Chapter 19: Don’t Touch Randomly.

【019】

The next instant, a cheer sounded right beside him.

“Found it!”

The guy grabbed his basketball and ran off.

Yu Ting’s head was covered by the jacket, plunging his vision into complete darkness. His other senses became exceptionally sharp.

He smelled many scents on the school uniform jacket.

The smell of blood, clean laundry detergent, and a faint hint of tobacco.

Yu Ting had never seen Lu Jue smoke, but he wasn’t surprised that Lu Jue did.

At their age, a guy like Yu Ting who didn’t smoke or drink was a rare exception.

Outside, the soccer team was making a racket with their laughter. Soon, the sounds drifted away, finally and completely cut off by the closing door, leaving only the lingering scent of sweat that hadn’t yet dissipated.

Silence returned to the equipment room.

The jacket over his head was taken away, the lights were off, and Yu Ting’s vision remained dark. Before he could move, a hot breath rolled past his ear. “No one’s here.”

The arm around him released at the same time. Lu Jue pulled him out of the narrow gap and let go entirely.

Yu Ting said, “Oh.” He continued, “Did your wound split open? There’s still medicine left, want to reapply it?”

“It did split, but the ointment you gave me has some super magical effect.” Lu Jue laughed. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Yu Ting nodded and was about to step away when Lu Jue suddenly asked, “The school beauty is chasing you, so why don’t you say yes?”

“…” Yu Ting couldn’t remember who the school beauty was.

But his reason for rejecting everyone was the same.

“I don’t like them, and I don’t want a relationship.”

Lu Jue put his school uniform back on, stuck one hand in his pocket, took a few steps, and asked, “And if you did like someone?”

Yu Ting said, “?”

The distance to the door wasn’t far. Lu Jue opened it, and the outside streetlight suddenly flooded into the room. Lu Jue tilted his head slightly, a hint of seriousness flickering at the corner of his lips.

“If you liked someone, would you be willing to be in a relationship?”

…

By the time they returned to the classroom, it was the third period of evening self-study. Head teacher Yang Shuyun kept Yu Ting in the hallway and questioned him several times. Only after Yu Ting repeatedly assured her his stomach was fine did Yang Shuyun let him enter the classroom.

When Yu Ting went back to his seat, the girl in the front row was turned around, talking to Lu Jue.

Lu Jue barely responded. A book was open in front of him, and he seemed to be looking at problems.

Yu Ting hadn’t answered Lu Jue’s earlier question. He couldn’t answer it. He had never liked anyone. He didn’t know if, when he eventually liked someone, he would want to be in a relationship.

He could only confirm that he didn’t want to now. Right now, he just wanted to constantly study, get accepted into his dream major, and later have the capability to provide a comfortable life for Zhao Rufei.

Yu Ting opened his practice book, but before he could solve a few problems, someone came running over to ask for his help.

Right after he finished explaining, another guy rushed over, holding a thick workbook. With Yang Shuyun’s permission, he even pulled over a stool and sat extremely close to Yu Ting, barely a fist’s width apart. From time to time, he would reach out and point at the scratch paper, occasionally brushing against Yu Ting’s hand.

Lu Jue’s gaze turned icy cold.

Right up until the bell for the end of class rang, Yu Ting was still explaining problems to the guy.

“Lu Jue… classmate…”

Yang Shuyun left the classroom, and a guy from the front row suddenly ran over to call Lu Jue.

Meeting Lu Jue’s icy expression, the guy quietly shrank his neck, his voice dropping several levels. “Someone’s looking for you.”

He pointed to the front door of the classroom.

Lu Jue didn’t even lift his eyelids. His peripheral vision was fixed on Yu Ting.

Yu Ting finished explaining the problem to the guy, but the guy still didn’t understand. They arranged to continue the next day. Only then did the guy leave, fully satisfied.

Yu Ting started packing up: textbooks, practice books, and his pencil case went into his backpack. The last item was an old-fashioned lunchbox.

Once he was packed, he finally had time to speak to Lu Jue. “I’m heading out first.”

