OS - 29

In the afternoon at the cafeteria, Cheng Yanqing mentioned something about their class, and only then did Cheng Wanyue learn that the two nearly got into a fight.

“Haven’t they always been fine? What was it about?”

Cheng Yanqing glanced at Zhou Yu, who was still in line, and said, “Because of Zhou Yu.”

Cheng Wanyue’s alarm bells immediately went off. Oh no, oh no, Cheng Yuzhou was truly mad this time!

She knew something was off, but Cheng Yanqing, that idiot, had said she was overthinking it. How could she not overthink a situation like this?

While occasional conflicts between boys were normal, and Cheng Yuzhou and Cheng Yanqing often wrestled each other over a single disagreement, those were just playful fights, never serious. She had noticed a scrape on Cheng Yuzhou’s right-hand knuckles at noon. She had intended to ask about it then but got sidetracked by a classmate and forgot. She hadn’t expected him to almost get into a fight with Yanci, and in the classroom no less.

“Elaborate, what exactly was it about?”

Cheng Yanqing simply said, “Zhou Yu came back to the classroom after getting water, and Yanci almost tripped her, which made Cheng Yuzhou angry.”

Zhou Yu had finished getting her food. Cheng Yanqing changed the subject, raising his hand to wave at Qing Hang. Qing Hang hesitated for a few seconds after seeing Cheng Wanyue beside him before walking over.

Zhou Yu had just sat down opposite Cheng Wanyue when she was sprayed in the face with milk from Cheng Wanyue’s carton.

Cheng Wanyue was lost in thought, and unconsciously squeezed the milk carton when she felt emotional, causing milk to spray out of the straw.

“I’m so sorry, so sorry,” Cheng Wanyue snapped back to attention, seeing Zhou Yu’s face covered in milk. She fumbled to wipe her. “Ayu, I didn’t mean to. Did any get in your eyes?”

Zhou Yu smiled. “It’s fine, I’ll go wash it off.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“You eat first, it’ll get cold soon.”

Zhou Yu went to the sink outside the cafeteria to clean the milk stains from her clothes. Without a mirror, she could only wipe it repeatedly with water. Fortunately, she had already switched to the autumn/winter school uniform; the fabric was thick, and zipping it up could hide the slightly transparent T-shirt underneath after it got wet. Her face felt sticky, so she also washed her face.

“Are you cold?” Cheng Yuzhou arrived late. As soon as he reached the cafeteria, he saw Zhou Yu by the sink.

The school facilities weren’t that great; the tap water was cold. He instinctively wanted to get a tissue to wipe her face, but his pockets were empty.

“No, I’m not cold,” Zhou Yu shook her head, pulling her school uniform zipper all the way up. “Did Teacher Li scold you?”

Cheng Yuzhou said, “No, he just wanted to talk about something with me. It has nothing to do with what happened this morning.”

Zhou Yu looked at the scrape on his hand. Half a day had passed, and the color had deepened, making the red very obvious. “Does your hand still hurt?”

Cheng Yuzhou looked down. “I don’t feel anything. Let’s go in.”

A boy brought milk tea to Cheng Wanyue. She was distracted and simply accepted it without noticing who it was. Qing Hang lowered his gaze, not saying a word.

After Cheng Yuzhou sat down, he saw Cheng Wanyue staring at the cherry preserves Zhou Yu had brought, so he helped her twist open the lid. When he exerted force, blood seeped from the scraped knuckles of his finger.

He didn’t notice it himself. After a while, a slender, pale hand reached out from under the table, offering a band-aid.

Cheng Yuzhou didn’t take it directly. Instead, he simply pinched one side, tearing off the excess plastic. The band-aid was still in Zhou Yu’s hand. Cheng Yuzhou extended his hand slightly towards her, and she gently placed the band-aid on the scrape. She pinched the other side of the plastic, tore it off, and then lightly pressed down on it with her fingertip.

She had just washed her hands with cold water outside, and her fingertips still carried a hint of coolness.

Her skin didn’t directly touch his, but such subtle actions, hidden from countless eyes, were too easily able to make one’s blood boil. That slight wound felt as if it had been smoothed over. Cheng Yuzhou suddenly felt a little hot and wanted to take off his school uniform jacket. He looked up and met Cheng Yanqing’s somewhat complex gaze.

