It was around 9pm, when Ning Qing left with his sister.
Lin Yuan was alone in his room looking over the new list of vocabulary to memorise. Baozi was wandering across his desk. Seeing that he was busy, the fat cat would occasionally walk over the papers or swing his tail across his eyes.
"..."
"Baobao you can't be naughty!"
"Meow?"
"I'm going to be sending you off to boarding school tomorrow, if you don't behave well…" Lin Yuan picked up the fat cat and buried his face into the soft white fur.
"Hehehe…"
"Ring!"
Lin Yuan jolted back. Realising it was just his phone, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked through his messages. Scrolling past the '21st Century Girls' group chat, he paused. After less than a day, he had already muted it because of his sister's spamming.
Looking at the name he suddenly had an impulse.
Lin Yuan: Isn't Xiaoyao the only 21st century girl?
A few moments later.
Ning Qing: …
Ning Yao: …
Lin Yuerong: Lin Yuan! You!
Lin Yuan quickly exited the group before his sister could say anything else.
He checked the new message he had gotten from Zhang Li. Seeing that he was inviting him to play League of Glory again, Lin Yuan's eyes twitched. After taking a minute to control his anger, he declined Zhang Li telling him he had to go solo first to improve his rank.
Zhang Li unsurprisingly was very supportive.
Lin Yuan shook his head and was about to put his phone down, when he paused. He went back to his messages and clicked on Ning Qing's profile.
It was completely empty. She didn't have stories or any photos. She didn't even have a profile picture, it looked like a dead account.
Even his account at least had some pictures of the sky. Of course the only people commenting on them were his sister and mother.
Looking at all the photos of food on his sister's account and the literary quote she had under her profile picture, Lin Yuan thought this was more like it.
Eventually he went through every profile on his contact list, which was very short. Zhang Li surprisingly had the most photos. It was mainly him in internet cafes or playing basketball, he actually had a lot of likes and comments.
Zhang Li is really popular…
Lin Yuan vaguely knew that before. But because usually in class the two of them would hang out, he didn't realise how popular Zhang Li truly was.
"..."
…
…
…
Early in the morning. Tuesday.
The sun had just emerged from the east. The world was covered in the white haze of dawn. Lin Yuan walked along the quiet streets following behind a fat white cat.
The cat pranced around with its head up, as if surveying its territory. Of course whenever they passed by a dark alley or there was a sudden noise, the fat cat would run and hide behind Lin Yuan's legs.
Then after a few moments, it would regain its courage and walk in front of Lin Yuan again, flaunting its beautiful white coat.
Lin Yuan watched this performance all the way to Ning Qing's house.
"Good morning Lin Yuan!"
Lin Yuan stood at the gateway. Seeing that the streets still looked empty, he was embarrassed, "Isn't it a hassle to wake up so early?"
College students didn't have morning classes, especially graduate students. Lin Yuan felt he was inconveniencing her.
Ning Qing seemed to see through his thoughts, she rebuked him gently, "Nonsense. Don't worry, grandma and I usually wake up this early. In fact I've been awake for an hour."
Lin Yuan did notice she did look a little red, and her hair was somewhat messy tied up in a ponytail, as if she'd been exercising. She was also wearing a sports jacket and long pants. He guessed that maybe she went running.
"Well…" Lin Yuan was still hesitant. He didn't think she liked the cat very much.
"What's wrong?"
"...Nothing."
Lin Yuan dropped off the cat and went to school.
10 minutes before self study.
Lin Yuan was going through his textbooks when a few boys walked towards his direction. They stopped next to Zhang Li and began talking animatedly.
Lin Yuan eavesdropped for a while, it seemed like they were people from Class 2. He knew that Zhang Li was in Class 2 before he transferred to the first class at the start of third year.
"Hey, Lin Yuan, do you want to go?"
"Huh?" Lin Yuan was caught off guard when Zhang Li suddenly turned to him.
"A few of us are going to watch the new Waspman movie on Saturday."
Lin Yuan had heard of the new Waspman movie; it was a comic book movie, part of the famous 'Larval Cinematic Universe'. Actually, as part of Ning Qing's assignment to watch English movies, he had watched a few of those movies. He was even planning on watching the new one later.
