MNL Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Ripple – Did That Vent Your Anger?

Chapter 15: Ripple – Did That Vent Your Anger?

As the center of attention in the class, Shen Yan and Xu Jing surprisingly had good relationships with the male students. They would often gather around the two of them in private, sometimes to copy answers, sometimes to chat about games. Coupled with Cha Fei’ang’s presence, the two circles in the corner were always lively. Over time, they naturally noticed the strangeness hidden within.

It seemed like the two academic gods of their class were enemies.

When class ended, Shen Yan would leave through the back door, and Xu Jing would turn around and head for the front door without looking back. When Shen Yan sat down to eat, Xu Jing would get up and leave. Except in the classroom, Xu Jing couldn’t be found within a hundred meters of Shen Yan. Xu Jing didn’t even want his homework to be next to Shen Yan’s.

This phenomenon continued for two weeks, until a PE class on Thursday.

Originally, playing basketball in PE class was meant to relieve stress, at most just a friendly match. But now on the court, the atmosphere was as tense as an exam.

Before anyone could react, Shen Yan had already snatched the ball. But Xu Jing was also very fast, the first to rush up and block his leap. Physical contact was inevitable in basketball. Xu Jing intentionally avoided touching him when he reached out, but he didn’t expect his elbow to hit Shen Yan’s chest. It wouldn’t have been a big deal, boys don’t mind being touched in those areas. But in an instant, the ball veered off the rim, and Shen Yan accidentally fell while landing.

“Damn, Yan-shen, are you okay? Are you alright?”

The boys around him instantly gathered around. Xu Jing was also stunned in place. He hadn’t expected this to happen.

His knee was scraped by a rock on the ground, leaving a bloody patch. Shen Yan sprained his ankle, but didn’t make a sound, not even a change in expression. He calmly said he was okay and tried to stand up.

Mao Chengyu was about to lend a hand, but Xu Jing stepped forward first, took Shen Yan’s arm, and without caring what the other party thought, pulled him towards the infirmary.

“This…” Watching that imposing figure, Cha Fei’ang couldn’t help but say, “Looking at Jing-ge’s stance, I don’t feel like he’s taking Yan-shen to get his leg checked, but rather to saw it off.”

“You’re addicted to ghost stories,” Mao Chengyu glanced at Cha Fei’ang, and said, “Could it be that you have after-effects from that competition?”

“Huh? You went to watch?” Cha Fei’ang asked with a mix of surprise and suspicion, “I seem to remember someone saying they wouldn’t go even if they died?”

Mao Chengyu waved his hand and sighed, “I originally planned to go out with friends, but they all had something come up at the last minute. So, what prize did you win?”

“Thanks to everyone’s love,” Cha Fei’ang smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits, “First prize.”

Without these two, there was no point in continuing to play basketball, so after the game, everyone waited for the end of class.

While supporting Shen Yan, Xu Jing also felt strange. Judging from how this person had snatched Cha Fei’ang’s ball a few times before, he didn’t seem like someone who would suddenly sprain his ankle. How could he fall so easily from just a slight touch?

“I’m not trying to scam you, why are you pinching me so hard?” Shen Yan glanced at the arm being tightly held by Xu Jing, his tone with a hint of complaint.

Xu Jing thought, it’s not like you didn’t pinch me hard before. Shen Yan definitely used a lot of force that day, and his arm still hurts there.

“You’re not?”

“No.”

Xu Jing snorted coldly, thinking he shouldn’t have gotten caught up in the moment and helped him here.

Before he could regret it for long, they had already reached the infirmary. When they were walking on the flat road, Shen Yan liked to lean half his body on him. Now, climbing the stairs, he was even more unbridled, completely oblivious to the meaning of the word “embarrassment”.

The two had different builds to begin with, and Shen Yan was intentionally putting his weight on him. As a result, he didn’t pay attention to his feet, and they almost rolled down the stairs. Xu Jing endured again and again, finally unable to hold back and cursing, “What the hell is wrong with your bones!”

Shen Yan said shamelessly, “Broken.”

After looking at each other for a moment, Xu Jing’s slightly gloomy eyes suddenly darkened. He quickly withdrew the hand supporting Shen Yan, abruptly taking two steps back, wanting to see what kind of awkward situation Shen Yan would be in without support. But the next second, he felt a gust of wind coming towards him, and a body suddenly approaching.

Things happened too suddenly!

Xu Jing’s brain went blank. He hadn’t expected Shen Yan to really put all his weight on him. Seeing his face about to touch his, Xu Jing’s breathing stopped, and he forgot the proper reaction.

It’s over.

This is really over.

Xu Jing, with no way to retreat, had many collapsing thoughts flashing through his mind, but what he felt was not what he expected, but a gentle and hot breath spraying on his face, and someone close at hand but not touching him.

Shen Yan supported himself with one hand against the wall, his sharp eyebrows slightly raised, his expression a little surprised.

Xu Jing heavily closed his eyes. He really wished he could find a hole to crawl into right now.

“Did that vent your anger?”

Xu Jing was stunned, and confusedly raised his eyes. He saw Shen Yan pursing his lips, and a hint of gloom pressing between his brows, “If this is my way of apologizing, will you accept it?”

It was like a layer of fog had risen in his ears. It took Xu Jing a while to realize that Shen Yan was referring to the fall. So, just as he had thought on the way here, this person had really done it on purpose.

