novelraw Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Chapter 87 When Qin Qing and Wen Yufeng were waiting for the bus at the station, there was an old lady sitting nearby who looked to be about the same age as Qin’s grandmother and had a very energetic appearance.
However, from the moment they stood holding hands inside the bus station, the old lady kept glancing over at them every few seconds.
As the old lady’s glances became more frequent, her forehead started to furrow.
At first, Qin Qing didn’t notice, but later, when she inadvertently made eye contact with the old lady, she pulled Wen Yufeng’s sleeve and asked, “Does that old lady seem to be glaring at us?”
“Hmm.” Wen Yufeng, without even looking in the old lady’s direction, responded with a low laugh, “She’s been glaring for quite a while. Only now did you notice?”
“…” Qin Qing was a bit confused, “Are we blocking her view or something?”
Wen Yufeng looked down at Qin Qing, his eyes filled with a smile as if illuminated by morning light, shifting in depth.
“… No. Do you want to know the answer?”
“If I didn’t want to know, why would I ask you?”
Wen Yufeng nodded in agreement, “You move a bit this way, and I’ll tell you.”
Without suspicion, Qin Qing moved a few centimeters towards Wen Yufeng. The already small gap between them was now almost nonexistent.
Wen Yufeng’s smile deepened. The next moment, he suddenly turned towards her, tilted her chin, and kissed her.
Qin Qing was momentarily stunned.
By the time she came to her senses, Wen Yufeng had already returned to his original position.
“… Wen Yufeng.” Qin Qing said with a helpless tone and expression,
“Can’t you be more mindful of the impact?”
Wen Yufeng slightly curled his lips into a smile.
“You wanted the answer, didn’t you? I just gave you the answer.”
Reminded by Wen Yufeng, Qin Qing realized that the old lady’s glaring was almost palpable.
After a few seconds of thought, she vaguely guessed the reason.
She looked down at her own school uniform, then at Wen Yufeng’s school uniform, and their hands tightly clasped together.
——
… Ah, so it turns out that they were the ones not paying attention to the impact?
At that moment, the bus they were waiting for finally arrived.
Just as Qin Qing was about to pull Wen Yufeng forward, the old lady sighed lightly, stood up, and walked ahead.
“Kids these days…”
The old lady’s tone carried a hint of the local dialect from Qingcheng. Her disapproving look almost made Qin Qing laugh.
Following the principle of letting the elder go first, Qin Qing and Wen Yufeng stepped aside, waiting for the old lady to board the bus before following her.
The school uniform of No. 1 Middle School was well-tailored and attractive. In Qingcheng, everyone, young and old, recognized it.
So, as soon as this couple, holding hands and appearing so much like students, boarded the bus, they immediately drew the attention of everyone on the bus.
Younger passengers, and those with younger children, might glance at them once before looking away.
Most of the other passengers looked at them with disapproval.
Wen Yufeng, seemingly indifferent, walked through the crowd of gazes and led Qin Qing to the two remaining empty seats at the back.
Coincidentally, the old lady who boarded the bus with them was seated right behind these two empty seats.
After they sat down, the bus started moving, and the old lady’s voice suddenly rang out—
“You two, are you in middle school or high school?”
The bus was already quiet in the morning, and the old lady’s question drew many eyes. Quite a few people even turned to look.
If this had happened before, Qin Qing would probably have been embarrassed.
But hearing this question now, she only laughed lightly and turned to face the old lady, “Grandma, do we look like we’re in middle school or high school?”
The girl’s smile was more captivating than the morning sun outside. Even the old lady’s initially stern expression softened a bit.
“I think he looks like he’s in high school. As for you… you don’t look as tall as my granddaughter who’s in the third year of middle school. Are you in middle school?”
Qin Qing: “………”
“Pfft.”
Wen Yufeng, sitting by the window, turned his gaze to the outside with a low, unconcealed laugh.
Without giving Qin Qing a chance to explain, Wen Yufeng looked outside with a slightly hoarse laugh. “Hmm. I’m in the first year of high school, she’s in the third year of middle school.”
Qin Qing: “……”
“Wen Yufeng, can you have a little bit of self-respect?”
After Qin Qing said this, she looked at the increasingly furrowed brows of the old lady: “Grandma, don’t listen to him. We’re both already adults.”
The old lady gave Qin Qing a look that clearly said “you’re the one who’s talking nonsense” and looked at her with a heartbroken expression.
Qin Qing, helpless, took out a small red invitation from her little black backpack.
“Today is the alumni reunion for No. 1 Middle School. We’re just visiting our old school.”
Seeing the golden embossed lettering on the red invitation, the old lady’s expression shifted from disbelief to shock, and then to amazement—
“He looks like he’s still in school, but you… how come after graduating for several years, you still look like a middle school student?”
Qin Qing: “……”
Wen Yufeng turned his face back, observing Qin Qing’s disappointed expression, his lips curved into an uncontrollable smile.
“She was several centimeters shorter in middle school, and even on tiptoe couldn’t reach the top of the blackboard.”
Qin Qing: “………”
Ten minutes later, after saying goodbye to the enthusiastic old lady and getting off the bus, Qin Qing’s smile had vanished: “You think I’m short.”
Not expecting the girl who had been laughing and chatting to suddenly turn serious, Wen Yufeng was momentarily stunned. He then lowered his eyes and chuckled, taking Qin Qing’s hand back into his own.
“Who said that?”
“… You clearly meant that.”
