The Strange Boy

Fourteen-year-old Hong Siyu doesn't believe in miracles.

Or rather, "miracle" is a word that has nothing to do with her.

From birth, she seemed to be a little less fortunate than those around her; no matter what she did, the results were rarely what she wanted.

So when she was helping out at the class's food stall during the cultural festival and someone bumped into her from behind, knocking over the condiments in her hands, she wasn't surprised at all.

Ah, it's happening again.

That's all she would think.

The spice bottle, which had been opened, slipped from my hand and fell into the air. The reddish-brown sauce tumbled and rolled until it reached the rim of the bottle, almost spilling out.

Hong Siyu didn't have time to grab the bottle, so she could only futilely spread her palms and stare wide-eyed at the spice bottle flying through the air.

Then, in her sight, a hand reached out from the side.

The hand firmly gripped the condiment bottle, which was almost tipped over on the hot plate. Not much sauce spilled, and the bottle remained perfectly preserved.

Hong Siyu stared blankly at the suddenly outstretched hand, unsure of how to react.

Looking up, the owner of the hand was a tall, handsome young man.

The boy's features weren't particularly striking, but when put together, they were pleasing to the eye and looked quite harmonious. He had a neat short haircut, and his school uniform was worn neatly and meticulously. His demeanor gave off an impression of being reserved, serious, and scholarly, much like the "scholar" mentioned in classical novels.

However, the boy's face was expressionless, even indifferent. He simply caught the spice bottle that Hong Siyu had dropped and handed it back to her without saying another word.

"... Thanks."

Hong Siyu managed to squeeze out those two words, but her voice was very weak, almost as soft as a mosquito's whisper.

"You're welcome," the boy replied matter-of-factly.

After he took his snack from the food stall, he didn't try to curry favor with Hong Siyu, as if he had just done something insignificant, and left easily.

His figure disappeared into the crowd.

"Ah, isn't that person... so-and-so?"

As Hong Siyu watched the boy leave, her classmate also noticed the scene. After seeing the boy's back, she subconsciously said, "That boy from the third year of junior high, I remember he was quite famous."

"Famous?"

Hong Siyu some confusion. "I don't remember anything about this at all."

"Of course a good student like you, who never pays attention to what's going on around him, wouldn't know."

The classmate said with a smile, "That senior is a notorious womanizer in our school, isn't he? I think he was dating two female seniors at the same time? Or maybe three?"

"Huh, huh?"

The truth told by her classmate abruptly pulled Hong Siyu from her somewhat hazy feelings, and she exclaimed in surprise, "A... a womanizer?"

Don't be fooled by his appearance!

The classmate twirled the egg beater in his hand and said with a sigh, "Although he looks handsome, you can't judge a book by its cover. If you rush in, you'll just end up being played with and then cruelly dumped."

"Playing with feelings? I... I never thought of such a thing!"

Hong Siyu hurriedly tried to explain, only to feel her ears burning for a moment. "Besides, puppy love is wrong! This isn't something we should be thinking about!"

"Are you a primary school student? You're so innocent."

The classmate said with some disdain, "Your behavior just now clearly showed that you were somewhat attracted to her, weren't you? Did you fall for her at first sight?"

"Ha?"

The other person's blunt and bold words made Hong Siyu's cheeks burn. She instinctively stepped forward and grabbed her classmate's shoulder. "I didn't!"

"Then why are you staring at other people's backs?"

"I really didn't! It's just that he helped me out earlier, so I'm a little bothered by it!"

"Real?"

"How could it be fake..."

The two continued their pointless argument until the class monitor in charge noticed that the food stall's output was decreasing, and there was even a shortage of supply. Only then did he take notice of the two slacking off in the corner and come to interrupt their debate.

Hong Siyu returned to her seat, picked up the spice bottle again, and began making snacks.

However, since the spice bottle had already been handled once, she was now holding it with extra care, just to prevent any further accidents.

I doubt I'll ever get that kind of lucky help from a passerby again, right?

As she thought this, she gradually forgot about the boy amidst her busy schedule.

Fourteen-year-old Hong Siyu is a somewhat unlucky child.

Because of her bad luck, she doesn't rely on fleeting fortune; she always tries her best to work hard and rely on her efforts to secure a certain future.

Therefore, she is a very diligent student with excellent grades.

To be more specific, she was first in the entire grade.

She always spent all her free time in the school library. While others were enjoying their youth, she was always quietly reading and studying in a corner of the library.

Only at times like these can she feel a rare sense of peace, because this is her own little world where she can immerse herself in books and ignore any external disturbances.

However, recently she has gradually noticed another person in the library—a boy, a boy she vaguely remembers.

The other party had helped her at the cultural festival a few months ago, a fact that Hong Siyu had only recently remembered.

She didn't know when the boy started studying in the library, since she had never paid attention to which other students were in the library before.

However, a few days ago, this boy came to the library with another pretty girl.

Whether it's a handsome boy or a beautiful girl, if they appear alone in the library, they might at most attract a couple of glances, but no one will pay them much more attention.

However, when the two appeared together in the library, they became the focus of everyone's attention.

The two were met with suspicious, envious, and disdainful glances. Many students found it difficult to concentrate on their studies, feeling ashamed to be associated with them, and closed their books and left the library that day.

Even though the boy and girl were just studying and didn't do anything else.

Hong Siyu did not leave.

Regardless of whether she wanted to leave or not, the point is that she couldn't leave even if she wanted to. Her mother wouldn't pick her up until very late, and she had nowhere else to go except back in the classroom.

On that very day, she overheard the pretty girl and the boy talking quietly and learned the boy's name.

Lin Yun.

It's a name that perfectly matches its appearance. Like gentle sunlight, it's not dazzling, but it doesn't obscure its inherent brilliance.

