Gu Xuelan's birthday was the day after tomorrow.
Xie Yu didn't move back home, not because he couldn't psychologically handle it, but because he couldn't bear to leave the suitcase of study materials under the bed.
When He Zhao heard, he made a noise of acknowledgement, then followed up with an unthinking, "Happy birthday."
"......"
He Zhao was clearly still about to say something like, "Stay healthy and may all things go your way," but he had only just begun when he was mercilessly cut off by the 'killer.'
"All right, that's enough, thank you." Xie Yu made a closing motion with his fingers in He Zhao's direction. "Shut it."
"That gesture really looks like an emoticon Shen Jie sent me." He Zhao copied the motion, then spread his fingers again. "Open it."
Xie Yu: "...Open, your head."
He Zhao straight up didn't know what literature homework Tang Sen had assigned just now.
He dithered in his seat a while longer, then tapped the shoulder of the classmate in front of him and borrowed his notebook to copy the assignment.
The guy sitting in front didn't quite understand. Everyone in class knew that He Zhao didn't do his homework, so he plucked up the courage to ask, "Are you going to do the homework?"
He Zhao said as he copied, "Just in case. Maybe? We'll see what fate decrees. Maybe the homework from one class will look especially pleasing. When fate comes knocking, we can't stop it."
This was probably the first time the guy had heard such a seemingly serious discussion of 'one's compatibility with homework,' so he sighed and let it go.
He Zhao copied it out twice and returned the notebook to the guy, then put one set on Xie Yu's desk. "Take it. Maybe a miracle will happen."
Xie Yu glanced down at the dogshit illegible handwriting and thought, I can't even read this. If a miracle happens, there really are supernatural forces in the world.
He stacked the papers together. There was no immediate place to toss it, so he stuffed it into his pocket. Then he heard He Zhao ask, "When is your birthday?"
Xie Yu turned away; the sight of He Zhao vexed him, the hallway incident still a lingering shadow. A row of windows, and a neat row of heads sticking out and looking at them, expressions subtly stunned.
Wan Da had even covered his eyes, like it was an unbecoming sight.
He'd lived all this time and never had unflattering rumors passed around about him, but after meeting He Zhao he discovered that this world really was vast.
"Students staying in school over the weekend, please follow the dorm rules strictly." Tang Sen found a chair and sat down. It looked like he was about to chat with them until school let out. "We must believe in science. Last weekend's incident, I almost forgot—Wan Da, don't look down—I really couldn't tell that you had these thoughts."
Settling the bill after the fact.
Their Mr. Tang had a very long memory.
Sometimes one believed he had really let it go. He'd wait until they had let down their guard and felt that the incident had passed. When the winds and water were both calm and the days passed peacefully, one would be grabbed by Mr. Tang for a lecture. "Ah, last month you—"
"Will you die if you spit it out?" He Zhao turned to look at Xie Yu and bent down to be on the same level as him. He reached out, thinking of touching his hair. "When's your birthday?"
