Hopeless Romance (GL) - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Funny enough, Ye Du quickly adapted to life in the science stream. Physical education classes, which were already being squeezed, and the few remaining sessions of politics, history, and geography, were all sacrificed to molecular formulas, mechanics problems, and plane geometry. Yet often, Ye Du would be struck by a sense of trance; she still wasn’t quite sure how she had ended up on this life trajectory. As the person living it, she felt like the one with the least right to know the details. It was as if she had been abruptly chosen to be Ye Sangshu’s child, arranged to attend school, sent to tutoring, and assigned to the science stream. It seemed that everything that had happened in these past dozen years had nothing to do with her, and yet, she was the one who had to bear the weight of it all. Most of the time, however, Ye Du could only brush these thoughts aside, because she had no choice but to keep moving forward. That, perhaps, was the irony of life.

After entering her second year of high school, Ye Du became even busier. Every day felt much like the days leading up to the stream-placement exam; her notebooks of corrected mistakes grew one after another, and she became a regular in the science teachers’ offices. Xu Jian rarely dragged her along to cut class anymore. Although Xu Jian still spent most of her time playing games while doing homework—prompting Ye Du, whenever the noise became too much, to throw crumpled paper balls at her gaming console—she had found a new way to entertain herself now that she no longer had Ye Du to wander around with. Thanks to her reputation as the top student in her grade, her silver tongue, and her fluent English, Xu Jian successfully joined the Yunchuan Middle School broadcasting station. Whenever she was free, she would head there; the environment was quiet, she could listen to music, and it served as a legitimate excuse to skip class. Xu Jian was extremely satisfied with this secret base.

“Ye Du, is there any song you want to hear today?” Every time it was Xu Jian’s turn on duty, she would go around asking. Though the station received many song requests—confessions of love or birthday wishes—Xu Jian only got a shift once a week, or sometimes once every two weeks, so she couldn’t help but sneak in some “private requests.” Usually, only Ye Du and Lin Meixin would indulge her.

“I do! I want to request that one, ‘Just come a little closer, and I’ll go with you…'” Lin Meixin started singing as he spoke.

“Can you just give me the title? I’m not a human jukebox,” Xu Jian replied.

“I forgot it, okay?” Lin Meixin kept humming the tune but couldn’t recall the name.

“Lover Under Construction (Lian Ren Wei Man),” Ye Du said, closing her notebook of mistakes and stretching.

“Hey, you’re pretty good,” Xu Jian noted the name in her book, planning to play it during lunch.

“Not really. I just heard a friend playing it after school a couple of days ago.” After saying this, Ye Du looked at Lin Meixin with a knowing smile. That “friend” was, of course, Cui Tong. Ever since Cui Tong and Ye Du had become somewhat acquainted, she would wait for Ye Du after school every few days along with Chen Pupu. What happened faster than Ye Du expected was that Lin Meixin had already successfully introduced himself to Cui Tong. According to Chen Pupu, Lin Meixin had marched straight to the door of Class 12 to find her. Unlike those shy boys who handed over love letters, Lin Meixin chose to hand over his QQ number followed by a brief self-introduction.

“My name is Lin Meixin—’Mei’ as in ‘enumeration’ (Meiju), and ‘Xin’ as in ‘new’ (Xinjiu). I’m from Class 1. My specialties are basketball and studying. I’d like to get to know you. Is that okay?”

According to Cui Tong’s version of the story, she thought Lin Meixin was either stupid or a fool at the time. He didn’t seem embarrassed at all in front of so many people, acting as if he just wanted to establish a “pure friendship between a boy and a girl.” If Lin Meixin hadn’t been so much taller than her, she would have wanted to jump up and punch him right then and there. But Cui Tong had accepted that row of scribbled numbers regardless. For no other reason than that Lin Meixin was actually quite handsome; his eyes were round and bright, and his eyelashes were longer than hers. It was hard not to be drawn to those eyes when he looked at you seriously. Even though he loved basketball, he didn’t smell like sweat; instead, he had a faint, fresh scent. Every time Cui Tong recalled that conversation, she would first smell that youthful scent carried by the wind.

