Chapter 4 (2/2)

A hint of sadness in our hearts, my love, has awakened.

– By Gao Jialang]

How shameless of Gao Jialang! He was clearly plagiarizing William Butler Yeat’s “The White Bird” and yet dares to sign his name at the end of it.

Xiao Rongyu saw Chen Hansheng reading others’ messages to her and she started to blush. “Don’t peek at other people’s. Find an empty spot and just write yours, quickly!”

Chen Hansheng handed the book to Wang Zibo. “Here, you write first.”

Wang Zibo had been racking his brain to think of a sentence that would leave a deep impression on Xiao Rongyu, the beauty. Flustered, he took the pen and grumbled unhappily, “I haven’t thought of it yet.”

Wang Zibo was not prepared to be writing it so soon. In the end, he just wrote a formal and detached message:

[May Xiao Rongyu be beautiful and happy always.]

Finally, it was Chen Hansheng’s turn. He had originally wanted to write: ‘I wish that you would be able to return to your youth halfway through life.’

But it was too cryptic and was not interesting enough. Thus, he wrote: “For life in a pond, the loach may be ugly but it speaks wonders; the toad may be sloppy but it can bring joy; the snail may be slimy but it has a gentle heart. The little crucian carp is your goddess.”

Gao Jialiang was standing a little further away. But once Chen Hansheng put his pen down, he started to grow anxious and hurried over to see what the latter had written. In the end, he only read words describing creatures in a pond. He smiled contemptuously and said, “Even elementary school students write better essays.”

But another girl from the group shook her head and said, “Not necessarily. At first glance, it looks very boring, but if you read it carefully, it holds quite a deep meaning. Chen Hansheng, are you calling Rongyu your goddess?”

Gao Jialang may act like a spoiled brat at times, but as a student of The First Port City High School, his language literacy was quite decent. He knew that the girl was right but he refused to admit it. In the end, he impatiently said, “The sky is almost dark. Let’s hurry home.”

Xiao Rongyu noticed the beauty of Chen Hansheng’s message. However, she was not too surprised. Chen Hansheng had always been a genius.

The class teacher, Mr. Xu, had once said that if Chen Hansheng only put his mind to it and calmed down, he would definitely succeed in the future.

“Your writing is tolerable. I’ll hold off telling Mrs. Chen for now. You’d better not smoke again.”

It was only after the group left that Wang Zibo, who had always been cowardly, bared his teeth at Chen Hansheng. “I wasn’t ready just now, but you f*cking forced me to write first.”

Chen Hansheng did not refute him. He only asked, “Well, it didn’t matter how brilliantly you wrote. The real question is, are you going to pursue Xiao Rongyu?”

“How is that possible?!” Wang Zibo was shocked. “I only get the courage to talk about her when she is not around. I don’t even dare to raise my head in front of her.”

Well, at least Wang Zibo was aware of himself and admitted it. Chen Hansheng grinned and wrapped his arms around his friend’s neck, just like he did seventeen years ago.

“Then let’s cut the crap. We’ll go to Shuangqiao Plaza another day for that newly opened Mcdonald’s treat.”

“Why not go tonight?”

Mcdonald’s was still quite a rarity in Port City.

“Not tonight.”

Chen Hansheng directly refused. “I want to have dinner with my dad and mom.”

Wang Zibo was stunned for a moment. “Don’t you always find them naggy?”

“It’s OK. You wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Chen Hansheng waved Wang Zibo goodbye. “Go home.”

As Chen Hansheng’s figure disappeared from the dim streetlights, Wang Zibo had a sense that Chen Hansheng had a lot more to say.