CH 18.2

In the far distance, the gym teacher seemed to notice that something was wrong, and while running frantically in their direction, he yelled: “Stop this instant!”

If they continue to fight, someone is bound to get seriously hurt.

Zhou Ran stepped forward and stubbornly hugged Wang Yan’s waist to prevent Gu Miao from being at a disadvantage.

He yelled: “Stop fighting! Stop! This is going to end badly if you continue, Gu Miao stop!”

Gu Miao’s eyes were thirsting for blood; the adrenaline fired up his heart and body. For a moment, he had an urge to kill.

Many people on the field noticed what was happening and were slowly gathering around them, silently speculating.

“Gu Miao, stop! Cheng Chu is here.” Zhou Ran shouted, watching Gu Miao’s fists constantly swinging.

Gu Miao’s fist stopped in midair, finally registering a slight pain in his hand.

The gym teacher ran like a gust of wind and immediately separated Gu Miao and Wang Yan.

In the freezing winter wind, Gu Miao turned his head and saw the girl standing in the crowd.

Her beautiful doe eyes widened in surprise but trembling in fear.

At that moment, Gu Miao felt a chill slowly rising from the soles of his feet, and the energy was drained from his body.

He knew that it was the end for him.

The loud chattering from other students woke Gu Miao from his trance.

Wang Yan is a big guy with broad shoulders. The two had an intense brawl and as a result, both of them were equally injured and bruised.

Gu Miao felt a burning sensation in the corner of his mouth. He licked his lips and tasted blood.

He turned his head away, afraid to take another look at the girl again.

His lips were torn, and his clothes were dirtied from rolling across the dirt floor. He was not a pleasing sight to behold.

But more importantly, she saw him fighting with the intent to kill, acting cold and cruel to a fellow student.

The fear reflected in the girl’s eyes was like a knife, cutting Gu Miao’s heart to pieces. He refused to look at her and dropped his gaze; his eyelashes trembled the entire time.

“The three of you, follow me to the office! We’re going to have a long conversation with your homeroom teacher today!” The gym teacher shouted.

Just now Song Xinyu was pushed very far away. Because she looked like a fragile and beautiful doll, the gym teacher automatically didn’t suspect her to be involved in the fight.

The three boys bowed their heads, like three defeated gooses.

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Lin Yue, class three’s homeroom teacher, almost had heartburn. Her son fell ill today yet she had to return from the hospital after a hectic day. She finished taking a nice, relaxing bath and was lying in bed wanting to take a brief rest but was interrupted and she was urgently called back to school.

When she arrived, the school bell rang signaling the end of the last period.

Lin Yue calmly walked up the stairs and saw her favorite student, Cheng Chu, hovering in front of the office door.

“What are you doing here after school?” Lin Yue stared into the girl’s beautifully clear eyes and felt the anger in her heart slowly disappearing.

Cheng Chu was looking down before she raised her head in surprise. Seeing that it was the homeroom teacher, she pursed her lips and said: “Teacher, I just wanted to ask, what will happen to them?”

Fights were against school rules and were included in the records as big demerits.

Cheng Chu was anxious, if the fight was included in Gu Miao’s records, then it would badly influence his future college entrance examinations and even his jobs.

Lin Yue knew that she’s close with Gu Miao and Zhou Ran and thought that she was worried for them.

After taking a big sigh, Lin Yue said: “I don’t know but don’t worry, it has nothing to do with you. It’s after school, you should go back home. Their results will be decided by the director and me.”

Cheng Chu hesitated for a moment, then nodded: “Alright, teacher, I’ll go first.”

Lin Yue nodded slightly, watching the girl walk down the stairs before her face turned sullen again and briskly walked into the office.

***

Cheng Chu didn’t walk too far away. She knew that if she didn’t find out their results, she would have trouble sleeping and eating all weekend.

Thinking of the wounds on Gu Miao’s face, she used her phone to order delivery from the pharmacy and asked them to deliver the medicine to the school gate.

Later the medicine arrived, Cheng Chu was afraid that the homeroom teacher would see her, so she quietly sat in the milk tea shop opposite the school.

The warm air and the sweet fragrance of milk tea and cake flowed around the shop, and calming music resounded off the walls.

Cheng Chu causally ordered a cup of milk tea and absentmindedly took two sips but couldn’t taste anything.

She stared at the school gate closely, analyzing anyone who entered or exited the campus.

