Chapter 24
The female teacher squatted down and asked in a low voice: "Student, what's wrong with you? Let me see your wound."
Fu Jia raised his hand and vigorously rubbed his eyes. Though his eyes became redder, his complexion also improved.
He stretched out his foot for the teacher to examine.
After examining it, the teacher confirmed that it wasn’t a serious injury and breathed a sigh of relief. She softly said: “I will help you disinfect the wound first, then apply the medicine. It will hurt a little, but please bear with it." As she spoke, she took out medicine from the cabinet.
While cleaning the wound for Fu Jia, the female teacher's movements were as gentle as possible, and she frequently observed his expression. In her opinion, if Fu Jia's eyes were red because of this small injury, then he must be a person who is afraid of pain. He might cry in pain when the medicine was applied.
But in actuality, Fu Jia seemed a little sluggish during the whole process and didn’t convey any responses. After applying the medicine, the teacher said, "It's all right," twice before he came back to his senses.
The teacher was a little helpless and didn't know how to comfort him. She took the shoebox that was left on the table when she came in and said: “Come try it on and see if it fits your feet.”
Although she wasn’t inside this infirmary earlier, she wasn’t far away from it either. The reason why it took nearly twenty minutes to get here was because when Lu Qi'an contacted her, he specifically asked her to buy a pair of shoes, then specified to buy the kind with heels that could be stepped on. As for the cost, he would ask the dean, meaning her immediate boss, Liu-laoshi, to give her the payment.
As soon as she heard Liu-laoshi's name, the female teacher agreed and even drove out of the school to a nearby store to find shoes that met the requirements.
Fu Jia was a little disoriented when he saw the brand-new shoes in the shoebox.
The teacher gave him a suspicious glance: “What’s wrong?”
When Lu Qi'an contacted her, he clearly explained the injury, the shoe size, the problem of expenses, as well as its resolution. Unexpectedly, Fu Jia himself acted like he didn't understand the situation.
Fu Jia shook his head and said: “It’s nothing. Thank you, laoshi.”
He stepped on the heel of the shoe to put it on– not too big or too small, just right.
Fu Jia quickly figured out that Lu Qi'an asked his teacher to buy it for him, and with his way of handling things, he definitely wouldn’t let him pay for it.
What Fu Jia couldn't figure out was that even if Lu Qi'an noticed that he had lost a shoe, how would he know his shoe size?
Fu Jia couldn’t improve his mood and soon gave up thinking about it. The impulsive confession before used up all his energy, and now he was both tired and uncomfortable. He just wanted to go back to the dormitory and have a good sleep.
After leaving the infirmary, Fu Jia returned to the sports fields to find his PE teacher. But he stayed in the infirmary for too long, and now class had been dismissed. Since it was lunch break, there were only a few scattered students left on the fields. He wandered back and forth around the fields, but couldn't find the PE teacher's office. He didn't want to ask others either, so he gave up and went straight back to the dormitory.
The roommate and Fu Jia were in the same grade, but they weren’t in the same class. No one knew what happened to him nor did they notice his strangeness, so everyone went on to do their own thing. Seeing that they didn't react, Fu Jia concluded that his sudden disappearance from class didn't cause any major trouble, allowing him to fully relax.
He washed his face with cold water, laid in bed, curled up his body as much as possible, and then covered his head with a duvet. From lying down to falling asleep, Fu Jia took under ten seconds. Because he fell asleep quickly, there wasn’t anything on his mind, nor did he dream about anything.
By mid-September, the temperature had cooled down but indoors was still much warmer than outdoors. Fu Jia only slept for half an hour before the heat woke him up.
He was sweating all over, his upper body was especially serious as his collar was soaked. Because he slept on his stomach, his forehead was pressed against the pillow and now the pillow was wet. Although, the moisture on the pillow might not have entirely originated from sweat.
He didn’t feel very well physically, but Fu Jia was in good spirits and had a clear mind. This feeling was very subtle, like an autumn rain that was more refreshing than cold.
His roommates were all taking a nap, so Fu Jia tiptoed out of bed, went to the bathroom to sprinkle himself with a cold shower, and then changed out of the sweaty clothes.
