After Ou Yang answered the third question, the people in the classroom all reacted differently. Bai Yi hooked up his lips as he looked at Cheng Zhi Chu. Cheng Zhi Chu softly coughed and moved away his line of sight only to be met with the dark gaze coming from Gu Zhen’s side.
Suddenly things were awkward, and he could only look straight ahead at the corpse-like female teacher with a similarly pale face.
The female’s face was stiff, and her eyes were white. You couldn’t tell what she was feeling. She just faintly spoke up:
“Last question.”
“Do you regret what you have done?”
Ou Yang’s expression changed slightly. He seemed be hesitate over whether he should tell the truth but, in the end, he clenched his teeth and decided to answer truthfully.
“Apart from the very last time, I have never regretted it.”
“In addition to getting a lot of benefits from Brother Bai, I also hated Su Ling.”
“My father was a scum who divorced my mother because he cheated so I am most disgusted by people who ruin other people’s family. I admit, I am not a good person. Bullying Su Ling was just a way for me to satisfy myself. In any case, I admit to doing those things……”
Having said that, his voice gradually weakened. There was a complicated expression on his face. Even if it was easy for him to tell the truth, he was still uneasy about whether or not the female ghost would punish him. He clenched his hands into a fist and waited for the female ghost's next words.
Cheng Zhi Chu looked back at Ou Yang. Hundreds of emotions raged inside him, but he continued to purse his lips and didn’t speak.
In his opinion, Ou Yang’s actions were ridiculous and wrong. He was like Lu Jie. Because they had been hurt before, they turned around vented their resentment onto other innocent people. Although they are pitiful, they were mostly hateful.
But why did Ou Yang emphasize “apart from the very last time” ? What happened the last time they bullied Su Ling that would make Ou Yang regret it?
Could it be that………. Su Ling’s death was related to the last time that they tormented him?
Thinking this, Cheng Zhi Chu looked over at the teacher standing at the podium. He guessed that her next question would probably be related to that sentence of Ou Yang’s.
However, to his surprise, the female teacher's question ended there. She didn’t say anything and allowed Ou Yang to sit back down.
Ou Yang breathed a sigh of relief and he rested back into his chair. He wiped away the cold sweat from his forehead.
“As long as you tell the truth, you’re okay……….”
Seeing Ou Yang successfully clear through the questions and Liang Wen Bing and Lu Jie only to be met with death after lying, Zhao Xiao Pang who had not had his turn yet muttered this to himself.
“Next person, classmate Zhao Xiao Pang. Please answer the questions.”
Immediately after the female teacher called him up, Zhao Xiao Pang slowly stood up and he swallowed nervously. With a trembling voice, he said: “Please ask.”
“Do you know the person in this photo?”
The teacher revealed a photo on the screen. It was a photo of a normal-looking teenager.
“………..K-know.” Zhao Xiao Pang carefully looked at the photo and confirmed his identity.
“What is your relationship with him?”
“He is a junior from the year below and also Junior Cheng’s classmate.” Zhao Xiao Pang said, “Apart from that, we…… I guess it could be considered an employer-employee relationship. I would pay him to keep an eye on Junior Cheng.”
What?
Cheng Zhi Chu subconsciously looked back at him. Zhao Xiao Pang awkwardly gave him a small smile, but he didn’t stop answering.
“Brother Bai originally pursued Junior Cheng in order to take revenge on Su Ling…….. I bought over this schoolmate and asked him to inquire about Junior Cheng’s preferences. Sometimes I would ask him to follow Junior Cheng. Like this, I would get information about Junior Cheng and then I would pass it onto Brother Bai and let him use it to his advantage.”
The female teacher nodded. She then released another photo.
The photos setting was the corner of the school campus. It was currently midsummer, and Su Ling and Cheng Zhi Chu were sitting together under a tree eating together. Cheng Zhi Chi was smiling as he appeared to be telling Su Ling something.
