For the first two nights, Jiang Mu had been able to sleep peacefully because Jin Chao was there before she went to bed. But tonight, the auto repair shop was pitch black and she was alone. Lifting her head, she saw the empty maintenance bay and couldn't help feeling uneasy. Fortunately, San Lai brought Shandian over to keep her company.
Shandian was quite well-behaved. While Jiang Mu worked on her problems, he didn't cause any trouble but lay sprawled out on the table sleeping, his little chubby paws resting on her test paper. She occasionally stroked him, which made her feel less afraid.
When it was time to sleep, Jiang Mu placed the dog bed San Lai had given her beside her own bed, and Shandian slept next to her on the floor. This brought her some comfort.
However, after turning off the light and lying in bed, her thoughts began to wander again. She considered sending a message to Jin Chao to say goodnight, but then she wondered—what if he wasn't alone? Would it be inconvenient if she messaged him? If he wasn't alone, what might he be doing?
Once this train of thought started, it became uncontrollable. That night, her dreams were filled with Jin Chao. Strangely, perhaps because of her conversation with San Lai earlier, in her dream Jin Chao was shirtless, cleaning the windows outside her small room. She lifted the blinds to get a better look at his waist when a faceless woman embraced him from behind. Jin Chao threw down the rag, turned around, and swept the faceless woman into his arms, pressing her against the object covered by the large tarpaulin.
The visual impact of that scene was so intense that when Jiang Mu woke up the next morning, she sat in bed for a long time, unable to snap out of it. She considered herself a simple-minded and pure-hearted girl, and this was probably the first time in her entire adolescence that she had such an explicit dream. What's more, the main characters were Jin Chao and a faceless woman. The most bewildering part was that in the dream, she was desperate to climb out through the window by her bed to stop Jin Chao, though she couldn't explain why she felt the need to intervene.
Seeing that Jiang Mu was awake, Shandian excitedly wagged his bottom and leaned against the bed, begging for pets. Jiang Mu let out a long sigh, patted Shandian's head, got out of bed, and pushed aside the blinds to look outside. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the yard was still dark. Of course, there was no shirtless Jin Chao cleaning windows as in her dream. Just as she was about to let go of the blinds, she suddenly noticed that the object in the yard that had been covered by the large tarpaulin was gone. But she didn't pay it much mind, yawning as she got up to change clothes.
Jin Chao hadn't returned for two days. To avoid drawing too much attention, Jiang Mu declined San Lai's offer to pick her up, saying it was convenient enough for her to take the No. 6 bus. However, when she returned, San Lai was sitting at the entrance cracking sunflower seeds. He watched her enter the auto repair shop and lock the door before carrying his stool back into the shop and calling Jin Chao: "She's home."
Jin Chao responded with an "Mm."
San Lai asked, "When are you coming back?"
"I want to check out the terrain. It might take another two days."
That was Jin Chao's plan, but plans often change. The next day, he received a call from Lao Ma.
During evening self-study, Class Monitor Chang Jiang came in from the corridor carrying a stack of notices, his small eyes squinting into slits as he announced, "Lao Ma wants you to work on this morning's test paper. He's talking to someone and will be here later."
Someone in the front row asked, "Who is it?"Monitor Changjiang handed out the notices and replied, "How would I know? A young handsome guy."
The words "handsome guy" successfully reached Yan Xiaoyi's ears. Upon hearing this, she insisted on dragging Jiang Mu to the restroom. Jiang Mu inwardly refused, but lacking the strength to resist, she was yanked from her seat and hauled away. The moment they left the classroom, Jiang Mu reminded her, "The restroom isn't this way."
Yan Xiaoyi said dismissively, "Let's take a walk around. It's good for our eyesight to rest them."
Sure enough, she wandered over to Lao Ma's office. The office was lit, and as they reached the door, they realized they weren't the only ones—several passing classmates were also craning their necks to peek inside. But Yan Xiaoyi's large frame made her impossible to miss, even behind a pillar. Lao Ma couldn't help but notice and called out directly, "Yan Xiaoyi, why aren't you in self-study? What are you looking at?"
