Ch7 - He Casually Said to Lu Che: "It's Nothing"

Translator: Callis

Editors: Walker & Dragon

Personally, Xu Xing felt that it wasn’t unreasonable for Lu Che to be convinced that his “mouth was lying, but his body was honest”. In the end, it was him who was in the wrong. Even if he swore to the heavens, shouted himself hoarse, and stuck a “straight man” label to his face, he would inevitably be pushed into Lu Che’s arms. Who could he argue with?

Xu Xing sighed softly. He didn’t want to waste his energy to continue arguing for his straight man image anymore. The class bell had already rung. He carried his book back into the classroom. When he passed by Xiao Shun’s desk, Xu Xing couldn’t help but give him another glance.

Xiao Shun’s seat was near the aisle. He was busy sorting through his notes when he heard someone next to him say: “Wow, Xiao Shun, your handwriting is very good.”

Xiao Shun raised his head and saw Xu Xing turn and give him a smile.

“……”

Xu Xing turned his head and pressed his knuckles against his nose with a sigh, carrying on with the awkward conversation on a sour note. He pretended to remain calm and returned to his own seat.

Early morning, the next day.

As soon as the second class was over, the broadcasting system in the classroom would ring out with a melody that would invigorate the athletes’ march. The biology teacher had no choice but to raise her voice and finish explaining the problem.

The head teacher stepped on the bell signifying the end of class at the classroom’s back door. As soon as the biology teacher shouted it was the end of class, the head teacher made a follow up by shouting from the back door: “Today, it’s the third years’ turn to conduct morning exercises. Everyone, hurry up and gather downstairs.”

In summer vacation, the school built a new gymnasium. Since the available space was limited, the entire school wasn’t participating in the exercises, this year. They alternated from the first years to the third years.

Mondays and Thursdays were for first years, Tuesdays and Fridays were for second years, and third years were arranged to be on Wednesdays.

Xu Xing quickly closed his notebook and pushed Wang Zicong out from Tang Mian’s other aisle.

The rhythm of the athletes’ march was clear, resounding, and powerful, while the muddled, noisy crowd was laughing and chatting. Xu Xing and the rest of the class walked forward and stopped repeatedly in the congested corridor. Initially, they had to squeeze together to pass through. Fortunately, their classroom was on the third floor and the crowd could be immediately dispersed.

Tang Mian pulled Xiong Huan’s hand along, and turned around to ask Xu Xing: “Where did Xiao Wangzi get shoved to?”

Xu Xing looked back and saw the entire staircase crowded. Wang Zicong was bigger than the ordinary person, but even as large as he was, he wasn’t a wall. Instead, he was soft and tender, and could be squished, squeezed, and pressed like a sponge. The white and tender flesh on his face scrunched into a ball, and he very quickly fell behind them.

The place where they had gathered for morning exercises was in the courtyard behind the teacher’s building. Even little children would know the way. Xu Xing and the others didn’t wait for Wang Zicong, and continued onward with the flow of the crowd.

In the large crowd, Xu Xing’s gaze inadvertently swept across a smear of red. His gaze followed the red string that was trailing on the ground. Through the crowd, Xu Xing easily recognized the boy whose red string was connected to Xiao Shun.

The boy had handsome features and a tall figure. The short sleeved school uniform was unable to cover his muscular arms, which made the two girls next to him look petite and cute.

The two girls were holding hands and chatting idly, occasionally turning around, revealing pure and beautiful faces. Their smiles were very sweet as they asked the boy a question. The boy lowered his head; his thin lips curved up and indifferently responded. His response might not have been what the girls wanted, but the handsome, roguish smile was enough to attract the girls’ hearts.

The scene was quite beautiful; it was just that the red string at the boy’s crotch was an eyesore.

Xu Xing couldn’t help but ask Tang Mian: “Hey, that boy over there. Do you know his name?”

Tang Mian was helping Xiong Huan tidy up her bangs. Hearing the noise, she turned around and blankly looked over towards the direction that Xu Xing had indicated. She asked: “Where?”

Xu Xing didn’t want to point too openly, so he tried to use his words to supplement as much as he could: “The person you mentioned before who dated the school flower when they had just transferred over.”

Tang Mian cocked her head and thought. “Surname Jiang, Jiang something. There are three characters……”

Xu Xing anxiously waited while Tang Mian was digging out the three characters from her memory. A magnetic voice spoke up from behind: “Jiang Jize.”

When Xu Xing subconsciously turned his head, he saw Lu Che calmly and slowly walk behind him, his handsome face adorned with a smile. However, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of warmth from the smile.

Fu Dai, who was next to him, followed Lu Che and glanced over. After seeing Xiong Huan next to Tang Mian, his indifferent expression instantly bloomed like a flower bud. He gave off a bright smile: “Good morning, Xiong Huan.”

The youth’s smile was blinding, like the rising sun piercing through the clouds, his love for the girl undisguised.

Xiong Huan averted her gaze and faintly answered: “En.”

Lu Che walked towards Xu Xing’s side and pointed at the tall boy nearby. He asked Xu Xing: “My Friend? The one from yesterday.”

