Confession to You in Early Summer (GL) - Chapter 2
Yan Wei stared at the line of words for a while. Hearing the sound of high heels tapping on the floor outside the restroom, she closed the diary, put it back in her bag, smoothed her face, used her little finger to wipe away the dampness from the corner of her eye, and came out of the restroom to meet Zhou Xiaoxiao, who had come looking for her.
“Are you alright?” Zhou Xiaoxiao asked worriedly.
This seemingly carefree old classmate was surprisingly perceptive. Seeing that Yan Wei didn’t speak, Zhou Xiaoxiao walked over and patted the back of her hand. “It’s rare for everyone to get together, don’t think about unhappy things.”
“Mm,” Yan Wei nodded. “I’m fine, maybe the weather has been too cold recently, I have a bit of a cold.”
“Then why are you still wearing so little?” Zhou Xiaoxiao nagged like an old mother hen. Yan Wei was helpless and let her pull her along.
In the KTV private room, Yan Wei drank a little wine. Actually, it wasn’t much at all, and Zhou Xiaoxiao stopped her after only two glasses, rudely chasing away the male classmates who tried to urge her to drink more. “Go, go, go, get lost! The goddess has a cold and can’t drink!”
After speaking to the male classmates, she turned back and placed a glass of honey water in front of Yan Wei. “Honestly, you’re not feeling well, why are you still drinking? Drink this!”
Yan Wei responded. The song Zhou Xiaoxiao had ordered came on, and she was called away by her husband. Listening to the noise around her, Yan Wei suddenly felt a little sleepy.
She leaned against the corner of the sofa to rest, unexpectedly falling asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.
A rapid ringing sound echoed in her ears, unfamiliar and distant, like the wake-up bell from her high school days.
Yan Wei turned over and instinctively pulled the blanket over her head.
••••
••••••
Blanket? Wasn’t she at the KTV?
Yan Wei opened her eyes. What greeted her was a mottled ceiling, heart-shaped paper cutouts and cardboard stars and moons that had been specially pasted for a literary dorm room. Everything was so familiar, yet it felt strange to Yan Wei.
This dream was too real, so real that she could clearly see the spider web that hadn’t been cleaned in the corner and the math formulas written on the headboard by some senior from a previous year.
She was lost in thought for quite a while until a roommate called her, “Yan Wei, if you don’t get up now, you’ll be late for morning reading.”
Morning reading?
Yan Wei clung to the edge of the bed, looking incredulously at her roommate bustling about below.
The person who had just spoken was tidying up her small bag while looking up at Yan Wei on the upper bunk. That childish little round face still had cute baby fat. The familiar eyebrows and eyes overlapped with the grown-up Zhou Xiaoxiao in Yan Wei’s mind, causing her to feel a sense of bewilderment.
Just an hour ago, Zhou Xiaoxiao had been discussing her married life with her!
There were eight people in their high school dorm room, and seven of them were already up, busy packing their things. Two of them had gotten up early and had already gone to the classroom. Only Yan Wei, who was usually the first to leave, was still in bed.
The top student’s unusual behavior finally made her roommates feel strange. Zhou Xiaoxiao saw Yan Wei’s unusually pale face and asked worriedly, “Yan Wei, are you sick? Are you feeling unwell? Should we help you ask for leave so you can rest in the dorm?”
The real scene, the familiar environment, it was almost like it was real.
Yan Wei fiercely pinched her fingertip.
It hurt.
“No need, you guys go first, I’ll get up right away!” The belated reply was distorted by panic.
Zhou Xiaoxiao suddenly stood up, tiptoed, and reached out to feel Yan Wei’s forehead.
Yan Wei: “…”
“Luckily, no fever,” Zhou Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t push yourself too hard, if you feel unwell, just ask for leave and rest.”
So Zhou Xiaoxiao had always taken care of her like this back in school? No, this was clearly a dream!
After her roommates left, Yan Wei quickly got out of bed and splashed some water on her face at the sink, trying to wake herself up.
Through the water-streaked mirror, Yan Wei saw a delicate oval face, thick eyelashes carrying water droplets, a bit immature, with bewildered eyes. Some water had also gotten on her bangs, and droplets were trickling down the ends of her hair.
