Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another school year began.
On the first day of junior high, no one could escape the fate of carrying textbooks.
“Ranran, wait for me to bring the books back.” The boy wore a well-fitted school uniform with a round school badge sewn on his chest, his smile bright and unrestrained.
Yu Qianran looked up, his expression tinged with indulgence and helplessness. He stood up and walked toward the boy at the door. “I’ll go with you.”
Lu Zhishen stepped forward, gently turning Yu Qianran around 180 degrees. “Ranran, just stay put. I can carry several stacks by myself.”
“Underestimating me?” Yu Qianran turned his head, narrowing his eyes dangerously, as if a simple nod would earn the other an over-the-shoulder throw.
Lu Zhishen shook his head repeatedly in denial. “How could I? I’m just worried you’ll get tired.”
Yu Qianran had skipped a grade and was younger than his classmates. Although his health had been well-maintained over the years and he hadn’t had any issues, Lu Zhishen couldn’t help but worry, feeling that Ranran should just direct him to do the work.
Yu Qianran wasn’t buying it. He dodged Lu Zhishen’s attempts to stop him and urged, “Let’s go, hurry up.”
Seeing this, Lu Zhishen had no choice but to follow Yu Qianran’s lead, sighing helplessly.
He really couldn’t do anything about him. He’d just have to carry more later.
All the textbooks for the third-year students were arranged in an empty room on the first floor, now crowded with boys of various faces.
A girl crouched on the floor, raising a cheerful smile as she addressed the two who arrived late. “You two are so slow. The class monitor and I have already sorted the books.”
Chen Xiaonan shrugged, defending them. “We’re used to it. They’ve been inseparable since they were kids. It must be Zhishen not letting Qianran carry the books, right, Qianran?”
Yu Qianran nodded lightly.
Another boy in the class clicked his tongue and complained, “That’s just too much. You’ll get in the way of Qianran finding a partner like this.”
Lu Zhishen rolled his eyes and snorted lightly. “We’re only in junior high, what’s the rush to find a partner? With me around, none of you can trick Ranran.”
The girl, Lin Ya, pointed at the textbooks on the floor. “Grass-protecting ambassador, could you please carry the books first?”
“They haven’t carried theirs either,” Lu Zhishen said, only to realize that the other boys had already picked up their books and were walking coolly outside.
Lin Ya smiled at him, as if saying, “Do you even hear yourself?”
Lu Zhishen: “…”
He picked up the heavy textbooks with both hands, not forgetting to remind, “Ranran, wait for me here. I’ll be right back.”
Yu Qianran glanced at the remaining stack of textbooks on the floor and nodded perfunctorily.
Once Lu Zhishen was far away, he crouched down, picked up the remaining books, and said, “Let’s head back together.”
Lin Ya blinked and reached out her hand. “Give me a few.”
After two years of interaction, the classmates more or less knew about Yu Qianran’s situation. They wouldn’t go out of their way to treat him as someone special, but they also wouldn’t let him do overly heavy work.
Yu Qianran replied, “Take them yourself. My hands are full.”
Lin Ya immediately pulled half of the textbooks from Yu Qianran’s arms and held them in her own.
She grinned playfully. “Hurry up. If Zhishen comes back later, you’ll have made the trip for nothing.”
Yu Qianran was already used to such teasing.
Everyone tacitly acknowledged Lu Zhishen as his nominal “guardian,” eager to take care of everything for him.
Just as the two reached the second floor, they heard Lu Zhishen’s loud, flustered voice. “Ranran, why didn’t you wait for me?”
Yu Qianran guiltily averted his gaze, meeting Lin Ya’s eyes as she looked over at him. Both understood the meaning in each other’s eyes.
He felt a sudden lightness in his arms as all the books were snatched away by Lu Zhishen.
Yu Qianran sighed helplessly, “Lu Zhishen, I can carry them.”
Lu Zhishen nodded to show he understood, then said bluntly, “I know, I just don’t want you to carry them.”
“Yours too, put them here,” he said to Lin Ya.
“Thanks,” Lin Ya replied without hesitation, piling her books onto Lu Zhishen’s hands.
Carrying the books, Lu Zhishen walked side by side with Yu Qianran, chattering away as they went, “Ranran, after we finish distributing the books, let’s go out to eat.”
“Why?” Yu Qianran asked, puzzled.
“To celebrate the start of school.”
“What’s there to celebrate about school starting?” Lin Ya teased. “You just want to ditch us and have Qianran all to yourself. I’ll tell Liyu and the others.”
Lu Zhishen turned his head and sighed softly, “I forgot you were here.”
He should’ve waited to tell Ranran later.
Lin Ya rolled her eyes, “You take your time climbing. I’m going ahead.” With long strides, she took two steps at a time and hurried up the stairs.
Yu Qianran looked away, quietly considering whether to go.
Lunch would surely be lively, but deep down, he also wanted to have a meal alone with Zhishen.
Lu Zhishen noticed Yu Qianran’s thoughts, his dark eyes glinting mischievously as he grinned slyly, “We’ll sneak away at noon.”
