After hanging up the phone, Cheng Yue’s entire face was burning with embarrassment. Standing in the empty hallway with his back against the wall, he spent a long time mentally preparing himself. It wasn’t until the class bell rang that he finally stuffed his phone into his pocket and quickly ran downstairs into the classroom.
During the four classes in the morning, Cheng Yue was dazed, his eyes fixed on the school uniform skirt worn by Jiang Gezi, not really thinking about anything.
Jiang Gezi noticed his gaze and gradually started to blush.
“Do you…”
Jiang Gezi lowered his voice, glanced up at the teacher at the podium, and cautiously leaned over to ask, “Do you think my skirt…”
Before Jiang Gezi could finish speaking, Cheng Yue, his face flushed red, slapped the desk, stood up, and shouted with his mouth as if it were burning, “I don’t!”
Jiang Gezi stared wide-eyed in shock.
The entire class fell silent. The math teacher, who had a small patch of beard, stared at Cheng Yue with wide nostrils, tremblingly pointed at him, and angrily ordered, “Get out!”
Cheng Yue only then realized, embarrassedly touching his nose. He lifted his foot and left the classroom. As he stood outside the back door of the classroom, the math teacher shouted again, “Go run laps on the playground! Ten laps! Don’t come back until you’re done!”
Cheng Yue pouted and slowly went downstairs to the playground. There were only a few classes having physical education, and on the court, two teams were playing basketball.
He watched for a while, then swung his arms and legs and started running around the track.
He hated walking, but he liked running because of the wind. Feeling the breeze was quite nice and comfortable.
After running six laps, Cheng Yue started to sweat. The track on the playground was 400 meters per lap, and with the weather being so hot, even though it wasn’t noon yet, the sun had been out for a long time. The heat rising from the track and the overwhelming sunlight made his vision slightly dark.
When Bai Zhen, who had slipped out of class, saw Cheng Yue running around the playground, gasping for breath like a fool, he threw the basketball in his hand to someone behind him and walked over to Cheng Yue.
Cheng Yue blinked, feeling his heart racing, and gradually slowed down. But stopping abruptly almost made him lose his balance.
He instinctively reached out for support but found his arm was grabbed. He turned his head to the side, and before he could see the person’s face, he heard the voice.
“You seem pretty idle,” Bai Zhen said, frowning as he looked at Cheng Yue’s sweaty face. “Is it fun to exhaust yourself like this?”
Cheng Yue squinted at him because of the bright sun, pulled his arm out of Bai Zhen’s grip, and explained, “Aren’t you pretty idle too?”
Bai Zhen rolled his eyes, waved his hand toward the distance, and shouted, “Get a bottle of water!”
After shouting, Bai Zhen looked down at Cheng Yue, who was bent over and gasping for air, and sighed, “Are you out of your mind? Why are you running in this damn weather?”
After catching his breath, Cheng Yue straightened up and glared at him. “The teacher told me to run.”
Bai Zhen was stunned by this reason and was more convinced that Cheng Yue was not thinking straight. He used to think of Cheng Yue as a biting little wolf dog; now he saw him as a bit of a fool.
“Alright, go over there and get some shade,” Bai Zhen said, pulling him along while scolding, “The teacher tells you to run, and you actually run? You could have just pretended to run!”
“There’s no sweat on me,” Cheng Yue said as he grabbed the hair sticking to his forehead and pulled it back. His hair was growing so fast that he could almost make a small bun.
“Shake your head under the faucet, and you’ll have sweat,” Bai Zhen said, pulling a jacket off a chair and making Cheng Yue sit down. He then took a bottle of water from someone nearby, opened it, and handed it to Cheng Yue.
“Quick, wet your throat.”
After taking a sip of water, Cheng Yue suddenly realized he had been acting a bit foolishly. He had been like this all morning, with his mind not really working at all.
“Alright,” Bai Zhen said, seeing that Cheng Yue was fine, and waved to the group of people nearby to disperse and resume playing basketball.
Cheng Yue wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a bit sticky, and, frowning, turned to head toward the restroom.
But as soon as he stood up, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and blackness in front of his eyes.
However, it quickly passed, and Cheng Yue didn’t think much of it. He wandered into the restroom, turned on the water, and stuck his head under the faucet. When the cool water hit him, he sighed with relief.
After washing his head, the class bell rang, and he didn’t bother drying his head on the playground. He just grabbed his T-shirt, rubbed it on his head, and hurried upstairs.
The math teacher, seeing him return all sweaty, was finally satisfied and left.
Cheng Yue sighed and sat at his desk, feeling sleepy after a short while.
Time passed quickly, and the afternoon classes ended in no time. As soon as the last class was over, the classmates packed up and prepared to leave.
Teacher Chen walked in, and the class instantly fell silent.
“Alright, two things,” Teacher Chen said, clearing his throat. “First, you all know that the seniors are about to take the college entrance exam, which means you’ll soon be taking their place. Our class’s performance in the mock exam wasn’t very ideal, so I hope everyone will work harder.”
The class gave a few scattered responses.
“Okay,” Teacher Chen knew they weren’t really paying attention, pointed to Cheng Yue, who was buried under his desk and messaging on his phone, and said, “Cheng Yue, stay behind. Everyone else can leave.”