Lin Yuan glanced at the group of boys who were now looking at him, "Sorry, maybe next time."
"What are you talking about? I know you have nothing to do." Zhang Li waved his hands, and turned back, "Okay, that's decided. Lin Yuan and I will go as well. By the way, who else is going?"
The shorter boy at the front, Wu Qing, spoke, "Well, we mostly invited some people from Class 2, ah, and Chen Su as well!"
"What?! Why would you invite that kid?!" Zhang Li was upset thinking he would have to see Chen Su's annoying face on the weekend as well.
"Well the more the merrier?" Wu Qing said awkwardly, "Brother Zhang, you don't like Chen Su?"
"...Ahh, nevermind!" Zhang Li, after all, was a kind hearted boy.
They talked for a while until the school bell rang.
…
…
…
Evening.
Jing Yao was packing up her bags at her desk. She was a day student so she went home early.
"Hey, we're still going to the new bubble tea place right?" The girl who spoke was Jing Yao's deskmate, Cao Wen, a short girl with a chubby face and long ponytail that danced around whenever she walked.
"Huh? You already had plans, Jing Yao? That's too bad…" A girl sitting behind her said sadly. The other people around her also expressed their disappointment.
"Yeah, sorry." Jing Yao glanced toward the door. There were three girls waiting there, from Class 2.
Seeing her look, one of the girls came over, took her hand and said cutely, "Come on, come on, let's go Yaoyao! Everyone's been talking about this place, I'm so excited!"
"Aha, alright, alright, I'm coming." Jing Yao turned and quickly said goodbye to the group of girls, before grabbing her bag and walking towards the door.
When they were about to leave however, they were blocked by a short boy.
"Um, um, do you guys want to come watch the new WaspMan movie on Saturday with us?" Wu Qing spoke nervously while pointing towards a group of other boys gathered around a desk.
When he pointed at them, they all put on a pose they thought was very cool.
"..."
Liu Wei let go on Jing Yao's hand and stood in front of the group of girls. She had an expressionless face as she spoke, "Who else is going?"
"Mostly people from Class 2…" Seeing the interest drain from their faces, Wu Qing quickly added, "Uh, Zhang Li and Chen Su are also coming!"
"Oh! Zhang Li is going, we should go too!" One of the girls was very excited.
"Um…is Ye Fan going as well?" Liu Wei asked.
"Yes, yes, one hundred percent! He's the one organising the whole thing!"
"Then I'll go." Liu Wei was not shy about her feelings.
Almost all of the girls also said they would go as well. Seeing this Wu Qing thought he could finally relax - he had been sweating this whole time. He glanced back at the table of boys to say it was done, but then he noticed they were still gesturing to him.
He realised that Jing Yao hadn't said anything, and couldn't help cursing in his mind.
"Um, Jing Yao…are you coming?" Wu Qing said hesitantly.
Jing Yao noticed he spoke to her but he kept glancing at Cao Wen. She didn't have time to think too much, however, as everyone was looking at her, "No, sorry, I have cram school on Saturday."
Wu Qing just breathed a sigh of relief and didn't push any further.
After he left, the group of girls started talking animatedly about the boys in both classes as they walked down the hallway.
"Honestly, I think they just wanted to ask Jing Yao and we were just collateral!" One of the girls suddenly said. She spoke in a joking tone but the atmosphere turned strange.
"What are you saying?" Liu Wei rebuked her, somewhat angrily.
"I mean didn't he say that Ye Fan was the one who planned it?"
"..."
"Come on, what are you talking about? Who cares what they think, boys are idiots!" One of the other girls tried to diffuse the situation.
Soon, the conversation turned elsewhere.
A while later, Liu Wei slowed down a little with Jing Yao and began whispering.
"Yaoyao…you didn't say you weren't going because of me right?"
Liu Wei had a serious expression on her face so Jing Yao quickly reassured her, "No, no, I really have cram school on Saturday."
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Okay! Thank god!" Liu Wei regained the smile on her face and began talking to the other girls.
When Jing Yao rejoined the conversation she noticed that Cao Wen was always looking at her with a worried expression. Seeing this Jing Yao just shook her head as if to say not to worry.