CM - 73

The next day, Shen Ting-wen and Zhou Shu-rong went to school together and ran into Liang Ji-fan and Zhao Gu-qing at the school gate.

Liang Ji-fan kept making sounds of surprise: “The young master had a good night?”

Shen Ting-wen ignored him.

Zhou Shu-rong ignored him too.

Zhao Gu-qing lowered her head.

Liang Ji-fan kept pestering them: “Hey, have you heard? A new guy transferred to the ninth grade. I heard he looks a lot like a certain actor, really good-looking. That hooligan, Zhu Jia-yi, went to his class to see him and said she’d send a picture to the group chat later.”

Did this have anything to do with Shen Ting-wen and Zhou Shu-rong?

Liang Ji-fan said to Zhou Shu-rong: “You can’t stand me, and you can’t stand this guy, Shen Ting-wen. Go take a look at that one; you’ll definitely like him.”

Shen Ting-wen stopped and gave him a nasty look: “Are you fucking bored?”

Liang Ji-fan didn’t understand why he was mad: “No, what’s your problem?”

Shen Ting-wen took Zhou Shu-rong’s hand and walked into the teaching building, ignoring the man who only had a sharp mouth left.

Liang Ji-fan made monkey noises, pointing at their hands and asking Zhao Gu-qing: “Did you see that? Shen Ting-wen is amazing. He can actually win over such a vicious and heartless girl?”

Zhao Gu-qing had seen it. She had actually noticed something was going on back at Zhou Xi-you’s dinner. Zhou Shu-rong was starting to pay attention to Shen Ting-wen, and Shen Ting-wen already liked her. This scene was no longer a surprise.

After his rant, Liang Ji-fan remembered that Zhao Gu-qing liked Shen Ting-wen. Afraid she might be sad, he turned and put his arm around her shoulder: “Qinger, I’ve been learning to knit. I’ll knit you a scarf, okay?”

Zhao Gu-qing took his hand off her: “No need. Give it to your other girlfriends. They need it more than I do.”

Liang Ji-fan scratched his head, “How did you know they were the ones who asked me to knit? It’s so annoying. I’ve never heard of a grown man being asked to knit a scarf or a handmade bag. They said that buying or getting a custom one shows no sincerity and insisted that I make it myself. How am I supposed to do that?”

Zhao Gu-qing was not in the mood to talk about this with him: “Go talk to someone else.”

Liang Ji-fan watched her leave, sighed, and went back to contemplating his knitting. He couldn’t convince her anyway.

________________________________________

Zhu Jia-yi posted the picture in the group chat, followed by several “ah’s.”

Zhou Xi-you was the first to see it: “He’s so handsome? So soft and sweet, he looks like a young Shen darling.”

Liang Ji-fan’s mouth was a sewer: “You call that handsome? What’s wrong with you girls’ taste?”

Zhou Xi-you ignored him and @-ed Zhou Shu-rong, asking for her opinion.

Zhou Shu-rong took a look and thought he was indeed handsome: “He’s quite handsome.”

Shen Ting-wen saw this and was not happy: “Really?”

Zhou Xi-you didn’t know that Zhou Shu-rong and Shen Ting-wen were ‘secretly together.’ If she had, she would have teased them mercilessly. “I have a boyfriend now, so I have no chance. You guys go for it, try to get him, and add him to the group.”

Liang Ji-fan couldn’t stand it anymore: “Look at how thirsty you are. What did Li Gun see in you? What’s wrong with his taste?”

Zhou Xi-you sent him a bunch of angry emojis: “Get lost! You’re all talk!”

The group chat was still buzzing with conversation, but Shen Ting-wen was not in the mood. Zhou Shu-rong actually called another guy handsome. Was that even handsome? He looked like a piece of cream. He moved his chair and sat next to Zhou Shu-rong, making her look at him.

Zhou Shu-rong saw him suddenly move closer and frowned: “What?”

Shen Ting-wen said: “You think that guy is handsome?”

His strange tone made Zhou Shu-rong laugh. She thought he was being serious about something important: “He’s quite handsome.”

“Am I not handsome?”

“You are too.”

“What do you mean, ‘too’?”

Zhou Shu-rong went back to her homework, trying to placate him: “You’re the most handsome.”

Shen Ting-wen took her pen away.

