"Stop bragging." Chen Yuanyuan nudged him from behind, saying this, but her face showed that she was still happy for him.
The group soon started making a ruckus, but Su Jinning kept her eyes glued to the end of the corridor.
Just as she looked over, Shen Moyu walked over with his backpack slung over his shoulder. Su Jinning let out a long sigh of relief, instantly feeling half of the day's fatigue disappear.
Shen Moyu walked over, his eyes never leaving him. He smiled and asked, "How is it?"
Su Jinning rubbed her bloodshot eyes and nodded, saying, "I'm fine. How about you?"
"I'm doing alright too." Shen Moyu slung his backpack up over his shoulder.
"Not bad?" Su Jinning suddenly questioned, then shook her head helplessly: "You say it's not bad, maybe only a hundred or two points higher than me."
Song Wenmiao put his arm around Su Jinning's shoulder and sighed sympathetically, "You already know, why ask?"
Shen Moyu chuckled and leaned against the threshold, saying, "That's not necessarily true. I checked the calculation paper you left on the table at noon today, and it's not much different from mine." Shen Moyu raised an eyebrow and then nudged his shoulder: "You did a good job."
As if she had received approval, Su Jinning felt a slight surge of joy: "It's... alright..."
"Tch~" Chen Hang rolled his eyes: "Am I the only one who's full of confidence?"
He Qing walked out of the classroom and teased, "I'm afraid I'll do better than you on the test."
The group walked out, chatting and laughing. It was just past six o'clock, the sun setting, its rays casting a warm, golden glow upon them. Shen Moyu turned her head to look at their long shadows cast by the setting sun and suddenly smiled. It turned out that even the shadows of so many people walking together were quite amusing.
"Hey, let's not talk about that now. Tomorrow is Ning-ge's birthday. What are the plans?" Chen Hang skipped the topic, put his arm around Su Jinning's shoulder, and waited for his instructions.
As soon as he said that, everyone else asked about the arrangements, but Shen Moyu suddenly froze.
Su Jinning scratched her head and thought for a moment, her face full of nonchalance: "Whatever, you guys decide."
"Hey, what are you saying?" Chen Yuanyuan said, displeased. "You want us to watch you celebrate your birthday?"
“Exactly, not even any plans for her birthday?” Chen Hang agreed, pulling Su Jinning over: “We’ve even prepared a gift, you, as the birthday girl, can’t be careless!”
"I..." Su Jinning genuinely forgot. He rarely remembered his birthday; his friends would usually throw out some fancy celebrations, and he would just go through the motions. If Cui Ping hadn't reminded him yesterday, he would have completely forgotten.
"Ugh." Su Jinning took Chen Hang's arm off and said somewhat impatiently, "Then let's have hot pot. Come to my house for dinner tomorrow afternoon. My dad won't be home."
"Oh!! Great!" Several people clapped their hands, their faces beaming with joy.
Su Jinning truly didn't understand why these people were happier than him on his birthday and were preparing even earlier than him.
But thinking about it, it's actually quite nice.
"Your birthday is tomorrow?" Shen Moyu asked him after everyone had finished making a fuss, her tone suddenly becoming much colder.
Su Jinning, unaware of what was happening, nodded and said, "Mm."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yuanyuan tilted her head in confusion: "Huh? Didn't the sports committee tell the top student?"
Shen Moyu lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "No, he didn't tell me."
"Oh, I see." Chen Yuanyuan thought for a moment, then leaned closer with some anticipation: "It's okay, let's have hot pot together tomorrow."
"Oh, right," Chen Hang said to Shen Moyu with an exaggerated expression, "You better keep an eye on Ning, the academic genius! He might get drunk and act crazy, so don't lose your temper and beat him up!"
"Hey, right, right!" Song Wenmiao laughed until his stomach hurt: "I remember last year on his birthday, Brother Ning got drunk and hugged a pillar saying he wanted to marry it! Hahaha!"
“…” Su Jinning.
"You're talking about the year before last, right?" He Qing thought for a moment: "Didn't you lie on the lawn last year saying you were a rabbit?"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
"That's enough, you lot! Don't I have any dignity?"
Do you have any pride?
Amidst the laughter, Shen Moyu stood alone under the shade of a tree watching them chase each other, and suddenly couldn't laugh anymore.
Looking at his shadow, partially obscured by the trees, he gripped the strap of his schoolbag tightly. He seemed completely out of place amidst the laughter and chatter of the moment.
He thought Su Jinning had told him everything honestly, but in the end, she didn't even know when his birthday was.
What exactly does this mean?
If Chen Hang and the others hadn't mentioned it today, would they have let him go to eat empty-handed and unprepared, or would they have simply left him in the dark?
It's just a birthday, but he can't understand why everyone else has prepared everything, while he doesn't even have the right to know.
The afterglow stroked his hair, and a gentle breeze blew into his collar, but he felt no warmth, only an empty and painful feeling in his heart.
"What's wrong? You haven't said anything." Seeing that he was sullen, Su Jinning assumed he was thinking about something, so she simply put her arm around his shoulder.
Shen Moyu seemed to find some comfort, but he still couldn't suppress his anger. He pushed Su Jinning away from leaning against him: "Don't touch me, I'm hot."
The people in front were still making a fuss, but the two of them fell behind the rest of the group.
Those words startled Su Jinning. He could sense that Shen Moyu was upset, but he didn't know what he had done wrong. He asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"
Shen Moyu probably realized that her emotions had been too obvious just now, and lowered her head: "It's nothing, it's just a little hot."
But Su Jinning was not easily fooled. When Shen Moyu pushed him away, he saw a trace of unfamiliarity in Shen Moyu's eyes.
Su Jinning pursed her lips and tried to touch his arm, but was quickly dodged: "I told you, it's hot! Can you please not touch me?"
Meeting Shen Moyu's angry gaze, Su Jinning's hand, which was about to touch him, hovered in the air for a long time before finally withdrawing it.
He asked somewhat tentatively, "Are you in a bad mood?"
Chapter 57 Do You Like Flowers?
"No... I have something to do, so I'll head back first. You can go with them." Shen Moyu didn't even look at him, and prepared to walk past him.
Su Jinning reached out and pulled Shen Moyu back without warning. He seemed a little impatient: "Is there something else?"