Childhood sweetheart confession

Childhood sweetheart confession

After returning to her dormitory, Shen Muwei couldn't help but think of Xiang Zhixing's aggrieved face at many moments that evening.

The chat history on my phone with Song Yuanbai ended after we checked in to each other to let each other know we were safe and to say goodnight.

Xiang Zhixing automatically kept his distance from Song Yuanbai because of her arrival, not only at the movie theater but also when they were having barbecue.

She remembered that before the movie, Xiang Zhixing went to buy popcorn. When he was about to hand the popcorn to her, her hand was already halfway out when Song Yuanbai "intercepted" it and handed it to her instead.

She took the popcorn from Song Yuanbai's hand and inadvertently caught a glimpse of Xiang Zhixing's slowly drooping arm and unconsciously curled fingers through the gap in his moving arm.

I don't know why, but she cares about this a lot.

This incident is like a small knot in her heart; it keeps replaying in her mind after she comes back.

Still worried, she sent Xiang Zhixing a message: "Are you asleep?"

He replied ten minutes later: [Nothing, what's up?]

Movie: [Don't take what happened tonight to heart. I apologize on behalf of my friend. He didn't mean it; it was just a misunderstanding.]

Perhaps tonight really did affect Xiang Zhixing a bit; he was replying to messages very slowly, whereas he usually replies almost instantly.

Five minutes later, the reply came: "It's okay, I didn't think much of it."

Shen Muwei typed and deleted in the input box, but in the end she deleted everything. Everyone said they were fine, and she couldn't force them to admit that they were very unhappy and uncomfortable.

Movie: [Goodnight, let's talk again tomorrow during my night run.]

xzx: [Okay, goodnight.]

That concludes the discussion.

Shen Muwei exited the chat window, preparing to browse her WeChat Moments before bed. Just then, she saw a red dot in the upper right corner of a post, and she immediately recognized the shrunk profile picture as belonging to Xiang Zhixing.

He posted a collection of recent photos, nine in total. The first was a sunrise photo, the second was a group project photo, the third was a beautiful picture of clouds, and the fourth was of the orange and white cat at school, an older student who was neutered by the female students and has since lived a carefree life.

The fifth photo was a bit dark and blurry. Shen Muwei recognized that it must have been taken by him sitting in the back seat of the car, with the camera pointed out the window. Outside was a tunnel, and because the car was going too fast, the yellow lights outside the tunnel were stretched into a virtual yellow light strip.

Shen Muwei had her phone on night mode, and there was no lamp in the closed bed curtains; the phone screen automatically adjusted the light to its dimmest setting. Too lazy to zoom in on the picture, she moved closer to the screen and saw Xiang Zhixing's slightly turned face reflected in the car window, his high, straight nose visible through the glass.

Shen Muwei smiled silently. So he was a narcissist, taking a selfie in front of the dark car window.

Scrolling through a few more photos, there wasn't anything particularly special, except for the last one, which was an overhead shot of the square tonight, with all sorts of pretty stalls pieced together, creating a very youthful scene.

Exiting the last photo and detaching from his world, the phone seemed like just another ordinary digital product. With night mode enabled, only the nine photos in the very center of the screen had color; the rest was completely dark.

Shen Muwei gave him a thumbs up, and her colorful profile picture appeared next to the heart.

She turned off her phone, put it aside, and went to sleep.

She didn't have any mutual friends with Xiang Zhixing, so she didn't know that several people had left a series of question marks in the comments section of Xiang Zhixing's post, asking him who the girl in the car in the fifth photo was.

-

When Shen Muwei returned home on Sunday, she saw Song Yuanbai and Mu Qing picking vegetables together in the living room as soon as she entered the door. The two chatted as they picked vegetables.

She changed into slippers and walked into the house blankly, saying to Song Yuanbai, "Don't you have anything else to do? Why are you at my house every day?"

"How can you talk like that?" Mu Qing slapped her through her pants while holding a water spinach in her hand. "They're not home, but they've come to our house for dinner. They've been so helpful, and instead of thanking them, you're being rude. Did you not eat enough at Grandpa Song's house when you were little?"

