Chapter 11
“Are you bored?” Recognizing the person, Jian Wu said exasperatedly, “It’s one thing to eavesdrop on the bus, but you even have to eavesdrop when I go to the restroom? It’s a shame you’re not an intelligence officer, you’re so good at eavesdropping.”
“On the bus, you were the one who didn’t see me. And this is a public area, are you allowed to be here but not me?”
Song Shuci leaned against the wall, the light and shadow playing across his face, making his expression difficult to discern.
“You two are the interesting ones,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen people making a date at the restroom entrance. It’s quite unique.”
Jian Wu held the cherries, his arms wrapped around the ropes of the swing. Song Shuci was standing behind him at an angle, so he twisted the swing halfway around to face him: “Does it have anything to do with you?”
Song Shuci glanced at Zheng Yu’s receding figure. He had been too far away while eavesdropping and only heard a few scattered words, but combined with their actions, it was enough for him to guess what had happened.
“Didn’t you like him very much? Even to the point of being worried I’d be your rival? Why did you reject him?” he asked.
“We realized we weren’t compatible after talking more, okay?”
“What’s incompatible?”
“I don’t meet his publication requirements,” Jian Wu said. “But speaking of which, you’re quite suitable. Professor Zheng is very satisfied with your research and publications, full of praise. If you’re really single, why don’t you two give it a try?”
Song Shuci turned his head away: “He might appreciate my academic achievements, but I don’t necessarily appreciate his.”
“Isn’t it a bit much to attack someone’s academic achievements?”
“I’m not looking down on his academic achievements.” Song Shuci paused and looked at Jian Wu.
“I just simply wanted to attack him in front of you. It’s more convenient to attack from an angle I’m good at.”
Jian Wu unconsciously fiddled with a cherry stem: “Why are you attacking him? Did he provoke you?”
“Why am I attacking him, don’t you know?”
Song Shuci straightened up, took two steps towards Jian Wu’s swing, and looked into his eyes: “I don’t believe you don’t have any guesses in your heart.”
Jian Wu’s eyes flickered slightly. He didn’t speak immediately.
Song Shuci asked him again: “Do you hope it’s the reason you’re guessing?”
Jian Wu unconsciously tightened his grip on the cherries.
“I don’t have any guesses.” he said.
“Fine,” Song Shuci chuckled, a hint of anger in his voice, “Then don’t ask me for my reasons either.”
After a moment of silence, Jian Wu lowered his head and kicked off the ground, intending to start swinging again to ease the slightly awkward atmosphere.
However, he forgot he had twisted the swing halfway around, so when his feet left the ground, the swing started to rotate back to its original position.
The uneven force made the swing wobble. He stumbled and almost fell. Jian Wu subconsciously cried out, forgetting about the cherries, and hurriedly reached out to grab the ropes.
In the midst of the chaos, he looked up and saw the ropes being firmly held by the person who had rushed over.
Perhaps because he had rushed over, Song Shuci stood behind him, slowly catching his breath.
His hands gripped the ropes on either side of Jian Wu’s ears. His little finger was less than a centimeter away from Jian Wu’s thumb, which was also gripping the rope.
Jian Wu wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he seemed to feel the warmth from behind.
“Why did you come here alone?”
Song Shuci’s voice came from behind him, very close.
Jian Wu’s gaze was fixed on the centimeter-wide gap.
He subconsciously moved his hand down, his eyes wandering before finally landing on the tents and bonfire in the distance: “I told you, I was going to the restroom.”
Song Shuci ignored his prevarication and directly addressed his thoughts: “You didn’t expect my slip of paper to have your name on it? You were surprised that I would praise you during the game?”
Jian Wu didn’t answer.
“When we were watching the fireworks, you said ‘your taste is the one that’s bad.’ Ling Meng came then, so I didn’t have time to retort.”
Song Shuci said: “My taste isn’t bad, my taste has always been good.”
Jian Wu tightened his grip on the ropes. He felt his emotions were being stirred by Song Shuci’s words, but he didn’t want to be affected.
