CM - 33

In the Music Classroom.

Li Gun was reading when Zhou Xiyou suddenly appeared, startling him. He said displeased, “What are you doing?”

Zhou Xiyou said, “Let’s talk.”

The music classroom was open to the public. Recently, Zhou Xiyou had been coming to Guoda Affiliated High School to rehearse with Li Gun’s band. They each had unique skills and could achieve great synergy with little practice, so they spent most of their time just hanging out.

Li Gun had nothing to say to her: “If you’re not practicing, go home.”

Zhou Xiyou insisted on talking: “I want to talk to you about love. What stage are you and that Zhao Guqing at?”

Li Gun was annoyed by her: “If you don’t leave, I will.”

Zhou Xiyou pulled him back: “Hey, hey, hey, can’t you show me some human compassion, considering I have late-stage cancer?”

That worked. Li Gun sat back down: “Only five minutes.”

Zhou Xiyou smiled: “Alright!”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Zhao Guqing. I saw her photos on Weibo as ‘most beautiful campus amateur.’ She’s really pretty, looks so pure. But since Zhou Shuirong came, she’s become a bit of a background character.”

Zhou Xiyou had already thoroughly investigated their situation these past few days. The commotion Zhou Shuirong caused after transferring became bigger and bigger, one after another. She could almost imagine why she transferred.

Of course, she didn’t think it was all Zhou Shuirong’s fault. Since ancient times, beautiful women have had difficult fates; born extraordinary, troubles would naturally revolve around them.

Li Gun didn’t want to talk about this: “Let’s talk about something else.”

Zhou Xiyou only wanted to talk about this: “I’m not surprised that Zhao Guqing likes Shen Tingwen. Don’t look at Shen Tingwen as unapproachable and frighteningly secretive; we women just like that feeling.”

Li Gun looked up: “Really?”

Zhou Xiyou saw he was interested: “How about this, you teach me drums, and I’ll help you win Zhao Guqing.”

Li Gun knew this was her intention. He initially thought she joined the band because she genuinely wanted to be a good keyboard player. The day before yesterday, she let it slip that she was actually after his drumming skills. Many industry big names praised his drumming.

Zhou Xiyou knew she wouldn’t live much longer. Dating was out of the question; she didn’t want to spend her remaining time crying over Shen Tingwen. She just wanted to learn something she liked, for herself.

She saw Li Gun hesitating and pressed her advantage: “I grew up with Shen Tingwen; we’re childhood sweethearts. I know what Zhao Guqing likes about him.”

Li Gun finally shook his head: “I can teach you drums, but forget about helping me pursue someone. I know my own limitations.”

Zhou Xiyou clicked her tongue: “How noble, Li Gun-gun. You’ve refreshed my impression of men. How about you like me instead? Let me calculate: I can probably live for about two more years. I’ll be your girlfriend for two years, you teach me drums, and take me to music festivals. Then, after the concert, we’ll passionately kiss in front of the whole country, and even go viral. I’ll let Shen Tingwen know that I’m the peacock he can’t have!”

She was joking, and also teasing him a bit. She had never seen such a humble man, quite interesting. Who knew Li Gun would say, “Okay.”

“Huh?”

Li Gun extended his hand to her: “Hello, girlfriend.”

________________________________________

Zhou Shuirong spent the entire day reading and solving problems. She didn’t drink the yogurt Shen Tingwen bought for her, nor did she look at the notes he passed her. She seemed determined to draw a clear line between them. He knew it was because he hugged her last night, which had limited his options.

How petty, this Zhou Shuirong. Anyway, she’ll marry him eventually, so what’s wrong with him hugging her beforehand? What’s wrong with a little prepayment?

Jing He waved his hand in front of Shen Tingwen’s eyes: “Stop staring, bro, your eyes are glazed over. I know you like her, but rein it in a bit. The school’s been cracking down on dating lately; you need to be careful.”

Shen Tingwen, annoyed by the obstruction: “Get lost.”

