When Xu Yan and Ji Ran walked to the school gate together, Xu Yan stubbornly insisted, “Add me on WeChat.”
Ji Ran stopped in his tracks. He knew exactly what Xu Yan was upset about today.
“I don’t have a phone.”
What a lame excuse. If he could go to an internet café, how could he not have a phone?
Xu Yan thought to himself, kicking a pebble at his feet. “If you don’t want to add me, forget it,” he said.
For the first time, Ji Ran felt at a loss. He did want to add him—he really did.
But he didn’t have a phone or any social media accounts. The only reason he went to the internet café was because the internet at home had been completely cut off, and he couldn’t watch video explanations for some difficult problems.
“I…” Ji Ran hesitated before speaking. “I don’t have any social media accounts.”
“Huh?” Xu Yan was shocked by Ji Ran’s old-fashioned lifestyle and laughed. “Seriously? No phone, no social media? Then what were you doing at the internet café before?”
“Watching tutorial videos.”
“Oh.”
So there really were people who went to internet cafés to study. That was mind-blowing.
“But… I do have a phone.” Ji Ran rummaged through his school uniform pocket and pulled out a watch—a smartwatch with calling features.
Xu Yan felt like the situation had taken a turn he never expected. It was kind of funny.
Xu Yan chuckled and asked, “You’re in your second year of high school and still using a smartwatch?”
“Yeah.”
For some reason, Ji Ran’s earnest expression suddenly made Xu Yan feel a pang of heartache and even a bit of guilt.
So it wasn’t that Ji Ran didn’t want to add him—it was that Ji Ran didn’t even have a phone and couldn’t add him at all.
All that anger for nothing.
“Then give me your phone number. I’ll call you from now on,” Xu Yan said, smiling with relief.
When Xu Yan smiled, his dimples became especially noticeable. Ji Ran found himself staring at them, momentarily lost in thought.
He really wanted to poke them.
“What? Forgot your phone number too?” Xu Yan leaned slightly toward Ji Ran without thinking and waved his phone, asking.
Ji Ran quickly recited a string of numbers.
Xu Yan happily dialed, but the response was: “Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently busy…”
Ji Ran was stunned.
For the first time, Xu Yan saw a look of utter bewilderment on his face.
“Must have call restrictions set up,” Xu Yan guessed.
“Sorry,” Ji Ran apologized blankly, looking nothing like his usual self.
“It’s fine. We’ll see each other every day from now on anyway. No need to apologize,” Xu Yan said, changing the subject. “You meant what you said earlier about cross-dressing with me, right?”
Ji Ran nodded and said softly, “I meant it.”
“Good. I’ll tell Qiu Muyang tomorrow.”
Xu Yan smiled and hurried toward the crosswalk at the corner ahead. The light was about to turn red, but he didn’t forget to wave goodbye to Ji Ran. “Ji Ran, I have to go now. It’s settled—if we’re bros, we cross-dress together. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
On his way home, Xu Yan thought to himself that maybe he could buy Ji Ran a phone for his birthday.
The thought made him chuckle to himself.
How strange—he was already planning to buy a birthday gift for someone he’d only known for a month.
Early the next morning, as soon as Xu Yan entered the classroom, Qiu Muyang stopped him.
“Yanzi, what the hell is going on?” Qiu Muyang grabbed Xu Yan and whispered in his ear. “The top student came to me first thing this morning and said he wants to sign up for the arts festival and cross-dress with you.”
Hearing this, Xu Yan couldn’t help but imagine what Ji Ran would look like in drag. “Let him do it,” he replied.
“The key point… it’s just not suitable.”
Qiu Muyang felt that with the top student’s appearance, cross-dressing would be obvious at a glance. If they went on stage like that, their class’s art festival performance would truly become a joke.
“Alright, I’ll take that role,” Xu Yan waved his hand dismissively. “If he wants to participate, let him be the narrator. He has a nice voice.”
“Hey! Yanzi, as expected of you, clever.” Qiu Muyang snapped his fingers and gave Xu Yan an approving look.
Xu Yan returned to his seat and waved a greeting to Ji Ran, who was silently reading a book. Today, Ji Ran replied, “Good morning.”
Xu Yan smiled and nodded, saying, “I’ve changed my mind about yesterday’s matter. I thought about it all night and decided not to have you cross-dress with me after all.”
The fingers holding the pen in Ji Ran’s hand curled slightly. He thought that Xu Yan probably still felt they weren’t very close.
It had always been like this since childhood—making friends was so difficult.
“Cross-dressing is really embarrassing. Such an embarrassing thing—I won’t make you accompany me this time.”
“After all, we’re friends.”
Xu Yan spoke earnestly and patted Ji Ran’s shoulder. “Good buddy, there will be plenty of chances to cross-dress in the future.”
Ji Ran didn’t notice at all that Xu Yan was wearing a rather sly smile at that moment. All his attention was fixed on Xu Yan’s earlier words: “We’re friends.”
It felt as if something was sprouting and breaking through the soil in his heart, restless and unsettled. Ji Ran didn’t understand it, so he attributed this feeling to the establishment of his friendship with Xu Yan.
Having a friend felt really good. It was like suddenly drinking an ice-cold sparkling soda on a summer day—very sweet.
“Ji Ran, what are you daydreaming about?” Xu Yan waved his hand back and forth in front of Ji Ran’s eyes. “Are you spacing out?”
“No.” Ji Ran replied calmly, but he didn’t expect Xu Yan’s next question to prick his heart again, making it feel warm and restless.
