Chapter 38

The day before the sports meet, Su Ci got a call from the hospital. They told her the patient had been moved to a private room and would receive free treatment. From then on, all of the patient’s hospital expenses would be covered, including the caregiver fee.

Before Su Ci could even ask any questions, they went on to say that someone kind had heard about what happened and stepped in on their own initiative. That person hadn’t revealed anything about themselves. They’d only said Su Ci should study hard and, once she achieved something in the future, remember to give back to society.

“Su Ci, what’s wrong?” Zhao Panpan noticed that after Su Ci answered the phone, she’d been distracted ever since. The teacher was already in the classroom, but Su Ci was still holding her phone. Zhao Panpan nudged her with an elbow and lowered her voice. “The teacher’s looking over here.”

Tomorrow was the two-day sports meet; during the meet there would be no early self-study and no classes, so for these students who spent all their time buried in their books, it was another kind of break.

So as the sports meet approached, the class had become a little restless.

Seeing a few students zoning out, the teacher on the platform tapped the desk and reminded them, “The sports meet isn’t until tomorrow. Pay attention now…”

After class, Su Ci called back the number from earlier. This time, a staff member answered, but no matter what Su Ci asked, the other side couldn’t give her a clear answer.

Unable to get anywhere, Su Ci contacted the attending doctor instead. “Hello, Dr. Xiao. Sorry to bother you, but do you know who the kind person was who helped move Uncle to a different room?”

It seemed they’d been told to keep it secret; the person on the other end was just as vague as the staff member who had answered the phone before. In the end, they said gently that the hospital would cover the treatment costs.

They told her not to worry about the follow-up expenses, and not to feel indebted either. They also said they knew she had a grateful heart; she only needed to study hard, and when she grew up and had the ability, she could give back to society then.

It sounded like everyone had been given the same script.

For all three morning classes, Su Ci kept thinking about one thing: who exactly was that kind person?

She didn’t want to repay someone one day and not even know their name.

There was no such thing as an airtight wall in this world; no matter what anyone did, it was impossible for not a single whisper to leak out.

Today was Thursday. The next two days would be the school sports meet, followed by two days off.

Su Ci made up her mind on the spot and booked a high-speed rail ticket for Monday to the neighboring city.

She was going to the hospital and find out who was helping her behind the scenes.

The two days of the sports meet were the hottest of the week; the first day was the worst, with the temperature reaching thirty-eight degrees.

Scattered across the playground were many sky-blue tents, the base camps for the different classes.

Two hours after the opening ceremony, aside from the athletes and the students cheering them on, each class’s support group had returned to their own tent to replenish supplies or write cheering slogans.

Su Ci was sitting under one of the blue tents at the moment, writing cheering slogans together with the rest of the support group.

She had signed up for the 3,000-meter run; events that took a great deal of energy were usually scheduled for the afternoon of the sports meet’s final day.

On the first day, she stayed with the support group, cheering on the other students who were competing and helping out with odd jobs.

The sky was a deep blue, with huge white clouds drifting by; even when a breeze occasionally swept across the field, it was still hot.

At this point, students were gathered at the designated spots around the playground to watch the various events.

Zhao Panpan had signed up for shot put, but she still hadn’t checked in yet.

“Su Ci, help me pin this back on.”

Zhao Panpan’s number tag had come loose and fallen off again. Su Ci looked over; the safety pin was crooked. After pinning it back on, she heard the broadcast announce shot put check-in.

“Su Ci!”

Yan Can was helping Zhang Ru pin on her number bib. When she looked up and saw Su Ci, she immediately waved at her.

“Hello, senior!” Zhao Panpan greeted the older students enthusiastically.

Because Yan Can had been going to their class to look for Su Ci almost every day these past few days, Zhao Panpan had gradually become able to exchange a few words with her too.

She had Su Ci to thank for that as well.

“Senior Yan Can is also in shot put?” Zhao Panpan asked.

“What shot put am I throwing?” Yan Can smiled and pointed at Zhang Ru beside her. “It’s your Senior Zhang Ru who signed up for shot put.”

Zhao Panpan let out an “oh.”

