Chapter 27: What’s the Hurry?

Chapter 27: What’s the Hurry?

A beginner lost control, yelling “Get out of the way!” Jian Li was pulled aside by Zhou Shu Bei, her shoulder held by his hand.

“What are you spacing out for?” Zhou Shu Bei asked.

The scent of sandalwood after burning was faint. Zhou Shu Bei was wearing a flight jacket today, and the fabric rubbed against each other, making a subtle sound, like the snow on the trees in early winter being shaken off.

Jian Li subconsciously grabbed his arm, afraid of falling, “Then you said I was the smartest one you’ve ever taught.”

Zhou Shu Bei’s chest vibrated, and he chuckled, “The only one, doesn’t that mean the smartest one?”

Jian Li’s heartbeat was faster than when she climbed the hill.

Only, the only.

Labeling her uniqueness.

The out-of-control beginner had already passed. Zhou Shu Bei lowered his eyes and asked, “Still want to skate?”

“Yes.”

Jian Li stepped back a little, her hand leaving his shoulder. When Zhou Shu Bei retracted his hand, he held it loosely for a moment, then looked at her again.

Too thin, even wearing thick clothes in winter, she was thinner than others.

Jian Li slowly loosened her hand that was holding onto Zhou Shu Bei’s, trying to maintain her balance.

“Are you sure you can do it?”

“I want to try,” Jian Li said, “I have to learn by myself, I can’t always rely on you.”

Zhou Shu Bei nodded, giving her a warning, “Falling on the ground, it’s mild pain at best, severe cases can lead to dislocation or fracture.”

“I know.”

She had seen classmates fall on the concrete, their hands and feet swollen, some even gritting their teeth in pain, unable to get up.

“You know and you still try?” Zhou Shu Bei saw her legs tense up, only managing to stay steady, “I’ll guide you first, then slowly let go when you get used to it, you really want to take a fall?”

“But ice skating for me might be just this once in the last four years, will you be able to hold me next time?” Jian Li shook her head with a smile, “I can do it.”

Zhou Shu Bei’s smile faded, the words reached his lips but he swallowed them back, “Alright.”

Jian Li’s mind replayed like a movie, replaying the scene of observing Zhou Shu Bei’s movements, the body curve, the center of gravity lowered, the right leg slid forward in an outward eight, the left leg followed closely.

In a blink of an eye, she slid two meters away.

The first step was successful, her speed gradually increased.

Without support, the unknown of whether she would fall in the next step was more exciting than before, but also more exhilarating. Jian Li’s legs sped up, surpassing the children skating in front, like a gust of wind passing by, she heard a child exclaim, “Wow!”

“Mom, that sister skates so fast!”

Warm colored lights hung on the trees by the roadside, like fluorescent sticks with open arms welcoming her. The cold wind blew, the adventurous factor that had been confined in her body for more than a decade was breaking free.

It turns out that exciting sports really make people relax and release, finding their own limits in it.

Jian Li’s speed under her feet became faster and faster, she set a goal for herself to reach the big tree in front in ten seconds.

Counting down in her heart, she estimated that ten seconds was too long and changed it to seven seconds.

Zhou Shu Bei followed behind her, watching her go from tentative to skilled, excitedly stretching out her arms to cheer, welcoming her own victory. When she reached a tree, she slowly stopped and turned back.

“Zhou Shu Bei!” She called out to him with a smile, every word filled with joy, “I can do it now, it’s so fun!”

The warm light flickered twice beside her, Zhou Shu Bei’s eyes seemed to be dazzled, “Go to the highest point?”

“Okay.”

The highest point was the end of this road, requiring climbing over several slopes. When she reached the second slope, Jian Li struggled a bit, but still gritted her teeth and charged forward. When she reached the third slope, her legs had no strength left.

She stopped to rest, Zhou Shu Bei came back, he didn’t urge her and just waited for her.

“You’re not going?” Jian Li asked.

Zhou Shu Bei chuckled, “It’s not a race.”

Jian Li gasped for breath, her heart pounding like a war drum. Unlike her all-out effort, Zhou Shu Bei was relaxed, as if he wasn’t exerting any effort at all. When he climbed the second slope, he even looked back at her to make sure she was following.

