“Pei Chen, you don’t understand Liang Zhiyi at all.”
After saying this, Ji Fei’er left the classroom immediately.
Xuan Xia walked over to Pei Chen, patted him on the shoulder, and let out a long sigh, filled with unspoken words, before leaving as well.
In the classroom, Pei Chen stood still.
The boy lowered his long lashes, his fingers trembling slightly as he held the brown scarf. He looked at the scarf, and in his dark eyes, guilt surged, overwhelming him completely in an instant.
Liang Zhiyi had handed him the scarf, her radiant and cute smile seemed to appear before his eyes.
He looked up at the last desk in the fourth group, where sunlight streamed in through the window, and dust floated slowly in the air.
The desk was empty.
“Pei Chen, watch your words. If you upset me, I won’t sit next to you next semester.”
“That would be fine.”
“Pei Chen, you’re so mean. I won’t be friends with you anymore…”
The girl, as if still lying on the desk, looked at him, her soft cheeks resting on her arms, her eyes curved into crescent moons as she softly pouted at him.
Now, she really wasn’t sitting next to him anymore.
Pei Chen’s eyelashes trembled. At that moment, a sharp pain pierced his heart, completely overwhelming him.
By evening, as the sun set, the city of Lin was bathed in a dim, hazy light.
After school, on the basketball court, a figure seemed tireless, dribbling and dunking repeatedly.
Sweat rolled down his forehead, dropping onto the ground one by one.
As the sky gradually darkened, Xuan Xia walked onto the court and saw Pei Chen playing. His eyes were dull, and his movements were fierce and aggressive.
Sensing his suppressed sadness, Xuan Xia couldn’t help but advise, “Pei Chen, stop playing. If you keep this up, your knees won’t take it.”
Pei Chen paused slightly, his gaze lowered, not looking at him, and said in a hoarse voice, “You should go. I want to be alone.”
Xuan Xia sighed helplessly and had no choice but to leave.
Time ticked by.
Night had completely fallen.
Finally, Pei Chen made a quick move for a layup, jumping high and forcefully slamming the ball into the basket.
He stopped, walked to the side of the court, and sat down, bending his knees, feeling waves of pain spreading from his knees.
The surroundings were exceptionally quiet.
He was panting softly, his vision blurred.
In a daze, he seemed to see Liang Zhiyi slowly walk towards him, crouching down halfway, gently touching the scar on his knee, and speaking to him tenderly:
“Pei Chen, does it hurt?”
She looked at him, chiding gently, “Pei Chen, have you forgotten what you promised me again? You can’t engage in such intense exercise. What if you hurt your knee again? You’re doing this on purpose to make me worry, aren’t you…”
His vision gradually cleared, and the figure of the girl dissolved into a mere illusion.
He looked up at the starless, moonless night sky, and memories of her surfaced in his mind, one after another.
“Classmate, don’t get me wrong, I’m just here to observe the top student’s study results.”
“Pei Chen, don’t you think we’re quite fated?”
“Pei Chen, haven’t you realized that I like you?”
“Pei Chen, just because you rejected me that day doesn’t mean I’ll back down.”
“Pei Chen, I won’t be your number one anymore.”
“Pei Chen, you were born for the basketball court. You should shine as brightly as you did today, and keep shining forever.”
“Pei Chen, you still have me, and I will always be with you.”
“Pei Chen, you’re lying. How do you know unless you try…”
These scenes played out in his mind like frames of a movie, so vivid, as if they had just happened yesterday.
At first, when she approached him, he thought she was just a spoiled, wealthy young lady trying to amuse herself by teasing him.
Later, he realized that she had unexpectedly entered his world and, without him noticing, illuminated the darkest parts of his life.
He had never met such a foolish girl.
Even though he rejected her, she continued to like him, as if she were placing a bet, willing to lose everything without regret.
She was the one who taught him that even someone as lowly and insignificant as he was could love with such determination.
He hadn’t known all the things she had done for him behind the scenes, but when she walked towards him with unwavering determination, he hesitated, and ultimately chose to push her away.
That night, she gave him all her love.
She left all the regret and sorrow for herself.
How heartbroken she must have been.