“I didn’t.”
Wen Yufeng, holding Qin Qing’s hand, walked towards No. 1 Middle School, smiling as he did so. “I think your current height is just right for me.”
“You’re 188 cm, I’m 162 cm. How is that right?”
“…” Wen Yufeng stopped walking.
After two seconds, he turned his gaze back to Qin Qing, blinking slowly.
——
“Just right to complement each other.”
Qin Qing was stunned for a moment, not immediately understanding.
It wasn’t until she was led a few more meters and seemed to realize something that her ears began to turn pink.
…………
Although all alumni who submitted their personal information would receive a properly-sized school uniform from No. 1 Middle School, it was clear that only a very small number of people had the courage and willingness to wear it for a “return to school” visit.
Holding the invitation, as they entered the No. 1 Middle School campus, they saw more alumni dressed in the latest styles from various major brands for the season.
Some of the more popular styles had nearly as high a chance of being seen as the school uniforms.
Amid the colorful and varied clothing, Wen Yufeng and Qin Qing, dressed in proper school uniforms and looking like students, instantly became the focus of many people as soon as they entered the school gate.
“Wow, isn’t that Wen Yufeng?”
— As soon as they stepped onto the main road, Qin Qing heard a low exclamation from a group not far away.
“Wen Yufeng? Who’s Wen Yufeng?”
“… The 37th generation campus bully, don’t you know? At No. 1 Middle School, none of the students from San Zhong dared to show off at the school gate… Oh, and you don’t even know who he is, and you say you’re from No. 1 Middle School?”
“…”
The murmuring voices faded as Qin Qing and Wen Yufeng walked further away.
After a while, Qin Qing suddenly laughed lightly. She turned to look at the man beside her with sharp and handsome facial features and couldn’t help but smile broadly—
“Wen, the campus bully, a few years apart, your reputation still precedes you?”
The man who was named stopped and turned around, repeating meaningfully, “‘Campus bully Wen’?”
Qin Qing continued to smile, “Otherwise, what should I call you?”
“Call me by my name.”
“… Huh?”
“Back then, I lent you a book. You still owe me one. Have you forgotten?”
“…”
Qin Qing had truly forgotten. After a while, she finally recalled that part of the past.
———
“Call me something.”
……
“Call me by my name, three words, not one missing.”
……
“Call me, and I’ll give you the book.”
———
Recalling how he leaned over her desk back then, every expression on his face seemed vividly clear.
After a moment’s thought, Qin Qing’s eyes curved into a smile.
“Why are you smiling?”
Wen Yufeng asked her.
Qin Qing: “Thinking about how you were back then makes me smile.”
“Oh?”
Wen Yufeng narrowed his eyes slightly, “Was I very laughable back then?”
“No.” Qin Qing shook her head, her smile growing, her pretty eyes curving into crescents, “I was a bit afraid of you then. Hearing such a request for the first time made me think you must be a bit strange— it was even more intimidating.”
“… Afraid of me?” Wen Yufeng chuckled softly, “You weren’t afraid of me at all back then. You were the one who was least afraid of me in the whole school.”
“How is that possible?”
Qin Qing made a slightly exaggerated expression, but her smiling eyes betrayed her true feelings.
“You looked scary back then. When you looked at people, it was like a tiger just waking up, lazy but still fierce. I always felt like I could be swallowed up by you if I wasn’t careful.”
As she spoke, Qin Qing looked Wen Yufeng up and down, then shook her head, “I just felt something was missing.”
“Missing what?”
Wen Yufeng, with his hands in his pockets, looked at Qin Qing with a half-smile, allowing her to play with his appearance.
Qin Qing leaned in, grabbed the tie in front of Wen Yufeng’s shirt, and pulled it loose.
Then she stood on tiptoe to reach his hair.
After a second, she frowned slightly and, seeing Wen Yufeng’s lazily smiling eyes, motioned for him to lower his head.
Wen Yufeng’s expression remained unchanged, his eyes filled with a colorful gleam.
“No.”
The boy’s voice was slightly hoarse, and his smile deepened.
Qin Qing tugged at his tie, remaining silent, and fixed her bright eyes on Wen Yufeng.
After two seconds, Wen Yufeng sighed and bent down.
Qin Qing, with her eyes full of joy, didn’t hesitate to reach out and mess up his neatly styled black hair.
In contrast to his always sharp and fierce personality, the black hair felt incredibly soft to the touch, making Qin Qing feel like she was petting some large feline.
She thought for a moment, then leaned in close to Wen Yufeng’s ear and laughed lightly. “Back when I first saw you outside that convenience store, I wanted to do this.”
——
“It’s just as soft as I imagined. I heard that people with soft hair have great personalities.”
The neatly styled black hair was now tousled. Wen Yufeng looked up helplessly.
“My personality is good?”
Qin Qing nodded without hesitation, her lips curved softly, “You’re very good to me.”
Wen Yufeng was momentarily stunned.
At that moment, Qin Qing had already taken a step back, smiling as she admired her work—
“This is how you looked back then.”
“Back then?”
“Mm.” Qin Qing pronounced each word clearly, her smile bright,
“Brother Yu.”
Wen Yufeng’s eyes darkened.
After two seconds, he helplessly turned away and brushed the loose hair from his forehead—
“From now on, you can only call me that when I allow you to.”
“Ah? Why?”
“Otherwise,” he said with a low, hoarse laugh, turning his gaze back to her, “there will be trouble.”