"Like the Moon in the Sky" - Chapter 12

“Getting you there was the least we could do,” Shen Qinghuai said, “Besides, you just stood up for us, so there’s no need to treat me.”

So, he had heard.

Zhu Jinyue tilted her head and studied him.

The boy’s expression remained as calm as ever, giving nothing away.

“I was just telling the truth,” Zhu Jinyue said, “Do you want to go at noon or in the afternoon?”

Shen Qinghuai smiled slightly, his voice softer than before, “Thank you, but really, it’s not necessary. I’m busy both at noon and in the afternoon.”

Very few people ever received an invitation to a meal from her, and Zhu Jinyue hadn’t expected to be turned down. Her temper flared instantly, and she turned to leave, “Suit yourself.”

****

Mid-October, the school held its sports meet.

Zhu Jinyue had no interest and hadn’t signed up for any events.

But if she slipped back home, there’d be no one there anyway, so she stayed at school.

Qu Wei had signed up for several events and also wanted to cheer for her other friends, keeping herself as busy as a little spinning top.

In mid-October, Xingnan was still unbearably hot.

After being dragged by Qu Wei to watch a few events in the morning, Zhu Jinyue flatly refused to go anywhere in the afternoon. She found a shaded step to sit on and spaced out.

But the sunlight shifted bit by bit westward, and before long, fragmented rays found their way through the leaves, burning down onto her head.

The light stung Zhu Jinyue’s eyes into a squint. She thought about moving elsewhere, but realized other spots were just as bad.

She scrunched up her face in displeasure when, suddenly, a draft notebook was held out in front of her.

The hand holding the notebook had long, slender fingers with a faint, small mole near the tip of the index finger.

A clear, calm voice sounded above her at the same time.

“Want to use this to block the sun?”

It was Shen Qinghuai.

Zhu Jinyue looked up and saw the tall boy standing before her, backlit, his black hair sprinkled with shards of golden light.

She hadn’t spoken to him in days.

She had been genuinely angry when he turned her down last week.

So those couple of days in the classroom, whenever she saw him, she ignored him.

But her temper always flared up quickly and faded just as fast. Once that initial burst passed, she knew in her heart he hadn’t actually done anything wrong—him being busy was likely true—and her anger had long since evaporated.

She was just having a bit of trouble saving face.

Now that Shen Qinghuai was offering an olive branch, Zhu Jinyue decided to take it.

She reached out and took the notebook. Noting that the boy had sat down beside her, she asked casually, “Didn’t you sign up for an event?”

Shen Qinghuai opened the book in his hands, “It’s much later; it’s the last event.”

Zhu Jinyue spread the notebook over her head like a canopy, her pale little face completely shaded, the sun blocked out.

She glanced sideways and recognized the book in his hands as an extracurricular math exercise book.

“You don’t need your draft notebook?”

“Not for now,” Shen Qinghuai said without looking up, “If I need it later, I can just tear a page out.”

Zhu Jinyue closed her eyes, feeling entirely justified.

The boy beside her spoke again suddenly, “You didn’t hand in your math homework yesterday.”

Zhu Jinyue opened her eyes.

“Shen Qinghuai,” she said, looking at him with utter exasperation, “if you don’t know how to make conversation, you can just not talk.”

Such beautiful weather.

Such a leisurely time during the sports meet.

He could quietly do his homework, but he had to bring up her homework.

The boy kept his head down, working on problems, and seemed to let out a very soft laugh, “But if you don’t hand it in soon, Teacher Lu will want to talk after the sports meet is over.”

Zhu Jinyue said indifferently, “Let her talk.”

Shen Qinghuai’s pen paused slightly. He looked up at her, “Are there problems you don’t know how to do?”

Zhu Jinyue stated righteously, “I just don’t feel like writing.”

Perhaps rendered speechless by her blatant indifference, the boy gave another shallow laugh, then withdrew his gaze, lowered his head again to work on the problems, and didn’t speak another word.

White clouds drifted high in the sky.

The autumn afternoon sunlight stretched time, making it pass slowly, slowly.

