OS - 28

Zhou Yu’s grandmother had been wetting the bed more frequently recently, so during the National Day holiday, Zhou Yu took her for a follow-up examination at the hospital. The doctor changed her medication and, given the cooler weather, advised Zhou Yu to use adult diapers for her grandmother at night to prevent bedsores.

Zhou Yu queued up to pay and get the medicine, while her grandmother rested in a chair. Every now and then, Zhou Yu would turn to check, and only after confirming her grandmother hadn’t wandered off did she continue looking at the bill. She was delayed at the counter for a moment, just two or three minutes, and then the chair was empty.

The old lady couldn’t walk far, but she didn’t remember the way. Outside, there were many cars and people, making Zhou Yu anxious as she rushed out. She saw her grandmother still at the intersection but couldn’t relax. A car drove in, and her grandmother didn’t know how to dodge. Fortunately, someone nearby quickly pulled her out of the way.

The driver rolled down the window and cursed. The old lady was startled and recoiled. Only then did Zhou Yu clearly see that the person holding her was Yanci.

She had followed Yanci out.

Zhou Yu quickly went to apologize to the driver. Her grandmother was frightened and held onto Yanci tightly with both hands. Although Yanci looked a bit impatient, he never actually used force to push her away.

All the way to the intersection where they had to part ways, she was still muttering about telling Yanci to come to her house to pick apricots.

The leaves were already slowly turning yellow; there were no apricots left.

Zhou Yu coaxed her grandmother to release Yanci. Yanci was holding stomach medicine. He never used to have stomach problems, but this year he hadn’t been eating on time, sometimes only once every two days. Over time, his body developed issues.

The grandmother had biscuits in her pocket. She took them out to feed Yanci, but couldn’t reach him and her hands trembled, causing biscuit crumbs to fall all over Yanci’s clothes.

A drop of saliva landed on his hand. Zhou Yu quickly took out a tissue to wipe it. “Don’t mind Grandma; she can’t remember anything.”

Yanci, of course, knew; the grandmother’s illness wasn’t a recent development.

One of Cheng Yuzhou’s friends came to Baicheng to visit. Cheng Yanqing had played games with him, so it was a kind of online friend meeting offline.

After a few days, although the small county didn’t have many entertainment venues, the scenery was good. For Qin Yiming, who lived in a big city, everything was new. Cheng Yanqing and Cheng Yuzhou sent him to the station, and he was a bit reluctant to leave.

It was still early, and he didn’t have a suitcase, so he walked to the station.

Cheng Yanqing’s phone rang, and he told them to go ahead.

He had been avoiding people when answering calls recently, and Cheng Yuzhou didn’t bother to expose him. Qin Yiming, unaware, exclaimed exaggeratedly after seeing something novel again. Cheng Yuzhou looked up and saw Zhou Yu standing at the intersection, along with Yanci beside her.

No words were exchanged, but the atmosphere felt strange.

Cheng Yuzhou’s gaze dropped. Why was she holding Yanci’s hand?

Qin Yiming asked for a long time but no one paid attention to him. Only then did he realize Cheng Yuzhou was staring at the opposite side, as if catching them in the act. When he looked over, his eyes lit up.

“So vibrant, even prettier than in the video.”

Cheng Yuzhou frowned. “What video?”

“The video on your phone,” Qin Yiming said with a smile. “That first-person perspective video where she used your phone as a mirror and you recorded her. What kind of look is that? I didn’t mean to see it. Our phones are identical; I grabbed the wrong one yesterday.”

There were no children at home, so Cheng Yuzhou’s phone was always left anywhere. Qin Yiming had been staying in his room for the past few days and had picked up the wrong phone more than once. But it was only last night, when his phone wasn’t locked and he clicked into the album, that he realized he had picked up the wrong one.

Cheng Yuzhou said, “I recorded it accidentally. Don’t make malicious assumptions.”

“Accidentally recorded it, then why haven’t you deleted it? I checked the timestamp; it was recorded two or three months ago,” Qin Yiming teased, then smiled at Yanci. “Are you the third wheel, or is he the third wheel? To block me for half a month, tsk tsk, it seems you’re the problem, the little county has simple folk customs and kind-hearted people, it’s not suitable for a morally corrupt person like you. Hurry up and finish your exams and go back.”

Cheng Yuzhou ignored him and walked off the road.

Qin Yiming glanced at the opposite side a couple more times, then looked at Cheng Yuzhou’s unreadable expression, further confirming his suspicions. Aside from landscape photos, Cheng Yuzhou’s phone album only contained videos of Jay Chou’s concerts; it was impossible for him to save a girl’s video for no reason.

“He’s not really upset, is he?” Qin Yiming chuckled teasingly. “They seem to be having a fight. If it really doesn’t work out, you can take advantage of the situation. Use that face of yours to seduce her. You have no shame anyway.”

Cheng Yuzhou was expressionless. “Can you shut up?”

“I’m just giving you advice. Unrequited love is so stifling. It’s okay to feel a little wronged now. Once you successfully take the lead, he’ll be the third wheel.”

Cheng Yanqing finally caught up. “What are you talking about?”

Qin Yiming pointed diagonally opposite. Zhou Yu had turned around, her back to their direction, not noticing them.

Yanci was wearing a hat, the brim covering half his face. He was a bit nearsighted. He wasn’t trying to act cool by not greeting them; he genuinely couldn’t see clearly. Cheng Yanqing, used to it, said, “That’s his deskmate.”

“Deskmate?” Qin Yiming’s eyes widened. He looked at Cheng Yuzhou in surprise. “I never thought you were that kind of person.”

