I Don't Want To Be Hated By Everyone. - Chapter 11

Xu Wangzhi remained silent for two seconds before replying in a flat, unbothered tone, “Okay.”

The moment he agreed, a smile instantly danced in Cheng Shuoning’s eyes, and the corners of his lips curled upward irrepressibly.

Realizing he was acting a bit too happy, Cheng Shuoning lowered his head and began eating his noodles with deliberate slowness, entirely missing the fact that Xu Wangzhi’s eyes had been fixed on him the entire time.

On their way back to school, Cheng Shuoning noticed a street stall selling traditional sugar paintings. He walked over and softly gestured to the vendor to describe the shapes he wanted.

The vendor confirmed with him, “One with upright ears, and one with floppy ears?”

Cheng Shuoning nodded.

After taking the money, the vendor began drawing with the liquid sugar on the slab.

Xu Wangzhi stood beside him, his gaze shifting from the sugar painting on the slab to Cheng Shuoning’s face.

The youth’s skin was delicate, fair, and utterly poreless. Under the bright sunlight, he seemed to practically glow, making it impossible for anyone to look away.

Being this close made the heart inside Xu Wangzhi’s chest beat frantically, driving a fierce urge to draw even closer.

Xu Wangzhi’s eyes darkened slightly. The moment the youth turned his head to look at him, he averted his gaze, completely concealing the turbulent emotions in the depths of his eyes.

“Here.” Cheng Shuoning took the first completed sugar painting and handed it to Xu Wangzhi with a smile. “A rabbit with upright ears.”

The rabbit perched on the bamboo stick had its two ears standing straight up, looking incredibly lifelike.

Suppressing the restlessness in his heart, Xu Wangzhi reached out to take it. “Thank you.”

The second rabbit was also finished. It was a floppy-eared rabbit, looking immensely adorable.

Smiling, Cheng Shuoning placed his rabbit right next to Xu Wangzhi’s and snapped a photo with his phone.

“Do you like rabbits?” Xu Wangzhi asked, his eyes lowered as he stared at the photo on Cheng Shuoning’s phone.

The two little sugar rabbits placed side by side looked just like a couple.

“Yeah,” Cheng Shuoning said, walking ahead. “Rabbits are very cute.”

He found the rabbit in his hand too adorable to eat, so he held onto it the entire way.

Before they could even reach the school gates, they spotted Han Tian standing there. He seemed to be searching for someone, constantly scanning his surroundings until his eyes locked onto Cheng Shuoning. He quickly strode over.

“Have you eaten lunch yet, Ningning? What did you have? Was it that noodle shop? I haven’t eaten there in a long time. Next time, will Ningning accompany me to eat there, okay?”

Han Tian stopped in front of Cheng Shuoning and spoke with a tender expression, acting as if nothing had ever happened. Then, his eyes fell upon the sugar painting in Cheng Shuoning’s hand. “This rabbit is so cute. It looks a lot like Ningning.”

The lie was told without a shred of hesitation. Cheng Shuoning, who had personally witnessed Han Tian eating at that very noodle shop with Cheng Meng earlier, had absolutely no desire to talk to him. He tried to bypass him, but after just two steps, he was grabbed.

Han Tian yanked him back. Because he used too much force, the sugar painting in Cheng Shuoning’s hand was flung into the air and crashed onto the ground not far away. It was quickly covered in dust, and a passing student, failing to notice it, stepped right on it.

The once incredibly cute, floppy-eared rabbit instantly shattered into the dirt, its original shape entirely unrecognizable.

Cheng Shuoning flung off Han Tian’s hand. Pressing his lips tightly together, he frowned deeply and remained silent for a long time.

He hadn’t even had the chance to taste what that rabbit tasted like before it was ruined.

Han Tian hadn’t expected this to happen. Realizing the damage was irreversible, he glanced at Cheng Shuoning’s visibly angry expression. He bent down slightly to lock eyes with Cheng Shuoning and said softly, “I’m sorry, Ningning. I didn’t mean to. I’ll go buy you another one right now. I’ll buy you a lot of them, okay? I’ll buy you as many as you want, just please don’t be angry.”

The cautious, tiptoeing tone born out of a fear of angering him evoked a wave of aversion in Cheng Shuoning. He knit his brows and said coldly, “No need. Stay away from me.”

“I’m really sorry. It’s just that you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder for so long, Ningning, and I was just too anxious.” Catching the reflection of the youth’s frost-covered expression in his eyes, Han Tian pretended not to hear the command to stay away. “Ningning, can you please stop treating me like this?”

He was taller than Cheng Shuoning, and his action of bending down to look him in the eyes appeared deeply doting and intimate, prompting onlookers to speculate about their relationship.

Several people nearby noticed the commotion and peered over, though they quickly averted their eyes after recognizing who they were.

Both Han Tian and Cheng Shuoning were celebrities at school or rather, all three of the people revolving around Cheng Shuoning were.

