Whoever was next could just deal with it.
He stood at the podium and started filling in names himself in student-number order, prompting a chorus of groans.
"Sports rep, I can't do the high jump! Last time I tore the crotch of my pants!"
"Sports rep, I'll do the high jump." Zeng Xiao raised her hand from her usual seat. Seeing her volunteer, the sports rep practically had "I don't think this will work" written across his face.
"I was on the high jump team in middle school. Don't underestimate me just because I'm only 160 centimeters tall."
"All right, then."
Once registration was done, there was just one spot left in the five-thousand-meter race. The sports rep waved the entry sheet as he paced the aisle. "Come on, one spot left for the five thousand! Opportunity knocks but once! There's chocolate for first place this time, brought back from abroad by the foreign teacher!"
He had just reached their class monitor's seat when someone took the entry sheet from his hand.
The sports rep was dumbfounded. Looking at this boy who seemed as unattainable as a flower on a lofty peak, he stammered, "Wh-what is it?"
He Qinghuan hooked a pen into his hand, wrote his name beside the five-thousand-meter event, and handed the sheet back. The sports rep took it, stared at the name beside the event, and froze for a moment. "Class monitor, are you sure you want to enter the five thousand?"
He Qinghuan gave an indifferent hum of assent.
The sports rep felt as though reality had turned surreal. He Qinghuan never participated in group class activities, and this was the sports meet, the five thousand at that. He Qinghuan didn't seem particularly outstanding at sports, nowhere near as conspicuous as he was in academics.
Mostly, though, it was because they rarely saw He Qinghuan participate.
Gu Wang hadn't noticed what was happening over there. He was replying to Mei Li's messages. Mei Li said she didn't know why, but their school, Jinyang, had initially said she could transfer and that transfer students were welcome, only to say the next day that all the transfer places were filled. Mei Li could only stay at her original high school, No. 3 Middle School.
No. 3 Middle School wasn't distinguished academically and had almost become exclusively a school for arts students.
Staying there actually suited Mei Li better. Jinyang's specialist classes were very ordinary.
But she still had designs on Gu Wang and kept pestering him, chattering away right up until evening study ended. She called him while he was still packing his schoolbag.
"I'm going to jump off a building!"
"I really am!"
"Boo-hoo, this cute guy confessed to me today. He's so handsome. Wangwang, can I date him for a couple of days first? If it doesn't work out, I'll come back to you. Wait for me."
Gu Wang said, "..."
Mei Li's brain probably worked differently from a normal person's. That was Gu Wang's conclusion. He gave a hum, hung up, and got ready to go home.
He Qinghuan had been standing by the front door for a while. Before Gu Wang even went out, he spotted the hem of his clothes and a stretch of exposed forearm. Those glimpses alone made Gu Wang feel certain it was He Qinghuan.
He paused and stepped back. Better to use the back door.
He turned to head toward it.
He heard someone slap the light switch on the wall beside the door, and everything before him suddenly went pitch-black.
The few people still in the classroom screamed briefly before starting to complain. "Who turned off the lights? Have you got nothing better to do?"
"What are you, elementary school kids?"
Only the ceiling light out in the corridor shone inside. Its light was faint, insignificant against the classroom's darkness, and was quickly swallowed up.
Gu Wang had barely taken two steps when an arm swept across the front of his neck and dragged him straight backward. He was pulled into someone's embrace, his back pressed against the chest behind him.
The boy hadn't used much force, merely drawing him into his arms in a hold that left him unable to escape.
A faint scent of mint filled his nose, and the breath of the person behind him was just as cool and crisp.
He Qinghuan bent to Gu Wang's ear with a hint of laughter. "Wangwang, what are you running from?"
Author's note: He Dog: It's not like I eat people.
Chapter 41
Gu Wang hadn't been running, nor was he afraid. He just found it troublesome. If he could avoid running into him, he would.
In the pitch-black classroom, the light filtering in from the corridor only barely, very barely, let people make out where the desks were and where they weren't. The room was hazy.
And intimate.
In a blind corner of the classroom, where no one noticed or saw them, they had once been utterly close too.
"Wow, the boys in our class seriously have nothing better to do. What can they do besides sneak around turning off lights?"
"Whatever, class is over anyway."
"Let's go, let's go."
