Liu Chang'an wasn't the only one glaring at him through gritted teeth. Qian Ning and Lu Yuan were doing the same. They knew Liu Chang'an had humiliated Bai Hui, and given how proud and vain she was, she couldn't possibly have any good feelings toward him. But Liu Chang'an always gave people a sense of menace.
When Lu Yuan brought Bai Hui lunch, Bai Hui even asked whether Liu Chang'an had gone out to eat with An Nuan. Bai Hui thought it was definitely a show of defiance. She insisted she didn't like Liu Chang'an at all and that An Nuan's little display was meaningless, but it still left her feeling thoroughly annoyed.
Liu Chang'an stacked his books high and worked through his exercises earnestly. He'd looked over some of Gao Dewei's notes and found them quite enlightening.
Although Liu Chang'an usually had the particular perspective that came with all the years he'd lived through, he had never rested on his laurels when it came to studying. The natural sciences humanity had accumulated over the past few centuries far surpassed the sum of everything learned in the thousands of years before them. The entire system of education and learning had become far more efficient—a leap forward in every respect.
Bai Hui didn't speak to Liu Chang'an once all afternoon.
After school, Liu Chang'an seemed to have paid no heed to Huang Shan's warning. He still went to the gym to watch An Nuan practice.
Chen Changxiu was there too. He noticed that An Nuan wore a blank expression, nothing like the way she usually laughed and chatted with Liu Chang'an. Chen Changxiu was certain he was responsible. The photos he'd sent had exposed Liu Chang'an's true nature and brought An Nuan to her senses.
But Liu Chang'an still came over. Chen Changxiu looked down his nose at him and said, "You've got no shame!"
Liu Chang'an gave Chen Changxiu a look that said, "I know how you feel," and, "Same to you."
"I'll beat you to death one of these days." Chen Changxiu ran off with the basketball. There were teachers in the gym, so he didn't dare make too much of a scene or draw the PE teacher's attention. After hearing about Liu Chang'an's long-distance shot the other day, the teacher had been eager to see what he could do. Chen Changxiu didn't want Liu Chang'an stealing the spotlight again... though he stubbornly maintained—and truly believed—that Liu Chang'an had just gotten lucky.
Liu Chang'an stayed in his usual seat, watching An Nuan.
An Nuan rolled her eyes at Liu Chang'an and then ignored him. In the locker room, the other players had joked about her and Liu Chang'an again, which had put her in a very different mood from the one she'd been in that morning. She felt wronged and a little aggrieved. But over the afternoon, she'd watched him again and again. Aside from that first disgusting, chrysanthemum-like grin, Liu Chang'an hadn't done anything intimate or tried to curry favor with Bai Hui. That made An Nuan forgive him one point out of a hundred for making her angry. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have given him that eye-roll.
Sitting in the bleachers, Liu Chang'an thought of Qin Yanan—or, more precisely, Qin Yanan's great-grandmother, Ye Sijin. In some ways, Qin Yanan only resembled Ye Sijin in appearance and at first glance. Yet sitting here, Liu Chang'an could see a trace of Ye Sijin in An Nuan.
In 1913, several American churches—the Presbyterian Church in the United States, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Northern Baptist Convention, and the Disciples of Christ—decided to establish a women's university. The board of trustees was formed that November, and Jinling was chosen as its site. In 1915, Jinling Women's University opened on Embroidery Lane in southeastern Jinling, at the former site of Li Hongzhang's garden.
It was a highly successful school. At the time, it offered sixteen four-year courses of study, including Chinese, English, history, sociology, music, physical education, chemistry, biology, home economics, and a medical program. From 1919 to 1951, nine hundred and ninety-nine students graduated. They were known as the Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Roses.
Ye Sijin was one of them. She might not have been quite like a rose; she was more understated, more elegant.
Liu Chang'an thought she was more like a bamboo stalk, swaying with a crisp rustle—seemingly delicate, yet possessing a strength all its own.
Though it was a women's university, sports flourished under its modern approach to education. Ye Sijin especially loved playing volleyball. Invented in 1895, the sport made its way to China a few years later with the Americans who came to the country.
