Nie Qingzhou’s mind went completely blank for a moment, then it was filled with a buzzing sound. He jumped up as if he had been electrocuted, waving his hands in a panic. “No, no, no, I don’t like you like that! Don't talk nonsense!”
Xia Yi frowned slightly, looking at him silently.
Seeing Xia Yi’s reaction, Nie Qingzhou felt like he had misunderstood something. He put down his hand and asked tentatively, “You mean… the kind of liking between friends and family?”
“Yes.” Xia Yi nodded.
“…Oh! So that’s what you meant. Then… yes, that’s right. That’s how I feel… uh… yes.”
Nie Qingzhou pinched the bridge of his nose. The word “like” rolled around in his throat, making his heart race. No matter how he tried to say it, it felt strange. In the end, he still couldn’t bring himself to utter it.
He composed himself and said to Xia Yi, “I have to go back to the evening study hall. It’ll be too late if I don’t leave now.”
Xia Yi turned to look at the clock on the wall, realizing that it was indeed getting late. He should have known when he left that he only had enough time for a quick round trip.
“What did you come back for?” Xia Yi asked.
“I was just worried, so I came back to check on you.”
Nie Qingzhou walked back to his bicycle and pushed it forward. He waved to her and pointed at his phone. “Call me anytime if you need anything!”
Xia Yi nodded and waved goodbye. She watched as Nie Qingzhou’s back faded into the distance along the road, once again blending into the sunset and the shimmering coastline.
She took out her phone and looked at the contact name, “Upstairs Neighbor” on the screen. She deleted the words, thought about it, and wrote "Mr.Light".
Then she scrolled through her contacts until she found the phone number she had saved a long time ago and pressed the button to dial it.
“Hello, is this Teacher Qiao?”
Xia Yi held the phone to her ear and said, “This is Xia Yi.”
Some excited voices came from the other end of the line.
Xia Yi nodded, her hand resting on the glass door of the small store’s freezer, her index finger tracing patterns on the surface. “Yes… I heard from Wen Zhong… Can I still come and learn music from you?”
By the time she hung up the phone, the sun had already sunk into the sea, and the streetlights were starting to flicker on.
Xia Yi took a deep breath and smiled faintly.
Xia Yi’s grandmother was hospitalized for a week and a half. After her discharge, Xia Yi resumed her normal school attendance. On an ordinary Tuesday morning, Xia Yi rode her bike to school. For some reason, from the moment she stepped onto school grounds, she felt countless gazes fixed upon her.
Xia Yi was accustomed to being the center of attention, but there seemed to be something strange in these eyes that she could not understand.
She walked into the classroom without looking sideways and sat down at her desk. Zheng Peiqi immediately grabbed her arm, her doe-like eyes filled with concern.
“Xia Yi, what’s really going on between you and Nie Qingzhou? The whole grade is saying that you two are dating. I heard that Nie Qingzhou was even called out by the teachers. I bet they’re going to talk to you today too!”
Xia Yi was taken aback by Zheng Peiqi’s question. “We… We’re comrades,” she said.
— I’m on your side. I’m your comrade. Don’t always think about taking risks on your own.
He had said that to her before the New Year.
Zheng Peiqi’s jaw dropped. “Comrades? What’s that supposed to mean? Are you really going to tell the teacher that?”
Before they could clear up the misunderstanding, Wen Zhong walked over and tapped on their desks, his eyes full of inquiry. He pointed out the window at Xia Yi. “Xia Yi, the head teacher wants to see you.”
Zheng Peiqi gasped, muttering, “Oh no, oh no, that was fast.” Xia Yi stood up and glanced at the head teacher outside the window. She suddenly turned to Zheng Peiqi and asked, “What excuses do girls usually give when they reject a boy’s confession?”
Zheng Peiqi had a drawer full of young adult romance novels; she was an expert on this topic.
“Uh…” Zheng Peiqi stammered, “Like, they need to focus on their studies…”
“Those are all rumors!” Nie Qingzhou’s voice rang out from the senior year teachers and research team’s office.
Morning study hall had just begun, and there were not many teachers in the office. Nie Qingzhou, tall and thin, stood very conspicuously in front of Teacher Li, the head teacher of Class 13, spreading his hands with a helpless look on his face. “We’re just neighbors.”
Teacher Li leaned back in his chair, taking a sip from his paint-chipped thermos cup. He eyed Nie Qingzhou skeptically. “Just neighbors? I heard that you were hospitalized because you were helping her. You eat lunch together every day and go home together at night. You’re this nice to your ‘neighbor’?”
Nie Qingzhou let out a long sigh. “Teacher Li, you should know about Xia Yi’s family situation. How could I just stand by and do nothing? There are five of us eating lunch together. And it’s so late when evening study hall is over; it’s dangerous for a girl to go home alone. I do these things because I have a conscience.”
He looked very sincere, his words firm and clear.
At that moment, in the hallway outside Class 1’s classroom, the other protagonist of the rumor remained calm and collected, as if it were none of her business.
When the homeroom teacher asked about the dating rumors, Xia Yi replied swiftly and smoothly, “Yes, Nie Qingzhou did ask me out before, but I rejected him. I told him we should focus on our studies in high school and that we could consider dating after the college entrance exams if we get into the same university. He agreed, and we’re friends now.”
