Chapter 11 Downstairs

  The light from the street lamp outside shone directly on his face, and the playful smile I saw at first was gone. Instead, he was shrouded in a sense of puzzlement and melancholy, as if he had changed into a completely different person.

  How could there be such a big change in him?

  He seemed to have noticed that I was also looking at him, and he excitedly waved his hand at me, opening and closing his mouth as if saying something.

  I stood by the window and stared for a while, then pulled up the curtains. His gaze didn't make me feel disgusted, but being peeped at like this made me feel really uncomfortable.

  Huang Yanyan couldn't quite understand my actions: "It was fine just now, why did you suddenly pull up the curtains?"

  I feigned calmness, "What, do you know him?"

  Huang Yanyan's expression became even stranger: "I know him? You're the one who knows him, aren't you?"

  "Since the start of school, I've often seen him waiting for you at the bottom of the building. Since you're still single, I thought you hadn't made a final decision between these two handsome guys yet. Did he do something to disgust you?"

  Huang Yanyan didn't seem very familiar with these two people either, and she also often waited for me here in the morning to study, it seems Liu Ke's words were not wrong.

  I'm a person who dislikes others pestering me, and according to Chen Yanluo's method of squatting at every point and waiting, it's normal that I would dislike him too.

  Huang Yanyan didn't notice my thoughts, and continued on her own: "Last night you left a note for me, I thought you were going to elope with one of them, now it seems like you've made up your mind too."

  Note, how come I don't remember this thing?

  "What about the note I wrote?"

  Huang Yanyan paused for a moment, then smiled awkwardly: "I forgot where I put it..."

  I took a look at Huang Yanyan's cluttered desk and bookshelf, as well as the packed cabinet, and gave up on the idea of finding the note.

  Just as I was trying hard to recall the contents of the note, my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up and took a look, it was an unknown call with no record, nor was it marked as a sales call. I hesitated for a moment before answering the phone.

  I thought of the voice of the person downstairs and intuitively felt that this call was made by him.

  The person opposite him paused for a moment before asking somewhat timidly: "Are you still angry?"

  It's really him, I sighed, "I really have nothing to say to you, can't you just stop bothering me?"

  "I really didn't mean to miss catching you, let alone... at that time you were distracted and didn't know what you were thinking about, suddenly jumped down, I just didn't react in time. Don't be angry, okay?"

  Mentioning that matter again, the fire in my heart has flared up once more. I had just managed to forget that place which made me extremely disgusted, why did he have to bring it up again!

  I directly hung up the phone, this person is really annoying. If I were familiar with him, how could I not have saved his phone number after knowing him for so long? Moreover, if even Liu Ke doesn't believe me, who can I trust here?

  After some thought, I directly put Chen Yanluo's phone number on the blacklist, out of sight, out of mind.

  Huang Yanyan had no idea what was going on between us, but seeing that I didn't look good, she didn't say anything else.

  "Let's count the days, our principal's seventh day is coming soon." Huang Yanyan suddenly came out with this sentence after a long silence.

  Whenever I mention the principal, I couldn't help but think of those scenes before his death. Although I only met the principal at the opening ceremony, he still left a deep impression on me and it's hard for me to accept his passing.

  "If the principal's seventh day of death is to return, will he come back to school?" As soon as this matter was brought up, Huang Yanyan's brain hole opened uncontrollably.

  "If he comes back, just make sure not to wander around everywhere, just stay in that broadcasting hall. We don't have any grudges against him, please don't drag us into this!"

  Huang Yanyan's silly appearance was a bit comical, I said: "As long as you don't wander around at night, even if the principal comes back, he won't be able to find someone as ordinary as you who can't even learn in an ordinary school."

  Huang Yanyan crumpled up a piece of tissue paper and threw it at me: "What's wrong with you!"

  After guessing with Huang Yanyan for a while, it was time to turn off the lights, and we both lay down naturally.

  Listening to the sound, Huang Yanyan fell asleep quickly, I don't know if it's because she slept too much during the day, now I just can't sleep.

  The streetlights outside have been extinguished, and it's no longer as bright as when I came back for dinner. Looking out the window, the tree branches that have been blown by the wind are distorted, with their branches stretching out like a monster extending its countless arms.

  I hid under the bed and watched in horror. The principal's death was also in vain, won't he have a way to reincarnate and come back prematurely?

  Even if you run back, don't come looking for me, I just took one last look at you, it was just a coincidence.

  I spent the whole night in a state of wanting to sleep but not being able to, half dreaming and half awake. When I got up early, two dark eye circles appeared under my eyes very naturally, and I was even teased by Huang Yan Yan.

  I trudged downstairs listlessly and Liu Ke was waiting for me as usual. He saw the dark circles under my eyes and wasn't surprised: "Didn't sleep well last night, huh?"

  I replied weakly: "How did you know?"

  "Today is the seventh day of the principal's passing, according to your horoscope, if you don't think wildly and scare yourself, it would be strange." With that, he took out a delicate white flower and carefully pinned it on my clothes.

  "It'll soon be the principal's memorial service, and we're all going to attend."

  We all want to participate!

  I also think I might have been out of my mind, otherwise how could I forget such an important thing? When Huang Yanyan walked past us, she whistled a not-so-loud whistle like a sly man. I gave her a white eye and left with Liu Ke together.

  Huang Yanyan is not from the same department as me, she has her own class group, so naturally she can't stand with me in the same formation to attend the principal's memorial service.

  Today is the principal's formal memorial service, and early in the morning, I walked into the campus, where there was a depressing atmosphere everywhere. Even the originally lively university students had voluntarily changed into plain clothes.

  The principal has always been secretly scolded by the students behind his back, but now that he's dead, no one would dare to say anything bad about him at this time.

  When Liu Ke and I arrived at the classroom, most of our classmates were already prepared. Amidst this, I caught sight of Chen Yanluo, whose gaze remained fixed on me without wavering.

  I didn't want to meet that person's gaze again, so I hid behind Liu Ke, making my figure less conspicuous.

  The auditorium, which was originally used for the school anniversary celebration, has now been converted into a reception room for the principal's memorial service. The colorful balloons that were previously placed here have all been replaced with plain white and yellow flower wreaths. On the exhibition stand in the center position is a large black-and-white photo of the principal.

  As soon as I entered this room, I had a kind of inexplicable oppressive atmosphere, and for that photo, I didn't even dare to look at it straight.

  I didn't think of anything to replace the principal's silence, I just wanted this ceremony to end soon so that I could leave this oppressive space.

  Unfortunately, things are not as one wishes. The memorial service for the principal will definitely be delayed for a long time. I'm sitting in my seat at Xiamen and feel like I won't be able to stay much longer.

  I slightly turned around and grabbed Liu Ke's arm, "How much longer can we leave?" The atmosphere here is so oppressive that I'm almost out of breath.

  Liu Ke's expression looked calmer than mine, it was almost two hours now, he didn't have any extra movements at all, not even a change in the look on his face, just like a thin mask stuck to his five senses, stiff and cold.