The remaining girls left the classroom. Gu Wang lowered his eyes, his expression docile, and drove his elbow backward, striking He Qinghuan directly in the stomach.
He Qinghuan grunted, then laughed again.
"Wangwang, keep hitting me."
He refused to let go.
Gu Wang forcibly pried He Qinghuan's arm away, turned around, and tipped his face up slightly to look at him.
The room was too dark, and this was a blind corner. Neither through the front door nor through the windows could the corridor light reach them, but Gu Wang could sense the other boy's mood.
He was in a good mood.
He Qinghuan said quietly, "I'll win the chocolate at the sports meet. I remember you like it."
The Original Host had indeed liked chocolate, whether it was unbearably bitter pure chocolate or any other kind. Gu Wang, however, hated chocolate. So did He Qinghuan, actually.
"I don't like it," Gu Wang said. "I don't want it."
His rejection was too obvious, his expression too resistant, his eyes too cold. The smile slowly faded from He Qinghuan's lips. As he looked at the person before him, the viciousness and desire for control he had deliberately kept suppressed surged up uncontrollably.
His eyes were darker than the room.
But he didn't lay hands on Gu Wang. He pushed his left shoulder once, sending him stumbling several steps backward. Gu Wang looked at He Qinghuan in some irritation.
Before Gu Wang could say anything, He Qinghuan said flatly, "Wangwang, go home. If you don't leave now, you won't be able to."
"..." Gu Wang froze for a moment, his body moving faster than his brain. As he left, he pulled the door shut behind him. It struck the frame and bounced open again, revealing He Qinghuan's profile beneath the dim light, cold and gloomy.
Gu Wang ran downstairs. Not out of fear, but something else, an emotion he couldn't explain or define. He ran downstairs and out of the school gates, only feeling a little more grounded when he saw Gu Dazhi.
Being with He Qinghuan felt as though his whole body were suspended in midair, never knowing when he might fall and smash to pieces.
Gu Dazhi opened the car door and watched Gu Wang get in and fasten his seat belt. As he turned the car around, he said, "Your grandma was admitted to the hospital today. Go see her when you have a day off."
"Why was she hospitalized?"
The subject irritated Gu Dazhi to no end. He was furious. "She has bronchial asthma, and she knows it herself. Last night she secretly drank the rice wine in the fridge. After you went to school this morning, she started coughing. By noon she was struggling to breathe, and by the afternoon she couldn't even walk. I told her not to have anything cold, but she wouldn't listen. Stubborn, too!"
Gu Dazhi sounded as though he were talking about a child. As a parent, he had plenty to worry about too. Grandma Gu was rather too lively by nature, impossible to keep in check and unwilling to listen.
The old lady had her own set of twisted logic and could outargue anyone.
Gu Wang was a little worried. "What did the doctor say?"
"They're keeping her in for observation first. She's getting old, and there are complications." Gu Dazhi sighed, his eyes reddening.
Gu Wang felt an ache in his heart and could only comfort him. "Dad, don't worry. This kind of illness will be all right."
Gu Wang couldn't remember when the Original Host's grandmother had died. Yes, she had died, but he didn't know when. By the time the Original Host met with disaster, only Gu Dazhi and Du Liping were left at home. Grandma Gu seemed to have simply vanished. Perhaps the author had laid so many threads that even they had forgotten some; certain supporting characters inexplicably disappeared as the story went on.
Gu Dazhi nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Didn't you say before that you wanted to go abroad for university? I contacted some local agencies specializing in overseas study. Want to take a look?"
Gu Wang froze. "Go abroad for university?"
One look at his expression, and Gu Dazhi understood. "Were you bullshitting me again? I had my assistant working on this for days, and it was another passing whim?"
Gu Wang was baffled too. He soothed Gu Dazhi. "I wanted to at first, but then I thought my English wasn't good enough, so I decided against it."
Gu Dazhi snorted. "At least you know your limits."
Gu Wang said, "..."
The book had never mentioned the Original Host wanting to study abroad. In fact, he hadn't ended up leaving the country. His grades were poor, but in the end, he had burned the midnight oil for He Qinghuan's sake, and getting into an ordinary first-tier university wouldn't have been a problem.
When filling out his university preferences after the entrance exam, he had wanted to be closer to He Qinghuan's school and secretly chosen a second-tier diploma mill opposite A University, keeping it from Gu Dazhi and Du Liping.
