SYLM Chapter 40
by VolareClass 12’s rest area.
Fu Yi Wen sat cross-legged on the ground, her cheeks stuffed so full they looked like they were powered by a perpetual motion machine as she chewed vigorously, devouring her food while still managing to glance around.
“Fu Xiao Wen, do you want some more—Fu Xiao Wen? What are you looking at?”
“Huh?”
Fu Yi Wen turned her head at the sound of her name, only to find Chen Lu and Jiang Zhen Zhen staring at her, one at her and the other at the direction she’d been looking. Feeling a little guilty under their gazes, Fu Yi Wen smacked her lips and asked in a deliberately calm tone:
“What did you say, Zhen Zhen?”
“I asked if you wanted more beef. My mom gave me way too much, and Lu Lu and I can’t finish it.”
“Is that even a question?”
The mention of food made Fu Yi Wen’s mouth almost stretch to her ears: “I can eat it, give me whatever you can’t finish!”
Chen Lu and Jiang Zhen Zhen couldn’t help but laugh at Fu Yi Wen’s cute expression. Jiang Zhen Zhen put more beef into Fu Yi Wen’s lunchbox while bringing up the earlier question again:
“Oh yeah, what were you looking at so intently just now?”
“Huh?” Fu Yi Wen stuffed two slices of beef into her mouth, shaking her head and changing the subject: “Seriously, this beef is so good. Your aunt’s cooking is amazing!”
“Tang Ying went to get lunch.”
“Cough cough…cough cough cough…”
Chen Lu’s words were like a bombshell. Fu Yi Wen choked, nearly dying, and patted her chest, her round, chubby face turning red:
“Lu Lu! You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just say whatever comes to mind!”
“I’m not just saying whatever.” Chen Lu shrugged, her tone calm: “Didn’t you say this morning you were going to give Tang Ying something to eat? Weren’t you looking for her just now?”
“!!!”
Although what Chen Lu said was true, Fu Yi Wen had indeed said that this morning.
But why did it sound so strange coming from her Lu Lu’s mouth!?
…
Jiang Zhen Zhen hadn’t been standing with them that morning and was only now hearing about Fu Yi Wen’s plan to give Tang Ying food. She curved her eyes into a smile, genuinely saying:
“Fu Xiao Wen, you and Teacher Tang Ying are getting along really well now.”
“…”
That sentence made it impossible for Fu Yi Wen to clear her name. Her eyes widened as much as possible, and she subconsciously wanted to explain, but when it came to the crucial moment, her mouth inexplicably started to stutter—
“I…it’s not…it’s just that I made too much this morning, and it’s a waste to not eat it, so I might as well give it to someone. Is, is there a problem with that?”
“No problem.” Seeing through Fu Yi Wen’s ‘I have nothing to hide,’ Chen Lu curled her lips, a glint of cleverness flashing in her eyes: “No one’s forcing you to explain why you’re giving Tang Ying food. Don’t get so worked up.”
“…”
What a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
It wasn’t the first time Fu Yi Wen had been outsmarted by Chen Lu, but when it came to the issue of Tang Ying, she seemed particularly determined to win.
In her eagerness, her mouth ran ahead of her brain, and Fu Yi Wen blurted out a question from the depths of her soul:
“That’s not right, Lu Lu, why are you so concerned about Tang Ying? You even know she went to get lunch… Could it be because she went with Gu Wan Jun, and you saw them?”
“…”
They were best friends for ten years, after all, and knew each other’s weaknesses and concerns all too well.
Hearing Fu Yi Wen’s careless words, Jiang Zhen Zhen’s heart leaped into her throat, and she quietly studied Chen Lu’s expression.
As expected, the mention of Gu Wan Jun made it impossible for Chen Lu to remain indifferent.
Her bright pupils trembled, and beneath her seemingly calm expression, her emotions churned.
What Fu Yi Wen said was true. Although Chen Lu had deliberately chosen to have zero interaction with Gu Wan Jun for the past week, she couldn’t deny that she had been secretly paying attention to her.
Why?
Why was she so conflicted?
She was clearly angry with Gu Wan Jun, so why was she still paying attention to her?
That’s right, anger meant she still cared.
She still cared about Gu Wan Jun.
How could she not care about Gu Wan Jun?
…
The back-and-forth ended with Chen Lu’s silence and loss of focus.
Seeing that Chen Lu wasn’t saying anything, Fu Yi Wen belatedly realized what she had said.
