CY – Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

“You haven’t been bringing your lunchbox lately,” Lu Bai said, packing up his desk before the teacher had even left, ready to bolt out for lunch as soon as the bell rang. “What’s up, your mom not sending you food anymore?”

“She’s been busy recently,” Zhang Xiaotian replied, his pen still moving.

“Then come eat with us,” Lu Bai lightly bumped Zhang Xiaotian’s shoulder with his fist.

“I don’t know them,” Zhang Xiaotian hesitated. Eating with people whose names he hadn’t even fully memorized felt rather awkward. “I can find somewhere to eat by myself.”

“You’ll get to know them sooner or later; you’ll all be in the same class,” the dismissal bell rang. Lu Bai jumped up and stood next to Zhang Xiaotian. “Let’s go, Tian’er, you and me.”

At the front of the classroom, two boys and one girl were waiting for Lu Bai. Seeing Lu Bai approach with Zhang Xiaotian, they didn’t say anything. Zhang Xiaotian walked beside Lu Bai, secretly observing the three of them. One of the boys was Jiang Lei, the girl seemed to be his girlfriend, and there was one other boy who looked unfamiliar. As soon as Lu Bai walked over, the others gathered around, encircling Zhang Xiaotian in the middle. Zhang Xiaotian wasn’t used to this and deliberately lagged a few steps behind, wanting to maintain a comfortable distance. But Lu Bai noticed.

“Why are you running so far away?” Lu Bai pulled him back. “Stay closer to me.”

“What for?”

Zhang Xiaotian gave a slight tug, and Lu Bai let go. “If you’re too far away, I won’t be able to hear you when you talk.”

Who wants to talk to you anyway. Zhang Xiaotian was bewildered but still walked beside Lu Bai.

Lu Bai chatted with the others as they walked, and Zhang Xiaotian listened quietly. As he listened, he began to drift off, thinking about how he hadn’t seen his mother in days.

Since that night, his mother had become even busier, so busy she didn’t even come home. When she did return occasionally, it was late at night. Originally, after hearing what she had said, Zhang Xiaotian didn’t know how to face her. Now, since he couldn’t see her, Zhang Xiaotian felt a lot more relaxed. He hadn’t seen her for years and didn’t have much of a relationship with her to begin with. Now, suddenly being forced to accept her financial support, he felt a bit ashamed in front of her. But she was his mother, after all. Even if they couldn’t be close, Zhang Xiaotian wished they didn’t have to be so awkward, but he didn’t know how to achieve that.

He knew he wasn’t the type of person who easily pleased others.

“…Jiang Lei said there’s a new Mala Tang place opened at the intersection across the street. Want to go?” Lu Bai had been talking to Zhang Xiaotian and, seeing him distracted, nudged him with his shoulder. “Tian’er, are you listening to me?”

Zhang Xiaotian was startled. “What are you doing?”

“What’s wrong with you?” Lu Bai asked him. “Not enthusiastic about eating, there must be a problem with your thinking!”

“Go away,” Zhang Xiaotian chuckled. “What were you saying just now?”

“Asking if you want to eat Mala Tang.”

“I’m fine with whatever.”

“Then come with me!” Lu Bai said, and then ran ahead, not waiting to see if Zhang Xiaotian followed. “Tian’er and I will go grab a seat first!”

The other few people all looked at Zhang Xiaotian.

Zhang Xiaotian felt a little embarrassed by their gazes, so he also chased after Lu Bai.

Lu Bai stopped running after a few steps, and Zhang Xiaotian quickly caught up.

“You’re here,” Lu Bai said, seeing Zhang Xiaotian catch up, and put his arm around his shoulder. “You run pretty fast.”

“Why did you suddenly run off?” Zhang Xiaotian was still a little out of breath.

Lu Bai smiled. “I saw you weren’t too comfortable in the crowd. And that place only opened a few days ago; if we don’t get a seat early, there won’t be any.”

He’s quite observant of people’s expressions at times like this.

Zhang Xiaotian looked at Lu Bai, feeling a little uncomfortable. He found that Lu Bai could sometimes be carelessly boundary-less, but at other times, he was overly sharp. If he didn’t know Lu Bai meant no harm, he might have thought he was deliberately teasing him.

They arrived at the restaurant just a few minutes before the other three. Five people at one table was too crowded, so the three “third wheels” voluntarily moved to another table.

“Our homeroom teacher is out, so my class has been watching movies during self-study every day for the past two days,” the unfamiliar boy said, winking at Lu Bai. “I heard from Jiang Lei that Old Zhang has been watching him closely these past few days, right?”

“Why don’t you ask where Jiang Lei is sitting right now?” Lu Bai unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks and took another for Zhang Xiaotian. “He’s sitting right under Old Zhang’s nose now. If Old Zhang isn’t watching him, who is he watching?”

“Hahahaha, he’s so unlucky.”

“Unlucky? He’s in love.” Lu Bai gestured with his eyes. “Look at how clingy they are. Maybe we shouldn’t bring them next time we eat, let them eat alone.”

“I’m not deaf, Lu Bai!” Jiang Lei yelled from the other table, shaking a fist at Lu Bai. “After dinner, I’ll see if I don’t deal with you!”

“Oh, I’m so scared!”

Zhang Xiaotian listened to their banter as he ate, finishing his meal quickly. It wasn’t as awkward as he had imagined. He picked at the last few vegetables in his bowl, no longer hungry, but seeing that the others hadn’t finished, he laid down his chopsticks and waited.