When he was showering, he was careful not to get water on the wound, but he still couldn't avoid being splashed. It hurt a little, but Fu Jia didn't think it mattered.
He wouldn’t break down over something so insignificant.
Whether it’s an injury or a rejected confession.
During afternoon class, Fu Jia was taught a lesson by Big Head who grabbed his collar. "You actually skipped class!" Big Head said angrily, “Fortunately, I reacted fast and told the teacher that you had diarrhea. Tell me quickly, where did you go? You didn’t say a thing to me!”
Fu Jia apologized to him, pointing at his foot: “It can’t be counted as skipping class. There was a small problem, so I went to the infirmary. "
When he heard the word infirmary, Big Head was stunned for two seconds. He bent down to look, and saw that Fu Jia's wound had been properly treated with a piece of thick gauze attached to it; one shoe was properly worn, while the other shoe was stepped on by his heel. He smiled with ill intentions: “Fu Jia, you look like you went to plant rice seedlings in the fields.”
Fu Jia was taken aback for a moment, and took it seriously: "Then I'll put on my shoes properly." As he spoke, he began to squat down.
Big Head immediately stopped him: “Don’t, don’t, don’t. I was just joking.”
Fu Jia thought nothing of it at first, but began to feel uncomfortable once Big Head said his piece: “Isn’t it very sloppy-looking?
Big Head comforted him: "It's okay. You don't have a girlfriend and you're not chasing others, so what are you afraid of? Just be sloppy and heal your injury first.”
Fu Jia’s face turned dark before he even finished speaking.
He didn't say a word, just directly bent down and lifted the heel up.
“Damn!" Big Head shouted loudly, "You’re gonna be this hard on yourself?”
Fu Jia moved his foot, but didn't feel any discomfort: “It's fine if I don't move around. Either one, sitting in class doesn’t involve moving. Wearing it like this right now is fine.”
Big Head rubbed his chin, lost in deep thought.
It turns out that Fu Jia actually cares this much about his image? Or is it that… he has a girl he likes?
He was still contemplating when he heard Fu Jia say: "Big Head, I have a question for you.”
“Huh?” Big Head said, “Ask, you can ask anything you want.”
Fu Jia said solemnly: "Boys... how do they usually pursue the person they like?"
"Huh?" Big Head was dumbfounded. After a while, he slapped the table: "No way, do you really have someone you like?"
Fu Jia raised his hand and motioned downwards: "No. Be a bit quieter, be a bit quieter.”
Big Head cooperated and lowered his volume: "Then why are you asking this?"
Fu Jia scratched his head, a little troubled. He often lied, but when it came to this kind of thing, he didn’t know how to lie and this would be his first time.
He reluctantly said: “I… I have a friend…”
"Oh..." Big Head drew his voice and interrupted him, "So it’s your friend."
He was very cooperative and didn't ask any more questions, and also answered seriously: “When it comes to pursuing girls, just do as you like. Girls at our age are easy to understand. Take her to and from school, buy her breakfast, gift her jewellery and cosmetics, it’s really simple.”
Big Head subconsciously assumed it was a girl, and never considered the possibility of other genders.
Fu Jia frowned: "Not this kind of…”
Taking him to and from school? Lu Qi'an didn’t seem like the type to need an escort. Buy breakfast? There was an auntie who’d take care of three meals a day at Lu Qi’an’s apartment. Jewelry, cosmetics, that's even more ridiculous…
“Not this kind?” Realization dawned upon Big Head, “I understand. Have you reached the point where you can proceed to the next stage? Then be bold. Go up to her and hug her, kiss her. She might say no aloud, but her heart’s actually looking forward to it.”
Speaking of this, Dato let out a freakish laugh.
Fu Jia's face turned blue.
Saying no aloud, but looking forward to it in their hearts…
Shit, what Big Head said was complete nonsense.
Fu Jia thanked him perfunctorily then ignored Big Head. No matter how much Big Head pestered him about ‘that girl’, Fu Jia ignored him.
Throughout afternoon classes, Fu Jia would be distracted from time to time.
He wanted to pursue Lu Qi'an now. Although he didn't get the other party's consent, he had already declared it in front of Lu Qi'an, so he would definitely persist.
