“Are you two done yet?” Zhu Jingjing’s booming voice came from behind them. The next second, she kicked the office door open.
She was carrying a box of Qiaolezi ice-cream bars, cold mist curling from it. “Here. One each. Homeroom teacher bought them.”
“Qiaolezi, huh?” Zhou Lei grabbed one. “Homeroom teacher’s pretty generous.”
“He was going to buy mung-bean popsicles, but I told him Zhou Lei is picky and only eats Qiaolezi, so he bought these.” Zhu Jingjing grinned, then turned toward Shao Wu. “Oh, right. Yang Shuyi’s waiting for you in the classroom.”
Shao Wu stared at the ice cream in his hand. “Oh. Is he?”
“What’s wrong?” Zhu Jingjing tilted her head at him. “You unhappy?”
“No, just a little tired.” Shao Wu stood up. “I’ll head back to class first.”
The classroom was still roaring with noise. Everyone had pushed desks together and was sitting on top of them chatting. Shao Wu slipped in through the back door and saw Yang Shuyi sitting alone in his “reserved seat,” chin propped up, apparently lost in thought.
On the other side, Zheng Xiaoning was chatting happily with two girls.
Shao Wu thought, Yang Shuyi is actually waiting for Zheng Xiaoning, isn’t he? Today is their last day as high school students. Is he going to walk her home?
“Shao Wu.” Yang Shuyi came over. “Finished cleaning up?”
“Mm.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Go?”
“Aren’t we going to the internet café?”
“You…” Shao Wu lowered his voice. “You’re not waiting for her?”
“Who?”
“Zheng Xiaoning.”
Yang Shuyi suddenly went silent and looked down at Shao Wu, his gaze bearing down on him as though it could blot out the sky. Shao Wu took a step back and abruptly realized just how much taller Yang Shuyi had grown.
“You saw?” Yang Shuyi asked quietly.
“Mm…” At the memory of that scene, Shao Wu’s heart felt as though someone had yanked it hard. “I didn’t mean to. I came out of the restroom and then…”
“Stop. We’ll talk outside.”
Shao Wu was a little bewildered. Weren’t the two of them just dating? Was there really any need to be so secretive? The gaokao was already over. Nobody was going to stop them now. Still, Shao Wu went to his seat, grabbed his schoolbag, and followed Yang Shuyi out of the classroom.
The last of the sunset was fading, and a thin veil of dusk had already settled over the sky. The entire senior-year building was a mess, wastepaper and odds and ends scattered everywhere. Without speaking, the two walked out of the teaching building, out of the school, and stopped by the river.
“Don’t tell anyone about this,” Yang Shuyi warned him. “It wouldn’t be very good. A girl is still… you know, thin-skinned.”
Shao Wu said, “She told you not to say anything?”
“She didn’t exactly say that, but… it wouldn’t be good for her reputation, right? If other people found out she and I…”
“What do you mean, ‘bad for her reputation’?” Shao Wu’s temper flared. He switched straight from Mandarin into Chongqing dialect and demanded aggressively, “Is dating you somehow a loss for her? Is she so amazing you’re not good enough for her?”
Yang Shuyi’s eyes widened. After several seconds, he slowly said, “We’re not dating.”
Shao Wu stared blankly. “Huh?”
“Did you misunderstand?” Yang Shuyi looked just as baffled, even a little innocent. “She confessed to me. I didn’t accept. Then… she asked if she could hug me.”
Shao Wu: “…”
Was that what had happened? Shao Wu replayed the scene in his head. Zheng Xiaoning had asked, Can I? Yang Shuyi had said, You can.
Then Yang Shuyi had bent down and hugged her.
That… actually did make sense.
Shao Wu stood there blankly, feeling as though he had traveled from the human world down to hell and only now had all three souls and seven spirits finally returned to his body. Yang Shuyi was not together with Zheng Xiaoning? They were not together!
For a moment, Shao Wu was both thrilled and embarrassed, unable to get even half a sentence out. The last streak of sunset painted the river gold, almost warm as it fell into his eyes.
“Shao Wu.” Yang Shuyi called his name very carefully.
“Huh?”
“You…”
“What about me?” Shao Wu turned toward him and saw hesitation in his gaze, both hands gripping the railing tightly as though he were nervous.
“Do you like…” Yang Shuyi’s voice was low, but every word entered Shao Wu’s ears with perfect clarity. It took Shao Wu two seconds to process it, and then his entire body stiffened until he might as well have become another stone post in the railing.
Could it be—could it be that Yang Shuyi had finally understood?!
“Do you like Zheng Xiaoning?” Yang Shuyi asked solemnly. “I don’t like her. Not at all. Really. If you want to pursue her… then go ahead.”
“…”
A sparrow fluttered down onto the railing beside Shao Wu.
Shao Wu stared at the sparrow. The sparrow stared at Shao Wu. They stared at each other.
Yang Shuyi coughed. “Shao Wu?”
“I don’t like her either.” Shao Wu’s boiling heart slowly settled. Silently, he let out one long sigh. “I swear.”