After showering, Su Qing sat by the window and drew the curtains.
She picked up her phone and saw several missed calls. She was about to turn it off and go to sleep, but then she remembered the note Liu Ranran had slipped her during self-study. On it, she had a small, anxious expression on it. It wrote:
[Qing Qing, Jiang Sui asked for your phone number, and I gave it to him...
Don't be angry, /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~, I'll give you all the chicken legs for the next month, /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~]
Su Qing pinched the paper, realizing that the strange message had actually been sent by Jiang Sui.
For a moment, she didn't know what to do.
She finished her homework and two English tests, planning to shower and go to bed, but when she returned, she found a missed call from Jiang Sui.
She struggled with this for several seconds.
She finally called back, toweling her hair with one hand and holding the phone with the other.
"Hello, is this Jiang Sui?"
The girl's voice, echoing through the megaphone, carried the hum of electricity and reached Jiang Sui's ears.
Jiang Sui lay on the sofa, the can in his hand falling. The clattering sound shattered the quiet.
Su Qing paused, pursing her lips.
"Hello, is this Jiang Sui?"
A soft, polite greeting reached Jiang Sui again.
"You're so gentle with everyone, why are you so cold to me?"
The boy's breathing was rapid, his voice tinged with a hint of defiance.
Su Qing didn't know how to respond for a moment. In the silence, they could hear each other's breathing clearly for a moment.
"No."
The voice was so soft that Jiang Sui could even see the girl's submissive demeanor. Her posture was submissive, but her eyes were bright and distant.
Su Qing clutched her phone. She simply didn't know how to approach him. Fear, uneasiness, and inexplicable emotions rushed to her heart.
Jiang Sui sneered.
"No?"
The boy's voice was deep and raspy.
Depressed, Su Qing bit her lip, hummed, and then asked.
"Are you drunk?"
The girl's eyes trembled, her breathing slowed. She had no idea what the boy was trying to do, and she regretted making the call, worried that something irreversible might happen.
"Drunk? Are you scared?"
A touch of drunkenness made Jiang Sui's tongue numb. He squinted his eyes and looked off into the distance.
Su Qing didn't answer. "Well, you're drunk. You need to get some rest, or you'll have a headache when you wake up."
She was incredibly well-behaved, but his tone held a subtle concern, unlike before, that flowed like a warm current into his heart.
"How do you know you've been drunk?"
"Hmm?" Jiang Sui's voice, always pleasant, had a slight nasal cadence, a slight lingering cadence that reminded one of his frivolous, nonchalant demeanor.
Su Qing's hand paused, her eyes flickered, and the corner of her mouth curled up.
"No."
"No, isn't that common sense?"
At their tender age, ambiguity was constant.
The two of them let that strange feeling slowly take root and sprout in their hearts.
"Still eating wontons tomorrow?"
"Forget it, I'll take you to hot pot tomorrow."
Su Qing wanted to refuse, but when the words reached her lips, she agreed.
Luckily, it wasn't wontons; the wonton shop was too close to school.
"Go to sleep, I'll pick you up tomorrow."
The boy's tone didn't sound like a negotiation; instead, he spoke with a strong sense of fatigue.