Cheng Yuzhou ignored him. He turned his head and found Cheng Wanyue also staring at him.

Only Qing Hang and Zhou Yu were eating seriously. Cheng Wanyue was sitting opposite them, so she couldn’t have seen what just happened. She was staring at Cheng Yuzhou because he suddenly took off his clothes, and Zhou Yu was right there. This behavior was perfectly normal for him usually, but at this moment, in Cheng Wanyue’s eyes, it had a strong suspicion of showing off his male charm to seduce someone.

“Cover up, cover up, careful you don’t catch a cold,” Cheng Wanyue immediately stood up and pulled Cheng Yuzhou’s school uniform zipper all the way up to his neck. She didn’t care if it was choking him and quickly fed him a spoonful of cherry preserves to shut him up.

“Qing Hang, do you want some? Ayu made it, it’s especially refreshing and appetizing.”

This was the first time Cheng Wanyue had spoken to him in half a month. Qing Hang really wanted to treat her the way she treated him, to make her experience how he felt, but he couldn’t completely ignore her.

“If your throat is bothering you, don’t eat cold things.”

Cheng Yanqing’s words freed Qing Hang from his self-struggle, but also led him into another trap.

“Ah? Are you sick? Did you take your medicine? It’s easy to catch a cold during the season change; wear more layers.”

Her concern was a trap.

It gave him the illusion that he held some special significance in her heart, but in reality, he was no different from anyone else. Even knowing he would step into thin air, he would involuntarily walk towards the trap.

Qing Hang utterly detested this side of himself.

“I’m finished eating. I’ll go back to the classroom first.”

“Wait for me,” Cheng Yanqing also stood up. He had brought a meal for Yanci.

Zhou Yu hadn’t finished her homework for the evening, so she didn’t wait for Cheng Wanyue. When Cheng Yuzhou was about to go back to the classroom with her, Cheng Wanyue grabbed him.

After Zhou Yu walked out of the cafeteria, Cheng Wanyue asked directly, “Do you like Zhou Yu?”

Cheng Yuzhou didn’t even consider it for a second. “Yes, why?”

“You, you, you, why didn’t you deny it!”

“Why should I deny a fact?”

“No, no, no, you can’t like Zhou Yu. Pick someone else to like.”

“Why can’t I?”

Cheng Wanyue couldn’t answer.

Thinking about it this way, the conflict they had in the classroom this morning wasn’t so simple anymore.

Perhaps they had already disliked each other for a while and just took the opportunity to vent.

Cheng Wanyue knew that her ‘contribution’ was indispensable in Cheng Yuzhou’s developing feelings for Zhou Yu. His frank admission meant he definitely wasn’t content to stop there.

Now, if she told him to stay away from Zhou Yu, he would probably feel a bit uncomfortable. If he got too close to Zhou Yu and Yanci found out, Yanci would definitely be unhappy. If Yanci was unhappy, Qin Yun would be in a bad mood. Qin Yun was about to go to the city for intensive training for his art exam, and the stress combined with a bad mood would make him difficult with Cheng Yanqing. Cheng Yanqing, subjected to silent treatment at home, would then cause trouble for Cheng Yuzhou.

It was a vicious cycle.

But if she didn’t stop Cheng Yuzhou, and if Zhou Yu also fell for him, what about Yanci?

Cheng Wanyue’s homeroom teacher had joked at the beginning of the semester that she shouldn’t use her brain too early, saving it for the gaokao. She hadn’t expected to have to rack her brains so much less than halfway through her third year of high school.

________________________________________

The teacher hadn’t left the classroom yet, but many students were already napping at their desks. Although the break was short, some were even snoring.

Zhou Yu’s most challenging subject was physics, and after one class, her head throbbed.

She rested her head on her arm. From this angle, she could just see the back row.

High school boys seemed simpler than girls. That day, the intense tension between the two boys scared the classmates into thinking something serious would happen in class, but after lunch that day, they were back to normal.

Cheng Yuzhou transferred back from out of town and didn’t have many friends, but he was inherently outstanding, and he would shine brightly wherever he went.

