OS - 25

The red mark on Zhou Yu’s neck was actually from pressure. Yanci’s hat had a metal buckle, and last night, as soon as he entered the room, he pushed her against the door, leaning his head on her shoulder and staying motionless for those few minutes.

The crisp sound of the female teacher’s high heels on the concrete floor was very clear.

Zhou Yu quickly walked out from under Cheng Yuzhou’s umbrella, separating from him.

She felt like she had been caught red-handed by a teacher doing something wrong, causing her face to flush and ears to burn. There were many reasons for this, and the cool breeze carrying tiny water droplets on her skin had a minimal cooling effect; her palms were even sweaty.

“Classmate, I’ve found a few larger ones. Come in and try them on to see if they fit.”

Cheng Yuzhou closed his umbrella and followed her into the office. “Thank you, Teacher.”

The new school uniforms, just retrieved from the storeroom, had a slight smell. Cheng Yuzhou wouldn’t wear them today, only trying them on for size. On the teacher’s desk were unfinished steamed buns and congee. After taking off his own shirt, he didn’t place it on the desk.

Zhou Yu was still outside. Cheng Yuzhou walked to the door and handed out the clothes.

“Can you hold these for me?”

“...Oh,” Zhou Yu reached out and took them.

His shirt still held his residual body heat. He had just changed into it that morning, so there was no sweat smell. The scent of laundry detergent was easy to identify, and that faint waft in the air was the scent of adolescent hormones.

“The size is just right, I’ll take these two sets.”

After Cheng Yuzhou tried on the school uniform, Zhou Yu handed him his shirt. He put it back on, reaching his hand to the back of his neck to adjust the collar that was tucked inside. He couldn’t fix it himself, but Zhou Yu, standing behind him, quietly stood on her tiptoes, pinching a bit of fabric to help him turn out the folded collar. Her movements were very light, not even enough for him to notice.

The female teacher looked back and happened to see this scene. She didn’t say anything, just smiled at the two of them and opened the registration book for Cheng Yuzhou to sign his name and class.

Zhou Yu was still holding one of his pens and casually placed it next to the book. He bent down, one hand resting on the desk, holding down the registration book, and the other hand picked up the pen.

They returned to the classroom just before the bell rang for class. Umbrellas hung outside the window, still dripping. Qing Hang watched Cheng Yuzhou stuff his school uniform into his desk, wisely not mentioning a word.

________________________________________

Yanci’s presence in the classroom meant that almost every teacher would look at him a few extra times during class. Except for during breaks, he remained slumped on his desk, his entire face buried in his arms.

Cheng Yanqing followed him to the restroom, complaining, “Don’t sleep next class, or the teacher will keep throwing chalk at my head.”

Yanci was slightly dehydrated, causing a low fever and very poor spirits. Only he knew that he hadn’t actually slept for a minute.

That area was chafed.

The unbearable pain constantly reminded him that the hidden, pleasurable, painful, and agonizing memories from the previous night in the bathroom became clearer with each passing class.

Cheng Yanqing shivered, zipped up his pants, and turned around to find Yanci still standing motionless.

“Aren’t you going to pee?”

Yanci didn’t move. “You go back first.”

Cheng Yanqing said, “Don’t you dare smoke, I’m watching you right here.”

Yanci’s face showed impatience. “Annoying, aren’t you?”

“If you’re not smoking, what are you waiting for? You’re not afraid of me seeing, are you?”

It was perfectly normal for close male friends to casually compare sizes while using the restroom. They had known each other for a long time, so they were used to it.

“You’ve been off since this morning,” Cheng Yanqing glanced sideways at Yanci’s lower half, grinning mischievously. “Did you, you know, last night?”

No wonder he looked so worn out and fragile this morning.

Yanci cursed coldly. Just as he was about to make a move, Cheng Yuzhou entered. Cheng Yanqing made a defensive stance against the air. Cheng Yuzhou was in a good mood and only called him an idiot.

“Damn it!”

Cheng Yanqing immediately shifted targets. After Cheng Yuzhou washed his hands, he chased him out. Two such dazzling people goofing around in the hallway attracted too much attention. Coupled with Yanci, who arrived two minutes later, and Qing Hang, who came out of the teacher’s office carrying an exercise book, they became a lively sight amidst the dull academic atmosphere of the third year of high school.

