Looking at the optimistic Han Shuo, Meng Yuxiu fell silent.
Seeing him lower his eyes, Han Shuo thought to himself that this trick really worked on a simple high school boy. It seemed that for a while, Meng Yuxiu would be tormented by the insecurity he revealed today, dreaming of slapping himself awake at night.
Just as Han Shuo was feeling smug about his brilliant plan to handle Meng Yuxiu, Meng Yuxiu suddenly looked up at him, “You… you spent your bus fare on oranges, how will you get back on Friday?”
Han Shuo was taken aback by this, and his mind started racing.
Damn! Another chance to win over Meng Yuxiu.
So he pulled out a voice he thought was incredibly tender and said, “I saw you ignoring me for days, and today there was a vendor selling oranges on the playground, so I didn’t think much about it.”
Meng Yuxiu’s long eyelashes trembled slightly. He avoided Han Shuo’s straightforward gaze and then said awkwardly, “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because you’re nice,” Han Shuo replied without hesitation.
“…” Meng Yuxiu thought of that letter again. Surrounded by Han Shuo’s intense gaze, he felt that some things needed to be clarified to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
“Han Shuo.”
“Yeah?”
Meng Yuxiu pondered for two seconds and said, “Our task won’t be completed anytime soon, so while I’m here, I have to go to school and take the college entrance exam.”
“Uh…” Han Shuo was confused. Why was this person suddenly talking about academics?
Meng Yuxiu continued, “After the New Year, there’s another semester. I heard that the college entrance exam here is much stricter than in our time, with a low admission rate. I have to focus on my studies.”
“Uh…”
“And I’m only seventeen, unlike you, whose real age is over twenty.”
“…” What does that mean? Why suddenly bring up age? Han Shuo was baffled and responded with another “uh.”
Hearing Han Shuo’s continuous “uhs,” Meng Yuxiu asked, “Do you understand?”
Han Shuo: “Huh? … Oh.”
Seeing this, Meng Yuxiu couldn’t help but frown, “So I don’t have any other thoughts for now.”
No other thoughts? Han Shuo squinted, pondering this sentence. What does it mean? What does it mean to have no other thoughts?
No thoughts about the task?
Han Shuo felt a sudden chill in his heart. No, he had already belittled himself to this extent, and this guy still couldn’t get over it?
Han Shuo was quite anxious, but now that their relationship had finally eased enough to talk, he knew he couldn’t rush this.
Seeing him rolling his eyes without speaking, Meng Yuxiu hesitated and asked, “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Say what, damn it.
Han Shuo was speechless inside, but he thought it over and decided to take it slow. After all, as Meng Yuxiu said, the task wouldn’t be completed anytime soon. As long as they were both in this world, there would be opportunities, right?
At worst, wherever Meng Yuxiu went to school, he would go to that city to work.
“Nothing,” Han Shuo cursed internally but smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll listen to you. Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it your way.”
Meng Yuxiu stared at his face for a while, then frowned and said, “You don’t have to do this.”
“Do what?”
Meng Yuxiu really didn’t want to be so blunt. He didn’t like hurting others’ self-esteem, but seeing Han Shuo’s seemingly not-so-bright look, he could only say tactfully, “Compromise.”
“Not a compromise.” Han Shuo patted his shoulder and smiled, “What’s there to compromise about? If you’re happy, I’m happy. If you’re not happy, then I don’t find it fun either, right? Besides, this kind of thing is mutual.”
Meng Yuxiu looked at him with a somewhat indescribable expression.
Han Shuo took an orange from his hand, peeled it, and then peeled the segments, handing them to Meng Yuxiu, “Here, there’s still a while before dinner, have an orange. I don’t know if it’s sweet, but the vendor said if it’s not sweet, we can find him.”
Meng Yuxiu didn’t reach out to take it. Seeing him still staring at himself, Han Shuo asked in confusion, “Why are you staring at me?”
He touched his face, “Is there something dirty on my face?”
Meng Yuxiu averted his gaze and sighed softly, “You really don’t have to be so nice to me. I don’t have that kind of thought for now.”
