Chapter 6: Xu Qingzhou Likes You

Under Guo Zi’s directions, Xu Qingzhou found his spot—in the last row, where each formation had a lead dancer; their class’s was Zhang Yuxin.

“Second set of national high school broadcast calisthenics, ‘The Era Calls.’”

The broadcast voice etched into his DNA.

“One-two-three-four, two-two-three-four.”

Unable to recall the moves, Xu Qingzhou followed half a beat late, but everyone else was much the same—except the lead dancer, all of them listless, weak, and half-asleep; those who performed too precisely usually got mocked.

After calisthenics, they lined up for a run; once time was up, the frontmost class led the way toward the classroom building, and once they left the playground, they were dismissed.

Some students took this chance to buy snacks from the canteen.

After dismissal, Guo Zi squeezed over, staring at Xu Qingzhou again and again.

Without hesitation, Xu Qingzhou joined the girls’ line.

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The canteen was packed; boys and girls naturally split into left and right sections, with only the occasional rule-breaker or couple crossing over.

“Mm.” Xu Qingzhou nodded. It was money, but only a few yuan—take it or not?

When he returned, he realized Song Yao and Ding Jiahui were sitting directly across from him.

Ding~ “Student, your balance is insufficient.” The canteen aunt’s tone was impatient.

“Small world.” Xu Qingzhou greeted them.

“Zhouzi, you eat dinner alone—I’m going home. My grandpa’s here today.” Guo Zi informed Xu Qingzhou. With only one hour of break in the afternoon, Xu Qingzhou and Guo Zi usually ate at school like boarders.

Class dismissed at 12, go home for lunch, read for a bit, nap twenty minutes, resume class precisely at 2 p.m.

“You’re really idle.” Xu Qingzhou truly thought he was, patting his shoulder. “I’ve locked my heart away, Fatty. You’re obsessed with this love crap—you’ll suffer for it someday.”

She went on complaining, “This guy’s ridiculous—high school, and he wastes all this time chasing girls? He should focus on improving himself, get into a good university.”

Song Yao paused, surprised Xu Qingzhou had approached her, but still handed him her meal card.

Seeing Xu Qingzhou sit calmly across from them, the two girls froze.

Found a seat, then went back for a bowl of soup.

Only Xu Qingzhou and Song Yao remained at the table.

Two meat dishes, one vegetable—six yuan fifty.

“What are you talking about? I just lent you my card.” Song Yao scolded. They’d had almost no interaction throughout high school.

Xu Qingzhou shoveled a few bites; the hunger faded, then he looked at Song Yao. “I borrowed your card—should I swipe mine tomorrow, or pay you cash now?”

Ding~ Swipe card, pick up tray.

After a few steps, the guy sidled up again, whispering, “Actually, your ‘play-hard-to-get’ tactic’s pretty good. I counted—Zhang Yuxin’s looked at you at least eight times since morning.”

About two minutes later, it was Xu Qingzhou’s turn.

“Fuck, scared me for nothing.” Now Guo Zi knew Xu Qingzhou was fine.

“I’m not into guys—just spit it out.” Xu Qingzhou felt creeped out by his stare.

!.

Xu Qingzhou returned the card to Song Yao, holding his tray. “You can swipe mine tomorrow.” Same meal, but on the boys’ side, every few rows had a broken seat, and two slackers sat on chairs.

“Definitely!” Ding Jiahui was certain, already constructing a grand drama of love and hatred in her mind. “Xu Qingzhou liked Zhang Yuxin, got rejected, grew resentful, and decided to get revenge by chasing someone prettier!”

Ding Jiahui’s gaze returned from Xu Qingzhou’s back, her expression smug. “Yaoyao, Xu Qingzhou likes you.”

Time slipped away; afternoon ended, the bell rang, and biology teacher Yu Guiling waved, dismissing class.

Guo Zi was worried—senior year was stressful; some students had even seen psychologists. “Zhouzi, you’re sure you’re okay?”

Song Yao’s meal card had a pink cover. For all her cold demeanor, she was surprisingly girly.

Xu Qingzhou carried his tray and found a seat in the “girls’ section.”

Ding Jiahui wondered if Xu Qingzhou had planned it, but then remembered he’d arrived first—her conspiracy theory fell apart logically.

“Pfft~ You can’t have it yourself, so you curse me?”

“Thanks.” Xu Qingzhou thanked her, didn’t hesitate, and walked to the window.

Since graduating, even sitting in a classroom, he’d completely lost the old feeling of studying—but perhaps because everyone around was young, he adapted easily to the high school learning atmosphere.

“No.” Song Yao shook her head.

Song Yao wiped her and Ding Jiahui’s chopsticks with paper; hearing Xu Qingzhou’s words, she lowered her eyes. “I’ll swipe yours tomorrow.”

Xu Qingzhou followed the crowd downstairs, parted from Guo Zi at the stairwell, and headed straight back to the canteen.

The boys’ line was long too, but the food was probably bad, and five people queued together—who knew if they were even from the same dorm?

Guo Zi was deeply romantic.

Xu Qingzhou felt a headache—the school had only one top-up window, and it would be packed right now.

“Alright.” Xu Qingzhou nodded with a smile. In high school, loners were rare—it meant having no friends—so everyone always went in pairs, to avoid standing out.

Frowning, she stood up. “Yaoyao, I’m going for soup.”

Left side: boys noisy, packed, the line stretching into the aisle. Right side: girls, chattering just as much, but far fewer in number.

“I don’t want to freeload—I’ll pay you back later.” Xu Qingzhou didn’t dawdle; the canteen was cramped, others were lining up—he didn’t want to block anyone.

If he said that, Guo Zi would be even more terrified, convinced he’d lost his mind.

“I need something—I want Diana’s ‘Moonlight Immortal’ skin. Can you gift it to me?” Xu Qingzhou didn’t know how to explain—he couldn’t say he was reincarnated.

“Your turn.” Song Yao thought her friend was getting absurd and nudged her.

He scanned the crowd—some faces looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure if they were from his class. Finally, his gaze settled on the middle of his own line.

“Auntie, serve the person behind me—I just need to borrow a card.” Xu Qingzhou stepped before the graceful figure, voice sincere. “Song Yao, may I borrow your meal card?”

Passersby greeted Song Yao; seeing Xu Qingzhou, they all paused.

Those who knew Xu Qingzhou thought it unbelievable; those who didn’t were utterly baffled—when had Song Yao started dating? Around them, every glance carried a hint of gossip.

Xu Qingzhou remained calm—he’d once sat before a room full of physics giants; now these were just kids, no pressure at all.

Song Yao was calm too—used to being watched. Now she was curious why Xu Qingzhou had changed so much—could Ding Jiahui be right?

(End of chapter)