Dazzling

The Gobi desert at night was swept by chilly winds. Afraid she would catch cold, Xing Wu grasped her hand and said, "Let's head back."

When they reached the motorcycle, he still didn't want to let go. As Qing Ye turned to look at him, his kiss had already landed. Unlike their first passionate kiss in the alley, this time Xing Wu merely lowered his head to give her a gentle peck, yet it still left Qing Ye somewhat flustered. Xing Wu picked up the small white helmet hanging nearby and put it on her. Qing Ye obediently lifted her head to gaze at him, her lively eyes suddenly asking: "That night, why did you run off after kissing me? You made me lose sleep all night, thinking you might have lost your mind."

A roguish smile played on Xing Wu's lips - this was the first time Qing Ye had seen such a charmingly rebellious smile from him. She was momentarily stunned when she heard him say: "Pretty much, I did have a momentary lapse of sanity."

Qing Ye blinked and glared at him: "Meaning you regretted it? So you hurried off pretending nothing happened?"

Xing Wu fastened her helmet and patted her head: "I just wasn't sure if treating you this way would harm you."

Tilting her head with a smile, Qing Ye asked: "And now?"

Xing Wu turned and swung his leg over the motorcycle: "Now I know you come with built-in antibodies. Unless you want to harm yourself, no one can touch you."

Qing Ye's eyes curved as she straddled the seat behind him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and leaning against his sturdy back. Xing Wu glanced down at the pale, delicate hands around his waist, the corners of his mouth lifting as he turned the handlebars.

On the way back, Qing Ye said cheerfully: "By the way, didn't you say you don't eat the grass near your nest? Does your face hurt now, young master Wu?"

"You're not grass near the nest - you're a peony from Beijing."

"...Why a peony?"

"Most brilliant among all flowers."

"..."

Qing Ye reached to pinch his abdomen, only to find it unyielding. With one hand on the handlebars, Xing Wu caught her other hand: "Can't you keep your hands to yourself? You'll distract me and I'll ride us into a ditch."

"Would you dare?"

Xing Wu answered truthfully: "I wouldn't. You're our county's hope. I still need this safety model to erase the demerit from last semester."

Soon Xing Wu told her: "Zhazha Pavilion is just ahead."

Qing Ye straightened up and released her hold.

The motorcycle had barely stopped when Li Lanfang rushed out at the sound, shouting: "It's almost dinner time! What are you two running off for at this hour?"

Qing Ye suddenly felt inexplicably guilty and looked at Xing Wu. Xing Wu simply gave her a push into the house, telling Li Lanfang: "Admiring the sunset."

"Admiring your hindhead! Weren't you supposed to chop the ribs? By the time we get to drink the rib soup, the daylilies will have wilted..."

Listening to Li Lanfang's scolding, Qing Ye turned back and made a face at Xing Wu behind Li Lanfang's back. Xing Wu lowered his head with a rare smile, unusually silent. Seeing Xing Wu actually smiling under her scolding, Li Lanfang suddenly paused, stopping her tirade - any more and he'd really be foolish.

After dinner, Qing Ye went upstairs. The rib soup indeed wasn't ready until evening, with Xing Wu alone watching the fire in the kitchen while playing games. When it was done, he brought a bowl upstairs and said to Qing Ye: "Take a break, have some soup."

Qing Ye removed her earphones and turned to take it, but withdrew her hand: "It's hot."

Xing Wu held the bowl and blew on it for her. Qing Ye squinted at him: "Didn't your mom's money get... taken by your dad? How could you still afford to buy ribs?"Xing Wu glanced at her as she whispered, "Did you give her money?"

He handed the bowl back to her. "I don't want you losing weight."

Qing Ye took the bowl with a laugh. "Oh? So you plan to fatten me up?"

Leaning against the bed and picking up his phone, Xing Wu curved his lips. "Fatter would be... tastier."

The light in his eyes was bright, and Qing Ye's face flushed strangely red.

At night, they lay in separate beds. Qing Ye pulled aside a corner of the curtain to look at Xing Wu. The room was dark, his eyes closed and face upward, yet he seemed to sense her gaze as his low voice drifted over. "Why are you peeking at me?"

Qing Ye reached her hand out. "My hands are cold."

Xing Wu opened his eyes, extending his large warm hand from under the blankets to grasp hers. It felt like a heating pad. And so they fell asleep holding hands across the aisle.

Qing Ye didn't know when she drifted off, but she suddenly understood—this must be what people call the cloying sweetness of love!

Early the next morning before dawn, Xing Wu saw Qing Ye sitting blankly on the edge of her bed. He was momentarily stunned, propping himself up to ask, "Are you sleepwalking?"

Qing Ye said to him very seriously, "Everyone at school thinks we're relatives—the blood-related kind."

Still groggy from sleep, Xing Wu asked in return, "And then?"

"If people find out we're together, won't they think we're committing incest and violating morals?"

"..."

So Qing Ye's conclusion was to be cautious—they couldn't go to school together today. She left first. Watching her retreating figure, Xing Wu suddenly found her bizarre train of thought incredibly endearing. Of course she's adorable—whose girlfriend wouldn't be?

When Qing Ye arrived at school, Shi Min was already there, having waited for her for quite some time. Nervously, she handed Qing Ye the problems she'd solved yesterday. "Can you check if they're right?"