The question was: how to pursue?
After thinking hard all afternoon, Fu Jia finally realized that maybe he should ask a female friend.
The next day at noon, Fu Jia asked Cen Mengke to meet at the KTV he used to work at during summer vacation.
Ignoring the outlandish lights in the KTV, and the howling ghosts and wolves in the background, this place could be regarded as a hideout, which could be used to talk about serious business.
Cen Mengke hasn't changed much, there was still a miniskirt under the outer school uniform. Her two ears added together amounted to over ten poked holes that were covered with all sorts of colourful things shining bright under the lights.
Sitting next to Fu Jia, she said dramatically: "Wow, you look completely different now.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Cen Mengke said, “The temperament of an academic really is different. You used to look…” she paused, “Very unhappy? That’s not right either. Regardless, it felt quite worrying. Seemed like you’d hit whoever you disagreed with.”
Her tone and words seemed playful, Fu Jia smiled and didn't take it seriously.
However, the concept of "beating people" had already become unfamiliar to Fu Jia. In the past, he would carry an army knife with him all the time, and sometimes he would buy sandpaper to sharpen the knife.
He didn’t need it anymore.
Fu Jia said: "I'm asked to meet up because I want to ask you some questions."
Cen Mengke nodded: "I know, you said it on the phone. Go ahead and ask."
Fu Jia cleared his throat and asked calmly, "I want to know how you girls pursue boys..."
“What?" Cen Mengke thought she heard wrong: "Chasing men? You said it the other way around."
Fu Jia’s ears were hot to the point that it thwarted his composure. He covered it with his hands and said, "That’s right. I wanted to ask how you girls pursue boys."
Cen Mengke froze for a moment, going from doubting Fu Jia to doubting herself. Could this perhaps be a new rising trend in No. 6 High School? Or was it that… People who were good at studying wanted to study the psychology of the opposite gender.
Fortunately, Fu Jia thought of an excuse in advance and explained: “I made a friend in No. 6 High School who’s a girl. Recently, she wants to pursue someone she likes, so she wants me to help by asking you for advice.”
Cen Mengke felt that this was unfathomable: "I don't know her, why would you bend over backwards to ask me?”
Fu Jia bit the bullet and said: “She's heard of you. Aren't you very popular in No. 6 High School? Maybe there's a good way to go about it.”
Cen Mengke suddenly realized.
"So that’s how it is," she accepted. She had been popular with boys since she was in junior high school. Although she never bragged about it, she still felt very proud when others mentioned it first.
"Well, it's very simple. When women chase men, they are separated only by a thin veil.# Generally speaking, as long as the girl is interested, the boy won’t say no either.” Cen Mengke slightly raised her chin, her face full of confidence.
Fu Jia said: "What if the other party is hard to deal with?"
"Hard to deal with?" Cen Mengke was a little worried. What did hard to deal with mean? There had never been a man who was hard to deal with in her entire life.
She tried hard to remember what her sisters did when they chased their boyfriends and said: "Then... try your best to care for him and move him.”
Fu Jia gave a heavy nod and suddenly felt enlightened.
It seemed that Cen Mengke was the reliable choice. He asked: "How exactly?"
Cen Mengke spoke as she reflected: "Look, girls are characteristically gentle and delicate. Subtlety and quietness are the corresponding manifestations of these characteristics.”
Fu Jia nodded. Both were so excited that neither noticed the wrong lines in her words.
"To start, a love letter needs to be written. Girls are very shy, so it's much better to write their thoughts on paper then show it to the other party,” As Cen Mengke spoke, she began to use her memories to fabricate nonsense, “Then it's delivering food. Pay attention here. You have to give something hand-made so that you can display your virtue."
“Anything else?”
Cen Mengke chuckled with a “hehe”.
On this day, Fu Jia learned a lot from her.
The next morning when Lu Qi'an came to the school, he found that there were some things on his seat that didn’t belong to him.
When he picked it up, he saw that it was a carton of milk. There was also an envelope tied with a pink ribbon wrapped around the carton. The envelope was also pink.
He frowned and wanted to throw this hot potato away, but then he noticed a small word written on the corner of the envelope—
Jia.
