Fever Break - Chapter 4

Shen Yixi only glanced at her before looking away.

Lu Wuke didn’t react much to his gaze and continued to push the door open and walk in. The smell of smoke in the stairwell was a bit pungent. The guy took the cigarette from his lips, blew out a smoke ring, and played with his lighter between his fingers. Lu Wuke didn’t look at him again and walked straight past him.

Shen Yixi seemed to lift his eyelids slightly.

Lu Wuke held a book under her arm, and the sound of the lighter being flicked echoed in the quiet stairwell. The sound was sporadic, but each thud was quite pronounced. She walked down the stairs. The sunset was warm against her neck.

After descending a flight of stairs, the noise from above suddenly stopped. The guy probably had enough of being up there; soon another set of footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Not hurried, not slow, just like a leisurely stroll. Their footsteps mingled together.

Lu Wuke kept her head down, neither quickening nor slowing her pace. The guy, with his long legs, caught up to her in no time. He brushed past her, carrying the scent of tobacco. Lu Wuke glanced at his back.

Once out of the stairwell, the campus path was bustling with students chatting and laughing, and several couples were holding hands, looking affectionate. As Lu Wuke made her way back to the dorm, the sky gradually darkened, and the streetlights along the road began to flicker one by one.

Just as Lu Wuke arrived at the bottom of the dormitory, she bumped into Ah Shi, who was coming back from the cafeteria with an ice pop still in her mouth. From quite a distance, Ah Shi waved vigorously at her. If it weren’t for the ice pop in her mouth, she probably would have shouted Lu Wuke’s name a couple of times.

Laughter and chatter from the girls in the dormitory occasionally drifted down. Ah Shi waited for her at the entrance. As she got closer, Lu Wuke noticed that Ah Shi was also holding a bag. Ah Shi handed the bag to Lu Wuke, saying, “Here.”

Lu Wuke took it and asked, “What is it?”

“I just saw your favorite little cakes in the cafeteria, so I brought one back for you.” Ah Shi had some chocolate crumbs from the ice pop on her lips.

“Here,” Lu Wuke handed her a tissue and pointed to the corner of her own mouth.

Ah Shi understood and took the tissue to wipe it off.

“By the way,” Ah Shi suddenly remembered, “Grandma called me while we were eating and asked about you. She said you didn’t answer her call.”

Ah Shi often liked to run to Lu Wuke’s house, calling her “Grandma” more frequently than Lu Wuke did.

Lu Wuke took her phone out of her coat pocket, where there were several missed calls displayed.

Ah Shi leaned over to look at the phone screen with her: “I told her you weren’t missing, why worry so much? Later, Grandma thought I found her annoying and said next time she wouldn’t feed me.”

Lu Wuke chuckled, “You two are so childish.”

“This is called the fun of banter. Don’t you understand, Lu Wuke? Unlike you, who acts like a grown-up every day,” she said, counting on her fingers, “not playful at all, it’s not fun.”

Lu Wuke couldn’t be bothered to respond and walked towards the dormitory entrance.

After the two returned to the dorm, only Jiang Qing was inside. Jiang Qing had just finished her shower and came out of the bathroom, noticing the two of them: “You’re back?”

“Yeah,” Ah Shi nodded, looking around the room, “Has the little princess left?”

Jiang Qing isn’t someone who enjoys stirring up trouble; she’s quite the old-fAh Shioned person. Usually, she doesn’t take sides in the dorm, so her relationship with Yu Xier is still somewhat okay—at least it’s not awkward.

She was drying her hair and said, “Yeah, she went home.”

Lu Wuke didn’t pay attention to what they were saying and sat down at the desk to call her grandmother. On the other end, her grandmother was probably waiting by the phone and picked up quickly.

“Grandma.”

“Why are you only calling me now? Have you had dinner?”

Lu Wuke glanced at the cake Ah Shi bought for her and lied without batting an eye, “I ate.”

“Don’t think just because I’m old my ears don’t work; I can tell when you’re lying through your teeth.” Her grandmother wasn’t like other elderly people who were gentle and kind; instead, she had a bit of a temper and a loud voice.