Cheng Shuoning didn’t want to waste a single word on Han Tian. He turned around in silence and walked toward the school.

Han Tian caught up and grabbed him once again. “Cheng Shuoning, I don’t know anything, yet I’m being unilaterally ignored by you like this. Do you think this is fair to me? At least let me know why you’re doing this. If I did something wrong, can’t I just change?”

Cheng Shuoning stopped in his tracks. Without turning his head, he said, “You’re lying.”

“I have never lied to you, Ningning,” Han Tian countered. “You think I’m lying? What lie did I tell?”

It was always the same unchanged rhetoric.

Cheng Shuoning felt utterly exhausted and grew increasingly reluctant to entangle himself further. “You know perfectly well what lies you told. Han Tian, don’t try to coax me like I’m a fool. I am not as stupid as you think.”

He pried Han Tian’s fingers off his arm one by one and walked into the school building. “Don’t push us to the point where we can’t even be ordinary friends.”

Han Tian wanted to chase after him, but after taking only two steps, someone blocked his path.

The youth cast a cold, detached glance at him. The sheer malice and chilling hostility in those eyes made Han Tian’s spine stiffen instantly. Yet when he looked again, the youth had already reverted to an expressionless mask, making it seem as though that fleeting moment had been nothing but an illusion.

Han Tian noticed the rabbit sugar painting still held in the youth’s hand. Thinking of the one Cheng Shuoning had just lost, he ground his teeth slightly, a trace of jealousy flaring up within him. He even felt a twisted sense of satisfaction that the other rabbit had been smashed.

He hadn’t even had the chance to eat a sugar painting with Cheng Shuoning yet. By what right did someone else get to do it first?

Damn it.

As another rabbit was presented in front of him, Cheng Shuoning shook his head. “This is yours.”

Xu Wangzhi replied, “Giving it to you.”

“No need,” Cheng Shuoning said with a small smile. “I already gave it to you, so it’s yours.”

He began walking up the stairs. Because there were too many people coming down and the stairwell was incredibly crowded, he tried to step aside to avoid the rush. However, he lost his footing, twisted his ankle, and fell into a sitting position on the floor.

Xu Wangzhi immediately caught him by the arm. Before he could help him up, Li Shengfei’s voice rang out from nearby: “What happened? Ningning?”

Li Shengfei rushed over at top speed, shouting at the people on the stairs to clear out. The moment he saw Xu Wangzhi, his expression shifted. He aggressively shoved Xu Wangzhi aside and reached out to assist Cheng Shuoning himself.

A sharp, piercing pain throbbed in his ankle. Cheng Shuoning subconsciously pulled away from Li Shengfei’s hands. “I just twisted it a bit. It’s fine, I can get up on my own.”

Gripping the stair railing, his face slightly pale, he slowly forced himself up. He tried to take a step forward, but the pain flared again, and he collapsed back onto the floor.

Xu Wangzhi had almost managed to catch him, but because Li Shengfei pushed him out of the way a second time, his hand only brushed past Cheng Shuoning’s clothes, missing his grip entirely.

He pulled his hand back, his gaze turning dark and inscrutable as he stared at Li Shengfei.

Li Shengfei threw a contemptuous glare back at him. He then squatted down, looking at Cheng Shuoning with deep anxiety. “Ningning, you need to go to the infirmary. I’ll carry you there.”

Every slight movement of his ankle brought an agonizing, bone-deep ache. Cheng Shuoning had initially thought it wasn’t serious, but when he rolled up his pant leg, he discovered it was already swelling and turning a bruised red.

He looked up at the worried Li Shengfei and shook his head in refusal. “Move back a bit. I’ll get up myself. I can still walk.”

Han Tian’s constant complaints about him being a burden echoed endlessly in his mind. Cheng Shuoning simply did not dare to trouble Li Shengfei, terrified that Li Shengfei would also start viewing him as a high-maintenance nuisance.

Li Shengfei froze, finding his behavior incredibly bizarre. Seeing how stubborn he was being, he had no choice but to stand up and step aside.

Because Li Shengfei was blocking the path, the students heading downstairs were forced to squeeze past the side, allowing only one person through at a time.

A few people grew annoyed and muttered complaints under their breath. Li Shengfei overheard them and glared fiercely, causing them to shut up instantly and hurry away.

Cheng Shuoning caught those muffled complaints. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand. He gripped the railing so tightly as he navigated the stairs that an involuntary gasp of pain escaped his lips.

He paused for a second to collect himself before continuing his slow descent toward the first-floor infirmary.

Xu Wangzhi followed silently behind him, and the two of them quickly vanished from sight.

Once they were gone, Cheng Meng finally emerged from the crowd. He let out a cold sneer. “What a drama queen.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Li Shengfei was about to follow them, but he stopped upon hearing this. “A drama queen?”