Chapter 24
The female teacher squatted down and asked in a low voice: "Student, what's wrong with you? Let me see your wound."
Fu Jia raised his hand and vigorously rubbed his eyes. Though his eyes became redder, his complexion also improved.
He stretched out his foot for the teacher to examine.
After examining it, the teacher confirmed that it wasn’t a serious injury and breathed a sigh of relief. She softly said: “I will help you disinfect the wound first, then apply the medicine. It will hurt a little, but please bear with it." As she spoke, she took out medicine from the cabinet.
While cleaning the wound for Fu Jia, the female teacher's movements were as gentle as possible, and she frequently observed his expression. In her opinion, if Fu Jia's eyes were red because of this small injury, then he must be a person who is afraid of pain. He might cry in pain when the medicine was applied.
But in actuality, Fu Jia seemed a little sluggish during the whole process and didn’t convey any responses. After applying the medicine, the teacher said, "It's all right," twice before he came back to his senses.
The teacher was a little helpless and didn't know how to comfort him. She took the shoebox that was left on the table when she came in and said: “Come try it on and see if it fits your feet.”
Although she wasn’t inside this infirmary earlier, she wasn’t far away from it either. The reason why it took nearly twenty minutes to get here was because when Lu Qi'an contacted her, he specifically asked her to buy a pair of shoes, then specified to buy the kind with heels that could be stepped on. As for the cost, he would ask the dean, meaning her immediate boss, Liu-laoshi, to give her the payment.
As soon as she heard Liu-laoshi's name, the female teacher agreed and even drove out of the school to a nearby store to find shoes that met the requirements.
Fu Jia was a little disoriented when he saw the brand-new shoes in the shoebox.
The teacher gave him a suspicious glance: “What’s wrong?”
When Lu Qi'an contacted her, he clearly explained the injury, the shoe size, the problem of expenses, as well as its resolution. Unexpectedly, Fu Jia himself acted like he didn't understand the situation.
Fu Jia shook his head and said: “It’s nothing. Thank you, laoshi.”
He stepped on the heel of the shoe to put it on– not too big or too small, just right.
Fu Jia quickly figured out that Lu Qi'an asked his teacher to buy it for him, and with his way of handling things, he definitely wouldn’t let him pay for it.
What Fu Jia couldn't figure out was that even if Lu Qi'an noticed that he had lost a shoe, how would he know his shoe size?
Fu Jia couldn’t improve his mood and soon gave up thinking about it. The impulsive confession before used up all his energy, and now he was both tired and uncomfortable. He just wanted to go back to the dormitory and have a good sleep.
After leaving the infirmary, Fu Jia returned to the sports fields to find his PE teacher. But he stayed in the infirmary for too long, and now class had been dismissed. Since it was lunch break, there were only a few scattered students left on the fields. He wandered back and forth around the fields, but couldn't find the PE teacher's office. He didn't want to ask others either, so he gave up and went straight back to the dormitory.
The roommate and Fu Jia were in the same grade, but they weren’t in the same class. No one knew what happened to him nor did they notice his strangeness, so everyone went on to do their own thing. Seeing that they didn't react, Fu Jia concluded that his sudden disappearance from class didn't cause any major trouble, allowing him to fully relax.
He washed his face with cold water, laid in bed, curled up his body as much as possible, and then covered his head with a duvet. From lying down to falling asleep, Fu Jia took under ten seconds. Because he fell asleep quickly, there wasn’t anything on his mind, nor did he dream about anything.
By mid-September, the temperature had cooled down but indoors was still much warmer than outdoors. Fu Jia only slept for half an hour before the heat woke him up.
He was sweating all over, his upper body was especially serious as his collar was soaked. Because he slept on his stomach, his forehead was pressed against the pillow and now the pillow was wet. Although, the moisture on the pillow might not have entirely originated from sweat.
He didn’t feel very well physically, but Fu Jia was in good spirits and had a clear mind. This feeling was very subtle, like an autumn rain that was more refreshing than cold.
His roommates were all taking a nap, so Fu Jia tiptoed out of bed, went to the bathroom to sprinkle himself with a cold shower, and then changed out of the sweaty clothes.