She really had been having a brain lapse; she’d forgotten that Senior Yan Can’s hand had only just healed.

Not long after, the broadcast announced the preliminaries.

Zhang Ru’s luck was poor; she was eliminated in the preliminary round.

But she didn’t think it was a pity. After all, she hadn’t really practiced much. Not finishing last and getting eliminated was already pretty good.

After Zhang Ru was out, she and Yan Can went to cheer for Zhao Panpan.

Zhao Panpan had a lot of strength. Although her form wasn’t standard, she could throw far, and in the end she came back with second place.

As soon as she finished, she immediately threw her arms around Su Ci in the crowd, laughing right into her ear.

Seeing that she still wasn’t letting go after ten seconds, Yan Can narrowed her eyes and couldn’t help stepping forward to slap her hand away.

Zhao Panpan looked a little dazed. Su Ci also turned to look. Yan Can coughed and said, “You got her clothes dirty.”

Zhao Panpan had just handled the shot put; her hands were filthy black. Su Ci’s white T-shirt now had two faint handprints on it.

“Sorry, Su Ci. I was just too happy,” Zhao Panpan said awkwardly.

“It’s fine,” Su Ci said.

“I knew you were the best.” Zhao Panpan hooked her arm around Su Ci’s and rubbed against her twice affectionately, only for Su Ci to dodge away. “Hot.”

Yan Can watched the two of them acting so close and felt a little sour.

She didn’t like Su Ci linking arms with other people, and she didn’t like other people being so affectionate with Su Ci. How strange. Yan Can thought she was becoming more and more strange; why was she even getting jealous over this?

That whole day, Yan Can felt uncomfortable because of it.

On the way home with Su Ci in the car, the more Yan Can thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong with her.

Her possessiveness seemed to be getting stronger and stronger…

Was this right? Su Ci was an independent person, yet she wanted to possess her, to monopolize her smile, monopolize her body, and even monopolize her soul…

That feeling that something was about to burst through the ground grew even stronger; something inside her body was growing recklessly, impossible to hold back.

That night, while they were doing homework together, Yan Can simply couldn’t settle down and study properly.

Her heart felt restless.

She licked her lips, then bit down on Su Ci’s neck. When her teeth slowly sank into that soft, pale skin, her inner turmoil actually calmed for a brief moment, as if in the hottest part of the day someone had handed her a bottle of ice water; she only took one mouthful, yet felt like she had come back to life.

But when she tried, just like last time, to leave a mark.

The one who had remained silent and let her take whatever she wanted spoke up. She said, “Don’t leave a mark.”

Yan Can let go and saw that there was already a small row of neat bite marks on that slender, fragile neck.

Left by her.

Looking at the mark she had left behind, Yan Can’s cheeks slowly began to heat up, until they turned hot.

She reached out with her tongue and licked it gently in reassurance, then said in a hoarse voice, “You don’t want other people to see it?”

As she asked that, she felt a little sour inside.

Why?

Before she met Su Ci, she had never felt things like this.

How strange. She seemed to be becoming less and less like herself.

Suddenly, she felt afraid.

“Yan Can—”

Su Ci turned her head; the two of them faced each other, only a fist’s distance apart, close enough to hear one another’s breathing.

The afterglow of the sunset spilled across Su Ci’s profile, and even her eyelashes were coated in a layer of gold, lightly fluttering in the sunlight like dancing butterflies.

Yan Can’s heart stopped for a moment. She gave a quiet “Mm” and asked, “W-What is it?”

Su Ci’s gaze was very serious, clearly as if she had something to say. Yet for some reason, after looking at Yan Can for a few seconds, she pressed her lips together and finally turned away again. “It’s nothing.”

Yan Can…

“Su Ci, why do you still have this old habit?” she said, speaking haltingly.

She reached out, hooked her fingers under Su Ci’s pointed chin, and turned her face back. Su Ci followed the force of her hand and turned around. Yan Can kissed her hard, then put on an intentionally fierce expression and said, “Mouths are for talking. If you want to say something, then say it.”

Su Ci looked into her eyes, as if thinking about something. A few seconds later, she still shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

She would just go to the hospital the day after tomorrow and find out what was going on.

