Editor: Sammy
Proofreader: Bubbles
After several days of rain, it finally cleared up at noon. The sun wasn't warm and dazzled the eyes, but it was more comfortable than the gloomy weather.
Chu Yu made a book stand up so it covered his face and his hand which supported his chin drowsily.
The math teacher caught a cold and had a hoarse voice. When he came into the classroom with a cup of water, he had said something like 'can everyone be quieter in this class', because his lecture voice would be even quieter in contrast.
Chu Yu listened to class for a while, but couldn't hold back anymore and began dozing off. He held his eyelids open and turned his neck to look aside. He found that not only him, but many students were becoming sleepy as well. Dream-Ge also utilized his method. His textbooks were well established, and said person was nearly snoring as he slept.
Lu Shi was called up to talk about the solution to the big problem. Chu Yu instantly became sober, sat upright, and pricked his ears. He listened as the chair rubbed against the ground behind him before Lu Shi's voice sounded.
Quite pleasant to hear.
When Lu Shi talked about the topic, there was never any nonsense. He clearly arranged his thoughts into a few sentences, and also gave one, two, or three solutions.
Chu Yu heard the pen in Li Hua's hand fall to the desk with a 'pa', then he whispered to Zhang Yueshan, "So it's like this, what the teacher explained just now was too complicated, Lu-Shen's solution is much more concise."
Hearing this, a little bit of joy stirred in Chu Yu's heart and he inwardly agreered. Of course!
After class, Zhu Zhifei went up to Lu Shi with a thick book of exercises. He pushed his glasses with his finger and stated, "The weather is too damp, we'll soon be smothered into mushrooms."
Chu Yu, who had borrowed Zhang Yueshan's Rubik's Cube to play with, answered, "If I become a mushroom, I should be a poisonous mushroom, a highly poisonous one."
Zhu Zhifei was puzzled. "Why?"
The corners of Chu Yu's eyes curved. "Because poisonous mushrooms look good!"
"Hahaha makes sense!"
Zhu Zhifei was amused, but then sighed next. "Dang, I regressed two places in this midterm exam. My mother's anxiety disorder is gonna recur." He opened the book to a problem in front of Lu Shi. "I computed for one whole period to solve this problem, but I couldn't figure it out"
Lu Shi held his pencil, casually grabbed a piece of draft paper, and began explaining.
Li Hua actively leaned over to listen. Fang Ziqi, who was passing by, also stopped to check out the question.
Chu Yu had his back against the wall, playing with the Rubik's Cube with his fingers while watching Lu Shi who was surrounded by people.
The knuckles of his fingers holding the pen were distinct, and the button on the collar of his school uniform wasn't buttoned, revealing the lines from his shoulder to his neck. He was familiar with that place; he didn't know how many times he'd bitten it.
His lips were somewhat thin, and his voice when explaining the problem wasn't high, softly tickling the ears.
Nothing had changed.
That night's inebriated Lu Shi, silently crying Lu Shi, and taciturn with wrist over his eyes Lu Shi, all seemed like they were illusions created by Chu Yu himself.
However, Chu Yu knew that they were all real.
Only that a night later, Lu Shi hid all his emotions again, not revealing them in the slightest.
But the more calm he was, the more flustered Chu Yu became.
Recalling the shock and chill he'd experienced when he heard the truth, it wasn't hard to imagine how Lu Shi must've felt when he learned of it himself.
It should be more than sad, right?
Yet he must appear in front of others showing an attitude that says nothing happened.
Thinking of this, Chu Yu's eyes were a little sour again.
"Chu Yu."
Chu Yu tilted his head and saw Lu Shi had stopped writing and was handing over a piece of paper with a question written on it.
"Finish this question and divert your attention."
After speaking, he lowered his eyelids and continued to write and draw on the draft paper to interpret the problem to Zhu Zhifei.
Chu Yu searched in the compartment of his table for a long time before pulling out a pen. Thinking that it was ugly, he searched for another one.
The question was written by Lu Shi just now, and it was more or less a tiny bit higher than Chu Yu's level. It was at the 'I think I can still solve this problem, but not that quickly' level.
Chu Yu worked hard on the question until he figured out the answer which was when the class bell rang, then turned around and showed it to Lu Shi.
Lu Shi glanced at the solution. "That's right."
As the bell for the start of class rang, Lu Shi softly pinched the corner of Chu Yu's mouth from across the desk and said in a low voice, "Be good, don't cry."
Chu Yu refused to admit that his eyes turned red moments ago. "Who's crying?"
"The little crying bag."
Chu Yu snorted and didn't want to talk to Lu Shi anymore.
The English teacher entered, and Chu Yu took out his textbook, made it stand, and continued covering his face. He reached into the desk compartment, wanting to take out a comic book, but then he touched the cover and gave up.