After that, Hong Siyu gradually discovered that Lin Yun was also a frequent visitor to the library.

Moreover, he does seem to be studying diligently.

Aside from that one time when she studied with a pretty girl, Lin Yun always kept to herself, silently selecting her reference materials and quietly working on problems and reading in a corner of the library.

He doesn't initiate conversations with others, nor does he care about the stares of those around him. Day after day, he arrives at the library on time, just like a robot, and leaves on time as well.

Of course, there were a few days when he wouldn't be in the library.

That's normal; everyone has their own life to live.

Hong Siyu merely noticed the boy; in reality, she didn't speak to him at all, and their conversations were limited to the "thank you" and "you're welcome" exchanged during the cultural festival.

They had no reason to have any further interaction.

Hong Siyu thought so. Until one day in the library, while trying to reach a book that was placed very high up, she fell from the sky.

She was standing on a chair to elevate herself, trying to reach the book on tiptoe, but she lost her balance because the chair slipped.

At that critical moment, a hand reached out from behind her and grabbed her by the back of her neck. Hong Siyu was thus saved from falling to the ground.

The shock of falling from a height made her heart pound. It took her a while to calm down and turn around to see who had helped her. The boy she saw was Lin Yun.

"Um... thank you?"

Not knowing what to say, Hong Siyu could only weakly express her gratitude in a tone that she herself was not quite sure of.

"You're welcome."

Lin Yun's response was still quite brief. "Be careful."

His voice was calm and clear, quite pleasant to the ear. Perhaps because there were only two people present and it was very quiet, it reached Hong Siyu's ears with exceptional clarity.

After confirming that Hong Siyu had regained her footing, he loosened Hong Siyu collar, straightened the chair on the ground, and then left without saying anything more.

Hong Siyu watched the other person's departing figure until he disappeared among the bookshelves, then turned her head back, somewhat dazed, to look at the bookshelves again.

After she had chosen the books she wanted and left the bookshelf area, she realized that Lin Yun had already left the library. Contrary to his usual habit of never being late or leaving early, he left at a rather inconvenient time.

Hong Siyu didn't think too much about it and continued her usual study habits, reading and doing exercises in the library until her mother came to pick her up from school. Only then did she stand up from her seat and pack her school supplies.

However, before leaving, she suddenly noticed something on Lin Yun's seat.

She walked over and found a book.

It's a textbook for the third year of junior high school.

The textbook's pages were curled up, clearly indicating it had been read many times. Upon opening the cover, one could see the name "Lin Yun" neatly written on it.

As you turn the pages, you'll see the textbook filled with various annotations and notes, marked with different colored pens to indicate which round of study the notes were taken in.

It is evident that the owner of the textbook is very rigorous and conscientious in his studies.

It seems that the other person left in a hurry and left their textbook here, or perhaps they didn't want to bother taking it and intentionally left it in the library.

Hong Siyu didn't know the specific reason, but that didn't stop her from putting the book in the library's safe. After all, no one could guarantee that the textbook wouldn't be thrown away during cleaning or taken by other students.

Let me tell him about it when he comes tomorrow.

That's what Hong Siyu thought.

However, what she didn't expect was that she would never see Lin Yun again after that day.

That figure, which had become somewhat familiar, disappeared from the library.

In the days that followed, month after month, whenever Hong Siyu looked toward the seat that Lin Yun liked to choose, she would only see an empty table and chair.

Should I deliver his textbooks to his classroom?

Hong Siyu would occasionally think about it. But when she considered the potential consequences, she completely lacked the courage to do it.

A complete stranger, a girl, goes to the classroom looking for a boy with textbooks he left behind a month or two ago? That sounds too strange! It seems like she has some weird ideas.

She had no romantic feelings for Lin Yun, only a slight interest; there was no need to go that far.

Hong Siyu told herself this. So from beginning to end, she never touched the textbook that was placed in the cabinet again.

And so, another month, two months, a long time passed. In the library, the seat that Lin Yun often chose was now occupied by someone else.

The students who study in the library have changed again, probably because the high school entrance exam is approaching, and many junior high school students choose to study in the library after school.

Hong Siyu gradually found the noisy library unbearable.

She didn't want her study session to be affected by a noisy environment, so she voluntarily changed her study location and stayed in the empty classroom after school to read.

And so, several more months passed, and the ninth-grade students graduated.

It wasn't until they graduated that Hong Siyu changed her after-school study spot back to the library, returned to her usual seat, and continued her unchanging life.

Then, one day, she thought of Lin Yun again.

I don't think I've seen him since then.

Thinking of this, a sense of curiosity arose in Hong Siyu's heart. She went to the storage locker in the library, searched through it, and found the textbook she had put there.

He indeed did not take the book away.

For some reason, Hong Siyu wasn't surprised at all.

Was it because I put the book in the safe that he couldn't find it later? But I had been waiting in the library for months. If he had been willing to come over, I would have told him where the textbook was.

She took the textbook out of the locker, gently wiped away the fine dust with a tissue, and felt a mix of indescribable emotions.

Should I muster the courage to return the textbook to his classroom? After all, we have no connection, and I don't have any ulterior motives. It's just returning a book; it's not a big deal, is it?

Should I wait a little longer in the library? Maybe he actually came here during the two months I was away.

Come to think of it, he was also a ninth-grade student. Now that he's graduated, will I ever see him again?

Holding Lin Yun's textbook, Hong Siyu stood in front of the locker, her mind in turmoil.

She felt a faint, vague emotion within her, which, along with receiving this textbook, made her feel somewhat strange.

What exactly was it? Hong Siyu didn't know. All she knew was that, to prevent the book from being thrown away as trash, she had taken it from the locker without permission.

And so, he kept it with him.