Hua Sheng and Zuo Xingyun slipped out after the second class in the afternoon, only returning five minutes before the final end-of-class bell rang.
Liu Xiaofen had originally assumed the two wouldn’t be gone long and would be back in a bit. It wasn’t until the final period’s bell rang that she felt something was amiss and reported the matter to the head teacher.
Hearing it was Hua Sheng, the head teacher didn’t think much of it. But when he subsequently heard that Zuo Xingyun had followed him out, he finally started taking the matter seriously.
Since it was class time, they couldn’t make a big fuss conducting a search. Just as they finally managed to finish their classes and went to check the security footage, they hadn’t even watched for two minutes when a classmate reported that the two had returned.
When the head teacher returned to the classroom and saw the two sitting one in front of the other at the furthest ends of the same diagonal, they were miles apart.
Zuo Xingyun was lowering his head and writing, his expression entirely composed. Hua Sheng had his book open, his hair disheveled and his gaze drifting, unsure of where he was looking.
Observant Cui Yu noticed that both his and Zuo Xingyun’s school uniforms were missing, and casually asked about it.
Who would have thought that upon hearing these words, Hua Sheng’s face would turn pale and his brows would knit tightly, as if something unpleasant had been dredged up from his memories.
Cui Yu immediately clamped his mouth shut and never brought up the topic again.
Ever since then, the romantic entanglements between Zuo Xingyun and Hua Sheng grew wilder and more rampant in the gossip mills. Two people who had never interacted before, for what reason had they gotten themselves tangled together?
Enthusiastic gossip-mongers discovered that Zuo Xingyun’s study-aid partner was precisely Hua Sheng. According to insider reports, someone had once heard Zuo Xingyun propose the study-aid group to the head teacher while asking questions in the office, and the crucial part was that he had actively volunteered to be in a group with Hua Sheng.
As soon as this news dropped, the Yun-Sheng CP was born. For no other reason than that the high-pressure senior year life needed a bit of light gossip as seasoning, and it just so happened that Zuo Xingyun and Hua Sheng were complete polar opposites. The two of them thrown together formed an unexpectedly complementary match.
Yet people who were too complementary didn’t have common topics. Nobody knew how Zuo Xingyun and Hua Sheng managed to tolerate each other, going so far as to skip evening self-study every few days under the fine-sounding excuse of going out to study.
The rest of the class was so envious they could cry.
Whether they actually got along or not was something only Hua Sheng knew in his heart.
After that incident, he and Zuo Xingyun still maintained the distance of ordinary classmates, deliberately avoiding suspicion, which instead ended up looking like he was protesting too much. But ever since he had gotten that comfortable feeling from Zuo Xingyun’s end, he always felt that meeting Zuo Xingyun’s gaze was just awkward all around.
With five minutes left until the end of the school day, he hurriedly packed his schoolbag, occasionally glancing at the back of Zuo Xingyun’s head.
Seeing him acting all sneaky, Cui Yu asked with curiosity, “Hua Sheng, are you trying to sneak off again?”
Hua Sheng nodded, gently placing his schoolbag near the back door and slowly sliding his stool back without making a single sound.
He had to make a run for it before the end-of-class dismissal bell rang, otherwise Zuo Xingyun would drag him off for tutoring again.
Are you kidding? Given the current relationship between him and Zuo Xingyun, tutoring?
He found it awkward to even speak to him, and being locked in the same room together was practically fatal.
The first two times, he had just found an excuse to slip away the moment he arrived at the tutoring spot, spending the whole way there in terror, terrified Zuo Xingyun would suddenly materialize behind him.
Later on, he got smart. He would slip out of the classroom every time a few minutes before the bell, and since Zuo Xingyun couldn’t find him and couldn’t get through on his phone calls, he naturally couldn’t do a thing about him.
Hua Sheng was someone who grew more courageous with every setback, yet he completely crashed and burned on Zuo Xingyun. He was afraid Zuo Xingyun would subject him to a round of nonconsensual fondling followed by a passionate confession. If he wanted to hit or curse at him, he was afraid it would feel too good.
