CH 13

The students who finished the physics exam didn’t have the opportunity to relax because midterms were coming up.

During the lunch break, many people stayed in the classroom. Everyone gathered together in twos and threes, studying quietly.

“Hey, Chu Chu, do you want to drink milk tea?” Luo Qian Qian tugged at the corner of Cheng Chu’s clothes.

“Sure, are you ordering food takeouts?” Cheng Chu replied.

Luo Qian Qian nodded, then turned to Zhou Ran who sat behind them and asked: “Do you like milk tea? Me, you, and Chu Chu can order it together.”

Zhou Ran rubbed his eyes and said: “Okay.”

Luo Qian Qian immediately opened the food delivery app and started ordering.

At noon, the curtains were closed in the classroom, but the warm sunlight shone through the gaps.

Cheng Chu looked at Gu Miao’s empty desk and said, “Qian Qian, please help me order two drinks.”

Luo Qian Qian asked strangely: “Are you drinking two milk teas?”

Cheng Chu pursed her lips and said in a low voice: “I want to order a drink for Gu Miao. If only the three of us drink it, he’ll be left out. That’s not good. Later, I will transfer the money to you.”

“Are you going to invite him?” Luo Qian Qian narrowed her eyes.

Cheng Chu answered: “In the group discussions these days, he helped us a lot. It makes sense to repay him for his troubles.”

Luo Qian Qian nodded: “Well, that’s true.”

It’s unknown when the stoic boy began to participate in their group discussion. Although usually when they asked him a question, he stuttered his answers.

Zhou Ran also said: “Yeah, he’s actually quite nice. These days, I have asked him many questions, and he patiently answers all of them.”

“Really?” Luo Qian Qian wondered.

She was always flustered in Gu Miao’s presence. She’s too afraid to even look at him, let alone talk to him.

The afternoon time always makes people feel drowsy. When Gu Miao left the noodle restaurant, his mind was still a little drowsy and cloudy. He checked the time and saw that there were only ten minutes before class starts.

He carried his school bag and ran to the classroom.

Because he had class cleaning duty last night, he told his boss to change his shift at the restaurant, so he had to cover the afternoon shift.

The bitter winter wind was so cold that Gu Miao felt as if his face was being brutally scratched.

The moment he stepped into the classroom, the school bell rang.

When he moved his chair back, he found a cup of hot milk tea sitting on his table.

Gu Miao touched the wall of the glass, and warmth instantly spread across his fingertips. He turned his head and hesitantly asked Zhou Ran, “T-This is?”

Zhou Ran was looking down while reading a book, then raised his head and said: “The three of us ordered milk tea to go. And it was buy three, get one free.”

This is what Cheng Chu told him to say since Gu Miao has high self-esteem. If Zhou Ran directly asks him to have the drink, he’ll definitely not accept it.

The warmth from the fingertips was like a small flowing stream, slowly spreading into his heart.

Gu Miao pursed his lips and said, “T-Thank you.”

“Hey, no problem.” Zhou Ran said while patting him on the shoulder.

After a few days of talking, he discovered that this gloomy teenager was not as indifferent and cold as he had originally imagined.

Gu Miao is like a small flame burning ever so slightly. Only those who are willing to approach him could feel his weak but passionate warmth.

A trace of guilt rose in Zhou Ran’s heart. He recalled in the past when Gu Miao was bullied by Yu Yin, he just stood on the sideline indifferently and watched them with cold eyes.

Zhou Ran is not a very righteous person. He’s not like Cheng Chu; he doesn’t have the courage to stand up against bullies and accuse them of injustice and bullying.

But if it is his friend who is being wronged, he is willing to put away his indifference, straighten his back, and muster the courage to confront them.

***

After the midterm exams, the atmosphere in the class didn’t relax at all. Instead, it became tenser as days passed.

It is now the day midterm results are posted. Cheng Chu arrived at the classroom early in the morning.

She doesn’t expect to return to the Special Class, so she wasn’t nervous about the grades.

But other people were different, especially those who were often the top three of the class. Whoever’s grades enter the top sixty in the school means that they have won the ticket to enter the Special Class.

A cold breeze blew in from outside the window, but Cheng Chu was wearing a thick winter jacket and didn’t feel cold.

Soft footsteps were coming from behind her. Cheng Chu turned her head and saw Gu Miao bending down and placing his school bag on the seat.

In the bright morning light, the young boy’s face seemed paler. He was only wearing a thin coat, and he looked as if he’s been staying outside in the cold for a long period.

Cheng Chu quickly got up, closed the window, turned her head, and greeted him: “Good morning.”

“G-Good m-morning.” Gu Miao awkwardly replied.

