Chapter 10
At 6:50 in the evening, the sky was getting dark, and quite a few students were out running on the sports field.
On one side of the field, separated by a long row of green plastic barbed wire, was a basketball court.
The boys were playing basketball in full swing.
The sound of the ball hitting the basket, the squeaking of sneakers on the ground, and the sound of shouting could be heard.
Summer had passed, but autumn had not fully arrived yet.
The weather was perfect, not hot but a cool night.
Du Ruo ran a few laps around the track, then gathered with her classmates under the big poplar tree on the sidelines.
There were a few boys wearing basketball uniforms with flushed faces who had just come off the basketball court.
Everyone gathered together to discuss the entry formation for the sports meet. [1]
Du Ruo suggests that with 22 people in the class, she and one classmate should hold the class sign at the front of the formation. The remaining twenty students should form four rows of five, perfectly aligned.
Saved time and effort.
Unexpectedly, a group of boys shook their heads, saying this isn’t high school, and just holding up the class card wouldn't allow them to wholeheartedly participate in the overall entrance performance.
The implication was that their class flower should play a greater role.
Du Ruo asks: "Have you already thought of a plan?"
Li Wei shared their initial idea: one boy holds the class sign at the front to lead the way. Excluding him, Du Ruo stands at the front of the team, escorted by four boys behind her, followed by a four by four formation.
Du Ruo: "You’re putting me in that position… am I going to be holding something?"
"Yes. Have you seen the Thai movie, 'A Little Thing Called First Love'?"
"No."
"It’s okay, it's just a shiny wand. Kind of like a kid’s fairy wand, but a bit bigger than that," Wan Zi'ang said. "We'll make it even more delicate than in the movie."
Du Ruo became cautious: "You're not going to make me wear a princess tutu skirt and dance with a fairy wand, right?"
Her imagination was quite strong.
The boys in the class were taken aback for a moment before laughing. They pursed their lips shyly and smiled.
"Why are you so cute?"
He Yi said: "No. How embarrassing would it be for you to dance alone. We're learning transmission control, so let’s make it related."
Zeng Ke Fan said: "You'll use the wand to make various commands. Then we'll respond with different movements."
Du Ruo understood, her eyes sparkled: "Sounds fun. Who came up with this idea?"
As soon as she finished speaking, a basketball flew towards her at high speed and hit the green plastic barbed wire behind her head. A loud bang exploded as it hit the fence, and she screamed while covering her head, and jumped away in panic.
She was so frightened that her heart almost exploded. When she turned her head, she saw the basketball bouncing away. Jing Ming, who was dressed in a basketball uniform, rushed over from the other side, extending his arm to catch the unruly basketball. The ball returned to his hand, he turned his wrist and the ball hit the ground and bounced back up. He tapped it a couple of times, and instantly gained control, smooth and seamlessly.
His head was covered with sweat, his hair wet in tufts, and the tips of his hair jumped with the movement of his body.
Enemies on a narrow road? [2]
Jing Ming was flushed, panted and looked towards the wire fence, and raised his chin at the boys in Du Ruo’s class as a greeting. His eyes swept over Du Ruo, and he paused for a second, as if he wanted to express something, but in the end, he didn’t.
He didn’t ask about her situation, turned around dribbling the basketball and ran away, and even made a three-step layup, which went straight into the basket.
With a heroic appearance, the many girls watching cheered and applauded.
Du Ruo, who was almost scared to death and whose heartbeat hadn’t calmed down: "..."
She gave Jing Ming, on the court, a resentful look, and cursed in her heart, ‘I hope you fall and get hurt!’
Li Wei called the students in the class to gather.
The twenty-two students lined up according to height, and walked back and forth on the track first.
"One, two, one! One, two, one!"
Du Ruo was lined up alone, so there was no need to consider left and right alignment. As she walked, she inadvertently looked to the other end of the barbed wire.
On the basketball court, Jing Ming played with the ball like flowing water, passing and catching, feinting, passing behind others...
She could even hear the harsh and sharp sound of basketball shoes abruptly stopping and pivoting on the court as he changed direction, crisp and powerful.
