In the blink of an eye, they were halfway through the military training.
Being of the same age, most of their class became friends just by chatting during the breaks, except for Xu Qichen, who came and went alone.
Xia Zhixu seemed to be the only person in class he was even acquainted with.
When Xia Zhixu was once again about to run to Xu Qichen to open his bottle for him, Chen Fang finally caught him.
“Where do you think you’re going, huh?” Chen Fang pulled him back down, causing him to lose balance and fall on his face, which caused his hat to fall off as well.
“Nowhere ah,” Xia Zhixu sat up, patted the grass off his head, and put his hat back on.
“Fart, I’ve been watching you. Whenever you have time, you go to Xu Qichen. How come I’ve never seen you so passionate before?” Chen Fang bumped his arm.
“I’ve always been.” Xia Zhixu could not be bothered to explain, “How else would I be so popular?”
“Nonsense, I’ve never seen you give a girl that much attention. Why, do you owe Xu Qichen money?” Chen Fang patted his chest with righteousness and said, “How much do you owe? I’ll pay off your debts for you.”
Xia Zhixu rolled his eyes at him and grabbed a piece of grass from the ground. “I just think he’s quite good,” he thought about how to explain to Chen Fang. “It feels like he’s experienced something bad, so I want to help him.”
Chen Fang reached out and touched Xia Zhixuùs left chest. “Come, come, let me touch our little sun’s conscience.”
Xia Zhixu slapped his hand away and said, “Get lost! Don’t be disgusting.”
After so much messing around, Xia Zhixu finally looked at Xu Qichen again. Xu Qichen was staring at the sky, clearly deep in thought.
After the break, the instructor did not immediately resume the training as before. Instead, he assembled them and walked around the formation with his hands behind his back, saying, “The day after tomorrow is the military training showcase, and each class needs to showcase the results of the training received. You have odd number of students in your class, so it will look a little awkward.”
Suddenly, a boy spoke up. It was Li Ming, who had always been active and playful. “Permission to speak! I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
“Let Xu Qichen skip out. The other classes are all so neat, and it’s very obvious that we have someone with an arm in a sling. If he skips the showcase, our formation will also look better.”
Despite being unpleasant, his words were true.
After the first stone was cast, the rest of their classmates also began whispering amongst themselves.
“I don’t like this…”
“He’s also been training very seriously like all of us.”
“But he really does stand out ah.”
Seeing the boy in front of him lower his head, Xia Zhixu immediately raised his hand. “Instructor, can’t we choose a classmate to be a representative in front of the team, just like in a marching band? Then we’d have the perfect number. Plus, I don’t think having an injured person is bad. Rather, doesn’t it show our classmate’s persistence?”
“That makes sense…”
“That’s right! I agree with Xia Zhixu.”
Just as everyone was discussing, Xu Qichen spoke up, “Instructor Yang, drop me ba.” He stepped out of the formation, “If I join, I will be very conspicuous and will damage the symmetry of the formation. I think it is better to remove me.”
Xu Qichen bowed his head, took two steps back and sat on the floor.
There was no hint of regret in his eyes. Instead, he had the same impassive expression as usual.
But Xia Zhixu felt very uncomfortable, as though he was the one who was being forced to leave the class formation.
The next day, Xu Qichen came to training as usual and joined them in the warm up exercises. When it was time to practice the formation, he automatically left and sat down by the side to watch them.
On the other hand, Xia Zhixu could not continue as though nothing big had happened. Even after returning home, he kept thinking about the showcase. He tossed and turned all night and could not sleep. When he got up in the morning, he was still exhausted.
During the training, he could not control his eyes, and could not help but look in Xu Qichen’s direction. He accidentally took a wrong step, and was reprimanded by the instructor, “Xia Zhixu! What’s wrong with you? What kind of steps are you taking, even the injured one does better than you!”
Xia Zhixu apologised and they carried on. Suddenly, he had an idea. With his eyes on others, he carefully misstepped, and started marching, swinging his left arm with his left leg.
“Xia Zhixu! Stop right there!”
After being called by the instructor, he stopped immediately.
The instructor walked up to him, “What on earth is wrong with you?”
Xia Zhixu replied weakly, “I fell down last night, and might have hit my head… I keep feeling off-balance today…”
Instructor Yang glared at him, “Are you taking me for a three-year-old? Squat down! Hands behind your head! Leapfrog to that goalpost and back!”
Leapfrogging back and forth between the two goals in such a big field? The whole class gasped, but Xia Zhixu was fine, he squatted down directly, facing the opposite goal and started leapfrogging.
The more the instructor thought about it, the more he got annoyed, “Stop practicing, all of you. Take a look at the other classes, see how they’re doing it? Every time they raise an arm, it’s a straight line. But you’re still a mess; some of your lines are crooked, some of you are missing the beat. At this rate you’re going the be the first from the bottom! And you’re a representative class! Shame on you!”
