Dazzling

The music classroom was usually deserted when there were no classes, making it the only quiet spot in their building.

Qing Ye leaned against a pillar facing the sunlight, waiting quietly for Xing Wu. Soon, she heard his footsteps approaching from behind the pillar before he circled around to the left side. Just as Qing Ye leaned left to look, a shadow suddenly fell over her right side. By the time she turned her head, Xing Wu was already bending down with one hand braced against the pillar, kissing her and gently nibbling her sweet lips. His voice was low and magnetic: "Miss me?"

He trapped her between his arms—such close proximity in such a sensitive location. Was he playing at a wall slam with her? Qing Ye had seen this in idol dramas, but experiencing it herself felt far from romantic. She only felt nervous, with a hint of thrill mixed in, terrified that a teacher might suddenly walk by and catch them in what would look like an illicit scene.

Xing Wu looked down at her flustered expression, like a startled fawn, and found it amusing. He couldn’t resist pinching her cheek. Seeing him push his luck, Qing Ye glared: "You weren’t like this before."

The corner of Xing Wu’s mouth lifted. "Before, I wasn’t yours."

Qing Ye turned her head away, suppressing a smile. It seemed that ever since they’d entered relationship mode last night, someone was becoming increasingly unrestrained.

She composed herself and said to him, "I have something serious to discuss with you."

"Do I look unserious?"

Heaven knew his eyes were practically sparkling with mischief as he spoke. Qing Ye could only ignore his gaze and continue, "Have you heard about the school canceling evening self-study?"

"Mm."

Qing Ye was surprised he knew, given he rarely attended school, but pressed on: "I promised Shi Min I’d tutor her after school, so I won’t be leaving with you today."

Xing Wu raised an eyebrow discontentedly. "How come I get less time with you now that you’re my girlfriend?"

The class bell rang. Qing Ye smiled at him, suddenly stood on her toes to kiss his chin, then ducked under his arm. "I’m heading back to class. Wait a while before you return."

"…" Xing Wu watched her hurried departure, touched his chin, and smiled faintly.

After school, Shi Min packed her things and waited for Qing Ye, looking anxious. Qing Ye asked what was wrong.

Shi Min worriedly said, "Where should we go?"

"Let’s go to my place. It might be awkward if I went to yours."

Shi Min glanced at Xing Wu, Huang Mao, and the others loitering in the hallway and whispered, "People say you’re relatives with Xing Wu and live at his family’s barbershop. Does ‘your place’ mean we’re going to Xing Wu’s house?"

Qing Ye finally understood—Shi Min was afraid of Xing Wu. She wondered: in over two months of sitting near each other, she’d never seen Xing Wu speak to Shi Min. Why was she so scared of him? Was he that intimidating?

Qing Ye peeked outside the classroom and thought, puzzled, He’s not scary at all. Isn’t he quite handsome?

To ease Shi Min’s nerves, she patted her reassuringly. "Yes, it’s his house, but it’s fine. I’m not close with him. We’ll just ignore him."

Right after she spoke, Xing Wu shot her a glance. Qing Ye immediately felt a pang of guilt, unsure if he’d overheard.As Shi Min walked out of the school gate arm in arm with Qing Ye, Xing Wu and the others also came downstairs. From a distance, a group of boys were boisterously making noise. Since there was no evening self-study session today, the crowd was particularly large—it felt like a major holiday, with everyone letting loose. Even Pang Hu was happily clinging to Huang Mao while singing "Let Us Be Companions Through Life's Journey."

Qing Ye couldn't understand it—Pang Hu usually struggled to string three words together coherently, so why did he stop stuttering when singing? Not only that, but he sang quite well. It was just that the song choice... left much to be desired. She thought Pang Hu should study opera—if he communicated through singing in daily life, it would be far more pleasant than listening to him speak.

Perhaps because the group of boys was too rowdy, Shi Min kept glancing back at them before whispering to Qing Ye, "I've noticed Xing Wu treats you quite well."

Qing Ye let out a dry chuckle. "Just average."

But Shi Min said seriously, "Really, I've never seen him smile at any girl at school. He gets especially impatient when anyone tries to talk to him frequently, so I never dare speak to him."

