BSS - Chapter 22
Chapter 22
The week before the final exams passed surprisingly quickly.
On Sunday evening, Deng Chuan arrived a little late for self-study. Her mother was rarely home, but she was that day and insisted on making her dinner, so Deng Chuan ended up leaving late. Her class was a graduating class, and the students were very motivated. Even before the session started, almost everyone was already there.
So when she walked in, the entire class looked over, Xu Wei included. Xu Wei was standing at the teacher's desk, her hair tied up. Her features were clear and beautiful under the bright lights. Since it was indoors, she wasn't wearing a coat. She had on a blouse and a thin cardigan, and her dark trousers draped perfectly, giving her an excellent air.
Seeing Deng Chuan enter, Xu Wei didn't move. She cast a faint, downward glance at her before casually looking away.
That glance threw Deng Chuan's heart into a bit of a mess.
The distance between them shrank, but Deng Chuan grew more timid. She simply lowered her head, avoiding Xu Wei's gaze, and let them brush past each other at the desk. She had rushed on her way here, and a thin sheen of sweat dotted her forehead. Her down jacket brushed against Xu Wei's arm. Xu Wei stood very still; the fabric of her clothes indented, then puffed back out. It made a soft rustling sound, like a small firework being lit.
She could feel Xu Wei's gaze land on the side of her face, then on her back. The nape of her neck began to tingle slightly.
Xu Wei watched her quietly, saying nothing.
Deng Chuan took off her jacket and sat down, taking a moment to compose herself as she faced a desk piled high with test papers after just one weekend.
She couldn't help but emphasize it to herself once more:
The most important task right now is the Gaokao.
Even the smartest people struggle to handle their first crush, and Deng Chuan was no exception. Lately, she had clearly felt Xu Wei influencing her emotional state, which didn't seem like a good thing for a student's life that required a calm mind.
It was the end of the first semester of her senior year, with only a few short months left until the Gaokao. The culmination of twelve years of unseen battles among millions of students would be decided in a few months.
Before meeting Xu Wei, the Gaokao had always been the most important goal in Deng Chuan's life. The Gaokao, her future, the realization of her life's value-it was a very clear and simple logical chain. A young Deng Chuan had understood this long ago.
It was precisely her acceptance and understanding of this that had shaped her into the person she was today: emotionally stable, with no superfluous hobbies, someone who would go to the library alone on New Year's Eve, with no outrageous opinions or rebellious phase. Compared to the turmoil of other people's adolescences, her growth had been quiet and soundless, like the placid surface of a lake.
But Xu Wei had stirred ripples in that calm lake of her heart. Deng Chuan wasn't someone who didn't love life, but Xu Wei's appearance had given her a more life-oriented desire for it. It seemed to be something richer than ideals, life's value, or the achievement of personal goals.
But the ripples had led to nothing. Over the weekend, Deng Chuan had replayed their various interactions from the past few months countless times. The distance between them remained neither far nor near, connected only by faint, almost non-existent threads. Just like the possibility between them-infinitesimal.
She and Xu Wei were separated by the three-foot teacher's desk, by fingertips that couldn't linger, by words that couldn't be spoken. All of it, an unbalanced scale due to the gap in their age and experience, undoubtedly required Deng Chuan to add more chips to her side.
In her eighteen years of life, there was only one thing left that could add to her chips.
In those one or two minutes of thought, Deng Chuan equated "winning the Gaokao" with "Xu Wei."
This conclusion was incredibly motivating for her.
Her Little Aunt's laughing words echoed in her ears: Becoming an adult isn't that simple.
But becoming an adult was still a vague concept, while the reality of adding chips to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Xu Wei by acing the Gaokao was within reach.
Looked at this way, everything seemed very clear.
Deng Chuan took a quiet, deep breath, methodically organized the newly distributed test papers on her desk, and took out a pen and paper. Two or three minutes after she started writing, the bell for the evening self-study session rang.
Xu Wei briefly announced the holiday schedule. For the graduating class, the number of days off for winter break was no mystery. After she finished, she left the classroom, where students were waiting for her with test papers.
They disappeared from the classroom doorway together. It was cold, so the venue for analyzing test papers had moved to the office.
Now, looking at Xu Wei, Deng Chuan was neither flustered nor evasive.
She was very confident about the Gaokao, and therefore, she was also very confident about Xu Wei. In her heart now, Xu Wei and her future were intertwined, shining brightly together.
A routine life makes one lose track of time. The last two weeks of the first semester of senior year passed very quickly.
Pei Qingyu came to the school on Wednesday evening.
The evening self-study session had been over for a while. The lights in the academic building were about to be turned off. She and Su Mian were waiting for Deng Chuan downstairs, carrying a late-night snack.
Seeing Pei Qingyu again after several weeks, she didn't seem to have changed much. Her ankles were exposed to the cold wind, but her pants and jacket were thick. Her face was hidden by her jacket collar and a hat, leaving only her smiling eyes visible in the darkness.
The cafeteria lights were also off. The three of them headed toward Su Mian's mother's dorm, planning to quickly finish their snack there so Deng Chuan could get back to her own dorm.
As they reached the bottom of the building, they ran into Xu Wei, who had also just returned from the academic building.