Remembering the ‘cold war’ between Chen Lu and Gu Wan Jun over the past week, Fu Yi Wen slapped her own mouth in frustration and quickly apologized with a crumpled expression:
“I’m sorry, Lu Lu, I didn’t mean to upset you. It just slipped out, I—”
“It’s nothing, it’s okay.”
Chen Lu forced a smile, trying to alleviate Fu Yi Wen’s guilt as much as possible, but that smile only frightened Fu Yi Wen even more:
“No, Lu Lu, maybe you should just hit me a couple of times. Your smile is uglier than crying…”
“…”
Just when it seemed the topic would end with Fu Yi Wen’s half-joking, half-serious reply, as luck would have it—the teachers returned with their lunches.
Seeing that Tang Ying was about to walk up to them, Fu Yi Wen immediately put down her chopsticks. She first rinsed her mouth with water, then grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, finally pulling out an “unidentified object” wrapped in a food storage bag, containing cut sushi wrapped in plastic wrap.
Under the gaze of Chen Lu and Jiang Zhen Zhen, Fu Yi Wen stood up, patted her pants, and walked towards Tang Ying with the bag of sushi.
Gu Wan Jun was not far away, taking a phone call while holding her lunchbox, and Tang Ying was waiting for her next to a stone pillar.
As she got closer, Fu Yi Wen had the feeling, or maybe it was just her imagination, that Tang Ying’s expression seemed particularly unpleasant at the moment.
What’s wrong with this annoying person? Did she swallow dynamite? Who was so unafraid of death as to provoke her?
Fu Yi Wen couldn’t figure it out and simply stopped trying.
Her Aries nature and carelessness pushed her directly in front of Tang Ying. She handed Tang Ying the not-so-pretty sushi, pretending to be unwilling as she said:
“Here.”
The sudden sound interrupted Tang Ying’s thoughts. She looked up and saw it was Fu Yi Wen.
The anger from the earlier provocation hadn’t subsided. Tang Ying glanced at the sushi wrapped in a plastic bag in Fu Yi Wen’s hand, didn’t take it, and instead coldly retorted:
“For me?”
“Yeah, for you.” Fu Yi Wen paused, afraid that the atmosphere would become awkward, and reluctantly added: “I made too much this morning, so I brought you a share.”
“…”
Made too much. Casually.
Remembering the insulated lunchbox Sun Li Xia had received, and looking at the plastic food bag in front of her, Tang Ying sneered, but there was no smile in her eyes. She crossed her arms and spoke with genuine sarcasm:
“If you made too much and no one’s eating it, just throw it away. I’m not a trash can.”
“?”
Caught off guard by the inexplicable insult, Fu Yi Wen, not knowing she had already stepped on a landmine, was stunned for a moment, and then her tone became a bit combative:
“What do you mean? I’m being nice and bringing you something to eat. If you don’t want it, fine, but why do you have to be so sarcastic!?”
“Sarcastic? You give others clean and convenient insulated lunchboxes, but you give me something wrapped in a broken plastic bag, Fu Yi Wen, I’m not a recycling station.”
“…”
Hearing this, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck Fu Yi Wen. She finally understood why Tang Ying was being so sarcastic.
But she really didn’t mean to about the insulated lunchbox!
Tang Ying had tutored her in English for so long. Annoying as she was, Fu Yi Wen wasn’t an ungrateful person. Besides, she was already prepared to give her sushi. Was she really that stingy with a lunchbox?
But she had only discovered this morning that she only had one new insulated lunchbox left at home. What was she supposed to do?
She couldn’t possibly give her Teacher Sun something wrapped in a bag, could she!?
And this wasn’t a broken plastic bag!
This was a clean food storage bag that she had searched for all morning! And it was wrapped in several layers of plastic wrap!
…
The more Fu Yi Wen thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She didn’t think she had done anything wrong, and she didn’t want to be misunderstood by Tang Ying.
But just as the words of explanation reached her lips and Fu Yi Wen was about to speak, she heard Tang Ying’s mocking voice again:
“Take you and the trash in your hand and get out of my sight immediately. Don’t be annoying here. You’re irritating just to look at.”
“…”
Tang Ying’s words completely extinguished Fu Yi Wen’s desire to explain.
Why did this annoying person have to say such hurtful things!?
Compared to the anger of past arguments, Fu Yi Wen felt more wronged at this moment.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but Fu Yi Wen stubbornly refused to let them fall. She shoved the sushi into Tang Ying’s hand, left a surly “Take it or leave it,” and then turned to leave.
