Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The afternoon sunlight was brilliant, illuminating his youthful, handsome face.

He looked at Li Lang with impatience. “Can you stop being a spy for my mom?”

Then he turned to me and smiled. “Li Linlin, have a seat. By the way, did you finish that book?”

In that instant, my heart soared high, like a child on a swing.

He had remembered all along.

Li Lang left with biting lips and red-rimmed eyes.

From that day on, Shen Dongye and I became desk mates.

Pink envelopes would appear in his drawer every few days.

He rarely opened them, and he never replied.

One day, our PE class was taken over by the Physics Teacher because of the rain.

Everyone was busy scribbling away at practice problems.

His left elbow brushed against my right arm.

A steady stream of warmth radiated from him. It felt like an electric current running through my body. My heart raced, and the hand I was using to write didn’t dare to move an inch.

He didn’t notice anything unusual at all and maintained the position.

It wasn’t until the bell rang and he got up to leave that I finally dared to take a deep breath.

We were responsible for cleaning the classroom ourselves.

We worked in pairs.

That day, the Labor Commissioner wrote our names in the bottom left corner of the blackboard early on.

Shen Dongye, Li Linlin.

Side by side.

My mind began to wander: If we got married in the future, would our names be arranged like this on the invitations?

They looked so well-matched.

But the heavens were not kind. Starting around four o’clock, dark clouds rolled in, and before long, thunder roared and rain poured down.

The other students had all left.

The only sound in the classroom was the rustle of bamboo brooms against the floor.

Dust swirled high in the silent space, like countless eyes scanning my secret teenage heart.

Now that it was just the two of us, I should say something.

I should be bold and natural, like Jiayi.

But even after searching through my mind ten thousand times, I couldn’t find a suitable topic before the cleaning was finished.

It felt as if a hole had been punched in the sky; the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping.

I stood at the entrance of the teaching building, watching as the few remaining students were picked up by their parents.

Shen Dongye threw an arm around a boy from Class 1. “Zhou Dazhuang, give me a lift to the bus station.”

He looked back and saw me. “Li Linlin, is your family coming to bring you an umbrella?”

No.

Grade ten was located at the branch campus, separate from the main campus where my sister was.

Dad would go pick up my brother, and Mom would bring an umbrella for my sister.

As for me, I always had to find my own way.

I curled my fingers into my palm and gave a soft smile. “Probably.”

I lied.

I didn’t want the boy I liked to know that I was always the one who was forgotten.

Shen Dongye nodded, hooked his arm around Zhou Dazhuang, and stepped out into the heavy rain.

Five minutes later, I was the only person left in the teaching building, yet the rain hadn’t let up.

I sighed silently, put my backpack over my head, and ran into the downpour.

As I stepped out of the school gates, a bus roared past me.

In the dim light, I saw Li Zhenzhen sitting by the door, her head down as she worked on a test paper.

My mother had her hand on the back of the seat, using her body to shield a small, quiet space for her.

A brief moment later, the bus pulled away, kicking up a high spray of water that came crashing toward me.

I even forgot to dodge.

Just as it was about to drench me, a black umbrella suddenly blocked the splash.