Serenade

Chu Zhao's foot was really sprained.

In the infirmary, the nurse applied ointment for sprains on Chu Zhao's foot and told her to be careful these days. A bone fracture takes a hundred days to heal, so she needed to take good care of it.

Outside the square glass windows, the tender buds on the green tree tops looked extremely vibrant in the sunlight.

Looking at the green branches outside the window, Chu Zhao somehow felt that her mood wasn't too bad and felt like smiling.

Seeing her still so happy after falling down, the nurse naturally guessed she must have some other joyful things going on. She blinked her curved eyes and said, "Your boyfriend is so handsome. He carried you in, and many people were watching along the way."

Chu Zhao panicked a little and hurriedly explained, "He's not my boyfriend!"

How could that be possible, that pretentious guy...

The nurse smiled without saying anything more.

Jing Chi got medicine for Chu Zhao and went back to the ward. The doctor told him, "You need to be especially careful with this student's leg. Let her walk less. If it’s unavoidable, support her more."

"I understand," Jing Chi replied.

Jing Chi sat down next to Chu Zhao and lowered his head to look at her left foot. Her fair ankle was bruised. She had put on socks after the medicine was applied.

He picked up her pink ballet flats from the floor, loosened the shoelaces, and spread the shoes wide open. He held her petite foot and gently slipped it into the shoe.

"Let me know if it hurts," he said, head lowered with eyes showing seriousness and concentration.

He was usually casual and liked to joke around. It was rare to see him so attentive. He was handsome, no doubt. Annoying, no doubt.

He slowly helped Chu Zhao put on her shoes, touching the injured area. It stung a little, and Chu Zhao couldn't help but squeeze his shirt tightly.

Jing Chi noticed and slowed down his movement. He gently patted her hand, "How would I know if you don't say anything?"

As Chu Zhao felt his warm palms holding her foot, carefully putting on her shoes for her, she thought his actions were extremely gentle.

Finally, after he finished putting on her shoes, he breathed a sigh of relief and tied a firm bow for her.

"Did you mention it?" He looked at her with his dark eyes, "Mention what?"

Chu Zhao bit her moist, reddish lips and said in a low voice, "Did you tell Instructor Xu that I...I like him?"

Jing Chi chuckled lightly and said helplessly, "How could I have said that? If I did, would he still have gone to study with you? Think about it."

Chu Zhao urged, "You must never mention it!"

Jing Chi felt a little sour in his heart. He said in a deep voice, "I’ll give you a piggyback ride back."

"Just carry me on your back," Chu Zhao said.

"Alright," Jing Chi squatted down with his back facing her. Chu Zhao leaned on his back with both arms.

He stood up steadily, holding her bottom, letting her legs straddle his waist. He grabbed her school bag in passing, "Let's go."

Chu Zhao noticed that his shoulders were very broad. Leaning against them gave her a great sense of security.

"Zhao, don't rush around recklessly anymore. Be more careful," he said.

"I understand," she replied.

It was very strange. This man was supposed to be the most unserious one in the next dorm, but at this moment, he made people feel particularly at ease, as if he wasn't so annoying anymore.

Downstairs at the dorm building, Chu Zhao explained what happened to the dorm auntie. The auntie asked her a few concerned questions before telling her to focus on recovering.

Back in the bedroom, Jing Chi put Chu Zhao on the bed and said to her, "I'll leave the door open. Call me if you need anything."

"Thank you."

...

That night, Jin Xi didn't want to stay in the dorm. She went alone to the edge of the San Yun sports field and sat there.

Recalling the scene of being caught by the dorm auntie earlier, and those annoying boys whispering maliciously behind her back, Jin Xi was extremely mortified and aggrieved.

She had always been well-behaved since she was a child, never naughty or rebellious, never defying teachers or parents. At most...she would bicker with Shen Pingchuan.

Under Shen Pingchuan’s watchful eyes, she had never suffered any major grievances. In daily life, Shen Pingchuan kept a close eye on her. She hadn’t even gone to watch a movie alone with a boy.