“I only heard her singing it that day; I forgot to ask the name,” Lin Meixin said without any bashfulness. He didn’t think liking Cui Tong was anything to be ashamed of. Besides, while Yunchuan didn’t allow dating, it didn’t forbid unrequited crushes, so he felt perfectly at ease. Gu Nancheng, on the other hand, was frustrated. He and Lin Meixin lived in the same housing complex and had always been in the same class; they were used to commuting together. Who knew that Lin Meixin’s heart would suddenly flutter, and he’d start tailing after Class 12? What mattered most was that, according to Lin Meixin, the two were getting along quite well. It wasn’t like him—the person he liked was right in front of him, yet they were as distant as strangers. Moreover, Gu Nancheng didn’t think his personality was any worse than Lin Meixin’s, and his grades were better. How did Lin Meixin manage to get so close to Ye Du’s circle?

For instance, listening to the three of them chatting animatedly now, Gu Nancheng—though working on a practice paper—didn’t stop eavesdropping for a second.

“How did you get so close to Ye Du?” Gu Nancheng picked at the sweet and sour pork on his plate, thinking the cafeteria chef must have used too much vinegar today.

“Aren’t you always sitting next to me? You should have seen us getting to know each other,” Lin Meixin replied, enjoying his chicken drumstick so much he was stumped by the question.

“Who’s ‘us’?” Gu Nancheng made a gesture as if to hit Lin Meixin with his chopsticks but decided against it since he hadn’t finished eating. “You’ve been closer to her lately than before.”

“Maybe because I’m chasing Cui Tong? They’re friends, so it’s like… double the closeness?”

“Is that even how you use that phrase?” Gu Nancheng really wanted to defend the integrity of the Chinese language on behalf of their teacher.

“If you want to get close to her, why don’t you try chasing one of her friends too?” Lin Meixin felt his strategy was well worth imitating.

Gu Nancheng felt that talking to Lin Meixin about this was like playing a lute to a cow. Not only had Lin Meixin failed to notice that he liked Ye Du, but he even suggested he chase someone else—wasn’t that insane? He wondered how their ten-plus years of friendship had even lasted. But then he thought Lin Meixin’s words held a grain of truth: if spending time together daily wasn’t sparking anything, perhaps he needed to try a different path.

When Ye Du saw a letter on her desk, she momentarily thought she was at the wrong seat. Opening it, she found handwriting she didn’t recognize. There was no signature, and the content wasn’t very original—just some vague adolescent sentiments. Ye Du looked it over again, still found no name, and dismissed it as a prank. She stuffed it into the trash bag hanging by her desk and dived into her studies.

Meanwhile, Gu Nancheng had been watching her out of the corner of his eye since she entered the room. His mood shifted with every one of her movements. Ye Du opened the letter, read it, and then… threw it away? This was indeed something Ye Du would do, but it wasn’t what Gu Nancheng had envisioned. Although he had used his left hand to write the letter to avoid immediate rejection—resulting in rather unattractive handwriting—it was still hard to take being discarded so casually. But no matter, he had other plans. To confess to Ye Du, Gu Nancheng had spent a lot of time over the weekend “researching” confession tactics online and even “upgraded” them. He was still quite confident.

However, when he stopped Ye Du in the hallway, her polite yet slightly impatient gaze made him choke up instantly. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh, well, it’s just… I wanted to ask if you’re still going to the math competition this year?” Gu Nancheng knew that Ye Du had been on the school’s competition team in middle school and had won awards, which was why she had been fast-tracked into the high school division. Looking back, he realized his feelings for her might have started a long time ago.

“Has the notice been posted? If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll probably go.” If she could secure a university recommendation through a competition, Ye Du would certainly give it her all. After all, ensuring stable performance across six subjects was much harder than focusing on a single exam.

“Not yet. I just heard the teachers talking about it in the office, so I thought I’d ask.”

“I see. If that’s all, I’m heading back to class.” With that, Ye Du moved around him and continued walking.

“Ye Du, wait.” Gu Nancheng took a deep breath and called her back once more. This tension reminded him of the feeling of his first piano competition. The audience was packed with judges, teachers, and parents. Even though it was pitch black under the stage lights, he felt as if countless eyes were watching him.

Ye Du turned back, looking puzzled by Gu Nancheng’s unusual behavior. But he didn’t turn to face her; he simply stared down the long, crowded corridor and said, “I like you.” If one were to step back and look at the scene, the two were standing some distance apart, facing the same direction. Those few steps seemed to divide them into two separate worlds, making it feel as if Gu Nancheng’s words weren’t even directed at her.