Her words were so calm and steady that they left the teacher speechless for a moment. “Well, yes, that’s very mature of you,” the teacher said carefully. “But I heard that you two spend a lot of time together…”
Xia Yi looked up at the teacher and said flatly, “Besides Zheng Peiqi, Nie Qingzhou, and his friends, no one else is willing to talk to me anyway.”
Back in the teachers and research team’s office, Teacher Li slammed his hand on the desk, “Both of you are top students in your grade. It reflects poorly on you to have these kinds of rumors circulating. You’re at the age where you should be focusing on your studies. It would be a real shame if you let dating affect your grades and ruin your future.”
Nie Qingzhou rubbed his temples, a wry smile on his face. “I know, I know this better than anyone. There’s nothing going on between Xia Yi and me. Can anyone say they’ve seen us doing anything intimate? No one has ever seen us holding hands, hugging…”
Unbidden, certain images flashed through Nie Qingzhou’s mind.
Like that night at the hospital, when he woke up on the bench in the dead of night and found Xia Yi sound asleep, wrapped in a blanket, their hands clasped together.
Like that evening when the sun was setting, she was standing under the eaves, and he rushed over and put his arm around her shoulders.
He paused, feeling a pang of guilt, then continued stiffly. “We’re just normal friends. It's not like boys and girls can't even be friends with each other, right?"
Teacher Li was still skeptical. He snorted. “Are you sure you’re not dating Xia Yi? That’s not what she said. If you come clean with me now, I can consider not calling your parents."
Nie Qingzhou gave a dry laugh. “Come on, Teacher, you can’t fool me.”
The head teacher of Class 1 was at a loss for words after hearing Xia Yi’s reply, and couldn't say anything.
Xia Yi looked up at the teacher and asked, “Teacher, do you want me to stop hanging out with them?"
“That’s not what Teacher meant… It’s just… you can only be ordinary friends.”
“We are just ordinary friends. Is there anything else?”
“…Not at the moment.”
“Okay, then I’ll go back to class.”
Xia Yi turned and walked back into the classroom. Under the watchful eyes of her classmates, she calmly returned to her seat, took out her book, and started her morning reading.
Class 1’s head teacher watched her for a long moment from the doorway before sending a text message to Teacher Li of Class 13: I talked to Xia Yi. I don’t think she’s dating Nie Qingzhou.
Teacher Li looked up from his phone and glanced at the helpless Nie Qingzhou standing in front of him. He finally relented. “Alright, I’ll believe you for now. But watch your step from now on. If I catch you red-handed, I’ll call your parents, no matter how far away they are!”
Nie Qingzhou breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave, as if staying in the office for another second or saying another word would suffocate him.
He was overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of guilt, which intensified with every word of explanation.
He was telling the truth; his rational mind told him he had done nothing wrong. Yet, a voice whispered in the shadows, casting doubt: Are you really not lying?
Do you have a clear conscience? Are you really honest?
His resolve wavered, and because of this wavering more and more self-loathing welled up inside him.
When it was almost noon, Xia Yi's phone lit up under the desk. She took it out and saw a text message from "Mr. Light".
— Sorry, I heard you were also called in for a talk. I’ve dragged you into this.
Xia Yi typed back quietly.
— It’s fine, it’s been resolved.
A reply came almost immediately. — The teachers are still suspicious. Let’s avoid contact at school for a while.
Xia Yi’s fingers paused. She stared at the message for a long time, the teacher's voice in class became a buzzing background sound. Finally, she slowly typed out a reply.
— Okay.
When the bell rang, Zheng Peiqi habitually pulled Xia Yi downstairs. They waited in front of the Gezhi Building for Nie Qingzhou and the others to come out so they could all go to the cafeteria for lunch together.
Xia Yi could feel many curious and excited eyes falling on her. For high school students leading monotonous lives, this rumor was a rare novelty. Being called out by the teachers basically confirmed the suspicion of early love, and everyone was watching them with the mentality of watching a good show.
Nie Qingzhou, Zhang Yukun, and Lai Ning appeared from the crowd of people exiting the Zhixing Building. Zheng Peiqi saw them from afar and jumped up, waving her hand.
Seeing the two protagonists of the dating scandal together, many passing students stopped in their tracks, watching with interest and whispering amongst themselves.
Nie Qingzhou hesitated, stopping where he was with Zhang Yukun and Lai Ning.
The tree-lined path, with its tall Dawn Redwood trees on either side, felt like a long and narrow theater. The two protagonists stood on opposite ends of the stage, while the audience eagerly awaited their entrance.
Xia Yi took a step closer to Nie Qingzhou. At the same time, Nie Qingzhou took a step back.
Xia Yi froze.
Nie Qingzhou frowned, as if he was very distressed. He raised his hand in the dappled shade of the trees and waved at them, then shook his head pointedly. He led Zhang Yukun and Lai Ning away in the other direction.
“Ah… so no more eating lunch together? Well, yeah, you two are attracting too much attention now. You have to avoid suspicion.” Zheng Peiqi sighed regretfully.
Xia Yi lowered her eyes and said nothing.