Chapter 1 (1/2)
Chapter 1
Author’s Note: Wishing that all readers of this work will be able to enjoy a relationship like this. Hope you’ll have the time of your lives, and live with affection. Wishing you all to be eternally happy, blissful, a life filled with pleasure, and to good health.
It was summer. Cicadas were singing and the sun was shining through the window onto Xie Meng’s face. He could not help but raise his hand to block the sun, and the back of his shirt completely soaked.
Swaying, the bus halted at the bus stop. Following the crowd, Xie Meng squeezed his way down the bus. He frowned and wiped the sweat off his face, and made his way to the school gate in the scorching sun.
On the first day of school at W High, a festive red banner was hung across the school gate. On it was an old-fashioned message, “Today I’m Proud of W High, Tomorrow W High will be Proud of Me!” As a school that was not considered to be top-tiered, the quality of W High’s teaching staff was not to be very diverse. As such, the enrolment numbers of new students were poor. There were only six classes in total for the first years, and each class had about forty students. Even on the first day of school, the campus did not seem very lively.
As there were only six classes, they were not divided in any specific manner. Xie Meng found his name and student number under Class Three’s roster. When he entered the classroom, he found that many people were already there.
W High did not have an affiliated middle school. Most of the students here had either done badly in the high school entrance examinations or had poor grades in middle school. There were even a few girls with light makeup on, and they were looking curiously at Xie Meng.
No air-conditioning was available in the classroom. Sweat was dripping down Xie Meng’s face, and his shirt was sticking to his body. His fair neck looked radiant in the light.
The whispers from the back row grew louder. As Xie Meng wiped his sweat, he took a seat. With his newly cut fringe, his eyes looked black and bright.
“Hey, Classmate.” A petite girl came up to him. “What’s your name?”
Xie Meng looked up, again wiping his sweat.
“I’m Wu Xiaomei.” The girl stuck her hand out, tilting her head adorably. “How about you?”
Xie Meng hesitated for a moment. He wiped his sweaty hand on his pants, then shook Wu Xiaomei’s hand. “Xie Meng.”
“I graduated from Q Middle School.” She pointed at the group of people at the back row. “They’re from L Middle School, and only Mimi is from the same school as me.” The girl referred to as Mimi was a little shy, from her seat, she smiled at the two of them.
Xie Meng was silent for a while before he slowly said, “I’m from S Middle School.”
“S Middle School?” Wu Xiaomei was surprised. “That’s the best middle school in the province. I remember that it has an affiliated high school. Isn’t that also the top school in the province?”
Xie Meng gave an imprecise acknowledgment. Wu Xiaomei studied him and was about to continue asking, but had to give up with the successive arrival of more new students.
“Would you like to sit with us?” Wu Xiaomei invited warmly. “The teacher isn’t here yet.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a fat man looking like the Maitreya Buddha walked in. With a booming voice, he laughed, “Who said I wasn’t here yet? Quick, go take your seats.”
Wu Xiaomei pouted a little and returned to her seat reluctantly. Although there were still a few students absent, Maitreya could not wait any longer and started giving them their seating arrangement.
“Oh, a little handsome boy.” Maitreya called out. “You’ll sit in the middle. What’s your name?”
“Xie Meng.” He brought his bag over.
Maitreya glanced at him. “I remember you. Your score was very high, you only needed a couple more points for direct enrolment in S High.”
Xie Meng shook his head, “I didn’t do my best.”
Maitreya patted his shoulder, “A person sometimes accidentally misses a step in life. Continue working hard, don’t be discouraged.”
Xie Meng nodded and said earnestly, “Thank you, Teacher.”
Maitreya was buoyant, repeating “no need to thank me”, he directed the rest of the students to their seats.
“Wu Xiaomei!” Maitreya was so loud that he gave people a shock. “Don’t always think of sitting next to a handsome boy! No puppy love allowed!”
Wu Xiaomei replied impatiently, “Who’s thinking of puppy love! Can’t I have some eye candy?”
The rest of the students burst out laughing. Everyone was well-intentioned, and no one jeered. Xie Meng smiled as well. Wu Xiaomei blushed as she looked at him, playfully sticking her tongue out.
Xie Meng followed a few other boys to collect his school books and uniform. The books were very very heavy, and a few trips had to be made to collect them all. On his nth trip, Xie Meng came back to find a few boys blocking the doorway.
Maitreya seemed to be scolding someone, but his tone was not strict, “Be a better student! You’re late for the first day of school!”
Then, he added, “You dyed your hair? Get rid of it by tomorrow!”
Xie Meng squeezed his way between two boys in the back row with an “excuse me”, and the boy standing in front turned to look at him.
“I was born with this hair colour.” The boy turned his head back very quickly. Tugging at his fringe, he spoke lazily, “Teacher, if I dye it black, that’ll be actual dyeing.”
Brought to agner, Maitreya rolled up the class list and smack the boy’s head with it, “Acting like a rascal, in what way do you look like a student?!”
Even after getting hit, the boy was not angry. With a rakish smile, he spoke to the person next to him then looked for a place to sit. When Xie Meng was going to make another trip for the books, he stood up as well.
“I’m Ji Qinyang.” The boy placed his hand on the corner of the table and introduced himself casually. He tilted his head to look at Xie Meng. With a smile on his face, he was very good looking.
“… Xie Meng.” He paused before he said his name. Ji Qinyang nodded, mumbling to himself, he repeated Xie Meng’s name.
Without thinking about it, Xie Meng looked up at him, and the other person smiled at him.
Someone came from behind and placed his hand on Ji Qinyang’s shoulder. He seemed to be very popular, and soon became one with the rest of the boys in the class. Xie Meng followed behind them, as they walked through the corridor, the wind blew in through the windows, and the blue curtains fluttered. Xie Meng stopped, he turned his head and shut his eyes, enjoying the cool summer breeze upon his face.
Military training began the next day. The schedule that was originally spread across three days was all compressed within a day. Lining up in formation, marching, standing at rest, within half a day, many students could not handle it.
Taking off his cap, Xie Meng went to wash his face, his fringe sticking to his forehead due to his sweat. Splashing his face with a couple of handfuls of water, as he was fanning his collar, he suddenly heard a loud whistle coming from the field.
The instructor happened to be playing basketball with several boys, and Ji Qinyang was one of them.
The boy was tall, and when he jumped up, his dark brown hair seemed to glow under the sun. Skilfully, he dribbled the ball past his opponent, and with a yell he shot the ball into the net.
Xie Meng looked at that bright smile, and silently replaced the cap back on his head.
Only when the lunch break ended were Ji Qinyang and his group of friends willing to come back. They were sweaty, looking as though they were steaming with heat. Just as Xie Meng was bending over to refill the water dispenser, he turned around to see Ji Qinyang behind him.
“Let me help you.” With a smile, the boy rolled up his sleeves. The sweat on his face had dripped to his neck. Just standing next to him, Xie Meng could feel the heat exuding off him.
They worked together and replaced the bulky bottle for the water dispenser. Xie Meng thanked him, then walked off alone with the empty bottle. When he returned, he saw Ji Qinyang talking to the boy next to him.
“You seem to know Xie Meng quite well?” The boy asked without any malice.
Ji Qinyang did not reply, shaking his head as he drank his water.