Yu Qianran remembered how they sometimes sneaked off together, only to be caught by Chen Xiaonan and the others more often than not, having to pay the price to avoid trouble. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lu Zhishen, his voice tinged with amusement, “Are you sure?”
“This time, we definitely won’t get caught,” Lu Zhishen said. “I booked two private rooms at the same restaurant to trick them.”
Hearing this, Yu Qianran couldn’t help but take another look at Lu Zhishen.
He’s gotten smarter, must’ve put a lot of thought into coming up with this plan.
Lu Zhishen wasn’t unintelligent; he just seemed to lose his wits when it came to family and friends, like an NPC in a game who goes blank when encountering key characters.
“Ranran, you can’t tell them.”
Yu Qianran tilted his head and glanced over, chuckling softly, “Got it.”
When it came to Lu Zhishen, a friend he’d grown up with since childhood, it was naturally different from others.
“Thump, thump, thump.”
What was that sound?
Yu Qianran’s attention was drawn to the noise, and his eyes caught sight of a basketball bouncing rapidly down the stairs, heading straight for him,
“Watch out!”
A gust of wind swept past as he instinctively closed his eyes, but the expected impact never came. He relaxed his tense body and opened his eyes.
Lu Zhishen stood in front of him, shielding him. Textbooks lay scattered on the ground, a messy sight.
“Damn, are you guys okay?!”
“Shit, dude, I didn’t mean to!”
Two voices rang out almost simultaneously, accompanied by the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps.
“Zhishen?” Yu Qianran leaped up two steps to stand in front of Lu Zhishen, seeing the teenager still holding a few new books in one arm while the other had just been raised to block the basketball’s impact.
“Let me see,” Yu Qianran insisted, pulling Lu Zhishen’s hand toward him, revealing the tanned skin of his forearm.
A bruise had formed.
Yu Qianran felt a pang in his heart, a faint ache spreading through him.
His voice was filled with concern, “Next time, don’t block it. I would’ve been fine.”
Lu Zhishen said firmly, “No way. What if you really got hurt?”
One of the boys picked up the fallen textbooks, apologizing profusely, “Sorry, you two. All the books are here. Let us help carry them back to your classroom.”
Yu Qianran turned around, his amber eyes fixed intently on them, his expression cold and serious as he said, “Don’t you know basketball isn’t allowed here?”
“S-sorry,” the other boy stammered, seemingly frightened. “We didn’t mean to, we won’t do it again.”
Yu Qianran had nowhere to vent his anger, the apology came quickly and sincerely.
But he was still furious. If they hadn’t been playing basketball by the stairs, Shenshen wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
Lu Zhishen noticed their discomfort and waved a hand. “Forget it, just go.”
Yu Qianran glared at Lu Zhishen angrily, took the textbooks from the two boys, and walked away without looking back.
“Huh?” Lu Zhishen paused for a moment before quickly chasing after him. “Wait for me!”
Back in Class 1 of Grade 9, Chen Xiaonan, who had been discussing why Yu Qianran and Lu Zhishen hadn’t returned yet, was caught red-handed by Yu Qianran. He smiled awkwardly.
“Take these.” Yu Qianran shoved the books into Chen Xiaonan’s hands and, before he could react, stormed out again.
Lu Zhishen, holding the textbooks, cautiously tested the waters. “Ranran?”
“How did these books end up like this?!”
Chen Xiaonan’s exclamation came from behind.
Lu Zhishen leaned in, apologetic. “Sorry, I accidentally dropped them earlier. If you mind, I can buy new ones to replace them.”
Chen Xiaonan asked, “How did you drop them? Did someone bump into you?”
Lu Zhishen casually handed the books to Chen Xiaonan and nodded. “Yeah.”
Chen Xiaonan, curious, asked, “Who was it? Want me to go beat them up for you?”
“Go away, not everyone has violent tendencies like you,” Lu Zhishen retorted, exasperated. “They didn’t mean it, and they apologized before leaving.”
Chen Xiaonan refused to take the blame. Recalling Lu Zhishen’s past behavior, he questioned, “What right do you have to say that about me?”
Who was the little tyrant since kindergarten? Who beat someone up in elementary school for trying to bully Yu Qianran, making them cry? It was only in the last two years that Yu Qianran had kept him in check, stopping him from fighting.
Lu Zhishen also remembered his past actions and glanced guiltily at Yu Qianran.
Seeing the two of them going on and on, Yu Qianran grabbed Lu Zhishen’s uninjured arm, clearly displeased. “Chen Xiaonan, help us with the books. I’m taking him to the infirmary.”
Chen Xiaonan nodded eagerly. “Sure, no problem.”
Helping each other out was normal among friends. He really envied Lu Zhishen for having such a good buddy. Why hadn’t he found one like that when he was younger? Chen Xiaonan sighed regretfully.
Yu Qianran dragged Lu Zhishen along without a word, refusing to speak to the person behind him.
“Ranran?” Unable to stay quiet, Lu Zhishen called out tentatively. “Ranran, Ranran, slow down. I can’t keep up.” He dragged out his words, as if pleading.
Yu Qianran glanced back at Lu Zhishen’s long legs and sneered, “Do you need me to find you a wheelchair?”