“Who took this photo?”
“This was taken by that schoolmate.” Zhao Xiao Pang said, “That day he told me that Junior Cheng had gone to find Su Ling and even took a picture to show me. I quickly went and told Brother Bai……….”
The moment he said this, Cheng Zhi Chu suddenly noticed that the scene around himhad once again changed. The chair under him suddenly disappeared and he fell to the ground. He felt the heat rush over him and the loud cicada sounds comingfrom the surrounding trees. Once again, he had entered the photo.
Su Ling sat alone not far away from him and he supported a lunch box on his knee.
………….
Ever since the day Su Ling kneeled before Lu Jie in front of a lot of people in the corridor, the rumor about him liking Lu Jie had spread across the school. Every time Su Ling passed a group of people, there would always be someone pointing at him and looking at him with a shocked expression.
The school rules were relatively loose and there was no explicit prohibition for students to date. Of course, high school was when they should be studying so they naturally also don’t advocate it.
The ruckus caused by the incident this time was too much. Although Su Ling wasn’t reprimanded by the school, teachers have talked to him several times. Every time, he would respond with silence.
He couldn’t explain to the teacher the truth. Even if he said that he abhorred Lu Jie, the teacher wouldn’t believe it. They most certainly wouldn’t believe that a “pure” and “well-mannered” girl like Lu Jie would actually have such an ugly side to her.
In fact, when he was bullied by Bai Yi, Lu Jie and the others during middle school, Su Ling and already tried to get help from the school. He was only met with the teachers reprimand and warning as they advised him not to tarnish the reputations of other students.
He would never be able to forget the disdainful look that the teachers had given him at that time because he was a poor student coming from a poor family. The teacher then turned around and smiled and greeted Bai Yi because Bai Yi’s father had donated a lot of money to the school.
Since that day, Su Ling no longer spoke up and he never mentioned anything about his experiences.
No one could help him
Apart from enduring through it himself, there was no other way out.
It’s okay.
He’s strong.
He can endure this.
It’s just that sometimes………. he’s very tired.
As if he was floating in the vast sea surrounded by boundless sea water, he felt like he would drown at any moment.
He had to rely on his own strength to swim ashore. He didn’t wish for a boat to come and rescue him. All that he needed was an island that would allow for him to occasionally get a breather.
That was it.
Su Ling still remembered that, on the first day of high school, he was locked inside a bathroom cubicle by Ou Yang and was about to miss the opening ceremony. Cheng Zhi Chu just happened to pass by, and he helped let him out. He even gave him a warm and pure smile and happily greeted him.
“Are you also from Class 7? What a coincidence, me too. We’ll be classmates in the future.”
At that time, he didn’t speak. He didn’t even go the same direction as Cheng ZhiChu. Instead, he turned around and walked the opposite way.
He didn’t want Cheng Zhi Chu to see his suddenly red face.
It was probably the first time in his life that his heart was beating so fast.
But this time, his heart wasn’t beating fast because of fear, fright or anger. It was a strange emotion that he had never experienced before.
………..He had found it.
He had found his “island”.
It was also his light, his dream.
The best of everything that he could think of and also………
The person that he likes.
Even if he would never have the opportunity to say it……….
“Clack.”
Behind the school building, Su Ling sat on the floor and placed the lunch box that he had brought from home onto his knee.
He had always made his own meals at home, but he used to sit in the cafeteria to eat so that he would he able to see Cheng Zhi Chu who was also there having his lunch. If he was lucky, the two of them would sit quite close and Cheng Zhi Chu would even greet him.
That was enough for Su Ling to be in a good mood for the day.
However, after Lu Jie’s incident, Su Ling had to hide in a place away from the others.
Truthfully, he didn’t care about what others thought but he didn’t dare to see how Cheng Zhi Chu would look at him.
