Chapter 154: Youthful love
Fang Yunyao left just like this. One day, two days, three days…half a month pa.s.sed with no further news of her at all.
Regarding separation, we are often able to see the pain of the one forsaken much more easily. Actually, the one who upped and left might be suffering sorrowfully in silence someplace as well.
Over this period of time, Fu Cheng tried all means to search for Fang Yunyao. He even tried looking for her hometown in the distant Hunan. Yet, he could find no clues on her location at all.
With Fang Yunyao"s current situation, if she really wanted to hide from Fu Cheng, as long as she and her mother randomly found some city and some school and settled down there…they could really be separated by thousands of miles with little hope of meeting ever again.
Another person who was overwhelmed by negative emotions over this incident was Xu Tingsheng.
Everyone had exerted all their strength and all their courage in their first battle against fate. Happiness had seemed to be right before their eyes. Yet, it had ultimately ended like this.
What then of the next battles against the fate of two lives?
Xu Tingsheng tried to comfort Fu Cheng in this way, "Maybe she hasn"t actually left, and is still in this city. Maybe you"ll suddenly run across her on the street one day."
While such consolation seemed most easily seen through as a lie, Fu Cheng believed him.
In his free time every day, Fu Cheng would ride on a slow public bus, sitting by the window and spending three hours quietly scouring through every single corner of the city. From start to end, from dawn to dusk, he yearned for that figure…to suddenly appear before his eyes.
Gradually, such fruitless searching turned into a habit.
Fu Cheng told Xu Tingsheng that looking out of the window every day, he would see hundreds and thousands of people. Some of them would be happy, with bright smiles on their faces. Some of them would be sad, with tears streaming down their faces. Some of them were in the midst of separating, while others had just reunited…
"I"ll wonder-where is she now? Is she happy or sad? What colour are the clothes she"s wearing, and who is she talking to?"
Fu Cheng smiled faintly, "One day, I will ascend mountains and descend into seas, searching throughout the entire world for her. When I"ve found her, I"ll tie her up and ask her: You still dare to run? So big already and yet still so insensible."
Xu Tingsheng was unable to voice the worry that he might never have the chance to do so.
……
Li Xingming confessed to Zhu Yingying of the j.a.panese course for the first time.
Her reply was, "I don"t think we have anything in common to speak of."
"But she"s right! One of you is studying Chinese and the other j.a.panese. There really is no common language between you two," Tan Yao commented.
Thus, Li Xingming began studying j.a.panese in his dorm room all day long, starting with learning how to sing j.a.panese songs. Room 602 echoed with his horrible singing which was virtually like the howling of wolves and the weeping of ghosts all day long.
He had just been preparing for his second confession that would soon have followed when Zhu Yingying had already found herself a boyfriend.
Li Xingming cursed, "The heck, who can tell me why things have become like this? The heck, I can sing more than ten j.a.panese songs now; I already know a lot of j.a.panese idols now…"
He persistently got Tan Yao to take him out to play. After a few times, he managed to hoodwink a loose woman with a fake platinum necklace, getting rid of his virgin self.
He said, "Look, like h.e.l.l I would need love."
Whilst saying this, he was actually filled with sorrow and despair.
……
Apple had once said that she felt Lu Xu and Chick Bao would definitely be very happy together. Yet, this didn"t seem to be so.
Lu Xu was always p.r.o.ne to calling for a breakup, such as when he saw Chick Bao and her senior brother smiling as they sparred together, such as when he discovered Chick Bao having momentarily been holding a jacket for another guy who had been in the midst of training.
There must definitely be some people close to you who are like this, always giving the worst judgment and reaction in matters which we don"t view to be so serious. They always overstate the matter, descending into their own spiral of negative emotions, even losing themselves to it.
Every time Lu Xu did this, Chick Bao would refuse him.