During breaks, girls from other classes would always pass by in the hallway, glancing casually into the classroom, secretly sighing in their hearts: “Ah, so that’s the Cheng Yuzhou everyone’s been talking about recently.”

More daring ones would offer him a bottle of water while watching him play basketball.

He played basketball on the court before evening self-study every Thursday. Often, young male teachers would join the students.

Loud cheers and applause echoed from the sports field, giving one the illusion that summer hadn’t ended yet.

Zhou Yu had also seen him on the court, but from far away, without even going downstairs. She just stood in the hallway outside the classroom. Her eyesight was excellent, and she could easily find him among the crowd surrounding the court.

He played basketball differently than his usual self; there was a certain aggression.

The court was a gathering place for boys’ physical contact, shouts, sweat, and hormones. Even Cheng Yanqing would lift his shirt to wipe away sweat after making a beautiful three-pointer, but he never did. He also never accepted water from anyone, returning to the classroom after playing.

Not only those girls thought it was a pity, Zhou Yu also thought it was a pity.

The noisy sounds outside quieted down a bit; a game must have ended.

Ten minutes later, Cheng Yuzhou opened the back door and entered. Everyone else still in the classroom was resting at their desks. The back of his jersey was soaked with sweat. The school didn’t have facilities for showering, so he could only change clothes in the classroom. He could just put on sweatpants for the lower body, but the upper body was a bit more troublesome. He had to first put on a loose school uniform, then take off his jersey from underneath, and then pull a base layer over his head. The process of putting on the base layer and taking off the jersey was the same; both had to be done inside the school uniform.

He had just finished changing when he twisted open the bottle cap and drank water. A drop of water flowed down his chin. Zhou Yu’s gaze followed the droplet from his bobbing Adam’s apple, slowly downwards, finally spreading into a dark water stain at his collar.

In the pauses between the screams from the court, she heard his slightly heavy breathing.

She could calmly pretend to be asleep while watching him change, yet her heart uncontrollably raced in those few steps he took towards her. She even blushed before feeling the heat radiating from his body.

Cheng Yuzhou sat down in Qing Hang’s seat. The girl’s face was half-hidden in her arms, revealing only a pair of misty eyes, as if she had just woken up, or was too tired but couldn’t sleep.

He also slumped on the desk like her, resting his head on his arm. “Why aren’t you eating?”

Why did a boy’s eyelashes have to be so long? Zhou Yu forced herself to divert her attention and simply closed her eyes, but the strong scent of hormones had already enveloped her. In her half-asleep state, the secret fantasy in her heart restlessly began to seek a weak point to break free.

She felt as if she had drunk a can of alcoholic beverage, wishing he would lean closer.

For example... a kiss, a kiss filled with the fervent possessiveness of someone sweaty after exercise.

Would she melt?

Probably.

“Not very hungry.”

Her voice was very low. Cheng Yuzhou didn’t want to wake the students in front too quickly, so he also lowered his voice. “So sleepy, huh?”

“Yeah, went to bed late yesterday.”

Cheng Yuzhou took a can of Want Want milk from his school uniform jacket pocket and placed it beside her hand. It was still warm.

“Drink this, then sleep.”

He stood up and returned to his seat, taking out another school uniform from his desk. “It’s clean, shouldn’t have any smell.”

By the time Zhou Yu came to her senses, it was already draped over her.

Zhou Yu looked at the Want Want milk. The child printed on the can had big, round eyes.

“Look again, and I’ll eat you up.”

Cheng Yuzhou went downstairs, planning to grab something random from the cafeteria.

He bumped into Yanci head-on. Yanci’s phone fell to the ground. Cheng Yuzhou picked it up, and before handing it back to him, his gaze lingered on the group chat interface on the phone screen.

Yanci had scrolled back to previous messages, and there were many new ones below.

What Cheng Yuzhou saw was the photo that made Yanci drop his phone and want to find someone. The location and people in the photo were not unfamiliar; it was in the cafeteria a few days ago, and Zhou Yu, who was photographed, had her face covered in white milk.

The person who sent the photo asked if it looked like she had just finished and had milk sprayed all over her face.

Below that was another photo, taken at the sink outside the cafeteria. Zhou Yu was bent over, cleaning the milk stains from her clothes, and a bit of her underwear was exposed at the neckline.

Someone commented that she looked very soft.