Chapter 7 (1/2)

Chapter 7: Take a Deep Breath

Autumn in the north came and went swiftly. At the end of October, the skies were crystal clear. The weather had gradually became colder, the grey-green leaves on the j.a.panese creeper near the school wall had turned into a wine red colour, covered with a layer of white frost. The leaves off the Siberian silver birch had gradually turned yellow. A gentle sweep from the wind was enough to make to leaves fall swirling.

After cla.s.s, there would students who would select a leaf with a long stem and pulled it, one person holding one end. They competed to which end was more durable. The kids here dubbed it gang gang zi. Zhang Yuan twisted the stem, laughing. “I’ve won 33 stems in a row!” He jumped to the cemented bank next to the pond. “Those who are not satisfied come and try me!”

Tian Xin pushed Li Yun Wei. “Look at your seatmate laugh, I want so badly to knock him down a few notches. There’s actually someone in year 1 who said he looks like Rukawa Kaede [from Slam Dunk].”

“His appearance looks like Rukawa Kaede but his smile is like Hanamichi’s.” Li Yun Wei snorted loudly. “But those silly kids couldn’t see him when he’s emitting his killer aura, Zhang Yuan on the basketball court looks very serious.” She hesitated for a moment before saying, “I have something to add, you all have to keep it a secret. That day my seatmate received a letter and I accidentally saw it. On it were the words: Senior Zhang Yuan.”

“What a joke! Did they think this is a j.a.panese comic or a Taiwanese novel?” Tian Xin rushed Li Yun Wei to continue. “What happened next, what happened?”

“I also found it ridiculous and felt gooseb.u.mps all over. I didn’t look anymore.” Li Yun Wei loosened her shoulders. “I just saw that the letter was really gaudy [flowery].”

The two of them exchanged glances, and then looked at He Luo.

“Slam Dunk is airing lately and it’s not surprising that little girls will try and find someone in their daily lives that they can project their fantasies to,” He Luo said. “Teacher Lin was looking for me earlier to talk about entering a compet.i.tion, I’ll go see her in the English language office.”

“He Luo this brat, why doesn’t she has any sense of crisis at all!” Li Yun Wei stamped her feet. “A woman chasing a man is like being separated by a veil, a man chasing a woman is like being separated by a mountain [it’s easier for a woman to chase a man than the other way around]! Now the other person has already stepped right outside her window, she’s still acting like there’s nothing wrong. I even betrayed my seatmate’s privacy just for her sake.”

“Perhaps He Luo really doesn’t like Zhang Yuan and thinks of him as a good friend?”

“Don’t sing revolutionary songs in the future, sing a couple of love songs and you’ll get what I mean. Being good friends and liking someone is completely two different things!”

“Look at you, you speak like you’re well-experienced,” Tian Xin retorted.

Li Yun Wei snorted and refused to reply.

Walking past the corner of the cla.s.sroom, He Luo turned around and stared at Zhang Yuan from a distance. He was still b.u.mbling joyfully like a child. The sunlight warmly

poured all over him, lighting his hair a faint gold.

She couldn’t help a smile. The Zhang Yuan right now was a completely different person from the Zhang Yuan on the court. The him during the men’s basketball compet.i.tion was serious, carefree, calm. His display of relentless determination had stolen many hearts. When he managed to break his rival’s ball, a glimpse of light flashed across his dark eyes, as sly as a fox. When he leaped high in the air, adjusting his posture mid-air, he was as elegant as a hawk.

When the boy wiped his sweat, it was as if he was re-enacting a most vivid youth, as if all obstacles in life could be overcome. What He Luo admired the most was this sense of confidence.

She understood that such a Zhang Yuan would not only attract her alone.

A few days ago was the semi-finals. He Luo and the rest of her cla.s.smates stood on the side-lines cheering for him. The opponents were defeated badly and one of their throws flew directly at the audience. Zhang Yuan took wide strides and blocked He Luo. She only felt a gush of wind sweeping her and all the air in front of her felt non-existent.

A vacuum. So quiet that she was unable to breathe.

Thanks to Zhang Yuan’s long arms, he merely touched the ball with the tips of his fingers and caught the ball. Yet his foot has stepped outside the white line. He has gone out of the boundary.

“How handsome! Did you see that? No. 9 is so handsome!” A young girl next to He Luo screamed excitedly, shaking the arm of her cla.s.smate. “In one moment he had already come running! If not the ball would have hit me.”

“Yes, yes!” A bunch of people chimed. “A hero saving a beauty!”

After the game, the girl bought a bottle of c.o.ke and shoved it into Zhang Yuan’s hands. “Thanks for that earlier, this is my treat!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Zhang Yuan returned the c.o.ke to her. “This isn’t necessary. Drinking carbonated drinks after exercising will cause bloating.”

“Then what do you like to drink?” She persevered on.

“Black and green tea perhaps.” He answered without much thought before immediately adding, “You don’t have to buy me any, we have already prepared saline water.” He turned around but didn’t see He Luo who was responsible for the drinks. When he returned to cla.s.s, he complained, “Do you want to make me die of thirst?”

“I saw that you’re chatting happily so I didn’t want to disturb you. Besides, she bought you c.o.ke but you didn’t accept it, you’re really not leaving her any face. She’s still a little girl from year 1.”

Zhang Yuan curled his lip and asked, “Where’s the kettle?”

Afterwards that girl appeared in the training ground a few times and brought him iced tea. As she ran away, she turned around and smiled sweetly.

It so happened at that moment Tian Xin was obsessing over the other cla.s.s’ rebound king and constantly felt that the boy was either intentionally or unintentionally glancing at her. He Luo observed as she went on doing her exercises. She said, “I think you’re so infatuated that all you see is rose-tinted. He’s obviously not wearing his gla.s.ses, the target of his gaze is not clear. When you like someone, you subconsciously hope that his every gaze is a thoughtful one, his every word has a deeper meaning. A crush is actually your imagination interacting with your feelings.”

Tian Xin stared at her admiringly. “Jie Jie, in the future you should learn psychology!”

She turned around as she twisted her waist and saw Zhang Yuan who was behind her seemingly listening attentively. She knew that she was highlighting Marxist-Leninist principles: it was easy to find someone, but impossible to find yourself. Even as she said this much to Tian Xin, didn’t she herself wish Zhang Yuan was observing her every move?

If that was so, according to the legends in the romance novels and comics, the cool and handsome boy should only show tenderness to the girl he likes and would be standoffish to his other admirers, wasn’t that how it went? But Zhang Yuan would nod and accept the girl’s black tea each time, and after a few times, would smile at her, and even talk to her under the basketball net.

Her name was Zheng Qing Yin. Her steps were so light that she seemed to be dancing, her voice high and crisp. When she was surprised, she would cover her mouth. With her black eyes widened, she would say, “Really? Is that true? I really can’t believe it!”

Li Yun Wei said she was fake and pretentious.

He Luo understood that she was trying to comfort her. Zheng Qing Yin was not being coy, her innocence was truly natural. Because she was pampered by her parents. He Luo had once saw her getting into a car after school, a black Mercedes-Benz driven by a respectful chauffeur.

A little princess born with a silver spoon in her mouth, delicate and brilliant.

He Luo thought about the comments she received about her own appearance: dignified, elegant. It felt a little like they were describing a representative female communist in the 1930s and 1940s.

Zhang Yuan often played basketball after school but always carried a piece of chocolate to fend off any hunger. When Zheng Qing Yin saw this, she cried that she wanted some, s.n.a.t.c.hed it from his hand, and took a bite.

He Luo pressed her lips into a straight line, understanding her feelings were jealousy.

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