Hopeless Romance (GL) - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After a class period to process everything, Jiang Xinwan and Wang Zhu had managed to calm down. In contrast, Chen Pupu was still fixated on the incredible things Jiang Xinwan had told them; she could hardly focus on the lecture. Ye Du had to nudge her several times throughout the period just to get her mind back on track.

Holding the advantage of exclusive gossip, Jiang Xinwan and Wang Zhu suddenly found their status within the small group elevated. They took charge of finding a secluded spot suitable for exchanging secrets—eventually picking a hidden corner flanked by two walls—while the task of getting the food fell to Ye Du and Chen Pupu.

Through the synchronized efforts of Jiang Xinwan and Wang Zhu, their observations from the gymnasium were shared in full detail with Ye Du and Chen Pupu. Having seen the photo earlier, Ye Du wasn’t particularly interested in the first half of the story. However, hearing the rest, she felt a momentary realization that she and Jiang Zhouchi were actually quite similar—except Jiang Zhouchi had it even harder. Despite the gravity of the story, Ye Du didn’t miss a single bite of her meal. Chen Pupu was a different story; the sheer amount of detail left her unable to digest it all at once. She felt that if she had known all this before getting her food, she might have skipped lunch entirely.

“You should eat quickly, or your noodles will get dry,” Ye Du said, watching Pupu’s serious, contemplative face. She couldn’t help but think that if Pupu applied this level of focus to her studies, she wouldn’t have to worry so much—then she caught herself, realizing the thought felt terrifyingly familiar.

“I always thought Jiang Zhouchi must come from a very wealthy family and have parents who spoiled her. Why else would she have such a temper?” To Wang Zhu, someone who was excellent in one area should be excellent in all areas. Since Jiang Zhouchi was beautiful—a form of excellence—she “should” also have a pleasant voice, a wealthy background, and doting parents. Seeing the real Jiang Zhouchi was completely outside her imagination, and she felt a wave of bittersweet emotion.

“Not necessarily. I remember the parent-teacher conference at the end of last semester,” Jiang Xinwan recalled suddenly. “Ms. Zhang had me hand out the transcripts to the parents, and I think her seat was empty.” At the time, she hadn’t thought much of it, assuming the parent was just busy with work or running late.

“Is it… okay for us to be discussing her like this behind her back?” Chen Pupu asked. Though she enjoyed campus gossip, she felt deeply uneasy when it involved someone’s private family life. “Since her situation is like this, should we tell Ms. Zhang? Maybe we could organize a class donation or something?”

“Don’t,” Ye Du and Jiang Xinwan said in unison. Ye Du, still focused on her last bite of soybean paste noodles, tilted her head toward Jiang Xinwan to let her explain.

“With Jiang Zhouchi’s personality, if she were willing to accept donations from classmates and teachers, we would have known a long time ago,” Jiang Xinwan said. “You didn’t hear the tone Kong Qi used when talking about her home. If she won’t even talk about it with someone she’s known since she was a kid, there’s no way she wants the whole school to know.” Perhaps because her parents were in business, Jiang Xinwan had grown up watching them interact with all sorts of people; over time, she had gained a bit of an understanding of complex human nature.

Ye Du swallowed her last mouthful of noodles and added, “She’s right. Jiang Zhouchi couldn’t handle that. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have hidden it for so long.”

“I feel like I won’t be able to look her in the eye anymore,” Wang Zhu lamented.

“Well, you’d better keep it together. The four of us absolutely must not let this out. If it spreads, what will Jiang Zhouchi do?” Jiang Xinwan felt confident in Ye Du—she had too much homework and didn’t spend time with anyone outside their trio anyway—but she was less certain about Pupu and Wang Zhu. Regardless of whether it would help, the warning had to be said.

…

When the final bell of the day rang, Ye Du had just completed all her learning tasks. Looking at the stack of finished exercises on the top-left corner of her desk, she felt a profound sense of exhaustion. This was a common feeling for her; once the work was done, she often didn’t know what to do with herself. Having spent so much time together, she knew how her friends spent their weekends: Jiang Xinwan would lose herself in her collection of anime and manga; Chen Pupu would practice the flute or go to parks, amusement parks, or museums with her mother; Wang Zhu would spend half a day at her grandmother’s house to keep her company after her grandfather passed away; and Liu Zhou would draw endlessly, sketching characters or going outdoors to paint on sunny days.

Sitting in her seat, Ye Du watched Chen Pupu pack her bag and saw Jiang Xinwan leaning against her desk waiting. Thinking about the spring trip Ms. Zhang had discussed, Ye Du involuntarily began to look back on the countless weekends she had already “lost.”

She realized she couldn’t see those past times clearly—or perhaps she saw them too clearly, meaning she couldn’t distinguish a weekend from a weekday. They all felt the same.

“Ye Du, why haven’t you started packing?” Chen Pupu asked, turning around to find her usually efficient friend sitting dazed in her chair.

