Gao Lang immediately changed directions and walked away.
Tao Qi’an pouted.
“Leave him alone. When he can’t find a partner someday, he’ll know what panic feels like.”
Gao Lang looked as though he wanted to say something.
While styling his hair with pomade, Tao Qi’an glanced at him through the mirror.
“What?”
Gao Lang replied sincerely,
“Don’t you think he’s already handsome even without dressing up?”
Tao Qi’an: “…”
When Shi Jing finally woke up, it was already eight-thirty.
His eyelids drooped with sleepiness as he casually pulled a T-shirt and a pair of shorts from his wardrobe.
They were a matching set.
Light white in color, with two black stripes printed along the sides.
His black hair was fluffy and slightly messy. The hair on his forehead was still damp from washing up, droplets of water clinging to his eyebrows. His lips looked naturally rosy.
Walking out of the bathroom, he grabbed his power bank and turned to Tao Qi’an.
“Aren’t we leaving? I’m ready.”
Tao Qi’an: “…”
Looking at Shi Jing’s face, he smiled and turned to Gao Lang.
“When we’re reincarnated in our next life, remember to get born earlier than him.”
The organizer of this gathering was a senior student.
She had rented a tour bus for everyone.
By the time Shi Jing and the others arrived, most of the seats were already occupied.
Only a few scattered seats remained.
Gao Lang said,
“Looks like we’ll have to sit separately.”
Tao Qi’an wiped at the corners of his eyes dramatically.
“How heartbreaking…”
Before he could continue lamenting, Shi Jing had already walked forward and casually taken a seat.
“…”
A boy sat beside him.
The boy leaned against the window with a sweet expression on his face, clearly chatting with his girlfriend.
“Baby, when I opened my eyes this morning and saw the sun outside, it reminded me of you…”
Shi Jing put on his Bluetooth earphones, blocking out the surrounding noise.
A soft ballad played in his ears.
The deep male vocals sounded gentle and soothing.
Resting the back of his head against the seat, he closed his eyes and pretended to nap.
Apparently not everyone had arrived yet.
The bus remained parked for quite a while.
Shi Jing had stayed up late again the previous night, not falling asleep until three in the morning.
His head throbbed painfully.
Gradually, he drifted into that strange state between sleeping and waking.
He seemed to have a dream.
The dream was noisy.
Voices came from every direction.
People were saying all sorts of things.
He couldn’t hear any of it clearly.
Confused, he stood at the entrance of an elementary school.
A circle of children surrounded him.
Their faces were filled with contempt and mockery.
Shi Jing could feel his emotions stretched taut like a string.
He felt angry.
Wronged.
Just as tears were about to fall, a voice suddenly rang out beside him.
“Jiang Yu!”
Shi Jing abruptly opened his eyes.
The moment Jiang Yu boarded the bus, he immediately spotted Zhang Yanzhou frantically waving at him.
In the next instant, however, his attention was captured by someone else.
Across the aisle, Shi Jing was asleep against his seat.
His legs were casually bent.
Because they rarely saw sunlight, they were so pale they almost seemed to glow.
He belonged to the type of person with very little body hair. The fine hair on his legs was barely visible.
His proportions were perfectly balanced.
There was even a tiny mole on one knee.
Jiang Yu froze.
The uniforms at Canghe No. 1 High School consisted entirely of long pants.
This was the first time he had ever seen Shi Jing’s legs.
He stood there for nearly half a minute.
His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed once before he finally snapped back to reality.
Seeing him standing motionless, Zhang Yanzhou looked confused and seemed about to call out to him.
Jiang Yu hurried over.
Unfortunately, he was too late.
Just as he reached the seat, Zhang Yanzhou’s “Jiang Yu!” had already escaped.
Placing his bag lightly on the seat, Jiang Yu braced one hand against the seatback and glanced at Shi Jing.
Shi Jing’s eyelashes trembled.
Then his eyes suddenly opened.
At first, he looked at Jiang Yu blankly.
After regaining full awareness, he frowned.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Nothing.”