Besides Shen Pingchuan, Bo Yan was the boy Jin Xi trusted the most. She had even gone to his house alone before, and she almost treated him as her closest person.

How could he pull her along and say those misleading words in front of the dorm auntie, letting so many hateful boys laugh at her?

Did he not consider her feelings at all?

She bit her lower lip tightly until the flesh turned faintly white.

In fact, it was not a big deal, but she felt extremely upset in her heart.

Jin Xi rubbed her eyes and squeezed out the unbecoming tears welling up in the corners.

She wouldn't cry. This was not even worth shedding tears for.

At this moment, Jin Xi received a call from Jian Si Xun, "Jin Xi, because Chu Zhao accidentally sprained her leg, I may need you to help with contacting Ruida for sponsorship. Are you available?"

"Ah, yes I am."

"Where are you now? I'll come find you."

"I'm at... San Yun."

Soon, Jian Si Xun came to San Yun. Agile silhouettes of boys were running around the field.

Jian Si Xun looked around and saw her sitting alone on the stands, hands tucked into an orange hoodie pocket. She wore a hooded sweater and her black hair draped over both sides of her neck. There were two bear ears attached to the hoodie cap, which looked very cute.

Jian Si Xun strode over and sat down beside her, getting straight to the point—

"It's like this. We need to go to Ruida Company tomorrow. It was originally going to be Chu Zhao and me, but she sprained her leg today. I'll have to trouble you instead. This is the sponsorship proposal. Take a look, and go there with me tomorrow. Consider it an opportunity to learn and gain experience."

Jin Xi took the documents from him and listened silently as Jian Si Xun spoke.

"Originally, our campus activities wouldn't be able to attract sponsorship from a big company like Ruida. But Ruida recently launched a campus social app and wants to use our Gu Yu Poetry Society to help promote it. So it worked out coincidentally."

A teardrop fell onto the proposal.

Jian Si Xun immediately stopped talking and sat quietly, blinking his double eyelids as he watched her.

Jin Xi wiped her eyes hard with her sleeve and sniffed.

Jian Si Xun immediately rummaged around his bag and handed Jin Xi a pack of tissues. He asked carefully, "Are you...heartbroken?"

Jin Xi shook her head and blew her nose with the tissue.

Jian Si Xun sat beside her, gazing at her attentively as if he hadn't seen a crying woman in ages.

He watched her fixedly and closely, ready to do something at any time.

What exactly? He didn't even know himself.

This girl definitely wouldn't throw herself into his arms crying, but what if... His shoulders were quite sturdy and dependable, right?

Anyway, seeing her in tears made him feel distressed.

"Jin Xi, let me take you to eat some Häagen-Dazs. They just opened a new one outside school."

Jin Xi felt a pang in her heart.

That time when Bo Yan saw she was unhappy, he also offered to buy her Häagen-Dazs. Recalling this made her cry even more.

"I hate eating ice cream the most," Jin Xi said, biting her lip and panting. "I never want to eat ice cream again in my life."

Jian Si Xun quickly coaxed, "Don't cry. Let's go eat some spicy hot pot?"

Jin Xi shook her head, "I don't want to eat anything."

Jian Si Xun let out a soft sigh and pulled out another tissue to help wipe her tears. "Then I'll ask someone else to go tomorrow. You take time to settle your emotions. Life's road is long. There will be more frustrations and setbacks in the future. Some little things aren't worth shedding tears over."

Jin Xi nodded firmly, wiping away her tears. "You're right. It's not worth it. I won't cry anymore. I'll go with you tomorrow, senior."

The corners of Jian Si Xun's mouth turned up slightly. He felt she was very obedient and would listen to advice.

He revealed a warm smile, "That's good then."

Jin Xi stared at him blankly, finally understanding why some girls called him an April day. His smiling face was like the April breeze, warm and caressing the willow branches. It was very healing.

...

