“Tell me, you young people nowadays, why do you have to go to a place like this when there are so many other places to go?”
In the security office, a security uncle who looked to be in his fifties held a bamboo stick in his hand and tapped it angrily on the desk twice.
“Young couples these days, for the sake of thrill, they dare to barge into any place. Do you treat this as your own home? And flaunting your affection right in front of me. If something happened to you two inside, whose responsibility would it be? Can this old man bear that burden?”
Gou Yu and Zhu Niao stood in front of the security uncle, like students called into the principal’s office.
Especially since they were still within the school grounds, a strange feeling hit them out of nowhere.
Their postures were almost identical, as if they were cut from the same mold.
Both had their heads lowered, staring at their shoes and the ground, hands hanging by their sides, not daring to meet the security uncle’s gaze.
It was a good thing Zhu Niao’s figure wasn’t as exaggerated as Liu Mian’s; otherwise, looking down now would have meant she couldn’t see her toes.
But she also wasn’t as unfortunate as Ye Liuni, who could see her own neck when looking down, and if she wore a loose-necked shirt, she could see all the way down to her feet.
It was just the right size. Anyway, Gou Yu liked it.
The security uncle continued his lecture endlessly, as if he were scolding students who tried to sneak out through the main gate back when he was a guard here.
Zhu Niao and Gou Yu had seen this old security uncle around when they were students, but unfortunately, they never used the main gate when leaving school, so they hardly had any impression of the school’s security guards.
The girl nodded at the gaps in his speech, lowering her head just like when she was being lectured during her school days.
It was as if she fully acknowledged her mistake and agreed with everything he said.
But in reality, she didn’t even know what he was talking about.
She was only one step away from saying, “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”
However, anyone who’s been a student knows that the worst thing when getting called into the office for a lecture is having your buddy standing right next to you.
Even though both of them were looking down at the same time, Zhu Niao could see from the corner of her eye that Gou Yu’s upper body was trembling slightly.
She didn’t dare look at his face. She knew it would be a disaster.
But she could also imagine it. The Gou Yu of this era must be holding back his laughter.
It was a very crazy behavior, probably eligible for inclusion in the world’s unsolved mysteries.
Even now, she didn’t understand why, when two buddies are together—no matter how serious the situation or how solemn the scene—as long as they try to stay serious, they get overwhelmed by the urge to laugh.
It starts with holding it in, and then it turns into uncontrollable belly laughs.
There’s no reason for it. It’s not like they experienced something funny before meeting up.
Sometimes, even when they’re on the ground clutching their stomachs and laughing to the point of tears, they might not have a single thought in their minds.
It’s just pure craziness.
Soon, Zhu Niao’s upper body also began trembling as she tried to suppress her laughter.
This situation could last for a while, but only if neither of them cracked first.
Once one person started laughing out loud, the other would follow, and it would be impossible to stop.
That would be the worst outcome.
It even made Zhu Niao, who hadn’t been listening to the security uncle’s lecture at all, start paying attention to his words in an effort to calm herself down.
That was her secret weapon: in situations like this, she would directly focus on what he was saying to level her mood back down.
Then she saw the piece of vegetable leaf stuck between the security uncle’s teeth.
“Pfft…”
Like a floodgate bursting open, Gou Yu burst out laughing the moment he heard Zhu Niao’s laugh.
He laughed halfway and suddenly stopped, meeting Zhu Niao’s turned face.
Then he started laughing wildly again, but this time both of them were laughing together.
Zhu Niao looked at the security uncle’s increasingly dark expression, tugged Gou Yu’s clothes, and signaled him to stop.
They both took a deep breath at the same time, as if forcing themselves to calm down.
Then they looked at each other.
“Pfft…”
“Have you two had enough laughs?” The security uncle seemed a little unable to bear it anymore.
“Sorry, sorry, we didn’t mean to. We just remembered something happy,” Gou Yu said.
“Also, we’re not trying to break in to do anything bad. We used to be students here, just coming back to revisit the old place.”
“You two were students here?” The security uncle seemed to recall for a moment, but he had seen too many faces. He couldn’t remember these two.
“Yeah, it’s been a long time since we graduated. Just feeling nostalgic.”
To be honest, before being chased by the security uncle, Gou Yu and Zhu Niao didn’t even know this place had a guard.
“Then how did you get in? I’ve been right here at the main gate’s security booth. I didn’t even let a stray dog in. How did you two suddenly sneak in?”
The security uncle tapped the desk again with his bamboo stick.
“A wise man has his own ways,” Gou Yu replied, completely out of context.
The security uncle was left speechless for a moment.
“Alright, alright, you two get out of here. Don’t come in again. Next time, if you need to come in, come to the main gate security booth and ask me first.” The security uncle waved his hand, shooing them away.
Zhu Niao and Gou Yu exchanged a glance and started tiptoeing toward the gate.
“Hey, wait.”
The security uncle spoke again.
He tossed over a coat—the piece of equipment Zhu Niao had dropped when they were running away.
Gou Yu caught it precisely and looked back at the security uncle, whose hand was still raised.
A voice, hoarse yet clear and resonant, came from him: “I don’t know how to say nice things, so I’ll just wish you two a harmonious marriage and a long, happy life together.”
Actually, that was pretty well said. If it were Gou Yu, he probably wouldn’t have come up with it. He might have just wished them to live forever.
“Thanks for the good wishes.”
He took Zhu Niao’s hand and walked out of the security booth.
Before them, the half-open gate fully revealed the road leading out of the school.
He still held Zhu Niao’s hand, as if he wanted to make up for all the times he had held back and hadn’t held her enough.
Zhu Niao understood Gou Yu’s childish mentality well.
Maybe it was also because she was hoping for it, craving it.
It was just the collision of two hearts.
“Where are we going now?” Zhu Niao asked Gou Yu.
“Ah, I don’t know. My date plan only went this far.”
“Then let’s go home.” Zhu Niao didn’t mind at all. “The kitten is hungry.”
Hand in hand, their shadows seemed about to merge into one.