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Chapter 19
Editor: Princess
Yu Pei stayed silent. He stood there like a statue, motionless for what felt like an eternity. Finally, his fingers, hanging limply at his sides, curled slightly as he asked, “Will she come back?”
Uncle Zhuang didn’t answer right away. He glanced up at Yu Pei. The teenager’s hollow eyes carried confusion, fear, and a trace of hope—hope he might not even realize was there. Lowering his gaze again, he said, “I don’t know. It depends on Madam’s condition.”
“I don’t feel so good.” Yu Pei took a couple of deep breaths. Then his brows furrowed, as if the suffocating silence in the room was too much for him.
Hearing this, Uncle Zhuang quickly raised his hand to steady him, though he didn’t touch him fully. “Should I call the doctor?”
“It’s fine, there’s no need.” Yu Pei shook his head. “I just took medicine yesterday.”
“I want to go back to my room.” Yu Pei told Uncle Zhuang.
Uncle Zhuang replied, “I’ll bring your lunch up later then.”
“En.” Yu Pei nodded, grabbed his backpack, and went upstairs.
And the moment he sat down, his phone rang. It was Gu Zheng calling.
“Ah Pei!” The moment the call connected, Gu Zheng’s energetic voice burst through. “Just wait two more weeks! In two weeks, I’ll be able to come to Nanhua to see you!”
Yu Pei replied softly, “Mm, okay. I’ll wait for you.”
Hearing the low tone in Yu Pei’s voice, Gu Zheng’s own voice dropped. “Ah Pei, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you?”
“No.” Yu Pei told him. “Why would anyone bully me?”
“If no one has, then why would you—” Gu Zheng started but stopped halfway, swallowing his words. “Anyway, I’m coming to see you soon. You better cheer up.”
Yu Pei murmured in agreement, “Mm.”
“Oh, by the way, Ah Pei, my dad wants me to stay in the dorms, but I really don’t want to. Can I stay at your place?” Gu Zheng lowered his voice as he changed the subject. “You know me. If I stay in the dorms, I’ll lose my mind. Ah Pei, can I stay at your house? My dad said it’s fine as long as big brother Yu Qing agrees. Can you help me talk to him?”
“Alright, I’ll ask my big brother when he gets back from work, and I’ll let you know tonight.”
Gu Zheng said quickly, “Okay, okay, just don’t forget to ask, alright?”
Yu Pei replied, “Got it.”
That evening, as soon as Yu Qing got back from work, Yu Pei brought it up with him.
“Gu Zheng wants to stay at our place? Sure.” Yu Qing didn’t mind the idea of another person in the house. The Yu residence was huge, with plenty of empty rooms. Besides, the Yu and Gu families had been close for generations, and Yu Pei and Gu Zheng had been best friends since they were kids, so there was no reason to say no.
Before going to bed, Yu Pei sent Gu Zheng the news: [My big brother agreed. You can stay at my place.]
Gu Zheng’s reply came almost instantly: [That’s awesome!!! Ah Pei, mwah mwah =3=]
Yu Pei stared blankly at the three characters at the end of the message, then he asked Gu Zheng: [What are those three things at the end of your text?]
[It’s an emoji, a kiss emoji =3=]
Yu Pei felt like something was off but couldn’t pinpoint what. He asked: [But isn’t it too intimate for two guys to send that?]
Gu Zheng reassured him: [No, it’s just an emoji. My girlfriend sends it to me all the time, and I thought it was funny, so I sent it to you. Besides, we’re best friends, right? Being a little close doesn’t matter.]
Hearing this explanation, Yu Pei stopped overthinking it. He stared at the emoji for a while and found it kind of cute. That night, he added the little emoji to the end of his group goodnight texts.
Meanwhile, when Luo Changzhou, who was busy working on his assignments, saw Yu Pei’s goodnight message, his heart skipped a few beats. After a long pause, he finally replied: [Goodnight =3=]
After sending the text, he lay on his bed, holding his phone and staring at the kiss emoji for a long time. Eventually, he turned off his phone, switched off the lights, and went to sleep.
*
The next morning, he got up early and started making breakfast while boiling a hot water bottle.
Mother Luo caught the smell of noodles and came out of her bedroom, leaning close to him. “Changzhou, what’s for breakfast today?”
“Soy sauce noodles. I’ve already eaten. Yours and Dad’s are on the table—don’t forget to eat later.” Luo Changzhou said as he fished the cloud-shaped hot water bottle out of the pot, wiped it dry, and stuffed it into his pocket.
“You’ve been getting up earlier these past two days.” Mother Luo’s sharp eyes caught the hot water bottle. “Huh? What are you doing with your sister’s hot water bottle?”
“I bike to school, and my hands get cold on the way, so I borrowed it to keep warm.” Luo Changzhou explained while putting on his shoes. “I’m off. Bye!”
Mother Luo waved at him. “Bye, take care on the road.”
Luo Changzhou responded with a soft “Mm”, hopped on his bike, and headed toward Nanhua High School.
**
Nanhua High School was lined with flame trees, their bright red flowers painting the landscape like a morning glow. It was stunning, but Luo Changzhou wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the view.
As usual, he parked his bike quickly and walked to the intersection, waiting for Yu Pei. And when he saw him appear, he walked over quietly and handed him the warm hot water bottle. “Good morning, Ah Pei.”