Damn, enough already! Han Shuo really wanted to throw the orange and grab Meng Yuxiu by the collar, giving him a good scolding: I know you don’t have that kind of thought now, I’m not deaf, but you’re making it seem like I’m clinging to you for the task.
If not now, then later. I’ll slowly wear you down until you beg me to do the task. Once it’s done and we’re back, I’ll go to your school and slap you!
For pretending!
For being pretentious!
And then slap that proud face of yours again.
Pretentious!
Han Shuo cursed internally, but forced a smile on his face, “You’re being too polite. If I’m not nice to you, who should I be nice to? Not to mention you’re a good person, the most important thing is, we’re from the same place, in this unfamiliar world, besides my brother and nephew, you’re the closest to me. And we’ll definitely be together for a long time, it’s not an exaggeration to say we’re relying on each other, don’t you think?”
Meng Yuxiu opened his mouth but had nothing to say.
The two stood behind the canteen building, in front of them was a field. The autumn rice had long been harvested, leaving only short stubble in the ground.
Han Shuo sat down on the ridge, and Meng Yuxiu looked down at him carefully removing the white threads from the orange segments before handing them to him, “Eat.”
After hesitating for a second, Meng Yuxiu also sat down on the ridge and accepted the orange segments.
As he slowly brought them to his mouth, he caught a glimpse of Han Shuo smiling at him like a proud father.
Meng Yuxiu paused and asked, “Aren’t you eating?”
Han Shuo smiled and nodded at him, “You eat, I bought them for you.”
Han Shuo’s demeanor made Meng Yuxiu feel awkward. He cleared his throat, “Let’s eat together.”
“Alright.” Han Shuo broke one in half and handed it to him, stuffing the other half into his mouth.
Seeing him eat, Meng Yuxiu then elegantly started eating the other half.
“How is it?” Han Shuo asked while chewing, “Is it sweet?”
Meng Yuxiu nodded and said, “Yeah.”
With a temper like a little girl and eating like one too. Han Shuo couldn’t help but chuckle, “Little glutton, you said you wouldn’t eat.”
Meng Yuxiu almost choked on the orange juice.
Since he had said so many reasonable things to Meng Yuxiu that day, Han Shuo could only patiently work on softening this stone in the days that followed. Fortunately, the weather gradually cooled, especially by mid-November, when this small county town surrounded by mountains seemed to suddenly enter winter.
Like most students, Han Shuo didn’t have a down jacket, just a cotton coat with a thermal shirt and sweater underneath. But the sweater he wore seemed to have been worn for two years, the yarn wasn’t soft enough, and after wearing it for a long time, it became stiff and not warm. After a rain, even a seventeen-year-old boy with a body full of energy couldn’t withstand the cold wave.
So he wasn’t as eager to go to the playground for tasks. Besides going to eat with Meng Yuxiu after school, he no longer ran downstairs during every class break. He preferred to stay in the classroom reading novels or chatting with classmates.
“It’s freezing!” Pidan came back from the bathroom and quickly huddled behind the desk, rubbing his hands.
Han Shuo glanced at the foggy window that let in a cold draft, feeling like just looking at it made his feet in his shoes feel damp.
“Is it going to snow?” Han Shuo asked Pidan, “Hey, when does it usually snow?”
Pidan said sometimes it snows as early as December.
“Then next week when we go back to school, we need to bring thick blankets, otherwise our feet will feel like dead people’s feet at night.”
Doufu suggested to Han Shuo, “Han Shuo, how about we squeeze together at night, you put your blanket over mine, that way it’ll be warmer.”
Han Shuo disdainfully looked at Doufu’s clean face, “No way, squeeze with you? You look like a clean person, but your feet smell like they’ve been pickled.”
Doufu huffed in dissatisfaction and turned to Pidan, “Pidan, I’ll squeeze with you.”
“No way, squeezing with you for a night, my bath from last week would be wasted.”
Han Shuo laughed heartily, watching Doufu and Pidan bicker and play.
At this moment, someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to see Jiang Xiaowen with thick glasses.
Jiang Xiaowen stood there awkwardly, speaking softly at Han Shuo’s desk.
