With you here, I would never again be grateful for spring — Jiang Yu
_______
Canghe City International Airport, Men’s Restroom.
Shi Jing pushed open the door of a restroom stall. The bustling noise of fans outside still reached his ears clearly.
“Jiangjiang! You’re so handsome!!!”
“Hubby! Don’t run away!!!”
A group of pretty young girls screamed as if they wanted to blow the roof off the entire airport.
Shi Jing let out a lingering breath of relief.
He had boarded a flight from Australia at three in the morning. By the time he landed back home, it was around ten o’clock in the morning.
Australia’s seasons were the exact opposite of China’s.
China was currently experiencing the hottest days of August, while Australia was still in the middle of a snowy winter, with temperatures dropping below freezing.
When Shi Jing got off the plane, he was wrapped in a long black down coat and wore a baseball cap.
He had planned to take off the coat in the restroom. However, before he could even reach it, a girl who looked only seventeen or eighteen grabbed his sleeve.
Her eyes sparkled brightly.
“Jiangjiang, is that you?”
Shi Jing was completely bewildered.
Jiang what?
Before he could deny it, the other fans reacted immediately. Operating under the philosophy of “better to catch a thousand by mistake than let one go,” they rushed toward him in a wave.
Shi Jing turned around and ran.
He was already so sleepy that he could barely recognize his own relatives. His eyes were bloodshot. Having a huge crowd of beautiful but completely unfamiliar girls lunging at him was even more terrifying than Train to Busan.
In the enormous airport, only the men’s restroom could protect him.
Shi Jing changed clothes inside a stall. He stuffed his down coat and cap into his suitcase.
Now he was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. His black hair looked fresh and neat. To anyone who glanced at him, he was just an ordinary passerby.
Shi Jing walked to the sink and was about to wash his hands when Qin Yu called.
Qin Yu had been Shi Jing’s deskmate for over ten years. From elementary school to middle school and then high school, they had always sat together.
Their connection could no longer be described as merely deep.
The two had achieved similar scores on the college entrance examination and had both applied to Lanjing University, the nation’s top-ranked university. However, their majors differed. Qin Yu chose Law, while Shi Jing chose Chemistry.
“Jingbao, have you gotten off the plane yet?”
Shi Jing balanced his phone on his shoulder, holding it in place with his ear while washing his hands.
“How could I answer your call if I hadn’t gotten off the plane?”
Qin Yu chuckled.
“We haven’t seen each other since the college entrance exams ended. Meanwhile, you disappeared to Australia for almost two months. What kind of wind blew you into booking a plane ticket in the middle of the night and rushing back home overnight?”
At first, Shi Jing didn’t answer.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands before turning off the faucet.
In the mirror, the young man wore a T-shirt. His black hair was fluffy and slightly messy. His skin was several shades paler than most people’s, especially because he had gone to Australia immediately after the exams ended.
It had been the middle of winter there, with heavy snowfall.
He had practically never seen the sun.
Qin Yu waited patiently for a moment before hearing Shi Jing speak in an exceptionally casual tone.
“I suddenly remembered that my mom is getting married today, so I came back to take a look.”
Qin Yu: “…”
Qin Yu: “…Yeah, that’s definitely pretty sudden.”
Shi Jing laughed.
“Right? That’s what I thought too.”
Qin Yu coughed and tactfully changed the subject. He knew a little about Shi Jing’s family circumstances.
“Is the airport packed over there?”
“More than just packed,” Shi Jing complained. “No idea which big celebrity decided to grace Canghe with their presence.”
Canghe was a third-tier city in Lingcheng Province.
Its economy wasn’t particularly developed, and celebrities rarely visited.
Before Qin Yu could reply, a cold, indifferent, and somewhat arrogant male voice suddenly came from behind him.
“It’s me.”
The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Shi Jing froze.
He slightly raised his eyes and caught sight of the newcomer through the mirror.
The young man had a face that practically radiated world-weariness. His brow ridge was deep, and his sharp single eyelids gave his eyes a fierce outline. Even from a distance, he projected an aura that warned strangers to stay away.
Fortunately, his nose was perfectly shaped, with a high bridge that balanced the strong contours of his face.
He possessed the kind of strikingly handsome features that left a powerful visual impact.
His skin was pale. He wore a black T-shirt. His shoulders were broad, his legs long, and on his feet were a pair of basketball shoes signed by a star player.
With his arms folded lazily across his chest, he leaned against the wall.
Shi Jing took the phone into his hand and slowly straightened up.
Then he turned around and met Jiang Yu’s gaze.
Strangely enough, their last meeting had been on the final day of the college entrance examinations.
When calculated carefully, they had only been apart for two months.
Yet Jiang Yu seemed to have changed quite a bit.
At first glance…
He seemed thinner.