Moreover, Lu Jie had also discovered about the fact that he likes Cheng Zhi Chu. Even if she said that she would not tell Bai Yi and even though nothing appeared to have happened to Cheng Zhi Chu since then, he was still a little worried and could only try to stay away from him. That photo was also already deleted along time ago.
He didn’t have the qualifications to like another person.
Su Ling’s hand holding onto the lunch box gradually tightened. His beautiful face was pale, and he tightly pursed his lips together.
Atthis moment, he suddenly heard footsteps nearby. He looked up and his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. Inside, he couldn’t help but feel excited.
“Turns out you’re here.”
The teenager gasped for air for a while before smiling at Su Ling.
Due to the hot weather, the boy’s cheeks had flushed red and sweat oozed out from his head. He may look a little pathetic but, in Su Ling’s eyes, he looked extremely cute and endearing.
“Why are you here?”
Despitebeing happy, Su Ling still maintained his original dull expression. He didn’t dare express his joy.
“I’m here to find you. Haven’t seen you during lunch for the past few days and felt a bit lonely.”
The teenager smiled embarrassedly and raised the bread in his hand: “It’s actually nothing important. If you don’t mind, would it be okay for us to have lunch together?”
“………….”
SuLing’s breathing stopped. He almost couldn’t control his expression. He looked around to confirm that there wasn’t anyone around and eventually was unable to refuse the temptation of being able to be alone with the boy. He lightly nodded his head.
“That’s great.” The teenager smiled and sat down beside Su Ling. He tore open the bag containing the bread.
“…….You’re eating that?”
After a brief silence, Su Ling couldn’t help but ask.
Even he knew that it wasn’t like him to display concern about something like this. If it was something else, he really wouldn’t pay any attention, but this was the person that he likes so, even if it was just a small thing, he would take it to heart.
He actually wanted to ask about it since a long time ago. Why was this boy always having bread for lunch?
“The weather is too hot, so I don’t feel like eating the food in the cafeteria. It’s both oily and it doesn’t taste good.” The young teenager licked his mouth and said, “I like to eat sweets. Even on such a hot day, I can eat sweets.”
This is not a good habit. You’re always complaining that you’re short but, with you being so picky and eating so little, how would you be able to grow taller?
Su Ling fell silent for a few seconds. In the end he didn’t say that sentence and just opened his lunch box.
But he could no longer be saved. He actually thought that such a childish teenager was extremely cute………
“Your lunch today looks delicious too.”
The teenager took a bite of his bread and his eyes fell onto Su Ling’s lunch box. He let out a muffled praise and appeared to be quite envious.
Su Ling’s actions stopped. He thought about whether or not he should give him his lunch but was worried that it may seem too sudden. He then heard the teenager say: “I really envy you. Your mum makes such delicious meals for you every day.”
“……….I did it myself.”
“Huh?? Yourself??” The teenager’s eyes widened. His cheeks were bulging from the breadand he looked like a hamster, “You’re amazing.”
SuLing didn’t say anything. The teenager was also used to his cold response. He swallowed the bread and continued to speak to himself.
“Whoever gets together with you will definitely be happy………..”
Su Ling’s heart skipped a beat. The hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.
“AlthoughI have never said it before, but I have always thought that you have a lot of strengths.” The teenager smiled and said, “You’re smart, handsome, tall, can cook and you’re very detailed……..”
Hearing his sudden praise, Su Ling was a little at loss. His heart thumped like crazy and his fingers curled into a fist. Sweat oozed out from the palms of his hands as he suddenly felt nervousness that he had never felt before.
“So……….”
As he said this, the teenager paused for a moment. He then said: “Don’t worry about what others say. You have the right to like anyone and you deserved to be liked by anyone. Even if Senior Sister rejected you, you………”
Su Ling’s brain exploded, and his heart instantly fell into a pool of ice.
He quickly stood up and the lunch box fell to the ground, scattering the lunch inside onto the ground. His chest rose and fell, and both his eyes were red. He looked at the boy with a look of both anger and anguish.