No matter how Yan Can coaxed her that night, no matter how pitiful she acted, she couldn’t pry the words out of Su Ci’s mouth.

There was nothing she could do; this person was just that stubborn.

The next day was the sports meet. The temperature was a few degrees lower than the day before, but it was still the kind of heat that felt like it could peel a layer of skin off you.

Su Ci had her 3,000-meter run in the afternoon today; Yu Ting’s 800-meter run was also in the afternoon, though hers was before Su Ci’s.

Yan Can had planned to go cheer for Yu Ting first with Zhang Ru, then take those two along to cheer for Su Ci.

Just as she was making those plans, a girl walked up to her and called her “Senior Yan Can” in a sweet, syrupy voice. Yan Can didn’t know her; the girl wasn’t wearing a name tag, and she didn’t even know what grade the girl was in. Smiling, she asked, “What’s up?”

The way it looked, there was a good chance this was a confession.

Yu Ting, sitting on the steps off to the side, saw through it at a glance. She tapped Zhang Ru’s shoulder beside her, signaling for the two of them to walk farther away.

Zhang Ru followed Yu Ting in a daze. On the way, after hearing Yu Ting explain a little, she couldn’t help feeling a mixture of envy, jealousy, and frustration. “Wait, when am I going to have this kind of romantic luck too!”

Xia Xia’s standing long jump had ended ten minutes ago. As soon as she was done, she went to the Class One senior-year tent.

A student staying at the tent to write cheering slogans saw her and understood immediately, pointing her to a spot. After Xia Xia left, she said to the student beside her, “Ever since our Miss Yan’s personality became more easygoing, more and more juniors have been coming after her.”

“No choice; who told her to be so pretty?” the student beside her said with a laugh. “Though being confessed to all the time must be pretty annoying too.”

…

Crossing half the playground, Xia Xia spotted Yan Can sitting on the steps and the girl standing across from her at once.

Just from the back, she could tell the girl was very pretty: long wavy hair, a well-proportioned figure, very fair skin. Xia Xia didn’t remember Yan Can having a friend like this, and she subconsciously slowed her pace.

When she got closer, she heard the girl say very directly, “Senior Yan Can, do you want to date me?”

Even though it wasn’t happening to her, Xia Xia was more nervous than the person involved. Her palms were sweating, her heart was pounding wildly, and she didn’t know where to put her hands or feet.

Until she heard Senior Yan Can let out a very soft laugh, a little interjection—"ha." Xia Xia knew the girl didn’t have a chance.

“Sorry, I don’t want to date anyone for now.”

As soon as the girl left, Yan Can looked over at her. “Xia Xia!”

“Senior.” Xia Xia walked toward her.

“Why didn’t you go watch the matches?” Yan Can said as she brought the hairdryer closer to her. “Oh my god, you’re sweating so much.”

“That senior—”

There weren’t many students in this area; everyone had gone to watch the competitions. Xia Xia knew Yan Can had turned down a lot of people, both male and female, upperclassmen and underclassmen alike. She liked her, and because she kept thinking about it, she was a little troubled. She wanted to understand one thing clearly: would the senior like girls?

If not, then she would give up completely.

If she did, then she also wanted to be as brave as that girl just now and ask her directly—would you date me?

“Can I ask the senior one question?” Xia Xia said.

“Hm? What is it?” Yan Can adjusted the fan to oscillate; the breeze blew over both of them. Yan Can tucked Xia Xia’s hair, which had been blown messy by the wind, back behind her ear. “Go ahead.”

Clenching her fingers, Xia Xia asked nervously, “Senior, do you like girls?”

From some distance away, Zhang Ru and Yu Ting saw Su Ci walking over and thought she had come to find Yan Can. When they noticed that only Yan Can and Xia Xia were left over there, and that the girl from earlier had somehow already left, they casually pointed. “Over there!”

Su Ci thought it strange how they knew what she was going to ask, and walked toward the direction they pointed. Just as she got close, a familiar voice came from ahead:

“I don’t like girls.”

TL Note:

There was no such thing as an airtight wall in this world (世上没有不透风的墙) = a secret can’t stay hidden forever.