Shen Muwei chuckled, took off her bag and casually tossed it onto the sofa. It missed the sofa and landed heavily on the floor with a loud thud.

Mu Qing went straight for it this time, slapping her calf hard: "What's wrong with you, you lazy brat? I wonder how your future boyfriend will put up with you."

"If you can't stand it, just break up. Who cares anyway?"

Song Yuanbai leaned back slightly, hooked the bag strap with his slender fingers, patted it, and placed it on the sofa.

Seeing this, Mu Qing said to Song Yuanbai, "Xiaobai, don't pay attention to her. She's just spoiled by you and Yueyue. She thinks everyone outside has to pamper her."

Song Yuanbai glanced at Shen Muwei, who was standing stubbornly by the window, smiled helplessly, and said to Mu Qing, "It's okay, I believe Xiaowei knows what she's doing."

"Did you hear that! Did you hear that! Song Yuanbai is the fair and just one!" Shen Muwei stuck out her tongue at Mu Qing, turned around and walked to the sofa to sit down, right behind Song Yuanbai.

Mu Qing: "Fine, fine, I won't bother with you anymore, I'll go cook."

Song Yuanbai also stood up with Mu Qing, put the selected vegetables in the kitchen, and then came out.

There was no one else in the living room at this moment, and the room was empty. Shen Muwei squatted next to the TV cabinet watching the Brazilian tortoise.

Why does it seem like this Brazilian tortoise has grown a little bigger?

It was stretching its neck, its limbs straining against the slippery tank wall. Of course, it couldn't climb up. Shen Muwei muttered, "How can you be so clumsy? You can't climb up. Don't bother, save your energy."

The sudden noise probably startled the Brazilian tortoise, which shrank its neck and continued digging.

Shen Muwei was amused by it and turned to Song Yuanbai, saying, "Xiaobai, it's so funny. It's clumsy and keeps climbing even though it can't climb up."

She should have kept her head down, because it was only then that she noticed Song Yuanbai sitting on the edge of the sofa, looking very reserved and a little nervous.

Shen Muwei's words startled him, and he looked over slowly.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Shen Muwei asked.

As she spoke, she got up and slowly walked over to sit down next to him.

Are you feeling unwell anywhere?

If blushing, a racing heart, and rapid breathing are considered a medical condition, then he is indeed feeling quite unwell.

"fine."

"Are you hot?" Shen Muwei noticed that his face was quite red, probably because he was wearing too many clothes and felt hot. "If you're hot, take off your coat."

"I'm not hot."

Why are you uttering words one by one? Shen Muwei peeled a banana, looked at him suspiciously, and asked again:

What time is your train this afternoon? Do you still need me to drive you?

"My train is tomorrow morning, I'm not going back tonight."

"Oh? Why isn't your lab busy anymore?"

"Yes, someone is in charge."

"Oh, okay." Shen Muwei casually replied, moved to the side, and turned on the TV to find a movie to watch.

"What do you want to see?" Shen Muwei asked him.

"I...I have something I want to tell you."

"Oh, go ahead." Seeing his eagerness, Shen Muwei guessed that he had something important to say, so she put down the remote control and waited for him to speak.

Originally, Song Yuanbai wanted to wait until the evening, or sometime to find a better opportunity, at least something more romantic, but he changed his mind at the last minute. Some things require quick decisions.

"Shen Muwei, I..." Before he could finish speaking, Song Yuanbai's phone rang.

His phone was on the table, and as soon as it vibrated, it slowly began to move on the table.

Song Yuanbai glanced at it; it was his grandfather.

He gritted his teeth, picked up the phone, and hung up.

"It's Grandpa Song, why aren't you answering the phone?" Shen Muwei asked. "Talk to me after you finish the call."

He took a breath and was about to continue speaking when his phone vibrated again.

Making two phone calls in a row definitely means something's up.

Song Yuanbai was still able to distinguish the priorities and quickly answered the phone.