Everyone else scattered, and Jiang Mu wanted to run too, but Yan Xiaoyi simply linked arms with her and said cheerfully to Lao Ma, "Jiang Mu and I are going to the restroom."
Jiang Mu, inexplicably dragged to the office door, was about to force a cooperative expression when she suddenly spotted Jin Chao lounging casually on the black sofa beside Lao Ma, legs crossed.
In that instant, Jiang Mu's face froze stiff. She hadn't expected Jin Chao, who had gone out of town, to be back—and to appear in Lao Ma's office, no less. A bad feeling immediately washed over her.
Sure enough, upon seeing her, Lao Ma said, "Yan Xiaoyi, return to class. Jiang Mu, stay here."
Yan Xiaoyi innocently spread her hands at Jiang Mu and had no choice but to leave first. Jiang Mu shuffled a few steps into the office. Jin Chao remained in the same posture, wearing a black-and-brown plaid shirt with green-gray cargo pants. The muted color palette made him appear clean and sharp, exuding a youthful vibe. The only thing setting him apart from a high school student was the steady, experienced glint in his eyes, which now rested on Jiang Mu.
A disposable paper cup sat on the armrest of the sofa beside Jin Chao, steam still rising from the tea inside.
Jiang Mu instinctively clasped her hands in front of her, watching him warily. Noticing this, Lao Ma told her, "It's nothing serious. I understand you don't want to look for your dad, so I just had a few words with your brother. You should discuss things more with your family. Once everything's out in the open, it's not a big deal. Go pack your things and head home early today."
Jiang Mu nodded obediently. Jin Chao slowly rose from the sofa, picked up the disposable cup, drank the tea, crumpled it, and tossed it into the trash. Turning to Lao Ma, he said, "I'll be going then."
Lao Ma seemed to want to pat Jin Chao's shoulder, but the height difference made it awkward, so he settled for patting his back instead. His tone was full of helplessness: "You too—you left without a word. You should come back and visit more often when you have time."
Jin Chao gave a silent nod without another word.
After leaving Lao Ma's office, Jin Chao initially intended to wait for her downstairs. However, Jiang Mu told him, "Our classroom is over there. We have to go around from the front."
Suddenly remembering something, she added, "You probably know this place better than I do. I need to grab something from the classroom. Wait for me."
Jin Chao had no choice but to accompany her back to her classroom. If not for Lao Ma's call today or because of the girl beside him, he couldn't think of any reason to return here. Gazing at the familiar teaching building, Jin Chao remained silent throughout.Jiang Mu observed his expression several times, but could discern nothing from his face. They walked silently through the corridor. When passing by Class 1 of Grade 12, Zhang Fan spotted Jin Chao with his sharp eyes and shouted through the window, "Jiu Ge!"
Jin Chao frowned slightly and glanced sideways, his thick eyelashes shading his deep, cool eyes. That one glance sent the entire Class 1 into a frenzy, with many crowding by the windows to ask Zhang Fan who that person was.
Zhang Fan said with animated excitement, "He's the legendary Seventh Day! You're all such newbies, knowing nothing. He was even in the same class as my brother!"
Under his highly exaggerated embellishment, within ten minutes the news spread beyond Class 1, circulating wildly through several small group chats across grades.
By the time Jiang Mu returned to her classroom, many students from Classes 5 and 6 were already craning their necks to look. She methodically folded the test papers on her desk and neatly packed them into her backpack. Jin Chao stood outside the back door of Class 6, his figure blending into the dim corridor light—tall and straight-backed.
Yan Xiaoyi couldn't resist stealing a few more glances and asked Jiang Mu, "Do you know him?"
Jiang Mu nodded and said to her, "I'm leaving first. Lao Ma knows."
Then she glanced at Jin Chao outside the back door. He stood there quietly waiting, hands resting on the railing as he gazed down at some spot below, suddenly evoking a familiar feeling in her heart.