He took out his phone, eyes lowered as he stared at the screen. Guilt overwhelmed him, and after a long pause, he dialed Liang Zhiyi’s number, intending to apologize.
However, on the other end of the line, a cold, mechanical voice responded, “Sorry, the number you are trying to reach is currently switched off…”
After a long while, the light in his eyes dimmed as his hand slowly lowered with the phone still in it.
His eyes darkened with sorrow, and he slumped down, resting his arms on his knees, closing his eyes that were burning with exhaustion.
He knew that he would never meet another girl better than her.
That night, Ji Fei’er and Xuan Xia told Liang Tongzhou in their group chat about how they had scolded Pei Chen today.
Last night, after Xuan Xia joined the group and learned about what Pei Chen had done to Liang Zhiyi, although he understood Pei Chen, he still felt it was unfair to Liang Zhiyi.
Ji Fei’er insisted on scolding Pei Chen to make him realize all the things Liang Zhiyi had done for him in secret and that he couldn’t allow the girl to suffer alone.
While Xuan Xia was chatting with Liang Tongzhou in the group, Ji Fei’er called Liang Zhiyi.
Liang Zhiyi was boarding at school and had just returned to her dormitory after her evening self-study session when she picked up the call. After they started talking, Ji Fei’er told her about scolding Pei Chen earlier, “Zhizhi, I just couldn’t stand by and watch him treat you like that.”
Upon hearing this, Liang Zhiyi’s nose tingled with emotion, and she responded softly, “Actually, what he said to me that night was also due to circumstances. He was very upset…”
She had originally intended to keep everything hidden from everyone, but after much hesitation, she decided to tell Ji Fei’er about overhearing the argument between Pei Chen and his mother outside his house that night.
Ji Fei’er was shocked to learn about the situation with Pei Chen and his mother. She had always thought that Pei Chen’s life was already difficult enough, given his family’s financial struggles and the responsibility of caring for his disabled father. She hadn’t expected there was even more to it.
After talking with Liang Zhiyi, Ji Fei’er went back to the group chat to tell the two boys what she had just learned. After hearing it, they were left with mixed emotions.
Xuan Xia sighed, “I’ve known Pei Chen for more than ten years, and you have no idea how much he’s been mocked because of his family.”
Back in the day, the school often held parent-child activities where the students would bring their parents along to participate.
But because Pei Yongxia was disabled and Gong Qinxin had remarried and left home, every time there was a parent-child activity, Pei Chen would always stand alone in the corner, watching the other children happily playing games with their parents.
He wished his parents could be there too.
But he knew that would never happen.
Classmates often made fun of him, saying he was a kid who wasn’t loved by his parents and mocking him for being poor.
Xuan Xia vividly remembered a spring outing when the whole class took a bus trip. On the bus, one of the kids lost their wallet and couldn’t find it no matter how hard they searched.
The homeroom teacher asked if any of the students had taken it, but no one admitted to it. Then, one boy pointed to Pei Chen, who was sitting behind the student who had lost the wallet, and mischievously said:
“It was probably Pei Chen who took it. He’s poor, so maybe he stole someone’s wallet.”
“Yeah, it’s possible he took it…”
Everyone turned to look at Pei Chen. The boy shook his head in shock, trying to explain, “I didn’t take it.”
However, the homeroom teacher looked at him with suspicion and said, “Pei Chen, open your backpack and let me check. If you took it, you need to admit your mistake.”
Pei Chen’s eyes reddened, and he lowered his head, saying, “Teacher, I didn’t take anyone’s wallet…”
Despite his protests, he opened his backpack. The teacher searched through it but didn’t find the wallet. After a while, the student who had lost the wallet found it in another pocket. The situation was finally resolved, and everyone went back to happily chatting and laughing, but not a single person apologized to Pei Chen.
Xuan Xia thought that Pei Chen couldn’t be blamed for lacking the courage to face the difference in social status between him and Liang Zhiyi. From a young age, Pei Chen had endured countless looks of disdain and mockery due to his family’s poverty. The pain of these experiences was something only Pei Chen himself could truly understand.
After hearing this, Ji Fei’er also felt guilty for scolding Pei Chen so harshly that morning: [Sigh, what should I do now?]
