Chapter 4
Chapter 4
The rain showed no sign of stopping.
Even my phone screen was wet.
My fingers had turned blue-white with cold. I wiped the screen clumsily and unlocked it.
Only seven passengers remained ahead of me in the ride queue.
Unable to stop shivering, I crouched and curled into a ball, trying to hold on to what little warmth I had.
Ruan Zhiyao wrapped her arms around Song Qi from the front.
“This way I can shield you from the rain too.”
“You won’t get quite as wet.”
Song Qi pulled her hands away.
“I don’t need that.”
“Stand properly and keep yourself dry.”
He stared motionlessly into the misty downpour.
Raindrops struck his arms, slid over his pale skin, and fell from his fingertips.
A while later, a car stopped in front of us.
It was not the ride I had ordered.
Song Qi’s family driver had arrived.
Song Qi turned to me. “Get in. We’ll take you home.”
Ruan Zhiyao let out a disappointed sound.
“It’s already so late.”
“And Sang Yu lives so far away.”
“I want to go home early too.”
Song Qi raised his eyes.
“Zhiyao, she’s been our classmate for three years.”
Hurt flashed across Ruan Zhiyao’s face, but she smiled.
“I never said you couldn’t take her.”
“Who knew my boyfriend cared so much about his classmates?”
Another car approached in the distance, its high beams glaring through the rain.
I strained to read the license plate and confirmed that it was mine.
I stood.
“No need, but thank you. My ride is here too.”
With that, I ran to the car.
Ruan Zhiyao’s airy voice drifted after me.
“Oh. It seems she doesn’t care for your kindness.”
After a hot shower at home, I found two missed calls on my phone.
Both were from an unfamiliar local number.
A second later, the same number called again.
I answered.
Song Qi’s voice came through the receiver.
“I’m downstairs.”
I immediately went to the window and looked down.
“Why are you here?”
“I brought you cold medicine.”
“I don’t need it. I can buy my own. Go home—I’m hanging up.”
His tone did not change.
“Or I can come upstairs.”
My parents were still watching television in the living room.
Afraid he would truly come up, I threw on a jacket and hurried downstairs.
Song Qi tossed me a bag of medicine.
“Sang Yu.”
“Weren’t you the one who said we should be ordinary classmates?”
The corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
“Do you avoid all your other classmates this desperately?”
Before I could understand what he meant, he walked away.
I watched his back, unable to fathom why he was angry.
On Monday morning, I arrived at school and placed the unopened bag of medicine on Song Qi’s desk.
The class president had already posted the new seating chart by the podium.
Following the chart, I packed up my things and moved them little by little while the classroom was still mostly empty.
Everyone had changed seats before morning study began.
Our homeroom teacher entered and stepped onto the platform.
“A new student is joining our class today.”
“Come in, Jiang Che.”
The boy entered to a ripple of startled whispers.
“Damn, he’s handsome.”
“Even better-looking than the photo I sneaked a peek at in the office.”
The teacher surveyed the room and pointed to the empty seat beside me.
“Sit there for now.”
“If you have any questions, ask your deskmate.”
I stared at Jiang Che’s face for two seconds.
He looked strangely familiar.