When she was younger, Jin Chao always finished school later than her. She remembered a period when Jiang Yinghan had lots of work at her unit, so Jiang Mu would often wait at school doing homework until Jin Chao finished classes. If she finished her homework quickly, she'd carry her backpack to wait by the back door of his classroom.
His homeroom teacher back then was a Chinese language instructor who loved holding students after class. Once, the teacher used their class activity period to review test papers, continuing long after the dismissal bell had rung. Under the gaze of the whole class, Jin Chao suddenly stood up and asked the teacher, "When are we dismissing?"
The teacher was taken aback by his question and scolded him, "What's the rush? Can't you see everyone is paying attention? Do you have some urgent matter to get home to?"
Jin Chao swung his backpack over his shoulder and replied calmly to the teacher, "My little sister is waiting for me. She'll get hungry."
Then, in front of the entire class, he pulled open the back door, took Jiang Mu's hand, and walked away directly.
That scene left a profound impact on Jiang Mu's young heart. After all, in elementary school, her attitude toward teachers mingled respect with a degree of fear. Yet Jin Chao had dared to stand up openly against the teacher's overtime lecturing for her sake. For a long time, he seemed as brave as a hero in her eyes.
But times change. She never imagined that one day Jin Chao would be waiting for her after school by the back door of her classroom.
Jiang Mu's packing movements became somewhat lighter as she slung her backpack and walked out the back door. Pan Kai anxiously called out to her, "Jiang Jiang, you..."
Before he could finish, Jin Chao turned around, his quiet gaze sweeping over Pan Kai from outside the door. In that moment, Pan Kai's mind went completely blank, forgetting what he had wanted to say to Jiang Mu.
Jin Chao naturally took the backpack from her shoulder and asked on her behalf, "Is there anything else?"
Pan Kai waved his hands with an awkward smile, "No, nothing. Bye, Jiang Jiang."
Jin Chao then turned and left with Jiang Mu, leaving behind a crowd of bewildered onlookers.When passing by Class 5 of Grade 11, Jin Chao casually glanced at the physics teacher standing on the podium. The teacher was speaking with great passion, but when he caught sight of Jin Chao's figure passing by the window, his voice suddenly halted. Jin Chao lowered his head and quickened his pace. Jiang Mu, following behind him, turned back to look at the middle-aged male teacher, whose gaze was fixed on Jin Chao's retreating figure with a dazed and complicated expression.
As they descended the stairs, Jiang Mu asked, "Does that teacher know you?"
Jin Chao replied indifferently with an "Mm."
When they passed by the display window, Jiang Mu tugged at him, and Jin Chao slowed his steps. She turned and pointed at the relay race photo from the sports meet, asking him, "Did you win in the end?"
Jin Chao's gaze followed her finger to the photo, the calm in his eyes stirred by the image. Jiang Mu tilted her head to study him, but in just a second, he had already averted his eyes. "I forgot," he said.
He walked toward the other end of the corridor. The darkness of night enveloped the campus in tranquility, burying the fervor and struggles of their youth along with it.
Jiang Mu watched his retreating figure and thought that his heart must be unsettled at this moment. This place was a crossroads in his life, one that came to an abrupt halt just as he was about to step into the threshold of the highest institution of learning. No one could face such a thing with equanimity.
Thinking about how he always wore a hat and hid across the street in an inconspicuous spot whenever he came to the affiliated high school, she wondered—was it because he feared being recognized and causing trouble, or was it because he simply didn’t want to face everything here?
Jiang Mu’s heart suddenly tightened. She jogged a few steps to catch up with him and grabbed the sleeve of his jacket. Jin Chao looked down at her tightly clenched hand. Jiang Mu turned her head away and muttered, "I’m afraid of falling. Let me hold onto you."
She didn’t know why she was holding onto him—only that when she saw his solitary figure, at this moment, she didn’t want to let him go.
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