He successfully escaped the classroom, wandering around the campus with his schoolbag slung over one shoulder.
He had no idea where to go right now. Once school let out in a bit, it would definitely be packed with people everywhere. He had better find a hiding spot. If Zuo Xingyun found him, he wouldn’t even have time to run.
He suddenly felt like days like this were terribly boring. With nothing to do every day, no one to hang out with, and Dazhi still not back at school, the last time he chatted with him for a bit, it would probably still be a while. As far as he knew, Dazhi had actually recovered a long time ago and was just lingering at home to nurse his injuries.
As for Cui Yu, he was a bookworm who brushed up on practice questions all day with his pen never leaving his fingers. Normally, asking him to act as a lookout made him tremble with anxiety, let alone hanging out with him.
Whatever, he didn’t want to hold back a good student either.
Aside from him, everyone in this class was a good student. Hanging out with anyone would just distract them from their studies.
Who would have thought that he, the grand school bully of No. 3 High School, was now living like an isolated old hermit.
Looking across the entire grade level, it seemed like aside from Zuo Xingyun, no one else was willing to come and provoke him on their own initiative.
He dejectedly sat down on a bench. This was the wisteria corridor where he and Zuo Xingyun had their first planned fight after their conflict began.
He hadn’t told his older brother about the tutoring business. With so many matters at the company, how could his brother have the spare energy to mind him? As long as he didn’t tear the school apart, he was free to do whatever he pleased. Anyway, his brother didn’t care about Hua Sheng’s grades.
Usually, he would just drag things out until the end of evening self-study and wait for Uncle Driver to pick him up.
Normally, after escaping from Zuo Xingyun, he would just find some random spot to play a couple of rounds of games.
But playing games alone was no fun. He couldn’t be bothered to curse out pig-headed teammates. Carrying four dead weight players was impossible, and he always lost.
So boring, so damn boring! Was there even any point in going to this school?
When people had too much time on their hands and nothing to do, they would start pondering the meaning of life. This was the most meaningless thing of all, and Hua Sheng happened to be in this exact phase: no pressure, no goals, no motivation, and no dreams.
The phone in his trouser pocket buzzed once. He didn’t even need to guess, it was definitely a message sent by Zuo Xingyun.
He rested his chin in his hand, his mind drifting. The winter evening was cold and chilly, and the passing breeze was laced with wisps of frost.
In the blink of an eye, winter was coming again, and next June would bring the college entrance exams.
The college entrance exams? What did they even mean? To him, it was just a slightly more formal test, but to someone like Zuo Xingyun, it was a golden opportunity to change the trajectory of his entire life.
Just like the teachers said, with grades as good as his, he would definitely go to a top university and have an immeasurably bright future.
Bah. No matter how bright his future was, it couldn’t change the fact that he was a pervert.
Clearly, the high-intensity studying of senior year was already stressful enough, yet Zuo Xingyun still had to come provoke him. Confessing at a time like this, wasn’t he afraid his grades would drop, his exam would flop, and he would end up having to work in a factory?
And using tutoring as a high-sounding cover, whether Zuo Xingyun genuinely wanted to tutor him or harbored some unspeakable, filthy intentions, only an idiot couldn’t see through it.
What on earth was running through the brain of that poor scholar?
Liking? A secret crush?
He had never encountered a pursuer like Zuo Xingyun, who actually managed to make perversion sound so fresh and refined.
Poor yet acting like an overbearing CEO.
He curled his lip and, on a whim, fished out his phone. Since he was bored right now anyway, teasing him a bit wouldn’t hurt.
This was what you brought upon yourself by knocking on my door.
[Zuo BT: Hua Sheng, you sneaked off again after class. Where are you?]
Hua Sheng raised a hand and replied:
[I’m at school.]
Zuo Xingyun paused on the other end for two full seconds, clearly not expecting Hua Sheng to break his streak and reply.
He immediately pressed:
[Where at school? I’ll come find you.]
Hua Sheng curved the corners of his lips, playing a mischievous game of charades as his fingers danced swiftly across the keyboard.