“Isn’t that pitiful act of his just a blatant cry for you to carry him on your back?” Cheng Meng said coldly. “If he really knew how to endure it, he wouldn’t have made a sound. This is a joke, deliberately putting on such a pathetic, helpless display. He’s always been like this, hasn’t he? I honestly don’t know how you guys tolerate him. Just imagining it makes me exhausted.”

Li Shengfei had been turning over in his mind why Cheng Shuoning had avoided him just now and refused his help. Hearing Cheng Meng’s words, he did think Cheng Shuoning was being a bit delicate for finding a twisted ankle too painful to move, but it wasn’t quite as extreme as Cheng Meng made it sound.

He narrowed his eyes and smiled. “I’m going to go check on him. You head back to the classroom.”

“Do you absolutely have to rush over there just to put on a show of concern?” Cheng Meng remarked pointedly. “He’s never lacked people catering to him. What’s the point of you tagging along?”

These words left Li Shengfei feeling incredibly disgruntled, a strange, indescribable prickle of irritation. He replied casually, “No matter what, I still have to go look after him. We’ve been friends for so many years; I don’t want to just sever ties over nothing.”

“You don’t want to break it off because you think he’s easy to coax and fun to play with, right?” Cheng Meng exposed his underlying thoughts in a single breath. “Li Shengfei, if he ever discovers how close you and I actually are, do you think he’ll find you disgusting? After all, he hates me so much and can’t stand the sight of me, yet you’re putting on such an intimate front with me behind his back. What will you do then?”

This blatant probing made Li Shengfei instantly snap his gaze toward Cheng Meng. He offered a gentle smile, though his voice carried an underlying warning: “Don’t do anything unnecessary, Cheng Meng. I like you a lot, and I like Ningning too, so I don’t want to disrupt this balance right now.”

Cheng Meng’s expression soured. He let out a mocking chuckle, ignored Li Shengfei entirely, and turned around to head upstairs.

Only then did Li Shengfei hurry off to the infirmary.

The school doctor handed an ice pack to Xu Wangzhi. “Hold this and keep it iced until the swelling goes down.”

“I can do it myself.” Cheng Shuoning reached out. Fearing he was inconveniencing Xu Wangzhi, he smiled and said, “Class is about to start soon. You should head back to the classroom.”

Xu Wangzhi silently walked over and sat down beside him. He handed the sugar painting back to him, then lowered his gaze to focus entirely on Cheng Shuoning’s ankle.

Because Cheng Shuoning’s skin was exceptionally fair, the blue veins around his ankle were highly visible, making the red, swollen area look particularly severe.

Xu Wangzhi brought the ice pack close to the swollen ankle. When it was just an inch away, he lifted his eyes to warn Cheng Shuoning, “It’s going to be very cold.”

Cheng Shuoning nodded. Suddenly locking eyes with Xu Wangzhi, he dazed for a moment and blurted out almost automatically, “It’s fine, but I should really do it myself”

The moment the ice pack made contact, the freezing sensation choked the rest of his sentence right back down his throat. He bit his lip hard, his foot instinctively twitching to pull away from the cold.

But in the next instant, Xu Wangzhi gripped his calf firmly through his trousers, preventing him from retreating any further.

Xu Wangzhi said softly, “You bought me a sugar painting.”

So, helping you is only right.

Cheng Shuoning froze. Understanding Xu Wangzhi’s logic, he stopped resisting.

As the icy numbness gradually dulled the throbbing pain, he stared at Xu Wangzhi’s hand, losing himself in thought. “Your hands are really beautiful.”

The school doctor had stepped out, leaving the infirmary completely quiet save for the low hum of the air conditioner.

Xu Wangzhi looked up, his gaze meeting Cheng Shuoning’s dark eyes. His facial expression remained thoroughly indifferent. “Mm.”

{You look even better.}

Cheng Shuoning gasped out, “Huh?”

He snapped out of his trance instantly. That sentence, “You look even better,” had been Xu Wangzhi’s inner voice. The tips of Cheng Shuoning’s ears began to burn fiercely. He no longer dared to look at the older boy’s hands and mumbled a vague response.

“Ningning, what did the doctor say?” The infirmary door was abruptly pushed open, and Li Shengfei rushed in anxiously. The moment he saw Xu Wangzhi applying the ice pack for Cheng Shuoning, a flash of displeasure crossed his face. “Ningning, why didn’t you wait for me to come help you ice it? Why did you let an outsider do it?”

He walked over with a forced smile, reaching out to take the ice pack from Xu Wangzhi’s hand, but Xu Wangzhi smoothly evaded him.

“You” Li Shengfei frowned. Angered to the point of laughter, he commanded righteously, “Your help isn’t needed here anymore. Give me the ice pack. You can leave now.”

He lunged to grab it, but Xu Wangzhi dodged him yet again. An inexplicable wave of irritation washed over Li Shengfei, and his voice involuntarily spiked in volume as he glared at Xu Wangzhi: “What is wrong with you? Can you not understand plain English? It’s enough to have me here accompanying Ningning. Go back to wherever it is you came from. Stop getting in the way here, alright?”