Ji Li stopped.
Ying Yunsheng felt uncomfortable under his gaze and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
"If you absolutely must take a shower," Ji Li said, "why don't you come to my place?"
Ying Yunsheng was still a little dazed when he stepped into the other party's house for the second time.
Last time I only briefly looked around the living room and bedrooms, but this time I went straight inside.
Lanxu Residential Area and Changqiao Middle School are only five or six bus stops apart, a taxi ride of less than twenty minutes.
Ji Li led him to the bathroom, showed him how to turn on the hot water, what was in each bottle of cleaning supplies, and asked before closing the door, "Want a midnight snack?"
Ying Yunsheng: "Huh?"
Ji Li patiently explained, "I just finished evening self-study. If you're hungry, I'll go find you something to eat."
Ying Yunsheng thought that when the other person said "find something to eat", they meant to find snacks. However, when he came out of the shower, he found a bowl of hot noodles on the dining table.
There are also two perfectly fried sunny-side-up eggs on top.
Ying Yunsheng stopped in his tracks.
Ji Li only saw him stop in front of the dining table: "What's wrong? Don't you like it?"
Ying Yunsheng shook his head: "Ji Li."
"Um?"
Ying Yunsheng hesitated for a long time before speaking: "You don't really need to be so good to me."
High school life doesn't offer much free time, and since they weren't in the same class or dormitory, they didn't have many opportunities to interact. At that age, people who like someone only have a few ways to express their feelings: bringing them food, tutoring them, or writing them love letters.
When Ying Yunsheng first discovered the breakfast on the doorknob, he actually tried to get up early to deliver breakfast to the other party. However, the strange thing was that no matter how early he got up, as soon as he opened the door, he could see the extra plastic bag outside, which made him suspect that Ji Li did not sleep at all at night.
Sending food is out of the question, especially since the other person has already done it, and if he does it again, it will inevitably be seen as copying without understanding. In terms of extracurricular tutoring, the two of them are basically each the king of their own studies. If it were to be compared subject by subject, Ji Li would definitely be on top and he would be on the bottom. But how could he expect someone who is always struggling to pass the Chinese composition section of his exams to write love letters?
Even though he was the one who confessed first, this whole thing made it seem like Ji Li was the one who confessed, leaving Ying Yunsheng feeling quite frustrated.
I felt frustrated and fearful at the same time.
Because he suddenly realized that Ji Li seemed to lack nothing and need nothing.
So much so that even accepting the other person's kindness becomes a burden.
After listening, Ji Li remained silent for several seconds: "How have I been good to you?"
Ying Yunsheng listed them one by one: "They bring me breakfast every day, lend me extracurricular books, supervise my studies, peel shrimp and remove fish bones for me, buy me snacks and make me late-night snacks."
Ji Li asked quite seriously, "Is this what you call being good to me?"
Ying Yunsheng was puzzled.
Is this not good enough?
Ji Li said, "Bringing breakfast is just a favor; the other two people in my dorm ask me to bring it every day. Borrowing extracurricular books isn't an unreasonable request; I usually don't refuse if someone in the class asks me. As for supervising studies, my deskmate has even been doing the practice test I made these past two days. As for peeling shrimp, removing fish bones, and cooking late-night snacks, I'd do it if Lin Chengshuang asked."
"Uh..." Ying Yunsheng was momentarily unsure whether the other person was trying to reassure him or simply being mischievous and teasing him.
What do you mean he'd help peel shrimp, remove bones, and cook a late-night snack if Lin Chengshuang asked?!
Ji Li could tell what he was thinking from his shocked and flustered expression, and couldn't help but laugh: "Of course, if it were him, it wouldn't be free."
Ying Yunsheng: "..."
So it really is a perverse sense of humor.
Ji Li smiled and said, "But that's not what I wanted to say. What I wanted to tell you is that there's no reason why I can give something to others but not to you, and there's no reason why you should be treated as inferior here."
Ying Yunsheng was stunned for a long time: "But...we..."
"Besides, why didn't you do anything for me?" Ji Li listed them off one by one. "I don't like queuing, but didn't you get me my food every time? When setting up the exam room, you weren't allowed to leave anything in my desk, but didn't you help me move those dozens of kilograms of books from my desk to the dormitory every time? I only mentioned that the microphone in the school's conference hall was too noisy, but when we were called to a meeting, didn't you deliberately unplug the microphone cords, forcing the principal to wear a lavalier headset and speak on stage for two whole hours?"
Ying Yunsheng was stunned, and without thinking, blurted out, "How did you know?"
Ji Li smiled enigmatically: "I had doubts before, but now I'm certain."
"Well……"
"Ying, you've got some nerve, daring to unplug the school's microphone cable. Next time I complain about the loudspeaker being too noisy, are you planning to find a bunch of C4 to blow up the school's broadcasting station?"
