Agreed to Just Once - Chapter 10: An Indirect Way to Save Trouble
Chapter 10: An Indirect Way to Save Trouble
In any case, this trip was unavoidable.
He Wenshuo quickly packed the skirt, took leave from his afternoon classes, and went out with only his phone. He visited the only hair salon in his neighborhood with zero negative reviews.
Although it was a bit expensive, the dedicated stylist had never disappointed.
Both he and Jiang Yinian were regular customers.
Teacher Alex at the salon rarely saw He Wenshuo come alone and greeted him with his usual enthusiasm: How would you like your hair cut today?
He Wenshuo replied succinctly: Your specialty.
Teacher Alex had many specialties and was momentarily at a loss. He tried to get more details: Going on a date?
Not exactly. He Wenshuo thought about it. If he had to describe his situation, You could think of it as meeting the person who wrote love letters for my date.
With that, Teacher Alex somewhat understood. Meeting a love rival, huh.
He Wenshuo felt something was off but couldn’t figure out how to correct it. Anyway, it was close enough and seemed to convey the general idea.
Teacher Alex raised his scissors, full of confidence: Don’t worry, leave it to me. You’ll be satisfied.
At 3:30 PM, He Wenshuo stood across the street looking at the gate of Jiang Yinian’s school.
He and Jiang Yinian had attended school together since childhood—elementary school at the affiliated primary school, middle school at the affiliated middle school, and high school at the affiliated high school. But after the college entrance exam, because of a difference of less than twenty points, they were admitted to two different universities.
They were just that close to continuing their education at the same school.
Unfortunately, there are no what ifs.
He Wenshuo took out his phone and scrolled through his chat history with Jiang Yinian. He remembered that at the beginning of the semester, Jiang Yinian had sent him a picture of his class schedule.
Scrolling to the corresponding date and flipping through page by page, he soon found the image. The schedule showed that Jiang Yinian’s afternoon class was in Room 302 of the West Teaching Building.
He Wenshuo knew where that was.
Although they weren’t at the same school, back at the start of their freshman year, they had taken turns showing each other around their respective campuses.
Jiang Yinian’s school had a small campus area but was meticulously planned everywhere, giving a small but complete feeling.
His own school had a large campus but sometimes lacked maintenance, making it look like a large public activity venue.
This period was an Ideological and political course. In the last ten minutes of class, the teacher took off the wireless microphone and let the students freely discuss the content of the lesson and share their thoughts.
Jiang Yinian took out his phone to slack off and happened to see a message from He Wenshuo pop up on the screen.
He Wenshuo: I’m at your school.
Jiang Yinian was puzzled: Right now?
When he had eaten breakfast at home that morning, he hadn’t seen He Wenshuo, so he had checked He Wenshuo’s schedule. He Wenshuo had classes this afternoon too and shouldn’t have time to wander around.
He Wenshuo: Yes, waiting for you to finish class.
Confused, Jiang Yinian typed back: Don’t you have class this afternoon?
He Wenshuo: Look out the window.
Jiang Yinian looked up. The wall of the classroom facing the corridor had three windows—two small ones on the sides and a large one in the middle.
At that moment, He Wenshuo was standing in the corridor outside the middle window. Seeing Jiang Yinian look up, he gave a slight smile and waved his phone in greeting.
Jiang Yinian: ……
Normally, even when He Wenshuo came to find him, he would just wait by his bicycle in their school’s bike shed. This was the first time he had come all the way to the classroom building.
Jiang Yinian felt something was off: What are you doing here?
He Wenshuo: Checking out who wrote you that letter.
Jiang Yinian: ……You’ve got too much free time.
He Wenshuo: A little.
If he didn’t clarify this matter, he couldn’t stop thinking about it and couldn’t focus on anything else.
The sudden appearance of an exceptionally handsome guy outside the classroom—with sharp facial features, clean and refreshing style, staring directly into the classroom—was very conspicuous.
The students in the class couldn’t help but notice, and the originally casual discussion suddenly became even more animated.
Jiang Yinian watched as the girls in the front row huddled together, whispering, then raised their phones to take pictures of He Wenshuo.
Two minutes later, he saw them deleting the photos after repeatedly checking them with confused expressions.
Jiang Yian glanced at He Wenshuo again through the window glass from afar.
Someone who photographs poorly looks the same in everyone’s phone.
The class bell rang amidst the noisy discussions in the classroom.
The teacher on the podium was the first to leave with the teaching materials, and the students also stood up preparing to leave.
Seeing the teacher exit, He Wenshuo immediately entered the classroom against the flow of students, walking directly to Jiang Yinian’s desk under everyone’s subtle gazes.
Oh!
The remaining students in the class suddenly realized—the handsome guy outside was here for Jiang Yinian. As everyone says, attractive people usually have attractive friends too.
Jiang Yinian remained seated, staring at He Wenshuo, wondering what kind of trouble he was going to cause.
The next second, He Wenshuo very naturally picked up the backpack Jiang Yinian had placed on the adjacent seat, collected the textbooks from the desk and stuffed them into the bag, then without a word grabbed Jiang Yinian’s hand and pulled him up, following the crowd out of the classroom.