He gently touched the corner of his lips with his index finger.
It was a bit hot and itchy.
Chu Yu quickly withdrew his hand.
He'd been a little absent-minded during the past few days, thinking about Dream-Ge's phrase, 'if either you or Lu-Shen were a girl, Old Ye would've called you guys for a talk'.
Puppy love...
To be in a puppy love, one must first have someone they like.
Then, did he like Lu Shi?
As soon as this question arose, Chu Yu took a breath first- this thought was quite stimulating.
But this was really a problem.
When a girl came to Lu Shi for his contact information, he'd be nervous. When Lu Shi was sad, he'd also be sad. They slept on the same bed at night, sat in the front and back desks respectively, and he even sucked Lu Shi's blood.
But these shouldn't be enough to prove anything, right?
Chu Yu was a little uncertain whether he liked Lu Shi or was just dependent on him.
Because of dependence, you're afraid Lu Shi will be snatched away by others?
As soon as this idea surfaced, Chu Yu shook his head and clicked his tongue in his heart; how could it be so unreasonable!
Zhang Yueshan and Li Hua disappeared as soon as the bell signaling the end of evening self-study sounded. It was Friday and Chu Yu didn't plan to go home today. As usual, where Lu Shi went, he followed.
Zhu Zhifei, who was carrying a heavy school bag and standing at the door of the classroom, shouted, "Lu-Ge, School Flower, let's go!"
The three people drifted with the crowd out of the school gate. The road at the entrance had been crammed into becoming a parking lot, with no end in sight. Parents of students huddled together, and there were many passing out flyers in their midst. They just stuffed the flyers into people's hands without asking if they wanted them. It was very rude.
Most of these flyers came from various types of cram schools, and would include advertisements such as "Improving average in 30 days", "Famous teachers will help you bring it up a level" and others. Chu Yu was stuffed with several sheets, one for IELTS improvement class, one for practicing oral English, and one for-
Lu Shi realized that Chu Yu hadn't moved from where he was standing, so he turned around and asked him, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Zhifei was ranting to Lu Shi how the Chinese teacher arranged four test papers and two essays for their class which was extremely absurd. When he saw that neither of the two were leaving, he paused.
With the light of the street lamp, Lu Shi clearly saw the flyer in Chu Yu's hand. "Neverland Winter Fair? Want to go?"
Zhu Zhifei quickly responded, "I heard from someone in class that this winter fair organized by Neverland will be held until after New Year's Day, and it's quite fun. But I won't go, I have to return home to study and have a full-day of cram school tomorrow. I'll help bring Lu-Ge's school bag back, you guys have fun!"
When he stood at Neverland's gates, Chu Yu was still a little confused- Lu Shi really came with him?
Many people might not believe it if it was said that he hadn't been to an amusement park several times since he was a child.
When he was a child, Shi Yaling was so busy that she couldn't be seen. Although Aunt Lan had wanted to bring him, she was worried about safety issues. She had talked about it several times, but couldn't make it in the end.
Later in junior high school, he went to group outings twice with his classmates. When he'd stepped into the gate of the park, Chu Yu had deliberately pretended to be very experienced. He refrained from looking around and absolutely prevented anyone from noticing that it had been his first time visiting an amusement park.
He still remembered that the popsicles from the amusement park had been much better than the ones outside.
Neverland was an amusement park. At night, most of the thrilling events and facilities were closed, such as the high-altitude flying trapeze, roller coaster, etc., and all their lights were turned off. Only small, refreshing events such as the Ferris wheel and carousel were still open.
Standing at the gate were two snowmen with long noses and red scarves estimated to be two meters high. There was an enormous sign hanging around their necks with the words "Winter Fair" written on them.
Chu Yu put his hands in the pockets of his coat to knead the warm babies while standing at the gate, waiting, and looking around.
Colorful lights were hung everywhere, twinkling, and there was music coming from far away.
Lu Shi bought two tickets and returned with two finger-sized snowman dolls. "The staff gave them."
Chu Yu compared them to each other and picked the one with a red hat.
He saw Lu Shi's palms still open. "You're giving me yours too?"
"Yeah, I'll give it to you if you want."
Chu Yu wasn't reserved and took both snowmen, thinking that it just so happened that they were a pair.
Going in through the entrance after their tickets were checked, there was a fountain with melodious music accompanied by lights which changed forms along with the sound of the music. Many people were gathering around it to take pictures.
Chu Yu paid more attention to it and found that there were either a few girls taking selfies in a group, or a couple taking selfies in twos.
He glanced at Lu Shi, who was standing beside him, and sped up his steps, focusing on walking in.
After he passed through an area of greenery, his arm was suddenly pulled, then Lu Shi's voice sounded beside his ear. "Watch the road, stairs."