He evaded the opponent’s defence, rushed to the basket, and jumped up. The defender jumped to block, but he was just feigning and suddenly dropped down, spun around, and jumped away from the defender’s opening. With his back to the basket, he tossed the ball over his head and slammed it backwards, and the basketball went into the hoop with a resounding sound.
He landed easily.
Stealing the limelight.
So handsome! Even the boys watching all applauded.
Even Du Ruo was momentarily stunned, and her heart stopped beating.
Basketball was really exciting!
However, that guy, acting all tough. It would be funny if he suddenly tripped.
Under her feet, she stepped on her shoelace and fell to the ground with a bang.
"......"
She winced in pain, tears welling up in her eyes. But saw that Jing Ming happened to walk over to the sideline for a drink, and witnessed her fall into the mud.
All the boys from the class rushed over, and two of them grabbed her arms and lifted her up: "How come you fell?"
Du Ruo moaned miserably: "My shoelaces were loose."
A boy helped her tie it.
"No need." She was so flattered that she endured the severe pain in her knees and wanted to squat down to stop him. However, before she could react, the other party had swiftly tied her shoelaces. She was so moved that she thanked him repeatedly.
"Can you still walk?"
"I can. It’s fine."
But out of consideration for her “leg injury”, the boys insisted on letting her rest aside.
The rest of the team continued to practise marching.
Du Ruo sat on the sidelines and watched, and occasionally, she unconsciously turned to glance at the basketball court. After a few glances, Jing Ming and the others had dispersed.
The sky grew darker.
The high-altitude lighting towers by the sports field suddenly turned on, and a circle of strong white lights lit up all at once, illuminating the field like daytime.
In the flickering white light, Jing Ming's figure was exceptionally clear, his purple-gold basketball uniform and tufts of black hair, sharp as a sword.
Amidst the shifting shadows, he went under the basketball hoop to pick up his jacket, took out his phone from his pocket, put the jacket over his shoulder, and walked off the basketball court while looking at his phone.
Boys were still playing in the other courts, and the court where he had been on also quickly flooded with a group of newcomers.
Du Ruo tilted her head and watched him leave the court. Across the distance of two barbed wire fences, there were many figures, and he quickly disappeared.
She turned her head back and looked at the sports field under the white light.
The sky was completely dark, the temperature was low, and it was a bit cold. She wanted to leave and go back to the dormitory to change clothes.
She didn’t sit on the sideline for long. Everyone walked back and forth a few times, and after getting acquainted with each other, they disbanded.
Du Ruo dashed back to the dormitory like the wind and saw no acquaintances on the way.
Back in the dorm room, it was pitch black. Only Qiu Yu Chen was watching an American drama with a desk lamp on. He Huan Huan and Xia Nan had gone to the library.
Seeing her come back, Qiu Yu Chen paused her computer, and said: "Didn't you ask Huan Huan to take your backpack to the library for you? You said you’d go directly after practice?"
"Ah! Oh! Right! I’m going." She left in an instant.
"Why are you so absent-minded?" Qiu Yu Chen muttered, tapped her keyboard, and the American drama resumed.
Du Ruo went to the library for self-study. After reading for a while, she started sketching circuit diagrams, and quickly creating several complex designs. She felt pleased with herself.
With plenty of time left, she continued to read the book, covering content that the teacher hadn't yet discussed. Around nine o'clock, the phone in her pocket vibrated.
It was strange since she had just spoken to her mom yesterday. She had also seen her classmates recently. Who could it be?
"Jing Ming” was written on the screen.
Du Ruo was quite surprised, leaving her books and pens behind and rushed to the corridor to answer the call. "Hello?"
On the other end, a voice that sounded impatient and in a bad tone said: "Where are you?"
She rolled her eyes in confusion: "The library. What's wrong?"
"Come out for a while," he said.
"Huh?" She became a little wary. "Why?"
"My parents sent you a computer. It's here with me. Take it quickly"
Surprised, delighted, and grateful, she hurriedly exclaimed: "Thank you, uncle, aunty and thank you." Although she was grateful, she felt ashamed and uncomfortable, so she repeated awkwardly: "Thank you."
"..." Jing Ming paused for a second, then urged: "Just come and get it now."
"Oh. I'll be right over."
"Don't come to my dorm." He ordered, "Go behind the Administration Building."
The call ended.