Zhu Jinyue, squinting, rested her chin on her knees. After a while, she felt thirsty and reached for her water. Even the mostly finished bottle of mineral water was warm.

But the small supermarket was a bit far from here. Just as she was about to pinch her nose and resign herself to drinking the warm water, her peripheral vision accidentally caught sight of an unopened bottle of mineral water placed beside the boy.

Tiny transparent droplets beaded on the bottle’s surface.

Though she couldn’t feel it from where she was, she could imagine its refreshing coolness.

“Shen Qinghuai.”

Shen Qinghuai looked up, “What’s wrong?”

Zhu Jinyue blinked, “Are you thirsty?”

Shen Qinghuai looked at her quietly for a moment, then turned and picked up the mineral water beside him, offering it to her, “Do you want to drink this one?”

Zhu Jinyue, “…”

Could this guy read minds?

But since he’d guessed, it saved her the trouble of explaining.

Zhu Jinyue nodded.

Shen Qinghuai pushed the water a little closer to her.

Zhu Jinyue took it and tried to twist the cap off.

But whether it was because the sun had sapped her strength or the cap was poorly made, she couldn’t get it open after several tries.

Shen Qinghuai, “Give it to me.”

Zhu Jinyue handed the bottle back to him.

The boy easily twisted the cap open, the tendons on the back of his hand faintly prominent.

He passed the loosened mineral water back to her.

Used to being waited on, Zhu Jinyue took it naturally. It wasn’t until a mouthful of cool water washed down her throat, clearing the sun-dazed fog in her head, that she remembered Shen Qinghuai wasn’t her relative or the family housekeeper.

For now, they couldn’t even really be considered friends.

“Thanks,” Zhu Jinyue said, waving the bottle at him, the draft notebook on her head wobbling along. “I’ll buy you another one later.”

The sun made people drowsy.

Zhu Jinyue didn’t quite catch whether he said “okay” or “no need” again.

The event Shen Qinghuai had signed up for was the three-thousand-meter race.

The other boys in the class found it too exhausting; no one was willing to sign up. The slot had been empty for a long time until he finally took it.

By the time Qu Wei found her, Shen Qinghuai had long since left to warm up before the race, taking the two empty mineral water bottles she’d drunk with him.

The sun wasn’t so harsh now. When Qu Wei came to drag her to watch the last event, Zhu Jinyue didn’t refuse.

On the way, seeing a few boys clutching cans of Coke beaded with icy droplets, Zhu Jinyue started feeling thirsty again. Remembering she still owed someone a bottle of water, she stopped walking.

“I want to go buy water.”

By the time she went to the supermarket with Qu Wei and bought water, the three-thousand-meter race had already started.

Qu Wei simply pulled her along to watch near the finish line.

The area around the finish line was already surrounded by several layers of people. Not wanting to squeeze in, Zhu Jinyue walked a few steps further and found a slightly less crowded spot.

Shen Qinghuai was wearing the black-and-white sports uniform the class had purchased together.

The most basic color scheme, made of ordinary fabric, yet it still looked strikingly outstanding on him.

The school’s track was four hundred meters; three thousand meters meant nearly eight laps.

It was hard to tell how many laps they had run now; although there were leaders and stragglers, it was difficult to discern the rankings.

As soon as Qu Wei stopped, she asked a girl from their class, “How many laps have they run? What place is Shen Qinghuai in?”

“Second lap, Shen Qinghuai is in second,” the girl said excitedly. “But the first-place guy started way too fast. I bet he’ll run out of steam later. First place will probably be ours.”

The girl’s prediction was correct.

Sure enough, by the fifth lap, the original first-place runner began to falter. By the sixth lap, Shen Qinghuai had overtaken him, and by the seventh lap, Shen Qinghuai was half a lap ahead.

By the final lap, Shen Qinghuai had firmly secured his lead; the only suspense left in the race was the fight for second and third.

Under the blazing sun.

Zhu Jinyue watched as the boy not far away, bathed in sunlight, charged relentlessly forward to cross the finish line first.