Qing Ye twirled a pen with one hand while holding the paper with the other, alternating between examining the problems and studying Shi Min. Shi Min grew uneasy under her gaze. Truthfully, Qing Ye hadn't expected Shi Min to solve them correctly—she just wanted to assess her foundational knowledge. The assessment revealed a shocking truth: the girl's core issue was weak fundamentals. Many basic concepts had never been properly grasped, and over time the accumulated gaps made learning increasingly difficult, leaving her completely muddled.

Take English, for instance—she even misused basic grammar rules. How could anyone explain that?

Qing Ye nearly advised her to give up studying altogether—perhaps academics just weren't compatible with her. She might consider pursuing something else.

But before she could speak, Shi Min anxiously said, "Are there many mistakes? With evening self-study sessions canceled starting today, I'm afraid I won't get into any school."

Qing Ye never attended evening self-study and was puzzled by the cancellation. "Why were they canceled?"

Shi Min explained that a girl from Class Six had fainted upon returning home after self-study last week. The hospital diagnosed exhaustion from overwork. Her parents had confronted the school yesterday, demanding reduced academic pressure—claiming keeping students so late was no different from corporal punishment. They threatened to report to the education bureau. Several parents had protested to the principal last night, forcing him to return and address the situation. The parents declared that if self-study sessions continued today, they'd directly report the teachers. Thus, evening self-study was suspended from today onward.Upon hearing this, Qing Ye found it quite astonishing. Given the lax management system at An Zhong High School, it was already a blessing they weren't adding more academic pressure—yet there were actually parents demanding a reduction. What was even more remarkable was that other parents raised no objections. In any other school, parents who cared about their children's education would have collectively protested.

Yet at An Zhong, everything proceeded harmoniously. The school administration and parents quickly reached an agreement to suspend evening self-study sessions.

Shi Min, her face clouded with worry, kept drawing circles in her notebook with her pen, muttering under her breath, "I'm doomed. What if I can't continue my studies?"

Qing Ye glanced sideways at her notebook. She had noticed many times that whenever Shi Min paused to space out, she would draw circles—one after another—until it made Qing Ye's scalp crawl.

Unable to hold back, Qing Ye asked, "What would happen if you couldn't go to school?"

Shi Min stopped drawing, looked up at her, hesitated for a moment, then leaned in closer and whispered, "Don't tell anyone."

Qing Ye nodded, and Shi Min continued softly, "My family said if I don't get into university, they'll either send me to work at the factory in the east of the county or marry me off."

"Marry you off? How old are you?" Qing Ye was taken aback.

Shi Min sighed miserably, "My dad's leg isn't well, so he can't work hard to earn money. I have a younger brother who's still in elementary school. If I don't get into university, I'll have to go out and make money. If I don't want to work, I'll have to marry someone with decent means."

As she spoke, she started drawing circles again. When Qing Ye's gaze fell back on the notebook, she suddenly felt those circles resembled inescapable cages, sending a chill down her spine upon deeper thought.

She never expected her ordinary deskmate to share a similar plight—both pinning their hopes on the college entrance exam to change their destinies. It was like their decisive battle: win, and they'd take control of their lives; lose, and they'd be left vulnerable to life's blows.

Qing Ye stared at Shi Min for a long moment before suddenly saying, "Starting today, don't bother listening in class."

Shi Min immediately looked crestfallen. "Am I beyond saving?"

Qing Ye patted her shoulder. "Call me 'sis,' and I'll save you."

"Sis."

Qing Ye was taken aback—she had only been joking, but the girl had said it so earnestly that she felt a bit embarrassed. Clearing her throat, she explained, "When I say don't listen, I mean don't waste time on things you can't grasp. It's like building a house—if the foundation isn't solid, do you think you can build a hundred floors? We need to lay the foundation first. Since there's no evening self-study today, stick with me after school."

Shi Min's eyes behind her glasses suddenly lit up, as if she had spotted a lifeline, but then she worried, "Won't this hold you back?"

Qing Ye shrugged indifferently. "It's no trouble. I'll be studying anyway."

Shi Min was so moved she nearly cried, clutching Qing Ye's arm excitedly. "Qing Ye, you're so kind."

Heh heh. Qing Ye awkwardly pulled her arm back, momentarily unaccustomed to such sudden enthusiasm.Out of the corner of her eye, Qing Ye happened to see Xing Wu walking up. Someone from Class Three called out to him, and he stopped in the hallway to talk with two boys. As if sensing her gaze, he casually glanced her way, a faint, elusive smile playing on his lips. Though outsiders wouldn’t notice anything unusual, that look—understood only by the two of them—made Qing Ye’s heart suddenly race.

The class bell rang, and Xing Wu finally entered through the back door. The moment he sat down, Qing Ye felt a tug on her hair. Leaning back against her chair, she felt something rest on her shoulder. A warm sensation spread, and when she turned her head, she saw a steaming cup of milk tea. She took it without a second thought, only to meet Shi Min’s stunned gaze. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say, so in the end, she said nothing.

After class, Qing Ye glanced back. Xing Wu had been watching a video but looked up when he noticed her movement. With a meaningful glance toward the hallway, she signaled for him to follow, then slipped out of the classroom like an agent on a covert mission, striding around to the music room at the back to wait for him.