Lu Zhishen perked up. “Really?”
Yu Qianran: “…”
Seeing Yu Qianran growing angrier, Lu Zhishen lowered his voice. “Ranran, don’t be mad. I’m really fine.”
He caught up with Yu Qianran in a few strides and extended his injured arm, revealing a small patch of bruising.
“See, it’s just bruised, it’ll be fine in a couple of days. If you don’t believe me, press on it, I promise I won’t make a sound.” Lu Zhishen blinked earnestly.
“Ow!!”
Yu Qianran gave a half-smile, slowly withdrawing his hand from Lu Zhishen’s arm as if to say, “Weren’t you just saying it was fine?”
Lu Zhishen sucked in a breath, laughing sheepishly. “It really doesn’t hurt that much. I was just startled.”
Yu Qianran teased mischievously, “Want to try again?”
“No, no, I think I’m actually hurt.” Lu Zhishen quickly backed away, pleading for mercy.
Yu Qianran let out a soft hum. He hadn’t even pressed that hard, but he was still quite upset about Lu Zhishen hiding the injury from him.
Considering the other had gotten hurt because of him, he decided to let it go for now.
…
“Nothing serious. Just avoid using this hand too much when you get back.” The school doctor gave the usual advice, glancing at the students who had shown up on the first day of school. He couldn’t resist adding, “Kids your age shouldn’t be so quick to fight. You know it hurts when you get patched up, right? Next time, I’ll disinfect it with alcohol.”
Lu Zhishen felt wronged. With a pained expression, he explained, “We weren’t fighting. I just bumped into something.”
The school doctor brushed him off. “Mm-hmm, just don’t fight next time.”
Lu Zhishen: “…”
He really was innocent. He wasn’t some rebellious teenager anymore, he hadn’t gotten into a single fight from seventh to ninth grade.
Yu Qianran’s eyes sparkled with amusement, showing no intention of clearing things up for Lu Zhishen.
Lu Zhishen glanced at Yu Qianran and immediately understood. Sighing, he lowered his head and obediently followed Yu Qianran back to the classroom.
Normally, seats were assigned in seventh grade and rarely changed after that, but kids at this age grew like bamboo shoots after rain, suddenly shooting up.
Yu Qianran and Lu Zhishen returned just in time for the homeroom teacher to rearrange the seating.
The homeroom teacher glanced at them and pointed to two empty seats in the classroom. “You’re back just in time. There are two seats left. If you have any objections, speak up now.”
Yu Qianran tilted his head to look. One seat was in the middle, the other in the last row. He guessed Lu Zhishen wouldn’t be happy with this arrangement.
Sure enough, Lu Zhishen grinned and said, “Teacher, can you switch us to seats closer together? That’s how it was arranged before.”
The homeroom teacher gave a faint smile. “The first two years, you were about the same height. Now look at you, you’re a whole hand taller than Qianran. Do you really think it’s fair to make him sit in the back row with you?”
“I could sit in the front row.”
The homeroom teacher flatly refused. “No, you’re too tall. You’d block others’ view.”
Lu Zhishen was taller than all the other boys in the class, the tallest among them.
With a pained expression, Lu Zhishen turned his gaze to Yu Qianran, silently pleading for help.
Yu Qianran ignored the plea. He was still a little upset!
Resigned, Lu Zhishen looked around at the students near the empty seats and noticed something. Pointing at Chen Xiaonan, who was sitting in front of the empty back-row seat, he said, “Chen Xiaonan is shorter than Qianran. Why not let him sit in the front?”
The homeroom teacher glanced over skeptically. Before he could call Chen Xiaonan over to compare heights, Chen Xiaonan couldn’t stand the insult.
Chen Xiaonan stood up, protesting indignantly, “What do you mean I’m shorter than Qianran? We’re about the same height. If you want to sit near Qianran, you don’t have to insult me like that.”
His little scheme exposed in front of everyone, Lu Zhishen simply stopped pretending and said bluntly, “Then give up your seat. You wouldn’t want to break up our brotherhood, would you?”
Chen Xiaonan: “…”
Was it him who broke them up? This was twisting the truth and framing him!
Even after all these years, Chen Xiaonan still couldn’t get used to Lu Zhishen’s tactics of using him as a pawn just to get a little closer to Yu Qianran.
The homeroom teacher looked at Lu Zhishen’s unreasonable behavior with a headache, took a deep breath as if compromising, and said, “If Chen Xiaonan agrees, you can switch. After today, I won’t give you another chance to change seats.”
“Thank you, teacher! I’ll definitely make Teacher’s Day special for you,” Lu Zhishen said with a joyful smile, showing his gratitude.
The teacher tensed up and warned, “Don’t. If you say another word, you’re not switching.”
As long as Lu Zhishen behaved, he didn’t need Teacher’s Day celebrations, he just wanted to make it to retirement.
Yu Qianran’s gaze fell on Lu Zhishen, naturally recalling the trouble he had caused during Teacher’s Day celebrations two years earlier.
Noticing Yu Qianran’s look, Lu Zhishen smiled sheepishly and mouthed silently: That was an accident!