[Guess. If you can find me, I’ll go with you for tutoring.]
Hm? Hide-and-seek, fun.
As if worried Zuo Xingyun wouldn’t bother playing along with such a boring game, he added another line.
[I’ll stay right here and won’t run. You definitely know where this is, come find me.]
When you are truly bored out of your mind, anything can serve as a pastime. He was always getting the short end of the stick around Zuo Xingyun. He couldn’t just take it lying down. A gentleman takes revenge ten years later, and he was going to collect it all back.
The message went out, but there was no reply for a long time.
Hua Sheng furrowed his brows, inevitably starting to worry that this poor scholar might think he was just joking around.
He sent another provocative line.
[Come catch me. Catch me and I’ll let you heitong-heitong.]
On Zuo Xingyun’s end, it remained silent for a long time.
Hua Sheng sat cross-legged on the bench, leaning his back against his schoolbag, holding his phone with both hands.
He wanted to see how Zuo Xingyun would reply, but after waiting for ages, all he got was dead silence.
What’s the deal? Did his internet drop?
A trick. It had to be a trick. Some cheap little scheme to trick him into revealing his location. He wouldn’t fall for it.
He was dead certain Zuo Xingyun would come looking for him, and right now he was probably scurrying around everywhere on the search.
He clicked off his phone screen. His heart was filled with contradictory emotions: he wanted Zuo Xingyun to find him, yet he didn’t.
The winter night wind was desolate, and the leaves and vines of the wisteria had long since withered, leaving only a few brownish dead vines coiling across the top of the corridor.
Not far away stood a dimly lit streetlamp, casting Hua Sheng’s shallow shadow onto the ground.
He gently exhaled a breath, a puff of white mist softly forming and slowly dissipating.
It was indeed a bit cold.
He zipped up his schoolbag jacket and hugged his schoolbag tightly against his chest to ward off the chill.
It was only past seven, why had it gotten dark already?
If he’d known, he would have worn an extra pair of thermal leggings. The classroom was crowded and warm, and he had never loitered outside in the freezing cold at night before.
Now sitting on the frigid bench, the cold wind drilled straight up his loose trouser legs, trying to strip away the very last shred of warmth on his body.
The cold seeped in from the soles of his feet. After hesitating repeatedly, Hua Sheng finally took off his school uniform jacket, curled himself into a ball on the bench, and wrapped the jacket around his lower legs. The skin of his ankles was chilled dry and starting to flake.
He checked his phone from time to time. His conversation with Zuo Xingyun was still frozen on “I’ll let you heitong-heitong.”
Why isn’t he replying? Usually, wasn’t he super enthusiastic? Getting stuck right here and killing the mood made him look so unserious.
Hua Sheng cursed under his breath. Damn Zuo Xingyun, if you fucking don’t want to come, then don’t ever come at all!
He put his phone down and looked up at the sky. Through the gaps in the withered wisteria branches, the sky was a deep black tinged with pale blue, inlaid with a few faint twinkles of light, probably stars tens of thousands of light-years away.
At a time like this, he should normally be at a cafe, a milk tea shop, an internet net cafe, or a large shopping mall, hanging out in any accessible venue, playing on his phone or gaming, waiting for Uncle Driver to pick him up and take him home.
Instead of playing hide-and-seek in the massive campus just to toy with Zuo Xingyun.
Besides, he didn’t even know if Zuo Xingyun was willing to come look for him in the first place. Sitting here was completely pointless.
Someone who treated studying like a race against time, burying themselves in books 24 hours a day without even wanting to blink because studying was their life, how could a person like that accompany him in such a boring game?
Sigh, asking for it.
He could afford not to take the college entrance exams seriously, but Zuo Xingyun couldn’t.
The more he thought about it, the more guilty he felt. What if Zuo Xingyun bombed his exams because of this and blamed him? This had nothing to do with him!
Lost in thought, he picked up his phone.
[Never mind, don’t come. I was joking. I’m not even at school anymore. I’m going out to grab a bite to eat and then head back. Don’t come looking for me.]