When he was showering, he was careful not to get water on the wound, but he still couldn't avoid being splashed. It hurt a little, but Fu Jia didn't think it mattered.
He wouldn’t break down over something so insignificant.
Whether it’s an injury or a rejected confession.
During afternoon class, Fu Jia was taught a lesson by Big Head who grabbed his collar. "You actually skipped class!" Big Head said angrily, “Fortunately, I reacted fast and told the teacher that you had diarrhea. Tell me quickly, where did you go? You didn’t say a thing to me!”
Fu Jia apologized to him, pointing at his foot: “It can’t be counted as skipping class. There was a small problem, so I went to the infirmary. "
When he heard the word infirmary, Big Head was stunned for two seconds. He bent down to look, and saw that Fu Jia's wound had been properly treated with a piece of thick gauze attached to it; one shoe was properly worn, while the other shoe was stepped on by his heel. He smiled with ill intentions: “Fu Jia, you look like you went to plant rice seedlings in the fields.”
Fu Jia was taken aback for a moment, and took it seriously: "Then I'll put on my shoes properly." As he spoke, he began to squat down.
Big Head immediately stopped him: “Don’t, don’t, don’t. I was just joking.”
Fu Jia thought nothing of it at first, but began to feel uncomfortable once Big Head said his piece: “Isn’t it very sloppy-looking?
Big Head comforted him: "It's okay. You don't have a girlfriend and you're not chasing others, so what are you afraid of? Just be sloppy and heal your injury first.”
Fu Jia’s face turned dark before he even finished speaking.
He didn't say a word, just directly bent down and lifted the heel up.
“Damn!" Big Head shouted loudly, "You’re gonna be this hard on yourself?”
Fu Jia moved his foot, but didn't feel any discomfort: “It's fine if I don't move around. Either one, sitting in class doesn’t involve moving. Wearing it like this right now is fine.”
Big Head rubbed his chin, lost in deep thought.
It turns out that Fu Jia actually cares this much about his image? Or is it that… he has a girl he likes?
He was still contemplating when he heard Fu Jia say: "Big Head, I have a question for you.”
“Huh?” Big Head said, “Ask, you can ask anything you want.”
Fu Jia said solemnly: "Boys... how do they usually pursue the person they like?"
"Huh?" Big Head was dumbfounded. After a while, he slapped the table: "No way, do you really have someone you like?"
Fu Jia raised his hand and motioned downwards: "No. Be a bit quieter, be a bit quieter.”
Big Head cooperated and lowered his volume: "Then why are you asking this?"
Fu Jia scratched his head, a little troubled. He often lied, but when it came to this kind of thing, he didn’t know how to lie and this would be his first time.
He reluctantly said: “I… I have a friend…”
"Oh..." Big Head drew his voice and interrupted him, "So it’s your friend."
He was very cooperative and didn't ask any more questions, and also answered seriously: “When it comes to pursuing girls, just do as you like. Girls at our age are easy to understand. Take her to and from school, buy her breakfast, gift her jewellery and cosmetics, it’s really simple.”
Big Head subconsciously assumed it was a girl, and never considered the possibility of other genders.
Fu Jia frowned: "Not this kind of…”
Taking him to and from school? Lu Qi'an didn’t seem like the type to need an escort. Buy breakfast? There was an auntie who’d take care of three meals a day at Lu Qi’an’s apartment. Jewelry, cosmetics, that's even more ridiculous…
“Not this kind?” Realization dawned upon Big Head, “I understand. Have you reached the point where you can proceed to the next stage? Then be bold. Go up to her and hug her, kiss her. She might say no aloud, but her heart’s actually looking forward to it.”
Speaking of this, Dato let out a freakish laugh.
Fu Jia's face turned blue.
Saying no aloud, but looking forward to it in their hearts…
Shit, what Big Head said was complete nonsense.
Fu Jia thanked him perfunctorily then ignored Big Head. No matter how much Big Head pestered him about ‘that girl’, Fu Jia ignored him.
Throughout afternoon classes, Fu Jia would be distracted from time to time.
He wanted to pursue Lu Qi'an now. Although he didn't get the other party's consent, he had already declared it in front of Lu Qi'an, so he would definitely persist.
