The clamor of youth is not like the make-believe games of childhood, where you might refuse to play with someone one day, only to hold hands and walk to school together the next.
So-called youthful recklessness is probably when everyone uses the excuse of being young and inexperienced to take awkwardness and affectation to the extreme.
As a result, Su Anxi and Xu Yu still hadn't made up.
Counting the days on their fingers, this evenly matched cold war seemed to have lasted through an entire autumn and winter.
At school, they were separated by different floors and rarely saw each other. Occasionally, when they bumped into each other on campus, they would only exchange distant and disdainful glances before going their separate ways.
Even when the group gathered to play in the Compound, the two of them still acted as if one owed the other money and refused to pay it back.
In short, all their childhood friends who witnessed this knew that when it came to the endurance of a prolonged war, Xu Yu and Su Anxi were undoubtedly the champions among them.
These friends had tried to persuade the two, both openly and subtly, but unfortunately, it had little effect. Eventually, they gave up and let things be.
The real reconciliation should be credited to Su Anxi's new deskmate, Liao Zhiping.
Liao Zhiping transferred in during the second semester of their first year of high school—another academic ace, though an atypical and humorous one. His skin was exceptionally fair, like porcelain.
Feng Xiaoyao, who was very close to Su Anxi, said he looked just like those pretty-boy actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1990s—pure and untainted.
Whether Liao Zhiping was a pretty boy or not, Su Anxi didn't know, but she did know that Feng Xiaoyao had a crush on him.
As for her and Liao Zhiping, they were academic comrades-in-arms, and it could be said they hit it off immediately, regretting not having met sooner.
Thus, the three of them became the modern-day Three Musketeers of their class.
There was another main reason for this: the three of them consistently occupied the enviable and jealousy-inducing top three positions in the class rankings.
Later, news of Liao Zhiping—a character who seemed to appear out of nowhere like a "Cheng Yaojin"—reached Xu Yu's ears, and he suddenly felt a sense of crisis.
That day, Xu Yu was playing basketball on the court when he happened to turn around and see Su Anxi talking to a fair-skinned boy, laughing like a fool. Instantly, the pent-up anger that had been simmering inside him surged uncontrollably.
Without a second thought, he hurled a basketball in their direction.
Liao Zhiping was hit by the sudden basketball, his nose bleeding profusely, and he fainted on the spot.
Xu Yu had felt a momentary thrill from throwing the ball, but he hadn't expected it to cause such heavy bleeding. Seeing Su Anxi's furious glare, his triumphant expression was instantly replaced by regret.
This time, he had truly gone too far, and Su Anxi was probably genuinely angry.
Xu Yu quickly ran over and, without a word, carried Liao Zhiping on his back to the school clinic. After an examination, it was determined that his nose had suffered a severe impact, causing capillaries to rupture.
It looked frightening, but in reality, it wasn't a serious issue.
Su Anxi and Xu Yu stood outside the school clinic, watching the students come and go, neither saying a word.
After a long while, Xu Yu finally spoke: "Today was my fault. I'll take responsibility."
Su Anxi sneered coldly: "You're always so self-righteous. The world doesn't revolve around you alone."
"You have the nerve to say that about me." Not having argued for half a year, Xu Yu was also fired up. "You think you're a savior, smiling and chatting with everyone."
"My interactions with people are all academic exchanges, unlike you, whose interactions are emotional collisions—especially with the school beauty, right?" Su Anxi said sarcastically. "Then again, the school beauty speaks in such a sweet, delicate way. I suppose you boys find that appealing, don't you?"
"What's all this about some campus belle, blah blah blah…"
"Keep pretending, keep playing dumb…"
Xu Yu was momentarily at a loss for a comeback. Even during their biggest argument back then, they hadn’t clearly specified who exactly was involved. So it was all because of some campus belle?
But he was puzzled—he had hardly any interaction with any campus belle!
"Actually, I and…"
Just as Xu Yu was about to explain, Feng Xiaoyao called Su Anxi inside.
Liao Zhiping woke up lying in the hospital bed and saw the two people standing by his bedside as if performing some collective ritual, making him wonder if he had died.
"Could it be that heaven envies my talent, or that beauty is fated to die young? Have I gone to heaven?"
Feng Xiaoyao slapped him, her eyes still red as she glared. "Troublemakers live for a thousand years. Even if you die, you’re only destined for hell."
Liao Zhiping sniffled with a hiss, furrowing his brows as he chuckled and asked, "Feng Xiaoyao, why are your eyes as red as a rabbit’s?"
Su Anxi wrapped an arm around Feng Xiaoyao’s shoulder and shot a sharp glance at Liao Zhiping. "Hey, that’s enough!"
"Su Anxi, what did I do to you now?" Liao Zhiping rolled his eyes at Su Anxi.
Standing at the doorway and seeing everything clearly, Xu Yu suddenly understood—so those two were a couple?
He walked over, glanced down at Liao Zhiping on the bed, and sincerely apologized, "Sorry about earlier, I accidentally hit you."
Liao Zhiping looked at the towering wall of a man standing by his bed, which made him feel immense pressure. He stared, looked him over, and suddenly widened his eyes, pointing at Xu Yu as he asked, "Are you Xu Yu from Class 8, Grade 11?"