Zhou Shu-rong was about to get mad: “Stop being annoying.”

Shen Ting-wen gave the pen back to her, looking very hurt: “How can you think another guy is handsome?”

“I just said it. It doesn’t mean anything specific. Are you being serious? I only have one boyfriend; it’s not like I have seven or eight. Who are you competing with all day?” Zhou Shu-rong couldn’t understand.

Shen Ting-wen said: “When people ask me who’s better looking between us, I always say you are. But when they ask you if that guy is handsome, you say he’s quite handsome.”

Zhou Shu-rong laughed at him: “Are you being childish?”

Shen Ting-wen asked her again: “Is that guy handsome?”

“He’s ugly! He’s so fucking ugly!” Zhou Shu-rong said.

Shen Ting-wen was satisfied and told her something: “I’m taking leave this afternoon. You probably won’t see me for a few days.”

Zhou Shu-rong looked at him: “A few days?”

“Four days.”

Zhou Shu-rong didn’t ask what he was doing: “Okay.”

Shen Ting-wen secretly held her hand in class: “If you miss me, call me.”

They were still in the classroom with so many people around. Zhou Shu-rong subconsciously looked around and tried to pull her hand away: “What are you doing!”

Shen Ting-wen unzipped his school uniform and used it to hide them, then lifted Zhou Shu-rong’s hand and kissed the back of it softly: “I’ll marry you when I get back.”

Zhou Shu-rong’s lips were pursed, but she couldn’t hide her smile. He was so childish: “I won’t marry you.”

Shen Ting-wen said: “If you don’t, I’ll kidnap you.”

Zhou Shu-rong smiled helplessly.

Shen Ting-wen took the new, unopened yogurt from Jing He and put it on Zhou Shu-rong’s desk.

Jing He didn’t dare to say anything. He knew Shen Ting-wen would send him a big red envelope. He might not have yogurt to drink for one class, but he would get a big red envelope, and he was happy with that. He wouldn’t mind if all his yogurt went to Zhou Shu-rong from now on.

________________________________________

Right after Shen Ting-wen took leave, the seniors began their final physical examination before the college entrance exam.

Normally, they would only check for blood count and hepatitis B, but for some unknown reason, they also tested for HIV, AIDS. As luck would have it, several suspected cases were found, and they were told to go to the hospital for a more comprehensive test. Zhou Shu-rong was one of them.

Soon, the news of Zhou Shu-rong possibly having AIDS spread across several campuses, and Shen Ting-wen’s pursuit of her was brought up again.

Zhou Xi-you, Zhao Gu-qing, and the others were all frantic. The students couldn’t focus on class, and the patients weren’t in the mood to get treatment. Everyone was worried about Zhou Shu-rong’s situation.

Zhou Shu-rong seemed much more relaxed. She wasn’t worried about her own condition and accepted all the arrangements, going to the hospital for the examination.

At the hospital, Zhou Xi-you couldn’t sit still. She wanted to go see Zhou Shu-rong, but Li Gun wouldn’t let her: “You’re a patient yourself. If you go see her, and she really has it... what are you going to do?”

Zhou Xi-you didn’t think so: “We’ve been friends for so long. If I had it, how could she have avoided it? I think this is all nonsense! Your school is so dramatic. Zhou Shu-rong should transfer to our school!”

Li Gun peeled an apple for her: “If you get this excited when you talk about me, then I’ll be happy.”

Zhou Xi-you touched her face: “I’m not excited. I just think all of this is so unfair to her. It reminds me of when I was a kid in those cliquey environments. Everything was always blamed on me. That’s why my dad transferred me to another school.”

Li Gun held out his hand, asking her to take it: “Whether she has it or not, you and I, we will never stop being her friends.”

“Of course not.”

“Then don’t insist on going to see her right now. When you’re better, we’ll have all the time in the world.”

Zhou Xi-you was worried about Zhou Shu-rong, but she also understood Li Gun’s concern for her. She stopped arguing, “Okay, I understand.”

Li Gun wiped her mouth: “Don’t worry. Although good people don’t always get good things, good people have friends, and with friends, they have confidence. With confidence, they can support a whole world.”

Zhou Xi-you felt that Li Gun had changed a lot recently. From publicly announcing their relationship at the music festival to now comforting her with these words, he was really trying to fall in love with her, or perhaps, he had already fallen in love with her.