However, Fu Yi Wen had only taken a few steps when she heard the conversation between Gu Wan Jun and Tang Ying, who had just finished her phone call and returned—
“I’m done with the call. Principal Lu said that the school’s chartered bus will pick up the humanities classes first this afternoon. Let’s find a place to eat, what’s this you’re holding? Hey, why did you throw it away?”
“It’s nothing, just trash, let’s go.”
“…”
—
Spring weather is as changeable as people’s moods.
One moment the sky is clear and cloudless, and the next moment the sky suddenly turns gloomy, the rolling clouds black and oppressive. A few drops of rain fall to the ground, and before people can react, the rain is already pouring down.
Most of the rest areas were open-air, so the students had to grab their belongings and take shelter in the museum.
When the classes took roll call, two girls from Class 12 were still out buying water and hadn’t returned. Gu Wan Jun immediately borrowed an umbrella to go find them.
About 15 minutes later, the three of them returned.
The two girls weren’t too wet, but Gu Wan Jun, who had tried her best to hold the umbrella for them, was soaked from head to toe. As she came in, water droplets dripped from the shark clip behind her head.
Seeing that Gu Wan Jun was drenched, Tang Ying rolled her eyes in complaint and immediately took off the windbreaker she was wearing and gave it to Gu Wan Jun.
Seeing this scene, a hand that was pulling down a school uniform zipper suddenly stopped.
A few seconds later, the zipper was pulled back to its original position, as if nothing had happened.
Chen Lu turned her head to look in another direction, letting her gaze wander aimlessly, but her ears were always listening for any movement in the direction where someone was.
What Chen Lu didn’t know was that at the moment she turned her head, Gu Wan Jun, who was not far away and had put on the windbreaker, was looking in her direction with watery eyes.
—
Due to the weather, the school’s chartered bus arrived half an hour early at the museum entrance to pick up people.
According to the arranged order, the humanities classes boarded the bus first to return to school.
After boarding the bus, Chen Lu and her friends went straight to the row of seats at the back of the bus.
Chen Lu was prone to carsickness, so she sat inside by the window for ventilation. To her right were the sullen and slightly red-eyed Fu Yi Wen, and Jiang Zhen Zhen, who was expressing concern and comforting her in a low voice.
This hike turned ‘careless’ into ‘unhappy’.
The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, with no sign of stopping.
Chen Lu sighed inwardly as she heard Fu Yi Wen complaining about how awful Tang Ying was. She averted her gaze and wanted to comfort her friend, but the next second, she accidentally made eye contact with Gu Wan Jun, who was boarding the bus after the students.
Chen Lu lowered her head, avoiding those watery peach blossom eyes.
—
Everyone was exhausted after the three-and-a-half-hour hike and the museum visit. After the bus started, many students leaned back in their seats and fell asleep.
Chen Lu was also a bit tired. She closed her eyes and leaned against the back of her seat. As she drifted off, she vaguely heard the sound of sneezing in the bus, coming from the seats closest to the bus door.
Gu Wan Jun seemed to be sitting in that seat.
Before falling asleep, Chen Lu desperately tried to recall whether Gu Wan Jun was indeed sitting in that seat. She wanted to open her eyes and verify her guess, but soon exhaustion took over and pulled her completely into dreamland.
—
The day after the hike and museum visit.
The school gave the second-year high school students a day off and required each student to write a reflection on their trip to the fortress on this day off.
A vacation was hard-earned and deserved a lazy morning of sleeping in.
But her early morning routine woke Chen Lu up at five in the morning.
After a quick wash, Chen Lu started cleaning the house, mopping the floor, washing clothes, hanging clothes… By the time she finished all the chores, it was time for breakfast.
Thinking that she hadn’t eaten the steamed buns from the breakfast shop on the street for a long time, and that she had time today, Chen Lu changed out of her pajamas and prepared to go downstairs.
After leaving her apartment, she glanced at the door number of 302 across the hall, pursed her lips, and went downstairs as quickly as possible.
First floor.
As she was about to walk out of the building’s entrance, Chen Lu, thinking about whether to buy lunch at the same time, bumped into a delivery guy who was running into the building.
At first, Chen Lu didn’t pay attention. She moved to the side to let the delivery guy go first, but as she did so, Chen Lu inadvertently noticed that the delivery guy was holding a 【Meituan Medicine Delivery】 package.