Fortunately, Song Shuci tactfully changed the subject: “When did you learn Sanda?”
Jian Wu used an internet meme to mask his slightly complicated emotions: “When you’re out and about, you create your own identity.”
Song Shuci seemed amused: “I guessed as much, you really don’t seem like someone who would learn that kind of thing.”
The hemp rope was rough, and the friction made his palms slightly warm. Jian Wu pursed his lips: “You never know, ‘A scholar who has been away for three days must be looked at with new eyes,’ haven’t you heard of it?”
“Heard it, but I still don’t believe it.”
Hearing this, Jian Wu suddenly said: “Do you think you know me very well?”
“If I don’t know you, who does? Zheng Yu?”
Hearing Song Shuci mention Zheng Yu sarcastically again, Jian Wu kicked back at Song Shuci, who was standing behind him: “Are you sick?”
Song Shuci dodged Jian Wu’s kick and quickly pushed the back of Jian Wu’s swing.
The swing suddenly swung forward in a large arc, the wind whistling past his ears. He gripped the ropes tightly, the insecurity of his feet leaving the ground making his mind go blank for a moment. When he came to his senses, the swing was already swinging back.
Seeing that the swing was about to send him crashing into Song Shuci’s arms, he subconsciously let go, landing on his feet and standing up just before the swing swung back. In the end, only the empty swing swung back on its own.
This commotion sent the cherries, box and all, tumbling to the ground.
He turned around and saw Song Shuci putting his hands back on the ropes, a playful smile in his eyes.
“What are you doing!” Jian Wu’s heart was racing.
“That’s for kicking me.”
Jian Wu retorted: “That’s for you constantly mentioning Zheng Yu.”
“What’s wrong with me mentioning him? Besides, you landed quite steadily, didn’t you?” Song Shuci glanced at him, then gestured at the swing with his eyes, “Want to go again?”
Jian Wu glared at him, calming his racing heart, then pointed at the cherries scattered on the grass from the two incidents, and ordered: “They’re all over the ground, clean them up first.”
Seeing Song Shuci didn’t move, he said imperiously: “Turn on your flashlight, how else am I supposed to see?”
It was quite difficult to spot the pearl-sized cherries in the grass at night. Picking them up was initially fast, but finding the stray ones that had rolled further away wasn’t so easy.
Jian Wu glanced at Song Shuci, who was watching the show with his flashlight on, and couldn’t help but say: “Professor Song, don’t you think you should also bear some responsibility for the scattered cherries incident?”
Song Shuci shirked responsibility smoothly: “They wouldn’t have scattered if you hadn’t jumped off.”
“Cut the crap, you pick up the rest.”
Song Shuci had plenty of excuses: “I’m nearsighted, I can’t see clearly.”
“Where are your glasses?”
“I didn’t bring them.”
Jian Wu nodded, holding back his anger, then snatched his phone, not giving Song Shuci any room for negotiation, and ordered: “Hurry up, I’ll shine the light for you.”
Song Shuci chuckled helplessly, then meticulously rolled up his sleeves and pants before bending down to search.
Perhaps finding the task boring, he started chatting with Jian Wu while searching: “Actually, I think Professor Zheng seems to meet your requirements quite well.”
Jian Wu: “?”
“Are we still on this topic?”
“I’m serious, Teacher Jian.”
As Song Shuci tossed the picked-up cherries into Jian Wu’s box, he continued: “Brand-name watch, brand-name shirt, seems like someone who can afford to support you.”
Jian Wu took a deep breath and played along: “Not enough, I don’t care about luxury goods. It’s best to hit me with gold bars, maybe then I’ll be happy and agree.”
“Big talk,” Song Shuci said, “Anyone who didn’t know better would think Teacher Jian earns millions a year, acting so arrogant with a 5,000 yuan monthly salary.”
Jian Wu’s expression changed: “You checked my salary?”
Song Shuci didn’t answer.
