Drying his black hair with a towel, he leaned against the wall and replied:
[She’s a little better than yesterday, but she’s still feeling down.]
Ji Fei’er replied:
[Sigh, healing takes time.]
Liang Tongzhou paused for a moment and then typed back:
[Healing? What healing?]
Ji Fei’er: “Emotional healing, you idiot.”
Liang Tongzhou had a vague suspicion that something had happened between his sister and Pei Chen. After some prodding, Ji Fei’er couldn’t hold back any longer and unleashed a tirade against Pei Chen’s “scumbag” behavior.
After hearing everything, Liang Tongzhou was equally baffled. Wasn’t it obvious that his sister and Pei Chen liked each other? Plus, his parents didn’t even oppose his sister liking Pei Chen, so how did things take such a turn?
Ji Fei’er: “While your sister is in a new environment, we should help her move on from Pei Chen as quickly as possible.”
Liang Tongzhou: “That’s impossible.”
Ji Fei’er: “Why?”
Liang Tongzhou smirked and replied: “I know my sister too well. Once she’s set her mind on something, she won’t change it. She won’t give up on liking Pei Chen.”
If she could have given up, she would have done so the first time Pei Chen rejected her. But up to this point, no one could truly understand just how much Liang Zhiyi liked him.
Ji Fei’er sighed. No matter how angry she was at Pei Chen, she knew her silly best friend would still be head over heels for him:
Ji Fei’er: “So what do we do? We can’t just sit by and do nothing while they’re like this, can we?”
Liang Tongzhou thought of someone: “How about we bring Xuan Xia into this? He’s been Pei Chen’s friend for years and probably knows him well.”
Ji Fei’er agreed, so they created a small group chat and pulled Xuan Xia in, planning to hold an emergency meeting.
Xuan Xia: “What’s going on? Another secret operation?”
Ji Fei’er: “No secret mission, I’m telling you, Zhiyi and Tongzhou have transferred schools.”
Xuan Xia: “Huh????”
Liang Tongzhou: “The two of us are going to W Province to study.”
Xuan Xia: “What the hell, what’s going on??!!”
The two of them explained the whole situation to him, including the issue between Pei Chen and Liang Zhiyi.
After hearing everything, Xuan Xia was also stunned: “Pei Chen actually rejected Liang Zhiyi for the first time?”
Ji Fei’er: “I don’t understand it either. We brought you in because we want to know what’s really going on with Pei Chen.”
The three of them continued discussing in the group chat.
The next day, the seventh day of the lunar month.
Today marked the end of the winter break for the senior students at Lincheng No. 1 High School, and classes resumed.
Yesterday, during the day, the teachers had already sent out the new class schedule in the group chat. On the first day back, there was no need for the usual beginning-of-semester registration; classes would start directly.
Before the morning reading session, students arrived at the classroom one after another, and Class 9 was especially lively.
After a while, Pei Chen walked into the classroom.
As soon as he entered, his eyes immediately went to the last desk in the fourth row, only to find it empty—Liang Zhiyi still hadn’t arrived.
He sat down at his own desk and began organizing his belongings. When he turned his head, he noticed a layer of dust had settled on the girl’s desk.
She had a bit of a cleanliness obsession, and a dirty desk would definitely make her uncomfortable.
Pei Chen hesitated for a moment, but after a few seconds, he couldn’t resist the urge. He quietly took out some tissues and cleaned her desk and chair, then tidied up her drawer, hoping it would make things easier for her when she arrived.
Over the past couple of days, Liang Zhiyi hadn’t contacted him or sent him any messages.
He knew that after she arrived this morning, she might no longer sit next to him or might even move away from him. But now, he didn’t dare to hope for anything more. As long as he could still see her, that was enough.
After finishing up, he took out his books and started reviewing.
Students continued to trickle into the classroom, but he didn’t turn his head to look at the door.
After a while, Xuan Xia walked in, came over to him, and casually patted him on the shoulder. “Long time no see. What’s up with you? I tried to get you guys to hang out during the break, and you were never available.”
Pei Chen lowered his eyes in response.
Xuan Xia then took his seat, looked over at Fan Gao, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Fatty, you know you’re so round now, you could probably roll around like a ball…”
“Get lost, you’re getting fat too…”
The two in the front row joked and laughed, and a few minutes later, the bell for the morning reading session rang.
Pei Chen looked once again toward the classroom door, but there was still no sign of her.
Worry clouded his eyes—could she have caught a cold in this cold weather and gotten sick?
Finally, the bell for the first period rang, and all the students returned to their seats.
Since it was a supplementary class session, the schedule was packed, with two periods of Chinese and two periods of physics this morning.
After the first period ended, Pei Chen noticed that Liang Zhiyi still hadn’t arrived, making him even more puzzled. However, with the class monitor duties keeping him busy, he couldn’t leave to check on her.
