Gardenia Blossom Season

Part 4

7

The apple on the desk was indeed gone.

All that remained on the table was a piece of scratch paper, with just two words written on it—【Thank you~】.
The handwriting was powerful and fluid, as graceful as a dragon in flight.

The writing matched the person.

After packing my bag, I waited for a while but didn't see Xu Xing Zhan come over, so I had to go to his classroom.

But when I got there, I found that their class had already turned off the lights and locked the door.

I stood at the door of Class 2, shrouded in darkness, and dialed his number.
Inside the desk cubby by the window, a faint light from a phone appeared.

I hung up, and the light disappeared.

Xu Xing Zhan had broken his promise.

I felt hollow, like something had been cut away from me.

Just a moment before, I had even foolishly hoped to have a good talk with him.

The next day, during the break-time exercises, I, as the student on duty, checked in on Class 2.

I passed by Xu Xing Zhan without glancing to the side.

Suddenly, he spoke up, "Last night—"

In the line of girls next to him, Jian Qing Mai had switched places with someone and, acting as if I didn't exist, stuffed a lollipop into Xu Xing Zhan's uniform pocket.

She tilted her head, playfully sticking out her tongue, "For you, as a thank-you for walking me home last night."

Oh.

The reason for his absence was now clear.

Xu Xing Zhan pressed his lips together without rejecting it, then turned to look at me.

I looked down, avoiding his gaze, and deducted points from Class 2 on my score sheet.

"Switching places and chatting during break-time exercises—minus five points."

Then I turned and headed to Class 1 next door.
Behind me, I heard Jian Qing Mai's indignant voice, "What the heck, class monitor, isn't she your friend? And yet she still deducted points from our class!"

At the end of Class 1's line.

Seeing me approach, the tall, swaying boy suddenly straightened his back and began performing the break-time exercises with perfect precision.

He even kicked the boy in front of him, who was also slacking, in the butt, "Do it seriously!"

The other boy turned around, his expression shifting from anger to a look that clearly said, "Are you out of your mind?"

Then he saw me, and his expression grew more complicated.

"Zhou Ji, you're really putting effort into the exercises today ~"

Zhou Ji kicked him in the butt again, "Keep talking and she'll dock your points."

I chuckled softly and, as I passed by him, left a remark.

"Relax, no points deducted."

8

The results for the monthly exam papers came back quickly. We had just finished the exams yesterday, and today, the results were already out.

The homeroom teacher asked me to go pick up my language exam paper.

Before I even entered the office, I overheard a teacher scolding someone in a tone full of disappointment: "Zhou Ji! What were you even writing in your essay? I used navigation and still couldn't find your main point!"
"What's the use of getting perfect scores in math and physics? Your language score is dragging you down. How are you going to handle the college entrance exams?"

"Don't look away—I'm talking to you!"

I knocked on the door and said, "Teacher, I'm here to pick up the exam papers."

"Oh, right. Come on in."

I walked past Zhou Ji, brushing shoulders with him, and headed straight to the homeroom teacher's desk in the back.

The language teacher for Class 1 lowered his voice a bit and said, "Xu Zhi didn't take the language exam this time because she was sick. Otherwise, I'd have shown you her essay, so you could see how it's done!"

Hearing my name mentioned, I gave the teacher an embarrassed smile.

I turned and met Zhou Ji's gaze.

He looked stunned for a moment, then quickly shifted his attention away and said, in a defiant tone, "Fine, next time then. Show me her essay next time."

"Always acting so careless. Take your paper and go! Spend more time reading some essay examples when you get back!"

Zhou Ji followed closely behind me as we walked back to the classroom.

Our shadows stretched long and short on the ground, overlapping and separating as we moved.

At the classroom door, he unexpectedly called out to me, "Xu Zhi."

I turned back, surprised.

He was standing against the light, his face hidden in shadow.

Zhou Ji pulled his hand out of his jacket pocket and tossed something into the air.

Two packs of yogurt chips landed on top of the papers I was holding against my chest.

"You didn't dock points when I was talking with my friend during the break-time exercises. Consider this a thank-you gift."

I didn't refuse. "Alright, I'll accept it."

"See you later."

Zhou Ji walked away, and as I turned back, I saw Xu Xing Zhan standing behind me.

His gaze shifted from Zhou Ji to me.

"About last night, I'm sorry. Let's talk after school today."

I walked into the classroom with a blank expression. "No need."

Last night, no matter how urgent of an issue Jian Qing Mai had that required him to escort her, he could have borrowed her phone to explain things to me.

But I received nothing.

There were only two possible reasons.

One, he didn't want to.

Two, he couldn't remember my number.

Either way, neither reason was enough for me to keep holding onto any hope for him.