In the evening, the school was unusually noisy after classes.
However, the equipment room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, as if even the sound of a heartbeat was clear.
This was the first time Liang Zhiyi had ever shown her emotions to Pei Chen without any reservation, without any cover.
She straightforwardly said that she liked him.
Since childhood, her personality had always been like this—she could never hide her thoughts, and her emotions were always written on her face. She couldn’t suppress her feelings and secretly have a crush on someone, nor did she intend to hide her affection for Pei Chen.
Even when facing him directly.
When Pei Chen heard her sudden confession, he looked at her, his pupils contracting sharply, his black lashes trembling slightly. In an instant, overwhelming emotions consumed him.
Seeing his prolonged silence, Liang Zhiyi was surprised and smiled, “Pei Chen, you really didn’t know?”
Isn’t he a top student?
How could someone as smart as him not notice her feelings for him?
And to think she had hinted so many times before…
What a bookworm.
She pouted, “But it’s okay, you know now, right?”
After a while, seeing that he still wasn’t speaking, she gently tugged at his sleeve, her almond-shaped eyes watery as she looked at him, her voice soft:
“Pei Chen, aren’t you going to give me a reaction?”
Pei Chen’s thin lips were tightly pressed together, his eyes swirling like ink.
After a brief silence, his cold, hoarse voice rolled out from his throat:
“Sorry, I just see you as a regular classmate. I haven’t thought about anything else.”
Liang Zhiyi bit her red lips lightly and said playfully:
“It’s okay, why don’t you think about it now?”
Pei Chen was silent for a few seconds, his thin lips moved slightly:
“I’m not interested in early relationships.”
Liang Zhiyi snorted softly and stared directly at him, “Pei Chen, do you really not have any feelings for me?”
She didn’t believe that the subtle way he had treated her before was all in her imagination.
He looked at her and paused for a moment before speaking:
“No.”
“Why?”
?
It was the first time he had ever been asked by a girl why he didn’t like her.
Liang Zhiyi was persistent in her attitude, and eventually, he averted his gaze, his eyelashes drooping like raven feathers. “If I were to date, you wouldn’t be the type I like.”
“What type do you like then?”
The girl was determined to get to the bottom of it.
He responded calmly:
“I like someone reserved and quiet.”
“…”
Is he doing this on purpose?
There was nothing reserved or quiet about her.
Liang Zhiyi muttered, “Then why don’t you change your standard? I think someone as lively and cute as me is pretty good too.”
Pei Chen lifted his eyes to look at her. The girl’s features were bright and lovely, and her smiling eyes were filled entirely with him.
Pei Chen lowered his eyes and replied in a cold, hoarse voice:
“Liang Zhiyi, I’ve made myself very clear.”
She was slightly stunned.
“The things you just said—I’m taking them as a joke. If you were just trying to have some fun, please don’t use me for your amusement anymore.”
Pei Chen’s brows and eyes became even more profound and unfathomable in the dim light. When he spoke, his throat was dry:
“I’ve already said… I don’t have any feelings for you.”
After saying that, he walked straight out of the equipment room.
Liang Zhiyi was left standing there alone.
Not long after, Ji Fei’er walked in from outside and was surprised to see Liang Zhiyi still standing there. “Why haven’t you put away the racket yet? I even brought your backpack over.”
Ji Fei’er had gone to the restroom and returned to the badminton court to find that Liang Zhiyi’s backpack was still there, but she hadn’t come back.
So, she grabbed both their backpacks and came looking for her.
Ji Fei’er’s voice brought Liang Zhiyi back to reality from her drifting thoughts. The girl looked up at Ji Fei’er and mumbled, “Nothing, I just put it away…”
Ji Fei’er raised an eyebrow, “I saw Pei Chen walking out just now when I came in. Come on, be honest, what were you two up to?”
Liang Zhiyi took her backpack from her and murmured under her breath, “I wish I had done something…”
The two of them walked out of the equipment room and headed toward the school gate.
The evening glow gradually faded, leaving a hazy light on the ground.
As they passed the badminton court, Liang Zhiyi couldn’t help but glance at the spot where she had played with Pei Chen during class. Scenes of him kept flashing in her mind like movie clips, and her expression became somewhat wistful.