Carrying his backpack, he left through the back door. As he passed the front door, he saw the girl waiting by the entrance. She had waterfall-like, long black hair, fair skin, and wore light makeup.

Yu Ting knew now; she was the school beauty.

She had come to look for him a few times after the first-year orientation ceremony. Later, Li Chengxi even joked with him about it, “Brother Ting, who could you possibly like in the future! Even the school beauty doesn’t catch your eye.”

Seeing Yu Ting, the girl laughed awkwardly and quickly turned her head away.

Yu Ting passed by in silence, turned right, and walked down the stairs.

~

When he got home, Zhao Rufei was indeed still waiting for him. She had even cooked some yam and millet porridge.

“Does your stomach still hurt?” Zhao Rufei gestured.

Zhao Rufei’s face was full of worry. Tonight, Yu Ting’s head teacher had contacted her, saying Yu Ting’s stomach was upset.

Yu Ting’s expression didn’t change. “It’s fine, I just overate at dinner and have indigestion.”

Only then did Zhao Rufei relax, her face beaming again. “You’re using your brain so much every day now. Eating more is good for nutrition. Wait until your final year, you can get into a top university’s computer science program!”

Imagining Yu Ting in a bachelor’s gown, holding a bouquet, Zhao Rufei became even happier, already daydreaming about Yu Ting’s wonderful college life in the Computer Science department.

Yu Ting lowered his eyes and silently drank the yam and millet porridge.

After finishing the porridge, Yu Ting talked with Zhao Rufei for a while longer before returning to his room.

He walked to his desk, sat down, and put his backpack down. Opening it, he took out that issue of Ship Science and Technology.

The cover of this issue was the Olympic.

Launched in 1910, decommissioned in 1935, and finally dismantled, but every single image left of it at sea was breathtakingly beautiful.

Yu Ting touched the cool cover, as if traveling through time, seeing the magnificent Olympic in the vast ocean.

I’m sorry, Mom.

Yu Ting’s hand closed into an unshakable fist.

He would fly toward his own ideal.

~

The next day when he entered the classroom, even if Yu Ting didn’t want to listen, a constant stream of gossip drifted into his ears from the front desk.

“Last night, the school beauty cornered Handsome Lu and confessed!”

“…Why are you telling me? I don’t want to hear it.”

“You do want to hear this! Handsome Lu rejected her! Rejected her without any mercy! Said straight out he already has someone he likes!”

“…Alright, now I even less want to hear it. Wahh, I’m completely broken-hearted now!”

…

Handsome Lu was a nickname given to Lu Jue on the school’s Tieba. It was the first time Yu Ting learned about it.

And it was also the first time he learned that Lu Jue had someone he liked.

He opened his book, but wasn’t very surprised. Many students in their grade dated. There were several couples secretly in their class right now, and they’d played some very bold games at Li Chengxi’s birthday party.

It was perfectly normal for Lu Jue to like someone.

And it was actually good. This way, their interactions would be more comfortable.

He was about to turn the page when Lu Jue slipped in through the back door. The moment he sat down, he looked for Yu Ting.

“Let me copy your homework.”

Yu Ting: “…”

He pulled out his homework notebook and handed it over.

Lu Jue copied furiously. Yu Ting glanced over. Yesterday, he hadn’t noticed, but today, Lu Jue’s handwriting looked like absolutely terrible chicken scratch.

He had always assumed Lu Jue’s grades were good, because Lu Jue had a face that looked like it would excel at studying, especially physics and chemistry.

A sentence Guan Ning had once said suddenly floated through his mind.

Back in Jing City, on the way to the restaurant, Guan Ning had said, “My brother probably only goes to school out of boredom, right? We don’t even need to study to get into the best universities. Uncle Lu just can’t bear to send my brother abroad too early. Wait until college, my brother will definitely go to a foreign university!”

Grades were his only path to his dreams and future. He had almost forgotten that for people born at the finish line, grades were merely the icing on the cake.

Yu Ting withdrew his gaze.

The break was only ten minutes long. As soon as the break period started, the guy who came yesterday for help with problems immediately ran over to Yu Ting’s seat to continue working on math problems.