After finding out, Gu Dazhi had hit the Original Host for the first time. Du Liping hadn't slept all night, and the Original Host had seen her crying.
Gu Wang found it rather sad. For He Qinghuan's sake, the Original Host had completely lost himself, as though possessed.
Without Grandma Gu, the house had suddenly become much quieter. Aside from going out to bicker and dance with her old lady friends every day, Grandma Gu spent her time waiting for Gu Wang to come home and then fussing over him.
Even Gu Dazhi, who doted on Gu Wang just as much, sometimes couldn't bear to watch. More than once, he had said to Du Liping, "Do you think Mom might spoil Wangwang rotten at this rate?"
Du Liping shot him a glance. "What gives you the right to talk?"
When Gu Wang ate grapes, Gu Dazhi would sit beside him, peel them, and put them in his mouth. Back then, it was because Gu Wang had been too busy gaming. Now that Gu Wang spent all day shut in his room studying, Gu Dazhi either forwarded public-account articles like "Shocking! Eighteen-year-old turns gray overnight after staying up to revise..." or put together a gym on the first floor, terrified that Gu Wang would study himself into ill health.
If Gu Wang ended up spoiled rotten, both Gu Dazhi and Grandma Gu would be responsible.
After showering, Gu Wang tossed and turned in bed, unable to stop worrying. He put on a jacket, tiptoed out, and took a taxi to the hospital where Grandma Gu was staying. Gu Dazhi had told him the department and ward.
He asked about the room at the nurses' station. When he pushed open the door to the luxury private room, he saw Gu Wang sitting by the window, looking at the city's neon lights.
Gu Wang called, "Grandma."
Grandma Gu turned her head in surprise. She was still on oxygen and an IV, unable to run around, or she would certainly have jumped up immediately.
Once her initial delight passed, she started muttering and scolding Gu Wang.
"Look at the time! It's ten thirty! Don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Your dad put a gym in at home. Remember to work out every day from now on. Your health matters most. If you can't get into university, so be it. Old Gu's family can still afford to support you."
"Did your dad bring you? That good-for-nothing!"
Gu Wang poured her a cup of warm water. "No. I was worried about you, so I came myself. They don't know."
Grandma Gu gave an embarrassed huff and kept chattering. "What if you ran into bad people this late at night? I have doctors and nurses here at the hospital. I'm perfectly fine. What are you worrying yourself over me for?"
Despite her words, her face and eyes were full of smiles and gratification.
Gu Wang hadn't planned to stay long. He had only come to check on her, or he wouldn't have felt at ease. After chatting with him for a while, Grandma Gu changed the subject. "By the way, how are things between you and that boy from the He family?"
Gu Wang thought, That boy from the He family?
Gu Wang blinked, trying to draw her out. "Grandma, do you know him better than I do? Why call him that boy from the He family?"
Grandma Gu held nothing back from her own grandson. "His maternal grandmother sometimes does square dancing with me. We'd been dancing together for two or three months before I found out her grandson was called He Qinghuan. That old woman keeps her cards close to her chest. She doesn't talk to anyone and dances with a long face too. I taught her a few moves, so I'm the only one she's friendly with. A couple of days ago, she was telling me what rank her grandson had come in this time, how handsome he was, how everyone at home was afraid of him. Listening to her, I thought he sounded an awful lot like that boy you told me about. I asked, and that was how I found out."
Gu Wang said, "..."
That was quite a roundabout connection. Quite a coincidence.
But the most important question now was clearly why Grandma Gu knew about He Qinghuan too. Who else had the Original Host shown He Qinghuan off to?
Grandma Gu continued on her own. "I've never met that child, but from what you both say, I can tell he's someone extraordinary. Wangwang, someone like that is more than you can handle."
The old lady saw things more clearly than anyone. The Gu family were simple and good-natured at heart, while the He family's waters ran deep and dark. Gu Wang and He Qinghuan weren't suited to each other. Anyone with eyes could see it.
Gu Wang nodded. "I know."
Grandma Gu watched him for a while, then waved a hand. "I'll call Gu Dazhi to come get you. That useless fool doesn't even know his own son snuck out. That assistant of his looks far too shrewd to me. I bet he's skimmed plenty off the top."
Gu Wang said, "..." How were those two things even connected?