“You came to find me………just to tell me this?”
This was the first time the teenager saw Su Ling react so fiercely. His face instantly went pale and he realized that he had angered Su Ling.
That day, he had also witnessed that scene and, later, he had heard about the rumours about Su Ling. He felt bad for Su Ling and just wanted to tell Su Ling that he is a good person, that he shouldn’t be concerned about the others and that there would be better girls waiting for him.
But he had made things worse, and had made Su Ling suffer even more……..
What is he doing……..
“Sorry……….”
The teenager bowed his head and uneasily apologized to Su Ling.
Su Ling’s breathing was slightly uneven. The heart that was originally in dull pain felt like it was pierced through in one go.
Fresh blood trickled out and he felt sharp pain in his chest.
This isn’t right……….. How can he get angry at that boy?
He clearly knew that the boy was just worried about him and only wanted to comfort him. He should instead be grateful to him.
But the moment he learned that the teenager had thought that he liked Lu Jie, he couldn’t control his emotions any longer.
How can you think that I like someone else………
It doesn’t matter who misunderstands me but for you alone, please don’t misunderstand and think that I like someone else…….
Because the person that I like is you. And I would only like you.
Unableto restrain his feelings anymore, Su Ling suddenly grabbed the boy’s shoulder and made him look up at him.
The teenager felt some pain at his shoulder and his eyes were filled with confusion. He wanted to continue to apologize to Su Ling but when he was faced with Su Ling’s oppressive gaze, he forgot his intention to do so. He looked at the pair of eyes that looked straight at him and he could see himself reflected in those eyes.
“I don’t like Lu Jie. I also won’t like anyone else.”
Su Ling stared into the teenager’s clear eyes as if he was looking straight into his heart.
“The person that I like is———-
“Brr———-Brr———”
The sound of a phone vibrating suddenly interrupted the conversation. At the same time, there was the faint sound of footsteps. Su Ling’s expression quickly changed. He immediately let go of the teenager's shoulder and moved to hide behind a tree. He didn’t want others see him interact with the teenager.
The sound of footsteps disappeared after a few seconds, and no one came over. The teenager looked over at the tree that Su Ling was hiding behind and hesitated for a moment. He then picked up the phone first.
“Hello? Ah, hello Senior…….There’s something urgent? Ok, ok. I’ll head over now.”
The teenager put away his phone and his mood was a little down. He hesitantly spoke up:
“Sorry, Su Ling. A senior is looking for me so I need to hurry over……Sorry, I’ll apologize to you properly next time. I’m sorry about making you angry. I really didn’t mean to do that.”
After saying this, he walked away while looking back after almost ever three steps. It was clear that he was still very worried.
Su Ling leaned against the trunk of the tree and his body slowly slid down. He crouched down onto the floor, curled himself up and buried his face in his arms.
………He almost said it.
How can he do that? How can he say it………
Definitely not.
He can’t say it.
He can’t let Bai Yi know about this.
What’s more, he couldn’t imagine how the teenager would react. He couldn’t afford to be hated by the boy.
…………
The teenager rushed over to a lounge where Bai Yi and Ou Yang were waiting for him,
He panted as he pushed open the door to the room and said intermittently: “Se-senior, I’m here. Is there something that I can help you with?”
“You didn’t have to run so fast. The weather is very hot. Don’t get a heat stroke.”
Bai Yi walked over and rubbed his head. He passed over a wet towel for him to use to wipe the sweat from his face. He then smiled and said: “In fact, although I said that it was urgent, it’s not really that urgent. I just wanted to give you a surprise. Look.”
He pointed to the table. On the table sat a plate of strawberry ice cream cake that was still emitting cold air. It instantly attracted the teenager’s eyes and he couldn’t help but blurt out: “Is that the limited edition ice cream cake?”
“So, I wanted you to hurry and come over. Any longer and it would have melted.”
