BSS - Chapter 37
Chapter 37
In the parting twilight, Deng Chuan temporarily said goodbye to her parents and walked out of the school gates with Pei Qingyu and a large group of friends.
The police tape at the school entrance had been torn to shreds, and the ground was scattered with petals and leaves from fallen bouquets, looking particularly desolate against the city's brilliant nightscape.
The wave of traffic jams had passed. The security guards maintaining order at the gate smiled and waved at them, taking a moment to exchange a few words.
The group walked aimlessly down the street, their topics of conversation too many and too varied. Lost in their talk, they only remembered they needed to eat when they were completely absorbed. It was peak dinner time, and nearly every restaurant in the mall had a wait. After much deliberation, they chose the buffet that most people wanted.
While waiting for a table, everyone was looking down at their phones. After a chaotic year, the online world seemed especially precious and lively to them. The trending topics still featured stories about Gaokao students forgetting their admission tickets, but those who had been through it understood that the Gaokao was well and truly over.
Deng Chuan was reading an article titled "A Rapid Analysis of the Gaokao Math Questions" when she heard Pei Qingyu say indignantly, "How are the answers out now? Are you guys devils? Every group is sending them."
"Oh god, I'm not looking."
"Me neither."
"Who wants to see that? Are you guys online yet? Hurry, hurry."
The group clamored to start a game, avoiding the topic like the plague. Pei Qingyu noticed Deng Chuan, who hadn't said a word, and leaned over to look at her phone. "?!"
"Wait, Deng Chuan, why are you looking at the math answers?!"
She scooted her chair back a bit and pushed away the snacks on the waiting table. "I need to stay away from you. Don't let the foul air of mathematics contaminate me."
Deng Chuan paid her no mind. After finishing the article, she looked up, feeling completely unperturbed, and said, "This analysis is quite comprehensive. Do you guys want to see it?"
"No, send it to them. Don't send it to me."
Pei Qingyu focused intently on counting the sunflower seeds on the table. "They might wake up in the middle of the night to check their answers. But I definitely won't."
She waited a long time for Deng Chuan's reply, but all she heard was a soft, ambiguous laugh.
Pei Qingyu's curiosity was instantly piqued. Cracking a sunflower seed, she leaned over, only to find that Deng Chuan was chatting with Xu Wei. Even the article she had just been reading had been sent to her by Xu Wei.
The Gaokao was over, and Pei Qingyu didn't know how to explain her current what's-done-is-done attitude. She rested her head on Deng Chuan's shoulder, thinking, "I'd like to see what you two could possibly be talking about."
But Deng Chuan was quick, turning off her phone screen. She turned her head and asked, feigning ignorance, "What are you doing?"
Pei Qingyu, a smile playing on her lips, said nonchalantly, "Just looking."
She was as brazen as a creepy old man demanding a selfie from a young girl through the screen.
Deng Chuan righteously shielded her screen. "Not for you to see."
"Tsk-" Pei Qingyu said, "You should really go look in a mirror."
"Why?"
"To see what love looks like."
"..." Deng Chuan had no intention of responding to Pei Qingyu's nonsense, but the word "love" was so intimate that she couldn't help but smile again.
The phone screen lit up, showing a new message on WeChat.
Her smile vanished. Facing Pei Qingyu's teasing gaze, Deng Chuan turned her body to the side, lowered her head to check the message, her lips pressed into a tight line.
Unconsciously, they curled up again.
Pei Qingyu felt a pang of envy. Just then, their number was called. She clapped her hands, wrapped the sunflower seed shells in a piece of paper, threw them in the trash, and took the lead, pushing Deng Chuan inside.
Beef ribs, diced beef, sliced lamb, snowflake beef, pork belly, and chicken wings were laid out in sequence on the grill, along with eggplants sliced in half and topped with minced garlic and chopped chili. Xu Wei had said she still had things to do and told her to eat first. So Deng Chuan put her phone away and focused on the barbecue, flipping the meat from time to time.
She didn't like carbonated drinks, so Pei Qingyu poured her some plum juice.
The iron plate sizzled as oil splattered eagerly. Deng Chuan watched for a moment, then moved the cooked meat to a plate on the side.
"It's ready."
Everyone started picking up the meat. They were all considerate, first putting a few pieces in her bowl before dividing the rest among themselves.
But Deng Chuan was so focused on grilling that she only started to eat her own food after everyone else was mostly full.
She was used to being the caretaker in these situations. She was also used to finishing up; her height wasn't for nothing, and she genuinely ate until the very end. The leftover cakes, fruits, and cold dishes that everyone had taken too much of all ended up in her stomach.
After dinner, the group wanted to continue the party. They booked a room at a KTV on the top floor of the mall. As they went up the escalator, they saw many other students in school uniforms, who, like them, had just finished the Gaokao.
Deng Chuan scrolled through her phone.
The usual quiet in the class group chat was gone. It was now buzzing with conversation and flooded with stickers. Deng Chuan swiped through it casually and was about to exit when she saw Xu Wei post a message reminding everyone about the graduation photos the next day, telling them not to stay out too late and to look presentable.
Her hand paused. A string of "Received, thank you, Teacher" messages had already followed Xu Wei's post.
Deng Chuan thought for a moment, followed the crowd and replied in the group, then switched to her private chat with Xu Wei.
