Lend Me Your Shoulder - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Borrowing On Friday

Noticing Lu Yanbai’s gaze, Xu Yeyu followed his line of sight and suddenly realized her hand was still gripping his arm. She lifted her index finger slightly and quickly pulled it back.

The main topic hadn’t even started, yet she was already getting handsy.

She snapped herself out of the romantic atmosphere she had imagined and changed the subject. “No problem. Let’s start the lesson.”

Lu Yanbai nodded coldly, passing over a pen. His tone was soft but carried a trace of distance.

“Circle the parts you didn’t understand yesterday. I’ll explain them to you again.”

Since Xu Yeyu was a novelist herself, she could tell that at this moment, he was deliberately creating some polite distance between them.

Just as she expected, he was very good at taking care of others’ feelings. He understood how to courteously, yet subtly, put space between student and professor.

Without hurting anyone or making the atmosphere worse.

But the comfortable distance he kept was exactly why it was so hard to get close to him.

No one would be pushed out of his communication zone, but no one could easily enter his intimate zone either.

Xu Yeyu took the pen, and inside, she didn’t feel resistant—in fact, a slight sense of calm sprouted.

She gripped the pen shaft and softly said, “Mm.”

Afterwards, Xu Yeyu confided to Xiang Wei, “As expected of a professor. Even though I felt him retreating from my personal space, I didn’t feel annoyed at all. Instead, I felt… strangely reassured?”

“You think L University professors are easy to be? Without some ability and charisma, how could he be so well-known?” Xiang Wei grabbed a bag of squid strips that Xu Yeyu had bought and munched as she spoke. “Besides, it’s normal you feel that way, because that means Lu Yanbai isn’t the type to mess around with students.”

“When it comes to intimate contact with students, behaving like that is very dignified. If he didn’t keep his distance, then you’d really have to be careful.”

Xu Yeyu nodded. “And his way is very gentle. It lets you feel him stepping back, also letting you know your behavior is inappropriate, but without making you embarrassed or unable to recover.”

Xiang Wei popped a piece of squid strip in her mouth. “So do you think what you did was inappropriate?”

Xu Yeyu blinked. “No, why should I feel that? I’m not even his student.”

Besides, at that time, it wasn’t on purpose.

“…”

Xiang Wei looked into her eyes earnestly. “I think it’s not just because he has boundaries, there’s another reason: you have thick skin.”

Xu Yeyu: ?

“My skin thick? I used to blush when people confessed to me in college!”

“The more you get confessed to, the less you blush. Isn’t that thick skin?”

Xu Yeyu pondered.

Although it sounded like nonsense, thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t illogical.

“But I still blush when I look at Lu Yanbai, like a bursting girl’s heart.”

Xiang Wei fiddled with her fingers. “Lu Yanbai’s really got it rough.”

“Say one more word and my fist might be on your pretty face next second.”

After thinking, she didn’t joke anymore and just sank into the sofa. “Still, I’m a bit scared I almost got caught.”

“You should thank yourself, you know? You were clearly reviewing yesterday’s lesson points, trying to piece together the cause and effect, but he mistook your hesitation for not understanding,” Xiang Wei said. “Luckily it was a false alarm, otherwise your plan to get close to Professor Lu would’ve failed.”

“There’s always a way. If I can’t linger in his office, I can still attend his classes.”

Xu Yeyu licked her lips. “I’m actually quite surprised he already signed my name up, and the higher-ups didn’t check and find out I’m not even an L University student.”

“Normal. It’s just a formality. Who really checks? Too much trouble.”

Xiang Wei nailed it.

That evening, both happened to be free, so Xu Yeyu dragged Xiang Wei up to do some cleaning.

They had just graduated a while ago. Xu Yeyu wanted to change environment for inspiration, and for other reasons chose to live in L City for a while.

At that time, Xiang Wei also hadn’t found a job, and since they’d been best friends since childhood, Xiang Wei came along to rent an apartment with her, under the pretense of training independence.

While Xu Yeyu busied herself writing, Xiang Wei sent out resumes looking for jobs.

Xiang Wei reluctantly stretched off the sofa. “You’re a devil, Xu Yeyu. I was exhausted from interviews these past few days, and today I can’t even watch variety shows properly. Now you want me to do a big cleanup? I really want to clean out your brain.”

Though she said that, Xiang Wei still got up.

“If you’re too tired, just clean our two bedrooms. Leave the rest to me,” Xu Yeyu handed her a broom, then asked, “By the way, how’s the job hunt?”

“Waiting for a call. What else can I do,” Xiang Wei rubbed her neck. “But those companies feel so-so. The one I really want to work at hasn’t interviewed me yet.”

“Which one?”

“Bo Jia. I’ll interview there later. Hope I get the job,” Xiang Wei dragged the broom into Xu Yeyu’s room. “Alright, I’m going to finish cleaning. Call me if you need me.”