Perhaps he couldn’t stop immediately; he ran a few more steps forward, finally stopping right in front of her.

The boy bent slightly at the waist, hands on his knees. For someone usually neat and clean, his black hair was unusually damp now, and his face and neck were covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

He had a kind of appeal that was different from usual, as if there was an indescribable intensity about him.

“Shen Qinghuai.”

Zhu Jinyue held out the unopened bottle of water to him, “Here’s your water.”

Shen Qinghuai looked up.

One second after their eyes met, he straightened up and reached out to take it.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Zhu Jinyue withdrew her hand, “It’s just paying you back.”

After all the events ended, Zhu Jinyue and Qu Wei lagged slowly behind the crowd, following the large group out.

Qu Wei grabbed her hand, lowered her voice, and asked with a gossipy expression, “What’s going on with you and Shen Qinghuai?”

Zhu Jinyue was puzzled, “What do you mean? What’s going on with me and Shen Qinghuai?”

Qu Wei, “Why did you suddenly give him water? No wonder you bought two bottles.”

“Didn’t you hear?” Zhu Jinyue explained. “I was just returning it. I sat with him this afternoon and took one of his bottles of water.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Qu Wei said, the gossipy look instantly vanishing from her face. “It’s one thing for you to give him water, but I’m surprised Shen Qinghuai actually accepted it.”

Her words reminded Zhu Jinyue of being turned down the previous week, and she felt a bit displeased again.

“What’s wrong with me giving it to him? Why shouldn’t he accept?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Qu Wei waved her hand, “It’s not about you. It’s just that Shen Qinghuai has never accepted water from a girl before. Didn’t you notice everyone watching you two just now?”

Zhu Jinyue blinked, “Were they?”

“Both boys and girls were watching.” Qu Wei looked her up and down, “But you’re so pretty; you’re probably used to being stared at.”

****

Shen Qinghuai “gave” her something at the end of October, on Halloween itself.

Foreign holidays didn’t really have much to do with them.

But businesses needed gimmicks, and students trapped in the monotony of daily studying also needed some new fun to spice up their lives.

By Halloween, many shops outside the school had launched related activities.

“One Cup Milk Tea” was one of them, and probably the most successful one.

Evening self-study sessions for day students at Xingnan No. 1 High School were technically “voluntary,” but as the top key high school in the province, the vast majority of students stayed at school to study in the evenings. Zhu Jinyue, of course, was among the very few exceptions.

But that day, both of her parents had to work overtime, so she wasn’t in a hurry to go home. That afternoon, after all classes ended, Zhu Jinyue and Qu Wei went off-campus for dinner.

Their original plan was to go to One Cup Milk Tea first to buy drinks, but before they even reached the shop, they saw Shen Qinghuai, who had already changed out of his school uniform, set up a small stall outside. The stall was already surrounded by three inner and three outer layers of people.

Zhu Jinyue hated crowded scenes like this most. She immediately pulled Qu Wei to another shop.

After buying milk tea from another shop, Shen Qinghuai’s stall was still bustling with activity.

Zhu Jinyue and Qu Wei went to browse a stationery store. When they came out, the small stall was still packed with people.

But Zhu Jinyue still had no interest in joining the excitement. She directly pulled Qu Wei to a restaurant.

After ordering, Qu Wei said curiously, “I wonder what Shen Qinghuai is selling over there. How is there such a crowd?”

Zhu Jinyue shook her head, “No idea. Probably something related to the holiday.”

“But business is so good,” Qu Wei marveled. “He probably won’t even have time to eat  this afternoon.”

Zhu Jinyue’s eyes shifted, and she had a sudden idea.

She waved over the server and ordered a few more dishes, asking them to be prepared later for takeaway.

Qu Wei was puzzled, “Why are you getting another portion to go?”

“It’s for Shen Qinghuai,” Zhu Jinyue said. “I still owe him a favor.”

The dishes arrived one after another.

Zhu Jinyue ate very slowly, and it was thanks to Qu Wei’s patience that she waited for her.