Noticing her distracted state, Ji Fei’er asked in confusion, “What’s up with you? Something on your mind?”
Liang Zhiyi lowered her head, lightly kicking the artificial grass with the tip of her shoe, her voice muffled, “It’s nothing.”
Ji Fei’er teasingly remarked about her friend’s apparent prioritization of romance over friendship, “So, how was it? Did you have fun playing with Pei Chen today? My dear Miss Liang, when do you plan on officially winning him over?”
Liang Zhiyi paused for a moment, then mumbled softly:
“You’re more anxious than I am.”
“Seriously though, if you’re planning to pursue Pei Chen, you’ve got a lot of competition. You should strike while the iron is hot and make your move quickly.”
The girl sighed in frustration, “I already made my move.”
“Huh?”
She lowered her head further, her face crumpling in dejection, “And… that’s it. Nothing else happened.”
Ji Fei’er was stunned, “Wait, what do you mean?”
Five minutes later, after hearing Liang Zhiyi recount what happened in the equipment room, Ji Fei’er was shocked, “So you confessed to Pei Chen, but he turned you down?!”
Liang Zhiyi hugged her backpack, resting her chin on top of it, and responded with a resigned hum, “Is that so hard to believe?”
Confessing directly to a guy wasn’t something most girls would do. “Zhizhi, you’re so brave! I really admire you!”
Liang Zhiyi looked utterly defeated, “Thanks for the compliment.”
It was nothing more than reckless courage. QaQ.
Ji Fei’er couldn’t help but laugh, “But I think Pei Chen is even braver—he actually had the nerve to reject you. It’s so frustrating! What was he thinking, not liking such a cute girl?”
Yeah, she was so cute. QwQ.
Liang Zhiyi was frustrated. After a while, she turned to Ji Fei’er and asked in a daze, “Fei’er, why do you think he doesn’t like me…”
She fiddled with her backpack strap, trying to find an answer.
This was the first time Ji Fei’er had seen the usually confident Liang Zhiyi so downcast. Feeling sorry for her, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders:
“Zhizhi, it’s not about you. I told you before, his heart is like a rock—you can’t move him at all!”
Seeing how upset Liang Zhiyi was, Ji Fei’er stood up for her, “Liang Zhiyi, can you please show a bit of your usual pride as a lady? If he doesn’t like you, then you shouldn’t like him either. What’s there to be sad about? It’s just Pei Chen—he’s not the only tree in the forest, right?”
That’s true, Pei Chen wasn’t necessarily the best option…
There had been plenty of boys who liked her before, but this was the first time she had taken the initiative, only to be rejected.
The cool evening breeze brushed against her face.
Finally, the girl turned her gaze toward the distant mountains, her eyes stinging slightly from the wind, remaining silent for a long time.
The sun set, and the sky gradually darkened.
After leaving the equipment room, Pei Chen headed to the stands on the field to grab his backpack.
There weren’t many people left on the stands; Xuan Xia had already gone.
As Pei Chen retrieved his backpack, a classmate happened to walk by and spotted him. “Hey, class monitor!”
Pei Chen responded with a quiet acknowledgment.
The boy casually asked, “Why haven’t you gone home yet?”
“Just about to leave.”
“By the way, have you seen Liang Zhiyi? She left her water bottle on the badminton court. Some classmates weren’t sure if she forgot it, so someone left it in the sports office. If you see her, could you let her know?”
Since Pei Chen and Liang Zhiyi were desk mates, the boy didn’t think much before mentioning it.
Pei Chen’s gaze paused for a moment before he quietly replied, “You should tell her yourself.”
“Alright…”
Noticing Pei Chen’s serious expression and the cold atmosphere around him, the boy sensed that Pei Chen might not be in a good mood and decided not to press further, leaving quickly.
Pei Chen picked up his backpack from the stands, and his eyes instinctively drifted across the field, landing on Liang Zhiyi as she walked out of the equipment room.
She was walking beside Ji Fei’er, her head slightly lowered, her face devoid of its usual bright and lively expression, as if something was weighing heavily on her mind.
Pei Chen watched her, his eyes deep and contemplative.
Something in his heart seemed to have been poked.
After a while, he forced himself to look away, turned, and walked toward the school gate.