Chapter 478: Qiaomu Private High School |
Although it was said that Fang Dian often hit people accidentally while playing ball, the strange thing was that the balls she sent flying seemed to have eyes. Generally speaking, they would only hit two types of people—
—The people she liked and the people she hated.
The people she liked would develop a close connection with her because of it, while the people she hated would be hospitalized with concussions. Bai Liu once suspected that Fang Dian did it on purpose, but after being forcibly pulled to the side to watch her matches and observing several times, Bai Liu had to regretfully admit—
He couldn’t tell.
Fang Dian, a mysterious and miraculous human being, always had some miraculous operations that Bai Liu completely failed to understand.
For example, right now.
“These are the popsicle sticks you’ve been secretly hoarding, right?” During their high school years, Fang Dian was about half a head taller than Bai Liu. She naturally tucked Bai Liu’s head under her armpit and mysteriously pulled a bundle of wooden sticks out of her skirt pocket. “I found them in a hidden layer under your bed; you certainly know how to hide things.”
Bai Liu glanced at the bundle of popsicle sticks in Fang Dian’s hand and fell into an eerie silence.
During his high school days, many ice cream and popsicle manufacturers ran a promotion called [One More Stick]. This activity was just like the [One More Bottle] promotion popular with drinks nowadays. After finishing a popsicle, if the words [One More Stick] were printed on the wooden stick, you could use it to redeem another identical popsicle at the canteen.
High school-era Bai Liu wouldn’t eat them, however. Instead, he would hoard them, tie them into a bundle, and hide them in a place he deemed safe—such as the hidden layer under Fang Dian’s bed.
Because Lu Yizhan also hid things there, such as the money he saved up to buy Fang Dian a birthday gift, Bai Liu would sometimes join Lu Yizhan in these “criminal acts.”
Now, both suspects involved in concealing “stolen goods” had been arrested simultaneously by Detective Fang Dian.
“Lu Yizhan actually hid a hundred yuan under my bed too.” Fang Dian said thoughtfully, “Is he planning to save up to buy me a gift?”
“…” There was no expression on Bai Liu’s face. “Since you’ve guessed it, there’s no need to ask me.”
“I’m more curious as to why you suddenly went to flip over the wooden board layer under your bed. That place is heavy and dirty, and you usually never clean it.”
Fang Dian laughed loudly and scratched the back of her head. “I suddenly had a feeling you guys were secretly hiding things in there, so I lifted the bed board and took a look. I didn’t expect there to really be stuff hidden there, haha.”
Bai Liu: “…”
Lu Yizhan, have you really thought through spending the rest of your life with such a terrifying woman?
“I didn’t expect you to secretly hoard these wooden sticks, though. I thought you would have redeemed them to eat long ago.” Fang Dian brought the sticks close to Bai Liu’s face with great interest and pressed, “Why?”
Bai Liu’s gaze shifted. “To save up and sell them for money.”
“Liar.” Fang Dian dismissed it without a thought. She pondered for a moment and shook her head. “How much money could these even sell for? If you were going to do something, you’d go for something big. This kind of thing isn’t worth the effort for you to set your mind on money.”
Fang Dian stared at the clean and tidy bundle of popsicle sticks in her hand, then suddenly realized with an “Ah!”: “These popsicle sticks can be redeemed cumulatively. Don’t tell me you wanted to collect ten sticks to redeem at once, and then treat me and Lu Yizhan to two expensive ice creams?”
Bai Liu, whose thoughts had been accurately struck: “…”
Quibbling in front of Fang Dian was useless, so Bai Liu admitted calmly, “They can’t be redeemed for very expensive ice creams. At most, two yuan and fifty cents per person.”
“Holy crap, that’s so awesome!” Fang Dian rubbed her hands in excitement. “Two-fifty, that can get us a Cornetto!”
“I’ve never eaten a Cornetto before!”
Bai Liu paused. “But you bought one for me.”
“Really?” Fang Dian looked up in confusion. “Did that happen? I don’t remember.”
