to look.
“Mn…” Ye Qizhen’s vision suddenly went black, her eyes gently covered by someone from behind. A childish little trick. She hardly hesitated before guessing accurately, “Wen Yu!”
If it were when she first met Wen Yu, she would have found it hard to imagine that Wen Yu actually had such a childish side.
Wen Yu still covered Ye Qizhen’s eyes, leaned her head close, and asked with a low laugh, “How did you know it was me?”
Because I remember the scent on you, especially pleasant. Ye Qizhen only thought this in her heart; it felt too embarrassing to say it out loud. She just said, “Let go of me.”
Wen Yu refused, just teasing her.
Ye Qizhen was helpless, repeating softly, “Wen Yu, let go of me—”
Listening to Ye Qizhen’s laughing voice and seeing her raised lips, Wen Yu’s mind wandered. She let go of her hands, but the next moment, instead of pulling away, she hugged her directly from behind.
When Ye Qizhen turned to look at Wen Yu, she was hugged by Wen Yu, her heartbeat instantly losing its rhythm. Because of this hug, their cheeks were even closer.
Being looked at like this, Wen Yu even wanted to hug her tighter. “It’s so cold today.” These four words sounded more like an excuse to hug longer.
“Mn, so cold.” Ye Qizhen followed absentmindedly. Girls often played and were intimate like this; Tang Tang sometimes hugged her like this too, but between her and Wen Yu…
The atmosphere seemed different.
Or, was this just her one-sided illusion?
No one in the school called them love rivals anymore. After all, compared to love rivals, they got along more like a couple.
“Why are your cheeks so red?” Wen Yu stared into Ye Qizhen’s eyes, rubbing her cheek with the back of her hand.
“Stuffy in the classroom for too long.” Ye Qizhen said awkwardly. Perhaps Wen Yu just touched her lightly, but in her eyes, it was an incredibly ambiguous caress. She changed the subject: “Your hands are so cold, let’s go back. It’s too cold.”
“Mn.” Wen Yu smiled.
Ye Qizhen discovered that Wen Yu smiled more often.
After evening self-study that day, she told Wen Yu a not-so-funny joke, but Wen Yu laughed very happily. She said to Wen Yu, “You look so good when you smile.”
Wen Yu asked her at the time, “Do you like watching me smile?”
She replied, “Why ask if I like it?”
Wen Yu didn’t say more.
Later, she often saw Wen Yu’s smile, the kind where you could see happiness.
One lived in the dorm, one commuted. They could only walk a short distance together before separating. Just this short distance, a few minutes’ time, Ye Qizhen looked forward to it every day.
“Wen Yu.” Just after walking out of the teaching building, a tall boy walking towards them called out. He held a snack bag in his hand. “Want some roasted sweet potatoes?”
A very obvious pick-up attempt. Ye Qizhen’s first reaction was to look at Wen Yu’s reaction beside her.
The smile on Wen Yu’s face faded, becoming nonchalant.
“There are two more, you can eat together.” The boy said enthusiastically. Seeing Wen Yu was aloof, he handed the food bag to the seemingly gentler Ye Qizhen.
Ye Qizhen naturally wouldn’t take it. If she took it, wouldn’t she be giving the other party a chance on behalf of Wen Yu? Leaving it hanging was also quite awkward.
“No need.” Wen Yu glanced at the boy and said lightly. She looked at Ye Qizhen again. “Let’s go.”
Ye Qizhen was pulled away by Wen Yu.
That boy didn’t follow.
Only the two of them left. Ye Qizhen turned to look at Wen Yu. “Is he chasing you?”
Wen Yu looked at her too. “Probably.”
Ye Qizhen didn’t know what to say. Was Wen Yu’s reaction just now a refusal? Her reaction was as bland as ever.
A sudden silence.
Wen Yu was still looking at Ye Qizhen. She couldn’t help but speak, “Can’t you tell?”
Ye Qizhen looked up: “What?”
Wen Yu explained: “I don’t like him.”
Five short words dispelled the gloom. Ye Qizhen wanted to smile but held back. Thinking of just now, she asked Wen Yu in a seemingly relaxed tone, “Then you still smiled at him.”
“I didn’t.” Wen Yu wanted to laugh too.
“You did.” Ye Qizhen retorted seriously.
“Then I won’t smile next time.” Wen Yu went along with her words. That wasn’t a smile, just too lazy to make a special expression for the other party—a true sense of disdain.
Ye Qizhen was speechless. She looked at Wen Yu quietly, the atmosphere wrong again. They were like a young couple having a tiff.
Wen Yu pressed Ye Qizhen, “Do you care so much?”
“I don’t.” Ye Qizhen said.
“You do.” It was Wen Yu’s turn to say these two words.
Ye Qizhen played dumb when she couldn’t win, walking forward without looking at Wen Yu.
Wen Yu walked side by side with Ye Qizhen, not looking at Ye Qizhen either, but smiling to herself.
Soon they reached the place where they had to separate.
Ye Qizhen: “I’m going back to the dorm.”
Wen Yu: “Mn.”
Ye Qizhen turned and walked a few steps, realizing she forgot to tell Wen Yu something. She turned back to call Wen Yu but found Wen Yu still standing there, looking at her. Her brain short-circuited again.
