Confession to You in Early Summer (GL) - Chapter 20
“Hey! Student! It’s too late, boarding students can’t leave the school gate!”
Yan Wei jogged all the way to the school gate and was stopped by the security guard at the guardhouse. She took out a leave pass from her pocket and handed it to the gatekeeper uncle. “I’m just going to the small supermarket up the slope to buy some daily necessities, I’ll be back in half an hour!”
The gatekeeper looked at the pass, saw Yan Wei’s sincere expression and well-behaved appearance, and his heart softened. He instructed her, “Then hurry up, you must be back before 9:30.”
“Thank you, Uncle!” Yan Wei pressed her palms together and bowed her head in thanks, her address of “uncle” being very clear.
The gatekeeper couldn’t help but smile and waved. “Go and come back quickly.”
Yan Wei ran out of the school gate in big strides, rounded the corner, and just in time, a bus going to the city center stopped at the platform. She ran towards the bus, waving as she ran. The driver saw her and kindly waited for a moment.
Successfully getting on the bus, Yan Wei thanked the driver and went to the back to find an empty seat, finally having a chance to catch her breath.
Their high school was located in the suburbs of Fudu, making it difficult to hail a taxi. Students could only take the bus to the city center. Yan Wei was lucky; otherwise, if she had missed this bus, she would have had to wait another ten minutes or so for the next one.
In late April, it wasn’t hot during the day, and there was an occasional cool breeze at night. Yan Wei had jogged a bit, and now that she was sitting down, her back felt a little sweaty.
The bus passed seven or eight stops. Yan Wei waited anxiously. When it reached a section with more cars and people, she immediately got off the bus and transferred to a taxi, finally arriving at the street Jiang Youyi had mentioned on the phone.
Even though Yan Wei had come as quickly as possible, she was still delayed by over half an hour on the way. The sky had changed from gloomy to dark, the wind was a bit strong, and it might even rain tonight.
The small street wasn’t wide. Lush sycamore trees were planted on both sides of the motor vehicle lane. The square bricks paving the sidewalk were uneven, some sticking up here and there. Once it rained, water would accumulate in the cracks, and stepping on them would splash mud all over.
Yan Wei had never been here before. Judging by the area, it should be the old city district, with many small shops lined up. The neon lights of the night beer and barbecue stalls had incomplete strokes, casting colorful lights on the faces of pedestrians.
In a slightly wider open space, elderly people were gathered in twos and threes under the trees, enjoying the cool air. The dim night couldn’t hide the strong sense of life on the street, but Yan Wei was in no mood to appreciate it.
She found a newspaper stand that hadn’t closed by the roadside and used the public phone to dial the number she knew by heart. After two rings, the person on the other end answered the phone.
“I’m at Yuping Street, the newspaper stand next to Wang’s Barbecue.” Without waiting for Jiang Youyi to speak, Yan Wei finished her sentence in one breath, “Where are you right now? I’m coming to find you.”
Jiang Youyi was silent for a few seconds. Yan Wei seemed to hear her sigh. “Cross the road and walk a few more steps towards the red residential building. There’s a mobile phone repair shop. I’ll wait for you outside.”
Yan Wei hung up the phone, crossed the road as Jiang Youyi had said, walked along the street for about a hundred meters, and finally saw Jiang Youyi squatting by the roadside, exhaling smoke.
Jiang Youyi saw Yan Wei from afar, took the cigarette butt out of her mouth and blew out a smoke ring. She directly pressed the remaining half of the cigarette on the ground to extinguish it, casually threw it into the trash can next to her, and stood up, stamping her feet.
By the time Yan Wei approached, the smell of smoke on her body was almost undetectable.
“Actually, you didn’t have to come…” Jiang Youyi turned her face away awkwardly. “It’s really nothing.”
Yan Wei didn’t listen, sharply retorting, “If it’s nothing, why were you hiding?”
Jiang Youyi: “…”
“Turn your face around and let me see.”
“…”
“Hurry up, my patience is limited.”
Jiang Youyi couldn’t help but complain, “Why do I feel like you’re even more irritable than me?”
“Of course, I’ll get angry if you don’t turn around!” Yan Wei was aggressive, it was unclear whether she was truly angry or just pretending. Jiang Youyi had no choice but to face Yan Wei.
Yan Wei hissed, her brows furrowing. “What happened?”
She reached out to touch the swollen side of Jiang Youyi’s face, but Jiang Youyi took a step back to avoid her touch.
Only then did Yan Wei realize that her attempt to touch her face just now was a bit too intimate.
She withdrew her hand a bit unnaturally and looked around. There was a 24-hour pharmacy not far away.
“Wait for me,” Yan Wei said, turning to go to the pharmacy.
Jiang Youyi suddenly grabbed her arm.
Yan Wei turned back. “The corner of your mouth is broken, it needs to be disinfected. I’ll be right back.”
“No need, don’t go,” Jiang Youyi said. “It’s nothing serious.”
She looked away again. Yan Wei saw her lips move, whispering something, but the street was a bit noisy, and she didn’t hear clearly.
“What did you say?” Yan Wei pressed.
Jiang Youyi dodged Yan Wei’s probing gaze. “Nothing.”
Yan Wei was relentless, pursuing the matter to the end. “What do you mean by nothing?”
At this moment, the owner of the repair shop next to them waved at Jiang Youyi. “Xiao Jiang, the phone screen is fixed.”
Jiang Youyi replied with an “okay” and turned to Yan Wei. “I’ll go over there for a bit, wait for me.” Without waiting for Yan Wei’s response, she quickly fled as if afraid of being questioned further.
Yan Wei watched her quickly walk into the shop, take back her repaired phone, take out the SIM card that had been temporarily placed in another phone and put it back, checked the basic functions, paid the money when there were no problems.
When leaving, the shop owner looked at Yan Wei, who was waiting in place by the street, smiled, and asked her, “Your friend?”
“Mm,” Jiang Youyi didn’t look up, quickly replied to two text messages, then put her phone back in her pocket. “Nothing serious for now, I’ll go first.”
“Alright,” the shop owner saw her out. “Xiao Jiang, don’t blame Uncle for being nosy, but don’t always go against your dad. A family should be harmonious.”
“Go tell him that, it’s useless talking to me,” Jiang Youyi didn’t want to continue the topic, waved her hand, and turned to walk towards Yan Wei.
“Broke your phone too?” Yan Wei kicked a small stone on the ground with her hands behind her back, glancing at the repair shop. “You seem very familiar with the owner?”
Jiang Youyi pursed her lips, looking like she didn’t want to talk much, but since Yan Wei had asked, she still replied, “Not familiar.”
“Oh,” Yan Wei didn’t continue, changing the subject. “Have you had dinner? Are you hungry?”
Jiang Youyi: “No appetite.”
“That means you haven’t eaten,” Yan Wei looked at the row of barbecue and night beer stalls by the roadside. “Are there any good restaurants nearby you’d recommend? I haven’t eaten much tonight either, I’m a bit hungry now.”
Jiang Youyi was speechless at the female classmate beside her who deliberately pretended not to understand what she meant.
“Let’s go to Wang’s, the one next to the bus stop,” Jiang Youyi led Yan Wei forward. “Their grilled pork belly and pickled pepper beef rolls are quite famous around here, I’ll take you to try them.”
Yan Wei blinked. “Your lip is broken, is it okay to eat pickled peppers?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Jiang Youyi raised an eyebrow. “Give up barbecue for a sesame seed-sized cut? Impossible.”
Yan Wei laughed out loud.
Who was it just now who said they had no appetite?