Dazzling

After school, Pang Hu came as usual to wait for Qing Ye and Shi Min. Classmate Feng Bao, who would blush upon seeing Qing Ye, turned around and said somewhat shyly: "Where do you guys go to study every day after school? Could you... take me along?"

Qing Ye and Pang Hu exchanged glances. Neither of them spoke. After all, Pang Hu was Xing Wu's brother, and Shi Min could be considered Qing Ye's relatively close deskmate in this class - bringing these two to Xing Wu's house was barely acceptable. But if more people joined, even with Qing Ye and Xing Wu's relationship, she would feel too embarrassed.

Just as Qing Ye remained silent, Xiao Ling Tong, whose face was still swollen, immediately turned around and said spiritedly: "Where are you guys going to study? I'm coming too. Damn, now that we don't have evening self-study anymore, I go home right after school every day and my mom keeps nagging me to death, watching me like a machine gun."

Qing Ye said somewhat awkwardly: "The place is too small, it can't accommodate that many people."

Feng Bao said regretfully: "I see... I just don't know where to start when I review at home alone, and when I don't understand something, I don't know who to ask."

Qing Ye simply told him: "Then if you really can't figure something out, just take photos and send them to me on WeChat."

Feng Bao's eyes sparkled as he blushed and added Qing Ye on WeChat.

When the three of them reached the school gate, they saw Xing Wu, Lang Dai, and Huang Mao gathered by the roadside.

Pang Hu shouted to them: "Are we going or what?"

Xing Wu, with a cigarette in his mouth, turned his head sideways. Qing Ye quickly glanced at him before turning away and walking off arm in arm with Shi Min. Since Pang Hu had started hanging out with Qing Ye after school every day, he had naturally joined Qing Ye's side and stopped fooling around with Huang Mao and the others. Seeing Qing Ye turn and leave, he quickly said goodbye to them and hurried to catch up.

Xing Wu took a drag of his cigarette and withdrew his gaze. Huang Mao looked at Qing Ye, then at Xing Wu, and said meaningfully: "Anyway, I'm the only one who knows about this now. Don't worry, Brother Wu, I'll keep it to myself. Actually, you really don't need to feel awkward because of me and deliberately not talk to each other - it's making me feel embarrassed too."

"..." Brother, where did you get that confidence?

That evening, Pang Hu told Qing Ye that recently many classmates had been asking him about the after-school tutoring. He felt it was quite bad that the school had outright canceled evening self-study. Although their group had poor grades, some still wanted to study, and it was quite unfair to the top students in each class. Qing Ye also thought the school administrators' decision was rather shitty - they kept shouting about enrollment rates every day, yet were afraid of trouble and didn't dare take risks.

She murmured: "Actually, everyone could voluntarily stay for self-study sessions, just on a voluntary basis."

Shi Min shook her head: "Everyone would just watch each other, and voluntary would eventually become mandatory. Those parents would definitely come cause trouble again as soon as they saw everyone resuming evening self-study." Qing Ye thought about it and had to admit she was right.

That night, Feng Bao actually sent photos of two problems to Qing Ye. Qing Ye quickly solved them, took photos of the answers and sent them back, then sent voice messages explaining the solution process. It didn't take more than a few minutes of her time anyway.

After Pang Hu and the others left, Qing Ye carried her things upstairs. When she went back down to get her change of clothes before taking a shower, she happened to bump into Xing Wu, who had just returned from outside, on the stairs.

On the narrow staircase, one wanted to go up while the other wanted to come down. Neither yielded, so they met halfway. Both stopped simultaneously and looked at each other in silence.Qing Ye first turned sideways against the wall to make half a person's space, then Xing Wu withdrew his gaze and also turned sideways. The two passed each other face to face, the narrow staircase forcing their bodies almost pressed together. As their breaths intertwined, Qing Ye suddenly felt her heartbeat quicken and instantly lowered her head. She could almost feel his distinct scent washing over her, making her utterly flustered. For a second, she nearly couldn't resist grabbing him.

But seeing Xing Wu's unwavering gaze, she didn't want to swallow her pride and speak to him. Instead, she simply hugged her clothes and ran into the bathroom, locking the door.

