CY – Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

“Lu Bai is just being difficult,” Yin Li stirred her milk tea with a straw. “Why couldn’t he say whatever he had to say inside? He had to stand at the door, making us two unable to touch our food on the table.”

“You two can eat first, Tian’er… I don’t mind,” Lu Bai argued, his neck stiff, then glanced at Zhang Xiaotian beside him.

“I don’t mind either,” Zhang Xiaotian said.

“That won’t do!” Yin Li exclaimed. “This meal today is mainly to celebrate Xiaotian’s excellent grades!” With that, she quickly lifted her milk tea and held it out to the group.

“Let’s toast quickly. I specifically saved half of this without drinking, the ice has completely melted.”

“Alright, alright,” everyone quickly raised their drinks, toasting and talking over each other. The jumbled well wishes blended together, resulting in no one hearing what anyone else said. Zhang Xiaotian felt a bit speechless, while the other three paused for a moment before all laughing. Han Chengcheng managed to maintain some composure, but Yin Li and Lu Bai were practically collapsing with laughter.

“How can you guys hahahaha…” Lu Bai laughed so hard he almost slapped the table. Zhang Xiaotian quickly grabbed his hand. Once caught, Lu Bai didn’t struggle, instead leaving his wrist in Zhang Xiaotian’s grasp.

Zhang Xiaotian chuckled inwardly. Indeed, how could these people have such poor coordination?

“What did you just say?” Yin Li straightened up after her laughter subsided, and seeing Lu Bai’s face, she almost lost it again.

Lu Bai said, “Of course, it’s to congratulate Tian’er for successfully defending his title. What did you say?”

“Defending his title, hahahaha, what’s that?” Yin Li laughed. “I said congratulations to Li An for getting slapped in the face! Chengcheng, what did you say?”

“I just said congratulations to Xiaotian for achieving good grades,” Han Chengcheng replied.

Zhang Xiaotian just listened and didn’t say what he himself had said. In fact, he hadn’t said anything. This was his first time celebrating himself with a toast, and he had no idea what to say. Moreover, he didn’t feel it was something worth celebrating. He was still contemplating how he would bluff his way through if Lu Bai asked him later, but the other three had already changed the subject.

“Lu Bai, is your project tomorrow or the day after?” Yin Li, apparently starving, grabbed a piece of lettuce and ate it, not even caring if it was cooked.

“Tomorrow? Or the day after? I don’t remember,” Lu Bai shook his head. “My mind is completely filled with tomorrow’s poetry recitation. As for the project, whatever, I’m not going to get any good rankings anyway.”

“Are you nervous?” Han Chengcheng asked Lu Bai.

“Damn it, I’m so nervous,” Lu Bai feigned a tearful expression.

“Pah, you’re not nervous at all,” Yin Li exposed him without hesitation. “He’s definitely excited, can’t wait for tomorrow so he can wear that suit and show off.”

“I’m not that shallow…” Lu Bai mumbled softly, then, as if imagining tomorrow’s scene, he chuckled a couple of times. “But it is quite handsome, let me tell you…”

Yin Li immediately put on a look of unbearable spectacle.

“What, I’m not saying it anymore! Go eat your vegetables!” Lu Bai had a “I won’t bother with her” expression. After a moment, he turned and asked again, “Is the class advisor coming tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. Probably like last year, staying until after the opening ceremony,” Han Chengcheng sipped her milk tea. “What’s up? We can bring our phones tomorrow, so does it matter if he’s there or not?”

“I’m afraid he’ll want to talk to me tomorrow,” Lu Bai said, his eyes, however, were fixed on the pot, and he snatched a meatball from under Yin Li’s chopsticks before she could move.

“Hiss!” Yin Li couldn’t snatch it back from across the table and could only glare at him. “You just wait. Even if Old Zhang doesn’t remember to find you tomorrow, I’ll help him remember!”

“Spare me! Good disciple, spare your master’s life!” Lu Bai quickly took another meatball.

“Why would the class advisor want to talk to you? Didn’t you do quite well this time?” Han Chengcheng asked.

“The overall ranking did improve, but English is not looking good,” Yin Li said.

Zhang Xiaotian remembered that he hadn’t had time to check the grade-wide ranking list at all, and even his own results were checked by them. He lowered his head and quietly asked Lu Bai, “What did you get in English?”

“51,” Lu Bai leaned close to Zhang Xiaotian’s ear, his voice even lower. After he spoke, he seemed to find his own score ridiculous and chuckled dully a couple of times.

51? Zhang Xiaotian was shocked. He thought that Lu Bai, with his good overall scores and being among the top in physics, would at least pass English.

“Everyone has things they’re not good at… why are you so surprised?” Lu Bai had never seen such a blank expression on Zhang Xiaotian’s face and gently nudged him with his shoulder.

The two opposite them started laughing again.

“What are you laughing at! What’s so funny? I’m clearly one point higher than last time!” Lu Bai pretended to be angry and tapped the table with his drink bottle. “Laugh when you two score higher than me!” He then turned his head and found that Zhang Xiaotian also had a slight smile on his face.