Jiang Yu sat down and turned toward Zhang Yanzhou with a displeased expression.
“Why were you shouting so loudly?”
Zhang Yanzhou was stunned.
“Bro, the entire bus is talking. My voice wasn’t even loud. I was just wondering why you were standing there without moving, so I instinctively called your name…”
Shi Jing pinched the bridge of his nose and looked toward the speaker.
He knew this person.
Zhang Yanzhou.
He had also attended Canghe No. 1 High School and had been in the same class as Jiang Yu.
The two appeared to be very close friends—the kind who frequently ate together in the cafeteria.
After finishing his explanation, Zhang Yanzhou felt his throat go dry.
Yet Jiang Yu had already turned away and was speaking to Shi Jing.
Whatever he was saying, Shi Jing’s expression certainly didn’t look pleasant.
Zhang Yanzhou twitched the corner of his mouth speechlessly.
Still, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
After all, Jiang Yu was an ultimate platinum-level member of the Hopeless Romantics Association.
At first, Jiang Yu had been listening to Zhang Yanzhou.
But after hearing one sentence, he suddenly realized something was off.
When he turned back toward Shi Jing, he noticed sweat covering the boy’s forehead.
The bus air conditioning was clearly running.
“Are you hot?”
“No.”
Shi Jing wasn’t in a particularly good mood and didn’t even have the energy to argue with Jiang Yu.
“Are you sleepy?”
“No.”
Shi Jing’s greatest talent was killing conversations.
He practically had no friends.
The only person who could truly be called his friend was Qin Yu.
And Qin Yu happened to be an extraordinarily easygoing person.
His emotional radar was incredibly dull.
There were many things he simply didn’t care about.
That was probably the only reason Shi Jing hadn’t become a complete loner.
After that, Jiang Yu stopped talking.
Shi Jing turned his head and looked out the window.
The bus was noisy.
He removed one earbud and listened to the sounds beside him.
All he heard was the sound of a backpack zipper being opened.
Then came the rustling of a plastic bag.
And then—
“Shi Jing.”
Jiang Yu was calling him.
Shi Jing pressed his lips together.
After silently counting to three in his head, he finally turned around.
Frowning, he looked thoroughly impatient.
“What?”
“Eat some candy.”
Jiang Yu tossed a lollipop toward him.
This time, it was strawberry flavored.
Shi Jing stared at the red-wrapped lollipop resting on his knee.
He very much wanted to stubbornly say, “No thanks.”
He swallowed.
In the end, those two words never came out.
The bus drove steadily toward the coast.
The closer they got to the sea, the stronger the salty scent of the ocean breeze became.
By the time the bus arrived at their destination, the candy in Shi Jing’s mouth had long since disappeared.
Only a faint strawberry flavor remained.
The moment Tao Qi’an and Gao Lang got off the bus, they rushed to the changing rooms.
After changing into swimwear, they eagerly charged into the ocean.
This beach was a popular tourist destination, and the surrounding facilities were well developed.
Shi Jing instantly rejected their invitation.
Wearing sunglasses, he stretched out comfortably on a lounge chair.
At first, everyone spent their time doing their own activities.
By four in the afternoon, the senior student organizing the event gathered everyone together and led them to a reserved self-service barbecue area.
Tao Qi’an spent a long time struggling before finally getting the fire started.
His face had been smoked so thoroughly that it was covered in soot.
Gao Lang knew how to cook and was actually pretty good at it, so he was assigned grilling duty.
He sincerely thanked Tao Qi’an.
“Thank you.”
Tao Qi’an wiped his face and snorted.
Then he strode over to the area where people were skewering vegetables and meat.
Arms crossed, he glared down at Shi Jing.
“Why do you get to sit here skewering vegetables?”
Shi Jing looked up at him.
“See this?”
Tao Qi’an blinked.
“See what?”
“My face.”
Shi Jing pointed at himself.
“I see it. So?”
Shi Jing replied calmly,
“That’s the reason you wanted to know.”
Tao Qi’an: “…”