Chapter 7: A Carefree Break

  On Monday morning, I returned to school very early as usual, and there was no one in the classroom.

  The pale yellow sunlight spilled onto the blackboard, where the English teacher's handwriting from last Sunday still remained, a bit blurry. The chalk box on the podium was tilted over, with white chalk scattered all around. The old blackboard brush lay on its back at the foot of the podium desk, its brown bristles covered in snow-white chalk dust.

  I walked a few steps over, bent down carefully to pick up the brush, tapped off dust against the broken bamboo trash can, pinched my nose with two fingers, thinking in my head how to deal with those who escaped from the big cleanup on Friday.

  The blackboard was cleaned halfway, stopped and coughed twice, just to see Xiaoran standing at the door, with a strange look in her eyes, looking at her through the floating dust, feeling a bit unreal.

  "Xiao Ruan? You scared me! How come you're walking without making a sound, like a ghost?"

  I've never had good relationships with either men or women since I was young. Xiao Ruan, whom I met through tutoring, is my second close female friend after Ruoxi.

  "Mei Mei." She called me softly, standing still at the door, not reacting to the tiny particles floating in the air, but staring blankly at me.

  I put down the brush, patted off the dust, walked to her side, looked at her with a puzzled expression, and felt that there was something strange about her, but couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

  "What's wrong with you? Why are you standing there like that? Don't come in?" I reached out to pull her in, but she broke free.

  "Last night I went there......" In an instant, the clear big eyes were filled with tears, and the voice trembled slightly, "I saw it with my own eyes, you guys..."

  My heart suddenly tightened, remembering the cold yet soft touch from last night, my face felt a bit hot again, and I quickly shook my head. Even Ruo Xi knew where to start, Xiao Ran must have been doing it all along, how did I not think of that?!

  I don't do things that hurt others, and I won't be startled when someone knocks on my door at midnight. Besides, it wasn't something I wanted to do either, in that situation, I had no choice anyway.

  "It's not like that......" Suddenly a little incoherent: "We... really... didn't... have anything..."

  Her lips were pursed tightly, her nose was pinched, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and tears fell on her expressionless face.

  I knew that at this moment, no matter what I said, she wouldn't listen, so I also shut up obediently.

  "Don't pretend in front of me anymore, what a good student, how hypocritical!" She wiped away the tears from her eyes, and on her beautiful face was a scornful smile, just like that evening when the sun set.

  "Listen to me explain," I said hastily, not wanting to lose a good friend like this. "It's really not what you think, he did it just... just for fun."

  "Hmph, do you think I'm a fool? Would I still believe you?" She proudly raised her head and glanced at me sideways. "What Meng Yu hates the most is girls touching him, let alone kissing. Don't show off in front of me, from now on we'll just rely on our own abilities!"

  She threw out a long string of words and Xiao Ran turned around and left, leaving me with an arrogant back view.

  My heart feels a bit stifled, could it be that Xiao Ruan has come so early to break off our friendship?

  Wait a minute! Didn't Xiao Ran say that the demon boy hated it when girls touched him? Come to think of it, he did dodge Ruoxi during their first meeting...

  So, there are very few people who can touch him while he's still alive...

  So his was also a first kiss?

  So this means I'm unexpectedly a special existence?

  The little cells in my brain have short-circuited again.

  That's not right either, the first time he went to a bar, wasn't there a girl holding his hand? He looked like he was enjoying it, without even blinking. This kind of charming and ruthless pretty boy usually has several romantic conquests under his belt. Little Ruan must still be mad at me, nonsense!

  My mind suddenly lit up and I felt infinitely relieved!

  ??***

  For a whole day, Ji Dong's seat was empty, and his desk was clean as if no one had ever sat there.

  Xiao Ruan was still as usual, lost in thought, with one hand supporting her chin and staring blankly out the window. I followed her gaze but only saw a few dense acacia trees, a lush green expanse without even a bird. Occasionally when our eyes met, she immediately turned around to face away from me, leaving my awkward smile frozen there.

  Ding ding ding ding ding...

  "Ah! Xiao Ran." Seeing her take off running, I hurriedly caught up with her, "Make-up lessons, make-up lessons!"

  I must have a good talk with her, can't think of a better way to persuade her, saying this is always justified.

  She turned her face, glared at me, left only one sentence, and walked away with the crowd. Her voice was cold and filled with disgust, saying: I find you disgusting, it's not for Ze Yu, who would bother to care about you anyway.

  One sentence pierced me easily, and suddenly I felt a big hole in my body, with blood flowing out uncontrollably.

  My legs feel as heavy as if they were tied to a huge iron ball, I've walked this road to the milk tea house tens of thousands of times, but for the first time, I feel like the road is so long and it's so hard to walk.

  "Ruoxi... I want to cry, can I borrow your shoulder for a bit?" I mumbled weakly as I pushed open the glass door.