About fifteen minutes later, when Cheng Chu saw Zhou Ran leaving the school gates, she yanked her school bag and dashed out of the milk tea shop.

“Zhou Ran.” Cheng Chu exclaimed.

Zhou Ran looked up at her, looking a little surprised.

“Cheng Chu? Why are you here?”

Cheng Chu said: “Where is Gu Miao? Why didn’t he come out with you? Did the teacher say how they will deal with it? Will it be put on records?”

The series of incoming questions made Zhou Ran dizzy. He paused and said: “They called Gu Miao and the other boy’s parents. They are still in the office but they haven’t decided on the punishments yet.”

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“Why exactly were you guys fighting?” Cheng Chu asked.

Zhou Ran stared at her for a bit and hesitated, debating whether or not to tell her the reason.

“You.. are you sure you want to know?” Zhou Ran subconsciously felt that Gu Miao does not want her to know, but if he doesn’t explain clearly, he was afraid that Cheng Chu would misunderstand Gu Miao.

Gu Miao’s fierce glare, anyone would be afraid of it.

But if Cheng Chu became afraid of him and didn’t want to approach him anymore, how brutal and unfair would it be for him?

A row of evergreen holly trees was planted on the road next to the school, still lush and green in winter.

Cheng Chu anxiously answered: “Of course I am sure, just tell me already!”

Zhou Ran pursed his lips and nervously said: “Because he heard Song Xinyu tell Wang Yan to harass you. Oh! Also, Wang Yan is the one who fought with Gu Miao.”

“Song Xinyu?” Cheng Chu was a little startled: “Harass me? Are you sure?”

She knew that Song Xinyu didn’t like her, but she never took her seriously.

The little girl pretended to be a delicate white lotus in front of Cheng Chu, but she only found her childish and ridiculous; however, she never thought that Song Xinyu could be so cruel.

“Yes, Gu Miao and I heard that together. Anyway, they said something really disgusting, and they also talked about something with red ink. Anyhow, I didn’t understand much but Gu Miao got very angry as soon as he heard it, and immediately went to beat up Wang Yan.”

Cheng Chu had no words.

The night in Haishi City grew colder, and Zhou Ran watched the girl’s beautifully clear eyes reflecting cold lights.

He swallowed and asked: “Wait, you know about the red ink?”

“Yeah.” Cheng Chu nodded.

Of course, she knew about it, she figured it out the instant Zhou Ran mentioned the red ink.

It seemed that they were not targeting Gu Miao but her.

Gu Miao didn’t want her to know, so he cleaned the floor and swapped chairs, except he didn’t expect that the red ink would seep into the shoe box.

The cold wind howled loudly within the campus, and Cheng Chu could feel cold shivers down her spine. She didn’t expect that the slight animosity between two girls would take a turn for the worst.

But Gu Miao secretly helped her so much.

He even impulsively fought someone and got himself in trouble.

Cheng Chu’s heart turned sour with guilt, and she felt her chest squeezing in pain, making her a little breathless.

She sniffed and continued to ask: “What about Song Xinyu? How is she?”

Zhou Ran snorted coldly, half angry and half-mocking: “She left cleanly, without an ounce of punishment. The gym teacher didn’t even suspect her. Gu Miao and I confessed about what we heard about their conversation, but Wang Yan refused to admit it.”

“So that’s it?” Cheng Chu was shocked.

Zhou Ran pursed his pale lips: “Just now the teacher called her back again, but she entered the office crying like she’s the victim and is suffering from injustice. She said that Gu Miao and I made up a reason for the fight to frame her.”

“She was there at the time, and the teacher still believed her?”

A breeze blew over the evergreen holly trees lined up on the street.

Zhou Ran took a deep breath and said: “Unfortunately yeah. Remember how Song Xinyu usually acts in school; like a dainty princess that could break if the wind blows just a little harder. If I hadn’t heard them with my own ears, I would never have guessed she is like that.”

He pondered for a moment and continued: “But Wang Yan looks like that kind of person. He looks fierce and vicious, completely capable of doing evil tasks.”

Zhou Ran’s phone shook a few times. He looked down and said apologetically: “The car I called has arrived. I have to go.”

“Mmhm, thank you.” Cheng Chu waved at him.

In the setting sun, the girl’s clear porcelain face glowed with soft light and her dewy eyes shone brightly.