The question was: how to pursue?
After thinking hard all afternoon, Fu Jia finally realized that maybe he should ask a female friend.
The next day at noon, Fu Jia asked Cen Mengke to meet at the KTV he used to work at during summer vacation.
Ignoring the outlandish lights in the KTV, and the howling ghosts and wolves in the background, this place could be regarded as a hideout, which could be used to talk about serious business.
Cen Mengke hasn't changed much, there was still a miniskirt under the outer school uniform. Her two ears added together amounted to over ten poked holes that were covered with all sorts of colourful things shining bright under the lights.
Sitting next to Fu Jia, she said dramatically: "Wow, you look completely different now.”
“Really?”
“Really,” Cen Mengke said, “The temperament of an academic really is different. You used to look…” she paused, “Very unhappy? That’s not right either. Regardless, it felt quite worrying. Seemed like you’d hit whoever you disagreed with.”
Her tone and words seemed playful, Fu Jia smiled and didn't take it seriously.
However, the concept of "beating people" had already become unfamiliar to Fu Jia. In the past, he would carry an army knife with him all the time, and sometimes he would buy sandpaper to sharpen the knife.
He didn’t need it anymore.
Fu Jia said: "I'm asked to meet up because I want to ask you some questions."
Cen Mengke nodded: "I know, you said it on the phone. Go ahead and ask."
Fu Jia cleared his throat and asked calmly, "I want to know how you girls pursue boys..."
“What?" Cen Mengke thought she heard wrong: "Chasing men? You said it the other way around."
Fu Jia’s ears were hot to the point that it thwarted his composure. He covered it with his hands and said, "That’s right. I wanted to ask how you girls pursue boys."
Cen Mengke froze for a moment, going from doubting Fu Jia to doubting herself. Could this perhaps be a new rising trend in No. 6 High School? Or was it that… People who were good at studying wanted to study the psychology of the opposite gender.
Fortunately, Fu Jia thought of an excuse in advance and explained: “I made a friend in No. 6 High School who’s a girl. Recently, she wants to pursue someone she likes, so she wants me to help by asking you for advice.”
Cen Mengke felt that this was unfathomable: "I don't know her, why would you bend over backwards to ask me?”
Fu Jia bit the bullet and said: “She's heard of you. Aren't you very popular in No. 6 High School? Maybe there's a good way to go about it.”
Cen Mengke suddenly realized.
"So that’s how it is," she accepted. She had been popular with boys since she was in junior high school. Although she never bragged about it, she still felt very proud when others mentioned it first.
"Well, it's very simple. When women chase men, they are separated only by a thin veil.# Generally speaking, as long as the girl is interested, the boy won’t say no either.” Cen Mengke slightly raised her chin, her face full of confidence.
Fu Jia said: "What if the other party is hard to deal with?"
"Hard to deal with?" Cen Mengke was a little worried. What did hard to deal with mean? There had never been a man who was hard to deal with in her entire life.
She tried hard to remember what her sisters did when they chased their boyfriends and said: "Then... try your best to care for him and move him.”
Fu Jia gave a heavy nod and suddenly felt enlightened.
It seemed that Cen Mengke was the reliable choice. He asked: "How exactly?"
Cen Mengke spoke as she reflected: "Look, girls are characteristically gentle and delicate. Subtlety and quietness are the corresponding manifestations of these characteristics.”
Fu Jia nodded. Both were so excited that neither noticed the wrong lines in her words.
"To start, a love letter needs to be written. Girls are very shy, so it's much better to write their thoughts on paper then show it to the other party,” As Cen Mengke spoke, she began to use her memories to fabricate nonsense, “Then it's delivering food. Pay attention here. You have to give something hand-made so that you can display your virtue."
“Anything else?”
Cen Mengke chuckled with a “hehe”.
On this day, Fu Jia learned a lot from her.
The next morning when Lu Qi'an came to the school, he found that there were some things on his seat that didn’t belong to him.
When he picked it up, he saw that it was a carton of milk. There was also an envelope tied with a pink ribbon wrapped around the carton. The envelope was also pink.
He frowned and wanted to throw this hot potato away, but then he noticed a small word written on the corner of the envelope—
Jia.