It would be a lie to say she felt no vanity. Gu Nancheng wasn’t a disliked person, and no one is truly immune to being favored or liked. Even those who aren’t well-versed in such matters harbor a hidden sense of expectation. Thus, Ye Du felt a flicker of joy, but she also felt a sense of loss. When she recalled this scene later, she couldn’t help but think: If only it had been the other person. “Thank you, but I already have someone I like.” Although Ye Du felt this excuse sounded like a brush-off—since she didn’t seem like the type to “like” someone (a sentiment she’d heard from Xu Jian and, looking at herself objectively, found plausible)—it was the truth.

Gu Nancheng, however, felt a sense of hope. Although he liked the way she acted indifferent toward others, he had worried she simply had no interest in romance at all. Having someone she liked was better than her being repulsed by the idea. “Then… when you don’t like that person anymore, tell me, and I’ll confess again.” As soon as he said it, Gu Nancheng realized he wasn’t much more sophisticated than Lin Meixin. They truly were cut from the same cloth.

Ye Du suddenly became curious herself: for what reason, and at what moment, would she stop liking Chen Pupu? But how could she not like Chen Pupu? If that day ever came, it would probably be because she had become a different person. “Okay, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“Did Gu Nancheng from your class confess to you?” When Chen Pupu rushed to her classroom to question her, Ye Du truly couldn’t figure out how Chen Pupu had found out within just two periods.

“Uh, yes.” But seeing Chen Pupu looking slightly annoyed actually made Ye Du a bit happy; it looked quite a bit like “jealousy” as seen on TV.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I heard it from Cui Tong!” When Chen Pupu heard it from Cui Tong, she almost jumped out of her chair and had been sulking for a whole class period.

“So you’re mad that I didn’t tell you?” As expected, there was a slight gap between reality and Ye Du’s imagination.

“Yeah, this is your business!” When it came to things involving Ye Du, Chen Pupu couldn’t understand why she was hearing it from someone else. Shouldn’t she be the first to know?

“I didn’t tell anyone. It must have been Lin Meixin.” Ye Du suddenly felt a tinge of sadness at being used as a prop in someone else’s romance.

“How are boys so gossipy? Anyway, what does that Gu Nancheng look like? Are his grades good? Do you like him? But if you date, will it affect your grades?” Chen Pupu had experienced the bitterness of “love” herself, and she didn’t want Ye Du to get hurt. If Ye Du were to date one day, the guy had to be someone exceptionally good and treat Ye Du exceptionally well—even better than she treated Ye Du herself.

“You’re not much better than Lin Meixin,” Ye Du laughed, overwhelmed by the barrage of questions.

“Huh? But I wasn’t asking about Lin Meixin. Can you stop giving irrelevant answers?”

“I turned him down. It seems Cui Tong’s gossip isn’t quite complete.” Ye Du leaned against the railing, watching the chirping Chen Pupu beside her. It felt like a flashback to middle school.

“I see.” Chen Pupu felt a strange sense of relief. She selfishly thought that if Ye Du really started dating, she wouldn’t be able to visit her as often, because Ye Du would have to spend so much time with the person she liked. Hearing that Ye Du had refused, Chen Pupu felt a secret, unmentionable happiness.

“Do you want to go out for National Day? Some people in our class are organizing a camping trip nearby. Cui Tong said Lin Meixin is going too.” Chen Pupu knew Ye Du’s workload was heavy, but she felt Ye Du couldn’t just study and do nothing else.

“You know it’s hard to convince my mom.” Within the boundaries of her life with Ye Sangshu, Ye Du could control the development of things. But once it went outside that range, things easily spiraled out of control.

“Okay then.” Even though she was prepared to be rejected, Chen Pupu was still quite disappointed. That soft sigh reached Ye Du’s ears, making her feel uneasy. On an impulse—as if her nerves had lost control—her heart dictated her hand to reach out and touch Chen Pupu’s head. She gently tousled the short, shiny black hair and said comfortingly, “It’s okay, there will be other chances in the future.” Every time Ye Du turned Chen Pupu down, she would secretly think that once she got into university and could earn money through a part-time job, she would definitely make up for all these missed dates one by one.

“But there’s still such a long time until we grow up,” Chen Pupu murmured. She always felt that growing up and saying goodbye were things far, far away.

Ye Du was about to say something when the class bell rang. Not wanting Chen Pupu to stay gloomy, she teased with a smile, “But there’s almost no time until class starts. Run, little Pupu!”