Qing Ye recalled when she first arrived at Zhazha Pavilion—Xing Wu always looked impatient upon seeing her and frequently called her troublesome. Probably all girls seemed like trouble in his eyes. So why was he now so willingly accepting her as his "big trouble"? Qing Ye narrowed her eyes and told Shi Min, "Maybe he's just infatuated with me."

Though Qing Ye's tone was casual, she meant every word. Shi Min, however, didn't believe her, thinking she was just joking. After all, she admired Qing Ye's unapologetic confidence.

When they reached Dazzle Island, Qing Ye naturally couldn't bring her upstairs. If Shi Min discovered she shared a room with Xing Wu, the girl would probably be utterly bewildered.

So she settled Shi Min under the shed in the backyard and ran upstairs to fetch the study materials.

Though Li Lanfang was unreliable most of the time, she had one good quality—she was warm-hearted. Seeing Qing Ye had brought a classmate over, she proactively invited Shi Min to stay for dinner.

Just as the two girls sat down, Xing Wu returned. Pang Hu and Huang Mao followed him back. The moment Huang Mao entered Dazzle Island, he noisily rushed toward the backyard, saying he wanted to see Qing Ye. Xing Wu grabbed him by the collar and said, "Stay put in the front. Don't disturb them."

Huang Mao complained, "Can't I just watch from the back door without saying anything?"

Xing Wu ignored him, brought the small heater to the shed, and ran an extension cord over. Instantly, the shed became warm. Qing Ye, who was explaining problems to Shi Min, looked up and smiled at him. Xing Wu glanced at her before leaving.

Meanwhile, Pang Hu came over and stood silently behind Shi Min, listening to Qing Ye's explanations. At some point during the lesson, he suddenly blurted out, "S-so that's how it works!"

Only then did Qing Ye look up and notice he was holding a notebook and had already started taking notes. She smiled and said, "Don't just stand there. Grab a stool."

"Okay," Pang Hu responded, pulling over a wooden stool to sit opposite Qing Ye.

Qing Ye asked him, "Have you finished today's homework?"

"Not yet. I b-brought Fang Lei's homework to copy.""……" Qing Ye was utterly speechless. Fang Lei had copied homework from her, and recently she increasingly felt like some pyramid scheme leader—her homework basically got distributed right after school every day, then practically the whole class would copy from her downlines, resulting in Class 2's homework accuracy rate recently becoming absurdly high.

Qing Ye teased: "Aren't you ashamed copying homework all the time as our class monitor?"

Pang Hu scratched his head sheepishly with an embarrassed grin.

"Why don't you do it yourself? If you don't understand, I can help explain it to you."

Pang Hu thought that would work too. Since they were all doing homework together anyway, the atmosphere became quite motivated. Soon, the small shed where Xing Wu's family usually ate was filled with an intense studying atmosphere.

Even Li Lanfang walked softly when passing by the kitchen, afraid of disturbing them.

Huang Mao and Xing Wu rode out to buy some marinated dishes. Over an hour later, Li Lanfang told them to pack up their things and eat first.

They were all regular visitors at Xing Wu's house, but this was Shi Min's first time eating there, so she was quite reserved, just picking at her plain rice without touching any dishes. Qing Ye moved the duck dish closer to her: "Don't stand on ceremony."

Shi Min looked up at her gratefully, but when her eyes met Xing Wu sitting beside Qing Ye, she immediately lowered her head in fright. Qing Ye turned to glare at Xing Wu inexplicably, while Xing Wu shrugged innocently, indicating he hadn't done anything.

Then they noticed Pang Hu's covetous stare fixed on the duck leg. Xing Wu calmly picked up the duck leg with his chopsticks and placed it steadily in Qing Ye's bowl. At that point, Pang Hu lost all hope.

Being all high school seniors, their conversation inevitably turned to college applications. Pang Hu asked Shi Min what major she wanted to study. Shi Min said she wanted to study tourism management, hoping to travel to many places if given the opportunity in the future.

Qing Ye glanced at her—such a simple aspiration. She even wondered if Shi Min knew what the core courses of tourism management were. Not every graduate becomes a tour guide. Though Qing Ye felt that despite their different circumstances, she and Shi Min shared one common goal: they both wanted to leave this place, unwilling to be bound by fate. The difference was that Qing Ye knew exactly which path to take, while Shi Min was still basically fumbling in the dark. That's why Qing Ye was willing to give her a hand.

