CFHE Chapter 60

Wen Yu spoke and walked forward, the corner of his mouth carrying a natural smile, as if he really was just joking.

However, Fu Yuhan slowed his pace and glanced at him.

Wen Yu turned his head: “What?”

“…Nothing.” Fu Yuhan shook his head, “Just looking around.”

After saying this, he stepped toward the classroom. Wen Yu’s gaze followed him the entire time.

Fu Yuhan was a very smart person with almost supernatural intuition. For a moment, Wen Yu wondered if he had seen through something.

Actually, given Wen Yu’s personality, if Fu Yuhan really had seen through him, he should feel fortunate. But in that moment he suddenly felt a bit afraid—afraid that Fu Yuhan had seen through him but was unwilling to accept it, and would gradually distance himself.

Was this what it felt like to truly like someone?

Constantly worrying about gains and losses, so pathetic.

But his heart also felt inexplicably itchy.

Like in the height of summer, at 2 PM when the sun was most intense, tilting your head back and downing a bottle of ice-cold white peach sparkling water.

Fu Yuhan walked a distance, then turned back to look at him: “What are you standing there for?”

“Coming.” Wen Yu caught up.

–

When studying, everyone was very honest. Although it was senior year now, although today was Monday, the first Monday after midterm exams just felt more relaxed than usual.

As if having just gone through a major exam, they had to give themselves a few days off to recover.

PE class was self-study as usual, but no teacher came to take over. The diligent boys and girls in the front rows took their respective practice problems and test papers to do what needed doing, checking for gaps and filling them; several boys in the back rows stood up, took a basketball from who knows where, bounced it on the ground once, made eye contact with those who turned around at the sound, and jerked their chins toward the door.

Fang Jiayuan responded enthusiastically, getting up and patting Sun Wenrui. Sun Wenrui seemed distracted today, but still stood up.

As the two walked out, they turned back to see Fu Yuhan sitting properly at his desk, working on a problem he’d gotten wrong.

“Fu-ge?” Fang Jiayuan was surprised and asked quietly, “You’re not going to play basketball?”

Fu Yuhan shook his head: “Where’s the time for that?”

Fang Jiayuan’s eyes widened, thinking something was wrong with his ears: “You’re not even relaxing after just finishing exams? You improved so much this time—”

Fu Yuhan looked up at him: “But I’m still probably last place in Class 6.”

…

Oh, that was true.

But Class 6 was an honors class!

Fang Jiayuan had complaints he couldn’t voice, looking to Sun Wenrui for help, but Sun Wenrui was badly distracted and didn’t catch his signal.

The three were at a standstill, while the boys at the back door were still quietly urging: “Are we going or not?”

At this moment, Wen Yu suddenly looked up at the two people in front and asked quietly: “Can I go?”

“Huh?”

Fang Jiayuan and Fu Yuhan both voiced their confusion almost simultaneously. Wen Yu turned to look at his desk mate and said seriously: “I want to go.”

“Go, going is fine.”

During this period, because of that “notebook friendship,” Wen Yu had quickly gotten closer to his classmates. But his academic excellence was too outstanding—rather than saying everyone excluded him or wouldn’t include him, it was more that this group simply hadn’t thought he would do things like skipping self-study to play basketball.

Fang Jiayuan scratched his head: “…But Yu-ge, can you play basketball?”

Wen Yu used an attitude and tone he’d never shown in class before, but was very accustomed to privately, making a suggestive joke: “How can you ask a man if he can or can’t?”

Fang Jiayuan opened his mouth, too surprised to know what to say.

“Aren’t you supposed to prepare for the competition?” Fu Yuhan had been watching him since he said that. Besides Wen Yu, there were three other people in class going to the chemistry competition, and those people had their heads buried in test papers right now.

“But I want to go,” Wen Yu looked at him, “Are you going?”

“No, I need to finish this test paper…”

“Fu-ge.” Sun Wenrui suddenly snapped back to attention, lowered his head and quietly interrupted Fu Yuhan, “When you sneak out of school, do you climb that wall behind the empty building? Which spot?”