But the risk of spraining an ankle from falling from a height is extremely high. Even if intentional, it’s easy to injure muscles and bones. Was this person doing this just to get him to accept the apology?

Xu Jing was stumped. The question thrown out without any warning was difficult to answer.

At this moment, Shen Yan suddenly reached out and lifted Xu Jing’s arm, pushing up his sleeve before he could react, revealing a patch of bruised skin that was still purple. Against Xu Jing’s fair skin, it was particularly noticeable.

“I’m sorry.”

In the narrow corner of the staircase, Xu Jing heard Shen Yan’s apology.

Xu Jing snorted somewhat unnaturally, and said, “Isn’t this coming a little too late?”

“I—”

“Stop talking nonsense, let the school doctor check your leg first, I don’t care if it breaks,” Xu Jing supported Shen Yan into the infirmary without allowing refusal.

“Are all the students at your school so delicate? This is the seventh one today.” The doctor heard the sound, opened the curtain, and walked out, her tone a little displeased.

“Where does it hurt?”

The approaching female doctor was very tall, with a pair of standard phoenix eyes, a high and delicate nose, a very beautiful appearance.

Xu Jing pointed to Shen Yan’s leg.

Ruan Rong squatted down, observed for a moment, and couldn’t help but tsk a couple of times.

Xu Jing’s voice was unconsciously a little nervous, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, it won’t leave you crippled.”

Xu Jing: “…”

“It’s just that there’s too much dirt in this wound, so disinfecting it will be a bit troublesome.” Ruan Rong opened the cotton swab packet, dipped it in iodine, and looked up to say, “Bear with it.”

Shen Yan hummed in response.

“How did you get like this, fell down?” Although Ruan Rong looked flamboyant, she was a doctor after all, and her movements were very gentle.

“Playing basketball.”

“I thought so, several others who came earlier were also injured during PE class.” Ruan Rong carefully wrapped the gauze, and then instructed Xu Jing, who was standing aside, “You just applied the medicine, help him back later. By the way, which class are you in?”

“Class Four.”

Hearing this, Ruan Rong suddenly laughed, her tone subtle, “So it’s Teacher Liang’s class.”

“Alright, there’s nothing serious, just pay more attention when you shower in the next few days. You guys sit here for a while, leave when you feel better.”

After speaking, Ruan Rong went back behind the curtain, and the quietness from when they first arrived was restored outside. One person stood by the window with his arms crossed and a blank expression, while the other sat casually in the chair as calm as usual.

Three minutes later, Shen Yan finally moved, supporting himself on the nearby table and slowly getting up. Although he looked a bit strained, he remained silent, his strength mixed with a hint of imperceptible pity, fully displaying that unintentional innocence.

Xu Jing: “…”

You couldn’t act out that expression and movement without a ten-year acting career.

As Shen Yan expected, Xu Jing put down his arms and walked over, supporting him as he did at the beginning.

On the way back, Shen Yan no longer intentionally put his weight on Xu Jing, and a little distance slowly appeared between the two of them.

Xu Jing stared ahead, the wind passed through the lush green leaves, making rustling sounds. The little cats and dogs on campus seemed to have caught the scholarly atmosphere, each one was well-behaved and docile, and you could often see them wagging their tails and hiding lazily under the shade of the trees.

He rarely paid attention to these things normally. Now, he really had no choice. Besides looking at the scenery, Xu Jing didn’t know what else to do to distract the attention concentrated in his mind.

“Xu Jing.”

The voice was a little soft, almost drowned out by the sound of the wind. Xu Jing thought he was hallucinating, but the person next to him suddenly stopped.

“What?”

Shen Yan looked at him and said, “The wound hurts.”

He didn’t even make a sound when the wound was being treated, but now he’s only taken a few steps and is already complaining of pain. Did this person think he was easy to talk to?

But Shen Yan was the kind of person who wouldn’t give up until he achieved his goal. Xu Jing endured it and asked, “What do you want?”

“Carry me on your back.”

“Me carry you on my back?”

Xu Jing repeated the words as if he had heard something extremely ridiculous, even raising his tone a few degrees.

But Shen Yan turned a deaf ear, approached, and whispered, “Can’t I?”

No boy would be willing to be looked at with such a blatant gaze and say no. Although it was a provocation, Xu Jing still took the bait.

He walked in front of Shen Yan, squatted down halfway, and pulled him onto his back.

Even Shen Yan didn’t react, and was about to speak in surprise, but was interrupted by a vicious voice.

“Shut up, or I’ll throw you down if you talk nonsense again.”

“…”

Originally, it was just a joke, but he didn’t expect Xu Jing to actually do it. That subtle and complex emotion became stronger as their skin touched. The boy in his memory seemed to be slowly overlapping with the person in front of him.

But soon, those figures turned into fragments scattered all over the ground.

“That night, it was my fault.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be mad at me anymore.”

Shen Yan’s voice was even lower, the gentle tone like ripples on the lake.

This was the second time Shen Yan had apologized to him.

His heart trembled twice. Xu Jing was silent for a while, only lifted the person on his back, stepped on the fallen leaves, and walked down slowly.

After a long time, a reply that couldn’t discern his emotions was finally transmitted.

“Got it.”