  The usually noisy milk tea shop was exceptionally quiet today, and my low, trembling voice stood out even more. Startled by the eerie tone of my own voice, I suddenly lifted my head, hoping that today was an exception with fewer people.

  Unfortunately, the seats were packed with people. As soon as I walked in, everyone's eyes turned to me, and my face instantly flushed red. I really wanted to find a hole to hide in. The person standing in front of me was dressed stylishly, smoking a cigarette, with his neck tilted to one side, eyeing me sideways. After quickly scanning the room, I saw that everyone had unfamiliar faces. I swallowed hard, not daring to look around anymore, and slipped behind the bar next to Ruo Xi, who was intensely making eyes at someone. The two of us huddled together, whispering secretly.

  "What are these people doing? What kind of trouble have you gotten into?" I anxiously asked Ruoxi.

  "How was I supposed to know? This group of people suddenly rushed in like crazy, chasing everyone away. I don't even recognize them!" Ruoxi lowered her voice: "Lanxin has gone back to her hometown, so I'm counting on you. How come you're so late?"

  Just as I wanted to say something more, a dark shadow loomed over us, blocking the light above our heads. I exchanged a glance with Ruoxi, took a deep breath, and then we both looked up at the same time.

  A muscular man with a stern expression stared at us, and when we looked up at him in confusion, he asked in a low voice, "Who is Lumimi?"

  I widened my eyes and turned to look at Ruoxi, her mouth slightly open, gripping my hand tightly, seemingly even more nervous than I was. Next, I pointed to myself with my index finger, then suppressed my unease and stood up, thinking that this must have something to do with Zhang Juyu.

  "Anything wrong?"

  "Yu Ge has something to tell you." The voice was filled with a tone of watching a good show, and a piece of paper was passed into my hands.

  Another note, isn't he tired of playing this game? She slightly furrowed her brow and reluctantly opened it under the gaze of many malicious eyes.

  Once born, twice cooked, indeed from the same person's handwriting as that in the mailbox.

  Simple: Tonight at 8 o'clock at the bar, if you don't come, you're dead.

  As I saw the note, the hoodlums sitting with their legs stretched out also got up one after another, whistling and dispersing outside. Some of them even deliberately looked at me carefully as they passed by my side, making me think of the scene in "The Legend of the Condor Hero" where Huang Rong was spat on by the beggars, and I felt a chill in my heart.

  "Ah~" After the person walked away cleanly, Yu Xi leaned her head against me and let out a long, drawn-out syllable. The warm breath sprayed onto the back of my ear, but I shivered again.

  She gave me a glance, pinched the note and walked to the chair in a daze, her limp body collapsed like a puddle of mud, staring blankly at the golden-framed "The Last Supper" on the wall. Yu Xi also leaned over after a while, lying down next to me with his head comfortably resting on my back, letting out a satisfied sigh.

  I shrugged my shoulders, trying to shake her off, but she clung to me like an octopus, flipping over and continuing to cling to me, muttering to herself.

  "Rice, when you came in, you said you wanted to cry, almost didn't hold back tears, haha!" She looked up at me with a straight face and smoothed out her messy hair, "I'm ready, go ahead and say it!"

  "What did you say?" I was lost in thought, and he wasn't making any sense, "I really don't understand him."

  How can there be such a person in the world, who is both intimidating and yet so gentle... The devil and angel coexist within him, what a contradictory combination.

  "Hmm?" She leaned in close, her hand cupped around her ear in a half-circle.

  Seeing this, I immediately returned to my state and struggled to get up. I turned my face towards her and let out a sigh like a resentful wife: "Because of that kid, Xiao Rang also hates me."

  "You've broken up? Just a few days and you're already having conflicts?" she asked in surprise.

  "Can't you put it another way?" I smiled wryly and said, "You're talking like a newlywed couple."

  "Come on, lend me your shoulder." She smiled at the corner of her eyes, patted her shoulder, and motioned for me to lean on it.

  "Whatever!" With a life of constant surprises and shocks all day long, I suddenly felt a bit more open-minded. "I'm not that fragile, am I?"

  Maybe Xiaorong is just one of the many passersby in my life, what's meant to be will be, what's not meant to be can't be forced, everything will work out as it should...

  "I found that I can become a monk now." I smiled self-deprecatingly and winked at Ruoxi, "It's just that I'm not willing to leave you!"

  Ruoxi gently pushed me and looked me up and down, her eyes full of amusement. "I think you'd fit right in at the temple, no one would suspect a thing... and don't worry about lacking men in the future, haha!"

  When I heard this sentence, I immediately jumped up, puffed out my chest and glared at her with wide eyes, scolding her for having a dirty mind.

  In the empty milk tea house, the two of them started chatting and laughing again, just like they had returned to those carefree days. Fortunately, there was still Ruoxi! Thinking of this, my heart was filled with comfort.