“What’s wrong?” It was Wen Yu who asked first.
“There’s a New Year’s performance at the end of this month, will you participate?”
“I won’t.” Wen Yu knew about this. “Are you participating?”
Ye Qizhen guessed Wen Yu wouldn’t participate. Although Wen Yu was always the focus of discussion, Wen Yu didn’t like being the center of attention. “Sweetie dragged me to sign up for a program.”
As the arts committee member, Tang Tang wouldn’t miss a chance to perform.
“What program?”
“Singing.” Ye Qizhen touched her hair. “I have to practice in advance.”
“I’ll practice with you.”
“Really?”
Wen Yu smiled and nodded.
Ye Qizhen returned to the dorm, not expecting Tang Tang to be back even earlier than her today.
The dorm was lively. Several girls from the class were there, and Tang Tang was talking animatedly about the program arrangement for the performance.
It seemed Tang Tang was preparing a proper program, a song and dance medley. Those who wanted to sing could sing, and those who wanted to dance could dance.
“Does it have to be so complicated?” Ye Qizhen asked weakly in the middle.
“Of course. A rare opportunity, I guarantee you’ll stun the audience.” Tang Tang patted her chest.
Indeed a rare opportunity. It would only get busier in the future, with no time to play around. The other girls agreed with Tang Tang, saying either don’t do it or do it well.
At night, Ye Qizhen lay on her back in bed, unable to sleep. She rested her arms under her head and spaced out, not thinking about singing at the performance, but about other things.
She seemed worried that Wen Yu would agree to other boys’ pursuits. Many people chased Wen Yu; she was used to it. The ones chasing Wen Yu before were all people like Guan Ming; she naturally didn’t want Wen Yu to get close to that kind of person.
But tonight?
The boy who hit on Wen Yu tonight, she knew him. He was the academic committee member of the class next door, a nice person.
Ye Qizhen turned over lightly, burying her face in the pillow. As a friend, she should care about whether Wen Yu liked the other party, not be afraid of Wen Yu liking the other party.
But her truest thought…
Was obviously the latter.
She couldn’t lie to herself.
To avoid messing up at the end-of-month performance, Ye Qizhen would take some time to practice singing after class.
Although she could sing okay, and Tang Tang chose well-known songs that weren’t difficult, thinking about performing on stage, she inevitably needed to prepare more to feel at ease.
Wen Yu would accompany her to practice singing, in the art studio at the very end, with the door closed, just the two of them.
At first, Ye Qizhen was embarrassed to sing in front of Wen Yu, blushing as soon as she sang.
Wen Yu didn’t laugh at her or tease her, just listened to her sing seriously. When singing, her voice was even sweeter.
Gradually, Ye Qizhen let go, becoming relaxed, singing and smiling. When she sang, Wen Yu would watch her intently, and she would watch Wen Yu intently too.
For a long time, in the undisturbed art studio, they only had each other in their eyes.
The performance was on the eve of the New Year’s holiday. Before it officially started, the dorm was in chaos.
Foundation, mascara, eyebrow pencil, concealer, lipstick—a pile of things. Basically all the makeup they could scrape together was gathered.
“What’s the order?”
“Just apply directly?”
“Sweetie, can you do eyeshadow?”
“The eyeliner is going to poke my eyes out.”
…
Everyone was a makeup novice. They definitely couldn’t do exquisite makeup; it was nothing more than making their faces whiter, seemingly doing eyeshadow and brushing mascara.
When Wen Yu walked into the dorm, Ye Qizhen was applying foundation, smearing it on in front of the mirror.
“Wen Yu, can you help me with my makeup?” A girl saw Wen Yu and was like finding a savior.
Wen Yu had come to the dorm to find Ye Qizhen several times, and even the roommates were familiar with her.
“Wen Yu, can you do makeup?”
“Wen Yu looks like she can do makeup.”
Wen Yu was indeed more skilled than them. Her mother was the type who wouldn’t go out without makeup and taught her in middle school that women should make themselves pretty.
Hearing Wen Yu’s name, Ye Qizhen immediately looked over.
At this time, someone blurted out in a loud voice: “Wen Yu must be here to do her girlfriend’s makeup. Don’t even think about it, you guys.”
Laughter erupted in the dorm.
Ye Qizhen’s face burned. Fortunately, it was covered by foundation. She and Wen Yu were close, and some in the dorm loved to joke, saying they were not love rivals, but more like a couple. Later, with playful teasing, the term “girlfriend” came out.
Wen Yu didn’t care about others’ jokes. She walked straight to Ye Qizhen, took the puff from Ye Qizhen’s hand, and bent over to look at her cheek. “Not even blended.”
“Oh.” Ye Qizhen responded, obediently letting Wen Yu help her blend.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you guys are really showing off your affection.” The girl on the side continued to tease.
Ye Qizhen turned to look at her, warning with her eyes, then said to Wen Yu, “Don’t listen to them, they just love to do this.”
Wen Yu’s attention was only on Ye Qizhen’s cheek. She smiled and asked back in a voice only the two of them could hear, “I’ll be your girlfriend, you’re not willing?”