The National Defense Academy was doing night drills and marching in step on the campus's Phoenix Boulevard.

Under the streetlights, rows of dark green queues maintained a high level of neatness and uniformity, even their shadows.

Many girls took out their phones to snap pictures of the academy's marching team.

Jian Si Xun walked Jin Xi back to her dorm. They were on the tree-lined boulevard, and he was holding the tissues, helping wipe away the remaining tear stains on her face—

"Let's walk a bit more before going back, so your roommates won't worry."

Jin Xi nodded her head, and encountered the parade of students from the National Defense Academy.

Bo Yan was walking in the first row and first column on the left. When Jin Xi saw him, she stopped in her tracks, dazed.

Her eyes reddened again.

Bo Yan tilted his cap slightly, and in the shadows, his sharp, blade-like eyes swept toward her.

He only looked at her for a few seconds before immediately averting his gaze, staring straight ahead as he strode past her without glancing at her again.

Jin Xi also ignored him, using her sleeve to dab at her eyes as she quickened her pace and hurried back to the dormitory.

Jian Si Xun hurried to catch up and consoled her in a low voice.

Bo Yan's eyes darkened with swirling undercurrents as a sharp thorn grew in his heart.

He had been worried sick all night that she would run off somewhere to cry when she didn't come back, and now this...

He hadn't expected...

The instructor blew the whistle signaling dismissal, and Bo Yan turned and walked toward the end of Wutong Road. Jing Chi and Xu Chaoyang hurried to catch up.

When Bo Yan got to the side of the road, he suddenly and violently kicked a trash can on the side of the road without warning!

With a loud "clang," the metal trash can was completely uprooted and toppled to the ground, startling a passing girl into screaming shrilly.

Xu Chaoyang and Jing Chi rushed over to grab him, afraid that in his reckless rage he would kick whatever was in his path and injure passersby, which really could be fatal.

A flash of ruthlessness passed through Bo Yan's eyes. He shook off the two of them, clenching his fists tightly as he fiercely punched a lamppost.

Another muffled, heavy thud sounded as the lamppost shook. Several moths fluttered around the light source.

"Bo Yan, what's wrong with you!" the instructor yelled as he walked over, looking at the fallen trash can. "Eaten too well and have excess energy? Go run laps for me! Run all night!"

With a gloomy expression, Bo Yan turned and ran onto the track field.

...

Men's Dorm 8, after training ended, Jing Chi walked past Room 409 carrying his coat. The door was open, and he stood in the doorway peering inside. "Little Zhao, feeling better?"

Chu Zhao was sitting on the bed reciting Level 4 vocabulary words, legs dangling off the edge of the bed, wrapped foot swinging. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"What time is your class tomorrow morning?"

"Ten thirty."

"Okay, I have time. I'll take you to class."

"Thank you, senior."

Jin Xi looked back through Jing Chi toward the dorm room across the way. Only three people had returned, and she didn't see that person.

She was puzzled, but then dismissed it from her mind. Let him do as he pleased, it had nothing to do with her either way.

Jin Xi pursed her lips and continued looking through her planning book.

Jing Chi casually murmured, "We just got dismissed. There was a trash can by the road so ugly it offended His Majesty Bo, and without a word he went up and kicked it over."

Lin Luo asked in confusion, "Why is he in such a bad mood?"

"Maybe he took the wrong medication."

Jing Chi looked at Jin Xi's back. "The idiot, looking to die at the wrong time. Acting out right after dismissal, caught by the instructor, now being punished running laps. I bet he won't be back until halfway through the night."

Jin Xi suddenly stood and went to the door, saying to Jing Chi, "It's late, senior. You should head back."

She didn't wait for Jing Chi to react before closing the door with a "bang."

Chu Zhao on the bed swung her legs again. "He came to see me. Why'd you chase him away?"

Jin Xi sat back down with a pout, feeling irritable.

Let him throw fits, he deserved it.

It was just running, he could do hundreds of pushups, how could running tire him out.