“Good morning, Changzhou.” Yu Pei replied, taking the hot water bottle. His eyes curved into a smile, their pale amber color shimmering slightly in the morning light, just like gemstones.
Luo Changzhou stared at him for a moment before shifting his gaze away slowly, focusing on the road ahead in silence.
While Yu Pei broke the silence. “I brought some new-flavored candies. I’ll share them with you when we get to the classroom.”
“Mm.” Luo Changzhou mumbled, his hands tucked in his pockets. The leftover warmth from the hot water bottle lingered, cozy and soft, just like the teenager’s smile.
And so, Luo Changzhou stayed quiet the whole way to the classroom. It wasn’t until Yu Pei sat down and started pulling out the candies that he finally spoke. “Last night, you…”
But his words trailed off halfway. Yu Pei looked up at him and asked, “What about last night?”
“Nothing.” Luo Changzhou lowered his eyes and picked up both his and Yu Pei’s tea cups. “I’ll go get some hot water.”
“Oh, okay.” Yu Pei replied.
However as he was arranging his books on the desk, he suddenly overheard the girls behind him whispering—about Luo Changzhou.
“That’s Luo Changzhou, right?”
“Probably. The backpack’s the same color, and there aren’t many people this tall in our school.”
“It’s definitely Luo Changzhou. The comments below even mention his name. And the person next to him… it looks like it’s Yu Pei?”
Hearing his name out of the blue, Yu Pei looked up and was about to ask the girls what was going on when Tan Qiming, who was sitting in front of him, turned around with his phone and said, “You and Luo Changzhou made it onto the confession wall, but the one being confessed to is Luo Changzhou.”
Hearing this, Yu Pei leaned over to take a look and saw a photo of him and Luo Changzhou. Luo Changzhou had his back to the camera, walking side by side with him on a school pathway.
The confession wall, was actually a public QQ page set up by a Nanhua High student. It was a space for students to confess their feelings. Many liked to secretly snap photos of their crushes and send them to the page admin, asking for help finding the person’s contact info.
Someone had taken a picture of Luo Changzhou and asked which grade and class he was in, and since Yu Pei had been walking beside him, he got caught in the photo too. The comments below were piling up, most of them praising Luo Changzhou’s looks. Some were explaining that he was a new transfer student this semester, currently in the senior science class.
Yu Pei even saw someone complimenting the boy standing next to Luo Changzhou, saying he looked good too. He paused for a moment—wasn’t that him? So, someone actually thought he looked good?
“What are you guys looking at?” Luo Changzhou came back from getting hot water just as Yu Pei was lost in thought.
Before Yu Pei could respond, Tan Qiming jumped in, holding his phone up to Luo Changzhou. “Someone confessed to you.”
Luo Changzhou frowned at the phone shoved in his face. He glanced at it briefly, then sat down and handed Yu Pei his cup, saying “oh” flatly.
Seeing how indifferent he looked, Tan Qiming thought he hadn’t heard clearly, and so repeated, “The one confessing to you is Zhu Yueming!”
“Who is she?” Luo Changzhou didn’t even bother lifting his eyelids.
Tan Qiming said, “One of the most famous beauties in our school.”
As soon as Zhu Yueming’s name was mentioned, even Yu Pei couldn’t help but nod.
Zhu Yueming was indeed one of the most well-known beauties in their school. Unlike Qi Wenqiang, who had a gentle and quiet demeanor, Zhu Yueming’s name might sound delicate, but her personality was bold and lively. She had a mature look and exuded an older-sister vibe that many guys found irresistible.
However, Luo Changzhou’s expression still remained blank. “I don’t even know her.”
“You could get to know her.” Tan Qiming said with a click of his tongue. “She wants to meet you after school at the track.”
“I’m not going.” Luo Changzhou said without hesitation, then grabbed a thick stack of practice papers, spread them out on the desk, and twirled his pen, ready to start working.
Looking at Luo Changzhou’s studious demeanor, Tan Qiming sighed in exasperation. “But she’s gone all out confessing to you on the confession wall. Isn’t it rude not to meet her even once?”
“But why would I meet her?” Luo Changzhou asked, genuinely puzzled. “She secretly took my picture. Should I meet her to demand compensation for violating my portrait rights?”
Tan Qiming: “…”
Yu Pei, who was listening to their conversation, almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.
Seeing that Tan Qiming had finally gone quiet, Luo Changzhou raised an eyebrow in satisfaction and began working on his questions.
Luo Changzhou hadn’t bothered lowering his voice when he said all that, so it was likely some of the girls in the class had spread the word, because by Friday afternoon, Zhu Yueming’s friends had shown up at their classroom door to confront him.
“Luo Changzhou!” With his tall figure, striking mixed-race features, and those sapphire-blue eyes, Luo Changzhou stood out in the classroom. The group of girls spotted him right away from the doorway.
At this moment, Luo Changzhou had just finished packing his bag and was waiting for Yu Pei to finish so they could go home together. Hearing the girls call his name, he frowned slightly.
Yu Pei tilted his head up to glance at Luo Changzhou, then turned to look at the girls at the door. He asked, “They’ve come all the way to the classroom. Do you want to go see Zhu Yueming?”