She said, “Hurry up and eat.”

Lu Wuke asked, “How’s your throat?”

“What could be wrong?” Grandma replied, “It’s just your dad, that brat, always talking too much. When he stops, he gets restless.”

Lu Wuke didn’t want to talk about Lu Zhiyuan and said nothing.
“Alright, I called you just to tell you this, so you won’t worry. I’ve just picked up some work here, so hurry up and eat. Do you have class tonight?” the old lady asked on the other end.

“No.”

“If you don’t have class, rest a bit more in the dorm. Grandma is hanging up now, eat more, you’ve gotten so thin.”

At that moment, Ah Shi suddenly appeared from behind and shouted into the phone, “Grandma, Lu Wuke’s chest is at least a D! This isn’t called being thin; it’s called having the right curves, youthful face and ample bosom.”

Lu Wuke expressionlessly hung up the phone.

Jiang Qing was laughing beside her.

Ah Shi also laughed and ran off, grabbing her backpack, “I’m off to class, see you tonight.”

=

In recent days, Ah Shi loved to lie on the balcony watching the freshmen marching on the playground. The school’s recruitment activities for the freshman clubs are in full swing, and every day on the way to class, she is handed a few flyers.

Early this morning, Lu Wuke was awakened by the commotion downstairs, and when she groggily opened her eyes, the dormitory was still quiet. She reached for her phone on the bedside table; it was seven in the morning. Lu Wuke felt that her sleepiness had vanished completely, so she simply sat up in bed.

The girl on the upper bunk, Ah Shi, was still sleeping soundly, while Jiang Qingyu was no longer in the dorm.

Since there was an early class that day, Lu Wuke called out to Ah Shi to get up after she got out of bed.

Ah Shi lay in bed for a while before groggily sitting up with the blanket wrapped around her: “Whose class is it today?”

Lu Wuke was just pulling a book off the shelf and putting it in his bag. Hearing her, he glanced at her and said, “The Killer Professor, are you sure you still won’t come down from above?”

Ah Shi paused for a moment, recalling that the first class was the moral education course they had chosen together last semester, and that the lecturer was notoriously strict—just being a minute late would result in a deduction of points.

She suddenly snapped awake, quickly getting out of bed to wash up.

Lu Wu Ke was leisurely lounging by the window, enjoying the breeze; the sky was still overcast.

Ah Shi grabbed her bag and tossed it to her, saying, “Look at you, so relaxed. Help me stuff my books in.”

Lu Wu Ke took it and dawdled for a bit before lazily walking over to Ah Shi’s desk. Lu Wu Ke glanced at the class schedule pinned to Ah Shi’s desk, pulled out two textbooks to put in the bag, and handed her a pen.

Ah Shi moved quickly, and before long, she had changed her clothes and packed up. She asked Lu Wu Ke, “Is there still time to eat?”

“Yes,” Lu Wu Ke checked the time and said, “Let’s go buy a drink at the convenience store.”

“Okay.” Ah Shi put her hand on Lu Wu Ke’s shoulder as they headed out together.

The moral education class was attended by students from many different colleges, and the teacher had arranged the seating by major. Lu Wu Ke and Ah Shi were in different majors, one at the front of the classroom and the other at the back.

The seating chart was projected on the screen, and Lu Wu Ke’s seat was in the fourth row by the window aisle. She found a spot to sit down, just as she inserted the straw into the milk carton, a girl stopped beside her.

The girl asked, “Hi, can I get through?”

Lu Wuke looked up and was taken aback when she recognized her.

The other girl also recognized her, smiled at her, and greeted her, “You’re from the English department too?”

It was the girl she had bumped into at the stairwell entrance last time. Lu Wuke remembered that Ah Shi had mentioned that her department’s heartthrob had recently been seen with someone from the English department.

“Yeah, Class 7.” She stood up to let the girl in.

After the girl sat down, she seemed to be busy with something on her phone.

Lu Wuke flipped through the material she needed to review for her afternoon English class, slowly sipping her milk.