“Instructor, the other classes have someone standing at the front, can’t we do that as well?”
“That’s right, sometimes when I get nervous, I mess up. If there’s someone at the front who can also shout commands…”
The students all began to echo one another.
“Enough! Silence!” Instructor Yang took two steps forward, “Sports representative, stand at the front and remember to shout. If you still can’t do it, all of you will leapfrog like Xia Zhixu.”
At first, he thought leapfrogging was nothing, but after jumping less than a hundred meters, Xia Zhixu’s thighs were already feeling sore. He was about to look back, but the instructor caught him immediately. “What are you looking at!? Want another round?!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Isn’t this the guy who gave the speech?”
“Yes! He’s so handsome, even up close…”
It was really embarrassing. Xia Zhixu lowered his head, sighed helplessly, pretended he couldn’t hear anything, and carried on, gritting his teeth. When he finally came back, just as he was about to stand up, he heard the instructor yell at him, “Don’t stand up! Squat down and turn around!”
Are you a demon? Sweat dripped down Xia Zhixu’s forehead, his legs were sore and swollen, as if they had been filled with lead, and he had to accumulate energy for a long time before each step.
The formation of Class 13 slowly started to get on the right track and became neat and orderly. It might be because of the representative standing at the front, or because of how fiercely the instructor punished Xia Zhixu, but everyone became more focused.
Seeing the representative standing at the front and the neat square formation behind him, Xia Zhixu felt uncomfortable. His original plan was to be kicked out so Xu Qichen could get back into the formation.
But now, he had lost on two fronts. He had to hop back and forth for nothing, and Xu Qichen was still sitting out.
Xia Zhixu felt that life was really unfair, but he could only grit his teeth and carry on hopping. He was tired and felt like he had no energy left.
He glanced down and saw his thighs trembling.
Looking up in frustration, he saw Xu Qichen, who was sitting directly in front of the class formation, had turned around.
And was looking at him.
His eyes were in the shadow of the brim of his hat, so he couldn’t see his expression clearly. His legs were propped up, his feet were on the grass, and his injured and suspended left hand was resting on his knee, staring motionless in the direction of the goalpost.
He was the perfect picture of a well-behaved student.
Xia Zhixu held his neck in both hands and stared blankly at Xu Qichen, who was one or two hundred meters away. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, when Xu Qichen tilted his head.
Although his expression remained unchanged, Xia Zhixu felt as if he was speaking to him.
Come over quickly ah.
Out of nowhere, some hidden strength suddenly surged into his body. Ignoring the sounds of other classes shouting ‘left, right, left’ and the buzzing caused by air friction in the nasal cavity, Xia Zhixu lowered his head and silently jumped forward.
He did not look at Xu Qichen again. He did not know why.
Jump.
Jump.
With every jump, he got closer to the goal.
Until the narrow field of vision under the brim of his hat included a pair of fair ankles protruding from under the camouflage pants, as well as a pair of sports shoes.
He gathered his strength and jumped again.
As their shoulders brushed past each other, he heard a very quietly spoken, “Well done.”
His tone was mild and gentle.
Xia Zhixu stopped, his legs as if rooted in the lawn, stiff and swollen, unable to move.
But his heart was pounding.
The aftereffects of doing several hundred frog jumps was really too strong.
After receiving the punishment, Xia Zhixu was finally able to stand up with the permission of the instructor, but his legs felt too weak to lift. He reluctantly returned to the formation and stood at the back, unable to walk quickly, let alone run.
“It finally became a little tidier, but as soon as you joined, it was all ruined.” The instructor pulled him out, “You can step out of the demonstration. Go stand on the side.”
After removing Xia Zhixu, the instructor walked around the square with his hands behind his back and said, “Xia Zhixu is deprived of the privilege to participate in the showcase. This is his punishment. You have been practicing hard all week, I’m sure you all hope to get a good ranking, so practice hard! Practice until I can pick no mistakes! Understood?”
“Understood!”
He was kicked out just like that. Xia Zhixu stood by resentfully, watching them march.
He turned around and saw Xu Qichen sitting nearby.
He suddenly felt very happy.
Although Xu Qichen was not able to participate in the showcase in the end, he was the same, so he can now keep him company!
Thinking this way, Xia Zhixu casually took small steps towards Xu Qichen’s side, looked down at his head and deliberately sighed, “Guess we’re fellow sufferers.”
Xu Qichen looked up at him.
Looking at him from this angle, Xu Qichen looked exceptionally small. And his slightly narrowed eyes made him feel inexplicably happy.
Like seeing a very beautiful snow-white kitten on the roadside, he couldn’t help but want to pat his head.