When she stood alone in the bathroom, her mood instantly plummeted to rock bottom. This was the first cold war between them since they got together—though she wasn't even sure if it counted as one.

Hearing from Shu Han that Xing Wu planned to support her studying abroad had shocked Qing Ye. Faced with his unreserved dedication, she admitted she wasn't as reckless as him, so her words "It's not worth it" seemed to abruptly pull them back to reality.

Yet, in just two short days, it felt like they had been in a cold war for an eternity. When they faced each other earlier, she couldn't suppress her agitation at all. The fatal attraction Xing Wu held for her stirred an almost maddening impulse. Qing Ye considered herself a rational person, but her rationality crumbled every time she encountered Xing Wu. Suddenly, she felt her nose tingling with sadness, her heart aching with sorrow.

When she went upstairs after her shower, she found Xing Wu already asleep on the bed. Qing Ye stared for a while at his tall nose bridge and his sharp, cold contours, sighed, and returned to her own space.

Qing Ye had never been in a relationship before. She thought liking someone meant being together, and not liking meant parting ways. But she didn't realize emotions could be so complicated. For instance, she didn't want Xing Wu to lose out in this relationship, nor did she want to take advantage of him in any way. But she wondered if he might think she was just toying with him, never considering taking responsibility for him?

Objectively speaking, she hadn't thought that far ahead. Qing Ye could no longer face herself; the more she pondered, the more she felt like a scumbag who plays around and then runs away—what the hell was going on?

The next day during PE class, they were organized to throw shot puts. As usual, everyone lazily lined up and took turns throwing at the designated spot. Teacher Dong stood to the side, recording everyone's scores on a clipboard.

Fang Lei squeezed up to Qing Ye and said, "Has the Old Witch talked to you about the Winter Camp?"

Qing Ye, who hadn't slept well last night due to the cold war with her boyfriend, was drowsy and covering a yawn: "No, isn't that for winter vacation?"

Fang Lei said, "It seems it's been moved up. This year, they're saying it'll take up the two days after New Year's. I'm planning to sign up."

Qing Ye glanced at her sideways: "You're quite ambitious."

Fang Lei, completely unashamed, replied, "No, the person I like is from Jin Zhong. He's participating this year, and I want a chance to take him down."

"???" Qing Ye looked at Fang Lei, who calmly told her this, and for a moment couldn't process it. Was she that bold?

Then it was Qing Ye's turn to throw. Fang Lei even gave her a push: "Stop spacing out, it's your turn."

Qing Ye said "Oh," bent down to pick up the shot put, ground her sneaker into the ground a bit, tossed her ponytail, and assumed a posture that was both pleasing to the eye and technically perfect.The students who had been chatting in clusters behind her stopped talking when they saw her stance, all turning to watch in unison. It seemed Class 2 had some inexplicable expectations of Qing Ye—they always felt everything she did was exceptionally impressive.

However, perhaps due to lack of sleep the previous night, Qing Ye seemed listless. The moment she raised her hand, she could tell her form was off, and when she threw the shot put, her hand slipped.

Everyone was stunned. Teacher Dong even rubbed his eyes, thinking the sun had dazzled him. He stared for a long time without seeing any parabolic trajectory, only to eventually realize the shot put hadn’t been thrown at all—it had landed by Qing Ye’s feet and rolled backward instead.

Instantly, the whole class burst into laughter. When Qing Ye turned around with a glare, she noticed that even Lang Dai and his group sitting by the edge of the field were laughing at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Xing Wu, leaning on a blue bench with both hands, wearing a black baseball cap that covered half his face. His expression was hidden, but the corner of his mouth visible beneath the cap was clearly curved upward.

Fuming, Qing Ye raised a finger to Teacher Dong, demanding another try.

Teacher Dong smiled and nodded, shouting, "Go for it, Qing Ye!"

A classmate behind her picked up the shot put and handed it to her. This time, Qing Ye gathered her focus, flexed her wrists, and with a concentrated glare forward, she swung and threw. Immediately, everyone around her erupted in laughter again.

