MTLY | Chapter 8

◎Likes this kind.◎

Song Tinghuan didn’t know how she had once again become Jiang Yu’s accomplice. She sat on a bench by the road and watched Jiang Yu dab the wound twice in a perfunctory way with a cotton swab before casually tossing it into the trash bag.

“That won’t do.”

The little girl’s voice was soft, but it carried a rare firmness. Jiang Yu lifted his eyes and looked at her dark, soft gaze.

“If you treat a wound like that, it’ll get inflamed really easily,” Song Tinghuan explained again. She took the pharmacy bag from Jiang Yu’s hand and, without even asking whether he wanted her to, pulled out the iodine.

Jiang Yu was hunched over, his arms braced on his knees. There was still a faint line of blood on the back of his pale hand.

He tilted his head and watched Song Tinghuan look so serious about it. The little girl was reading the instructions carefully. After a moment, her delicate brows knitted together.

“Is this, just spray it directly on the wound?”

Jiang Yu froze for a beat, then let out a low laugh. Her dazed expression seemed to please him, and his straight shoulders shook with it.

“I thought you knew so much.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

The little girl pressed her lips together and said very confidently, “I don’t fight.”

“I don’t fight either.”

“…?”

Song Tinghuan stared at Jiang Yu. You call this not fighting?

Then Jiang Yu took the iodine from her hands, twisted off the cap, sprayed it twice over the wound, and used the cotton swab to spread the excess evenly.

Song Tinghuan watched carefully, watching the boy’s long fingers press the cap and then pinch the swab.

She leaned closer. Her eyelashes were thick and long as she blinked. “Is that enough now?”

Above her head came the boy’s lazy voice. “No. You still need to go to the hospital, register, and get an X-ray.”

Song Tinghuan froze. “That serious?”

“Mm.” Jiang Yu nodded. “You’ll probably have to stay in the hospital for a few days too. Help me ask for leave tomorrow.”

“But…” The two words had barely left her mouth when Song Tinghuan saw the unmistakable smile in Jiang Yu’s eyes. He was clearly just teasing her.

How could someone be this awful!

“You’re angry?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“…”

Beside her, Jiang Yu was already standing up. The boy turned to look at her, his dark eyes stained with laughter, bright as stars. “Little accomplice, time to go home.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

She was not a little accomplice!

“Not leaving? Then stay here by yourself. I’m hungry.”

As he spoke, Jiang Yu turned around and left Song Tinghuan with an absurdly cool back view. Song Tinghuan glanced around in all directions, afraid some other enemy might show up, and hurriedly slung on her backpack to catch up.

All the tension in her eyes fell squarely into Jiang Yu’s sight. The boy’s soft laugh shook in his chest. “With that胆子 of yours, how did you dare provoke that blond guy just now?”

Thinking of that incident, Song Tinghuan still felt a little scared. Back then she had only seen the little knife swing toward Jiang Yu, and she hadn’t had time to think. Now that she did, if Jiang Yu hadn’t raised his hand to block that blow, the injury would probably have landed on her face instead.

At that thought, Song Tinghuan secretly glanced again at the boy’s pale hand. “Jiang Yu.”

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

The boy beside her didn’t answer, only the corners of his lips curved with a hint of a smile.

Seeing that he didn’t seem affected by what had just happened, Song Tinghuan pressed her lips together. “And you shouldn’t fight anymore in the future.”

Jiang Yu paused slightly and turned his eyes sideways to look at her. The girl’s expression was extremely solemn, her enunciation soft and drawn out, but when she tried to lecture someone, she was surprisingly convincing.

“I know why you were fighting, but at our age, we should still focus on schoolwork and not…” Song Tinghuan got stuck.

Back when she was at Lingcheng No. 1 Middle School, her homeroom teacher often said things like this. She had heard them so many times that when she blurted them out now, she even sounded a little rigid and formulaic.

Jiang Yu found it funny. This little girl, barely old enough to be out of childhood, yet acting so old-fashioned.

“Not what?”

“…” Song Tinghuan puffed out her cheeks. She really wasn’t good at admonishing people, she just sincerely felt that fighting was bad. In the end, from her limited vocabulary, she found a vague phrase. “Don’t keep thinking about all sorts of random things.”

Jiang Yu suddenly laughed out loud.

He had very nice eyes. His pupils were dark, and when he wasn’t smiling he looked icy, but as soon as amusement slipped into his gaze, whether it was a wicked kind of charm or a gentle one, it always felt bewitching.

Just like now.

Jiang Yu looked at Song Tinghuan and smiled, a thin glimmer gathered in his eyes. “Then, Teacher Xiao Song, why don’t you elaborate. What exactly counts as all sorts of random things?”

Teacher Xiao Song?

That teasing address made Song Tinghuan feel a little shy. The boy beside her looked completely carefree, all roguish ease, and Song Tinghuan felt that if she followed his words and elaborated, her brain really would be broken.