Bai Liu fell silent.
It was always like this.
Fang Dian was truly too adept at using this tactic, making it impossible to tell if she was being intentional or unintentional. It left you unable to find a channel even if you wanted to use a transaction to measure and repay what she gave you.
That two-fifty Cornetto was bought for him the last time Fang Dian won a scholarship.
That day, Bai Liu had just finished evening self-study. He had been punished by Xu Wei to clean the toilets, and while he was there, he was cornered by a group of boys led by Bao Kangle from his class. Bao Kangle had gone quite mad that day; Bai Liu rarely failed to retreat unscathed, and when he came out of the toilet, his school uniform was soaked through with tap water.
He calmly propped up his desk, which had been kicked an unknown number of times, wiped clean the marks made by permanent markers reading [Orphan] and [Lowlife] on the surface, and neatly arranged his soaked textbooks to dry on the windowsill. In the pitch-black teaching building after the lights were turned off, he slowly walked downstairs, his mind drifting listlessly as he replayed the words Xu Wei would likely say to him tomorrow.
[How did you break another desk?] Xu Wei would surely scold him like that. [Do you know how many desks and chairs you’ve broken since joining this class? And you even doodled on your own desk; don’t you know that’s forbidden by school rules?!]
At times like this, Bai Liu couldn’t tell this woman, who didn’t use her brain to think, that surely no one in this world would enjoy doodling words like [Orphan] on their own desk over and over again, nor would anyone repeatedly smash their own desk out of shape as if it were a group assault.
Such things were generally done by low-value minors with too much energy.
If Bai Liu told Xu Wei that, the matter would never end.
She would suddenly raise her voice and incessantly question him: [Are you trying to say that you’re being bullied?]
The corners of her eyes and brows would be filled with sarcasm and cold sneers: [You clearly know the family backgrounds and status of the students in our class. You have no interaction with them at all. If you didn’t do something to provoke them, would they bully you for no reason?]
[Why don’t they bully others but only you? Why don’t you look for the reason within yourself?]
[—Is it because there are too many reasons on yourself that you can’t even find them all?]
Next would be half an hour of nitpicking and insults until Bai Liu bowed his head and admitted it was his own fault. Only then would Xu Wei, as if having achieved victory, puff out her chest and exhale, waving her hand: “Go to class.”
[Next time you encounter this kind of thing, look for your own reasons first.]
So, later on, Bai Liu simply admitted it: Yes, I broke it. I am a bad student. The welfare home will cover the cost of the damage; I don’t need to pay compensation.
This left Xu Wei with nowhere to start. She would have to swallow her words back down, and could only impotently tell Bai Liu to be careful next time and get lost.
*(T/N: I despise this woman.)*
That night, while Bai Liu was distractedly thinking about these things, he unbuttoned his school uniform to let the wind blow into his collar to dry the clothes. When he reached the bottom of the teaching building, he saw Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan waiting for him there.
Bai Liu’s footsteps stopped.
They were holding a Cornetto cone, and stuck into the cone was a pair of cheap-looking birthday candles in the shape of [18].
The firelight from the candles illuminated their faces. Their faces could not hide their exhaustion, but they were still bright with smiles. In the pitch-black corridor behind Bai Liu, the faint firelight provided by those candles seemed exceptionally warm and bright.
Fang Dian’s smile-filled face peeked out from behind the cone, her smile so bright it seemed to light up the entire hallway in an instant.
“Bai Liu, we escaped from the mountain to find you!”
Lu Yizhan quickly took off his school uniform jacket and draped it over Bai Liu’s thin shoulders. He was both helpless and suppressing his anger: “Didn’t I tell you many times to come find me when this kind of thing happens? I’ve talked to the security guard on the mountain; if you come, he can let…”
“He won’t necessarily let him in.” Fang Dian reminded the fuming Lu Yizhan. She took a step forward, looked into Bai Liu’s eyes, and asked very seriously, “I know it’s difficult for you to go up the mountain, but if you need it, Lu Yizhan and I can skip class to come down and help you handle these problems.”