“Han Shuo, can you come out with me for a moment?”
Because it was cold, the classroom doors were tightly shut, so Han Shuo said, “Just say it here, it’s freezing outside.”
Jiang Xiaowen looked at him awkwardly.
“Alright, alright, hurry up.” Han Shuo got up and opened the back door, and Jiang Xiaowen quickly followed.
As soon as they reached the corridor, the cold wind pierced to the bone, and Han Shuo shivered, “What’s up? Hurry and say it.”
Jiang Xiaowen took a letter from his pocket and handed it to Han Shuo.
“Another apology letter?”
“The last one was, this one isn’t.” Jiang Xiaowen said shyly, “This one’s a love letter.”
“Oh wow!” Han Shuo raised an eyebrow, teasing Jiang Xiaowen as he took the letter, “Meng Yuxiu is quite lucky, even our class monitor is smitten!”
Jiang Xiaowen’s face immediately turned red, nervously watching Han Shuo wave the letter.
Seeing him like this, Han Shuo laughed, “Don’t worry, I don’t have a habit of reading other people’s letters.”
Jiang Xiaowen sighed in relief, only to hear Han Shuo ask, “I’m curious, what do you like about Meng Yuxiu?”
Mentioning Meng Yuxiu, Jiang Xiaowen’s eyes lit up, and he said with pursed lips, “Meng Yuxiu has good grades and a good personality.”
Han Shuo chuckled, “Good personality… Well, if you two really get together, Meng Yuxiu’s temper might be quite a challenge for you. Alright, I’ll deliver it to him now.”
Han Shuo ran downstairs with the letter. Ever since Meng Yuxiu ate his orange, he would come out whenever called.
When Han Shuo slapped the love letter into Meng Yuxiu’s hand, Meng Yuxiu’s expression became indescribable again.
But Han Shuo didn’t notice at all, standing there with his arms crossed, tilting his head as if he wanted to peek at his buddy’s love letter.
Meng Yuxiu said awkwardly, “Why are you still standing here?”
Han Shuo chuckled, “To keep you company while you read the love letter.”
“…” Meng Yuxiu was speechless, “You’re really thick-skinned.”
Han Shuo hummed, “You just realized? Hurry up and open it.”
He urged, staring at Meng Yuxiu’s face, “I want to see your reaction after reading the love letter.”
Meng Yuxiu gave him a sidelong glance, “Go away, I’ll read it in the classroom.”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Han Shuo teased, “Feeling shy?”
Since Meng Yuxiu was stingy and wouldn’t let him see, and it was cold in the corridor, Han Shuo said, “Alright, I’m going upstairs, take your time reading, hehe.”
However, just as he reached the stairs, the person who had already entered the classroom called out to him again.
“Do you still not have a thick blanket?”
Han Shuo: “Yeah, why? Are you inviting me to share a bed with you?”
Meng Yuxiu couldn’t stand Han Shuo’s cheeky grin and said, “Come to my dorm after school to get a mattress.”
“A mattress?” Han Shuo asked, “If you give me your mattress, what will you sleep on?”
Meng Yuxiu said his blanket was thick, he could fold it to use half as a mattress and half as a cover.
“Damn, good brother!” Han Shuo was almost moved to tears, “Not in vain for me to fetch hot water for you day and night, alright! I’ll come to your dorm after school!”
After Han Shuo left, Meng Yuxiu returned to his seat.
He stared at the letter, feeling troubled. Since the last time behind the canteen, he had tactfully rejected Han Shuo, but he found that Han Shuo didn’t listen at all, still overly enthusiastic.
According to his deskmate, Han Shuo and he seemed like conjoined twins, always seen together.
Having interacted with Han Shuo for quite some time, Han Shuo, apart from his offbeat speech, was actually quite nice, especially to him.
Looking at the heart-shaped folded letter, Meng Yuxiu felt a heavy burden.
But after hesitating for a while, he still opened it.
The letter contained only two sentences.
It’s getting cold, take good care of yourself.
It might snow soon, if there’s a chance, I’d love to watch the snow with you in the field behind the canteen.
From someone in Class 7 who cares about you silently.