Friday, November 6, 2009.
For the students of Small City No. 2 Middle School, this was a joyous day.
Not only because they had two fewer classes today before dismissal, but also because after today’s classes, they would have a full two days off—even the junior high students were no exception.
And this week had been wonderfully effervescent for An Jing.
Since that day, he hadn’t engaged in self-comforting acts, and his body hadn’t become “haggard.”
Maintaining his “handsome” appearance allowed him to truly experience Zhou Chao’s joy.
Yes, Zhou Chao was the school’s heartthrob, a famous handsome guy, and one of his best friends.
An Jing actually didn’t envy his constant girlfriend changes; what he envied most was that girls always treated him well, and girls often actively approached him.
And now… although no one had directly come on to him yet, he subtly felt that vibe.
In class, he would often hear girls discussing him.
Yesterday, Zhou Chao even told him that a junior high school girl had asked for An Jing’s QQ number, wanting to add him as a friend…
It had to be said, An Jing had never experienced such a surge of “peach blossom luck” (good luck in love) in his life.
So much so that he sometimes agonized for a long time over which girl to choose.
The teenager’s heart, which had almost accepted being an ordinary person, soared again because of these recent changes.
But if he had a choice, he still wanted to choose Zhu Ying.
No other reason, just because she was the prettiest, and her personality was… the most normal.
“An Jing! Why are you zoning out when the light is green?!”
Fang Qiang, riding his bicycle, stopped beside him and shouted.
“Hm? A-Qiang, aren’t you playing basketball today?”
“I’m going to the greenhouse shopping street to buy some stuff.”
“Then you’re going my way, give me a ride?”
“Where the hell are you going to sit?”
Fang Qiang looked at his geared bicycle helplessly—it had no basket, let alone a back seat.
“Sit on the front bar!”
“Forget it, that’s for my future girlfriend!”
“Damn it, is our brotherhood less important than a girlfriend?”
“Absolutely! If it’s for love, brothers can all be tossed aside,” Fang Qiang said, mimicking Xiao Shenyang’s tone.
An Jing rolled his eyes irritably, saw the green light counting down, and quickly walked across the crosswalk.
“Oh, by the way, it’s your birthday tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah.”
An Jing wasn’t surprised that his best friend knew this.
In fact, they had celebrated each other’s birthdays several times.
Sometimes at each other’s homes, sometimes directly out, it could be a park, a restaurant… but as long as friends were there, birthdays celebrated anywhere were fun.
“Are you celebrating at home? Or going out?”
“Not sure. If we do, it’ll be at night. During the day, we should probably go out and play! I pretty much finished all my weekend homework at school. I’m going out to play tomorrow!”
“Alright, where are we playing?”
“Game room?”
“Game room again? How about an internet cafe?”
“What for? I have a computer at home.”
“Internet cafes are lively, and your broken computer still uses that big old monitor. Internet cafes all use LCD screens now, your antique is outdated!”
“It’s good enough if it works…”
An Jing pouted.
“Anyway, we’ll talk about it tomorrow when we’re out. So, have you thought about what gift to get me? Heh heh…”
“Isn’t that what I’m planning to buy?”
“Then I can’t go with you, or there won’t be a surprise.”
“Anyway, I can’t afford anything too expensive.”
Fang Qiang stopped pedaling, balancing his bicycle a little ahead, waiting for An Jing to catch up.
“I told A-Wei and Zhou Chao. They’re both coming to celebrate your birthday tomorrow, especially that kid Zhou Chao. I heard he even canceled a date with his girlfriend!”
“He can be excused. His girlfriend is like clothes to him…”
An Jing put his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky dyed red by the sunset.
“It’s getting dark earlier and earlier these days.”
“Tomorrow is the beginning of winter.”
“Yeah, time really flies. In a blink of an eye, it’s another birthday, and we’re graduating again. Ahh…”
This was the melancholy of a teenager.
“I’m almost fifteen, I feel like I’m already old.”
“Haha, yeah.”
At this moment, if a middle-aged person passed by, they would probably secretly laugh at the teenagers’ forced melancholic lines.
However, for them, still teenagers, the age of getting old was eighteen.
After eighteen, one was already “old.”
“When I was little, I longed to grow up, but now that I’m actually growing up, I wish time would stop and wait for me.”
“Huh?”
“Ah?”
An Jing and Fang Qiang both suddenly turned around when they heard this somewhat familiar voice, and saw Zhu Ying standing behind them, looking at them with a smile.
“Oh… Zhu Ying.”
“You’re having a birthday? Whose is it? Can I join?”
“Uh, it’s mine…”
An Jing scratched his head, just about to agree, but was cut off by Fang Qiang beside him.
“A men’s gathering, why would women join the fun, right, An Jing!”
Fang Qiang said with a disdainful look, raising his rough face towards An Jing.
