At this moment
Ding Yebai sent his sister a text.
I sent Sister Yang Zhi some aromatherapy under your name. If I sent it myself, she probably wouldn't accept it. Just help me smooth things over when the time comes.
After sending it, he tossed his phone aside, slipped the elephant hand puppet over his hand, and lay on the bed, staring blankly at it.
How strange.
It was really too strange.
He had actually spent his allowance to buy her aromatherapy.
And he was even taking it seriously.
"Hmm..."
Ding Yebai abruptly sat up and looked helplessly at the wall ahead. "But in her eyes, I'm just a kid, right?"
It only took a little perspective-taking to understand. Someone as outstanding as her had no reason to develop feelings for me.
His father had always taught him that responsibility mattered more than promises. Men, especially, had to take responsibility for the women they loved.
"After the Gaokao, I'll be leaving Jinghuai. We'll definitely see each other very rarely after that."
"Sister Yang Zhi is single right now. But even if I confessed to her, she wouldn't have any reason to wait for me. She'd probably reject me outright, then keep her distance and stop coming to see me."
The thought of such a future immediately made Ding Yebai's chest feel tight and restless.
"No."
Thinking this, he jumped out of bed, took out his test papers, and started working through them.
It was true that he couldn't do anything right now. But if he didn't work hard now, he wouldn't be able to do anything in the future either.
He had to become a little better.
He had to do well on the Gaokao and get into a prestigious university...
After that, accompanied by three straight days of heavy snow, Jinghuai had thoroughly entered winter.
Ding Yebai had been going to school earlier and earlier. It was obvious from how he rode his bicycle through the pitch-black morning.
He rode all the way to school, his hair covered in droplets of water.
When he entered the classroom, he would see his classmates studying and reading.
Early in the morning, they were either finishing their homework or memorizing English and Chinese.
Ding Yebai set down his schoolbag and sat in his seat before taking out yesterday's test paper.
Lu Shuai turned around and patted his desk. "Xiao Bai, lend me your English test."
Ding Yebai paused.
Lu Shuai said, "What? Gone stupid?!!"
Ding Yebai said, "It's rare to see you borrow my English work."
Lu Shuai said, "Your English can score 123 now. What do I have to worry about? You're all-around now. Hurry up and lend it to me so I can copy it."
Ding Yebai handed him the English test.
His female deskmate said, "Hey, with that score, I think you could get into Huaqing or Jing University."
Ding Yebai said, "It was only once. Let's talk after I can keep it up consistently. Besides, didn't they say mock exams are what you use to judge your final Gaokao score?"
His female deskmate said, "I think so."
Ding Yebai said, "So we'll see."
His female deskmate nodded as she stuffed a red sausage into her mouth.
Ding Yebai was amazed that she could fit an entire sausage into her mouth in one bite. He thought that Sister Yang Zhi would definitely never eat like that.
After all, she was the very picture of a refined lady.
After school that afternoon, Ding Yebai had no choice but to walk because of the heavy snow.
"Hey, Ding Yebai."
He had barely gone a few steps when he heard Lin Feifei's voice.
A few seconds later, pat pat.
She slapped Ding Yebai on the back.
Lin Feifei said, "What a coincidence."
Ding Yebai said, "...Do you need something?"
"Can't I come looking for you if I don't need anything?"
"..."
Ding Yebai frowned in frustration and quickened his pace.
"Ding Yebai, how's your homework going?"
"Ding Yebai, are you wearing a sweater? Are you? How come you still look so thin?"
"Are you cold when you come in every morning?"
All the way there, Lin Feifei chattered on and on, while Ding Yebai didn't reply to a single word.
When they reached an intersection, Ding Yebai finally couldn't take it anymore. He slowed down, stopped where he was, and slowly raised his eyes to look at Lin Feifei. "Lin Feifei, I don't like you. I'm sorry. Don't do this anymore."
Lin Feifei's pupils seemed to lose focus, and she looked dejected. Even so, she forced herself to squeeze out a cheerful smile. "Really? You don't like me no matter what?"
Ding Yebai said, "I don't like you."
He was absolutely certain.
Just like when he answered a multiple-choice math question.
"Don't waste any more time on me."
"...As expected. Is there someone you like?"
She had practiced asking that question several times at home before finally asking it so simply.
She hadn't expected that, after actually saying it out loud, her chest would still feel so tight.
This time, Ding Yebai didn't avoid the question. He turned to look at Lin Feifei, just as certain as ever.
"Yes. There is."
"...All right, then."
Lin Feifei lowered her head and forced out a bitter smile. "Can I ask what kind of person she is?"
Ding Yebai's pupils widened slightly.
Lin Feifei was astonished when she saw this.
His eyes had always been clear, with a hint of sadness. But at that moment, joy truly blossomed from within him.
Wasn't there a saying? When you liked someone, even if you covered your mouth, it would still escape through your eyes.
Actually, even without hearing the rest of his answer, Lin Feifei understood that her first love had ended just like that.
Ding Yebai looked up at the snowflakes swirling across the sky, the corners of his mouth lifting as he said, "She's sensible and well-mannered, with very fair skin and a tall figure. She has beautiful long black hair and a lovely voice. She's confident and generous, and very good with words. She always wears a gentle smile. Her presence is fresh and literary, with a scholarly air, and she's very easy to like. But all of that is only superficial. What's most important is that she can drive me forward and make me better."
Lin Feifei said, "In all the time I've known you, this is the first time I've ever heard you say so much to me."
"..."
"Does she like you?"
"..."
"You aren't even sure... Then this is unrequited love. Why bother?"
"..."
"When did you start liking her?"
Ding Yebai came back to himself and turned his head to look at her. Pure white snowflakes drifted down slowly, landing on his hair, his shoulders, and his eyelashes...
The sound of the wind faded, and everything around them fell silent.
After a long while,
He naturally broke into a smile and said shyly, "I guess I started liking her a little when I thought of her."
That one sentence shot straight through Lin Feifei's heart.
Of course, it was a bullet that didn't hurt at all.
Lin Feifei looked at him and gave a relieved smile. "How amazing... I never knew you could have such a gentle expression."
The smile still hadn't faded from Ding Yebai's lips. "So don't put any more of your time or affection into me. There won't be a result. Go find someone who genuinely likes you instead. That would be better."
Looking at his eyes, which were no longer cold, Lin Feifei couldn't help saying, "It's rare to see you speak so gently to me. And it turns out you're doing it while rejecting my confession."
Yang Zhi's figure suddenly appeared in Ding Yebai's mind, and he exhaled a breath of cold air.
"Because someone treated me with exceptional gentleness, I wanted to change a little too."
"..."
"I always thought I'd simply gotten lost in her gentleness. I never imagined that this was what it meant to be moved by someone."
"..."
Lin Feifei said nothing more. She only gazed quietly at Ding Yebai.
The old Ding Yebai had seemed unreachable to her. Now, he seemed even more unreachable.
Because she was finally going to let go completely.
At the same time,
Behind the two of them,
Yang Zhi, wearing a white knitted hat and a white turtleneck sweater, stood beneath a dim streetlamp with a package in her hands.
Whoosh...
They were too far away, so she couldn't hear what they were saying.
She looked at Ding Yebai and Lin Feifei with clear almond-shaped eyes. At first, she merely thought they were classmates walking home together.
But after watching for a while, she couldn't help knitting her brows.
Her chest felt tight, as if it had been blocked with cement.
It was unbearably uncomfortable.
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