OS - 23

The bell for the end of the last self-study period rang, and students dispersed to their dorms or homes. Li Zhen reminded Cheng Yuzhou to pick up two sets of school uniforms this week.

Teacher Li, who taught math, was thirty-eight this year. Not only did he have a normal amount of hair, but his physique also hadn’t changed. He was widely regarded as the most handsome male teacher in the grade. He wasn’t a local and had stayed here after passing the exam to teach at Baicheng No. 1 Middle School.

“Qing Hang, take the new student to pick them up when you have a moment.”

“Okay, Teacher Li.”

Qing Hang packed the books he would need for the evening and noticed that Cheng Yuzhou had once again turned his head to look at the empty seat diagonally behind him—Zhou Yu’s seat. Zhou Yu had left before class and hadn’t returned to the classroom.

“I’m leaving now. I’ll take you to get your school uniform during the break tomorrow.”

Cheng Yuzhou nodded casually, then stood up to let Qing Hang out.

Right after evening self-study, the hallway was crowded, so Cheng Yanqing didn’t bother to squeeze through. He stayed in the classroom for ten minutes before going downstairs with Cheng Yuzhou.

Cheng Wanyue was even later than them. She tugged at Cheng Yuzhou, telling him not to rush off.

“Wait a bit longer. Gao Rui also lives on Renmin Road. Bro, you can walk with her.”

Cheng Yuzhou hadn’t said anything yet, but Cheng Yanqing, standing nearby, caught on. “Oh, playing matchmaker, are we?”

“What’s wrong with that? Is it not allowed? I know my friends; at the very least, their character is good,” Cheng Wanyue looked at Cheng Yuzhou enthusiastically. “Gao Rui was interested in you when she saw your picture last year. I didn’t approve of long-distance relationships, so I didn’t introduce you two. Now it’s convenient, isn’t it? Bro, aren’t I good to you?”

Cheng Yuzhou retorted with a forced smile, “Only by giving up the best can you barely be considered good to me. Why don’t you introduce your best friend to me?”

“My best friend is Zhou Yu.”

And then?

Cheng Yuzhou was still waiting for her to continue, but she directly moved past the topic, chattering endlessly about other things. Cheng Yuzhou felt a surge of frustration, shook off Cheng Yanqing’s arm from his shoulder, and walked off first.

“Wait for me! I’m going to check on Yanci. That idiot didn’t actually give up on the gaokao, did he? I haven’t seen a trace of him all day,” Cheng Yanqing stepped on a stone to tie his shoelaces. He looked up and saw Cheng Wanyue pointing at Cheng Yuzhou’s back and winking at Gao Rui, who had just come downstairs. “Aren’t you going?”

“I’m not going.”

He squinted and asked, “Then where are you going?”

Cheng Wanyue wouldn’t tell him that Qing Hang was waiting for her. “None of your business! You blind third wheel!”

“If you get home later than me, you’re getting a beating.”

After saying that, Cheng Yanqing ran a few steps to catch up with Cheng Yuzhou. He also knew Gao Rui. Cheng Yuzhou was always cold towards people he wasn’t familiar with and didn’t say much along the way. Gao Rui wasn’t the kind of person who would be disliked, and Cheng Yanqing was quite talkative, so they chatted until they reached the intersection.

Gao Rui’s house was still further ahead. According to Cheng Wanyue’s intention, she probably wanted Cheng Yuzhou to walk her home.

Cheng Yanqing saw that his brother had no such intention, so he planned to suggest that he and Cheng Yuzhou go to Yanci’s house together first, to avoid awkwardness.

Before he could speak, Zhou Yu suddenly walked out of the alley. She saw them and also froze.

The streetlights on the main road were bright, but there was a light only every great distance in the alley. Zhou Yu stood at the corner, the light around her was very dim, even her shadow was extremely blurry. Cheng Yuzhou stood under the streetlight at the intersection, looking at her when he heard Cheng Yanqing call Zhou Yu’s name.