At that moment, Zhou Ran understood Gu Miao.

Who wouldn’t fall in love and treasure such a beautiful girl?

He nodded, turned, and got into the car parked on the side of the road.

Standing in the cold and quiet streets in the evening, Cheng Chu sighed as she looked at the taillights of each car driving past.

She returned to the milk tea shop, preparing to continue her wait, but found that her drink had already been taken away.

Without a choice, she ordered two more milk teas, told the waiter to pack them, found a seat, and continued to wait for Gu Miao.

The clock on the wall slowly ticked away.

Cheng Chu waited for more than an hour, and finally saw Gu Miao’s figure.

The dim yellow streetlights on the side of the road glowed warmly and beautifully in contrast to the empty night sky.

The boy had his head lowered and his profile exhibited loneliness. Pushing his bicycle forward, he slowly walked out from the campus.

Cheng Chu quickly brought her two cups of milk tea and rushed over.

“Gu Miao!”

He already had one foot stepped onto the bicycle pedal, and Cheng Chu called loudly to him because she was afraid that he would ride away too fast.

Her crisp voice cut through the cold Haishi city wind.

Gu Miao’s hand holding his bicycle squeezed tighter. He stood shocked for a moment, believing that he was too tired and was hallucinating.

But when the girl saw that he ignored her, she called again: “Gu Miao— Over here!”

A few leaves on the evergreen holly tree fell, whirled, and landed at Gu Miao’s feet.

He turned his head in disbelief.

The glow from the streetlamp shone like a misty curtain toward the person across the road, a beautiful and picturesque girl waving at him.

Her dewy eyes were just as clear as before.

Without a trace of fear.

For a moment, Gu Miao thought he was in a dream.

The cold wind whizzed by, like a sharp blade, piercing the wound at the corner of his mouth.

The pain instantly woke him up from his daze.

The girl quickly crossed the road and ran toward him.

“Are you okay?” She frowned slightly, staring at the slight cut on the corner of his mouth.

The boy’s fingers trembled slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, in a hoarse voice, he said: “You… why are you here?”

Are you not scared of me? Why are you approaching me as if nothing is wrong?

“I was waiting for you.” The girl’s eyes twinkled brightly like two stars winking.

At that moment, Gu Miao seemed to hear tree leaves slowly falling on the side of the road.

He felt the blood rushing in his body, running rampantly to his head.

His icy body gradually warmed up, his parched throat no longer hurting, but he lowered his gaze as if to evade her eyes.

Her eyes were so bright, so bright that it hurt him.

After a while, he heard the girl say: “Here.”

Gu Miao raised his eyes.

A plastic bag was hanging from her slender finger and in it were several medicines.

Cheng Chu looked at his bruised lips and frowned: “Go back home and apply these, understand?”

The girl’s voice was cold, like the autumn night air in the city.

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But Gu Miao heard the concern laced within her words.

His fingers stiffened, and finally, he took the bag of medicine.

“Thank you.” He raised his eyes, mustering up his courage for the first time in his life, looking into her starry eyes.

Reflected in those eyes, was a young man with torn lips and dirty clothes.

Satisfaction raised in his empty heart.

She wasn’t afraid of him; she wasn’t disgusted and loathed him. On the contrary, she cares about him.

The street light flickered for a moment.

Cheng Chu blinked and said: “I should go home, do you want to walk with me?”

She remembered that their houses were in the same direction.

Gu Miao nodded, his eyes flickering brightly.

He pursed his lips and answered: ” D-Do you want t-to get on my bike too?”

He stammered again out of nervousness.

“Sure.”

Gu Miao turned around, and his lips curled up happily.

He lifted his long legs, straddled the bicycle, stepped on the pedals, and waited with bated breath.

Under the streetlamp, a few bugs fluttered around.

After some time, he sensed a soft body, quietly approaching him, her warm fragrance assaulting his senses, a girl’s hand gently grabbed the corner of his clothes.

The air was filled with a fresh and light fragrance.

Gu Miao’s ears couldn’t help but flushed red, he took a few deep breaths, stepped on the pedals, and drove into the dark night.

Don’t be nervous, he told himself, it’ll be bad if she falls down.

The cold wind whizzed by at night, and Gu Miao’s heart swelled with warmth. He felt unrealistic as if he was stepping on light and fluttering clouds.

That night, the winter in Haishi City was warm.