Although Fang Bai still takes Ji Yuning to school every Monday and picks her up from school on Fridays, the two communicate less than before.
Both of them had their own ideas and their own things to do.
That day, Fang Bai, as usual, stood in his usual spot holding a parasol to pick up Ji Yuning from school.
Over the course of a few weeks, the two developed a tacit understanding about where Fang Bai would stand. As soon as Ji Yuning walked out of the school gate, she would look in the direction where Fang Bai was.
Wearing a light green dress, the hem of which fluttered in the wind, she looked like a willow branch swaying in the breeze at the end of spring, full of budding leaves.
Ji Yuning maintained her pace and calmly walked towards Fang Bai.
But someone was faster than Ji Yuning, flashing past her and jogging to Fang Bai's side.
Ji Yuning paused, looking at He Ziyan who was greeting Fang Bai with a smile on her face. He Ziyan didn't know what Fang Bai had said, but Fang Bai nodded with a smile on his lips.
Upon seeing Ji Yuning approach, Fang Bai asked He Ziyan, "Has your driver arrived yet?"
He Ziyan was about to say that she hadn't arrived yet and needed Fang Bai to take her. But before she could speak, a man's voice rang out beside her, "Miss, Madam sent me to pick you up."
The He family driver soon received a glare from his young mistress, but fearing the woman opposite would see it, the glare wasn't very obvious.
But the driver still saw it.
Similarly, Ji Yuning also noticed it.
Fang Bai turned to look at the driver, then whispered to He Ziyan, "Goodbye then."
He Ziyan pouted, "...Goodbye, Aunt Fang."
Before turning to leave, He Ziyan glared at Ji Yuning again. Don't think she didn't see it; the way this person looked at her just now had an embarrassed smile in their eyes. "Goodbye, Ji Yuning too."
Ji Yuning squinted: "Goodbye, He Tongxue."
Once in the car, Fang Bai gripped the steering wheel, remembering how He Ziyan had rushed to her side earlier, saying she was going to a competition and asking her to encourage her.
Fang Bai remembered that Ji Yuning and He Ziyan were going to participate in the competition together, so he asked, "He Ziyan said you're going to the competition next week, which day?"
Ji Yuning sat in the passenger seat with her schoolbag in her arms, her gaze fixed on the license plate of the car in front of her. "Thursday and Friday."
"Oh," Fang Bai asked, "Where is the exam held?"
Ji Yuning: "Ping City".
Ping City… Fang Bai murmured to himself.
It's in the next city, not far, about a three-hour drive.
Fang Bai turned the steering wheel, and the car rounded the bend. "Go straight back to school after the exam?"
"Going home." Anticipating that the woman would ask further, Ji Yuning said, "Taking a Mid-Autumn Festival holiday."
The school took the students back to the city, and then the students went home on their own.
Mid-Autumn Festival?
Fang Bai sighed, remarking on how quickly time had passed.
Fang Bai: "Three days?"
Ji Yuning: "Mm."
Fang Bai did not ask any more questions.
Ji Yuning didn't speak first, but instead held her phone, chatting with someone.
But these few sentences were the most they had spoken in the past few weeks.
night.
After finishing a challenging math problem, Ji Yuning felt thirsty and wanted a drink, only to find that her water glass was empty.
Ji Yuning stretched her neck, heard two cracking sounds from her bones, picked up her cup, and got up to go downstairs to get some water.
Going down from the attic to the first floor can also be considered exercise.
Ji Yuning opened the door, but before she could even step out of the room, she bumped into Fang Bai, who was walking up the last step.
Fang Bai looked at the water glass that Ji Yuning was holding, waved the glass and a small plate of cookies in his hand, and said, "I've come to bring you milk."
After Ji Yuning was diagnosed with a minor stomach problem, Fang Bai would bring her different kinds of cookies every time he brought her milk, so that she wouldn't drink the milk on an empty stomach.
Fang Bai stood in front of the door and said to Ji Yuning, "I want to go in." As Ji Yuning turned to the side, Fang Bai walked past her.
After placing the water glass and saucer on Ji Yuning's desk, Fang Bai walked back to the door. Instead of leaving immediately, she asked, "Are you going to study outside these next two days?"
Fang Bai was standing less than forty centimeters away from Ji Yuning.
Very close.
As Ji Yuning got closer, she smelled that familiar fragrance again.
Ji Yuning held her breath: "No."
"I think so too. I have a competition next week, so it's better to stay home and study for a couple of days."
Ji Yuning noticed a loophole in Fang Bai's words: How is studying at home better than her studying outside?
Although she didn't actually go out to study.