The girls nearby pretended to chat with their friends, but they couldn’t help but look over there.

Zhou Yu had gone to bed late yesterday, and after a day of classes, she felt groggy. She rested her head on her desk, seemingly asleep, yet not quite. She was startled awake by a burst of laughter, opening her eyes in a daze.

Her seat offered a good view, and she could see outside the window without lifting her head.

Boys at this age always had an excess of energy.

She saw Cheng Yuzhou push Cheng Yanqing away, then walk towards her. His white shirt reflected the light, and the diffused glow gradually blurred the other students around him into a silent background.

He approached.

He stood by her desk, and his finger once again touched her arm.

But this time, there was a layer of school uniform between them.

Almost 12 hours had passed, and she still didn’t understand why he was so strange back then. Perhaps it was because she only remembered the brief skin-to-skin contact that had thrilled her, with no room for other thoughts. Just a slight recollection, and her heart intended to race; this feeling was not good.

She began to uncontrollably wonder, would it be like that morning under the eaves again?

“I kept forgetting to return the umbrella from that day.”

Zhou Yu’s blurry vision slowly sharpened. So, it was just about returning the umbrella.

There was still one last evening self-study session. The bell rang, and Li Zhen was already at the classroom door. Cheng Yuzhou didn’t have time to say anything more before a classmate pushed him back to his seat.

Li Zhen told everyone to study by themselves. The noisy sounds quieted down. Zhou Yu tore off a sticky note and wrote a few words: Don’t overthink it.

She stuck it somewhere easily visible.

The biggest taboo in friendship is overthinking.

________________________________________

With twenty minutes left until class ended, Li Zhen conveyed a few points from the full-grade teacher’s meeting today, then began to reassign seats. He had already arranged them and had written the student numbers on the blackboard according to the new seating arrangement during self-study.

Yanci was the last in the class to report, so his student number was the last one, 48, making him easy to find. He remained in his original seat.

His new deskmate was student number 11.

“Classmates, if you have any opinions, and they are reasonable, you can voice them now, and I will adjust accordingly. If not, we’ll proceed as planned.”

“Teacher, I have an opinion,” Cheng Yuzhou was the only one who raised his hand.

Li Zhen looked at him. “Speak.”

Cheng Yuzhou, without changing his expression, said, “I greatly admire student Yanci and would like to be his deskmate, to motivate each other and make progress together this year.”

Li Zhen had seen Cheng Yuzhou’s grades before his transfer. He was on par with Qing Hang. Yanci had studied for one year in the third year of high school, so it was normal for him to score slightly higher than both of them. Li Zhen could tell that although Yanci was physically in the classroom, his mind was still elsewhere.

Having a deskmate who was equally capable might motivate him.

“Very good, I also hope you can get along well, but we can’t just consider your needs,” Li Zhen asked Yanci, “Yanci, are you willing to be deskmates with Cheng Yuzhou?”

Yanci’s parents were once teachers. No matter how bad his mood was, he wouldn’t do anything disrespectful to Li Zhen in front of the entire class. He didn’t know who student 11 was, nor did he care.

At least Cheng Yuzhou wasn’t a talkative person.

“Yes.”

“Alright, let me see student 11... student 11...” Li Zhen opened the roll call book, his finger sliding down the names from student number 1 until he found student number 11. “Zhou Yu, are you willing to switch with Cheng Yuzhou? Let’s see who your new deskmate will be after the switch, Qing Hang, your new deskmate after the switch will be Qing Hang.”

Zhou Yu nodded. “Teacher Li, I am willing.”

Qing Hang also had no objections.

“Good, everyone agrees, then we’ll switch,” Li Zhen picked up a piece of chalk, erased the two numbers to be swapped on the blackboard, wrote 11 next to 1, and wrote 3 next to 48.

Qing Hang was 1.

Cheng Yuzhou was 3.

For the remaining time, everyone began to switch seats. Sounds of desks and chairs being moved also continuously echoed from upstairs and downstairs. There was an empty seat next to Yanci, so Cheng Yuzhou directly moved his desk over, leaving his original seat empty.

Everyone was moving around, and the surroundings were chaotic.

“I’ll help you move it.”

Zhou Yu barely made out what Cheng Yuzhou said by reading his lips. “Thank you.”