Sometimes, when Lu Xu was in a rather worse mood, being resolute in his stance, Chick Bao just wouldn"t bother arguing with him. She would find him to eat when she should, act coquettishly when she should, buy the tickets when a new movie was screening, and peel an orange and stuff half of it in his mouth.
Most of the time, their relations.h.i.+p was mended very quickly. Lu Xu would feel very guilty afterwards, desperately trying to make up for it as he treated Chick Bao extremely well.
Of course, it was even more serious sometimes, to the extent that when Chick Bao went to Room 602 to find Lu Xu, he would refuse to open the door, or would open it and tell her, "Scram, don"t look for me anymore."
Chick Bao tolerated even this.
Actually, Chick Bao had no lack of admirers. Those who pursued her had even led to an internal split amongst the Sports course. Those of Room 602 couldn"t really stand this state of affairs as well, inevitably feeling curious as to why Chick Bao was willing to suffer such injustices.
Chick Bao would reply, "You guys don"t know, but Lu Xu actually loves me a lot."
Thus, everyone would persuade her to teach Lu Xu a lesson, even if it was a fake one. He would know how to be scared after that, and perhaps might even be cured of his tendencies.
Chick Bao asked, "How would he be able to take it?"
Chick Bao was worried that Lu Xu wouldn"t be able to take it. Lu Xu, however, could bear treating her this way.
For a period of time, Lu Xu had something going on with a junior from his hometown, acting shamelessly to the point that all of Room 602 just couldn"t watch on any longer. They were basically prepared to collectively start spurning Lu Xu as soon as Chick Bao commanded it.
Chick Bao ignored this for half a month. Finally, when that junior was in the midst of lessons one day, she dressed like a descended divinity and appeared docilely at the door of the cla.s.sroom. After greeting the teacher, she came before her in a cla.s.sroom full of people, a bright smile on her face as even her tone was bright, "Little Sis, don"t s.n.a.t.c.h my boyfriend, okay? I nearly forgot to tell you, but this Big Sis has a black belt in Taekwondo."
The matter ended just like that.
Everyone felt emotional at this. Chick Bao was Chick Bao after all, being so valiant even in matters of the heart.
Right, everyone thought that Chick Bao was just that valiant. No one saw the gritting of teeth with a refusal to express her pain as well as the spilt crimson blood that lay behind that courage and persistence.
This girl had wrongly defined her role in this relations.h.i.+p. She had turned into the one who bore the responsibility and tolerated the other in their relations.h.i.+p, doing all she could to protect it all.
She would surely be tired.
Xu Tingsheng had discussed this problem with Lu Xu before, but had ultimately been unable to change anything.
Such was youthful love.
……
Xiang Ning had improved a lot in her midterms, going from around ranked 20th to being ranked 5th in her cla.s.s.
Mr and Mrs Xiang were both overjoyed. Mr Xiang even specifically opened a bottle of wine during dinner that night, sharing a few cups with Xu Tingsheng. Xiang Ning also made use of this chance to get back her handphone. Of course, she could still only use it on the weekends. Normally, it would still be kept with her mother.
One week later, on Friday night, Xiang Ning called Xu Tingsheng, "Uncle, don"t come tomorrow. I"ve got something going on in school. There won"t be any tutoring this week."
"Something? What is it?" Xu Tingsheng asked.
"I"m rehearsing for singing. We"ll be having a performance for our school anniversary."
"You"re singing? Solo or choir?"
"Choir. Do you want to come see my performance? I can think of a way to bring you in on that day."
"What day is that?"
"4th May. Heh," When thinking of this date, Xiang Ning was filled with joy as well the triumphant feeling of craftiness from concealing a secret.
"…" On hearing the date, Xu Tingsheng suddenly became rather dazed.
"Uncle, have you decided? Are you coming or not?" Xiang Ning pressed him.
"About that, I"ve checked. I"ve got something on that day. I can"t come," Xu Tingsheng said.
"Oh, okay then," Xiang Ning said with a hint of desolation in her tone.