He asked, “Ji Ran, when is your birthday?”
“November 19th.” Ji Ran suppressed the joy in his heart and answered as calmly as possible.
“Mhm, okay.” Xu Yan lowered his head and wrote Ji Ran’s birthday in his notebook, then fell silent.
Time was a bit tight. There was only a little over a month left until Ji Ran’s birthday.
How was he supposed to give Ji Ran a phone within a month?
Xu Yan was a bit worried and sighed softly at his notebook.
“What about your birthday?” Just as Xu Yan was leaning on his elbow, planning how to save money, Ji Ran’s light, almost casual words drifted into his ear.
“Birthday?” Xu Yan drew out the word, looked up, and thought for a moment. “Actually, I don’t know my birthday either.”
“Maybe it’s April 1st.”
Ji Ran was puzzled. “April Fool’s Day?” Before he could get a response, a crisp class bell rang—class had started.
From Saturday afternoon until evening self-study, Liling No. 3 High School had a long period of free activity time, essentially a half-day mini-break.
But the students who had signed up for the art festival couldn’t rest. They were using this time to rehearse urgently.
“Yanzi, your lines here need to be a bit softer.”
“Yanzi, your positioning needs to be a little more to the right.”
“Yanzi, your delivery shouldn’t be so stiff.”
Holding the script in his hand, Xu Yan looked somewhat helplessly at Qiu Muyang, who was nitpicking everything. “How about… you find someone else to play this role?”
“That won’t do.” Qiu Muyang flipped through the script in his hand, pointing at line after line as he earnestly said, “Here, and here—your delivery is too stiff.”
“Mhm.” Xu Yan nodded, continuing to recite his lines without any emotion. It wasn’t that he was being uncooperative; he simply couldn’t quite grasp it.
The role he had been assigned was that of a pampered young lady who had returned from studying abroad. Every line of dialogue was meant to highlight her kindness and innocence, but Xu Yan himself couldn’t fully understand it.
Especially the coquettish behavior toward family members.
Xu Yan found it utterly off-putting.
Qiu Muyang repeatedly pointed out issues with his emotional delivery. Even though it was already autumn, with desolate autumn winds blowing one gust after another, beads of sweat kept trickling from Xu Yan’s forehead.
Nervous and tense, he unconsciously tightened his grip on the hem of his school uniform. A sudden sense of powerlessness spread throughout his body, and long-forgotten memories began flashing before his eyes. He took a deep breath and said to Qiu Muyang, “I… need to go to the restroom.”
“Huh? Okay.”
Restroom.
Xu Yan leaned over the sink, splashing water on his face in an attempt to calm himself down, but the images in his mind refused to fade.
It was the scene of him catching his biological father in the act of cheating.
Before the age of six, Xu Yan vaguely remembered being the center of attention in his family.
His doting father, gentle and caring mother, kind-hearted grandparents, and an overly attentive aunt.
Before turning six, Xu Yan loved to act coquettish. To get what he wanted, he would often cling to his family members, pestering them to buy him things he liked. This tactic never failed.
But everything changed after he turned six. That day, as usual, he held his mother’s hand on the way home from school. Quietly pushing open the door to the master bedroom, he saw his biological father entangled with his aunt.
Along with the scene came the sounds of heavy, rhythmic panting.
The shock to his soul in that moment was something Xu Yan remembered to this day.
He thought that after all these years, he would have forgotten everything. Yet, this theater rehearsal had brought it all back.
So disgusting.
Leaning over the sink, Xu Yan couldn’t help but retch. He couldn’t understand why rehearsing a play would bring up such a repulsive memory.
He felt as if he had some kind of grudge against this play.
“Have some water.” A bottle of water quietly appeared on the sink. Without looking up, Xu Yan knew it was Ji Ran.
“I’m fine.” Xu Yan stood up, his voice hoarse as he responded. Before he could fully regain his composure, Ji Ran gently placed a hand on his forehead.
“No fever?” Ji Ran asked.
Xu Yan forced an awkward smile. “No, I’m just feeling a bit unwell.”
“I’ll take you to the infirmary.”
At the mention of the infirmary, Xu Yan bristled like a frightened hedgehog, fearfully exclaiming, “No! I’m fine!”
“Come on, let’s hurry back. I’ve been gone for so long; I’ll slow down their progress.” Anxious, Xu Yan tugged at Ji Ran’s hand, trying to pull him out, but Ji Ran stubbornly stayed put.
“If you’re not feeling well, is it really okay to go back to rehearsal like this?” Ji Ran sounded worried. He thought Xu Yan looked completely pale, nothing like someone who was fine.
“Ah, really, I’m fine. I know my own body. Let’s go.”
“Mhm.” Ji Ran nodded and silently followed behind Xu Yan.
Xu Yan returned to the rehearsal area, where Qiu Muyang, holding the script, grinned at him and exclaimed, “Yanzi! Shuning thinks some of the lines are too cheesy and don’t highlight the characters, so she cut out half of everyone’s lines! Yours too!”
“Hahaha, that’s great! Now I have way fewer lines to memorize. I hereby declare that Sister Ning is like a goddess descending upon me.”
Watching Qiu Muyang laugh heartily, Xu Yan couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.
Qiu Muyang was truly sunny, cheerful, and warm-hearted.
In contrast, he was essentially just a rat in the gutter, desperately trying to satisfy his own long-rotted vanity by peeking at others and imitating them.
It was disgustingly hypocritical.
He was just as repulsive as that person, wasn’t he?