Leaving the Youth Center, Hua Jie scanned the exhibition boards on the first floor and indeed found that a new art class would soon open there, advertising “Watercolor Painting.”
In her past life, there was a similar art class competing with Zhang Xiangyang, but she couldn’t remember how good the teacher was.
She noted down the registration phone number and decided to give it a try.
As she was leaving, she saw Shen Mo on the playground.
Notebooks weren’t common in this era, nor were mobile games, so boys loved various ball games.
She stood at the edge of the playground, watching the youths enjoying their youth. After admiring for a while, she prepared to leave but heard the clear voice of a youth calling her, “Hua Jie.”
The moment she turned around, Shen Mo confirmed without a doubt that it was Hua Jie. Passing the basketball to someone else, he casually brushed his wet bangs back, then strode over to the edge of the basketball court, effortlessly vaulting over the parallel bars.
After landing, he was already in front of her. “Did you happen to take my math homework book home?”
He couldn’t find it even after searching through his bag at home.
“Oh, right…” Hua Jie remembered finding it on Friday and simply stuffed it back into her bag without a second thought.
Realizing he would ask about it, she explained, “I helped you out by writing it.”
She often asked him about things she didn’t understand in class, and when she encountered difficult problems while self-studying middle school courses, she would turn to him for help. He had helped her so much, it was only fair for her to help with his homework, right?
She was willing to do it!
Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, showing extreme positivity.
Shen Mo almost agreed, but then he remembered asking her to do his homework when he had just transferred… That was embarrassingly accurate.
“I’ll just go to your place to get the homework book,” he refused, in a rather tactful manner.
“Oh, that’s fine too. But my house is quite far, we have to cross the North Hill, it’s on the mountain,” she said.
“It’s just a small hill, you’re making it sound like we’re crossing mountains and rivers. Are your parents at home?” He really didn’t want to meet her parents and go through the hassle of greetings and such.
“Yeah, my dad plays mahjong every Sunday, and my mom told me this morning to come home and heat up the food myself. She’s probably going out too,” Hua Jie said, then added softly, “But the hill is quite big.”
Shen Mo shot her a sideways glance, and she quickly fell silent, following him towards the bike shed.
Behind him, she rolled her eyes.
Such a juvenile, acting all tough and intimidating.
…
As the two walked around the basketball court, several tall boys arrived from outside the Youth Center. After entering the court, they exchanged a few words with the players before getting ready to join the game.
Among the tall boys was one wearing a green sweater. His gaze caught Shen Mo’s, and he stopped to approach one of the guys who had just played with Shen Mo. After a brief exchange in hushed tones, he seemed to confirm Shen Mo’s identity and quickly caught up with him.
With his hands in his pockets, leaning slightly forward like a shrimp, and swaying as he walked, the boy in the green sweater strolled alongside Shen Mo, nonchalantly asking, “You’re Shen Mo? The new guy who transferred to our school, heard you’re quite arrogant?”
Shen Mo glanced at him, finding his hairstyle, height, and demeanor all unfamiliar, clearly not recognizing him.
“Who are you?” he asked calmly.
Hua Jie’s heart skipped a beat. Shen Mo’s response was asking for trouble, wasn’t it?
In Northeast China, fights often broke out over barbecue and alcohol. In such a heated and impulsive environment among young people, even a slight glance could escalate into a violent confrontation. Yet here he was, speaking to the campus big shot with such a dismissive tone!
The guy in the green sweater was a senior at the school, a leader figure who had led his gang into countless brawls and had engaged in numerous one-on-one fights.
For some reason, he hadn’t shown up at school since the beginning of the semester, and now he unexpectedly encountered Shen Mo at the Youth Center. This…
Was this the head wolf in the pack challenging an outsider wolf king to a duel?
Hua Jie understood that as long as the guy in the green sweater retorted to Shen Mo, it would inevitably lead to a physical confrontation.
Once it started, the guy’s lackeys would surely join in, leaving only her by Shen Mo’s side.
She had always been the obedient type, with obedient hair and an obedient face. Just coming back to life and stirring things up with Jing Nian was already her bravest act. Did she have to transform into a female warlord and join her idol in a fight?
Do you really need to be so thorough in chasing after idols?
It’s best not to start a fight!
With this in mind, Hua Jie hurriedly spoke before the guy in the green sweater could, using flattery to answer Shen Mo’s question first:
“Shen Mo, this is the leader of our school, the campus bully, the big brother, Zhao Qinglou! He’s undefeated in fights across our school, with many followers! He’s Zhao, a senior from the senior class! His girlfriend is the campus belle from the sophomore class, they’re a perfect match!”
High school girls are very gossip-prone, and this kind of news spreads faster than anything else.
Although Hua Jie hadn’t fully regained her knowledge since her rebirth, her memory of gossip woke up incredibly fast.
She was a little scared inside, not even daring to look at Zhao Qinglou’s tough face.
Although she felt that based on Shen Mo’s combat power from her previous life, Zhao Qinglou and his followers might not be a match for him, even if Shen Mo won in the end, it wouldn’t be good if anyone got hurt.
And he was just about to ride his bike to take her home… Well, to her house to get the homework book, but what if this fight ruined such a romantic thing as riding home on the back of her idol’s bike?
She had to defend her rights, the privileges of being a fan couldn’t be taken away.
So, despite her fear, she spoke smoothly.
“…” Shen Mo.
“…” Zhao Qinglou.
Being mixed up like this by the girl, the tense atmosphere that had just been brewing suddenly became somewhat awkward, even a bit bizarre.
Hua Jie’s solemn introduction left both boys at a loss for words.
Zhao Qinglou was just a campus troublemaker, not a heartless murderer. With the atmosphere diffused, he found it difficult to continue confronting Shen Mo.
