Chapter 45

Chapter Seven: A secret crush exposed

What did youthful recklessness mean? Was it the occasional nostalgia of some junior office worker on a bus, wearing a suit jacket over a shirt and tie, preferring to stay bundled up in the sweltering heat rather than loosen his tie and undo his buttons for relief, and deeply reluctant to discuss it, for the days when he had run across a playing field covered in mud, making countless girls scream? Or was it enduring a superior's harsh, grating reprimands, delivered with spittle flying, while suppressing the urge to swing a fist into that enormous face as he would have ten years ago? Or was it how he had once been wildly excited by fireworks filling the sky on festive days, but now hurried indifferently through the crowds jumping and shouting beneath the bursting fireworks, wrapped in a trench coat?

Or was it how he had once cried his heart out over a boring soap opera, but now life itself tormented him half to death, and, faced with the games of men and women around him whose sexual inhibitions were gradually fading, who parted ways at dawn, he would coldly toss down a wad of cash beneath the seductive gazes of girls wearing lip gloss, then rise and leave with a sneer?

The phrase "youthful recklessness" possessed a strange, cursed magic, because the moment it was mentioned, it signified the tragic decline and disappearance of an era. Our edges had worn away, our passion had been buried, and our dreams had blurred, so whenever that phrase acquired more glory and legend, it always came at the price of aging eating away at us.

In the irreversible current of time, we gradually grew old, in both body and mind.

For Su Can, however, reflecting on youthful recklessness did not necessarily mean that he had already grown old. On the contrary, he was only beginning, bit by bit, to forge his own youthful recklessness, his own glory that had scarcely been worth remembering but could now be reshaped.

City First Middle School never ran out of things to talk about, or fresh incidents emerging every day that set hearts racing or aching. In this circle, where academic achievement commanded respect, family standing inspired pride, and all kinds of gossip fueled daily life, people had already moved past the stage of exploring their own ranks and begun extending their intelligence-gathering feelers to other classes, the floors above and below, and even other grades.

What qualified as something that drew intense attention? Beautiful girls were certainly a given. Just as Ajoy, the World Expo, and the Olympics would all use beautiful women as a draw in later years, the beauties of each class and grade were discovered one by one. Their daily routines, the people they interacted with, and the routes they walked all became objects of attention to one degree or another.

So when Xiao Yunyun appeared at the doorway of the first-year Class Five classroom and somewhat timidly asked a boy to pass on a message-"Could you please get Su Can for me?"-it caused an uproar.

Perhaps few people had witnessed the cola incident, and many still remained skeptical. Yet now that Xiao Yunyun, Class Three's prettiest girl, had actually appeared at their door and asked for Su Can by name, the members of Class Five suddenly realized that the rumors had not come from nowhere.

At that moment, Su Can and Xue Yiyang were at his seat, mingling with the boys and girls around them. It really was a shame that Xue Yiyang would go into fighter aircraft maintenance instead of studying public relations. At least the latter would not lead to an accident involving criminal liability, and he could have done quite well at it.

Chen Lingshan had joined them too. The main reason she had begun talking to Su Can lay in the interconnected social circles of No. 1 High School. After the classroom confrontation, more people had begun approaching Xue Yiyang and Su Can, including several of Chen Lingshan's closest friends. She was an outgoing girl herself and soon became part of their circle, though she was noticeably more familiar with Xue Yiyang. Occasionally she teased Su Can too, but with considerably more reserve.

For Chen Lingshan, Su Can had indeed caught her attention and aroused her interest.

And Chen Lingshan's beautiful, perfectly contoured face, along with those eyes that seemed filled with nebulae, did occasionally stir faint tremors in Su Can's heart from the distant past.

Just as Chen Lingshan noticed the warmth in Su Can's gaze and felt her face flush slightly, someone suddenly slapped Su Can on the shoulder. "Hey, a pretty girl's looking for you!"

The circle gathered inside the classroom immediately broke apart, clearing the view. Xiao Yunyun stood at the door, dressed in a cute pink long-sleeved T-shirt and fitted jeans that tapered at the ankles, her lovely waist moving lightly, graceful as a butterfly.

"Did you need something?" Su Can walked over to Xiao Yunyun with a slight smile.

A chorus of strange whoops rose behind him. Unable to ignore it all, Xiao Yunyun quietly blushed, her bright eyes looking straight at Su Can. "Nothing much... My birthday is in a week. I'd like to invite you to my birthday party... Will you come?"

Seriously? The daughter of Xiao Fei, the Planning Office director and Uncle's sworn rival, was actually inviting me to her birthday?

Su Can collected his thoughts. "Well, do your parents know?"

Xiao Yunyun nodded. "Yes. When my parents heard I was inviting you, they were both very happy. They're really hoping to see you. After all, you left such a deep impression last time..."

Su Can understood. He had underestimated his uncle after his uncle became acting director. If Xiao Fei had become director, he would have made life difficult for Zeng Qu anming, but with his uncle as director, the situation was completely reversed. The two had fought tooth and nail before because they had occupied the same position, stood on the same battle line. People only developed jealousy and antagonism toward those of roughly equal status. Once the other person stood far above them, only awe and submission remained. His uncle was far more broad-minded than Xiao Fei, so it seemed the harsh treatment Xiao Fei had feared had never materialized. That was why he had revised his opinion of Su Can and drastically changed his attitude toward Zeng Qu anming.

Still, this was an opportunity. After all, his uncle still had some way to go before becoming director of the City Construction Bureau. Xiao Fei had become his subordinate, and if he remained disloyal and deliberately undermined him in private, deciding he had reached the end of his own road and insisting on dragging them both down, that was not impossible either. It would affect his uncle's work. Su Can might as well take the lead and resolve the conflict between them. Having Xiao Fei accept and support his uncle would be the best outcome.

"All right, I'll definitely be there. And thanks for inviting me, and for the cola last time."

Xiao Yunyun blinked her bright eyes. "Did you like the cola? How about I bring you one every PE class?"

Class Three and Class Five had PE at the same time, but Xiao Yunyun's words startled Su Can. If she bought him a drink and brought it over every PE class, what would that make them!? And what would other people think of Xiao Yunyun?

Seeing Su Can's astonishment, Xiao Yunyun burst into a giggle, her smile utterly lovely. "I was just teasing you!" Then she ran off, remembering to turn back and say, "Then it's a promise! I want a really thoughtful birthday present!"

Over the next few days, a truly explosive piece of gossip suddenly broke out.

Word spread through the class that Su Can, who had recently been attracting so much attention and seemed very much to be pursued by Class Three's prettiest girl, Xiao Yunyun, had actually once had a secret crush on Chen Lingshan!

To those who had met up with Su Can over summer vacation, this had long since ceased to be a secret. The culprit, Xue Yiyang, however, stared pleadingly at Su Can with a miserable expression. When he had let it slip over the summer, he had only mentioned it casually to Chen Lingshan. For one thing, the two would not have much more contact; for another, it was a chance to reminisce about their innocent younger days. Who the hell could have known that, through some twist of fate, Su Can would enter No. 1 High School when the term began, and even end up in their class!

Once the news spread, people displayed their innate talent for choosing what appealed to them and unconsciously ignoring much else. In the sentence "Su Can once had a secret crush on Chen Lingshan," for instance, the word "once" vanished as the story passed from mouth to mouth.