Cheng Yanqing said, “We’re going to see Yanci.”

He walked a few steps forward, leaving only Gao Rui and Cheng Yuzhou standing side by side behind him. Under the marvelous light and shadow effects, there was an indescribable harmony. Zhou Yu looked away, “I just came from his house, you don’t need to go.”

I, just, came, from, his, house.

“You skipped three periods of evening self-study,” before Cheng Yanqing could speak, Cheng Yuzhou spoke first, “Were you with him the whole time?”

Teacher Li had asked Zhou Yu to find Yanci; she wasn’t skipping class. She didn’t explain much, “Yes, he’s very unwell.”

“If he’s unwell, he should go to the hospital. You’re not a doctor, what good is it for you to be with him?”

Zhou Yu thought to herself, she at least found Yanci before that woman did.

“It definitely helped a little bit.”

Cheng Yanqing was suddenly kicked, jumping down from the steps. He had been fighting with Cheng Yuzhou like this since childhood and was long used to it. Just as he was about to fight back, he noticed Cheng Yuzhou’s expression wasn’t good.

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you here to bring comfort? Hurry up and see where exactly he’s unwell, and send him to the hospital as soon as possible,” Cheng Yuzhou looked at Zhou Yu, enunciating each word, “Don’t delay his condition.”

“Oh, right,” Cheng Yanqing remembered the main point.

He was like Cheng Wanyue; if he went, he would definitely knock on Yanci’s door and wouldn’t leave until it opened.

Yanci’s vulnerable state being seen by Zhou Yu had already wounded his pride. Cheng Yanqing was straightforward; if he felt something was off, he would keep asking questions until he got to the bottom of it.

That wouldn’t be a good thing; the fewer people who knew, the better.

“He’s much better now. You can come call him to school tomorrow morning instead,” Zhou Yu stopped Cheng Yanqing. “Don’t go tonight; he should be asleep by now.”

Even Gao Rui could see the urgency in her stopping Cheng Yanqing, let alone Cheng Yuzhou, who had been staring at her.

“Alright then, if you’ve seen him, that’s fine,” Cheng Yanqing didn’t insist. Zhou Yu was more careful than him; if she said he was fine, then there probably wasn’t a big problem.

He suddenly pointed at Zhou Yu’s neck. “Hey, why is your neck red? Did that idiot go crazy again?”

Zhou Yu had just taken a few steps into a brightly lit area, and the red mark on her neck was exposed under the light.

Cheng Yuzhou watched her pull her school uniform zipper all the way up, then flip her collar up, a classic case of “protesting too much.”

“No, it’s probably a mosquito bite.”

He chuckled in exasperation, “What kind of mosquito is that venomous?”

“I don’t know,” Zhou Yu didn’t look at him, lowered her head, and walked around him. “I’m going home.”

Cheng Yanqing hooked his arm around Cheng Yuzhou’s shoulder, taking the opportunity to hang his backpack around his neck, leaving his own hands free.

“Forget it, I’m not going home today. I’ll squeeze in with you at Grandma’s place to avoid the hassle of going back and forth tomorrow morning. I got used to sleeping until I naturally woke up during summer vacation, and my body clock hasn’t adjusted yet. Waking up early is such a pain; I almost overslept this morning.”

Seeing this, Gao Rui chose not to ask Cheng Yuzhou for his contact information at that moment. She could ask Cheng Wanyue for it, but they were already acquainted, so asking him directly wasn’t inappropriate; it just needed the right timing. Anyway, there was still plenty of time.

Gao Rui linked arms with Zhou Yu, smiling and waving to Cheng Yuzhou. “Then Zhou Yu and I will walk together. Bye, see you tomorrow.”

Zhou Yu wasn’t actually that familiar with her; they just knew each other. Like Cheng Wanyue, she was also very well-known at school.

Good family background and pretty.