Being "Crushed" - Chapter 26
Song Yuhan gazed at the bright, sunny face before her, momentarily lost in thought.
After being away for so long, Lu Sifang still had that unruly charm and striking handsomeness, though the strain of studying showed faintly in his tired eyes.
She smiled softly and returned his handshake. Lu Si clasped her hands gently, his smile growing even warmer.
Zhou Su stood aside, scrutinizing Lu Si with disbelief, then glanced down at the rankings. It took her quite some time to accept what she was seeing as real.
She truly despised this little “overlord”…
Crossing her arms, she glanced back and forth between Lu Sifang and Song Yuhan. Finally, with a helpless sigh, she turned away, deciding it wasn’t worth worrying about anymore.
Lu Sifang worked hard for a short while to break into the top ten, while she herself had struggled endlessly just to scrape 18th place…
She was exhausted and ready to give up on worrying about them.
Luckily, thoughtful Xiao Songsong had already prepared detailed notes for her, so she planned to catch up over the holiday!
As Zhou Su vented her frustration, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure just outside the school gate.
The boy was dressed simply in a white shirt, slender, squatting by the roadside, seemingly playing with a stray cat.
“Brother Song?” she called out hesitantly. The boy turned, returning a kind smile, though his eyes lacked the usual warmth.
“Oh, Yuhan’s classmate… Hello,” he said, standing up and glancing behind Zhou Su as if expecting someone.
Zhou Su’s eyes twinkled as she tried to cover for her friend: “Uh, Song Song has some other things to do, maybe she won’t be out soon…”
Song Zhihan blinked slowly, his face alert but his smile kind. “I see, thanks.” Then he ignored Zhou Su and went back to teasing the cat.
Zhou Su didn’t know much about Song Zhihan, having met him only a few times. Supposedly, he was still studying abroad, so why was he back now?
“Does Brother Song like cats?” she asked curiously, glancing at the feline.
He looked at her unexpectedly and replied, “Not really, but he had one when he was young… Cats can be very affectionate sometimes, and it’s comforting to have their company.”
Zhou Su nodded thoughtfully. Just as she was about to say goodbye, she turned again and saw Song Yuhan walking out of the school side by side with Lu Sifang.
She was stunned, quickly turning back to act casual and continuing, “What happened to the cat? Why haven’t I ever heard Song Song talk about it?”
Song Zhihan didn’t catch her true intentions, thinking the kid was just overly curious. His eyes suddenly darkened, revealing a hidden sharpness as he answered, “We never tied a collar on it because we didn’t want to restrict it. But it ran off with the wild cats outside and never came back.”
Zhou Su was silent, surprised by the sad story. She turned back, laughing to herself as she watched the two young people.
Song Zhihan seemed aware of her gaze. She instinctively shielded him, but quickly shrank back when she caught the subtle yet piercing look from his eyes.
“Ha, my foot cramped, I better go. Goodbye, Brother Song!” she exclaimed and ran off before he could respond.
Ahhh! Your brother’s scary!!
“…”
Song Zhihan withdrew his intense gaze and waited at the school gate for a long time.
Meanwhile, everyone knew Song Yuhan was quietly walking home under the green canopy with a certain dark-haired boy beside her.
“Do you take this route home too?” Song Yuhan looked around, slightly puzzled.
Lu Si hesitated, his eyes shifting uncertainly before he nodded awkwardly, “Yeah.”
Song Yuhan tilted her head. “Why haven’t I seen you before?”
He smiled faintly. “You usually come by car. How could you see me then?”
Her eyes flickered with something unspoken.
How could he have known that? Did he guess she deliberately chose to walk home?
“What are you thinking?” Lu Sifang asked, tilting his head with a knowing smile as he noticed her silent expression and growing blush.
Song Yuhan quickly shook her head, trying to steady the fluttering feelings inside her. “Nothing… just nothing.”
Her clever mind scrambled for a new topic: “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages, and you seem different somehow…”
“Yes.” Lu Sifang looked at her intently, curling his lips. “Tell me, what was I like before, and what am I like now?”
His serious expression and hopeful gaze made Song Yuhan’s heart skip again. She became shy and nervous.