Bai Yi smiled and said gently: “I know you like sweets and would easily lose your appetite but I thought that you might like it so I bought it.”
“But this takes a long time to get.” The teenager raised his head in surprise: “Senior, you…….”
“It’s okay, when I went there weren’t many people.” Bai Yi smiled, “It’s probably because today is a working day.”
Ou Yang who stood on the side heard him say this and wanted to say something but, with a look from Bai Yi, he kept his mouth shut.
Recently, he has been having more and more difficulty understanding Brother Bai’s thoughts.
Ou Yang thought this with great confusion.
That store was clearly very popular and the line for the store even reached outside of the store. You could tell that you would need to line up for a long time. Bai Yi saw that there was a lot of people and his face immediately darkened. He had volunteered to line up in Brother Bai’s stead but was pushed aside by Bai Yi and could only stand by and watch.
As he stood in the queue, he had heard Bai Yi mutter more than once.
“Why am I wasting so much time for something like this?”
He also thought this.
Why are we waiting here?
They had also specifically skipped class to come here. What are they doing here stupidly queuing up instead of attending class?
Fuck, they had also skipped math class.
It didn’t matter for Brother Bai since he’s smart and it was okay for him miss a class, but he was someone who can never wrap his head around math!
Thinking this, Ou Yang couldn’t help but curse at Zhao Xiao Pang inside. That stupid fatty just had to rush over before class started to report that Junior Cheng liked to eat the limited edition ice cream cake from this store and that he would buy one from here every weekend.
In the end, Brother Bai got up without any hesitation and left.
He gritted his teeth and came along. He thought that it was currently working hours so it shouldn’t be that busy and he wouldn’t miss his math class but, when he arrived, he realized that he had severely underestimated the store's popularity.
How can there be so many people……..
At that time, Ou Yang face was already a little distorted. Seeing that Bai Yi didn’t seem to be in a good mood, he couldn’t help but feel a little happy. He thought that Bai Yi would give up but, in the end, he saw Bai Yi walk over to the end of the line with a cold expression.
“Why am I wasting so much time for something like this?”
Once again Ou Yang heard Bai Yi say this line. He almost fell to his knees——-
Brother!
If you really can’t stand it, then I’m begging you to just leave.
Why are you still standing here waiting?!
But when it was time for math class to start, Ou Yang had become numb and he had also calmed down. He felt that he seemed to have finally figured out what BaiYi’s intentions were ———– It must be because Brother Bai wanted to“inadvertently” let Junior Cheng know about how hard he had worked waiting in line. By using this trick, it could help boost Junior Cheng’s good feelings for him!
When he realised this, Ou Yang immediately took out his phone and used it to take photos of Bai Yi waiting in line. He prepared those so that the teenager could look at it in the future.
But when he walked out of the store, Bai Yi whose expression still had not improved said faintly: “Don’t tell Zhi Chu useless things.”
“Ah? Oh……….”
Ou Yang agreed with a look of confusion. He had originally thought that he understood what Bai Yi’s intentions were but now it seems like he no longer did——— Wasn’t it because he wanted to show him how much he had suffered to boost his feelings?
Why aren’t we telling him?
Also, Brother Bai had always called Junior Cheng “Cheng Zhi Chu” behind his back. When did it become “Zhi Chu ”…………
However, this was not the most horrible thing that Ou Yang had encountered today. It was when Zhao Xiao Pang suddenly called.
“Brother Bai, Junior Cheng went to find Su Ling. He’s having lunch with Su Ling!”
“…………”
Ou Yang was almost scared onto his knees by Bai Yi’s expression.
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Bai Yi’s Diary (Part 56)
I hate it when Zhi Chu’s attention is on something else.
If that “thing” is human, I hate it ten times more.
If that person was someone that I hate (including my other selves), I would want to kill them.
………..Only Zhi Chu’s kiss can comfort me.
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KK has something to say:
I want to give Su Ling a hug…..There, there Su Ling. 😥