-

Grandpa Song is quite old and has long since retired from the front line. He now travels all over the beautiful landscapes of the motherland with his wife.

Today, after the two got off the high-speed train, they happened to encounter a groper on the subway. Although he was old, he was very healthy and had developed a muscular physique through consistent exercise over the past two years.

The other person continued to rub against the girl, unaware that he had been discovered, before Grandpa Song tackled him to the ground.

After being knocked down, he suddenly realized something was wrong, his face flushed red with the shock of being discovered. Just then, the subway arrived at the station, and he scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the train.

What was originally a good deed of bravery turned into a far from over.

The police pointed to the surveillance camera and said to Song Yuanbai, "Look, after he ran out here, he ran to the back carriage and came up from another carriage."

At this time, the carriage was still empty. He stood two carriages away from Grandpa Song and could see clearly. As soon as Grandpa Song got off the train, he followed him off.

The other party was an elderly man, and he didn't take Grandpa Song's physical strength seriously. He only felt that he was able to be thrown to the ground by an old man because he was distracted at the time.

People like him, who work day and night and have dark circles under their eyes, suffer from kidney deficiency and have a bunch of minor, uncomfortable but not fatal ailments. They are very weak.

After exiting the subway, he saw two elderly people enter an alley. There weren't many people there in the early morning. He rubbed his nose behind a telephone pole, went up to them, and kicked Grandpa Song. Grandpa Song stumbled and fell to the ground.

His idea was simple: teach this old man a lesson, tell him to mind his own business, and maybe even snatch the new phone from him.

As it turned out, Grandma Song reacted quickly. She threw a purse at him; the purse contained local specialties brought from out of town, packaged in glass bottles. The moment it hit, the person became dizzy and disoriented.

Finally, the two worked together to take the criminal to the police station. Although it was an act of bravery, the two elderly people beat the criminal so badly that his face was bruised and swollen, and his family had to come to pick him up.

Song Yuanbai never expected that he would be coming to the police station to pick up the two old rascals.

Since the two old professors retired, a whole bunch of rebels have been causing Song Yuanbai some headaches.

He rubbed his temples and signed his name on the form.

He felt really choked up. When he passed by that criminal, he wanted to kick him a couple of times, not for any other reason than that the man had ruined his plans.

His perfectly good confession was ruined like this, what else could he say?

Shen Muwei and Mu Qing came along. While Song Yuanbai went to sign the papers, Shen Muwei and Mu Qing stayed by the old man's side, offering him words of comfort and concern.

Grandpa Song was in high spirits and was vividly describing the scene to Shen Muwei.

The old man was beaming with joy, but when he turned his head and saw his grandson's sinister gaze, he suddenly seemed to realize something.

Mu Qing helped Grandma Song up and invited the two elderly people to come to her home for dinner. She had already cooked half of the meal.

The two elderly people were naturally willing.

Shen Muwei was originally supporting Grandpa Song, but Grandpa Song wouldn't let her and asked Song Yuanbai to support her instead.

With nothing else to do, she helped call a taxi.

If she had turned around at that moment, she would have seen Xiang Zhixing standing in a corner, silently watching her until she was completely gone.

After lunch, everyone took a nap. After helping the two elderly people get home, Shen Muwei sat on a rattan recliner on Song Yuanbai's balcony and closed her eyes to rest.

Song Yuanbai walked over quietly, and Shen Muwei turned her head and their eyes met.

She asked, "By the way, what were you originally going to tell me?"

Song Yuanbai looked at the dappled sunlight on her face as she swung one leg on the side of the stool, reminding him of his childhood when she loved to come to his balcony to sunbathe, sitting in this old rattan chair and swinging her leg.

Time flies, and many years have passed. She has grown up now, with long legs, but she still likes to swing her legs, and she will deliberately pull her legs back a little before swinging them.

He pulled over a chair and sat down, placing his hands on his knees and clasping his fingers together.

Taking things a step further seems difficult. He doesn't want to break their existing close relationship. Of course, the deeper reason is that he's afraid of being rejected, because if he is rejected, the two of them can never go back to what they were before.