After delivering some materials to the office, he was walking back to the classroom when he saw Ji Fei’er casually leaving the room. He was about to approach her when a classmate called out to him, “Class monitor, how do you fill out this form?”
After explaining it to the classmate, he looked up and saw that Ji Fei’er had already gone downstairs.
He had no choice but to return to the classroom.
…
The entire morning passed.
Liang Zhiyi’s seat remained empty.
Pei Chen sat through the class, his mind unfocused. He felt an unsettling turmoil inside him, unable to calm his thoughts.
Even though he had rejected her, how could he stop himself from worrying about her?
His primary concern was whether she was sick.
When the last class of the morning ended, the students began leaving the classroom for lunch. After packing his bag, Pei Chen noticed Ji Fei’er standing up, so he walked over to her.
He approached the girl, pressing his lips together before speaking, “Fei’er, do you know if something happened to Zhiyi? Why didn’t she come to class this morning?”
Ji Fei’er looked at him, then suddenly smiled, “It took you all morning to realize she wasn’t here?”
Pei Chen felt a tightness in his throat and tried to explain, “I…”
“Aren’t you the one who rejected her, saying you two aren’t a good match? Why are you concerned about her now?”
The boy’s long eyelashes trembled slightly.
As the other students left the classroom, Xuan Xia noticed the two of them and walked over, leaving the three of them alone in the room.
Pei Chen suddenly didn’t know what to say. Ji Fei’er looked at him and said, “You claim you don’t like her, right? Well, you won’t be seeing her for the next year and a half.”
He was stunned. “What do you mean?”
“Starting this semester, she’s going to W Province for school.”
Pei Chen’s pupils widened in shock, and he froze.
“You’re saying she won’t be studying here anymore?”
“That’s right. She left Lincheng yesterday.”
Suddenly, Pei Chen’s mind went blank, as if the world had turned upside down, leaving him in complete emptiness.
“She found out a few days ago that she had to transfer to another province. She was devastated because she wouldn’t be able to see you anymore. And what did you do? On the night of the fourth, when she called you, it was because she was leaving the next day.”
Ji Fei’er pulled out a gift bag from her bag, unable to hold back her anger as she threw it at Pei Chen.
“This is the New Year’s gift she wanted to give you that night. She went to your building because she wanted to say goodbye,” Ji Fei’er’s voice choked slightly. “And you… you wouldn’t even look at her. You told her you two weren’t right for each other. Do you have any idea how much she cried?”
Pei Chen’s fingers trembled as he took the bag, staring blankly at the brown scarf inside. The light in his eyes shattered.
That night… she had come to say goodbye.
Ji Fei’er, still fuming, added, “Pei Chen, do you know that from the moment Liang Zhiyi first laid eyes on you, she liked you?”
The boy stood there, stunned.
He remembered that night outside the hotel, when she, dressed in an elegant evening gown, accidentally bumped into him while he was moving books. Even though they seemed like people from two different worlds, she had fallen for him at first sight.
“From the very beginning of the school year, she planned to pursue you. Even when I told her you were hard to get, even after you rejected her the first time, telling her she wasn’t your type, she was still foolish enough to choose to like you without hesitation.”
“Wherever you went, she followed. When you joined the school’s interschool tournament, she joined the support team. When you injured your leg, she was worried sick. And when you won the game, she was happier than anyone else… In her eyes, there was only you.”
Xuan Xia, standing nearby, sighed and couldn’t help but say to Pei Chen, “Pei Chen, I’ve never seen a girl like someone as much as she liked you. And there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while. The knee brace I gave you—it was actually from Zhiyi.”
Pei Chen was shocked. “She bought it?”
“She was really worried about your leg and afraid you might get hurt, so she got that knee brace for you. That day when you got injured and were sent to the hospital, you even thanked me, saying it was my knee brace that saved you from a worse injury. I wanted to tell you the truth right then, but Zhiyi begged me not to.”
Xuan Xia sighed again, “She was afraid you’d take it the wrong way, afraid you’d think she pitied you. She always tried to protect your pride.”
Ji Fei’er added, “When your old leg injury flared up and you asked her to keep it a secret, do you know how much pressure that put on her? But she still agreed to help you. That night, after leaving your house, I asked her why she was willing to hide it for you.”
Ji Fei’er’s smile was tinged with sadness as she continued:
“She said she had already made up her mind. Even if you were crippled for life, she had decided that you were the one.”
Back then, the girl had considered every possible outcome, yet she still firmly chose to love him.
“You hurt her just to protect your fragile pride. Did you ever consider that there were many other outstanding boys who pursued her, but she never gave them a second thought? As her best friend, I never imagined she would give up her life as a pampered young lady just to try to make you love her.”
“In her eyes, you were always the best. No one else could ever replace you. And yet—you never once gave her a definite answer.”
Ji Fei’er shook her head, her voice choking with emotion.
“Pei Chen, you don’t understand Liang Zhiyi at all.”
He had no idea just how deeply Liang Zhiyi loved him.