Just like the gap between her and him.

Jian Li took two deep breaths, “Don’t wait for me, I can keep up.”

Zhou Shu Bei’s fingers curled slightly, as if he found it amusing, he tapped the glass of her protective helmet, “What’s the hurry? I’ll wait for you.”

“…”

Knowing his literal meaning, Jian Li still felt a tightness in her chest.

Jian Li’s eyelashes fluttered, she looked at him through the glass.

She wanted to ask, did he treat everyone with such tolerance and patience?

If it was someone else today, would he also teach them step by step?

But she didn’t dare to ask, nor did she have the right to ask.

She could only try her best to conceal the liking that was about to break through the control, her voice as usual, “Let’s go.”

When they reached the highest point, there were quite a few people gathered on the mountaintop, shouting and taking pictures.

Zhou Shu Bei and Jian Li chose a place with fewer people nearby. From here, they could see the entire road they had come from.

“So beautiful.” Jian Li looked into the distance.

The streetlights, pedestrians, mountains, and ice road all became part of the scenery. The sun that had peeked out was covered by clouds again, the houses in the distance were lit up, looking exactly like an overhead shot in an anime.

There was a little bit of ice left on the branches of the nearby tree, Jian Li took it off and placed it in her palm, “Will it snow in Bei Cheng this year?”

“It should.” Zhou Shu Bei glanced at the ice that was gradually melting in her hand, “Going back to Xi Yuan for the holidays?”

Jian Li softly responded, the melted ice turned into water and flowed from between her fingers.

“Does your stomach still hurt?” Zhou Shu Bei asked.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Jian Li said, “Thank you for the ibuprofen and brown sugar water.”

Zhou Shu Bei curved his lips into a smile, he didn’t say anything else.

The two of them stood side by side, neither of them spoke, the world seemed to quiet down.

Jian Li glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, she shifted slightly towards him, not daring to get any closer, afraid of being noticed.

“Ding!”

Zhou Shu Bei’s phone rang, he unlocked it and glanced at it, the slightly raised corners of his eyes immediately sank.

Jian Li thought something had happened, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Shu Bei casually deleted the message, “Nothing.” His voice was very soft, “It’s almost time, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

…

They successfully found Tan Xue Ying and Song Lang, Chu Yue and Qing Wen were already sitting by the fire in the dining place, Zhao Xun was also there.

Chu Yue had specifically talked to her about Liu Liang and Dai Jiang Tao later on, so everyone felt a little awkward when they met again. Their eyes fell on Jian Li’s face, a little uncertain, “This is? Jian Li?”

Qing Wen replied, “Yeah.”

Zhao Xun glanced at Zhou Shu Bei, who sat beside Jian Li for two seconds before getting up and leaving again, he judged the relationship between the two in his heart, while maintaining a social standard of teasing, “You took off your glasses, the change is too big, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Jian Li smiled, taking it as an answer.

They had roast whole lamb for dinner, the golden surface was sprinkled with scallions, disposable gloves and chili peppers were placed on the table.

Jian Li only put a small amount into her own bowl, and continued to pass it to the next person.

She liked spicy food, the chili peppers in her bowl were almost gone with just one dip. She was about to get up to find chili peppers, a bowl filled with chili pepper powder was placed in front of her.

Jian Li suddenly looked up, Zhou Shu Bei sat down again, holding a few skewers of meat in his hand, he placed them within reach of everyone.

“Oh oh oh.” Song Lang on the opposite side teased, “We don’t have enough chili peppers either, why did Lao Zhou only bring some for Jian Li?”

Jian Li’s hand that was pouring water paused, spilling a little, she wiped it dry with a paper towel.

Zhou Shu Bei’s eyelids lifted slightly, “If you can finish it, I’ll get you some.”

Song Lang looked at the chili peppers that formed a small mountain in the bowl, “Forget it, forget it, I’m afraid I’ll have to reserve a bed at the People’s Hospital tonight.”

Tan Xue Ying bumped Jian Li’s elbow and showed her her phone screen.