Ye Du paused for a moment before answering, “I was just thinking about a problem. I’ll pack right now.”

“No rush, it’s fine. We have the spring trip tomorrow anyway, you can sleep in on the bus,” Chen Pupu said, her heart full of joy at the prospect of two days out. “Hey, Jiang Xinwan! Why did you leave already? We were supposed to go shopping together!”

“I’ve been wounded by this ‘perfect student’ over here. I’m going outside to recover,” Jiang Xinwan’s voice drifted back. Ye Du’s excuse had clearly struck a nerve. She couldn’t understand how Ye Du’s head could be filled with nothing but knowledge day after day, nor how she could enjoy it. Even more confusingly, she wondered how her own “unstable” grades had landed her a best-friendship with a top scholar.

“Ye Du, you’re first again. I saw Shang Ruixi; she looked pretty upset,” Wang Zhu said, picking up where Jiang Xinwan left off.

“It’s okay, as long as Ye Du looks happy,” Chen Pupu said, placing her hands on Ye Du’s shoulders. She hadn’t expected Ye Du to stand up at that exact moment, so she accidentally pushed her back down. Pupu was genuinely proud of Ye Du. Whenever Ye Du took first place, she felt a sincere happiness. Once, on the way home, Wang Zhu had asked if she was jealous of Ye Du’s grades and how much the teachers and classmates liked her. Pupu hadn’t known how to answer then because she didn’t quite understand what jealousy felt like. She had simply promised Wang Zhu she wouldn’t tell Ye Du—not that she thought it was a big deal.

Later, she asked her mother, Qin Wei, why people got jealous. Qin Wei hadn’t given a direct answer but asked if she was feeling that way. Pupu recounted the conversation with Wang Zhu. After thinking for a while, Qin Wei said: “Pupu, everyone is drawn to good things, but not everyone can have them. When someone close to us has a talent or advantage we don’t have, it’s natural to feel envy or jealousy. As long as you don’t let those feelings lead to bad decisions, it’s perfectly understandable. Besides, everyone has something unique that can’t be replaced. So, you must believe in yourself.”

For Pupu, all unsolvable problems could be told to Qin Wei, who would use words Pupu understood to help her make choices. Qin Wei felt that letting Pupu understand the world bit by bit was better than letting her grow up overnight through sudden pain. As a first-time mother, she wanted to give Pupu enough love and protection to grow up well. To Pupu, telling her mother things was the natural choice, though for many others, that was a luxury they could only imagine.

While Pupu didn’t know the taste of jealousy, she was certain she didn’t feel it toward Ye Du. She actually wanted Ye Du to do better. If Ye Du wanted to keep doing exercises and being number one, Pupu would understand even if she signed up for two more cram schools. And if one day Ye Du decided not to push herself so hard, Pupu would support that, too.

After being pushed back into her seat, Ye Du slowly turned her head to look at the owner of the hands on her shoulders. Seeing Pupu’s eyes full of pride, with no hint of a “warning” for the shoulder pat, she stood up safely this time.

…

The trio caught up with Jiang Xinwan at the fried skewer stall by the school gate.

“Boss, make them extra crispy, please. Thank you!” Right now, Jiang Xinwan’s eyes were only for the chicken skin, stinky tofu, ham sausages, and ribs in the deep fryer. The essence of BBQ was frying out all the moisture to let the aroma peak.

“Hey, Big Spender Jiang, shouldn’t we ‘share the spoils’ here?” Wang Zhu quipped. Ye Du noted that after spending so much time with Xinwan, Wang Zhu’s personality had changed quite a bit.

Jiang Xinwan, immersed in the experience, was unmoved by the flattery. As a growing teenager who needed to eat on schedule and was currently starving, she had eyes only for the food.

Seeing the two large boxes of skewers in Jiang Xinwan’s hands, Chen Pupu felt that the “cafeteria version” of Jiang Xinwan must be a seal. Perhaps at dusk, she transformed, and her “hunger soul” came out to play. “Are you eating… all that?” Pupu asked, the last two words trailing off in genuine disbelief.

Jiang Xinwan didn’t answer but handed a bag to Chen Pupu. “Here, this is for you and Ye Du. The one with more chili is hers, the one with less is yours. Wang Zhu, you and I share this one.”

“It’s good to have a big spender around,” Wang Zhu said, giving a thumb’s up to Jiang Xinwan’s thoughtfulness and generosity.

The “big spender” took the compliment well and decided to award herself an extra ham sausage.

“Jiang Xinwan is actually quite attentive; it just doesn’t match the aura she usually puts off,” Chen Pupu whispered, smelling the aroma of the fried food and swallowing hard.

“She’s fine the way she usually is, too,” Ye Du said. Whenever she noticed Jiang Xinwan being particularly thoughtful, she felt a bit out of place. She herself was like that—always thinking through a chain of reactions before speaking—but she found it exhausting and couldn’t help it. She hoped Jiang Xinwan would have more of those “usual moments” where she didn’t have to think so much.