“Tian’er, you’re done?” Lu Bai, who had been eating and chatting, asked when he saw Zhang Xiaotian put down his chopsticks.

Zhang Xiaotian nodded.

“Then wait for me,” Lu Bai said, seeing him nod, and quickly shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth. “Then, you and I will leave first?”

“Aren’t you playing basketball with me, Old Lu?” the boy sitting opposite asked him.

“Brother, there’s an exam tomorrow,” Lu Bai said as he pulled Zhang Xiaotian towards the exit. “Don’t I have to review a bit?”

But once outside the restaurant, Lu Bai pulled Zhang Xiaotian into a convenience store.

“Didn’t you say you were going back to study? Why are we in a convenience store?” Zhang Xiaotian watched Lu Bai’s indecisiveness. “Is reviewing potato chip flavors a thing?”

“Yeah, I like the roast chicken flavor,” Lu Bai said, but he picked up a bag of original flavor to pay for.

Is that the roast chicken flavor? Zhang Xiaotian found it strange but didn’t ask, only urged him to hurry back to class, as they really did need to study.

Perhaps because exams were approaching, more and more people returned to class during dinner time, and even more so on the eve of exams. When the two of them returned, more than half the class was already seated. Zhang Xiaotian marveled at the top-tier class and quickly sat down to open his book. The classroom was silent, with only the sound of turning pages, a quiet that lasted until the bell rang at the end of the evening, and the usual boisterous atmosphere returned.

“I’m going to get water,” Lu Bai said, taking out his cup. “Are you coming with me?”

Zhang Xiaotian waved him off with his head down. He wanted to finish the last bit of the current page.

“Then I’m going,” Lu Bai stood up and went out. Zhang Xiaotian remained with his head down.

A moment later, someone walked over. The footsteps didn’t sound like Lu Bai’s. Zhang Xiaotian initially paid no mind until the person sat in Lu Bai’s seat. Zhang Xiaotian finally looked up and saw it was Li An.

Li An chatted with the students next to him for a bit, then seemed to notice Zhang Xiaotian as if for the first time, and spoke to him.

“I see you’re studying quite diligently,” Li An said. “You might even be in my class.”

Zhang Xiaotian looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Perhaps uncomfortable under Zhang Xiaotian’s stare, Li An brought up the day they applied for the project. “I didn’t mean it that way that day; don’t misunderstand.”

“Mm-hmm,” Zhang Xiaotian nodded.

“I was thinking about the class,” Li An explained. “If we submit the project and no one goes…”

“Li An, why are you sitting in my seat?” Lu Bai walked in with two cups of water. Zhang Xiaotian turned to look at him and realized his water cup had also been taken to get water at some point. “Move over, move over, it’s hot.”

Li An was also getting tired of Zhang Xiaotian’s attitude and stood up to leave, muttering something under his breath.

Lu Bai quickly sat down and placed Zhang Xiaotian’s water cup on the corner of his desk. “Why did he come over? What did he say to you?”

“Nothing much,” Zhang Xiaotian touched his water cup. “Thank you.”

“It was nothing,” Lu Bai took out the potato chips he bought earlier and opened them. He took one and pushed the bag towards Zhang Xiaotian. “Eat, help yourself.”

Zhang Xiaotian said “Mm” but didn’t touch the chips. He opened his water cup, blew on it, and took a sip.

“After the exam, I’ll call the others over to rehearse,” Lu Bai said, munching on chips. “It’ll definitely be better than last year’s performance.” Then he exclaimed, “Oh no!” and dramatically slapped his thigh.

“I forgot I signed up for events for the sports meet, and I haven’t practiced at all.”

Zhang Xiaotian took another sip of water as Lu Bai muttered to himself. Exams were almost here, and he was still thinking about this.

Lu Bai continued to munch for a while, then picked up his water cup and took a few big gulps, burning his mouth and hissing. He fanned his mouth and said, “After the exams, shouldn’t we practice the events we signed up for a little?”

“We’ll practice,” Zhang Xiaotian put down his water cup. “We’ll talk about it after the exams.”

“Are you nervous?” Lu Bai seemed to have been waiting for him to bring up the exams and asked eagerly. “It’s tomorrow.”

“Not nervous.”

What does he really want to say? Is he just going to ask me this? Zhang Xiaotian looked at him with amusement. “Didn’t you ask me last time?”

“You’re something else. If it were me, I’d be terrified of not being able to stay,” Lu Bai wiped his hands with a tissue and pushed the potato chips closer to Zhang Xiaotian. “Quick, take one. They’ll make us put them away when class starts.”

Zhang Xiaotian reached out and took a chip. Before eating it, he said, “If I can stay, I’ll stay. If not, then so be it.”

“You’ll definitely be able to stay,” Lu Bai said with certainty.

I don’t even have that much confidence in myself. Zhang Xiaotian put the chip in his mouth and couldn’t help but think.

“You…” Zhang Xiaotian suddenly wanted to ask about buying potato chips at the convenience store, but at the sight of Lu Bai, he felt like he was overthinking things.

“Huh? What did you want to say?” Lu Bai, not hearing the rest, didn’t press further and handed the chip bag over again. “Have some more. I saw you only ate two bites of this flavor last time, even though I bought so many.”

Zhang Xiaotian didn’t say anything after hearing this, just obediently took the chip bag.

Lu Bai was surprised by how readily he accepted it this time and seemed very happy. “Why so willing? Hungry? It’s no wonder; you ate so little for dinner. Have some more, it’ll be self-study soon.”

Zhang Xiaotian sighed and put a chip in his mouth.