“Deskmate! Even you’re laughing at me!” After saying that, he also started to laugh.

“51 hahahaha, just one point higher, who else would the class advisor look for if not you?” Yin Li patted Han Chengcheng’s shoulder. “He’s going to get scolded to death by the class advisor tomorrow hahahaha!”

“Nobody cares about you!” Lu Bai shoved a piece of beef into his mouth, almost choking. He coughed and still laughed a couple of times.

“Our class’s Lu Bai, only has a good head for growing tall, not for thinking!” Yin Li suddenly sat up straight, pinching her milk tea with two fingers. Her tone changed as she spoke, as if imitating someone. “All day long, he doesn’t know what he’s thinking about. Is that brain rented, too precious to use?”

This time, not only Lu Bai, but even Han Chengcheng was clapping her hands with laughter.

Zhang Xiaotian guessed that Yin Li was imitating a teacher, but he had been in the class for too short a time to have had the honor of seeing the original speaker say this in person. He also laughed a couple of times, then lowered his head to eat.

Yin Li and Lu Bai continued to imitate the class advisor back and forth, while Han Chengcheng listened with a smile. Suddenly, she noticed Zhang Xiaotian, who had been quietly eating at the opposite side. She glanced at the table and called out to Zhang Xiaotian:

“Um, Xiaotian?” She picked up the tissue box on the table. “Do you want tissues?”

This question attracted the attention of the other two. Zhang Xiaotian, startled by being called, thought for a moment and realized he did need them. He nodded and was about to thank her when he suddenly realized he didn’t actually know her name very well.

In fact, up to this point, he could count the names he remembered in Class One on one hand. He even learned Yin Li’s name from hearing Lu Bai say it so often.

They had just congratulated him on his good grades…

Zhang Xiaotian’s “thank you” got stuck in his throat, and he felt too embarrassed to take the tissues.

“Xiaotian, just call me Cheng, like Lu Bai calls me,” Han Chengcheng seemed to sense what he was thinking. “Everyone in the class calls me that.”

“Oh, really!” Yin Li said. “You’re Han Chengcheng, but only I call you Chengcheng in class.”

“So what?” Lu Bai asked.

“I can understand calling Han Cheng that, after all, look, Han Chengcheng, the last two characters are the same, so it’s simplified. But why do they call Li Yuxin ‘Li Yu’?” Yin Li asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe there are too many people in the class with three-character names, and it’s too troublesome to say, so they all shortened them.”

“Then why don’t you shorten Xiaotian like that?”

Lu Bai frowned. “Is Tian’er someone who can be easily fooled like that! Besides, think about it, does that sound good?”

Just calling the first two characters of the name… that would be…

Zhang Xiaotian suddenly felt that Lu Bai calling him Tian’er wasn’t so bad.

“Oh my, ‘Li Yu’ sounds good, doesn’t it.” Yin Li rolled her eyes. “And ‘my Tian’er,’ Chengcheng, should I call you ‘my Cheng’ from now on?”

“No, no!” Han Chengcheng quickly put some food on Yin Li’s plate upon hearing this. Yin Li ate the food, but her mouth didn’t stop. “Isn’t that cheesy, calling people ‘Tian’er’ or ‘Di’er’…” She then deliberately shivered, making Lu Bai so angry that he took all the meatballs from her side. Han Chengcheng joined in the laughter. After the two of them finished their banter, she asked Zhang Xiaotian again:

“Xiaotian, what did your good friends from Class Four used to call you?”

Zhang Xiaotian felt a bit awkward.

He vaguely sensed that Han Chengcheng was intentionally throwing him a topic, so that the meal wouldn’t be dominated solely by Lu Bai and Yin Li. However, he didn’t have any close classmates in Class Four, a fact that Han Chengcheng had likely not anticipated.

After all, while people who make friends easily are common, someone like Lu Bai is not.

But this question clearly piqued Lu Bai’s interest. His eyes shone, he even stopped snatching meatballs, waiting for Zhang Xiaotian’s explanation. Zhang Xiaotian said, with a forced smile, “Just… calling me by my name or something.”

“Just by your name?” Lu Bai asked. “Nothing special?”

“Hmph,” Lu Bai snorted a couple more times and turned back to eat. Zhang Xiaotian seemed to detect a hint of pride in those interjections, but he didn’t know where it came from. Fortunately, Yin Li brought up another topic, and the conversation quickly moved on.

The meal was lively. When the four parted ways at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant, Yin Li and Lu Bai even made a bet. They bet on whether the class advisor would talk to Lu Bai before or after the opening ceremony. Yin Li bet that the class advisor would mention it as soon as he saw Lu Bai tomorrow, while Lu Bai believed that his grades were so accustomed to the advisor that he wouldn’t be in such a hurry to schedule a meeting. They agreed that the loser would buy the winner water for a week and even forced Han Chengcheng and Zhang Xiaotian to be witnesses before they calmed down. As Zhang Xiaotian left with Lu Bai, the lively chatter of Yin Li and Lu Bai still echoed in his mind.