“…”

Fu Yuhan looked up: “What do you want to do?”

Sun Wenrui frowned, his expression conflicted: “…I want to go see Chen Mengxian.”

Chen Mengxian had asked for leave early this morning. With the homeroom teacher and class monitor around, the people in the back rows knew she wasn’t there, but no one cared where she’d gone.

Sun Wenrui obviously knew this too. He explained quietly: “I asked Ge Ran, she said it was period discomfort… went to the hospital.”

When girls talked to boys about such things, they were evasive and unclear, but Sun Wenrui at least knew that going to the hospital meant it was serious.

Chen Mengxian was a very well-behaved girl who spoke softly. If she weren’t pretty, she’d be so quiet as to have almost no presence. She wouldn’t casually ask for leave just because of her period—if she didn’t come, it could only be because she couldn’t.

Sun Wenrui was a bit worried.

“Do you know where she is?” Fu Yuhan asked.

“I messaged her but she won’t say, but Ge Ran quietly told me.” Sun Wenrui said, “It’s the Second Hospital nearby. I’ll go and come right back, won’t be long… just tell me, okay?”

Third High was a provincial key school after all. There were no more than five people in the school who had mastered the “rebellious art of wall-climbing to skip class,” which was also why the school had never installed electric fencing on that temporary construction site wall.

Not everyone knew how to get up there.

For instance, Sun Wenrui didn’t know.

Whether it was Fang Jiayuan or Wen Yu, both looked speechless at his words. If Fu Yuhan’s expressions weren’t so restrained, he’d probably look similar. But he still sighed and put down his pen: “You guys really… one after another, none of you want to let me study.”

“…” Wen Yu was choked by his words, “So you’ve decided to go down?”

“I’ll take him to scout the spot and come right back.” Fu Yuhan glanced at him, “What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.” Wen Yu gritted his back teeth.

Of course nothing was wrong—could he really be upset about it?

They were all friends, there was no difference. Fu Yuhan was being kind, not specifically good to him.

…Damn it.

–

During class time, the teaching building was very quiet.

A group of boys walked downstairs in a grand procession, but no one dared make a sound to break the silence.

Only after leaving the teaching building did the group relax. Several people, having heard that Sun Wenrui wasn’t playing basketball but was climbing the wall to go see his goddess, all mocked him for having no technique in pursuing someone—several months and still no success.

Sun Wenrui fought back by mocking them for not having spoken to a single girl this semester.

The closer male friends were, the more cutting and childish their verbal sparring became. Fu Yuhan usually didn’t participate in such topics. As usual, he walked at the back with his hands in his pockets, his attention focused on Wen Yu.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Wen Yu said.

“…” Fu Yuhan frowned, “Which of my words offended you?”

“I already said there’s nothing.”

Fu Yuhan pursed his lips, his gaze sweeping toward the empty area: “…Fine.”

He felt a bit annoyed, but couldn’t directly snap back at Wen Yu like before, leaving him so frustrated his chest felt heavy.

Not just Sun Wenrui—the others also showed intense interest in the “wall-climbing secrets.” They deliberately didn’t enter when passing the basketball court, following Sun Wenrui across the playground to behind the empty building.

Fu Yuhan brought them to a section of that wall, found a stone slightly smaller than a basketball from a nearby flower bed, placed it at the base of the wall, and pointed: “Look, first step on the stone, second step on the lamp post, then use your hands to push yourself up over the wall.”

Fang Jiayuan, who had come to watch, was stunned: “Isn’t the difficulty level a bit high?”

“If anyone could climb it, the school would install electric fencing.” Fu Yuhan glanced at him sideways.

“Don’t be angry, Fu-ge,” Fang Jiayuan heard the irritation in his voice and said innocently, “Look how sincere Old Sun is, ‘breaking out of prison’ for love. We really didn’t mean to stop you from correcting problems.”

