CH 6

In the middle of the night, Gu Miao carried his heavy backpack and stepped into the house.

There was no moonlight that night, the house was eerily dark. After washing up, he laid on the hard wooden bed and his empty stomach started aching.

Throughout the busy day, the bowl of porridge in the morning was the only thing he ate.

As it approached midnight, Gu Miao had difficulty getting up but he did and boiled a pot of hot water for himself.

Steam circulated the kitchen. He poured iced water into the boiling water to cool it down before he took a sip. Finally, the pain in his stomach was somewhat relieved.

He took some more sips and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

It was past midnight. Thinking that he had to get up early for class tomorrow, he hurried back to bed.

But after a while, the intense stomach pain came back again.

He shut his eyes tightly, hoping that he would fall asleep soon so that the surging pain would go away.

The cold wind was whistling outside the window. Amid his erratic and confused thoughts, Gu Miao recalled the warm bowl of porridge from the morning and the girl’s crystal clear moving eyes.

She was someone he once thought was too unattainable to even think about, but now they are somewhat familiar with each other.

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Gu Miao knew that she must have forgotten about him, forgotten the poor stuttering young boy.

Her gentle and kind gestures from before were simply because she was kindhearted.

But she was warm and gentle like a sun beaming on the winter land, therefore, illuminating his cold and lonely heart.

She probably didn’t know what she meant to him.

The darkness seemed to magnify all five senses and for a brief moment, Gu Miao could hear his heartbeat beating as fierce as a huge tidal wave.

For Gu Miao, school life was bleak and gloomy.

He was like a soulless walking corpse, wandering on the campus, enduring the ridicule from his classmates and the ignorance from the teacher. They were like a sharp sword, constantly stabbing at his already broken heart.

But ever since Cheng Chu came back to his life, he began to look forward to those times, times that he had previously avoided in the past.

He longed to sit behind the girl; a position where whenever he lifted his eyes during class, he could see her back form and his breath filled with the subtle fragrance drifting from her body.

That night, Gu Miao had a good dream.

***

Gu Miao woke up very early on Monday morning, it wasn’t even six o’clock yet.

After getting ready and washing up, the sky outside was still gray.

He sat at the desk and turned on the lamp.

The warm yellow light illuminated the dark and cramped room.

Gu Miao flipped open a textbook and softly read to himself out loud.

He was reading A Happy Excursion from literature class. Although he deliberately slowed down his reading pace, he still spoke in intermittent sentences.

[《逍遥游》pronounced as Xiao Yao You, it is a famous Chinese literature work.]

“I-In the N-North Sea lives an f-fish, h-his name is K-Kun. K-Kun is g-g-gigantic, h-his body s-stretches for miles o-on end.”

[Kun is a mythical creature, a legendary giant fish that could transform into a giant bird.]

The young man’s voice was low, flowing like a silky and melodious cello.

The ticking clock in the bedroom was accompanied by the sound of his broken reading.

By the time Gu Miao finished reading this short piece of literature, twenty minutes had passed.

He glanced at the clock; his brows drooping with anticipation.

It took too long.

He recorded the time in a small notebook, packed his backpack, and prepared to leave for school.

This was the first day Gu Miao practiced speaking.

In the past, he never had any expectations nor did he care to improve his speaking skills.

Deep down, he always evasively believed that as long as he doesn’t open his mouth, others will stop mocking him.

But ever since meeting the girl at the hospital yesterday, Gu Miao’s lifeless heart seemed to have a droplet of energy. Soon, he came up with an idea…

He wants to speak fluently. More accurately, he wants to speak coherently to the girl.

Gu Miao knew that the girl probably no longer remembered him from a year ago.

But doesn’t it also mean that she probably forgot that he stutters?

He happily imagined the next time they speak, even if he couldn’t speak fluently to her, he wouldn’t act as embarrassed and pitiful as he was a year ago.