She had managed to throw the shot put this time—and quite far at that—but it went in the wrong direction. The trajectory was skewed, flying straight toward the edge of the field, startling Teacher Dong. He had never seen such poor aim before.

Then, as the shot put hit the ground, it rolled directly toward Xing Wu. Qing Ye swore she had thrown it randomly, with no intention of retaliation—it was just a shot put with a mind of its own.

Xing Wu remained as lazy as ever. When the ball rolled to his feet, he lifted his foot and gently stepped on it, halting its motion. Then, everyone watched as he casually bent down, picked up the shot put, weighed it in his hand a couple of times, and… unexpectedly raised it toward Qing Ye’s direction.

Qing Ye stood her ground, lifting her chin and glaring at him defiantly. But the students beside her scattered in panic. Teacher Dong yelled at Xing Wu, "Don’t aim at your classmates!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xing Wu shifted his aim toward him. Teacher Dong shielded himself while shouting, "I said don’t hit your classmates, not to aim at your teacher!"

Everyone dissolved into laughter. Xing Wu tossed the shot put without even looking and stood up to leave the field. Yet the students and teacher behind him were all astonished—he had thrown the shot put directly into the equipment bucket by the field. Teacher Dong had never seen such accuracy and distance before.

Although it was winter, the sun was bright. After P.E. class, everyone took off their jackets. Qing Ye felt parched and decided to buy a drink from the school store. Right after class, the store was packed, giving her a headache just looking at the crowd—this was why she never went there. Before, she could have asked Xing Wu or the others to bring her something, but now… to humble herself over a drink? How embarrassing.

Qing Ye finally squeezed her way to the counter and said to the shopkeeper, "One jasmine honey tea, please." Suddenly, she felt the crowd pressing behind her ease up. She glanced back and met a pair of sharp, narrow eyes.

Qing Ye’s eye twitched. What a coincidence—of all people to run into here, no wonder everyone had backed off and was quietly waiting in line.Xing Wu leaned over and tapped the counter, saying to the shop owner, "Lighter." The space was too cramped, and his arm inadvertently brushed against Qing Ye's shoulder. She couldn't help but shiver, her whole body reacting as if electrified.

Xing Wu lowered his gaze to glance at her, and she quickly pretended to be nonchalant, looking down at the area beneath the counter.

The shop owner had just brought over the honey tea and casually pulled a lighter from under the counter. Xing Wu scanned the payment code, glanced at the honey tea, and said to the owner, "Together."

Qing Ye picked up her drink and turned around, just as Xing Wu took the lighter and tested it with a flick. He stood right in front of her, so close that if she moved forward even a little, she would bump directly into his chest. Suddenly, she felt short of breath, especially in such a chaotic environment with a steady stream of students buying things around them.

But with Xing Wu blocking the way, she couldn't get out, trapped in the cramped corner of the small shop, feeling awkward and uneasy. She hurriedly looked up at him, and he happened to put away the lighter and lower his gaze to meet her eyes. It was just an ordinary, unremarkable glance, yet Qing Ye felt as if a fire were burning inside her, her blood boiling—this torturous love.

Xing Wu turned and left first, and only then did Qing Ye let out a sharp sigh of relief. As soon as she stepped out of the shop, she unscrewed the bottle cap and gulped down the drink frantically, trying to calm her wildly pounding heart.

Then she heard Huang Mao call out to her, "Qing Ye, slow down! Good grief, it's like you haven't had a drink in three years."

She spat out a mouthful of the drink and turned her head to see that Xing Wu hadn't left at all. Huang Mao and the others were all waiting outside the shop, and now the whole group was staring at her unusual behavior, especially Xing Wu's faint, ambiguous gaze. This directly caused Qing Ye to choke violently, and she began coughing intensely, bending over as her entire face turned red from the fit.

Huang Mao glanced at Xing Wu, who remained standing motionless, and couldn't help but walk over to ask her, "Are you okay?"

Qing Ye patted her chest, straightened up, waved her hand dismissively, and hurried back to her classroom.

Huang Mao looked back at Xing Wu's gradually furrowed brow, filled with self-reproach. Were the two of them really going to break up over him?