Then Shi Min asked Pang Hu: "Class monitor, what major are you planning to study?"

Pang Hu took a big mouthful of rice and thought for a moment: "I-I don't know yet. W-whether I can even get into college is still a question. If I c-can get into any school, I'll j-just pick whatever's available then."

As he spoke, he looked at Qing Ye: "Qing Ye, wh-what do you think I should study?"

Qing Ye blurted out without thinking: "Musical theater."

"……" Everyone around looked at her in confusion. Actually, she had just said it offhand, because she felt singing might help cure Pang Hu's stutter.

Huang Mao nearly choked on his food: "What does that major even do?"

"Have you seen musicals like 'The Phantom of the Opera' or 'Les Misérables'? It's basically learning music theory, singing, and performance skills."

Huang Mao laughed: "My life's miserable enough already, why would I watch 'Les Misérables'?"

Meanwhile, Pang Hu beside him asked seriously: "Q-Qing Ye, wh-where can I study this major?"Qing Ye thought for a moment: "From what I know, the Central Academy of Drama has one, Beijing Dance Academy too, and then art-focused schools like Communication University of China and Shanghai Theatre Academy probably have them as well."

Huang Mao immediately laughed and patted Pang Hu's big belly: "Come on, him going to the Central Academy of Arts? He could try applying for a janitor position. If he goes on stage to perform, the audience would demand refunds!"

Everyone burst into laughter, even Shi Min lowered her head covering her mouth to giggle. Pang Hu himself grinned foolishly, but Qing Ye said nonchalantly: "Have you ever seen a drama sustained solely by handsome guys and beautiful girls? Every successful show needs various types of soulful characters. Try naming any series - would it still be good if you removed all the brilliant supporting roles?"

Unable to out-argue Qing Ye, Huang Mao nodded: "Well, that's true. Red flowers need green leaves to complement them. Bro, I see you becoming an exceptionally large green leaf." Pang Hu just kept laughing along.

Qing Ye then glanced at Huang Mao and asked him: "What about you? What will you do after graduation?"

Huang Mao said: "Get a driver's license."

"..." Such lofty aspirations.

Huang Mao continued: "I'm not getting into university anyway. My dad's been driving trucks his whole life - I plan to follow in his footsteps, get my license and hit the road with him."

Qing Ye suddenly turned to Xing Wu: "You should get one too."

Xing Wu said flatly: "No."

Qing Ye pouted, making Xing Wu laugh immediately: "Why would I need that? I'm not driving trucks."

"But what if someone gives you a car someday? Could you drive it away?"

Xing Wu said teasingly: "Who the hell would give me a car? Are they insane?"

Huang Mao chimed in: "Bro Wu, don't say that. Maybe when our Qing Ye becomes successful out there, she'll come back and gift you a Mercedes."

Qing Ye smiled at him, while Xing Wu threw his chopsticks at Huang Mao: "Get lost. I've got strong teeth - I don't eat soft rice."

Huang Mao found this phrasing strange - how would a sister giving her brother a car count as "eating soft rice"? His brain couldn't quite process it anyway.

Under the table, Qing Ye tugged at Xing Wu's sleeve and said to him: "Just get the license."

Xing Wu glanced sideways at her: "Why are you so insistent about me getting a driver's license?"

"I don't know, I just feel like you'd look really handsome driving."

When your girlfriend says that, what can you do? Just get it.

Xing Wu didn't respond, but instead grasped Qing Ye's hand that was tugging his sleeve. Though everyone at the table was eating and chatting, nobody could see their little secret under the table. This covert gesture made them both smile in silent understanding.

Author's note: Did you ever have wild dreams in your teens? Did you ever work for those dreams? Struggle for them? Try to achieve them?

These young people would never imagine how a casual flight of fancy would plant seeds in each of their hearts,

Slowly growing, sprouting, waiting to become towering trees - or perhaps just remain dreams.

If you're reading this during this most beautiful age, congratulations - your life is still a blank canvas,

You can pick up the brush and bravely paint the future you want.

Should older aunties give up? No, at least I'm still striving every day, for the fire that never dies in my heart. Let's encourage each other.Well, Master Sniper, a driver's license is really important. How can you drive... a car without one? Cousin clearly has such high regard for your driving skills—ahem, it's evident from the start that this is a serious author's note.

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