Chapter 18.1 - Turn A Blind Eye But Desperate To Save Face (1)
On Sunday afternoon, Luo Zhi was invited to attend the parent-child carnival held by the international school where Tiffany and Jake were studying, and watch the performance of the two children. The finale is "Alice in Wonderland Stage Play", Tiffany acted as Mr. Rabbit with a pocket watch, and Jake... acted as a tree stump.
After eating dinner, she returned to school only after eight o'clock. The conference centre near the north gate was brightly lit, and the open window burst into laughter and applause from time to time. In the night, she turned her head to carefully identify the writing on the red banner hanging at the door.
It turned out to be the semi-final of the debate, the Biology School vs. Law School, a bold debate about whether the school should give high school students free condoms.
Luo Zhi raised her head and stared at the bright yellow light on the second floor. In the debate team of the School of Biology, Shen Huainan is definitely inside.
But she suddenly realized that she didn't even have the desire to go up to take a look. Of course, due to reasons like to avoid embarrassment and maintain self-esteem, but more because she seems to be able to easily trace the appearance, expression, posture, speech of that person on and off the stage... vivid as if right in front of her eyes. She was so familiar with him, it seems that she has mastered the source code, if you give her any scene and object, she can fit the person in her heart perfectly into the scene, without any violation.
Perhaps because of this, although they rarely meet, she never missed him.
He is always there.
She turned around and left, on the way, she met a few boys, who staggered towards her, blocking the path tightly. She lowered her head and moved to the left side, and suddenly got a flick on her forehead.
"Oh, it's you!"
Luo Zhi raised her head: "Oh, it's you."
"Are you going to see the debate? We just finished eating, now we’re going to cheer for Sheng Huainan."
"Stop pretending, you’re obviously not there to see the fourth brother, aren’t you going to see the beauty of the law school..." Before the fat boy finished speaking, Zhang Mingrui strangled his neck with his arm.
Luo Zhi fixed her eyes and found that Zhang Mingrui's face was not shy, but embarrassed when he made such a move. She remembered the unexpected love affair he had mentioned when they ate DQ (ice cream brand), and it immediately became clear. Perhaps compared to these brothers who are beside him day and night but are unaware of his inner thoughts, the person who understands Zhang Mingrui best at this moment is her, this unfamiliar person.
Just as soon as her compassionate mentality was inflicted on her, some boys turned their attention to her. The fat boy shouted like he discovered New World again: "Ah, wasn't it you, The girl that day in Happy Valley!"
The other two boys also came over: "Yes, fourth brother followed you to take care of kids and ran away with you afterwards! That's too much! Say, what's the relationship between the two of you?"
Luo Zhi silently swallowed this ambiguous accusation and looked up to see Zhang Mingrui's bright eyes with a look on his face that she couldn't understand. Maybe the night is too dark.
“I’m not familiar with him, but I just conveniently helped him. He felt like a light bulb if he followed you, and he left as soon as you left and didn’t continue playing with us” she explained with a smile, “I and Him only saw each other a few times in the law introduction class. I also came to know Zhang Mingrui there.”
Perhaps Luo Zhi’s tone was too stable, which made a few boys feel that they were not interested in going on gossiping, so the artillery turned to Zhang Mingrui. After questioning his purpose of going to the law introduction class, the topic returned to the beauty of law school. Luo Zhi was about to leave, suddenly she heard Zhang Mingrui yelling provocatively: "Luo Zhi, are you really not going to watch Sheng Huainan compete?"
A fire in Luo Zhi's chest ignited.
She turned her head back and said softly, "By the way, when you cross the road, pay attention to Zhang Mingrui and don't let him get hit by a car."
"Why?" The fat boy looked blankly.
"It's too dark, I'm afraid the driver can't see him."
She continued to move forward, Zhang Mingrui's face was hidden in the night, and the boys' earth-shaking laughter was also left behind.
In the fourth law introduction class, Luo Zhi sat down straight in her usual corner, a little unexpectedly, Zhang Mingrui did not sit beside her. In the first two weeks, he had been sitting in the last row early to greet her, saying that he had reserved a seat for her—in fact, this position never needed to be specifically reserved.
After sitting down, she looked around and saw Sheng Huainan coming, but sitting in the third row far away with Zhang Mingrui. At this moment, the phone vibrated, showing the name --- Sheng Huainan.
"Are you always late so you always sit in such a corner? Next time I’ll help you occupy a seat in the front?"
She froze for a moment.
"No need. I like to sit here, thank you." She replied.
After disappearing for three weeks, he asked such a harmonious and indifferent sentence to try to ease the relationship, she felt frustrated. She likes him, but he definitely does not like her ---- this is not her undervaluing herself. After holding her hand, disappearing for three weeks, and then arbitrarily pulling the string of the relationship to break the ice, in any case, this is not a sign of falling in love. If this is the case, time to let go, she must let go, and not brood over the holding hands incident anymore.
Luo Zhi read this idea silently three times as if reciting a political textbook.
"Do you like any animated movies? Short stories are fine, those kinds with around thirteen episodes. I don't have time to keep up with the updates of long-form cartoons episode by episode. I want to watch some movies." He asked.
She thought about it seriously: "Old film, "The Fairy Tales of the Years". Watch it if you have time."
He replied in a strange tone: "You mean, "The Fairy Tales of the Years"?"
Luo Zhi put the phone back into the phone case and didn't want to say anything more.