Say what?

Tell him not to fight others anymore for Han Jingjing, or tell him that since he fought others for Han Jingjing, shouldn’t he keep his distance from other girls?

Song Tinghuan didn’t really want to elaborate on either.

She had always remembered Song Mingcheng’s warning. What she had just said was already a little over the line, but Jiang Yu had been hurt because of her. Her father had also said that even a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring.[[1]] She didn’t have the ability to repay with a spring, she only hoped he could be a little better.

Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Jiang Yu curved his lips into a smile and tilted his head slightly. “Have you already put together the little essay you’re going to write about me?”

“I…” Song Tinghuan pressed her lips together. Her pale, porcelain-like cheeks still carried a trace of baby fat. “No.”

“Really no?”

Song Tinghuan stayed silent.

“You don’t think I’m some scumbag who’s straddling two boats, do you.”

“…”

How did he know?

All of Song Tinghuan’s surprise was caught in Jiang Yu’s eyes. He smiled even more recklessly, his voice carrying an obvious intent to tease her. “I say, kid, how can you repay kindness with ingratitude?”

“I…”

Before Song Tinghuan could finish, the top of her head was rubbed again. “Little accomplice.”

Jiang Yu bent down slightly, his hand moving to her backpack. Song Tinghuan only felt her shoulder suddenly lighten as the backpack was taken off her.

The boy’s black eyes were blazing, the corners of his lips still hooked with a smile. “Study hard, and don’t keep thinking about all sorts of random things.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

*

Song Tinghuan didn’t think about those random things anymore, but in order not to become the focus of discussion on the school forum again, she decided to keep some distance from Jiang Yu for now.

The next day, Song Tinghuan got up very early.

She refused Meng Shutang’s offer to have the driver take her, quickly finished breakfast, and left before Jiang Yu came downstairs.

At the end of spring in Jiangbei, it was the season when willow catkins filled the air. It was Song Tinghuan’s first time seeing them, and when they brushed against the corners of her eyes, they itched a little. It was strangely novel.

Because she left early, there weren’t many people in class when she arrived at school. Only Guan Linlin and a few other duty students were there. Guan Linlin was erasing the blackboard. She blinked at Song Tinghuan and motioned for her to look at her desk.

Song Tinghuan had already gone blank.

Her desk was practically being buried under a small mountain of snacks, so much so that it was hard to ignore even if she wanted to.

Song Tinghuan walked slowly over and looked at the things on the desk, then at the envelopes stacked beside several boxes of chocolate. “What is this?”

Guan Linlin answered with a smile, “Your future sisters-in-law’s love.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Jiang Yu was actually that popular with girls? Song Tinghuan skimmed over it roughly, and just the love letters alone seemed to be twenty or thirty.

Guan Linlin waved a hand, saying this was nothing.

“Looks like you really have no idea how charming our school heartthrob is. When school’s out today, pass by the lost-and-found office and chat with the auntie there. You’ll know after that.”

Song Tinghuan: “?”

Guan Linlin said that Jiang Yu never accepted gifts from girls. Those left directly on his desk or passed on through someone else eventually all ended up at the school’s lost and found. Because of that, the auntie in charge of lost and found always looked especially resentful whenever she saw Jiang Yu.

Song Tinghuan looked at the snacks and love letters on her desk and didn’t quite know where to start. In the end, it was Guan Linlin, as the class labor committee member, who helped her find a big cardboard box. Song Tinghuan put the things away and planned to bring them all to Jiang Yu after school.

However, Song Tinghuan still underestimated Jiang Yu’s popularity at Qingde. By the big afternoon break, the snacks and love letters delivered to her had already filled an entire box.

Song Tinghuan was worrying over how she would get all this stuff to Jiang Yu after school when Guan Linlin suddenly snapped her book shut. “Come on, let’s go watch the game.”

Song Tinghuan was still a little dazed when Guan Linlin pulled her up from her seat. “They said Jiang Yu is playing basketball at Court B. Come on, let’s go gawk at him.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

*

When Song Tinghuan finally reached the legendary Court B basketball court, she stared dumbly at the crowd packed three layers deep around the fence.

“This is nothing, really. Last semester when Jiang Yu represented Qingde in the city league, every game was packed. In the final match, the girls from the attached middle school switched sides on the spot. The moment Jiang Yu got the ball, the whole court screamed.”

Song Tinghuan didn’t quite understand. “But isn’t Qingde and the attached middle school supposed to be rivals?”

“Yeah.” Guan Linlin nodded, craning her neck to search for the best viewing spot. “But Jiang Yu is handsome.”

Guan Linlin said it with complete righteousness, as if there were nothing wrong with the logic at all. “Th- this way, hurry up, let’s squeeze over there.”

Song Tinghuan didn’t want to join the excitement at all, but she was still forcibly dragged into the crowd by Guan Linlin. The entire basketball court was already jammed solid. Song Tinghuan was pulled by Guan Linlin until she squeezed up to the bench area at the side of the court.