“Um… I can’t really say… just that you’ve changed,” she murmured, her brows furrowing as if worried she might say the wrong thing.
Yet that shy and nervous look only made Lu Si find her even more charming.
She was usually so cold and distant, yet now she looked adorably bashful in front of him.
He longed to dive into her heart and find out if her secret feelings matched what he guessed.
Even if not, he planned to make them come true step by step.
So he smiled confidently, “It doesn’t matter, as long as — you become the one you want to be.”
“Puttong — puttong —”
Her heart pounded uncontrollably, beating faster than ever, making it hard to breathe for a moment.
But then she quickly masked her feelings, turning away and feigning coldness. “You’re pretty good at this… How many girls have you told that to?”
Lu Sifang instantly grew nervous and denied it. “How many girls? Boy, I’ve only ever said that to you.”
Song Yuhan stopped talking again. Lu Sifang noticed her avoiding gaze and suddenly realized something.
His heart warmed, and a smile crept onto his lips that he couldn’t suppress no matter how hard he tried.
The two walked side by side along a quiet path, shy and filled with unsaid feelings, occasionally exchanging a few words.
But eventually, the road reached a fork, and neither noticed how their time together had slipped away.
Song Yuhan stared at the crossroads, avoiding eye contact. She lowered her head and softly said, “I’m going this way…”
Lu Sifang came back to reality, awkwardly nodding. “Me too.” But then he realized she pointed in the exact opposite direction from where he was heading.
“…”
No matter how reluctant, they had to say goodbye and head their separate ways.
What they didn’t know was that Song Zhihan, having waited alone for a long time, was heading home by himself.
Halfway through the ride, Leng Bu Ding saw two figures walking very close under the shade of the trees, looking so intimate.
His black eyes flickered behind his glasses, and he slowed the car, quietly following them.
He didn’t act immediately, simply observing, lost in thought.
When the two parted ways at the fork, Song Zhihan sped up again.
As the car rounded the corner, a cold profile appeared in the lowered window.
Those usually gentle, smiling eyes were no longer warm.
Lu Si’s tall, flamboyant back was reflected, like a sudden meteorite crashing into a calm lake, sending ripples far and wide.
At that moment, a haze clouded the man’s eyes, sharpness and cruelty suddenly surfacing.
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze, sped up to catch Song Yuhan’s pace, and stopped her halfway.
“Yuhan.” His voice was calmer than usual but carried a patient edge.
Surprised, Song Yuhan looked back, her face flushing. “Brother, why are you here? Aren’t you still abroad?”
Once she climbed into the car obediently, Song Zhihan’s expression softened. “I finished my credits early and was worried about you.”
Song Yuhan blinked in confusion. “Why worry? You know I’ve always done well in school.”
“It’s not about grades.” He cut off abruptly, then smiled and changed the subject casually. “Who was the boy just now with you?”
Song Yuhan’s eyes widened. She took a deep breath and gripped the seatbelt tightly, unsure how to answer.
“A classmate.”
Song Zhihan glanced at her but nodded without pressing further and drove her home.
Midway through, he suddenly remembered something and mentioned the cat again: “When I was waiting for you at the school gate, I met a stray cat. It was thin, small, and didn’t make a sound. It reminded me a lot of when I was a kid…”
He blinked but didn’t say more.
Song Yuhan, sensitive after all these years together, could guess what he was hinting at.
If he didn’t say it outright, it was probably because he didn’t want to touch on sad memories.
She pursed her lips, trying to ease the tense mood: “Do you want to keep a cat?”
Song Zhihan shook his head. “I had one before I met you.” His face looked helpless. “It’s hard to care for a creature like that. If you don’t want to restrict it, you just have to watch it closely… but once I looked away, it ran off with some wild cats and never came back. You have to tie a collar on them to remind them —”
“Remind them of what?” Song Yuhan asked nervously, licking her lips.
Song Zhihan’s eyes deepened, his lips curling into a warm smile. “To remind them… that the person who raised them is their home, their true destination.”
She knew he meant the cat, but the feeling was strange, and a chill crept into her heart.