Especially with Hua Jie’s warm, soft-spoken words, her flattery was quite effective.
It threw him off completely.
With this stumble, this pause, after Shen Mo and Hua Jie silently took a couple of steps forward, Zhao Qinglou suddenly felt like a host bidding farewell to an honored guest.
Unable to help himself, he chuckled, muttered a curse under his breath, waved his hand, said, “Behave yourself at school, see you next week at school,” then turned and left.
Back at the edge of the court, as if someone had asked him something, he glanced back at Shen Mo and Hua Jie, chuckled, muttered something, took the basketball and called for the game to start.
Curious, Hua Jie kept looking back, but Shen Mo reached out and pressed her head, “What are you staring at?”
“I’m wondering why he suddenly came and then left,” she pushed away his hand, adjusted her short hair, and solemnly contemplated what Zhao Qinglou’s behavior meant and what he meant by that sentence before leaving. Was it a threat?
“Let’s go, you lead the way.” Shen Mo acted as if nothing had happened, neither feeling bothered by Zhao Qinglou’s arrival nor relaxed by his departure.
He seemed to not care about the guy at all, even if he was some campus big shot, he was still nobody.
Hua Jie vaguely sensed a hint of “if you want to fight, I’m up for it, if not, I won’t see you off” in his attitude.
Sitting on the back of his bike, the girl smiled softly. Perhaps women all liked these kind of rebellious yet handsome guys, especially when they were so academically gifted, they were truly perfect idols.
She grabbed the hem of his right pocket, feeling content, and her feet swayed involuntarily.
“Behave yourself, stop moving around,” Shen Mo suddenly whispered.
Why was this girl acting like a child, unable to sit still even when riding a bike, swaying back and forth?
“Okay,” Hua Jie immediately complied.
They rode smoothly all the way until they reached the steep slope leading to the mountaintop.
This kind of slope was similar to those in mountainous cities like Chongqing or within cities like Qingdao, not too steep that cars or motorcycles couldn’t go up, but definitely impossible for bicycles.
Hua Jie was about to jump off the bike, but Shen Mo suddenly accelerated, causing the drawing board behind him to shake, frightening her so much that she used both hands to grip his waist tightly.
“Hey!” she exclaimed.
“Hold on tight,” the boy said in a low voice, his legs pedaling furiously like wheels of fire, with no intention of stopping to push the bike.
“Can you do this?” Hua Jie yelled.
The bike, struggling to accelerate up the slope, began to zigzag, and she was afraid that he would ride it into the middle of the road and get hit by a car.
She had just been reborn and didn’t want to risk her life flying in the wind again.
“Don’t squeeze me so hard!” Shen Mo struggled harder as he pedaled. Suddenly, he lifted his buttocks and stood up on the bike, leaning his body forward and using all his strength.
The bike’s speed increased again, but it started swaying violently from side to side.
When Hua Jie, who was just about to let go after being scolded by him, was frightened into clinging to him even tighter.
But as he lifted himself higher, she had to raise her arms and lean her body to the side to hold on to him.
Especially when he vigorously swayed his body, her arms followed, rocking left and right with his waist…
Her face was near his unmentionable part, her hands rhythmically gripping his waist…
This…
The young girl’s face suddenly turned red. She quickly withdrew her left hand to grab the iron bar beneath her, and her right hand grabbed his bike seat, turning her head away, daring not to look at him.
The swaying of the bike, the excitement of climbing the slope, was like riding a roller coaster.
Afraid of being left behind, she feared his poor bike handling might lead them straight into the center of the road, or that he might fall and make her feel even hotter with embarrassment.
She gripped tightly onto whatever she was holding to stabilize herself, and after a few moments, her gaze still involuntarily swept over him.
From this angle… it was incredibly enticing, and somewhat made her feel shy and guilty.
He was energetically taking her uphill, and here she was, shamelessly daydreaming. She was truly a sinner!
“Excuse me, excuse me, make way,” Shen Mo exerted himself while calling out to pedestrians to clear the path.
The bicycle wasn’t halted by the steep slope; amidst its regular swaying, it safely ascended, seemingly dangerous yet stable.
Hua Jie couldn’t help but feel excited and joyful, her face flushed as she suddenly burst into laughter against the wind.
She even wanted to scream like one does on a roller coaster.
Youth is wonderful, bold and unyielding, every steep slope a catalyst for their desire to challenge.
Pressing forward, never stopping, never knowing retreat.
Their vitality so abundant it seemed as if they could glow and generate electricity, their charm radiating, constantly attracting the gaze of others.
Shen Mo, spurred by her laughter and shouting, pedaled even more vigorously. A trace of a smile could be seen in his typically placid expression.
…
When they arrived at Hua Jie’s doorstep, Shen Mo was actually very tired, his legs even feeling a bit sore and weak.
Fortunately, the return trip was downhill, much easier.
He was planning to rest at her place for a while, have some water, and he’d probably regain his strength.
With this thought, he locked the bicycle at the gate of her small courtyard, propping one hand against the iron gate frame while watching the young girl unlock the door.
“Please come in,” she said, pulling open the door and smiling invitingly.
The blush on her face had not fully faded, her eyes bright and seemingly misty, her smile as radiant as flames.
Shen Mo’s gaze lingered on her face a bit longer. Although he couldn’t make out her features well or remember her face, when her pixie-cut, potato-like face became animated, it was quite pleasing to the eye.
“Do you have water? Get me some—” he said unceremoniously as she invited him in, stepping over the threshold and commanding her as he entered the yard.
Suddenly, his words caught in his throat.
His gaze met that of a wiry middle-aged man packing scissors and other tools into a motorcycle’s side bag in the courtyard, sending a chill through Shen Mo’s scalp.
What!
Didn’t the little potato say her parents weren’t home?