Cheng Yanqing was bewildered. “Why don’t I understand what he’s saying?”

Cheng Yuzhou just wanted to quickly get Qin Yiming onto the train. “Don’t mind him; he’s having a fit.”

At the train station, after Qin Yiming had his ticket checked and boarded the train, Cheng Yanqing hailed a taxi. His eagerness to get back was clearly written on his face. Cheng Yuzhou was pulled into the car by him.

Zhou Yu finally managed to coax her grandmother home. A taxi drove by, and they stood by the roadside.

The taxi slowed down on the bend, its window open. Zhou Yu saw Cheng Yuzhou inside. Their eyes met, and the car quickly drove past her.

Zhou Yu stared blankly at the receding car’s tail lights, only retracting her gaze after a long time.

Yes, he wouldn’t stay here much longer. He would always leave eventually.

________________________________________

Yanci was half an hour late for school this morning. During the third period, he found a can of cherry preserves in his drawer. Local cherries were used, and many families had cherry trees. When cherries were ripe and couldn’t be eaten all at once, they would be preserved and put in the refrigerator, then taken out to eat when the weather cooled down. They were very appetizing.

When he took out the preserves, Cheng Yuzhou also saw them.

Cheng Yuzhou didn’t recognize the cherries; he recognized the jar. It was the same glass jar as the pickled shredded papaya that Zhou Yu had given him before.

Clearly, Yanci also knew who had put the preserves in his drawer.

Zhou Yu, who had just returned after getting water, walked into the classroom through the back door. Yanci suddenly extended a leg, blocking her path. Zhou Yu almost tripped, but fortunately, Cheng Yuzhou caught her.

Before she could speak, Cheng Yuzhou kicked Yanci’s stool. “What are you doing? Didn’t you see she was trying to come in?”

“I saw her.”

Yanci retracted his leg and returned a kick to the same spot on Cheng Yuzhou’s stool. Cheng Yuzhou was still supporting Zhou Yu and hadn’t been sitting steadily. That kick made him fall directly to the floor. Their voices weren’t loud, but the table scraped against the ground with a harsh sound. Several classmates nearby, who were discussing problems, stopped talking when they heard the commotion behind them and all looked over.

Zhou Yu helped Cheng Yuzhou up and stopped him.

She probably hadn’t encountered a similar situation before, or perhaps she truly believed Cheng Wanyue’s nonsense that he could easily fight ten people, worried she wouldn’t be able to stop him. In a rush, she wrapped both hands around his waist. Cheng Yuzhou looked down at her clear, bright eyes and suddenly wasn’t angry anymore.

Cheng Yanqing ran over and stood in the middle of the aisle, easing the unusual atmosphere. “You two are supposed to be motivating each other and improving together; don’t start fighting now.”

Fighting would mean writing a self-reflection and reading it aloud to the entire school after the flag-raising ceremony on Monday. Zhou Yu looked at him and whispered, “Next is Teacher Li’s class.”

Cheng Yuzhou calmly reassured her, “It’s fine, I just wasn’t sitting steadily.”

Cheng Yuzhou righted the table. Zhou Yu helped pick up the books that had fallen on the floor. As she was about to return to her seat, Yanci grabbed her wrist.

He took out the preserves and placed them on the table. “Take them away.”

Cheng Yuzhou’s peripheral vision swept over the hand gripping Zhou Yu’s wrist. He frowned and “tsk’d” quietly. “Just talk, can you not use your hands?”

Yanci said indifferently, “What does it have to do with you?”

Cheng Yuzhou’s voice was also somewhat cold. “I don’t like what I see.”

The recently extinguished flame showed signs of rekindling. Zhou Yu quickly took the preserves away. She had only thought that Yanci’s appetite might be poor during the change of seasons, and eating irregularly would hurt his stomach. She had learned how to make cherry preserves from Yanci’s mother, and the taste wasn’t bad.

If he didn’t want them, then so be it.

The class bell rang. Cheng Yanqing had no time to say anything and could only return to his seat.

Li Zhen had taught several graduating classes. As soon as he entered the classroom, he sensed the abnormal atmosphere. He could tell at a glance who was daydreaming in class and not paying attention.

He tapped the blackboard with chalk. “The two in the back, Cheng Yuzhou and Yanci, come up to the blackboard and do that problem.”

Cheng Yuzhou had turned to the wrong page. Yanci hadn’t even opened his exercise book.

“Class monitor, tell them which page and which problem it is.”

Zhou Yu quietly looked back. Cheng Yuzhou also glanced at her.

Li Zhen remembered Qing Hang had taken sick leave two days ago. “The class monitor’s throat isn’t well, so the class monitor’s deskmate, please tell them.”

Zhou Yu instinctively sat up straight. “Page thirty-six, problem fourteen.”

Li Zhen looked at the two boys in the last row. “You know which problem it is now, come up.”

Cheng Yuzhou picked up his exercise book and walked to the podium. He only started looking at the problem once he was in front of the blackboard. Yanci did the same.

It was a past gaokao (college entrance exam) question from last year. They finished it in less than three minutes. Their methods were different, but the results were both correct.

Li Zhen said, “You both got it right, and it took about the same time. Comment on each other’s problem-solving approaches.”

Cheng Yuzhou: “Excellent, worth learning from.”

Yanci: “It’s alright. I’ll copy it down.”

Neither of them had actually looked at the steps the other had written on the blackboard. The rest of the class burst into laughter. Li Zhen also smiled. After telling them to sit down, he continued to explain the problem.