For a long time, the heat condensed into a faint, damp patch...
Since what happened in the grove, You Ran decided to ignore Xiao Xin for at least a month, so that he would understand exactly where he went wrong.
But the truth is—Shin-chan ignored her.
Since that night, You Ran has never seen Xiao Xin on campus again.
For the first week, You Ran secretly cursed him for getting frostbite and nearly dying that night.
A week later, You Ran began to suspect that Xiao Xin might have been hit by a car and suffered amnesia, ending up in the countryside.
By the third week, You Ran's anger had completely subsided, replaced by worry.
I secretly went to ask Xiaoxin's classmates, and the answer I got was that he had taken a long sick leave.
Unable to contain herself, You Ran had no choice but to go and wait outside Xiao Xin's rented apartment. However, after waiting for two days, she didn't even see a single hair on Xiao Xin's head.
With great difficulty, she learned from her colleagues in the drama club that Xiaoxin seemed to be hanging out at nightclubs in the West City area recently. Without thinking much about it, You Ran went there.
I went there in the evening, right at the busiest time of day. I crouched down and searched everywhere, and finally found Shin-chan in the billiards room on the third floor.
He was with a group of seemingly hostile people, who appeared to be gambling with billiards.
Amidst the lingering smell of smoke, I casually noticed someone next to me inhaling suspicious drugs.
He's fallen, this kid has completely fallen.
You Ran really wanted to rush over and kick the billiard ball over, leaving those spoiled brats bruised and battered.
But not everyone can be a mature woman. Looking at her short legs, You Ran swallowed her anger and quietly ran to the men's restroom next door to wait for Shin-chan.
Because her view was obstructed while hiding in the cubicle, You Ran couldn't tell who came in, so she tried every possible way to check whenever there was a sound from the door.
The first person to enter sat down next to You Ran, while You Ran could only stand on the toilet seat, leaning over the partition, tiptoeing to observe the arrival of people.
To everyone's surprise, as soon as I lay down, there was a loud cracking sound, just like the Rising Dragon Fist of Mount Lu or a toilet explosion.
Immediately, a foul, pungent stench assaulted You Ran's mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, causing her eyes to water and nearly making her fall to the ground.
Having learned her lesson the first time, You Ran never dared to climb over the wall to look at the apricot blossoms again. Instead, she squatted down and examined the shoes of the person who came.
A person walked in, wearing shiny designer leather shoes. Hmm, too mature, not Shin-chan's style.
Another person came in, wearing fashionable casual shoes. Hmm, too flashy, not Shin-chan's style.
Two pairs of shoes gradually approached each other, and then... two pairs of pants fell to the ground.
"Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm..."
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh..."
"Oh oh oh oh oh..."
"Yay yay yay yay yay..."
The story of the chrysanthemum has officially begun.
You Ran listened with great excitement, her limbs spread apart like a flattened spider, stuck to the door, wishing her ears could grow bigger.
Since it was a public place, the two gay men quickly stopped their revelry, straightened their clothes, and left with a relaxed attitude.
It seems the men's restroom is indeed a great place. If it weren't for the pungent smell from the next stall, You Ran would have loved to stay here forever.
At that moment, the door opened for the third time, and a person walked in. Then, familiar music started playing—it was Shin-chan's alarm clock.
Then, Shin-chan's slightly impatient voice rang out again: "My affairs are none of your business!"
With a calm mind, I knew it was him this time.
He took a few deep breaths of the foul air, closed his eyes leisurely, and pushed the door open forcefully.
"Long Xiaoxin, you..." You Ran was about to start cursing when she suddenly realized that there was no one in front of her.
Could it be my own hallucination?
While pondering whether the hallucination was caused by being overwhelmed by the stench from next door or by missing Shin-chan too much, Shin-chan stumbled and got up from the ground.
You Ran finally understood—Xiao Xin had been knocked to the ground by the door she had pushed open so forcefully.
Upon their reunion, both were momentarily at a loss for words and immediately froze.
But the atmosphere and smell of the restroom were really not suitable for a romantic scene, so Shin-chan quickly came to his senses, put his hands in his pockets as usual, rubbed his nose, looked away, and asked casually, "What are you doing here?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than an unidentified object came crashing down on his head. Shin-chan couldn't dodge in time, and heard a "thud" in his ear, followed by a buzzing sound in his head.
After the bee flew away, Shin-chan unleashed his inner power, roaring, "Why did you hit me with that bag! And what's in that bag? Why is it so heavy?"
"I picked up this piece of iron when I passed by the construction site outside the school." You Ran pulled out a five-pound, shiny piece of iron from her bag, held it up in her hand, and looked fierce: "As for why I hit you, do I need to explain?"
After saying that, You Ran raised the iron block again and hurled it at Xiao Xin. Xiao Xin quickly grabbed her hand, trying his best to prevent the weapon from hitting his head.
The two remained locked in this stalemate.
"What right do you have to hit me?!"
"You don't apologize, you disappear, and now you're hanging around in this filthy place with these shady people. Tell me, don't you deserve to be beaten?"
"You're not my mother, why are you interfering in my life so much?!"
"I'm not your mother, but I'm better than your mother!"
"Grandma Li, go to hell! Don't you dare take advantage of me!"
"So this is what you call taking advantage? Then tell me, shouldn't you be torn to pieces for what you did that night? Apologize now!"
"I won't say!"
"Apologize!"
"Don't even think about it!"
"Apologize!"
"I...die...without...knowing...ah!"