Yu Ting explained three times, but the guy still didn’t understand. After school in the afternoon, he changed the approach and worked through the calculations for the guy for another half an hour, using up three sheets of scratch paper. Finally, the guy jumped up in thanks. “I got it, I got it, thanks, Academic Genius!”

“You’re welcome.” Yu Ting put his pencil case and the used scratch paper into his desk. “Just call me by my name.”

The guy grinned. “I’m really sorry for taking up so much of your time today. The cafeteria only has cold leftovers now, let me buy you dinner! A new hotpot restaurant just opened on the backstreet, it’s really fresh and delicious!”

“No need.” Yu Ting refused.

He glanced at the empty seat next to him. Someone had called Lu Jue away right after school. It was probably another confession or something similar.

Coming out of the academic building, there weren’t many students on the field yet; most were still in the cafeteria.

At this time, even if you managed to get food at the cafeteria, you wouldn’t find a seat. So Yu Ting left the school, planning to eat a bowl of noodles nearby.

Just seconds after leaving the school gate, his pocket vibrated.

The call was from Lu Jue. Yu Ting pressed the answer button. “Hello—”

He was immediately interrupted by a low, urgent, gasping breath. Lu Jue laughed helplessly on the phone. “Lele, I need to trouble you to immediately bring me a tube of ointment.”

Yu Ting stopped walking. “Did your dad come again?”

“He didn’t come, it’s… it’s hard to explain in a few words. Come to this address.” Lu Jue sent a text message. “It’s about a three or four-minute walk from school.”

“And,” he exhaled in ragged gasps, “bring an old-fashioned popsicle too. I’m a little hot.”

Yu Ting arrived at the address Lu Jue sent, carrying two boxes of rice meals and one old-fashioned popsicle.

It was in the residential area opposite No. 2 High School, an old community with good greenery. The buildings were six stories at most.

On his way there, he ran into a few kids who followed behind him, constantly asking, “Brother, brother, who are you looking for? We know everyone in the neighborhood!”

With the kids leading the way, he easily found Building 6.

He went up to the second floor, a layout of two apartments per floor.

The address was 201.

Yu Ting walked to the door of 201. He temporarily moved the separately carried old-fashioned popsicle to the hand holding the bag of rice meals, then bent his fingers and knocked.

Knock, knock.

The door opened after two knocks. Before he could see clearly inside, a tall figure collapsed against him.

A familiar scent rushed over him.

Blood, tobacco, and clean laundry detergent.

Yu Ting quickly grabbed Lu Jue by the waist, dragging him to prevent him from sliding to the floor.

“What’s—”

Before he could finish, Lu Jue’s head heavily dropped onto Yu Ting’s shoulder. His whole body was burning hot, like a piece of red-hot iron.

“…”

Lu Jue had a fever.

Lu Jue was much heavier than Yu Ting. Yu Ting struggled to move him into the room and lay him down properly before going back to close the door.

He surveyed the apartment. A two-bedroom, one-living-room layout. The decorations were aged, but the furniture was new, some even still unboxed. Lu Jue must have just moved in recently, or maybe even just today.

He searched through a few drawers without much hope. As expected, there was no medicine.

There was a small pharmacy nearby, but Lu Jue was delirious with fever. He couldn’t just leave the door wide open. He couldn’t find the keys in the living room, so he ran into the bedroom.

He checked the nightstand and searched Lu Jue’s jacket but still couldn’t find them.

Finally, his gaze fell on the pockets of Lu Jue’s trousers.

He immediately bent down to feel. The pocket closest to him was empty. Supporting himself with one hand on the edge of the bed, he leaned over to feel the other side pocket.

He finally felt the shape of keys. He immediately reached into the pocket, but just as he grabbed them, the body beneath him suddenly moved. He was caught off guard and flipped onto the soft bed.

The feverish person quickly pulled his hand out, pinned it forcefully above his head, and flipped over onto him like a leopard.

Both pupils burned a deep black-red. Lu Jue looked down at Yu Ting. After a few seconds, he finally spat out three words, laced with hot breath.

“Don’t touch randomly.”