The morning wind was cold. It harshly brushed against Gu Miao’s face like a never-ending snowstorm.

In contrast, his heart rate increased and his body burned up as he repeatedly fantasized about a scenario where he would casually talk and laugh with the girl.

If only the dream was real.

***

After the second period at Haishi Number One High School, is a 20 minutes break time.

Most students would choose to eat breakfast then.

It seems that most people left the classroom for break time. The new deskmate, Luo Qian Qian, pulled Cheng Chu over and asked: “Chu Chu, do you wanna have breakfast together?”

Luo Qian Qian had heard of Cheng Chu before.

Initially, she thought that a girl like Cheng Chu, who was beautiful enough to be on equal standings as supermodels, would be arrogant and indifferent and always holding her chin up sky-high while enjoying everyone’s pursuit and praises.

But after just two days of getting to know her, Luo Qian Qian knew that that was not the case at all. Her previous thoughts were completely wrong.

Cheng Chu was quite approachable.

Only a few people were sitting as twos and threes in the classroom, the place was extremely quiet.

Cheng Chu secretly glanced behind her and saw Gu Miao still sitting in his seat, reading a book with his head down.

The boy sat upright as straight as a pencil as if that behavior was ingrained in his bones.

She shook her head at Luo Qian Qian and whispered: “I’m not going.”

“Okay.” Luo Qian Qian was a little disappointed and said: “Then I’m going to join someone else. See ya.”

Her seat was on the inside and needed Cheng Chu to stand up to leave.

A few birds sang a melody from outside.

Cheng Chu took the opportunity to turn around and her doe-like eyes uncontrollably glanced toward Gu Miao.

The boy had his head lowered and held a gel pen in his hand. His slender fingers and his knuckles were slightly pale from the pressure he put on the pen as he wrote.

[Wow, he’s so concentrated.]

Cheng Chu uncomfortably pursed her lips together.

She wanted to talk to Gu Miao, but seeing that he was concentrating on his study, she was afraid to disturb him.

After contemplating for a second, she lowered her eyes and turned back around.

Seated at the back of the classroom, the book in Gu Miao’s hand never turned a page. His breath was full of the light fragrance drifting from the girl.

His heart was pounding like a sprinting rabbit. He was hoping the girl would take the initiative to speak to him but at the same time, afraid of how he would answer her and expose his stuttering habits.

In just a few seconds, he had imagined countless scenarios played out in his mind.

But she turned back and said nothing.

The front door was suddenly knocked open with a loud “BANG”. Some people came back from the canteen and brought back fried chicken wings and steamed buns. They then went back to their seats to feast.

Cheng Chu was about to open her textbook to preview the topics that’ll be addressed in the next period when a boy abruptly handed her a steam bun, saying: “Cheng Chu, do you want some?”

“No thanks.” She smiled politely.

Yu Yin awkwardly pulled back his hand and said absentmindedly: “Uh… Cheng Chu, weren’t you in Class 2 in your first year of high school?”

“Yeah.” Cheng Chu nodded.

“I used to be in Class 1, right next door to you.” He replied with a smug face.

Class 1 and 2 are both Special classes. Sophomore year rearrange students according to their grades. The members of Special classes with satisfactory grades remain in those classes but those who fail are assigned to Ordinary classes.

This person got demoted from the Special class to the Ordinary class. Seriously don’t know what he was boasting about.

Cheng Chu didn’t want to speak to him anymore and half-heartedly answered: “Oh.”

But Yu Yin didn’t notice her absent-mindedness, so he continued ranting. After a while, he took a box of chocolates out of nowhere.

He looked around the classroom and spoke loudly: “Oh right, I forgot I have chocolates, do you want some?”

As Cheng Chu turned her head around to adamantly refuse him, she saw a person standing behind her.

In the morning light, the young man’s figure seemed exceptionally tall and lean.