Ying Yunsheng quickly interrupted him before his train of thought could be led astray: "Don't change the subject!"
"Alright." Ji Li smiled. "If you insist on arguing about this, let's set aside the question of whether it's more important for me to cook a bowl of noodles or for you to risk being caught and punished by unplugging the microphone. Besides, what kind of logic is it that if you're nice to me, I can't be nice to you? Is it that you're allowed to set fires in Guanzhou but the common people aren't allowed to light lamps?"
“This is different,” Ying Yunsheng interrupted again before his train of thought could wander off, “Those are things I should have done anyway.”
"Why is this something you should be doing?" Ji Li asked, "Because you confessed your feelings to me?"
"Well……"
"Because you like me, I'll be willful, throw tantrums, act unreasonably, vent all my negative emotions in front of you, and treat you like a slave, ordering you around to test if you're sincere towards me. Then I'll pick the one with the best temper, the most obedient, and the most impressive to take out with me from among you and my other suitors to be my long-term companion?"
Ji Li chuckled: "Do you take me for an emperor choosing concubines, or a nouveau riche picking servants?"
"Well……"
"But in my opinion, liking someone is a very precious thing. Even if it's someone else but you, the sincerity they show me is never something I can squander."
Ying Yunsheng was speechless for a long time.
"You feel you can't give me anything, so everything I've done for you is worthless; but haven't you never cared about the things you've given me?"
Ji Li: "Others only remember the suffering they endured, but why do you only remember the good and not the bad?"
Ying Yunsheng stammered "I" for a long time without getting to the next point, and bit his lip in frustration.
What was wrong with him to try and reason with Ji Li? They're not even in the same league.
"But if you really want to help me with something..."
Ying Yunsheng immediately looked up: "What do you want to do?"
Ji Li pointed to the dining table: "Wash the dishes after you finish eating."
"Uh..." Author's Note:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Dimensional wall
After Ying Yunsheng finished eating his noodles, he washed the bowls and pots clean and put them away. When he walked out of the kitchen, he saw Ji Li standing in the living room with a wet towel on his head.
Ji Li asked, "Have you finished eating?"
"Um."
How does it taste?
"It's delicious." Ying Yunsheng walked over. "Would you like your hair dried?"
If he didn't agree, the other party probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight. Ji Li chuckled: "Okay."
Ying Yunsheng used a towel to dry his hair until it was half dry, and then went to the cabinet to get a hairdryer as instructed.
Ji Li had just finished showering, and her face wasn't as pale as usual; the hot water had brought out some color. Her long eyelashes were clumped together, and she was wearing loose-fitting pajamas that revealed her collarbone at the neckline.
When my hair is wet, it looks even longer, with the ends past my ears. When I try to grab it, I always accidentally touch the skin on my neck.
Ying Yunsheng stared at the other person's hair the entire time, his gaze never moving down.
The loud whirring of the hairdryer drowned out the occasional sound of the other person turning the pages of a book while looking down, and also drowned out the joyful beating of his heart.
"Is the wind hot?"
"Not too hot, just right."
Ying Yunsheng stood behind him: "Why didn't you put on a coat before you came out?"
Ji Li: "You weren't wearing any either, were you?"
“I’m healthy,” Ying Yunsheng said while drying his hair. “You’re different.”
Ji Li turned a page of his book: "It's not cold inside."
Ying Yunsheng disagreed: "The outdoor temperature is below zero today."
Ji Li laughed: "You know the outdoor temperature is below zero today, and you still plan to take a cold shower?"
"Uh..." He thought this matter was over.
Ji Li, however, immediately brought up old grievances: "Now the doors and windows in the room are all closed, but when the wind was blowing in through the windows of the dormitory, you dared to run around in just your pajamas."
"Well……"
"I just went to turn on the washing machine, and you weren't wearing long johns yet."
“Uh…” Ying Yunsheng’s heart raced at the thought that his own clothes and the other person’s clothes were in the same washing machine: “I can take the clothes back and wash them myself.”
Ji Li: "Your technique for changing the subject is terrible."
"Uh..." Ying Yunsheng turned off the hair dryer after his hair was almost dry.
Ji Li stood up: "I'll go tidy up your room."
Ying Yunsheng: "I'm sleeping here?"
"Or do you still want to go back to school at this hour?"
The clock on the wall had already passed twelve o'clock, long past the dormitory curfew.
Ji Li smiled and closed the book: "Besides, I saw that you even brought the test paper with you when you came, so I thought you were looking forward to staying with me."
Ying Yunsheng: "I plan to take a look around when I have time on the way."
Ji Li: "Didn't you want to bring it over to look at before going to bed?"
Ying Yunsheng's thoughts were exposed, and his face flushed. He lowered his eyes and wrapped the hair dryer cord around the handle he was holding, saying, "I also wanted to come over and take another look."
Ji Li took the hair dryer: "Ying, you're too eager to learn."