She was trying to figure out what to say, wanting to ask if she was tired, what she was doing, but the words wouldn't come out right. She typed and deleted the text in the dialogue box over and over, her courage feeling like a bubble that would pop the moment she spoke.
Suddenly, Xu Wei's status changed to "Typing..."
A message came through, crisp and clear: "I'm back."
It was her way of reporting back after finishing her business.
Deng Chuan bit her lip, and another message popped up: "It'll probably be very sunny tomorrow. Remember to put on sunscreen and bring an umbrella when you go out."
Deng Chuan stared at the small period at the end of her sentence and suddenly felt a restrained yet natural happiness.
Many of Deng Chuan's friends didn't use punctuation when chatting online. They would use a space to separate sentences. It was convenient, the format was clean, and it made it hard for others to read their emotions.
After all, in online chats these days, sincerity wasn't that important. Someone typing "hahahahaha" wasn't necessarily laughing. Young people cared more about whether their words were quick, interesting, funny, and whether they had grasped the latest trend and hit the nail on the head.
Punctuation seemed too cumbersome.
Deng Chuan was used to this style. She was a very smart person; even if she had little interest in online chatting, she adapted well to this rhythm, playing along as a sort of feigned civility in the online world.
But Xu Wei was different. Deng Chuan had noticed early on that Xu Wei always used punctuation very properly in her online chats, which made her seem particularly serious, as if she were issuing some kind of formal notice.
At first, she just thought Xu Wei was proper, but now, savoring it, she felt differently.
Ah, beneath that decorum, it was simply another form of a love letter.
Deng Chuan's heart filled with tender emotions as her fingers typed a reply:
"Okay."
"We just finished dinner and are on our way to the KTV now."
Xu Wei asked her: "How are you all getting home later? Is there a car to pick you up?"
"We'll call a car later."
Before Xu Wei could reply, Deng Chuan sent another message: "Don't you come. It'll probably be very late. You should get some rest."
The "Typing..." status flickered on and off. It wasn't until Deng Chuan had settled into her seat in the KTV room that she received Xu Wei's reply: "Mm."
She said: Message me when you get in the car and when you get home.
The undisguised concern in her words made Deng Chuan's heart soften. She couldn't help but send: What should I do? I wish tomorrow would come sooner so I can see you.
Xu Wei replied with a sticker: a hand rubbing a Shiba Inu's head.
A while later, Xu Wei was leaning against her bed when she received a selfie from the kid.
Qin Shu had already gone home. Her half-packed belongings were scattered on the floor. The cardboard packing boxes were open, but Zhou Liu, being a cat, surprisingly preferred the bed to the boxes. Seeing that Xu Wei had finished her shower and was ready to rest, he snuggled up and lay down beside her.
She was indeed exhausted. The students had a tough year, and so had she. After tomorrow, her work would truly be over for a while. She would rest for about half a month, and then after the Gaokao scores were released, she would be busy again for a bit.
But it was nothing compared to the busyness of the past year.
Her body felt particularly weary after washing up, and the cat in her arms was soft and warm. Xu Wei stared at the selfie for a while. The KTV where the kids were had mood lighting on, and the ambiguous, dim light created an atmosphere like an underground river, making the blue and white school uniform in the picture seem exceptionally pure.
Xu Wei looked at it for a long time before an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over her again. She raised a hand to cover her face, letting out several weak sighs.
The struggle in her heart was ultimately defeated by fatigue. With her hand still over her face, drowsiness crept in. Her eyelids grew heavy, and in a daze, Xu Wei only remembered fumbling to turn off the light and saying goodnight to Deng Chuan before falling asleep instantly.
At nine the next morning, the group gathered in front of the school's Administrative Building.
The sunlight was intense, just as predicted-the kind that required an umbrella and sunscreen. Under the strong sun, everything seemed exceptionally vibrant and bright. Beneath the blue sky and white clouds, the group stood before the Administrative Building and took a group photo.
The photographer was extremely responsible. Deng Chuan had originally stood next to Xu Wei, silently determined to claim her spot and stand her final post as a high school student, not yielding to anyone. But the photographer first said the girl next to her was a bit shorter and had them switch places, then had the front and back rows swap. After all the shuffling, Deng Chuan ended up standing behind Xu Wei.
After the photo, the sun was simply too scorching, and more than half the class gradually left. Deng Chuan stood in the dazzling sunlight, her head, weary from a late night, spinning in waves.
When Xu Wei reached out and pulled her into the shade of a nearby tree, she felt even dizzier.
Xu Wei was wearing the school's teacher uniform today-a white blouse and a pencil skirt. Her lipstick was a gentle shade, and she wore no jewelry on her neck or ears. You could believe she was a recent college graduate. Yet, the intellectual and gentle aura she exuded was something a naive university student couldn't compare to.
"Are you not feeling well?"
"No." Xu Wei tried to let go of her hand, but Deng Chuan held on, not letting go. "When are you moving?"
"..." A female teacher and student holding hands didn't seem like a big deal. Xu Wei thought about it and didn't try to pull her hand back. She answered, "Tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay." Deng Chuan smiled. "I'll come find you then."
Xu Wei looked at her smile, so relaxed. Deng Chuan's naturalness dissipated much of the pressure in her heart, and she gently squeezed her hand back.
"Mm."
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