Jiang Yinian was pulled along for two steps: ?
He twitched his captured hand, tilting his head to look at He Wenshuo, his eyes full of surprise.
He Wenshuo remained unaware, only urging softly: Let’s go.
When Jiang Yinian looked up again, he met pairs of eyes throughout the classroom sparkling with shock and surprise.
The remaining students’ eyes widened one by one, their gossip spirits burning fiercely.
Two handsome guys, holding hands—and interlocking fingers at that!!!
Jiang Yinian seemed to understand what He Wenshuo was here to do.
After leaving the classroom.
Jiang Yinian finally took a proper look at today’s He Wenshuo.
His hair—freshly cut, styled with just-blown shape, slightly shorter than before making him look fresher. His clothes—though regular casual wear, without a single wrinkle. Even his shoes reflected spotless white.
Jiang Yinian brushed off He Wenshuo’s hand, raising his eyes: What are you really here for?
I want to help you. He Wenshuo slung Jiang Yinian’s backpack over his shoulder, very sincerely. You pretended to be my partner to help me, so I want to help solve your problem too.
It was well-intentioned, but Jiang Yinian stated: I don’t need your help.
Why not? He Wenshuo asked: Did you reject the person who wrote you the letter?
Jiang Yinian nodded: Yes, I’ve already made it clear to him.
Coincidentally, when he arrived at school today and was parking his bicycle in the shed near the teaching building, he happened to run into Wu Xue.
So he simply stopped him.
Wu Xue clearly hadn’t realized his secret letter-writing had been discovered yet – his eyes kept darting away when the topic of letters came up, but after some awkward hesitation, he finally admitted it.
Jiang Yinian directly told Wu Xue that he didn’t like being observed and didn’t have feelings for him.
Wu Xue, who usually seemed like someone who didn’t talk much, remained silent throughout, only asking quietly at the end if they could still be friends.
Jiang Yinian shook his head in refusal, and that ended the conversation.
Jiang Yinian didn’t consider this particularly difficult. He just looked calmly at He Wenshuo.
You’ve already made it clear? That fast?
He Wenshuo stared at Jiang Yinian in surprise and pressed: And then what?
Jiang Yinian: What do you mean ‘and then what’? Once it’s clear, it’s done. What else could there be? Wasn’t it always like this? Every time was like this.
He Wenshuo couldn’t believe it: It’s that simple? Why did he feel like when he encountered such situations, they never seemed this straightforward?
Right.
Jiang Yinian reminded He Wenshuo to walk toward the bicycle shed: Next time you make decisions, could you discuss them with me first? The way you suddenly appeared outside the classroom and grabbed my hand like that…
He couldn’t find the right words for a moment, but He Wenshuo’s sudden appearance outside the classroom and grabbing his hand…
Our classmates might misunderstand our relationship.
He Wenshuo looked up at the sky: Got it, I’ll definitely ask you first next time.
Jiang Yinian: …
Forget it. Who knew if there would even be a next time? After this incident, it probably counted as indirectly saving him some trouble.
Having done something that left him feeling guilty and lacking confidence during the day, when He Wenshuo returned home that evening, he immediately gathered everyone from their six-person homework group chat.
He Wenshuo: Almost time! Everyone pay attention – turn off TVs if needed, quit games if playing, switch networks if necessary. Help me snag concert tickets.
Zhu Xing: Roger that!
Guo Jian: Oh my, what’s going on? Everything was fine just now, but the moment you spoke, He Wenshuo, my internet started lagging.
Tao Hao: Mine too.
Qiu Cheng: So everyone’s here.
He Wenshuo: Hurry up, we start exactly on time. Make sure to enter the page in advance.
Guo Jian: I really don’t understand why I’m abandoning my battle in the canyon to help someone else’s girlfriend get concert tickets.
He Wenshuo: I’ll handle the homework.
Tao Hao: Less chatter, Xiao Guo. Hurry up and start snagging. If we don’t get them, you’re responsible for next week’s homework.
Guo Jian: Why me?
Lin Nao: I’m not too late, am I?
He Wenshuo: One minute until start.
Mnjok, a popular mainland powerhouse singer who debuted nearly twenty years ago, had a terrifying number of fans. His concert tickets were notoriously difficult to get.
Even He Wenshuo, who wasn’t particularly fond of music, knew how hard it was to get his tickets. But there was no helping it – this was one of the few artists Jiang Yinian genuinely liked. No matter how difficult, he had to try.
The homework group chat fell silent for three minutes.
Finally, Guo Jian bubbled up again: Nothing. Didn’t get them. I tried my best.
Lin Nao: Didn’t get them +1.
Zhu Xing: +1.
Tao Hao: Look at me! Look at me! I got it!
He Wenshuo: I’ll transfer you the money.
Tao Hao: But there’s some bad news. I think I clicked wrong somewhere just now and only got one ticket.
He Wenshuo:
Tao Hao: Do you still want it? There’s a time limit for this payment.
He Wenshuo: Yes.