At this moment, An Jing wished he could activate his telepathy and directly project Fang Qiang’s inner thoughts into Zhu Ying’s mind—though in fact, he hadn’t been able to use his mind-reading ability at all these past few days.
He didn’t know why.
“It’s an age of gender equality now. Women can join men’s gatherings, and men can join women’s gatherings, too, can’t they?”
“Uh…”
Although An Jing really wanted her to come, he still followed Fang Qiang’s words.
“It’s possible, but it’s all boys, and you’d be the only girl. Wouldn’t that be awkward?”
“It’s fine. I’ve never been to an all-boys gathering before, that’s why I’m interested.”
“Then…”
“Ugh, women are such a hassle.”
An Jing’s eyes almost rolled to the heavens.
He took two steps to the side, blocking Fang Qiang’s incredibly foolish face, and coughed twice loudly: “It’s possible, but we usually just go play games or something. You might find it quite boring…”
“I’ve been thinking about a story about boys lately, and I happen to need some inspiration.”
“Well, well, that works too.”
“So it’s settled?”
Zhu Ying chuckled, blinking her eyes, her alluring gaze almost captivating An Jing’s soul.
“I’ll prepare a gift.”
“Okay… okay, ah… you don’t need to get a gift. Just… let’s meet at the Greenhouse Shopping Street.”
“What time tomorrow?”
“Nine o’clock… I guess?”
“Alright then.”
“Uh, which direction is your house?”
“That way.”
“It’s not on the way.”
“Mhm, so, see you at the traffic light ahead then.”
“Ah… oh…”
Zhu Ying naturally walked next to An Jing.
Seeing him look at her, she tilted her head and smiled softly.
An Jing’s heart was pounding.
He really wanted to use his telepathy to hear what she was thinking.
Perhaps after spending these past few days together, she already had a good impression of him?
But, for some reason, this ability wasn’t working anymore, even when he squeezed the stone.
He sighed, his face filled with sorrow.
How could a perfectly good superpower suddenly disappear?
“What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing…”
“Then why are you sighing?”
“I’m thinking, I don’t think I did very well on today’s mock exam.”
“I’m often like that too—”
Zhu Ying quickly walked in front of An Jing, then turned around with her hands behind her back, smiling as she walked backward.
“But it’s better not to put too much pressure on yourself, right?”
“I’m going this way, bye-bye~”
“Goodbye.” “See you tomorrow~”
An Jing stared blankly at Zhu Ying’s receding figure, then suddenly sighed heavily again.
This time, Fang Qiang sighed along with him.
“Why are you sighing?”
“Then why are you sighing?”
“I’m sighing because… I feel like she’s truly an innocent, pure, and lovely good girl.”
“Damn it… too bad she’ll never be mine.”
Fang Qiang sighed several times.
“I really envy her future boyfriend.”
“Damn it, you don’t put in the effort yourself.”
An Jing got annoyed at this.
“You like her, yet you always avoid looking her in the face, and you don’t even talk properly?”
Fang Qiang raised a middle finger: “Talking properly is useless anyway. I’ll never get her, so why not act a bit more like a man!”
“Serves you right for not having a girlfriend…”
“Says the one who has one.”
An Jing was immediately choked up.
He irritably pointed towards the distant street: “The Greenhouse Shopping Street is right ahead. Hurry up and ride your broken bike to buy stuff!”
“What do you mean ‘broken bike’? I bought this bicycle for over eight hundred!”
“Tch, it’s terribly hard to ride.”
“This is a geared bicycle, what do you know about it?”
“I still prefer the normal kind of bicycle.”
An Jing stretched with a big yawn.
“Ah, I can sleep in tomorrow.”
“Yeah, how about an all-nighter tonight?”
“All-nighter my foot…”
“At least play until midnight.”
“My sister will scold me.”
“Your sister is so annoying.”
“Right? I think so too, she’s so annoying, fierce and violent, and she even has the nerve to say many people pursued her when she was in school. I don’t know what kind of taste those people had…”
“Well, at least play for a while after eight, play a few rounds of CF.”
This year, CF just released its Biochemical Mode.
Most people in school who play CF play this.
Everyone seemed uninterested in the old team deathmatch or demolition modes.
“Alright, maybe even earlier. Writing homework on Sunday is the same.”
“Okay, then tonight, meet me at Desert Pyramid!”
“Oh, right, you bought a month of the ‘Big Cannon,’ throw me a few rounds today!”
“Alright, no problem, I’m heading off first!”
“Bye!”
An Jing waved his hand casually.
Fang Qiang vigorously pedaled his bicycle, quickly crossing the road and gradually disappearing into the crowd.
“I should hurry up and go too…”
The distant clouds rolled as if on fire, and the air was filled with the pleasantness of Friday.
An Jing’s shadow stretched long in the slanted sunlight, continually extending with his steps, covering his path home.
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