By the time they finished dinner, it was almost time for evening self-study to begin.

Zhu Jinyue carried the packed food back. When they passed One Cup Milk Tea again, there was finally no one left at Shen Qinghuai’s stall. The simple little stall was also empty.

When she reached him, Zhu Jinyue placed the food container on the empty stall.

“Thanks for taking me to the hospital last time.”

The boy in the white T-shirt looked up at her, his thin lips parting slightly as if he was about to refuse again.

Zhu Jinyue didn’t even wait for him to speak before cutting him off, “I’m giving it to you. If you don’t want it, just throw it away yourself.”

Shen Qinghuai looked at her quietly for a moment, then smiled helplessly.

“Thank you,” he said, picking up the only item left on the stall and handing it to her. “Let me trade you this for it.”

Zhu Jinyue looked down.

In his hand was a small devil horn headband.

The headband was black, with two little red devil horns, each surrounded by a ring of fluffy yarn.

“Don’t you need to keep selling these?” Zhu Jinyue asked, looking up at him.

Shen Qinghuai, “This is the last one. From a time-cost perspective, it’s not worth it.”

Zhu Jinyue’s gaze returned to the object in his hand.

The headband was made of very ordinary materials, but the style was unexpectedly cute.

Zhu Jinyue couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Anyway, she was going to be studying here for the semester; she could always repay the favor later.

Zhu Jinyue finally reached out and took it, putting it on her head. She tilted her head toward Qu Wei, “Does it look good?”

“It looks great! Super cute!” Qu Wei said excitedly. “Let me take a picture of you!”

****

The abrupt ringing of the phone pulled Zhu Jinyue out of her memories.

She glanced down; the call was from Ming Chan.

Zhu Jinyue answered.

Ming Chan asked her over the phone, “Yuebao, are you free to come out for dinner this afternoon?”

Zhu Jinyue, “I am free, but why are you suddenly asking me to dinner again?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, just right to tell you about my concepts for this quarter, but—” Ming Chan’s voice sounded dejected. “Something came up on my end these past couple of days.”

Zhu Jinyue was puzzled, “What happened?”

Ming Chan: “It’s hard to explain in a sentence or two. I’ll tell you when we meet.”

“Alright.”

After unwrapping the remaining gifts, Zhu Jinyue went upstairs to wash her hands and change clothes before heading out to meet Ming Chan.

They had arranged to meet at a shopping mall this time.

The mall was closer to Zhu Jinyue’s home. Uncle Zhang drove, and it took just over half an hour to get there.

Entering the hotel, Zhu Jinyue was about to go directly upstairs to the restaurant when she received another call from Ming Chan.

“Yuebao, are you there yet? I’m stuck in traffic; I’m going to be a bit late,” Ming Chan sighed over the phone. “Nothing’s been going right lately.”

Zhu Jinyue paused her steps, “I’m here. I’ll just browse around downstairs first, then.”

The project Zhu Yuanshan was busy with overseas was nearing completion, and he would be returning to the country soon. She might as well pick out a gift for her grandfather.

Before Zhu Jinyue could walk into a shop, she suddenly heard someone call her name from behind.

“Zhu Jinyue?”

Zhu Jinyue turned around and saw a tall, slender girl with long, straight black hair—a completely unfamiliar face.

“Who are you?”

“We met at Ye Qian’s birthday party last time,” the other girl said, scratching her head a bit awkwardly. “I was gossiping about you, and you happened to overhear.”

Zhu Jinyue looked her over another couple of times and finally got a vague impression: “You’re the one with the pink hair?”

“Yes, yes, that’s me,” the other girl nodded emphatically. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself last time. I’m Jiang Mo.”

Zhu Jinyue nodded at her, “Did you call out to me for something?”

Jiang Mo hesitated for a second, “It’s about that gossip from last time. There’s some new development. I thought you seemed a bit interested back then, so I called out to you.”

Zhu Jinyue blinked, “What new development?”

Jiang Mo, “Fu Zhiwang’s ex-girlfriend is back in the country. It seems like something happened to her family.”