She raised her eyes and saw Gu Miao holding a glass of water. With his lips tightly pressed together and his eyes as dark as the silent night, he was staring coldly at Yu Yin’s hand that was in front of her.

“No thank you.” Cheng Chu replied to Yu Yin: “Also, you are blocking people.”

Yu Yin looked over and contemptuously glared at him with his slanted eyes and reluctantly retracted his hand.

He glared at Gu Miao’s back and snorted heavily.

Cheng Chu glanced over and after seeing Yu Yin’s face full of contempt and disdain, anger quickly rose in her heart.

She no longer wanted to bother with Yu Yin anymore so she flipped open her textbook and concentrated on reading.

In the morning light, the girl’s head was lowered slightly yet her profile radiated elegance and grace.

Yu Yin finally took the hint and stayed quiet.

He unconsciously played with the pen in his hand. His gaze looked past the glass window as his glare landed on Gu Miao. A devilish idea came to mind.

The person who fetched water in the morning didn’t do it right. Gu Miao moved quickly and returned to the classroom within a few minutes.

The classroom was quiet and peaceful. A gentle breeze blew in from the window, flipping through several sheets of paper lying on the desk.

Gu Miao walked into the room. As he looked at the girl’s soft dark hair, the haze in his eyes gradually dissipated.

His eyes couldn’t help but drift to her. When he walked toward the girl, he felt his breath hitch within his throat and he couldn’t breathe.

Suddenly, his feet tripped over something. Gu Miao instinctively reached out his hand to grab a table.

There was a loud “BANG!”, and he lost his balance. As he fell, he knocked over the books on the table and his water bottle in his hand.

He knelt on the floor in a predicament. His knees hurt but he didn’t care. He used his torn hands to support himself and quickly stood up.

[Can’t let her see me in an embarrassing situation.]

Gu Miao thought to himself.

But a certain someone is adamant about ruining his day.

Seeing him standing up, Yu Yin immediately stretched out his hand and gave him a push while yelling: “F*ck! What are you doing!”

Gu Miao has a slight case of low blood sugar. He was already a little dizzy when he fell to the ground and even more so now that he was pushed by Yu Yin. He slightly staggered and looked completely out of energy.

There was a loud “BANG!” and he fell to the ground again.

The skin on his knees and hands were torn and searing pain tore through his flesh. Everything in his view was pitch black but he gritted his teeth, fumbled over, and picked up the books and bottle on the floor.

Cheng Chu glared at Yu Yin and angrily said: “Why are you pushing him?”

Countless pairs of eyes glanced to the corner of the classroom.

Cheng Chu bent down and started helping Gu Miao pick up the textbooks that were scattered on the floor. She whispered to him: “Are you alright? Are you hurt badly? Do you want to go to the infirmary?”

Yu Yin watched as the girl squatted on the ground, only caring about Gu Miao.

He got more and more frustrated.

Glaring condescendingly at Gu Miao, who was still squatting on the ground, Yu Yin cursed in disgust: “Hey, stupid stutter. Talk! You hit my desk and you won’t even apologize.”

Gu Miao held his hands and stood up slowly.

It was November and the cold wind blew in from the windows. Gu Miao’s presence seemed to carry winter’s frigidness; his dark eyes filled with bloodthirst.

For a moment, Yu Yin was stunned by his eyes and he instinctively took a step back.

But soon, he saw the stunning girl on the side, he knew he couldn’t back down.

After adjusting his stance, Yu Yin continued: “F*ck you! You broke my things so apologize!”

Usually, he would often bully Gu Miao. But now this same person is rebelling, making him even more agitated.

Gu Miao was half a head taller than him. When he lowered his eyes, his bottomless eyes were filled with ice.

Gu Miao discretely glanced at the girl next to him. He stood there with his lips tightly pressed together. After a while, he walked away without saying a word.

Silently suppressing the anger in his heart, Gu Miao thought to himself.

[It was already embarrassing enough to trip in front of her. I shouldn’t speak anymore.]