Xu Qichen quickly looked down again, “No.”
“What?”
“I was forced, but you did it on purpose.”
Don’t think I can’t tell.
Xia Zhixu, who was being punished to stand in a military posture, was stunned and suddenly felt that his legs were not so uncomfortable anymore.
“Who said that? I really hit my head.”
Even squabbling made him happy.
On the day of the showcase, one class after another was arranged in a square on the field, passing through the observation deck in order, completing a series of actions and returning to the field.
Xia Zhixu and Xu Qichen, the two abandoned individuals, stood at the back of the class formation two rows apart, while each class’s instructor stood at the front of the class.
Finally, when Class 13 arrived, Xia Zhixu watched as his class’s formation stepped onto the track, feeling somewhat regretful.
Maybe Xu Qichen was feeling worse than he was. Xia Zhixu glanced at him and saw him watching the showcase, his eyes shining.
The two were left alone in the empty space where the class was originally standing, which was very eye-catching.
The girls in the next class whispered, “Did Class 13 kick out the good looking ones to keep the formation’s looks uniform?”
“What kind of method of elimination is that ah, haha.”
“Can’t you see he’s injured? Maybe he couldn’t do it.”
“And what about the other one? He’s not injured. Is he just keeping him company?”
“Ai? Isn’t that the one who gave the speech? So handsome…”
“I prefer the one with the fair skin and delicate features.”
…
Xia Zhixu was already used to discussions like this. He wondered how Xu Qichen was feeling.
He originally intended to ignore them, but then he heard them say something.
“Don’t they look really cute together?”
He felt like he had been struck by lightning.
Xia Zhixu turned his head and glanced at the increasingly lively group of girls. Only then did the rotten girls shut their mouths.
Together… what?
He couldn’t help but turn his head to see how Xu Qichen reacted, but his eyes were still fixed on the class formation, his chin slowly moving with their steps.
No reaction at all.
His feelings were complicated. It was not about being happy or not, he just felt a little stifled. Only when Class 13’s showcase was done and they were returning to their original spot did he hear Xu Qichen speak again.
“Thank you for accompanying me.”
The osmanthus in the campus was in full bloom. Its faint yet sweet aroma was spread widely. Suddenly, with the gentle autumn wind, the scent entered his chest with his next breath.
“You’re welcome.”
So many beautiful things were hidden in the details.
The seven days of military training ended like this. The process was quite torturous, but when they were disbanded for the last time, they felt reluctant. In the end, Class 13 sans the two of them won the third place.
“Time really flew,” Chen Fang put his arms around Xia Zhixu’s shoulders, “Hey, just now Lin Xinya and the other girls invited us for karaoke tomorrow morning, and told me to tell you.” Seeing that Xia Zhixu lacked interest, Chen Fang shook him, “Go with us, they mainly wanted to invite you and invited me by extension. If you don’t go, I’ll be ashamed to follow.”
Xia Zhixu sighed. Lin Xinya could also be regarded as one of the central figures in the class. She was pretty and had a good family background. During the military training, many boys struck up a conversation with her, she was even popular among the girls, but Xia Zhixu did not like such girls, or rather, he did not like the center of any clique.
As someone who always received too much attention, Xia Zhixu habitually avoided the limelight, because as soon as he appeared in public, he would be crowned with the title of ‘being in the limelight’. He did not like being the center of attention, and did not like to forming any sort of a camp that followed him. Of course, he could not stop those who liked to circle around him, so he avoided them tactfully as much as possible.
This was his law of communication.
Come to think of it, Xu Qichen was probably the first person he approached to befriend on his own.
“Answer me ah, are you going or not?”
If he refused, they would probably say he was too proud to join them.
“I’ll go, I’ll go.”
They got a total of one day off, but it would be wasted on useless social interaction.
He wondered what Xu Qichen would do tomorrow. Xia Zhixu subconsciously turned to look for him. He looked around for a long time before finally spotting Xu Qichen as he was leaving the stadium.
As usual, he seemed to be distant from the crowd, as if there was a thin bubble separating him.
Xia Zhixu raised his foot and was about to go after him, but Chen Fang grabbed his arm, “You are not allowed to run away early today! Come over and play. My mother bought me a new game console, but I haven’t even unboxed it. It’s waiting for you.”
Seeing that bubble go further and further away, Xia Zhixu looked down.
“… Okay.”
The next morning, Xia Zhixu, who had not had enough sleep, was woken up by his mother. “Chen Fang is here, waiting for you in the living room.”
Xia Zhixu lay on his bed for a while before deciding that, since he had already promised Chen Fang, he might as well stop procrastinating.
The moment he opened the door, he saw Chen Fang on the sofa watching the news with his father.