She was short, and there were two rows of people standing in front of her, so she couldn’t see anything at all. Bored, she looked toward the side of the court and spotted Han Shuming sitting on the bench.

Han Shuming had clearly seen her too. He nodded at her, then pointed to the seat beside him, probably asking whether she wanted to come up.

Before Song Tinghuan could refuse, Guan Linlin grabbed her wrist. “Come on, go over there. You can see more clearly.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

The substitute bench had tiered double rows of seats. The first row was already piled full of clothes and water, and Han Shuming was sitting in the second row.

He pushed up his glasses, smiling gently. “Here to watch Ah Yu play?”

Song Tinghuan didn’t say she had been dragged here by force, only nodded. Then she saw the set of physics competition problems in Han Shuming’s hand and was a little surprised. “Senior, you’re doing problems here?”

Before Han Shuming could answer, Guan Linlin’s familiar voice rang out. “Senior, I saw the scene of your last physics competition. That was amazing!”

Guan Linlin seemed to be able to strike up a conversation with anyone and wasn’t shy at all. Song Tinghuan also sat down in the second row, then looked toward the court. At a glance, she saw Jiang Yu wearing a black basketball jersey.

The boy was tall and long-limbed, with a white T-shirt under the black jersey. At one glance, he was the most dazzling presence in the crowd, no need to search for him at all.

Song Tinghuan didn’t really understand basketball, but she discovered one rule in what Guan Linlin had just said: as soon as Jiang Yu got the ball, the whole court screamed.

There were even quite a lot of boys.

“Our school heartthrob is handsome, right?” Guan Linlin didn’t know when she had come over, her eyes curved with a grin, her cheeks pink.

“Aren’t you chatting with Senior Han anymore?”

“Oh, he’s doing problems.”

Song Tinghuan glanced to the side. Sure enough, Han Shuming had already lowered his eyes, as if all his attention was on the problem set in front of him. Doing competition problems in such an environment, Song Tinghuan thought Han Shuming was really impressive.

“Why doesn’t Senior Han go back to the classroom to study?”

“He’s always been studying here, I guess.”

“Huh?”

Guan Linlin suddenly felt a bit awkward and forced a smile. “You don’t know? He’s a senior this year and has already been recommended to Haida’s physics department.”

Haida’s physics department, the top one among universities nationwide.

Song Tinghuan could only look up and sigh from afar. As expected, she really didn’t understand the world of top students.

“Damn, awesome.”

“Is Jiang Yu hacking the game or what?”

Song Tinghuan heard two boys beside her excitedly comment. She looked toward the court and saw Jiang Yu standing beyond the three-point line. The basketball left his hand and sank cleanly through the hoop.

Another wave of overwhelming cheers rose from the sidelines.

Song Tinghuan stared blankly at the boy standing on the court. As if sensing her gaze, he looked in her direction too. Their eyes met by chance, and Song Tinghuan saw Jiang Yu’s lips suddenly curve into a smile.

On the court, Li Yiliang wiped his sweat and said with clear disgust, “Bro, if you’re gonna play basketball, can you not act so slutty?”

A teammate nearby laughed. “Who told our Yu-ge he’s so stunning?”

Jiang Yu ignored their teasing. “Five-minute break.”

Li Yiliang shouted, “What, we’ve only been playing how long? Bro, you’re not doing so hot. Are you getting weak lately?”

A bunch of boys burst into laughter. Jiang Yu cursed at them to get lost with a laugh, then walked straight toward the sideline.

A girl came forward holding a bottle of mineral water. “Jiang Yu…”

“Sorry.”

He didn’t even turn his head, only gave the other person two cold words, with no extra explanation, and walked straight toward the bench area.

Song Tinghuan was sitting in the second row of the substitute bench. Instinctively, she felt a shadow fall over her, wrapping her tightly inside it.

Jiang Yu stopped in front of the bench. A thin layer of sweat glistened on his pale skin, making the usually cool, tired-looking boy seem a little more fiery.

He stretched out a hand toward Han Shuming. “Water.”

Han Shuming was sitting on the outermost side, and the water was by Song Tinghuan’s feet.

“Junior, help hand him a bottle of water.”

“Oh.” Song Tinghuan took a bottle of mineral water from the box and handed it to Jiang Yu, but Jiang Yu didn’t take it.

“Didn’t you want to drink water?”

Suddenly, Jiang Yu took the mineral water from her hand, the corners of his lips hooking with a careless smile. “Thanks.”

He twisted open the cap and tilted his head back. His sharply defined Adam’s apple moved lightly.

Someone on the sidelines gasped.

“Holy crap, someone finally handed water directly to Jiang Yu.”

“So Jiang Yu likes this kind.”

Song Tinghuan: “…?”

Author’s note:

Song Tinghuan: Don’t believe rumors, don’t spread rumors.