Unfortunately, although Shin-chan managed to subdue Yu-ran's hand, he forgot to watch out for her foot. As a result, Yu-ran's leg landed squarely on Shin-chan's private parts.
Shin-chan responded and slowly squatted down on the ground, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"I only used five-tenths of my strength today. If it were up to my usual temper, I would have crippled you with one kick!" You Ran patted the pointed toe of her shoe and said in a very domineering way, "Apologize and I'll spare your life."
Shin-chan raised his head, his eyes red, probably from the intense pain. He gritted his teeth and said, "I told you, I'd rather die than apologize."
You Ran couldn't help but raise the five-pound iron block in her hand again, which was extremely powerful, and wanted to smash his stubborn head to pieces. However, the iron block stopped midway through its flight.
Even in the killer game, there's a time for last words.
"Why not apologize?" You Ran decided to calm herself down.
"I don't know." However, Xiaoxin's reply rendered You Ran's efforts to calm her anger futile.
"Explain yourself clearly, what do you mean by 'I don't know'?" You Ran swept Xiao Xin's hair hard with her hand, successfully ruining his hairstyle.
It is said that there are people in the world whose motto is "My head may be cut off, my blood may flow, but my hairstyle must not be messed up."
Xiaoxin probably belongs to this type of person, because after doing so, he suddenly jumped up, his eyes blazing with Specium rays, looking as if he was about to burn You Ran to a crisp.
"I..." You Ran swallowed hard. "There's a comb in my bag... want me to comb your hair for you?"
It's clear that Shin-chan didn't want the comb. After firing a powerful Specium Ray, Shin-chan suddenly laughed, a somewhat desolate laugh: "Why? Because I know that if time could go back to that night, I would still do the same thing to you. So, even if I apologize, it won't be sincere."
You Ran looked at Xiao Xin carefully, and then recalled his description of her under the streetlight, and finally concluded that this hot-blooded kid must have been hungry for a long time.
"No matter what I do, I can't become the ocean. Especially compared to him, I'm more like a child who never grows up." Xiaoxin still didn't want to mention Qu Yun's name directly.
"It was just a boring game we lost, nobody took it seriously," You Ran said.
"Yes, I saw it too. I lost, and you're not disappointed at all. Because from the beginning, you were convinced that I couldn't beat him." Xiaoxin asked directly what You Ran was thinking: "Actually, in your opinion, he and I were never in the same place, were we?"
You Ran was speechless. What Xiao Xin said made sense.
If a person's heart is a wardrobe, then Qu Yun is in the lover's drawer, while Xiao Xin is in the friend's drawer, never having moved.
"That night, there was only one thing I wanted to prove—that I am a man, just like him, a man."
"But the consequences of doing that only highlighted his maturity and your naivety."
"But Li Youran, you didn't give me any chance at all!" Xiao Xin said in frustration, running his hands through his bangs. "You're not being fair to me, understand? From the very beginning, you kicked me out of the competition."
“That’s because I don’t want to lose you as a friend.” You Ran told the truth: “Long Xiang, I like you very much, and I’m very happy when I’m with you. So, I’ve selfishly and forcibly fixed our relationship as friends, because lovers come and go, but friends are for life.”
“But do you know?” For the first time, Long Xiang’s brows revealed a calm clarity: “Li Youran, from the moment I realized that I had fallen in love with you, and that you may never fall in love with me, we were destined to lose each other.”
"I don't understand." This was the first time You Ran hadn't understood what he was saying.
“I’m not a man like Jin Yuelin, who can tolerate the sight of the woman he loves being with other men,” Long Xiang said slowly. “So, when you truly can’t be with me, I will leave.”
"Can't we be friends?" For some reason, You Ran felt a lump in her throat.
"No." Shin-chan uttered these words as if they had been stored in his heart for tens of millions of years.
This is indeed his true feeling. His world is so clear-cut, with no room for ambiguity or vagueness.
"Under these circumstances, you only have two choices. One is that we will never see each other again after tonight. Two..." Long Xiang paused, but only for a moment: "The second is that you and I have a real relationship... Don't treat me like your Xiao Xin, treat me like a man, give me that qualification. That's all I need."
Before he could finish speaking, You Ran began to shake her head: "I don't want to hurt you. I didn't expect to fall in love with someone so quickly."
"Don't you understand?" The orange-red, blood-tinged light shone on Long Xiang's face, making the shadow of his eyelashes appear infinitely long. "The greatest harm is that you took away my right to love you. You don't know if you can accept me until you've truly tried. I will never be reconciled until I've truly tried."
“Give me a chance, Li Youran,” Long Xiang pleaded.
His meaning is already very clear.
When their feelings for each other deteriorate due to drinking, they can no longer pretend nothing is wrong, and they only have two paths ahead of them.
She looked down at her palm and gently traced the lines on it with her fingertips.
She only now realizes how selfish she has been.
After breaking up with Qu Yun, she was very lonely. Fortunately, she met Xiao Xin. She spent a lot of the time that she should have spent crying and grieving over her lost relationship on playing and fighting with Xiao Xin.
He helped her get out of there.
From that moment on, she began to depend on him. Although she often laughed at his childishness, deep down, she truly depended on his companionship.
So when he confessed his feelings to her, she used avoidance as a way of coping. She knew she wouldn't rush into a new relationship, and she knew he wasn't the right person for her, so she kept running away and defining their relationship as just friends, siblings, or drinking buddies.
She wanted to drag it out as long as possible; that was her true thought.