Xu Wei saw them and said a soft, "Hi." Her hair was down, tucked behind her ears. Under the streetlight, her exposed ear was as white and translucent as jade.
The aroma of the late-night snack wafted between them. Deng Chuan walked alongside Xu Wei, still able to spare a bit of her attention to wonder:
What kind of snack was Pei Qingyu carrying? Was it hot noodle soup, wontons with seaweed and dried shrimp, or congee with preserved egg and pork?
Her mind was a bit jumbled. Xu Wei's face was not far from hers, and in her peripheral vision, she could see that Xu Wei's eyes were slightly lowered, as if she were a little tired.
Deng Chuan's heart instantly melted into a puddle.
Su Mian was talking to Pei Qingyu. It was quiet around them, so she lowered her voice. "My throat has been so sore lately..."
Pei Qingyu said, "I've been feeling that way too. I have a toothache."
"Do you want some of that instant herbal powder? The detoxifying kind. I'll get some for you in a bit."
Pei Qingyu agreed.
Su Mian didn't ask Deng Chuan if she wanted any. Whether she wanted it or not, Su Mian would still stuff a few packets into her hands after giving some to Pei Qingyu.
Xu Wei, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "You should drink more water." She looked to the side and added, "Those instant powders don't do much. It's easy to get inflamed in the dry winter air. You should pay more attention to staying hydrated."
Su Mian nodded cooperatively. "Yes, yes. I just don't really like drinking water."
This was the first time Pei Qingyu had met Xu Wei. She glanced over, but saw that Xu Wei wasn't looking at her.
Instead, it seemed like she was looking at Deng Chuan, who was standing next to her.
She couldn't just turn her head to look at Deng Chuan-that would be too obvious-so she retracted her gaze and let it go.
Deng Chuan pinched the bridge of her nose and said nothing.
Before they knew it, they had reached the stairwell. Xu Wei politely said goodbye to them and walked down the corridor.
Her figure was graceful under the dim yellow light.
They all stood there for a moment, watching her go.
"Teacher Xu is so beautiful," Su Mian said.
Deng Chuan hummed in agreement out of habit, but then felt that Su Mian's words made her uncomfortable. She held it in for a moment, gazing out at the night beyond the corridor, but the brief eye contact from just now replayed in her mind.
They had been so close, and the tone of the light was so gentle, making Xu Wei's eyes seem especially tender.
Xu Wei maintained that charm in the lift of her eyes, a faint weariness floating between her brows that made her seem a little fragile. This fragility made her appear completely non-threatening.
As if, she were very easy to approach.
For those brief few seconds, Deng Chuan stared into those eyes and felt an attraction, the very same kind she felt for Xu Wei's lips.
This discovery made a sudden heat rise in her.
Thankfully, the light was dim, or everyone would have seen the tips of her ears burning red.
But Xu Wei must have seen her thoughts in her gaze. Otherwise, why would she have been the first to lower her eyelids, as if unable to bear the weight of her stare, and look away?
Each lost in their own thoughts, they walked to the stairwell, neither daring to meet the other's eyes again.
Deng Chuan thought: I'm afraid because I like her. What is Xu Wei afraid of?
The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't dare to think about it.
A gift always holds the most wonderful anticipation before it's unwrapped.
Deng Chuan was unwilling to ruin that wonderful feeling now. She had already convinced herself with calm reasoning and a heart full of passion to run headlong toward that glittering future.
Morning classes always felt exceptionally long. They started at the crack of dawn, and by the long break between classes, only half the morning was over.
Math class had just ended, and the boys in the back clustered together to ask questions. Their hands were raised high. Xu Wei walked over slowly and stopped.
In the honors class, besides the school's practice problems, the students all used their own clever means to find extra test papers and problem types after class. The 5-3 and Tianli 38 Sets were standard; the real headache came from the papers they got from who-knows-what cram school or so-called famous teacher.
Xu Wei didn't know how to explain to the students that problems like these wouldn't appear on the Gaokao given its difficulty level. She could only try to figure out how to explain the solution in a way they could understand.
As finals approached, the students were finding an exceptional number of extra problems. Xu Wei had been teaching all morning and was a bit tired. Staring at the black text on the white paper, her thoughts began to drift.
She heard Deng Chuan, who sat in front of Wu Fuwu, drinking water. A distinct swallowing sound came from her throat.
Xu Wei glanced sideways, her gaze unconsciously falling on Deng Chuan's tilted-back neck. Deng Chuan was slender and sat up straight. Her jawline revealed a fine bone structure, and her skin was taut, fair, and delicate. The line of her throat wasn't as pronounced as a boy's Adam's apple; its gentle curve inexplicably brought to mind the tender shoots of spring or ivy climbing a wall.
She took another sip of water, and her throat moved with the motion.
Xu Wei couldn't help but take a few more glances.
Of course, Teacher Xu was very discreet. Besides herself, probably no one would have noticed the careful observation hidden within her casual glances.
Seeing her pondering silently, Wu Fuwu thought the problem was quite difficult and said considerately, "Teacher, why don't you take the paper back with you and explain it to us tonight?"
Xu Wei snapped back to reality. "No need," she said, picking up her pen and drawing an auxiliary line on the complex geometric figure.
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