Then, he raised his eyes.

The girl’s smile was bright, brighter than the warm winter sun shining outside the window.

Gu Miao anxiously pursed his lips. His lips were a little cracked from the cold, and there was a slight pain when he moved his mouth.

He knew that today is the day that grades are posted. As long as her grades enter the top sixty, she will leave his side.

The time spent with her was like a short dream, beautiful like a rainbow in the sky after rainfall, but the beauty is fleeting.

And now, it’s time to wake up from the dream.

People like him who were born in the lowest tier, could only stay and rot, calmly waiting for their end.

The dazzling sun in the sky was not something he could desire. He’ll burn from the heat just by walking next to her.

But he is like a moth flying toward the fire, willingly and without complaint.

Gu Miao’s gloomy heart thought of an ugly idea —

[If she fails the exam, then she couldn’t return to the Special Class, right?]

His fist was tightly clenched, and his heart slightly relaxed from that audacious thought.

But the next second, he wanted to slap himself.

She is such a kind and warm girl, who never laughed at him for his shortcomings and was always there to lend him a hand.

Whereas, because of his selfish desires, he secretly wanted his ugly idea to come true.

Gu Miao never felt his heart being so cold before. The overwhelming sense of self-loathing was like a huge net, locking him tightly in a cage.

His throat seemed to collapse upon itself, and even his breath was shortened.

After a long time, he lowered his head somewhat evasively, blankly staring at his empty table, motionless.

The classroom door was pushed open from the outside, and the class president walked in with a stack of report cards.

Everyone instantly swarmed to the class president, blocking the aisle.

Gu Miao sat in the seat, his eyes fixed on the crowd of students, his dark eyes growing colder.

The class president shouted loudly amidst the cluster: “Everyone, get back to your seats! I will give the report cards one by one.”

Instantly, the noisy classroom quieted down. Everyone sat in their seats obediently, waiting for the distribution of their results.

Cheng Chu hadn’t moved since the beginning. She knew that her exam grades this time were not good, at least it was a thousand times worse than her past grades.

Luo Qian Qian, who was next to her, had also been sitting still right from the beginning. She was a standard academic dummy; she wouldn’t even dream about entering the Special Class.

Luo Qian Qian curiously glanced at Cheng Chu and asked, “Chu Chu, are you not anxious about your grades?”

Students who usually get good grades had already crowded around the class president, nervously waiting for their results.

Cheng Chu shook her head: “I’ll find out eventually.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Luo Qian Qian couldn’t find anything else to say.

The windows were opened and the frigid wind blew into the classroom.

When the class president walked toward Cheng Chu, his bangs were flowing in the wind.

He stretched out his hand to straighten his bangs, lowered his head, and casually glanced at Cheng Chu’s report card. His eyes grew larger in surprise.

“Here.” The class president handed her the report card, pursed his lips, and added: “Don’t be sad.”

Cheng Chu didn’t say a word and looked down at her grades.

Her grades were 8th place in the class and 130th place in the school.

She had never scored lower than the top 30 in the school before and even with her worst grade ever, she was placed 28th in the school.

Cheng Chu silently put the score report into her pencil case, and calmly said: “Well, it’s okay.”

Luo Qian Qian wanted to know more, but after hearing what they said, she didn’t dare to ask, but her eyes were curiously twinkling.

""

The air stagnated for a moment, and the class president didn’t know what to say. He could only walk back silently and gave Zhou Ran and Gu Miao their report cards.

Gu Miao received his result, glanced at it casually, and put it aside.

He clutched his heart tightly and stared at Cheng Chu’s back without blinking.

The girl hung her head without saying a word.

[Is she sad because she failed the exam?] Gu Miao thought.

His dark eyes flashed.

For a moment, he was more disgusted by his sinister intentions.

Why? Things are going in the direction that he hoped for, but he is not happy at all.

His heart seemed to be stabbed by a knife. The knife was not very sharp, somewhat blunt, but it was slowly grinding his heart into pieces.

He felt his heart being squeezed, gradually oozing blood, becoming inflamed, and the frigid wind blowing into the wound, making it painful and unbearable.

He suddenly realized that he would rather watch the girl leave him than seeing her sad.

He wanted her to smile forever, like the bright and dazzling sun.

The sound of students’ discussion grew louder in the classroom, and Gu Miao vaguely heard Luo Qian Qian’s cautious voice.

“Chu Chu, don’t be sad. You can’t return this time but there will be another time.”

“Mmhm, I’m fine.” Cheng Chu’s voice was faint, but Gu Miao felt that she was pretending to be strong.

His aching heart hurts even more.