After a while, the girl tapped her arm: “Excuse me, can I discuss something with you?”

Lu Wuke looked at her: “What is it?”

The girl shyly smiled, revealing two sweet little dimples: “My boyfriend is in this class too, sitting at behind. Could we swap seats?”

Lu Wuke had no particular requirements about where to sit in class: “Sure.”

The girl thanked her and pointed to the empty seat at the back of the classroom: “That one.”

Coincidentally, that seat was right next to Ah Shi.

Lu Wuke packed her things into her bag and sat down next to Ah Shi.

Ah Shi was playing a game with her headphones on, and when someone sat beside her, she lifted her gaze.

Upon seeing it was Lu Wuke, she pulled one earbud out: “Why are you sitting here?”

“I swapped seats with someone.”

Ah Shi quietly asked her, “Do you know whose seat this is?”

“Yeah,” Lu Wuke glanced at her, “Shen Yixi.”

Ah Shi was surprised, “He asked you to switch?”

She placed the book on the desk, “His girlfriend.”

Just after she finished speaking, a few people came in through the back door as the class bell rang.

A few boys showed no awareness that class had already started, chatting and laughing loudly.

On the road, Wu Ke saw the girl in front raise her hand and wave, her phone still pressed to her ear.

The group of boys noticed too and teased, “Damn, Yi Ge, is your girlfriend that clingy?”

“With how much you spoil her, you won’t escape being henpecked in the future.”

The boy chuckled softly, “Get lost.”

A pair of long legs passed by Wu Ke.

Shen Yixi had one hand in her pocket, and even under the fabric, her long fingers were still visible.

She heard him casually laugh and tease the person on the other end of the call, “Are you really as clingy as they say?”

His voice carried a lazy tone, as if he hadn’t fully woken up yet.

The breeze brushed past her page.

Lu Wu Ke stared intently at her book, completely unfazed.

Ah Shi leaned over and clicked his tongue, “I’m telling you, usually it’s harder than climbing to the sky to see Shen Yixi in class; you wouldn’t even catch a glimpse of his nose. This time, it’s obvious he’s here to accompany his girlfriend.”

But if he really spoiled his girlfriend, he wouldn’t change so quickly.

Wu Ke didn’t say anything and continued reading.

Ah Shi turned away and secretly started playing a game.

By the time Lu Wu Ke finished an article, she looked up and realized the person in her original seat had already fallen asleep. Shen Yixi had one hand draped behind her head, her fingers lazily hanging down. His short hair was bold yet couldn’t hide his charm.

Lu Wu Ke shifted her gaze.

The professor lecturing at the podium isn’t boring, but Lu Wuke, staring at the words on the blackboard, slowly starts to feel drowsy.

Ah Shi, having finished a game and with nothing to do, is doodling on her paper, but it’s hard to tell what she’s drawing.

Lu Wuke nudges Ah Shi’s arm: “I’m going to sleep for a bit. Wake me up when they call the roll.”

After saying that, she pulls up her hood and rests her head on the desk to sleep.

Perhaps due to not sleeping well last night, Lu Wuke falls asleep shortly after laying down.

And she dreams.

The dream isn’t very peaceful, filled with the heavy thunder of a sultry spring and the incessant rain. There are also glaring headlights.

Lu Wuke suddenly wakes up, realizing someone is shaking her shoulder.

“I called your name. Lu Wuke.”

On the podium, the professor called out once for attendance but didn’t hear anyone respond, so he shouted again, “Lu Wuke.”

Lu Wuke, a bit confused, raised her head from her arms, just about to raise hand.

A lazy voice from the front interrupted halfway.

“Here.”

Lu Wuke was taken aback.

The boy’s “Here” wasn’t quiet, carrying that mischievous nature typical of boys his age who enjoy teasing others.

Someone in the class couldn’t help but chuckle.

Beside her, Ah Shi was dumbfounded: “Damn, Shen Yixi?”

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Alara: I will update minimum 1 chapter per-day, and i will make it free 2 chapter weekly every saturday and sunday. You can read advanced chapter with coins! (˵ •̀ ᴗ – ˵ ) ✧