There were too many books on the desk, so Zhou Yu first picked up a stack and hugged them. Cheng Yuzhou easily lifted the desk and walked towards Qing Hang. Zhou Yu followed. As he set it down and turned around, someone behind accidentally bumped Zhou Yu, causing her to lose her balance and fall forward.

The books in her arms scattered across the floor, but Cheng Yuzhou didn’t catch a single one—he only caught her.

“So soft~”

Cheng Wanyue’s mischievous voice suddenly popped into his head. Still in the classroom, Cheng Yuzhou sharply discarded that ill-timed thought from his mind. He stepped back. Zhou Yu hadn’t yet regained her balance and, in a panic, grabbed his arm.

Cheng Yuzhou was pushed and sat on the desk. The loose school uniform fabric around the girl’s waist tightened under the pressure of his palm.

This was more direct than the brief, fleeting contact two seconds earlier.

If he were to move any closer, he could completely encircle her with one arm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Zhou Yu quickly let go. The fabric on his arm was already wrinkled from her grip. She knew the accident was mainly due to her own distraction.

In the chaotic environment, no one would notice if this was a deliberate or an accidental hug.

Cheng Yuzhou turned his head and coughed twice. “It’s fine, you clean it up.”

Qing Hang only turned around when the roll call sheet on his desk was about to fall. Someone had put it back too close to the edge of the desk after looking at it. There was a scratch mark next to number 11.

Most had finished switching. Cheng Yanqing called Cheng Yuzhou from the back door of the classroom to go home, and incidentally asked if Yanci had an umbrella.

Zhou Yu needed to go home early today, so she didn’t walk with Cheng Wanyue. She had an extra umbrella and placed it on Yanci’s desk as she passed the last row.

Cheng Yanqing asked, “Isn’t that the umbrella from your bag this morning?”

Cheng Yuzhou, “...”

He had just returned it before evening self-study, and she gave it to Yanci in a flash.

Yanci didn’t see the umbrella on his desk. Cheng Yanqing picked it up and threw it to him from the window. He then looked back at Cheng Yuzhou. Before he could speak, Cheng Yuzhou pulled up the hood of his hoodie, covering his head, and tightly pulled the drawstrings on both sides. While he was howling, Cheng Yuzhou went downstairs.

It was raining, so Cheng Wanyue didn’t go to the place she had arranged with Qing Hang. She didn’t like her clothes getting wet and muddy. Qing Hang, when provoked, wouldn’t care if the wall behind her was dirty, although he had cleaned her clothes very well after his previous aggressive acts.

She didn’t go back to her own house but followed Cheng Yuzhou to Qian Shu’s place.

The old lady slept little and stayed up late. Cheng Wanyue, not doing her homework, accompanied the old lady in the living room watching a TV drama. The plot had reached the point where a female antagonist successfully became a mistress, breaking up a couple who had been married for years.

“What’s wrong with her? An upright person should help reason, not relatives. Even if she’s a good best friend, she shouldn’t help someone be a mistress and ruin other people’s relationships.”

“Speechless, truly shameless!”

“It’s infuriating, my stomach hurts from anger. If this mistress’s final outcome isn’t utter disgrace, abandonment by all, and losing everything, then I’ll write ten-thousand-word essays cursing the screenwriter for a month straight, and it still won’t be enough.”

Cheng Wanyue cursed at the TV for ten minutes. Cheng Yuzhou in the room heard everything clearly. He always felt she was making veiled accusations.

Five minutes later, Cheng Wanyue was pushed out of the house by Cheng Yuzhou.

Her shoes were thrown out, and she was still holding a plate of melon seeds.

“Grandma, she’s too loud; I can’t sleep. It’s affecting my studies tomorrow.”

The old lady cooperatively said, “Yueyue, you promised your brother to be quieter tonight. Grandma will open the door for you right away.”

Cheng Wanyue shouted, “I can’t calm down with this infuriating plot! Grandma, you’re biased towards Cheng Yuzhou. My clothes are all wet, I’m so cold.”

Only then did the old lady remember it was still raining outside. “Zai Zai, quickly open the door and let Yueyue in. Don’t get sick.”

Cheng Wanyue was the only girl in the family and the most pampered; she was emboldened by this.

The door opened, but Cheng Yuzhou wasn’t letting her in. Instead, he handed out her forgotten phone and jacket.

Cheng Wanyue went home angrily, messaging Cheng Yanqing as she walked: Cheng Yuzhou has gone mad!