“…Forget it, it’s nothing.” Fu Yuhan wasn’t angry about that. He tried to adjust his tone and said to Sun Wenrui, “Should I demonstrate once?”

“Yes, thank you Fu-ge.”

Usually when no one was around, Fu Yuhan wouldn’t particularly care about his image when going out by himself, but today with Wen Yu standing nearby, Fu Yuhan felt competitive and deliberately struck a very cool pose when jumping onto the wall.

Three seconds later he was crouched on the wall, looking down: “Got it?”

“…Should I try?” Sun Wenrui really wanted to say he didn’t get it, but he was the one insisting on going out.

“Go ahead.” Fu Yuhan pushed off with one hand and jumped down from the wall.

Wen Yu moved.

He instinctively reached out, but before that, Fu Yuhan had already landed safely.

The wall was very high. Without some arm strength, jumping ability, technique, and proficiency, ordinary people really couldn’t jump up.

Fu Yuhan was just that cool—methodical, shining in the things he was good at. Who he was good to and to what extent all followed his own principles, not subject to Wen Yu’s will.

Wen Yu used his reasonably intelligent brain to think for more than ten minutes before finally understanding that this inexplicable anger was purely because Fu Yuhan didn’t belong to him.

The boss’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind—”Pride is worth nothing in the face of love.”

So “if the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain”?

Wen Yu pursed his lips, thinking why should he.

Sun Wenrui’s movements were much uglier than Fu Yuhan’s—not only ugly but he couldn’t jump up. A group of people waiting to play basketball watched him and laughed.

Making fun of buddies was definitely more entertaining than the basketball they’d played countless times.

Within a few minutes, that gray cement wall was smeared with flower bed mud, but Sun Wenrui still hadn’t climbed over.

PE class was only 40 minutes long. Dragging it out wasn’t good for anyone. Sun Wenrui’s face showed obvious anxiety. Fu Yuhan watched from the side, sighed, and said: “How about this, Old Sun—I’ll go up first, then pull you up from above.”

“Huh? Will that work?” Sun Wenrui looked up, “This wall is so narrow, you won’t be able to stand on it, right?”

“Then I’ll go down.” Fu Yuhan said, “Behind is a construction site. You don’t know them so you don’t know if they’ll let you through. I might as well take you out.”

Sun Wenrui’s eyes lit up, saying almost tearfully: “Thank you Fu-ge! Such great kindness!”

“…It’s not that serious.”

Fu Yuhan felt he was just empathizing with difficult unrequited love to the point of overflowing sympathy.

He jumped onto the wall in a few steps, reached down his hand, and had Sun Wenrui jump up. Sun Wenrui had no technique and would fall back down mid-air, but this time his wildly waving hand was caught by Fu Yuhan.

Fu Yuhan braced against the wall, using one hand to pull the person up, having him step on the nearby lamp post to climb up.

When the person reached a height where he could use both arms to pull himself up, Fu Yuhan smoothly jumped backward, disappearing from everyone’s view. Only his voice came through: “Can you get up?”

“I can manage this time.” Sun Wenrui finally climbed up, waving to the people below, “I’m leaving first.”

“Stop saying goodbye, we’re in a hurry.” Fu Yuhan said, “Come down, I’ll tell you how to get back later.”

“Okay, okay.” Sun Wenrui obediently climbed down.

The construction site side was easier to climb because there were many building materials and plenty of places to use for leverage. Fortunately, this was the school’s construction site. The construction team had reportedly cooperated with the school for quite a while, had decent discipline, and no one climbed the wall into the school.

Fu Yuhan pointed out several places he could step on, and Sun Wenrui noted them all down.

Having just climbed over from that side, he had a rough idea and felt it would be quite easy to climb, so he didn’t have Fu Yuhan demonstrate again. As the two walked toward the construction site exit, several workers saw Fu Yuhan and cried out: “We thought you’d reformed since you hadn’t come for so long, but turns out you’re not only skipping class yourself, you’re starting to bring others too???”