A presumptuous guy, he ought to suffer more.

Jin Xi took a hot shower and climbed into bed early, burrowing under the covers without thinking of anything, forcing herself to close her eyes to sleep.

Soon her roommates also crawled into bed one by one and turned off the lights.

Jin Xi was unable to fall asleep. She tossed and turned in bed, listening for sounds in the hallway.

There was no movement from the dorm room next door.

He hadn't come back.

If he hadn't come back then he hadn't come back, what business was it of hers!

Jin Xi forced herself to close her eyes.

Outside the window, a sudden spring thunder sounded, followed by the pitter-patter sound of rain pouring down from the sky.

The timely spring rain revived all things. The soft breeze carried raindrops into the room.

Jin Xi jumped out of bed and ran to the window to look outside. Under the streetlamps, fine rain fell in neat lines, splashing up droplets when hitting the ground.

Lin Luo stuck her head out. "Little Xi, why aren't you sleeping?"

Jin Xi said softly, "It's raining."

Lin Luo yawned lazily. "I know it's raining, be good and go to sleep."

Jin Xi rushed to her bedside. "Luo Luo, don't you have the dorm supervisor's door access card?"

"Ah, how do you know about that?"

"Brother Ni Ke said he sold you a door card."

"He really took advantage of you that time, now so obedient to him." Lin Luo sat up and whispered mysteriously, "Keep this absolutely secret, or we'll all be done for if the dorm auntie finds out."

No one knew who had managed to steal door cards from the dorm supervisor and somehow duplicate them identically before sneaking them back without the supervisor noticing.

Many boys in Dorm 8 had them. Coming back to the dorm late, they could sneak in quietly, indeed very convenient.

Jin Xi took the door card from Lin Luo's drawer and left with an umbrella, Lin Luo hurriedly calling after her, "Be careful, don't let the dorm auntie see you!"

"I know."

Jin Xi hurried downstairs and peeked cautiously toward the duty room from the corner. It was past midnight now, the lights in the duty room were off, the supervisor had likely gone to sleep.

She sneaked to the door and held the door card to the slot. With a "beep," the iron door opened.

Not daring to make too much noise, Jin Xi sidled through the crack then gently closed the iron door.

The spring thunderstorm wasn't torrential but the rain was heavy. Pitter-patter, mixed with cool wind, the chill cut to the bone.

Jin Xi walked faster under the umbrella, heading toward the Third Squadron's track field.

There were no pedestrians around. Some windows in the dorm buildings she passed were still lit, most had gone dark.

Raindrops pattered neatly and rhythmically against the umbrella canopy.

The high-power lights on the sports field were off. Under the dim roadside lamps, she could vaguely make out a man's figure running on the field.

The green military fatigues were completely soaked. Wet hair stuck to his forehead. His steps were unsteady. He jogged around the track.

The instructor had long since left. No one was supervising. His order to run all night was just angry yelling. Bo Yan had no need to keep going like this. And no idea who he was holding a grudge against...

Jin Xi held a floral umbrella, hiding behind a tree trunk secretly watching him.

Bo Yan looked up and saw the girl's slender figure. He gradually slowed to a stop.

The two of them stared at each other across half the field for a little while.

Bo Yan paused, then strode toward where she stood.

Jin Xi's heart beat faster. Flustered, she retreated two steps until her back met the wire fence, unable to retreat further.

Bo Yan ran up to about three or four meters away from her and stopped.

Rainwater slid down his high brow. He could barely keep his eyes open. His brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the girl under the umbrella—

"What are you doing here?"

"How would I..."

Jin Xi's voice was somewhat hoarse. She lightly cleared her throat. "How would I know?"

Bo Yan imperceptibly licked the rainwater from his lips. "Go back," he said lowly.

Jin Xi looked around. The field was empty and pitch black.

She shrank back, shuddering from the chill. Her jeans were almost soaked to the calves.

Bo Yan strode forward and grabbed her arm. "I told you to go back. Can't you understand?"

