chapter 10

Chapter 10

When Shi Xian left, it was already ten o’clock at night. By then, Wu Ai had already fallen asleep and didn’t even notice her leaving.

When he woke up again, it was already the next morning.

Stepping out of the bedroom, Wu Ai was almost convinced he had walked into someone else’s home. The living room looked completely new.

“Looks like she really worked hard yesterday.”

Walking to the dining table, Wu Ai found a small note placed on top.

“The box contains the medicine you need to take this morning. I’ve already prepared it for you, don’t forget to take it~”

Looking at the note and the box of medicine on the table, Wu Ai couldn’t help but recall what she had said to him yesterday: I like you.

Faced with Shi Xian’s confession, Wu Ai didn’t dare to accept it.

This kind of wholehearted kindness made him feel pressured, even made him want to run away. He couldn’t tell if he was just addicted to this gentleness, or if he truly liked her as a person.

A year ago, after being rejected by Shang Wanling, and then breaking up with Guo Yi, he had fallen into deep self-doubt.

Even though he was flustered inside, he still put on a careless front and said, “You’re so good to me, how am I ever going to repay you?”

Shi Xian’s expression changed several times.

From initial shyness, it finally turned into grievance, and tears welled up in her eyes once again.

In the end, the tears didn’t fall. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and her aggrieved tears turned into a single sentence.

A sentence that stung Wu Ai’s heart.

“As long as you don’t leave me again…”

In the end, the two of them tacitly skipped over those seven words.

On the way, he sent Shi Xian a few words of thanks on his phone. She replied quickly; normally, most people wouldn’t be awake at this hour.

Shi Xian’s family had three children. As the eldest sister, she naturally took care of her younger siblings’ daily lives.

She always got up early and went to the kitchen alone to prepare breakfast for the whole family.

Everyone has to live for something in this life.

Shi Xian lived for her family, for the people she cared about.

Entering the familiar classroom, some people were reading and reviewing, and a tense atmosphere hung over the entire room.

Rather than calling it a classroom, it was more like a prison for dreams, under the guise of pursuing them.

Lao Ba was sitting at her desk, scrolling through her phone and listening to music with one hand, while the other hand was feeding herself a bun she’d just brought from the cafeteria.

Wu Ai took out an earphone and put it in his ear.

“I want to send you my endless longing, mail you a postcard that represents my love~”

“Damn, you listen to these sweet songs every day and never get tired of them?”

“Well, I do have a girlfriend.”

Knowing Lao Ba was mocking him, Wu Ai was just about to curse her out when he suddenly felt a heavy slap on his back.

He turned around and came face to face with Chang Qu’s sour expression.

The two of them were Wu Ai’s only real buddies in this class. Chang Qu was very good-looking, and there was no shortage of girls in their grade who liked him.

Chang Qu once wished to the heavens for endless wealth, but the heavens said they could only give him half.

So, he got to be cheap.

Because of his shameless personality, combined with his maggot-like curly hair, Wu Ai and Lao Ba always liked to call him Maggot Chang.

“Wu Ai, I didn’t expect you to come this early. Looks like college girls aren’t your type after all.”

“Get lost. What’s your business with me?”

Chang Qu looked at Wu Ai in shock and confusion: “How did you know I was looking for you?”

“A father knows his son best.”

Thinking that maybe this guy really did have something going on, Wu Ai became a bit more serious.

“Go ahead, what’s up? Let’s see if I can help you out.”

Chang Qu put away his cheeky grin, rubbed his hands together in a rare show of nervousness, and lowered his voice: “Well, this thing… it’s a bit tricky…”
Chang Qu paused for a moment, his expression growing even more awkward.

“There’s really nothing going on. I just came over to make a fool of myself, hahaha…”

“Get lost!”

With a cheeky grin, Chang Qu dodged away. Just then, the class bell rang, and he slipped back to his seat.

The teacher stood at the podium, speaking eloquently, while chalk sketched out lines of problem-solving strategies on the blackboard.

The writing was so small that even the students in the front row had to stand on tiptoe and crane their necks to see clearly.

Sitting in the very back row, Wu Ai already struggled to see the board, and his nearsightedness made things even worse.

So he settled for a compromise and started looking at the girl in the front row, her hips raised as she strained to see the board.

“We’ll have P.E. with Class Five later. Maybe you’ll run into her,” Lao Ba said lazily, leaning over in a low voice.

“She’s hopeless at sports. She’ll probably find somewhere cool and rest.”

Wu Ai snorted and buried his face even deeper in his arms.

“You’re still mad at her?” Lao Ba took a deep breath, his tone turning serious.

“So what if you got rejected when you confessed? Plenty of guys in this school like her-you’re not the only one who failed.”

“Honestly, I feel kind of lucky now. Good thing I didn’t give up the whole forest for a single tree.”

“The less you act like you care, the more it hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Shut up.”

Wu Ai cut him off and buried his face again.

Seeing Wu Ai acting like a lost cause, Lao Ba gritted his teeth. “You’re just running away!”

Wu Ai said nothing, putting on a careless facade.

That seemed to have become his protective color.

As for what he truly felt inside, only he knew.

By senior year, P.E. class was little more than a formality-just a token on the timetable.

This brief period of free activity was like a plank that appeared by chance in the sea of hardship that was senior year, letting them catch their breath for a moment.

On the field, a hastily organized match had already lasted half an hour. Wu Ai wiped his face with the hem of his jersey.

Panting, he looked at the scoreboard, the glaring “1:3” staring back at him.

The halftime whistle blew, and Wu Ai and Chang Qu dragged their feet to the sideline, flopping down onto the grass.

Chang Qu lay on his back, mouth wide open, gasping like a dog.

Teacher Wang came over and gave Wu Ai a kick. “Save your energy. If you get hurt, how will you take the Gaokao?”

Wu Ai looked up and waved his hand nonchalantly. “Why don’t you play, then? All you do is watch from the sidelines.”

“I’d rather not. My ankle still hurts,” Teacher Wang said, then, noticing someone approaching, tactfully stepped aside.

The next second, a bottle of water was handed to Wu Ai.

Wu Ai thought it was Chang Qu and joked, “Oh, you finally know how to show respect to your elder, huh?”

He took the bottle, twisted off the cap, and gulped down several mouthfuls.

Then, a towel was gently draped over his head. A pair of slender hands softly wiped the sweat from his hair.

“Chang Qu, since when did you get so sappy?”

Wu Ai whipped around, only to see Shang Wanling standing behind him with the towel. He was caught off guard.

The girl was wearing the white high school uniform, at least 168 centimeters tall, with French bangs and a high ponytail that made her look especially energetic.

The sunlight outlined her delicate features. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her nose straight, and her lips glistened.

All the memories of being with her rushed back in a flood.

Wu Ai forced himself to push down every emotion, deliberately pulling away, trying to act like he was just making small talk with an old friend.

“Why is it you?”