"That’s me," Xu Yu nodded slightly.
"Hey, nice to meet you, nice to meet you." Liao Zhiping sat up and shook Xu Yu’s hands vigorously up and down. "Take care of me from now on."
"Sure!" Xu Yu, knowing he was at fault, agreed readily.
Su Anxi watched this scene of someone trying to recruit a follower and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Had his brain been damaged by the hit?
It wasn’t until later that Liao Zhiping explained to Su Anxi, "Xu Yu! He’s the one no one at Yujiang High School dares to mess with. Handsome and cool. With him watching over you, high school life will always be safe."
At the time, Su Anxi sneered while working on her test papers, "He’s in the second semester of Grade 11, and you’re only in Grade 10. Your brain really might have been damaged."
…
That evening after self-study, Su Anxi took the bus and "coincidentally" ran into Xu Yu. Her bicycle had been stolen not long ago, and she hadn’t bought a new one yet, so she was taking the bus. Xu Yu and Huo Yanzong usually rode bikes, so she hadn’t expected him not to be riding.
A few rowdy girls stood between them, giggling and laughing loudly while occasionally stealing glances at Xu Yu.
Su Anxi rolled her eyes dramatically in the darkness. The bus arrived.
She glanced at the girls lingering near Xu Yu without hurrying to board, then strode onto the bus with her long legs and took a window seat in the second-to-last row.
Hah, still getting jostled by the crowd at the door!
Finally, Xu Yu boarded. As he passed the seat next to Su Anxi, he glanced at her, but she expressionlessly turned to look out the window.
The bus drove through the vast night, with spring breezes rustling the trees along the roadside and dim streetlights inducing drowsiness.
Back then, Yujiang wasn’t like it is now, ablaze with lights and vibrant colors all night long.
Apart from the main roads, most other places were desolate, unlit streets and alleys.
Unlike taxis, buses didn’t go straight to their destinations. A route that should have been straightforward somehow managed to twist and turn like a mountain road with eighteen bends.
Before long, Su Anxi’s drowsiness was lulled out by the swaying of the bus.
This had been her habit since childhood—she would fall asleep as soon as she got on the bus.
While dozing off, she was suddenly jolted awake by a sharp tug on her ponytail from behind. She sat up abruptly, rubbing her sore neck as she turned to glare at the boy in the back seat.
The announcement for their stop sounded. Su Anxi finished rubbing her neck and stood up, instinctively reaching to massage the side of her head that had been resting against the window as she walked.
Strangely, that spot didn’t hurt at all.
A sudden brake sent Su Anxi lurching forward, but a strong force pulled her back. With sharp eyes, she caught sight of the hand that had just released her shoulder—its palm was red, marked as if something had pressed against it.
Putting together the fact that her head didn’t hurt, the clever girl turned around suspiciously, looked up at Xu Yu, and asked bluntly, “What happened to your hand?”
Xu Yu shrugged indifferently and nudged Su Anxi forward. “We’re getting off.”
The bus doors closed and drove away behind them. Under the dim yellow streetlight, Su Anxi lifted the sleeve of Xu Yu’s right hand and met his eyes, darker than the night. The redness on his palm hadn’t faded yet.
She had an idea but pressed further, “Did I do that?”
“You slept like a log. I wanted to move my hand, but you wouldn’t let me!” Xu Yu let Su Anxi hold onto his sleeve, his tone full of complaint.
Su Anxi knew she tended to be restless in her sleep. Thinking of this, her tone softened considerably, no longer as cold, rigid, sarcastic, or mocking as usual.
“Well… sorry about that.”
“Forget it. We’re even.” Xu Yu pulled his sleeve back and turned to walk toward the Compound, adding as he went, “You should fix this habit of falling asleep as soon as you get on the bus.”
Su Anxi watched the boy’s carefree back, understanding what he meant by “even.” She couldn’t help but smile and followed him.
“Why didn’t you ride your bike?” The girl’s clear voice echoed in the night.
“It’s broken.” The boy’s youthful baritone was lazy and casual.
The voices of the boy and girl gradually faded into the distance.
“Don’t throw balls at people from now on. Aren’t you on the school team? How embarrassing.”
“It was an accident, got it?”
“Xu Yu, what’s the point of acting so aloof?”
“Su Anxi.”
“What?”
“Let’s make up.”
“Sure!”
“Then tell me about you and the Yujiang University basketball team captain.”
“How about you tell me about you and the school beauty first.”
“…”
…
Rewind — On the Bus
Xu Yu sat in the back row, watching Su Anxi’s ponytail sway back and forth in front of him, which only made him more annoyed. What was that look she gave him when she first got on the bus?
Suddenly, the bus braked sharply. Xu Yu reacted quickly, grabbing the strap of Su Anxi’s backpack. Looking ahead, he saw she was still sound asleep.
As Su Anxi’s head was about to hit the window glass, he quickly stretched out his right hand to cushion it. The girl’s faintly fragrant hair brushed against his palm, nuzzling against it like a puppy.
Xu Yu smiled to himself. His hand ached, but his heart felt soft and warm.