“We’ll be back soon.” Fu Yuhan said, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t let Director Yao come scold people.”

Because of this, he specifically reminded Sun Wenrui at the construction site gate to remember to come back early—the workers here who got criticized by Director Yao every few days just for moving bricks really had it tough.

“I know.” Sun Wenrui said, “Thank you Fu-ge, I’m leaving first.”

Fu Yuhan waved at him.

Sun Wenrui took off his school uniform jacket and ran off.

The Second Hospital wasn’t far from school. Running over like this would take about five minutes, but that school uniform was conspicuous—taking it off would be better.

Fu Yuhan watched his running figure and suddenly smiled very lightly.

Everyone was a fool when it came to feelings, not just him.

He still remembered his unfinished error corrections and turned back to climb over the wall the same way. While passing by, those familiar workers teased him for a few more lines, delaying him for half a minute.

Unexpectedly, after climbing back over the wall, he found that group of people still waiting.

Wen Yu stood alone to the side like an otherworldly hermit, looking at him but without any particular expression.

…Really.

He didn’t know what this person was being moody about.

Fu Yuhan didn’t even notice that he irritably tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He jumped down from the wall and said to the others: “Not going to play basketball? What are you still standing here for?”

“Waiting for you to play basketball, Fu-ge.”

“Didn’t I say I wasn’t playing?”

“…Really not playing?”

“Not playing.” Fu Yuhan put his hands in his pockets, “I’m leaving.”

Going back to the classroom and going to the basketball court were on the same route, so the group walked together for a while. The classmates had asked Fu Yuhan how to climb the wall before but he’d never revealed it. Today was the first time they’d seen it, so they spent the whole way praising his skillful technique and cool moves.

Fu Yuhan listened with little interest. At the basketball court entrance, he didn’t turn and prepared to continue walking forward.

“Hey.” Wen Yu’s voice came from behind.

Fu Yuhan squinted and struggled for a second, stopped and turned around: “Mm?”

“Really not playing?”

The others had all gone in, leaving just the two of them near the wire mesh gate.

“…I thought you were going to say something else.” Fu Yuhan said, “Don’t you know my review progress? Where do I have time to play? What about you though, really not reviewing? The competition is the day after tomorrow.”

“It’s not important.”

Wen Yu wasn’t someone who cared much about competition rankings to begin with. Rather, he used to win those awards for his father’s face. Even now, those certificates and medals were still in Wen Ziming’s big office on the 28th floor of the office building, having nothing to do with him.

But…

Wen Yu looked at him: “Do you really hope I’ll win an award?”

“Since you’re going,” Fu Yuhan was a bit puzzled, “having spent the time, wouldn’t it be a loss not to win an award… You should be able to win one, right?”

“Who can say for sure.” Wen Yu thought for a moment, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. His gaze moved from Fu Yuhan’s face to his shoes, then back to his face, saying softly: “How about you say ‘good luck’ to me?”

Why should he “go to the mountain”?

Because he liked him.

This reason was both humble and noble, both fresh and magical.

Fu Yuhan looked at him for a long while without making a sound.

Wen Yu put his hands in his pockets, his eyes lightly swaying: “Not okay?”

“Believing in superstition is not as good as studying hard.” Fu Yuhan lowered his head, rummaged through his school pants pocket, and pulled out a square napkin to start folding. His slender fingers were incredibly nimble, and the soft napkin was quickly folded into a certain shape.

The people who had entered the court first were already calling for Wen Yu. Wen Yu responded, but his gaze remained fixed on Fu Yuhan’s hands.

After Fu Yuhan finished folding, he walked over to him and stuffed the thing into his hand: “Here’s a temporary one for now, I’ll make you a proper one later.”

“What’s this?” Wen Yu looked down.

“A lucky star.”

Four long points and four short points—a white eight-pointed lucky star lay there like a flame, almost burning Wen Yu’s palm.