That night brought their relationship to a temporary halt. It wasn't until the bare branches of the white magnolia in front of the teaching building were completely exposed that Xiao Yu realized they hadn't spoken or seen each other for over half a month.
Until recently, Xiao Yu had been secretly staring at his chat history with Ye Qingli, locking his phone whenever someone came near. His secretive behavior made Xu Qingsong initially suspect he had some dirty pictures saved on his phone.
There's no smoke without fire. Eventually, Xu Qingsong caught him in the act. He circled around Xiao Yu twice, then looked at his face and clicked his tongue. "A Yu, you're sick."
Xiao Yu raised his eyelids at his pensive expression. "What illness could I have?" His cold had already healed.
"Lovesickness."
Xiao Yu shot him a glare. "Scram."
"Mm, I must have judged wrong. It should be rabies." Stubborn as hell. If he liked her, just like her openly—they wouldn't laugh at him. Xu Qingsong muttered to himself.
"Being deadlocked like this isn't a solution. Just say what you want to say. Don't be so wishy-washy, man. Is face really more important than love?" Liu Xu started his little lecture, taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't his relationship problem, brainwashing Xiao Yu.
Of course, Xiao Yu understood all that. He just didn't know what to send. "Good morning," "Have you eaten?"—those were too robotic.
His eyes flickered. It was time for class. Xiao Yu turned off his phone and put it in his pocket, picked up his college English textbook, and said to the two who were still sitting there unmoved: "Aren't you going to class?"
"You're going to class?" They both asked in unison.
All three of them came from wealthy families. They studied so hard in high school purely because their parents forced them, just to show off at the graduation banquet. Now that they were in college, their parents couldn't control them anymore. Without the whip behind them, they were just coasting through college with the modest goal of getting a diploma.
Especially Xiao Yu, who had been talked to by the counselor countless times for skipping class. The main issue was that no one had ever managed him before. He'd been doing whatever he wanted for so long that no one could control him now.
Yet this big shot now voluntarily proposed going to class.
Too strange.
"Mm," he responded indifferently, dropping a "If you're not going, forget it," and turned to leave.
"We're going! If you're going, we definitely have to go too."
College English was a public course, open to students from different majors. By the time class was about to start, almost all the seats were filled. Xu Qingsong looked around—there were still a few seats in the back. Lucky timing. Grinning, he pulled the other two to go.
"Hold on? Isn't that Xu Yan? And the one next to her is Ye Qingli, right?"
Liu Xu squinted. Xiao Yu followed his gaze. Ye Qingli was wearing a fluffy hat today, her chin tucked into her collar, making her face look even smaller. Maybe she hadn't woken up from her nap, because she was now sleeping with her arms folded and her head tilted. Xu Yan sat next to her, propping her chin on her hand while doing exercises and twirling a pen. Each was doing their own thing, not disturbing the other.
Liu Xu had good eyesight—it was indeed them.
What a coincidence. Xu Qingsong couldn't help but be a little suspicious. He nudged Xiao Yu with his elbow. "Did you time this?"
"I'm not as shady as you."
After saying that, Xiao Yu walked toward them. Liu Xu stomped his foot in place, panicking. "They're sitting so far up front, and you're still going?"
"A Yu is now approaching women—it's a good thing." Xu Qingsong chuckled, then grabbed Liu Xu. "You have to come too. We'll sit together."
"What am I going for? A Yu goes to Ye Qingli, you chat nonsense with Xu Yan, and I just sit there doing nothing. You need to give me a reason to go."
"You can answer questions for us later," Xiao Yu answered for Xu Qingsong.
"Is that a human thing to say?"
Xu Yan was translating the text for the lesson when someone tapped her desk corner. She looked up and met Xiao Yu's gaze. He tilted his head toward her. "Switch seats with me."
The front rows were usually reserved for those who wanted to study seriously. If the back rows weren't full, no one would sit up front. There were still quite a few empty seats in the front row. Xu Yan pointed around. "Aren't there seats here?"
"I have something to discuss with Ye Qingli."
"You can talk to her through me."
"I want to sit next to her." Xiao Yu was tired of beating around the bush.
Xu Yan looked at him for a while. She really didn't want them to sit together. Ye Qingli had cried and then gone to sleep that night. The next day, her eyes were as swollen as a sad frog's. Only after Xu Yan persistently pressed did Ye Qingli tell her the truth. It was really painful to be wronged and not believed.
But thinking it over, later Xu Qingsong told her that when Xiao Yu went to find Ye Qingli that day, he still had a high fever. In their words, his brain was fried from the fever, so he temporarily didn't know how to speak like a normal person. She hesitated a bit, feeling that some things were better resolved face-to-face.
"Alright then." Xu Yan packed up her desk and stood up.
"Tch, so reluctant." Xu Qingsong sat down and snorted.
Xu Yan paused and turned to look at Xiao Yu. "What now? I suddenly don't want to switch with you."
Xiao Yu had already sat down. There was no way he was moving back. He shrugged. "Just pretend he's going to fart nonstop for the next two hours."
"Oh." Xu Yan straightened her clothes and sat down, then extended a hand to Xu Qingsong and said sincerely: "Hello, Fart King."
Xu Qingsong: "..."
They started bickering as soon as they met, like old enemies. Liu Xu was used to it. He threw his book on the desk and started playing on his phone. He still had a quest to finish, so he opened the game and got absorbed.
About ten minutes later, the teacher arrived. Xu Yan shot Xu Qingsong a glare, temporarily withdrawing from the battlefield. She reached past Xiao Yu and patted Ye Qingli. "Class is starting, Qingqing. Stop sleeping."
Feeling the pressure on her arm, Ye Qingli opened her eyes groggily. She had been having trouble sleeping lately, only falling asleep in the second half of the night. That made her sleepy during the day, and a short nap wasn't enough.
Her eyelids were still heavy. She struggled for a while before feeling better. Looking up and seeing the teacher had arrived, she instinctively wanted to ask Xu Yan what time it was, but when she turned, she saw Xiao Yu's cold, stern face.
Ye Qingli instantly perked up.
Seeing her freeze, Xiao Yu waved his five fingers in front of her eyes. Xu Yan leaned in from the side to explain: "Xiao Yu said he has something to talk to you about—whisper, and he insisted on sitting next to you."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have switched with him," she added confidently, clearing herself of any blame.
"..." Ye Qingli didn't know what to say, so she turned back and started rummaging through her backpack for her notebook.
Xiao Yu propped his face on his hand and watched her busy herself. Seeing that she had no intention of talking to him, he suddenly felt regretful. "Aren't you going to say hello to me?"