Just now, Song Sihai noticed that he was acting strangely, so he pulled him aside in the room and encouraged him to speak up bravely. He said that if he was afraid of the outcome, the relationship would only end at this moment.

Yes, he likes her. Everyone can see it, except for her. She knows nothing about it.

After a long silence, Shen Muwei said irritably, "Just say what you have to say. I've noticed you're being a bit indecisive lately."

Song Yuanbai looked at her and smiled slightly: "Shen Muwei, when are you planning to start dating?"

After listening, Shen Muwei opened the eight-treasure candy that Grandma Song had given her that day. It was orange and tangerine-flavored. She put the candy in her mouth after opening the wrapper.

The small corner of the balcony was soon filled with the scent of oranges.

"Hey, I've only ever heard of people pressuring me to get married online, never my peers to date. What's wrong? You want to date?"

His heart pounded because of her last words, and he then admitted, "Yes."

Shen Muwei stopped shaking her legs. She found it strange. Wasn't this person always uninterested in these romantic things? Why was she suddenly saying this?

Just as she was about to sit up a little, wanting to ask who the other person was, Song Yuanbai asked in a deep voice, "What do you think of me?"

Shen Muwei paused, slowly turning his head to see Song Yuanbai's very serious and earnest face. Shen Muwei had only seen this expression on Song Yuanbai's face before, when he was working on the final physics problem in his senior year of high school.

She may be slow to understand, but she's not incapable of comprehending what's being said. She can grasp the meaning behind two sentences when they're put together.

In other words, Song Yuanbai felt that if he were to fall in love, the other person could be her.

How did it become her? Shen Muwei's mind raced for a moment, then she realized he was grasping at straws in his desperation. He probably spent too much time online, or maybe he saw all his classmates dating and was desperate to find someone, but since he didn't have a boyfriend, he could only choose his childhood sweetheart whom he knew intimately.

In her mind, dating isn't like that. Two people have to like each other to date. But Song Yuanbai is her good friend. To put it more intimately, he's like her brother. How can they be together?

Relationships are so complicated, what if we break up in the future?

A storm raged in her mind, and she increasingly felt that Song Yuanbai was disrespecting her and treating her as a backup option.

She wanted to slap him the next second, but then she remembered that this was someone else's home and it wouldn't be good to wake up the elders.

Seeing that she didn't answer for a long time, Song Yuanbai's heart sank to the bottom, and he became more and more uncertain.

Seeing that her expression was getting increasingly strange, he suddenly swallowed his prepared lines and laughed, "I was just joking with you, why are you suddenly so serious?"

Shen Muwei's face darkened further. "Joke my foot! Many people's jokes are actually their true feelings. He just doesn't respect or respect himself, so he jokes about this kind of thing."

What an idiot.

Shen Muwei immediately stood up, pointed at Song Yuanbai's nose, and cursed, "You men are really stupid."

After yelling at him, she didn't want to say another word to him and turned to leave.

Song Yuanbai was stunned; his first confession seemed to have died. Died in the early autumn afternoon, died in the orange grove after a rain.

Shen Muwei hurriedly left the Song family home. After returning home, she angrily slammed the door shut and went back to her room. Mu Qing was just about to leave when she saw her return. She told her not to close the door, but the child not only ignored her but also slammed the door shut.

Then, Song Yuanbai chased after him and knocked on the door urgently, so Mu Qing immediately opened it for him.

"What's wrong with both of you kids?"

One went straight to his room and locked the door after entering, while the other hurriedly followed.

"Auntie, I have something to say to Shen Muwei."

Mu Qing nodded: "Okay, go ahead, I'm about to go out."

She grabbed her bag and went outside.

After everyone left, Song Yuanbai walked to Shen Muwei's door. He knocked lightly twice, but received no response.

Shen Muwei was lying on the bed, covering her head with the blanket.

Seeing that she ignored him and that no one was home, Song Yuanbai began to tell her everything.

He wanted to expose all his petty schemes and biases over the years.

...

After a while, perhaps because the blanket was too hot, she lifted it and sat up, her hair a mess.