With the embarrassment of getting caught, Xu Xing could only pretend to be clueless and turned towards Lu Che with a frozen smile.

Though Lu Che had been ignored by Xu Xing, he didn’t get angry. He shouted directly towards the front: “Jiang Jize!”

Lu Che’s voice was very magnetic. Just the sound of it could draw the attention of passersby and make them fall in love. He faced the east, his handsome face basking in the golden morning light. The little schoolgirls walking past him couldn’t help but secretly take glances at him; their gazes were shy and timid, and their glances showed off a girl’s longing.

The tall boy who was accompanying the two girls and joking around didn’t notice Lu Che’s shouting at first, but was then reminded by the girl next to him. He turned around and saw that Lu Che had indeed called out to him. Jiang Jize stopped and waited. When Lu Che came near, he stuck his hands in his pockets and asked: “What’s up?”

Lu Che brushed past him and casually dropped a sentence: “Just play shouting.”

Jiang Jize: “……”

Xu Xing silently stored the three characters “Jiang Jize” in his memory. On the surface, he seemed cool and calm, as if nothing had happened. He went to go look for the place where his class had gathered. He hadn’t gotten very far before he heard Wang Zicong’s voice from the exit of the corridor in front of him: “Xing Xing, wait for me.”

Xu Xing went towards the direction of the voice, and saw the chubby boy at first glance. His gaze got caught by the few figures in front of Wan Zicong. He saw Xiao Shun walking slowly with his head down, coming in from a side corridor.

The red string squeezed into Xiao Shun’s chrysanthemum trailed on the ground, meandering around and crawling up towards Jiang Jize’s □□.

Jiang Jize walked by behind Xu Xing, while Xiao Shun was walking over from the side corridor in front of them. As the distance between the two continued to shorten, Xu Xing couldn’t help but anticipate the response between the two. He wondered if Xiao Shun would be like him and uncontrollably fall into the other’s embrace.

Xu Xing stood in place, anxiously watching the pair under the guise of waiting for Wang Zicong.

However — he didn’t know if it was because Xiao Shun was walking with his head down, or that Jiang Jinze was approaching from behind, the pair didn’t take notice of the other’s existence. Even the red string between them was obedient and calm, completely not at all as naughty as his red string.

Seeing that the two were about to miss each other, the more Xu Xing watched, the more anxious he got. After a period of time, he couldn’t help but shout: “Hey, Xiao Shun!”

His voice rang out —

Xiao Shun raised his head, confused, and Jiang Jize also curiously followed the voice. Their gazes met unexpectedly, and in an instant, it was as if the red string between them had awakened. The dark red color was like rust, peeling off layer by layer and revealing the bright red inside.

Xiao Shun accidentally met Jiang Jize’s gaze, and like he had received a jolt, quickly shrank back. He turned to Xu Xing and asked with his naturally gentle and soft voice: “Class monitor, what’s the matter?”

The scarlet red string was fleeting.

Although the red string’s change was short-lived and had flashed only for a moment before dimming down, the red string had obviously changed because of his shout. Xu Xing inwardly pondered over it, but on the surface, he smiled at Xiao Shun as if nothing had happened: “Nothing, I was just greeting you.”

Xiao Shun smiled at Xu Xing.

Although they weren’t familiar with each other, Xiao Shun didn’t think Xu Xing’s behavior was out of the ordinary. After all, they had run into each other in the classroom or in the corridors early in the morning these past few days. They would both say hello to each other and chat occasionally.

The Lu Che that had been left behind scoffed nearly imperceptibly. As expected, he understood the Class Monitor’s parrot-like behavior, interpreting it as the other wanting to grab his attention.

Xu Xing took the opportunity to talk to Xiao Shun about the time they had arrived in the classroom that morning and other mundane topics. He hadn’t noticed Lu Che approaching him.

Lu Che didn’t give him a wide berth, but insisted on passing through the space between Xu Xing and Xiao Shun, which was less than the length of an arm. His firm shoulder knocked against Xu Xing, neither too light nor too heavy.

“Hey……”

Xu Xing was baffled. Having been deliberately “provoked” by Lu Che, he took a step back. Just when his anger was bubbling, Lu Che stopped walking and turned around. The corner of his lips slightly curved up, and he apologized: “I’m sorry, Class Monitor.”

Lu Che’s smile was very innocent.

“……”

Although neither Lu Che’s apology nor his attitude were sincere, when Xu Xing heard the familiar apology, his first reaction was: The red string was starting to cause mischief again?

This time, however, he and Lu Che had exchanged positions — in the end, the red string couldn’t unilaterally affect only him.

As soon as the thought formed in his mind, Xu Xing instantly had no reason or stance to vent at Lu Che. Xu Xing felt that Lu Che, who didn’t know about the existence of the red string and wrongly accused him, was blameless. However, he knew that the red string’s nature was inevitably forcing them together. If he still wanted to blame Lu Che, then it would just be him deliberately making things difficult.

Lu Che, who had been deliberately picking a fight: “……”

He had been unexpectedly forgiven, just like that?

LC: Oh no, XX isn’t paying attention to me (*｀Ω´*)