OS - 43

The gaokao countdown on the blackboard grew shorter, and the students were all brimming with energy, ready to cross that watershed and break free from their cages.

“Has Qing Hang contacted you?”

“He doesn’t really use social media, and he never posts updates. Sometimes I send him a WeChat message, and he replies in the middle of the night.”

Even Cheng Yanqing was like this, not to mention Cheng Yuzhou. He watched Cheng Wanyue wither day by day and tried to contact Qing Hang, but couldn’t get anything out of him.

“What about Yan Ci?”

“Oh, him, he’s still the same. Just get through these last few days,” Cheng Yanqing put one arm on Cheng Yuzhou’s shoulder, watching people play on the field, “You can’t be blamed for this. He and Zhou Yu were never meant to be.”

Cheng Yuzhou’s expression didn’t change, “I never thought I could be blamed, and certainly not Zhou Yu.”

“Shameless,” Cheng Yanqing cursed him with a smile, “It’s a good thing you’re surnamed Cheng and you’re my brother, Cheng Yanqing, otherwise he would’ve beaten you eight hundred times already.”

“Mm, you have a lot of pull.”

“What, by your tone, you’re not convinced!”

The two quickly devolved into a playful scuffle, chasing each other down the corridor.

Zhou Yu stayed up late at night and fell asleep on her desk during a break.

In the early evening, the sunset outside the window was as red as fire.

This was ten minutes before the last evening self-study class before the exam. She was startled awake by laughter, opening her eyes in a daze, seeing the boys roughhousing outside. Cheng Yanqing was tackled to the ground, got up, dusted himself off, and chased after them again.

It was the same when senior year first started, whether going to school or leaving, a group of them were always together. Later, the number of people at the dinner table dwindled. Before, they couldn’t fit, arms bumping into arms just to pick up a dish. Later, it wasn’t full, and there were empty seats to put books.

Watching the two of them walk over from the other end of the corridor, it seemed as if nothing had changed.

________________________________________

Yan Ci only came to school on the day of the gaokao. He and Zhou Yu were in adjacent examination rooms.

He submitted his paper early for almost every subject. While Zhou Yu was still checking her problem-solving process, he had already handed in his paper and walked past the classroom door with his head down.

The school gate was filled with parents waiting. The moment the bell rang, everyone felt a sigh of relief.

Grandma Qian had prepared a table full of food early, leaving the house to the children and going to Cheng Guoan’s place herself.

Cheng Yanqing forcibly dragged Yan Ci over, then was the first to run off to buy alcohol, and also the first to pass out.

When he got a bit drunk, he started talking nonsense, bringing up things from elementary school.

Yan Ci ignored him, so he rolled up his pant leg and pointed to the scar on his calf, “And this scar on my leg, did you hit me with a flute?”

“You were the jerk first that time, I remember it all,” Cheng Wanyue spoke up for Yan Ci, “A-Yu, you remember too, right?”

Zhou Yu had an impression. Their fights when they were little were real fights. Yan Ci was a year older and taller than Cheng Yanqing. Most of the time, Cheng Yanqing was the one pinned to the ground begging for mercy.

“I think he shaved Yan Ci’s hair first.”

“Exactly, Cheng Yanqing stole my grandpa’s clippers and shaved a cross on Yan Ci’s head while he was sleeping.”

“Alright, alright, that time I deserved it,” Cheng Yanqing waved his hand indifferently, then locked his target on Cheng Yuzhou, who was watching the show, “I also got beaten up quite a bit because of you, didn’t I!”

“Don’t remember,” Cheng Yuzhou leaned against the sofa, pushing away a leg Cheng Yanqing had thrown over him, “Even if there was, you probably deserved it.”

“I deserved it? Cheng Yuzhou, you’re the most insidious! I scored last, and you showed my dad my report card; I played games, and you pretended to study seriously; I helped a buddy write a love letter to a girl in class, and you reported me to grandpa for early romance...”

Zhou Yu looked at Cheng Yuzhou. He said, “Partially true.”

“You have the nerve to say it,” Cheng Wanyue looked utterly disgusted. Influenced by Cheng Yanqing, she also thought of those interesting things from the past, “A-Yu, we also fought.”

“Yes, we did.”

Cheng Yuzhou casually asked, “What for?”

Zhou Yu was a bit embarrassed, “Because of a boy.”

Cheng Yuzhou, “...”

“Back in elementary school, for Children’s Day, we had to perform a show, dancing. Boys and girls were partners. We both liked the same boy, neither of us would give in. We’d draw a ‘38th parallel’ on our desks during class and wouldn’t go to the snack shop together after school to buy spicy strips,” Cheng Wanyue laughed as she spoke, “Later, the teacher arranged for us to perform alone, without boy classmates, and we made up.”

Zhou Yu continued, “Wanyue sang ‘Calabash Brothers,’ and I accompanied her with a dance, playing seven roles by myself, smashing bricks and spitting water. They even wanted me to breathe fire.”

Cheng Yanqing also remembered that performance; it was truly famous throughout the school back then. “My mom’s camera still has the video. When you two get married, I’ll rent a big screen and play it on repeat.”

Cheng Wanyue was completely unfazed, “Get married? I’m not getting married.”

“Speaking of love letters just now, Cheng Wanyue, you wrote one to Yan Ci, didn’t you?”

“How could that be!” Cheng Wanyue exploded like a lit firecracker, “Others wrote love letters to me! How could I actively write one! And Yan Ci is my good buddy; we have a pure brotherhood. Stop slandering me!”