And even more handsome.
Damn it!
Shi Jing quickly regained his senses.
He couldn’t allow himself to be fooled by this flirtatious male fox spirit.
Jiang Yu remained motionless. His eyelids drooped lazily. A black face mask hung from one finger.
His lips formed a straight line as he quietly observed Shi Jing’s vivid expressions.
Remembering Jiang Yu’s earlier remark, Shi Jing paused before asking,
“So now… you’re making a living by selling your looks after entering the entertainment industry?”
His expression was perfectly serious, which only made the sarcasm in his words more obvious.
Something flickered in Jiang Yu’s eyes.
The next second, his expression returned to normal.
“No. I just did a minor supporting role and somehow ended up with two million followers.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty proud of yourself.”
Shi Jing said it flatly.
He and the person standing before him were fundamentally incompatible.
Peaceful coexistence was impossible.
Every student at Canghe First High School knew that Shi Jing and Jiang Yu were sworn rivals who couldn’t stand each other.
They had even liked the same girl.
Rumors about the two of them had spread everywhere.
People said all sorts of things.
Most of it was hearsay because the two protagonists had rarely interacted at close range. However, the fact that they didn’t get along was absolutely true.
“When you’re this handsome, it can’t be helped.”
Jiang Yu shrugged, as though he was genuinely troubled by the matter.
A textbook case of humble-bragging.
Shi Jing shot him a cold look and folded his arms while leaning against the sink.
This summer, Canghe First High School had produced the provincial top scorer.
The entire city of Canghe had erupted in excitement.
The principal of Canghe First High School had been especially smug. He even dragged the Director of Studies to dance wildly at the school entrance and posted the video on Douyin, where it received over a million likes.
Shi Jing had still been overseas at the time.
He saw photos posted by classmates on social media.
Three enormous banners hung at the school entrance, as though the administration feared passersby might not realize how impressive the school was.
The first banner read:
Warm congratulations to our student Jiang Yu for winning first place in the Science Stream of Lingcheng Province’s 2023 College Entrance Examination.
The second banner read:
Warm congratulations to our student Shi Jing for winning second place in the Science Stream of Lingcheng Province’s 2023 College Entrance Examination.
The third banner read:
Keep moving forward. May all graduating students step brilliantly onto the road of life.
Shi Jing had stared at the first banner for a very long time.
Second place was excellent too.
But when there was a first place, everyone’s attention naturally went to the person at the top.
Shi Jing’s total score was only five points lower than Jiang Yu’s.
The gap wasn’t large.
Yet the treatment they received was worlds apart.
Jiang Yu had transferred to Canghe First High School during the first semester of his second year.
After that, through dozens of major and minor examinations, Shi Jing had only managed to take first place in the grade once.
That one time, Jiang Yu had been absent.
He hadn’t even shown up for the exam.
Thinking about this, Shi Jing exhaled deeply.
His gaze landed directly on Jiang Yu.
“How does it feel to be the provincial top scorer?”
“It’s alright. I don’t really feel anything.”
Jiang Yu sounded completely sincere.
But to Shi Jing’s ears, it came across differently.
Shi Jing let out a mocking laugh.
“Why is the top scorer being so modest?”
Jiang Yu ignored the question.
Stretching his legs lazily, he stood upright.
“Coincidentally, I have a question for you too.”
“Go ahead.”
“I just wanted to ask…”
He deliberately dragged out the sentence.
“You went abroad and had so much fun that you forgot to come home. Did you happen to find yourself a blonde, blue-eyed girlfriend over there?”
Jiang Yu’s voice was incredibly captivating.
It carried both the clarity of youth and the magnetic depth of a grown man.
In the quiet restroom, the words struck Shi Jing like a needle, jolting him awake.
A moment later, he remembered the boastful nonsense he had once spouted.
His vision darkened instantly.
Back then, it had already been April.
The weather was gradually warming up, and the college entrance examination was approaching.
After filling his water bottle, Shi Jing stood to the side waiting for Qin Yu.
Qin Yu was filling his gigantic two-liter water jug when he asked,
“Why did you suddenly decide to go to Australia?”
Shi Jing noticed Jiang Yu standing at the back of the line holding a water bottle.
The school beauty, Guan Ziqin, stood beside him.
She wore an ultra-short skirt, and her fair, slender legs were impossible to ignore.
She looked at Jiang Yu with a bright smile, her eyes curved into crescents.
For reasons even he didn’t understand, Shi Jing suddenly felt irritated.
He replied,
“Obviously to find a girlfriend abroad.”
Qin Yu looked shocked.
“You can’t find one in China?”
Shi Jing frowned unhappily.
“What’s wrong with liking blonde, blue-eyed beauties?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw Jiang Yu look up and glance at him.
Reading Guide