“Do you need it?”
Bai Liu looked back into Fang Dian’s eyes. He was silent for a long time. “I don’t need it.”
Lu Yizhan interrupted Bai Liu anxiously, “It’s already like this! Why are you still acting tough!”
“Okay.” Fang Dian acted as if Lu Yizhan didn’t exist at all. She nodded to Bai Liu. “Then we’ll talk when you need it.”
Lu Yizhan turned his head sharply to look at Fang Dian: “Wait until he needs it?! If this continues, if Bai Liu is forced to change into…”
“Change into what?” Fang Dian was genuinely puzzled. She looked at Lu Yizhan, her gaze open and clear. “I really don’t think Bai Liu will change because of this situation. This situation is nothing; it’s just a bunch of idiots causing trouble.”
“I don’t think such a small thing can change Bai Liu. Besides, if Bai Liu needs it, he will tell us. It’s not like he’s fighting these things alone and without help.”
“We will always stand on his side, Lu Yizhan.”
Lu Yizhan went still. His emotions immediately subsided, and he lowered his head blankly, releasing his right hand which had been tightly gripping Bai Liu’s shoulder. “…I know. I was overthinking.”
“I know you grew up with Bai Liu and worry about him, but you can’t treat Bai Liu like a child forever.” Fang Dian put her hands on her hips and sighed pretentiously, though her eyes were filled with smiles. She reached out her index finger and poked the back of the dejected Lu Yizhan’s head. “He will grow up, too.”
“He will change from a good child into a good adult.”
“Don’t you think this change is very interesting?”
Fang Dian raised her head and smiled as she lifted her arm, pushing the ice cream in her hand in front of Bai Liu.
The candles on the ice cream had melted more than halfway. The light on the candles became even more obvious, swaying as it shone on Bai Liu’s emotionless face.
Water was dripping one by one from the ends of his soaked hair. In his dark pupils, the reflections of Fang Dian and Lu Yizhan standing before him were mirrored.
“Happy eighteenth birthday, happy coming-of-age, Bai Liu.”
“Blow out the candles, make a wish, and then take a bite of your birthday ice cream!”
Bai Liu closed his eyes, then slowly blew out the candles and pulled them out. He opened his mouth and took a bite of the ice cream that was about to melt.
Fang Dian leaned in next to him, her eyes shining as she asked, “What flavor is it?”
“Strawberry.” Bai Liu paused. “Didn’t you guys buy it? Didn’t you look at the wrapper?”
“I’m just asking.” Fang Dian persisted. “What wish did you make? Does it involve me and Old Lu?”
Bai Liu remained silent for a very, very long time. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but in the end, he just took another cold bite of the ice cream. “I didn’t make any wish.”
“If making a wish to some so-called god actually worked, there would be no need for you guys or me to take the Gaokao.”
Fang Dian rested her chin on her hand and sighed. “You’re such a realistic person, Bai Liu. Making a wish is just a way to find comfort. I don’t believe you didn’t make one. Quickly, tell me if we’re in it!”
Bai Liu was silent for a long time again. Another drop of water fell from the end of his hair. Then he lowered his eyes, looked at the melting and deforming ice cream in his hand, and said softly:
“I wished… that next year you guys would buy me an ice cream that isn’t strawberry flavored.”
“It tastes terrible.”
—
Author’s Note:
The background storyline is almost finished being explained; getting ready to switch to the main storyline!
6’s birthday is on September 21st.
—
*(T/N: Again, I can’t help but wonder if the only reason Lu Yizhan was good to Bai Liu is because he feared that he’d turn into Bai Six. I know that it doesn’t change the fact that Lu Yizhan took good care of him, but it just makes me sad to think maybe his care was all just an act. And please Yizhan lovers, don’t come at me. I know he’s done a lot for Bai Liu. I’m just up in my feels.
But on the flip side, Fang Dian believed in him so unconditionally and I love her so much.)*