Jing He handed him a note: “Ma Zhenglei from Class 3, Grade 2, asked me to give this to Zhou Shuirong. You give it to her.”

Shen Tingwen took it and immediately opened it.

Jing He suddenly didn’t know what to say: “Bro... is that appropriate?”

Nothing inappropriate about it. Zhou Shuirong insisted on swimming earlier, which showed she had no ability to discern danger. If he didn’t protect her, how much trouble could a girl get into?

The note simply said: “K, Zhou Shuirong? My WeChat is GZL01255_.”

Shen Tingwen cursed “Damn it” and stormed out.

He was like a gust of wind. By the time Jing He reacted, he was already gone. He secretly glanced at the note, cursed silently, and wanted to chase after him, but the class bell rang. He had no choice but to return to his seat.

During class, he passed the note to Zhou Shuirong, and then wrote a few words on his own note: “Shen Tingwen saw the note and went to find him.”

Zhou Shuirong didn’t understand what “K” meant, so she ignored it.

The subject teacher, seeing Shen Tingwen absent, asked from the podium, “Where’s Shen Tingwen?”

No one answered.

Jing He saw Zhou Shuirong sitting quite steadily, so he passed her another note: “Shen Tingwen definitely went to fight Ma Zhenglei. He’s going to someone else’s class to pick a fight alone; isn’t that just sending a lamb into a tiger’s mouth?”

Zhou Shuirong frowned when she saw the note, then looked at Shen Tingwen’s seat, and finally raised her hand: “Teacher, may I go to the restroom?”

The teacher waved a hand: “Go ahead.”

Zhou Shuirong ran out, looking for Class 3, Grade 2. As soon as she got upstairs, before even entering the corridor, she heard cursing and people, both male and female, running out.

By the time she reached the doorway, their classroom was in chaos. Several tall boys were in a group fight. Some held chair legs, some held mop handles, and some were bare-handed. They cursed “Motherfucker!” at each other, showing no mercy.

Shen Tingwen was fighting alone against a group, covered in cuts, blood flowing. He held onto a stick tightly, refusing to be knocked down.

What a damn idiot!

Zhou Shuirong called out to him: “Shen Tingwen!”

As she called him, a stick hit him directly on the head, and he suddenly stopped. How strange, he wasn’t an impulsive person; he was more skilled at scheming. What was he doing?

Zhou Shuirong watched the stick hit him on the head, watched the blood flow: “Damn—”

Shen Tingwen was still able to turn around. When he saw Zhou Shuirong, he could even smile. Ah, it was his girl.

Zhou Shuirong ran over to support him, immediately scolding: “Are you out of your mind, coming alone?!”

Shen Tingwen could still stand: “Didn’t you come?”

Zhou Shuirong took the stick from his hand, turned around with a fierce glare, tilted her head slightly, tightened her grip on the stick, and then shielded Shen Tingwen behind her.

Shen Tingwen looked at her hair, panting, his chin slightly raised, as if saying: My wife is here; you all are dead.

Ma Zhenglei spat out a mouthful of blood, pointed at Shen Tingwen, and said to Zhou Shuirong: “Alright, this guy is a man, but coming to our class to cause trouble, do you think we’d let you leave? What kind of tough guys are you pretending to be? Can Shen Tingwen even be considered someone important? Without his dad, he’s nothing! Think carefully, are you standing with him...”

Zhou Shuirong didn’t let him finish. She swung the stick. Actions speak louder than words; of course, she was on Shen Tingwen’s side. She didn’t even know this person.

Ma Zhenglei stumbled back two steps, hitting the wall. He understood Zhou Shuirong’s meaning and wasn’t going to hold back anymore. Since the fight had already started, at worst he’d be expelled, but he had to release this anger! He cursed and rushed towards them: “Motherfucking bitch!”

Just as it seemed the fight wouldn’t end without one or two people getting seriously hurt, the dean and teachers arrived, loudly stopping them: “What are you doing?!”