Du Ruo knew that he didn’t want others to see him, so he found a secluded place.
He was already doing her a favour by giving her the computer. She had troubled him enough.
Afraid of making him wait, she hurried to the agreed location.
Away from the teaching area, there were fewer and fewer people on the road.
Under the dim streetlights, the shade of the trees were mottled.
The weather at night during this time was really good – cool, neither cold nor hot.
But she was anxious, and her hurried steps made her break into a slight sweat.
The Administration Building was dark and the doors were closed.
The road in front was straight and wide, and there was no one around.
The sides were lined with dense locust trees, flower beds filled with short shrubs. There were buildings on both sides of the yard with unknown purpose, without light and quiet. They were all constructed in the architectural style of the Republic of China period, which looked a little dark.
The streetlights were hazy, but the moonlight was very bright tonight, covering everything in a frosty light glow.
She stood on the steps by the side of the road, tiptoeing and playing around, breathing heavily to calm her heartbeat.
In the cool moonlight, she stepped on the steps and walked up and down waiting for him.
After waiting expectantly for a while, perhaps the sweat on her body had evaporated, she began feeling a bit cold.
Feeling chilly, she squatted down hugging herself.
Soon, footsteps came into the quiet world.
She stood up immediately.
Jing Ming came, with one hand in his pocket and the other carrying a large paper bag.
With a dull expression, he handed her the paper bag.
Du Ruo grew even more excited: "Is it a laptop?"
Jing Ming took a few seconds to understand what she meant, and laughed: "What age is it? Girls still use desktop computers in their dormitories?"
This time, Du Ruo didn't care about his teasing. That’s right, girls all used beautiful laptops. Why would anyone buy a bulky desktop?
It was rare for her to answer his words with good humour: "Isn’t it only the boys' dorms that use them?"
"Some of them have high-spec ones for gaming," he replied lightly.
"Thank you." Du Ruo said, smiling at him.
It was the first time she had smiled so freely in front of him.
Under the moonlight, her complexion appeared softer and fairer than during the day. Her eyes curved when she smiled, and there were faint dimples at the corner of her lips.
He looked at her quietly for a second, his gaze calmly swept over her from head to toe.
She wore a T-shirt with a shirt as a jacket. As the cold wind blew, she shivered.
Jing Ming asked lighted: "Out of money?"
Du Ruo didn't react: "Huh?"
He said: "No money to buy clothes?"
"..." Du Ruo’s happy heart returned to its original state in an instant, and her gratitude to him for giving her the laptop was gone. Why is this person’s mouth so annoying! However, being in his debt, she couldn’t say anything harsh. With a stiff expression, she picked up her bag and turned around to leave.
"Wait," he called her from behind.
Du Ruo, reflexively stopped, annoyed for a while, and stared back at him: "What?"
He raised an eyebrow and asked: "Aren't you cold wearing so little clothing?"
She was stunned, and a warm feeling suddenly appeared in her heart. Feeling a bit at a loss, she looked at him. So that's what he meant. She regretted misunderstanding him just now and didn't know how to respond.
He stepped forward, took out his wallet from his pocket, and handed her a stack of cash: "Take it."
Her blood rushed to her face in an instant. She clutched the paper bag tightly and shook her head: "No need. I have enough money."
The money he handed over was not taken back, and he didn’t have the heart to argue with her, so he bent down and stuffed the money into the paper bag and left.
With wet eyes, Du Ruo grabbed the money out of the bag.
"I really don't need it." She rushed up to him, pressed the money into his hand, and ran away desperately without stopping.
She ran back to the dormitory in one breath. Her back was covered in sweat, her mouth was dry, and she was gasping for breath.
She leaned against the stairwell, dazed.
The motion sensor light went out, and it was dark.
She felt a trace of sadness, but didn’t know why.
It would’ve been fine if it was like what they agreed to at the beginning - to not meet once on campus.
At least then she could pretend to keep a bit of dignity in front of him.
She lowered her head dejectedly and touched her cold forehead, only to see a hundred yuan bill still left in the paper bag.
Translated by evienRose
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[1] ‘sports meet’ - like an athletics carnival
[2] ‘enemies on a narrow road?’ - kind of means ‘why do we always meet, we must be fated enemies?’
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