Jin Xi was dragged along by her, like a fluttering puppet in the wind and rain, her umbrella had also fallen, her body was so light that she couldn’t withstand his force at all.

"Bo..."

Before Jin Xi could finish speaking, Bo Yan pressed down on her shoulders, his voice sinking low, sounding somewhat fierce: "Do you think I care so much about you, will I feel distressed just because you got drenched in the rain? Who do you think you are, what gives you the right to affect me!"

Jin Xi suddenly lost control of herself, tears rolled down her cheeks, mixing with the raindrops.

She trembled, forcibly broke free of Bo Yan's hands, took two steps back, and said in a crying tone: "It's obviously...you who's wrong."

"It's obviously you who's wrong, yet you're yelling at me."

Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes, her eyes were already red and swollen, and now the tears made her eyelashes droop, making her eyes as smooth and translucent as polished glass marbles.

"Even my brother has never yelled at me like this, what right do you have..."

She felt extremely wronged, extremely upset.

Bo Yan felt like his heart was clenching, he opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but the sour feeling was stuck in his throat, he couldn't get a word out, he only felt his heart and liver were twisted together in knots.

"Don't...don't cry."

He couldn't withstand her tears, all the anger and fire dissipated instantly, now he only felt distress and nothing else.

"I won't yell at you again." He anxiously walked up to her, cupping her cheeks: "Xi Xi, please, alright?"

Jin Xi took a step back, and Bo Yan immediately took a step forward, wanting to press her into his embrace, yet also afraid of hugging her too tightly. Such a soft and delicate little girl, even with all his strength, he still had nowhere to vent his frustration.

It was extremely stifling.

Jin Xi glared at him resentfully, and said in a trembling voice: "You only care about yourself, never considering my feelings. I said I didn't want it that way, didn't want to be laughed at by others, but you just don't listen, you don't care."

Looking at her shivering body, listening to her tearful accusations, Bo Yan felt for the first time that he was really a f*cking...

Bastard.

Living twenty years until now, he always felt that men should be upright and unashamed before Heaven or before Earth, so what's shameful about liking this girl openly.

But that was his view, not hers...

You made her lose face, you made her feel wronged, you even made her cry.

Bo Yan really wanted to punch himself, what kind of man was he.

Her body was already icy cold under the rain, her lips quivering.

Bo Yan was extremely distressed: "Xi Xi, I'm sorry."

The heavy rain washed over his head, flowing down his cheeks and jaw, his fierce gaze had already softened, his tone had also softened: "I was wrong, okay?"

It was almost pleading.

"For the sake of the warm milk I make you every day...or for Da Bai Bai's sake, don't be angry with me anymore, okay?"

Jin Xi used her sleeve to wipe her tears, she stopped crying, but didn't respond to him either, just kept her head lowered.

His body was like a piece of scorching hot iron, its warmth conducted through his hands to her body, becoming the only source of heat.

Feeling her icy body, Bo Yan pulled her to his side without thinking, then hugged her.

His hands kept rubbing her back, trying to warm her up.

"Girls can't get caught in the rain and catch a cold." Bo Yan said tightly hugging her, providing her with warmth. "It'll be harder to have babies in the future."

Jin Xi pushed him forcefully, but the effort was futile, having almost no effect.

She sniffed and said angrily: "Stop with this baby talk."

Things between them were not over yet, yet this guy was spewing nonsense...

Bo Yan picked up the umbrella on the ground, held it over her, and led her away quickly: "You'll be less cold hugging me."

Jin Xi refused to hug him, so Bo Yan took her hand and wrapped it around his waist.

Jin Xi still refused to hug him, so Bo Yan held her hand and made her hug him. After a few tries, she finally relented, her hands trembling as she...put her arms around his burning hot body.

Leaning against him really felt very comfortable, very warm.

"Xi Xi, it's all my fault."

Jin Xi didn't say anything.

Bo Yan said gently: "If you hate me, you might as well kill me."