But before Ji Yuning could figure it out, the sudden weight above her head pulled her thoughts away.
Fang Bai hadn't rubbed Ji Yuning's head in a long time. Ever since she injured her foot and asked Wu Mei to deliver milk to Ji Yuning, even though she was the one who delivered milk to Ji Yuning last week, Fang Bai didn't want to do anything too intimate because the two hadn't talked for a long time.
Fortunately, we exchanged a few words in the car today, which eased the tension between us.
Fang Bai gently rubbed Ji Yuning's head. The strands of hair in his hand were a little stiffer than before, but the feel was the same. Compared to Bei Bei's fluffy hair, Ji Yuning gave Fang Bai a very pleasant feeling.
It's so soft, I can't put it down.
Fang Bai said softly, "Then drink the milk and get some rest."
Ji Yuning's aching spine stiffened for a few seconds as Fang Bai's hand massaged her head again.
Worried that continuing to rub would anger Ji Yuning, Fang Bai reluctantly withdrew his hand.
Looking down, Fang Bai noticed the awkwardness that flashed across Ji Yuning's face, and chuckled twice, his eyes crinkling into a smile: "Goodnight."
.
Chapter 33
Only three students from Huyi Middle School participated in the English competition: Ji Yuning, He Ziyan, and a senior student.
Accompanying them was an English teacher with many years of teaching experience.
The school arranged for four people to take the high-speed train to Ping City. He Ziyan and her senior in the third year of high school had tickets for the front row. However, after the train departed, He Ziyan walked up to the teacher and asked to switch seats with the teacher, saying that she had a question to discuss with Ji Yuning.
During the seat reversal, Ji Yuning merely glanced at her companion without saying anything.
Instead, after He Ziyan sat down and saw that Ji Yuning was wearing headphones, she asked, "Did you buy headphones?"
Ji Yuning didn't turn the volume up very loud; she could still hear the sounds around her.
"Um."
He Ziyan clutched the schoolbag to her chest. "Did you buy it yourself? Or did Aunt Fang buy it?"
Ji Yuning glanced sideways at He Ziyan, whose upturned eyelashes fluttered and whose face was full of coquettishness.
Ji Yuning: "What do you want to ask?"
Ji Yuning spoke calmly, but He Ziyan always felt that Ji Yuning had seen through her true nature.
He Ziyan: "".
"Questions." He Ziyan took out a workbook from her bag. "I have a few questions for you."
He Ziyan had no idea how fake her excuse was. After being classmates for over a year, He Ziyan, who ranked second, despised nothing more than submitting to Ji Yuning.
What caused He Ziyan to change so much?
A face flashed through Ji Yuning's mind.
Ji Yuning had already guessed that He Ziyan's purpose in coming to her side under the pretext of getting closer to her was to get close to Fang Bai.
That day, He Ziyan's concern for Fang Bai didn't seem fake; it came from the bottom of her heart...
While Ji Yuning was looking at the questions, He Ziyan took out her phone from her bag and looked at the cat avatar pinned to the top of her WeChat list.
Upon opening the chat log, it showed that He Ziyan and Fang Bai's conversation dates back three weeks.
The conversation revolved around Ji Yuning. After He Ziyan dropped the topic of Ji Yuning, Fang Bai said goodbye.
He Ziyan pondered for three weeks, thinking of various reasons, but then rejected them with various ideas. In the end, the only thing she could think of was to try sending Fang Bai a message about Ji Yuning, hoping that Fang Bai would reply to her.
He Ziyan glanced at Ji Yuning, who was still looking at her workbook and hadn't noticed her. He Ziyan's fingers were rapidly pressing keys on the keyboard.
He Ziyan: [Aunt Fang, did you buy Yu Ning those headphones for her? They're very pretty.]
The message had barely been sent when Ji Yuning's clear voice rang in He Ziyan's ears, before she could even receive a reply, "Do you still need me to explain the questions?"
He Ziyan put her phone away and said awkwardly, "Yes."
He Ziyan genuinely didn't know how to solve the problem, so she listened very attentively to Ji Yuning's explanation.
Two minutes later, the presentation ended.
After Ji Yuning put her headphones back on and looked out the window to listen to music, He Ziyan put the workbook into her schoolbag.
I opened my phone and saw a red dot on WeChat.
Fang Bai: [No.]
He Ziyan was overjoyed, knowing that she had made the right choice.
Ten seconds later, Ji Yuning's phone vibrated. She opened it and saw Aunt Fang asking her: "[Have you already gone to Ping City?]"
Ji Yuning caught a glimpse of He Ziyan typing on her phone out of the corner of her eye, and knew exactly what was going on.
Ji Yuning: [Mm.]