Xuan Xia replied: [Let’s give them both some time to cool off. Hopefully, what we said today will wake Pei Chen up. But if he ultimately decides to give up, there’s nothing more we can do.]
Liang Tongzhou agreed, noting that no one else could make decisions for Pei Chen. Only if he could sort out his own thoughts would there be any hope for the two of them.
The next day, during their supplementary classes, there was a math class in the morning.
During class, the teacher formally announced, “Starting this semester, Liang Zhiyi will no longer be in our class. She has transferred to another school out of town.”
Many students were shocked. “What…?”
After spending a semester together, many of them had grown fond of her straightforward and cheerful personality, which had none of the airs of a wealthy young lady. For a moment, there was a sense of loss among the students.
Several students turned curiously to look at Pei Chen, who was sitting at the last desk in the fourth group. The boy had his eyes downcast, staring at his textbook. His expression was inscrutable, and though he sat in the sunlight, it seemed as if he were shrouded in darkness.
The teacher began the lesson, passing down blank practice sheets for everyone to work on in class.
Fan Gao handed the sheet down, and Pei Chen took one, instinctively reaching out to place one on the desk beside him.
He glanced over, noticing the empty desk.
His hand suddenly froze mid-motion.
For a moment, he had thought Liang Zhiyi was still sitting next to him.
Pei Chen retracted his hand, his eyes darkening.
After a while, as the students finished the practice sheets, the teacher began to review the answers. When they reached the last, most difficult problem, the teacher looked at Pei Chen and said, “Pei Chen, can you explain your thought process for solving this?”
The boy remained with his eyes downcast.
“Pei Chen?”
Everyone turned to look at him.
Xuan Xia called his name again, and Pei Chen finally snapped out of his daze, stood up, and looked at the practice sheet. After a few seconds, he began to explain his answer.
When he finished, the teacher nodded, “That’s correct. You may sit down.”
After class, a few students walked out of the water room to fill their bottles and began to discuss, “Have you noticed that the class monitor seems distracted these past two days? Today was the first time I’ve seen him zone out during class.”
“Is that even a question? It’s obviously because Liang Zhiyi left.”
“Oh my gosh, could it be that the class monitor actually fell for Liang Zhiyi?”
“Who knows…”
Nearby, Sang Xunling and Tong Sisi overheard the conversation. Tong Sisi glanced at Sang Xunling and quickly tried to comfort her, “Lingling, I’m sure it’s not true. There’s no way the class monitor likes Liang Zhiyi.”
Sang Xunling just gave a bitter smile at those words.
“Why wouldn’t it be possible…?”
She thought back to how Pei Chen looked today, the sadness and loneliness on his face were so evident. Even if she wanted to deceive herself, she couldn’t.
Everyone could see that Pei Chen was not in a good state.
In the past few days, apart from handling basic class monitor duties, Pei Chen barely spoke to anyone, quietly focusing on his work and attending classes.
That evening, when he got home, he once again tried to reach out to Liang Zhiyi, but when he called her, her phone was still off.
He lowered his head, looking at the WeChat messages he had sent to Liang Zhiyi.
Three days had passed, and there was no response from her.
Could it be that she really no longer wanted anything to do with him?
Pei Chen pressed his lips together, his eyes downcast in dejection.
After a long time, he took out his phone and called Liang Tongzhou.
When the call connected, after exchanging a few words, Pei Chen hesitated for a long moment before asking in a low voice, “I was wondering… how is Zhiyi doing lately? I’ve been trying to call her, but her phone is always off.”
Liang Tongzhou replied, “She changed her number, and her WeChat as well. Her old number will stay off until after the college entrance exams, and she won’t be using her old WeChat account for a while either.”
Pei Chen was momentarily stunned.
“Then… what’s her new number?”
“My sister only gave her new number to a few classmates she wants to keep in touch with. She doesn’t want to be disturbed by anyone else for the time being.”
Pei Chen’s eyelashes lowered as he softly acknowledged, a wave of bitterness washing over him.
After hanging up, he stared at the empty chat window with Liang Zhiyi, his eyes growing warm with tears.
The next day was the sixteenth day of the lunar new year, marking the official start of the school term.
In Class Nine, everyone had already grown accustomed to the routine since they had started their classes seven days earlier.