The more she explained, the more incoherent she became. The other two had surprised expressions. Cheng Wanyue felt uncomfortable under their gaze and, enraged, pounced to grab Yan Ci’s neck, “Was it you who told them?! Was it?! Was it?! I’m going to kill you!”

Yan Ci sighed helplessly, “What love letter? I never even saw it.”

“Then how did Cheng Yanqing, that jerk, know?!”

Cheng Yanqing gave a sneaky smile, “Because you sent it to the wrong place. The person who received that love letter was Qing Hang. I happened to be there and witnessed it with my own eyes.”

Cheng Wanyue, who was full of murderous intent a second ago, seemed to have been put on pause by the name ‘Qing Hang.’ She dropped a “Boring” and stood up, running into the house.

Zhou Yu followed her, leaving the three boys outside.

Cheng Yanqing asked Yan Ci, “We’re moving to the city on the 15th. Are you coming to see us off?”

“The 15th of this month?”

“Mm, this month.”

Yan Ci didn’t even think, “No.”

“If you’re not coming, why ask if it’s this month or next month?” Cheng Yanqing kicked him, “I’m going to the restroom.”

Cheng Yuzhou sat opposite Yan Ci. Even at night, it was clear he had heavy dark circles under his eyes.

He hadn’t eaten much of the food on the table but had drunk a lot of alcohol.

Cheng Yuzhou’s gaze fell on the foam in the beer glass. He broke the silence first, “Is there a chance for reconciliation?”

Yan Ci finished the wine in his glass, saying faintly, “No need.”

“Okay,” Cheng Yuzhou nodded, indicating he understood, and picked up his own glass, tilting his head back to finish the wine.

________________________________________

Cheng Wanyue was completely distraught because of the love letter incident, crying and laughing. Zhou Yu went out to get her a glass of water.

There was no sound outside. Cheng Wanyue poked her head out and asked, “Where are they?”

“They seemed to have gone to an internet cafe.”

“They’re making me so angry! I’m definitely going to kill that dog Cheng Yanqing tomorrow,” she needed to do something to calm her anger, “A-Yu, want to watch a movie?”

Zhou Yu, “...”

“What a pity, I didn’t bring my USB drive. It’s okay, Cheng Yuzhou’s computer must have some. Let me go look.”

Cheng Wanyue went to Cheng Yuzhou’s room. She was clearly inexperienced, directly typing those two letters into the search bar, of course finding nothing.

Cheng Yuzhou had already returned, and she was still muttering, “That’s so unscientific.”

“Cheng Wanyue, are you going back to sleep, or sleeping here?”

“I’m going back to sharpen my knife,” Cheng Wanyue walked to the door and saw the bruise on his lip, “What happened to your mouth? Who hit you?”

Cheng Yuzhou said, “Your secret crush punched me.”

Cheng Wanyue, as if her tail had been stepped on, jumped up and grabbed his neck, “You just wait!”

She stormed downstairs, her footsteps heavy. Zhou Yu looked at Cheng Yuzhou with a mix of doubt and belief, “Really?”

“Mm, it hurts quite a bit,” Cheng Yuzhou’s thumb brushed his lip, “Can you check for me, is my tooth crooked?”

“Lower your head a bit, open your mouth.”

Cheng Yuzhou propped his left hand on the edge of the table. As Zhou Yu leaned close to his broken lip and gently blew on it, he lowered his head and kissed her, directly extending his tongue into her mouth and sweeping around.

Zhou Yu’s legs went weak, and she stumbled back into the chair.

Cheng Yuzhou then saw those two letters in the computer’s search bar.

“You want to watch this?”

Zhou Yu’s face burned hot. She couldn’t very well argue that Cheng Wanyue wanted to watch it. She had drunk a small amount of beer, and her courage was up, “Mm!”

“Give me ten minutes,” Cheng Yuzhou walked quickly to the door, then turned around to look at Zhou Yu, “Don’t leave.”

Zhou Yu wasn’t going home today.

Qian Shu was going to be at Cheng Wanyue’s house helping to pack things for the next two days, so she was staying there. Cheng Yuzhou dropped Cheng Wanyue downstairs and went to a supermarket on his way back.

Cheng Yuzhou ran back. When he opened the bedroom door, Zhou Yu was still sitting in the chair, so obedient that it gave him a destructive urge.

He walked over, pulled her up, sat in the chair himself, and had her sit on him. One hand was properly placed on her side waist, and the other held the mouse, “What type do you want to watch?”

“...Are there many types?”

“Many,” he said, “To avoid giving you a bad first impression, I won’t show you the hardcore ones.”

Zhou Yu was in a difficult position and could only press on, “Oh.”

Cheng Yuzhou didn’t have videos saved on his computer. He found a website and chose a beautiful, female-oriented film. In reality, most boys prefer watching films that skip the foreplay and go straight to undressing, that type of film isn’t very pleasant for girls to watch.

“It’s starting.”

Zhou Yu watched for a while, and there weren’t any particularly explicit scenes, “...It seems similar to a regular movie.”

“There’s a plot. These plots are usually very simple.”

After a few more minutes, the atmosphere changed a bit.

The male and female leads were roommates. After getting drunk one time, the male lead entered the wrong room and slept in the wrong bed. He hugged the female lead from behind. The female lead was both resisting and inviting, struggling subtly. She was pulled to turn over, and the two kissed face to face. The male lead’s hand also reached into the female lead’s clothes.

Can we do it?

It was a subtitle, but Zhou Yu felt as if she heard it.

She clearly pressed the pause button.

Warm breath spread across the skin on the back of her neck. She felt a bit itchy and instinctively dodged. The arm around her waist tightened, pulling her closer to him.

Cheng Yuzhou asked, “Can we?”