Chu Yu urgently braked with his feet, only to realize that the lights were too dim. He was lost in thought just now and nearly stepped on air.
He patted his chest, stood firmly, and raised his head. What caught his eye were splendid lights.
In the past, he didn't think that these piles of lights looked good together, but now that he was looking at them today, why were they so beautiful?
The further they went inside, the more people there were in the park. It was so crowded and jam packed that one would bump into people if not careful.
Chu Yu was in a good mood, humming and walking slowly.
Passing by a stall, he first bought a luminous balloon. Chu Yu heard the boss shout 40 as the price and nimbly bargained, "Would it be okay for 20? 40 is too expensive!"
The boss wore a little deer headband on his head. "Handsome guy, if you want to buy things for your girlfriend, be willing to spend money! Can't bear to spend 40 yuan, what girl are you chasing? Men can't be too stingy!"
Chu Yu raised his chin. "Who said I'm buying it for my girlfriend? You're also a man so don't be too stingy, hurry up, 20, take it or leave it!"
After buying the balloon for 20 yuan, Chu Yu made his way out of the crowd and stood in front of Lu Shi, proud of himself. "I'm so talented! I've actually mastered the art of bargaining!"
Lu Shi stood outside of the crowd. It was lively around him, but he was still as cold as usual.
Chu Yu originally wanted to hold the balloon by himself, but now he changed his mind.
Lifting Lu Shi's wrist, Chu Yu wrapped the thread around it twice then curved his eyes, smiled at Lu Shi, and said, "Help me hold this balloon and you'll be the most handsome child in this amusement park!"
Lu Shi stared at the balloon then at Chu Yu's brightly smiling eyes. He placed his hand in his pocket and replied, "Okay."
Chu Yu saw that his gaze fell on him. The two's line of sight met and suddenly produced unease, so he turned around quickly.
There was the sound of the carousel music not far away. Chu Yu wanted to ride on it for a few rounds, but being unable to put his face down, dragged it on. He approached with an itchy heart, but didn't go there at all and just strolled along the stalls.
Lu Shi pulled along the balloon and followed patiently.
Chu Yu walked inattentively and almost bumped into someone's back three times in a row.
He quickly uttered, "I'm sorry." When he finished speaking, he found his wrist being held.
It was Lu Shi.
Chu Yu immediately felt uncomfortable from head to toe, feeling that the weather was obviously so cold, yet Lu Shi's palm was too hot.
Lu Shi's profile displayed a natural expression. "There's too many people, don't get separated."
Chu Yu's throat became dry, and he stammered with his response, "...Okay."
The things being sold in the stalls were virtually the same, either pendants or fae cat ear headdresses. Many couples were selecting glow sticks 'one for you and one for me' while wearing fae headbands each.
During ordinary times, he wouldn't think so, but today Chu Yu had a realization. Why are there couples everywhere? Were all the teams dispatched tonight?
In order to ignore the force on his wrist, Chu Yu focused 100% concentration on visiting the small stalls. However, it didn't take long for the long list of booths to be completed.
Chu Yu was greatly disappointed- there were obviously so many more to see, why had he only strolled this much? Neverland's investment promotion wasn't good!
Standing under a statue, Chu Yu took advantage of looking at an advertisement poster to get free from Lu Shi's hand
"I'll look at this poster- Yi, the most popular is the ancient desolate tombs... Shit, this must be a fucking haunted house, abort abort!"
Chu Yu glanced at the advertisement posters of an eerie tombstone which was creepy to death.
At that moment, the surrounding lights suddenly went dark and the crowd screamed in fright.
Chu Yu was also scared and subconsciously leaned towards Lu Shi. "What's going on, why did the lights suddenly go out? Is there some kind of performance?"
He was a little frightened as his mind was full of images of the ancient tombs and tombstones printed on the poster just now.
However, after looking around for a long time, Chu Yu found that the lights still hadn't turned on, and there was no performance. He guessed, "There's no problem on the carousel. Is there a line on this side that's broken, causing everything to short-circuit? It's dark, it's really a bit-"
Chu Yu turned his head while speaking and saw that the small blue lights wrapped around the balloon held by Lu Shi were still lit.
The distance was too close, and he could clearly see the twinkling blue lights reflected in Lu Shi's black eyes. Under the faint light, the person in front of him seemed unreal.
For a moment, the words in Chu Yu's mouth disappeared and he stared in a trance.
Two gazes met, then Lu Shi suddenly bowed his head and moved closer.
Shrouded in the other's aura, Chu Yu didn't dare move. His sensitive ears were being teased by Lu Shi's warm breath, making him hold his own breath.
"Chu Yu, these past few days, why won't you dare look me in the eyes?"