Back then, Ye Sijin often wore black athletic shorts, white sneakers, and a white short-sleeved shirt as she ran and leaped across the court.
"Big Brother! You haven't come to see me in ages!"
"Big Brother, Qin Peng snuck out again today. Who knows where he went!"
"Big Brother, it turns out Mr. Zhong Yi helped design our school too!"
"This is our school uniform. Do you like it?"
"We can live peacefully here, but whenever I think about our country, my heart aches! Big Brother, why are we being bullied like this?"
"Qin Peng's gone to the factory to deliver explosives. Let's go meet up with them!"
"I met Mr. Ziren today. I had no idea he was so tall! He said we have to keep the faith. There may not be many Party members yet, but our ranks will grow! He said, 'A single spark can start a prairie fire!'"
"Today, I became a Party member too, Big Brother!"
Time was like that single spark, burning through an entire life without anyone noticing.
Over the thousands of years, he had met countless people and lived through this sort of thing countless times. His emotions should have grown fainter and fainter, until almost nothing remained, leaving him to face warmth, tenderness, sweetness, and mutual understanding with indifference.
It was nothing. It had just happened a very, very long time ago.
"Fine, I'll talk to you."
A soft voice sounded by his ear. An Nuan sat beside Liu Chang'an and brushed her fingers across the corner of his eye.
"Ah... what are you wiping? There's nothing there." Liu Chang'an came back to himself and realized An Nuan was no longer on the court. She'd sat down beside him. He was surprised by his own feelings.
"I'm going to change. My mom wants me home early today." An Nuan had never seen Liu Chang'an so serious—not joking around or acting nonchalant. Her eyes shimmered with an unusual light, wide and bright, her long lashes fluttering.
"Go ahead."
By the time An Nuan had changed, Liu Chang'an had returned to his usual self. She'd really liked the way he'd stared at her, dazed, but afterward, she'd felt a little sorry for him.
"Your mom wants you home early. I'm guessing it's about what happened at school today." Liu Chang'an had finally steadied his emotions after their first major upheaval in years.
That made An Nuan a little worried, but she couldn't help asking him tentatively, "What should I say?"
For girls that age, parents could be like a barrier between virginity and sex when it came to their lives and their feelings. They didn't have much actual control; they were just a warning that was always there.
"Just say there's a lovesick fool you don't even want to talk to. The only things you care about are volleyball and studying, and you're not interested in romance at all... High school boys reek of hormones. All they think about is breasts and long legs. They're like the ducks in Duck Favorite, always trying to mount someone and thrust away, but they won't stop no matter how many times you beat them..."
"Ugh, don't talk about yourself like that!" An Nuan blushed angrily. Liu Chang'an was still so lecherous. She eyed him suspiciously. "Did you talk to Bai Hui like that today too?"
"You were watching me from behind the whole time, keeping tabs on me. How could I talk to her?" Liu Chang'an asked in surprise.
"Who was watching you? Who was keeping tabs on you?" An Nuan grew even angrier, her cheeks turning red as she stamped her feet several times. Then she suddenly caught on. "So you still like her! You still want to talk to her!"
Before Liu Chang'an could respond, An Nuan pointed at him as if she'd just realized something. "Boys only think about breasts and long legs... Heh. So tell me, which of those two do boys find more attractive?"
"Breasts," Liu Chang'an answered firmly.
"Liu Chang'an!" An Nuan sprang up behind him, unable to hold back any longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pin him to the ground.
Sigh. When I was still a monkey, did the female monkeys like to let loose and throw tantrums like this too?
"What do you think you're doing? Have you no shame?" Their homeroom teacher, Huang Shan, shouted angrily from behind them. The two of them had completely ignored his warning at lunchtime!
An Nuan quickly jumped away, grabbed Liu Chang'an, and ran without looking back, pretending she hadn't heard Huang Shan.
If you don't let loose now, you'll be leaving this cage soon. And outside the cage, what fun is there in letting loose?
Before you continue