Yan Wei looked around. Colorful clothes hung on the drying rack with various hangers. Outside the window, there was a rusty wire mesh. Students were passing by downstairs in twos and threes, laughing and joking. The air was mixed with the scent of laundry detergent and the fragrance of early spring flowers and plants.
It wasn’t a dream.
She was at school, in high school.
Why was this happening? Could it be that her failing the college entrance exams, repeating a year, and the reunion with classmates in her second year of postgraduate studies were all just a dream?
Impossible. If it were a dream, how could she remember it so clearly?
Then how could she explain the current situation?
Before Yan Wei could figure out what was going on, she encountered the dormitory supervisor clearing people out. The supervisor was about to close the door when she suddenly noticed someone still inside. Surprised, she called Yan Wei out and told her to hurry to class.
Yan Wei didn’t remember what morning reading class she had today. She went back and put on her school uniform jacket, grabbed her thermos cup that was standing by her pillow and the few books pressed under her pillow, preparing to leave. Before leaving, she looked down at the cover of the textbook in her hand.
Second Year of Senior High School, Second Semester.
She walked to the teaching building in a daze. Students worried about being late quickened their pace, passing Yan Wei one after another. A male student recognized the girl’s back view, ran up smiling, intending to pass on the left, but deliberately patted Yan Wei’s right shoulder. “Yan Wei!”
The books in Yan Wei’s hand fell to the ground with a thud.
The male student was startled and quickly apologized, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Let me help you pick them up!”
But Yan Wei didn’t look at him. She stopped in front of the teaching building, looking at the scrolling time on the LED banner above.
March 28, 2013.
“Yan Wei?” The boy waved his hand in front of Yan Wei’s eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”
Yan Wei took the books from his hand, mumbled a “thank you,” and hurried away without even seeing who it was.
Walking into the classroom as the bell rang for class, the morning reading teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Yan Wei stood at the classroom door, spending a few seconds recalling where her seat was while looking at the noisy students inside.
As if arranged by fate, Yan Wei’s gaze swept across the back row seats and inadvertently met the eyes of a girl in the corner by the window, then looked away.
The girl with the well-behaved student haircut quickly lowered her head, pretending to write something with a pen on the manuscript paper.
The male student from before caught up, looking bewildered. Just as he was about to speak, the crisp sound of high heels tapping on the corridor floor rang out.
Yan Wei came back to her senses and looked at the boy blocking her way. “Excuse me, thank you.”
The boy subconsciously took a step aside, and Yan Wei quickly walked back to her seat.
“What are you doing standing there?” The English teacher appeared behind the boy, frowning sternly. “Have you memorized the text? You’ll be the first one I check later.”
The boy: “…” On the verge of tears.
Yan Wei’s seat was in the best viewing position in the first three rows. Her deskmate Zhou Xiaoxiao watched her come over and conveniently pulled out the chair for her. “You didn’t ask for leave? Have you had breakfast?”
“No, there wasn’t enough time.” Yan Wei put down her books and thermos, sat down, and then turned her head to look at the window seat in the back row again.
Jiang Youyi maintained her writing posture without looking up. Her long, straight bangs covered her eyes, and Yan Wei couldn’t see the expression on her face.
Turning back again, there was an Alps candy on her desk.
“A new flavor.” Zhou Xiaoxiao said before continuing to bury herself in memorizing her textbook.
Yan Wei thanked her, unwrapped the candy, and put it in her mouth. Cola-flavored Alps, a very distant taste.
Having the habit of taking notes during her student days, Yan Wei had added special marks in front of the chapter numbers of the texts that needed to be memorized. Although she had forgotten the content, she had used English all the way to graduate school, so picking it up again wasn’t too difficult.
Hearing her deskmate reciting the text, Zhou Xiaoxiao looked very shocked.
“What’s wrong?” Yan Wei’s voice was muffled with the candy in her mouth.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just a bit surprising that the top student didn’t prepare the text beforehand,” Zhou Xiaoxiao said, drawing marks in her book with her head down.
Yan Wei smiled without replying, her gaze returning to the textbook.
Yan Wei was absent-minded all morning. It wasn’t until after two classes that she gradually recovered. During this time, she tried several times to break free from the dream, but hitting her head on the desk hurt, and biting her tongue also hurt. The more it hurt, the clearer she became.