“Professor Song,” Jian Wu was a little annoyed, “Aren’t you supposed to be back from abroad? Didn’t you learn anything about respecting privacy from those foreigners?”
“No way,” Song Shuci pinched a cherry stem, “I’m just too curious, what was so attractive that you had to break up with me.”
He paused, then added: “But I really didn’t expect that living in a small, third-tier city as a subject-level teacher with a 5,000 yuan monthly salary was the life you had to leave me to pursue.”
Jian Wu’s expression stiffened. He stood up, looked at Song Shuci, and asked: “What’s wrong with a small city? What’s wrong with being a subject-level teacher?”
“Right,” he was exasperated by Song Shuci, “There indeed aren’t many CBD commercial streets here, and I don’t have a high salary or a lot of money, but the most important thing is–”
He slapped the phone with the flashlight on back into Song Shuci’s hand: “You’re not here.”
“Crack.”
A soft sound. The cherry stem in Song Shuci’s hand snapped.
He squatted there, picked up the cherry that had rolled away again because of the broken stem, and said, looking down: “Jian Wu, when will you fix your habit of saying whatever comes to mind just to win an argument?”
Jian Wu unconsciously curled his fingers at his sides, slightly raising his head to look at the sky: “What’s it to you?”
“Fine, say whatever you want,” Song Shuci turned off the flashlight, stood up, and handed the box of cherries to Jian Wu, “I think I’ve picked up all of them in this area, I’m leaving.”
Jian Wu took the box and bit his tongue, remaining silent.
But Song Shuci, who had said he was leaving, was still standing there, perhaps waiting for him to say something more.
This scene was very familiar.
Jian Wu remembered four years ago, they had also had an argument. Before leaving, Song Shuci had looked at him like this, as if waiting for him to take back his words.
But he just sat on the bed in silence, until the man left with his clothes.
The sound of the door closing four years ago was like an alarm bell in Jian Wu’s heart, still echoing in his ears four years later.
The night lights cast fragmented shadows on the grass. Jian Wu’s gaze focused on the patch of grass beneath his feet. He heard rustling sounds beside him, seemingly the footsteps of someone about to leave.
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, but he didn’t know why he was sighing.
But before he could fully exhale this inexplicable sigh, a warm presence suddenly appeared behind him.
Jian Wu looked up in a daze and found Song Shuci had somehow moved behind him.
The cherry box he was holding, his knuckles white from gripping it tightly, was forcefully taken away. Song Shuci put his arm around his shoulder from behind, holding the cherries, and led him towards the light and the crowd.
They were too close, so close that Jian Wu’s brain couldn’t process the information, leaving him in a daze.
He only heard Song Shuci say: “You know, sometimes your words really hurt me, make me feel bad, make me want to provoke you back, to let you experience how I feel.”
The man lowered his head, his voice slightly hoarse, so soft it was as if he was whispering in his ear.
“But I’m both afraid you won’t be angry, and afraid of truly angering you.”
Jian Wu’s throat tightened slightly, an indescribable astringency spreading across his tongue, with a hint of bitterness.
He turned to look at Song Shuci, but only saw his profile.
As if sensing his gaze, Song Shuci patted his shoulder and let go before anyone could see: “Cheer up, we finally got to come out and have some fun, it’s not worth it to be angry.”
Jian Wu wanted to say something more, but Song Shuci had already walked towards the crowd.
Jian Wu looked at his back, hesitated for a moment, and finally followed silently.
Their friends, seeing them return, excitedly pulled them back into the activities. His fanboy, Teacher He, enthusiastically pulled him close again, chiding him for taking so long to use the restroom.
Zheng Yu looked at them with a subtle expression, but he didn’t show it outwardly, just saying warmly: “You came back just in time, the last game just ended, should we discuss what to play next?”
As everyone discussed animatedly, Song Shuci adjusted his pants and prepared to sit down. He sat in his previous spot, on Jian Wu’s left and Ling Meng’s right.
But this time, as he sat down, his knee brushed lightly against Jian Wu’s, a fleeting touch.