“Yo, Sir Class Grass is finally up?”
Xia Zhixu picked up his slippers as if about to throw it at him.
“Aiyoyo, what a fierce morning temper! Uncle Xia, save me!”
Annoying guy. Xia Zhixu took a shower and came out, still tired, but was reprimanded by Chen Fang, “You’re going to a party, can’t you dress a little smarter?”
He glanced down at his black t-shirt and jeans, “I think this is fine.”
Chen Fang shook his head. “Forget it, you can’t carve rotten wood.” He got up from the sofa and said brightly, “Goodbye, uncle and aunt!”
“Take care.” His mother gave them each a packet of milk. “Zhixu, make a few more friends ah.”
Xia Zhixu gave her a perfunctory ‘en’ and went down with Chen Fang.
“Where’s your bicycle?”
Xia Zhixu pointed, “There. Wanna ride?”
Chen Fang bent down and unlocked his own flamboyant purple bicycle, “Of course, with such a good opportunity, maybe I can send another girl home.” Xia Zhixu shook his head, went to the bicycle booth to get his black fixie, and the two rode out of the estate together.
“Ai, your fixie is cool, but you can’t sit a girl on the back.”
Xia Zhixu simply carried on cycling, “I can’t carry one anyway.”
At ten o’clock in the morning, the air was fresh, and the wind blowing on his body was cool, if slightly humid. Chen Fang kept talking in his ear, first about Lin Xinya, then a girl whose name Xia Zhixu didn’t remember at all. In the end, Xia Zhixu was so annoyed that he had to cut in.
“Are you in highschool just to date?”
Chen Fang grabbed the handlebar with one hand, and stretched out the other hand to push Xia Zhixu, “Yo yo, Xueba, Xueshen, you must never fall in love, the path ahead of you is made for studying.”
The two of them crossed a street, Xia Zhixu looked at both sides of the street boredly, all kinds of shops were bustling. He recalled that there was a newly opened bookstore that he had wanted to go in and have a look since back when it was still under construction.
Xia Zhixu laughed, “Then I won’t.”
Coincidentally, they happened to pass by that bookstore, and he couldn’t help taking a look. Through the beautiful floor-to-ceiling glass windows, he could see neat wooden bookshelves inside, fresh and elegant.
Chen Fang was not letting the topic slide, “Sure, and if you do, you’re an asshole.”
“Sure, sure, if I do…” He forgot to finish his sentence.
In front of a row a shelves, he saw a familiar back.
He braked suddenly.
Chen Fang, who carried on cycling for a while, only reacted when he was far away. He turned back and shouted, “What did you stop for? Let’s go!”
Xia Zhixu got off the bicycle. “Uhm… I, I suddenly remembered I wanted to buy a book. I’m going in.” He hurriedly fished out his chain and locked the bicycle nearby. “Go on! Send me the address and I’ll be right over!”
Chen Fang was very confused. Who would stop suddenly to buy a book? He checked his watch. It was almost time. He glanced up again, and that guy was already gone. He could only scold him under his breath and carry on on his own.
Xu Qichen went out before his aunt got up. First going to the breakfast shop near his house to eat a bowl of rice noodles, then slowly walked down two streets before finding this newly opened bookstore.
The owner of the bookstore was a young man in his twenties. He had good taste, as the interiors were very elegant. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by the scent of sandalwood. Xu Qichen looked around and found a copy of Snowfall Scented Cedar Trees that he had always wanted to buy. After flipping through a few pages, he was fascinated and stood there reading it for an hour without knowing it.
This small bookstore was extraordinarily quiet. The sunlight penetrated through the transparent glass, gently covering his back with warmth, and streamed over his shoulders, sprinkling on the pages of the book he was holding.
[One’s personality is one’s fate.]
His eyes stared at the paragraphs in the light, greatly focused.
[“If this was dictated by my personality,” she says, “then falling in love with you must be my fate.”]
Suddenly.
The light shining on the page was blocked, becoming part of an ambiguous shadow. The once silent space was occupied by the sound of music, it was a flowing piano piece that he had never heard before.
Another’s shadow had appeared on the bookshelf.
With someone else’s earphone in his ear, Xu Qichen turned around in confusion.
And saw his beautiful canine teeth, and his bewildered self reflected in that pair of clear eyes.
The sound of the piano was crisp and clear, like snowflakes swept by sea water. But the smile in front of him was wrapped in endless warmth.
“What a coincidence. Did I scare you?”
Xia Zhixu smiled and tilted his head.
Coincidence. Fate.
Xu Qichen took off the earphone and pinched it in his hand. The long white earphone cable extended into the other party’s blue jeans pocket.
“It’s you ah.”
….coincidence …ah …really a coincidence ……..haha
thanks for the chapter….
😍