Zhou Xiaoxiao looked at her mentally distraught deskmate with worry. “Yan Wei, what happened? Don’t think too much about it!”
During the math quiz in the previous class, Zhou Xiaoxiao had watched Yan Wei hand in a test paper that was mostly blank, and she was completely beside herself.
Yan Wei lay weakly on the desk, answering Zhou Xiaoxiao’s question for the umpteenth time, “I’m fine.”
She had just been forced to accept an unbelievable fact.
She had returned to the past, with her memories intact.
Today was the day after Jiang Youyi’s birthday. Last night, she had rejected Jiang Youyi’s confession.
There was still one year and three months until the college entrance exams.
Besides apprehension, there was also a bit of…
Luck.
During the long break between classes, there were still ten-odd minutes before the next class.
Yan Wei mentally prepared herself and stood up.
Jiang Youyi happened to pass by, her expression a little subtle as she looked at the female classmate who suddenly stood up to block her way.
“Excuse me,” Jiang Youyi said.
Yan Wei didn’t move. She moved her lips and asked dryly, “Where are you going? To the restroom?”
Jiang Youyi finally raised her head, her black, glass-like pupils looking over, her gaze meeting Yan Wei’s.
Yan Wei held onto the desk with one hand, her thumb nervously pressing against the edge of the desk.
Half a minute later, the chemistry teacher walked into the classroom carrying a teacup, placed the quiz papers on the podium, and waved at the girl not far away. “Class representative, take these papers and hand them out.”
“Class representative, the teacher is calling you.” This was the second sentence Jiang Youyi had said.
Yan Wei resignedly made way. Jiang Youyi walked past her to the podium and glanced at the chemistry quiz papers.
Yan Wei’s was on top.
Full marks, tsk.
Jiang Youyi went out. Yan Wei picked up the test papers on the podium. Several boys rushed to help. The class monitor also came over and took a small stack. He seemed to want to talk to Yan Wei, but Yan Wei didn’t notice him.
The fourth period was PE class. At the beginning of the semester, it was rare that no teacher occupied the class time. The PE teacher asked the student in charge of sports to organize the classmates to run laps, and after running, they could have free time.
There were three laps in total. After just two laps, someone in the girls’ group suddenly fell down, causing a commotion.
“It’s Yan Wei, Yan Wei fainted!”
As soon as the cry fell, a figure rushed over like a gust of wind, carrying Yan Wei on their back before any of the boys could, and headed towards the school infirmary.
When Yan Wei woke up, her deskmate Zhou Xiaoxiao was by her bedside.
“You’re finally awake!” Zhou Xiaoxiao stood up. “Is your head still dizzy? Should I help you call the school doctor to come and take a look?”
“It’s okay, no need,” Yan Wei replied, her gaze sweeping around the empty infirmary. She asked, “Did you bring me here?”
“It wasn’t me, it was Jiang Youyi. She even told me not to tell you,” Zhou Xiaoxiao readily betrayed the classmate who had just asked her to keep it a secret. “So weird, it wasn’t like I was the only one who saw it. She did a good deed and doesn’t want anyone to talk about it?! I won’t listen!”
Yan Wei’s mood suddenly brightened, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re so rebellious.”
“You’re the rebellious one!” Zhou Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. “Having low bl00d sugar and still not eating breakfast?”
Yan Wei smiled, not taking it seriously. “It’s not that serious.”
“Fainted and you still say it’s not serious?” Zhou Xiaoxiao was angry. “You have no idea how worried the boys in class were just now! I bet you someone will start bringing you breakfast tomorrow!”
“It’s not that exaggerated,” Yan Wei felt she had rested enough and glanced at the wall clock. “Let’s go, lunch is on my card.”
They had just finished PE class and arrived at the cafeteria a few minutes earlier than the students from other classes. Yan Wei and Zhou Xiaoxiao got their food and immediately saw Jiang Youyi sitting alone eating.
Yan Wei walked over with her tray. Jiang Youyi put down her chopsticks and stood up, not giving Yan Wei a chance to speak, and left directly.
More than half of the food in her plate was still left.
Yan Wei: “…” Maybe she had thought too simply.
It shouldn’t be, really.