Lu Bai seemed to still be in good spirits. He walked a few steps forward and asked Zhang Xiaotian, “Going straight home?”

Don’t want to go home, don’t want to go home, don’t want to go home…

Zhang Xiaotian could almost see the words in Lu Bai’s eyes. But he had only told his mother that he was going for a meal, and going somewhere else meant he couldn’t guarantee his return time. But if he just said he was going home…

He felt a little reluctant.

“Then, how about we go to the supermarket?” Zhang Xiaotian tentatively suggested.

“Fine.”

Lu Bai almost had “Is that it?” written all over his face, but the time wasn’t really suitable, so he didn’t suggest anything else.

“Then let’s walk towards your place, I’ll walk you home.”

Perhaps it was because he had talked too much at the table, Lu Bai didn’t initiate conversation as usual. Zhang Xiaotian also remained silent, his mind replaying the scenes from dinner. As he was thinking, he suddenly remembered what Lu Bai had said to him before the meal.

Lu Bai had seemed to be facing him directly then, his eyes fixed on him.

“I really admire you, I truly do…”

Oh my god! Zhang Xiaotian suddenly realized something, or rather, felt extremely embarrassed! He could even feel his face flushing, burning from the top of his head downwards. He glanced sideways at Lu Bai and found him completely oblivious, making him feel he had overthought things.

“Tian’er, did you see that Labrador that just ran past?” Lu Bai called out to Zhang Xiaotian, gesturing for him to look back. “That dog is so fat!”

“Saw it.” You look like a dog.

Zhang Xiaotian’s home wasn’t actually very far from school, and coincidentally, Lu Bai’s home was also in the same direction. Since he had moved here, he had been driven to and from school. This was actually Zhang Xiaotian’s first time walking home. Lu Bai, upon hearing this, insisted on showing him the scenery along the way and sharing his fond childhood memories. Zhang Xiaotian felt it was unnecessary but couldn’t dissuade him, so he followed him through several small alleys.

This area, once the most prosperous part of the city, now had a sense of twilight. Coupled with the stubbornly high housing prices, the buildings here presented a mix of old and new. The newly opened shops along the street were trendy and avant-garde, creating a stark contrast with the old campus across the road that hadn’t been renovated yet. However, the slowly descending night veiled both in a drowsy weariness. As they walked through the alleys that hadn’t been renovated, they felt as if they were walking through the veins of this old city. Even the prim and proper Zhang Xiaotian felt a sense of hidden freshness and romance.

“I grew up in this area and used to come here to play by myself,” Lu Bai walked at a steady pace, leading Zhang Xiaotian. Occasionally, at intersections, he would see small shops that clashed with the style of the area and feel like he had discovered a temporal rift. “These shops are all new. It wasn’t like this before,” Lu Bai pointed as he walked. “Before, there was everything here, gold shops, clothing stores, my mom knew the owner of every single one. My mom always told me to play with their kids, but I found them younger than me and didn’t want to play with them, so I’d tell them to hide well and then sneak away myself.”

“You never got caught?” Zhang Xiaotian asked him.

“Of course, I did. Later on, the kids weren’t stupid, so they stopped playing with me,” Lu Bai chuckled as he said this. “Hmph, who cares about playing with those brats.”

The two of them wandered around the neighborhood and eventually found a rusty swing. They both looked at the metal swing, neither of them sitting on it first.

“Is this also a childhood memory of yours? Aren’t you going to show it to me?” Zhang Xiaotian asked.

Lu Bai was surprised. “Damn, this swing is still here? How many years has it been…”

Zhang Xiaotian was also surprised. “No way, do you know if it’s been dismantled just by passing by your house?”

“I don’t take this road when I go home, I take the main road outside the neighborhood with streetlights,” Lu Bai gently pushed the swing with his hand. The moment it moved, it let out a grating sound.

“You didn’t want to go home, so you took me on a detour?” Zhang Xiaotian raised an eyebrow at him.

“So what?” Lu Bai raised an eyebrow back. “Besides, how else can we relive childhood memories if we don’t take a detour?”

“Alright,” Zhang Xiaotian sighed.

The alleys were like a maze, and Zhang Xiaotian eventually became dizzy and tired, deciding to call it a day.

“We still haven’t gone to the supermarket,” Lu Bai raised an objection, but Zhang Xiaotian rejected it.

“Supermarkets don’t have childhood memories.”

“Why not, when I was little…” Lu Bai tried to argue again.

“Next time,” Zhang Xiaotian said. “Definitely next time!”

This time, it was Lu Bai’s turn to sigh.

Without the detour, Lu Bai quickly took Zhang Xiaotian near his home. Before leaving, he reminded Zhang Xiaotian, “Go to school early tomorrow, okay?”

“I know,” Zhang Xiaotian directly saw through his ulterior motive. “Go early to see the handsome you.”

“Hehe,” Lu Bai grinned, revealing a row of very white teeth. “Then it’s settled! I’m leaving!”

He walked backward a few steps, said goodbye a few more times, then turned and left.