【Zhou Shu Bei is really different to you.】

Jian Li glanced at the person leaning back in his chair playing games, she deleted the words on her phone and retyped: 【Because I’m the only one here who eats spicy food, he’s right next to me, he brought it for me when he went out to get something.】

Tan Xue Ying stretched out her index finger and shook it: 【I like to add vinegar, there’s no vinegar left either, Qing Wen just dropped her chopsticks on the ground, why didn’t he bring us some?】

Qing Wen also leaned over, “What are you whispering about?”

Chu Yue’s head popped out from between the two, “What whispers, I want to hear too.”

Tan Xue Ying pointed at the group chat, the two of them immediately took out their phones.

Zhao Xun saw his girlfriend looking at her phone mysteriously, he was curious to take a peek, but Chu Yue pushed him away.

Song Lang was munching on watermelon, “You guys are like underground party members making contact.”

Zhao Xun, who was pushed away by his girlfriend, silently took a sip of tea, “Accurate description.”

Chu Yue nodded to Tan Xue Ying, typing while saying, “You guys don’t understand, we are discussing something very important.”

Qing Wen: “Right.”

Song Lang threw the watermelon rind into the trash can, “How important is it, tell us so we can think of a solution together.”

Tan Xue Ying’s fingers typed quickly, she didn’t even look up, “You guys can’t help.”

Song Lang: ???

Zhao Xun: ???

“You’re so sure without even saying anything.” Song Lang was unconvinced, “Can Lao Zhou help?”

Tan Xue Ying hesitated for a moment, “Hard to say.”

Zhou Shu Bei seemed not to hear them talking, he was concentrating on playing the game.

Jian Li saw the familiar scene, it was the mobile game League of Legends.

He was playing a hero who held a sword in his right hand, he was standing in the bushes waiting for the opponent to come over. With a set of smooth and continuous operations, the opponent was instantly left with only a sliver of health, he used his flash to escape, he snorted with a laugh, he didn’t chase, he leisurely went back to the lane to farm.

Her elbow was bumped again, Tan Xue Ying motioned for her to look at her phone.

The four-person group chat had over fifty messages in just a few minutes, all revolving around her and Zhou Shu Bei, the last message was Tan Xue Ying asking “What game is he playing?”

Jian Li replied: 【League of Legends】

【Tan Xue Ying: We guessed and guessed, it’s not interesting, why don’t we do an experiment to test it?】

【Chu Yue: How do we test it?】

【Qing Wen: Same question.】

【Tan Xue Ying: I’ll think of a game later, first put any one of you in a group with him, then put Li Li in a group with him, a comparison will tell.】

【Qing Wen: You Mo Tian?】

Jian Li quickly typed: 【No, he really just brought it for me, he’s just a nice person.】

【Chu Yue: Why doesn’t he bring it for us?】

【Jian Li: Meat skewers.】

Qing Wen shook her head with a smile: 【Li Li, don’t worry, listen to us, we’ll know today if he likes you or not. If he treats everyone the same, then he’s a typical central air conditioner, leave him alone as soon as possible, if he only treats you like this, hehe.】

【Tan Xue Ying: Hehe.】

【Chu Yue: Hehe.】

Jian Li’s temples throbbed, she was about to type when Tan Xue Ying sent her a private message: 【There’s no harm in trying, are you going to keep liking him silently like this, like Qing Wen said, if he treats everyone the same, then you can’t have this person, leave as soon as possible, and playing a game, he won’t lose anything.】

Jian Li tapped her nails, she couldn’t deny that she wanted to know too, she was silent for a few seconds: 【Okay.】

The message was just sent, her knees under the table were lightly bumped by Zhou Shu Bei’s legs as he put his legs down, very light and casual.

“Finished exchanging passwords? Four underground party members.” Song Lang said.

Tan Xue Ying put down her phone, “Finished, let’s eat.”

“No, why do you say half of it and leave us hanging.” Song Lang was extremely curious, he looked for an ally, “Lao Zhou, aren’t you curious?”

Zhou Shu Bei put his phone on the table and looked at the person who lowered her head to drink water, “Not curious.”Share