She woke and slept, slept and woke, never quite settling into restful sleep. In her hazy state, she felt someone moving about. Fu Xueli forced her eyes open—everything was blurry. She could only make out a figure sitting in the chair beside her, very close to the bed.
She was too lazy to lift her gaze fully, seeing only a jade-pale chin and thin, light-colored lips.
As if he had been sitting there for a very long time, he remained motionless.
Seeming to sense her gaze, Xu Xingchun turned his eyes toward her.
Their gazes met.
Fu Xueli had slept until half her arm had gone numb and soft, unable to move. She glanced at him once before looking away and turning over.
After a while, there was no movement behind her. She simply closed her eyes and lay still.
Xu Xingchun leaned down, lowering his lashes to look at her for a moment. Drawing close to her ear, he lowered his voice, hoarse as he asked, “Are you feeling better?”
Fu Xueli buried her head under her arm, using her elbow to push Xu Xingchun away while avoiding his gaze, mumbling sullenly, “Why did you come here?”
“Are you thirsty? I’ll pour you some water.”
Fu Xueli held back and held back, but still couldn’t contain herself. She suddenly flipped over, saying irritably, “I don’t need you to take care of me. Get lost, as far away as possible. I want to sleep now.”
Xu Xingchun remained calm and collected, as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He lowered his eyelids and poured some water on his own. “You’ve been sleeping for a long time. Get up and drink some water.”
It was like punching cotton—no pain, no itch. He was impervious to everything, never arguing with her, never getting angry at her, calm and even-tempered as if he had no temper at all.
Usually she didn’t feel anything particular about it, but somehow, right now, looking at him like this made her especially irritated.
Fu Xueli was holding back a bellyful of anger. She shouted loudly, “Do you always treat everything I say like passing gas?! Xu Xingchun, do you understand human speech or not? I said I don’t need you to take care of me! If you want to take care of someone, go take care of someone else, please?! Aren’t you the class monitor? There are so many people in the class lining up for you to manage! Oh right, didn’t you just meet someone recently? Why don’t you go take care of her instead of staying here with me?!”
She panted heavily as she viciously scolded him at length, speaking through gritted teeth. As soon as she finished, she regretted it herself.
This tone sounded way too much like a resentful wife.
Xu Xingchun’s heart stirred slightly as he gazed intently at her.
Fu Xueli decided to go all in, breaking the jar and smashing it, glaring back at him. “What are you looking at?”
“Are you angry?” he asked.
“I’m not!” She instinctively denied it.
Xu Xingchun grasped her slender wrist, silent for a moment, then softly called her name: “Fu Xueli?”
Fu Xueli turned her head away without making a sound.
The room fell into silence.
“My goodness, what a grand time you’re having, Big Pear! We’ve been working hard all afternoon while you’ve been enjoying yourself here all afternoon.” Song Yifan and his group—their voices and laughter arrived before they did.
The curtain was pulled aside, and several tall boys came flooding in. The quiet, cramped space instantly became lively.
“Whoa! Class monitor, what a coincidence, you’re here too?! The teacher was just looking for you!” Song Yifan familiarly slung his arm around Xu Xingchun’s shoulder.
Fu Xueli found Song Yifan’s loud, boisterous voice extremely annoying and frowned. “Why are you so noisy?”
“How am I noisy? I’m just happy to see you, my treasure.” Song Yifan said with a grin to Fu Xueli, then deliberately turned in front of everyone to grasp Xu Xingchun’s hand. “Thanks, class monitor! You’re so busy yet you took the time to look after our Fu Xueli for me. Much appreciated, hehe!”
Xu Xingchun looked at him impassively and withdrew his hand. “I never do things for other people.”
His voice was calm and slow.
A boy nearby chimed in, “Sister Xueli, are you feeling better? It’s almost dinner time.”
Everyone was talking at once—it was annoying to death. Through the gaps between people, she looked outside. Xu Xingchun had already quietly left at some point.
Fu Xueli’s mood suddenly soured considerably. She yelled at them, “—Everyone get out!”
—
The military training had barely lasted two days when a shocking piece of gossip began spreading gradually before dinner.
A boy from Class Four had set up candles in the bushes late at night to confess his feelings, playing at romance until he nearly started a fire. Fortunately it was discovered early and the flames were extinguished—otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.
The girl being confessed to was Fu Xueli. The incident was quite serious—all the people involved were pulled in for criticism and education. Once back at school, a disciplinary notice was probably unavoidable.
“If you ask me, that Hong Jiarui from Class Four is truly an idiot. He just got here and he’s already getting a probation warning. The key thing is, of all the people to pursue, he had to go after Fu Xueli. Is his brain broken?!”
“Huh? When I saw Fu Xueli a few days ago I thought she was quite pretty, and her family has money too. Isn’t it normal for boys to like her? People from Class Four told me Hong Jiarui has liked Fu Xueli since middle school. That’s pretty devoted.”
A girl said disdainfully, “What kind of taste do you have? Look at her hanging around with a bunch of boys every day—so slutty it’s disgusting. She just knows how to dress up. Plus her grades are terrible and her personality isn’t good either. Apart from a pretty face she has no other merits. Can’t stand how shallow boys are nowadays.”
Someone couldn’t stand her bitter sarcasm and scoffed, “Ugh, why are you so full of resentment? Acting like Fu Xueli knows you or something. Isn’t it just that the boy you like likes Fu Xueli? Are you jealous?”
The rebuked girl’s face went pale. She stiffened her neck and said, “What do you mean? I stopped liking him ages ago. Are you joking? Who’s jealous of her!”
“Alright, alright, stop arguing. But have you guys heard? Today a friend of mine saw Fu Xueli and Hong Jiarui having lunch together during break. They seemed completely unaffected, laughing and chatting afterwards. Could they have actually gotten together?”
“What?! Hong Jiarui? No way, how could Fu Xueli possibly be interested in him? Hong Jiarui looks pretty average to me.”
“His family has money, and he’s well-connected.”
Another person sighed wistfully, “Honestly, I feel Hong Jiarui is really quite pitiful.”
They chattered away, talking over each other for quite a while, when suddenly a girl said in a panicked whisper, “Keep it down, keep it down—Fu Xueli is coming.”
—
“Xueli, tomorrow I… tomorrow can we still have lunch together?” Hong Jiarui, nearly six feet tall and built like a bear—dark and sturdy—had a dry smile on his face, but his voice was as soft as a mosquito’s whine.