Chapter 24: 23. Signs of the Snow Melting (Asking for Monthly Tickets, Asking for Follows)
Zhang Luo returned to the classroom.
He was just about to sit down when he saw Xu Da looking at him with a rather strange expression.
Not quite normal.
“What’s with you?” Zhang Luo looked himself over. “Or is it me—”
Xu Da said, “Bro, you’ve really had it rough.”
“What?” Zhang Luo froze.
Xu Da stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and pressed him down into his seat.
Zhang Luo was utterly baffled.
Xu Da, meanwhile, wore an expression of deep and heavy feeling. “From now on, I’ll treat you well, bro.”
Goosebumps nearly rose all over Zhang Luo.
His entire body and soul expressed resistance as he backed away.
“What on earth is wrong with you?”
Xu Da sighed and shook his head. “It’s nothing. If you don’t want us to know, we won’t say a single word. But, bro, remember this: no matter what, I’m on your side!”
He clenched his fist and thumped himself once on the chest.
“Us?” Zhang Luo grew even more puzzled.
Xu Da turned to look in another direction.
Zhang Luo followed his gaze.
Zhou Hengyu was looking at him with the exact same expression.
Zhang Luo: “…”
He was sure that something must have happened while he’d left the classroom earlier, and something somewhere had gone wrong.
But no matter what, Xu Da wouldn’t say.
This gave Zhang Luo a headache.
That afternoon, after school.
As usual, it was time to play soccer.
There was no proper match; a bunch of people simply split themselves into two sides and played for fun.
Zhou Hengyu didn’t join in, but practiced juggling the ball off to the side.
When someone had something to do and had to leave early, he would come on as a substitute.
They played for about forty minutes.
When it was about time for everyone to scatter.
“Zhang Luo, are you still going to… your mom’s place for dinner today?” Zhou Hengyu asked.
“Yeah.” Zhang Luo nodded.
Zhou Hengyu and Xu Da exchanged a glance.
Seeing this, Zhang Luo confirmed once again that there was definitely something going on.
He took one swift step forward and, one on each side, locked both their heads under his armpits.
“I’ve put up with you two for an entire afternoon already. What exactly is going on with you?! Confess and you’ll be treated leniently!”
Zhou Hengyu and Xu Da shouted one after another.
-
Jiang Xiaoyu had just finished her homework in the classroom and was about to head back when she was drawn over by the noise and looked in that direction.
Under the setting sun, Zhang Luo was like some reckless street thug, pinning down two people who were both even sturdier than he was, fooling around over who knew what.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Xiaoyu thought back to when they were little, when the children living in Pingyanli played together. Whenever someone came to cause trouble, such as complaining that the kids were too noisy, Zhang Luo would always stand in front of them with a chivalrous sense of justice and argue the matter out reasonably.
Later, for some unknown reason, Zhang Luo slowly stopped being as “loud and boisterous” as he had been when he was young.
If the childhood Zhang Luo had been a social bandit with his nose in the air and a passion like a blazing furnace, then in middle school, Zhang Luo gradually spoke less. His relationship with everyone was still okay, yet it also seemed as though he wasn’t especially close to anyone.
Even between the two of them—
It was during middle school that Jiang Xiaoyu had very clearly sensed that Zhang Luo had suddenly put a little distance between them. That bit of distance wasn’t the kind where someone said to you, “Let’s keep some distance from now on,” but rather a signal revealed through words and actions.
Only recently had that unfamiliar feeling begun, like snow, to slowly show signs of melting away.
Although she didn’t know why, it was a good thing.
Jiang Xiaoyu withdrew her gaze, the corners of her mouth curving slightly as she walked toward the school gate.
However, after taking a few steps, she couldn’t help turning back for another look.
“How childish… they’re still tangled up together.” As she criticized them, the corners of her mouth lifted even higher.
-
Continuing with extra updates, asking for monthly tickets.
Is it really okay to add extra updates like this during the new book period?