Xu Yeyu nodded and started cleaning the kitchen. Halfway through, she heard Xiang Wei’s voice from the room.

“Hey, do you still need these paper drafts in your room?”

Xu Yeyu ran in and saw a stack of printed manuscripts in Xiang Wei’s hand. “Yes, yes, don’t throw them away.”

Xiang Wei flipped through them casually. “Hah, still serialized novels? I thought these were your old useless drafts you printed to see how they look.”

“These aren’t mine. They’re from a talented newcomer,” Xu Yeyu said. “The publishing company I’m signed with holds events, so I often get these.”

Xiang Wei’s eyes widened. “Talented? Even more talented than your cousin?”

Xiang Wei admired the family’s genes — two popular writers in their generation.

“Not really,” Xu Yeyu looked up at the bookshelf. “But their writing style is similar.”

Though they moved, Xu Yeyu still kept a big bookshelf: the first shelf held her published books, the second held her cousin Jiang Zhou’s works, the third had her friends’ books.

Xiang Wei looked over. “I really don’t get it. When you moved you had so much stuff to carry, but you insisted on bringing all these books just for appreciation?”

“You don’t understand. This is called a good habit of gaining knowledge. Heavy? Sorry, I don’t think so. I just feel fulfilled and satisfied having knowledge moved into my room…”

Xiang Wei rolled her eyes and interrupted, “You don’t think it’s heavy because your dad and the movers carried it up for you.”

“…”

After resting a few days, Xu Yeyu worked on some medium-length content at home. When Xiang Wei wasn’t interviewing, they stayed home and lived quite comfortably.

Time flew to Friday evening, and Lu Yanbai’s evening class began.

Xiang Wei asked, “Are you still going?”

“Yeah,” Xu Yeyu said, “Even though he gave me a makeup lesson, there are too many unfamiliar points. I’ll go to the evening class to learn new content, so he won’t have to worry so much.”

“Tsk, tsk. So soon you’re already considerate of him.”

“Who told you I’m understanding?”

After thinking, Xiang Wei honestly held her stomach. “I feel like throwing up.”

“Maybe you’re pregnant.”

When it was time to leave, Xu Yeyu still dragged Xiang Wei along.

Xiang Wei: “Why do you keep pulling me? I have no feelings for the handsome Professor Lu, and I don’t need to write a long article about psychology.”

Xu Yeyu: “I feel safe with you. Besides, you’re free, sitting on the couch all day till you almost make a hole in it. I promise, once you start working, I won’t drag you to class.”

Xiang Wei was soft-hearted: “Fine, I’ll go.”

After they went downstairs, Xu Yeyu added, “Then next time I get caught eating an apple, I’ll say you forced me.”

Xiang Wei’s steps paused. She raised her hand to touch Xu Yeyu’s cheek.

Xu Yeyu: “What are you doing?”

“Just checking if your face is still there. Do you still have any shame, Xu Yeyu?”

…

Having learned the lesson from being late last time, Xu Yeyu left half an hour earlier this time. When she arrived at the classroom, it was exactly 6:25.

She looked at her phone and smiled. “This time, definitely…”

Her voice stopped abruptly as she glanced into the classroom.

Xiang Wei: “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you going in?”

Following Xu Yeyu’s gaze, Xiang Wei grabbed her hand tightly. “Wow… what’s going on?”

Inside the classroom, it was packed with a dense crowd of heads.

Xiang Wei: “Didn’t we arrive half an hour early this time?”

Xu Yeyu cleared her throat, incredulous. “Are you kidding? Being early or not makes no difference. When did these people come to reserve seats? Is the next class Professor Lu’s?”

At that moment, the boy who had been sitting next to Xiang Wei during the previous class seemed to go out to the bathroom. Returning, he saw them silently standing at the door and said in surprise, “You actually came.”

Xiang Wei looked back and took a few minutes to recall his face. “Oh, it’s you. You were late too?”

“I came at noon. How could I be late?” The boy said. “Have you never reserved seats before? Coming half an hour, an hour, or two hours early won’t get you a seat near Professor Lu.”

Xu Yeyu: “Then when should we come?”

The boy said, “There are morning classes in this room until 12. When the class ends, the seat-reserving crowd comes immediately. To get the front seats, you have to come before 11. By about 1:30, the seats open up again.”

…Is it really that extreme?

Looking at the nearly 80% female crowd inside, Xu Yeyu was silent for a long while, then blurted out, “I think these people have bad intentions. They’re all here to compete for my boyfriend.”

Xiang Wei bit her lip and pulled her sleeve. “Lower your voice!”

The next second, the boy beside them turned and seemed to notice someone. He bowed slightly, “Pr-Professor Lu…”

A man’s figure slowly moved from behind, and Xu Yeyu stiffened, bl00d rushing to her head.

No way… Lu Yanbai is here?