She brushed her disheveled hair aside, let out a long breath, and opened the door.

The Song Yuanbai outside the door no longer seemed like Song Yuanbai.

Just twenty minutes ago, he was the Song Yuanbai she used to know, but twenty minutes later, she suddenly felt that the person outside the door was a complete stranger.

For so many years, she had no idea that he thought this way about her. When did it all begin?

What were her thoughts after finding out? Shen Muwei then realized that she had no thoughts at all. She was just a little surprised, a little unexpected, and a little guilty.

Because she did many things that made him misunderstand without his knowledge.

If she had realized it sooner, could the subsequent misunderstandings have been avoided?

Her expression was very gentle, something Song Yuanbai rarely saw in her.

Perhaps it was tacit understanding, or perhaps it stemmed from their shared childhood experiences, but he understood her to some extent. Shen Muwei remained silent, as if he had already foreseen the ending.

This makes a lot of things that happened before understandable.

Shen Muwei was hesitant to say those words directly, afraid that she might hurt him.

After a long silence, Song Yuanbai let out a short, breathy laugh from his chest.

"I see."

Shen Muwei's lips parted slightly, and her gaze toward Song Yuanbai seemed somewhat unsteady.

She really didn't know how to handle this situation. When she was in school, Song Yuanbai would silently help her with these things, but now she was finally facing it alone, like a baby eagle that had been kicked out of the nest by its mother and was forced to learn to fly.

I still need to say something.

Shen Muwei hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "But...we're still friends, right?"

Some things are far more precious than love. Song Yuanbai was a friend she grew up with, and for her, many things had already surpassed love.

Although it's a common saying, she has always received a lot of messages that friendships are temporary and that you will always lose some friends who were once very important to you on the road to adulthood. But she thinks she is not ready to lose either Shi Yue or Song Yuanbai.

Although she had been trying to mentally prepare herself, she felt that it wasn't the right time yet.

Song Yuanbai's lips twitched, and his right hand moved forward, but in the end he didn't reach out. Now that things were out in the open, he couldn't touch her head and play around with her so freely anymore. The two of them had more to consider.

He messed things up.

"Of course."

Shen Muwei breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were still friends, there was still a possibility of reconciliation.

Song Yuanbai said, "I'll go back to school this afternoon."

Shen Muwei asked in surprise, "Didn't you say you were leaving tomorrow?"

Only after she finished speaking did she realize that the answer to her question was actually quite obvious, given how things had come to this point.

"I'm going to heal my heartbreak," he said half-jokingly, clutching his chest.

Shen Muwei was amused by his nonsensical remark: "What? You're still in the mood for jokes at a time like this?"

He took two deep breaths, but still couldn't resist ruffling her hair: "Be careful tonight. When you're jogging with that guy, be mindful of your surroundings. Don't assume everyone is a good person. If anything happens, call me or Auntie immediately..."

He swallowed the rest of his instructions, thinking he shouldn't say anything more.

"Okay, I'm leaving." He waved his hand.

Shen Muwei came out of the room and escorted him to the entrance.

The door was closed gently, and his lingering scent still filled the room, as if he had never been aware of it before.

Shen Muwei shook her head, went back to her room, and spent the whole afternoon on the phone with Shi Yue.

As night fell, she took her keys and went back to her dormitory.

The weather was so nice today; the red and orange sunset painted the entire sky, stretching out endlessly.

Shen Muwei looked up and felt that the sky was too beautiful to be real. She rode her bike back to her dormitory, feeling as if something was no longer the same as before. Her heart felt empty and shaky, unable to settle down.

This led to her running into Xiang Zhixing at night; she simply greeted him casually and they continued walking together.

During warm-up exercises, I received a message from Zhang Wenhao saying that he had something to do tonight and couldn't come.

Upon seeing the message, she looked up to tell Xiang Zhixing about it, but before she could speak, she widened her eyes, pointed at his face, and asked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

Under the streetlights, Xiang Zhixing had one eye covered with gauze, giving him the appearance of a one-eyed dragon.