When Cheng Yue heard his name, he looked up, a bit dazed.
“Come here,” Teacher Chen gestured for him to come over.
Cheng Yue sent a message to Ji Xu, saying he was called by the teacher and might be a bit late, then walked to Teacher Chen’s office.
“Stand closer,” Teacher Chen smiled at him. “I didn’t call you for anything specific. I just need your help with something.”
“Help?” Cheng Yue asked, puzzled.
“Yes, our school has an academic exchange program with a school in the United States. This month, they’ve sent a group of students here for study and discussion. Since our English teachers are too busy, they’ve asked us to send a few students from the second year with good oral English skills to help with the exchange. I saw that you just returned from the U.S., so I signed you up. I believe you can handle it,” Teacher Chen explained with a smile.
Cheng Yue was a bit stunned but nodded in agreement.
“By the way, while the students are here, our school will also hold a legal lecture. You can familiarize yourself with some related terms in advance to help with translation,” Teacher Chen added. “Our class is at the bottom of the year and hasn’t participated much in school activities. You should perform well and bring honor to our class. There will be rewards!”
Hearing the word “reward” made Cheng Yue’s back feel cold, and he quickly waved his hands. “No need for rewards, I’ll just try my best to translate. I’ll leave now.”
“Alright,” Teacher Chen nodded with a smile.
Cheng Yue dashed down the six floors in one breath, racing through the rain with his backpack, and then jogged out of the school gates.
Most people had left by the time he reached the school gates, so Cheng Yue immediately spotted the black car parked by the roadside.
Seeing the black car made his heart race and his face flush.
Embarrassed, Cheng Yue slowed his pace and walked over to the car, then opened the door and got in.
Ji Xu was on the phone and didn’t notice when Cheng Yue got into the car. When he glanced over, he was slightly taken aback and hesitated, asking, “What’s with your hair?”
Cheng Yue had a small ponytail tied on top of his head, exposing his smooth forehead. It made him look less youthful, but it suddenly struck Ji Xu that Cheng Yue was actually quite handsome.
His features carried the youthful spirit of a young man, but his eyes gave his face an androgynous beauty. The combination of these traits made him look… captivating.
“Ah,” Cheng Yue said, touching the small braid on his head. He had tied it up during lunch because his hair was still damp. Jiang Gezi, feeling uncomfortable for him, had lent him a hair tie, and Cheng Yue had tied it up himself. It was quite comfortable, and he had forgotten about it by the time his hair dried.
Ji Xu looked at him again. Although he found it quite cute, he laughed and reached out to touch Cheng Yue’s hair.
“How did it get so long suddenly? A crew cut would be more convenient.”
Cheng Yue: “…”
Cheng Yue, horrified, covered his little braid and strongly refused, “I don’t want that. I just like tying my hair.”
Ji Xu frowned, looked at him for a while, and after much hesitation, he swallowed his words and accepted that Cheng Yue not only liked skirts… but also liked tying his hair.
“I’ve left your gift in the back seat,” Ji Xu started the car. “Take a look and see if you like it.”
At the mention of this, Cheng Yue suddenly went quiet and his whole body tensed. He stared out the window at the passing scenery for a while before turning his head.
When he looked back, Cheng Yue saw two exquisite gift bags on the back seat and was a bit surprised.
“Why are there two?”
Ji Xu cleared his throat and explained, “Both colors are quite nice.”
In fact, he didn’t know there were two. He only saw the two gift bags when he got into the car.
He had been busy gathering information and materials about Tan Minmin today. Seeing that he was running out of time, he asked Zhang Mengmeng to buy them.
But Ji Xu couldn’t say they were for Cheng Yue, so he thought it best to say they were for his boyfriend.
His sexual orientation was well-known in their office, mainly because Ji Xu was too lazy to deal with the gifts and flowers on his desk and the excessive enthusiasm of the young women in the office.
“I understand!” Zhang Mengmeng, upon receiving the task, grinned mischievously. “I’ll buy the best ones! I guarantee you’ll have a good time tonight!”
Ji Xu recalled Zhang Mengmeng’s words and guessed that Zhang Mengmeng might have bought two gifts because he couldn’t decide which one to choose.
When they got home, Cheng Yue, suppressing his embarrassment, took the two bags out of the car.
“Try them on and see if they fit,” Ji Xu opened the door.
Cheng Yue was stunned upon hearing this. Realizing his plan to avoid wearing them had failed, he looked at Ji Xu’s expressionless face and began to imagine Ji Xu’s difficulties and insecurities over the years. He felt a pang of sympathy and resolutely took the bags into his room.
After taking the items out of the bags, Cheng Yue was lost in thought as he looked at the two dresses, then felt clueless about what to do.
He picked them up and looked them over but couldn’t figure out what they were supposed to be…
They didn’t exactly look like sweaters, but he had never seen a dress like this before. The back was completely open, and although it wasn’t short, it was…
The more Cheng Yue looked, the redder his face became.
In the end, Cheng Yue had no idea how to put them on, so he took the black dress and ran out to ask Ji Xu.
As soon as he stepped out of his room, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and darkness, and he quickly steadied himself by gripping the doorframe, standing still.
