Chapter Seventy-Six: You Are the Clear Sky

Ren Jiaxuan was a little surprised, then his face broke into a wide smile as he grasped her hand, laughing, "It's settled then!"

"However, I have two conditions. If you fulfill them, then I'll agree to be your girlfriend." Dong Yanyan looked at him, her expression earnest.

Ren Jiaxuan nodded curiously, "Alright, you. I promise I'll do it."

"First, my seventeenth birthday is still two months away. I don't want to date too early, so you have to pursue me for two months. If you behave well, I'll say yes." Dong Yanyan counted on her fingers.

"No problem!" Ren Jiaxuan snapped his fingers cheerfully. "What's the second?"

"The second is easy!" Dong Yanyan stood up from her seat, smiling, "I want you to carry me from here all the way to the school gates!"

"No problem!" Ren Jiaxuan grabbed her arm, pulled her onto his back, and dashed out the door. When he reached the entrance, something suddenly occurred to him; he ran back and shouted loudly, "Waiter, check please!"

His shout drew everyone's attention. Dong Yanyan playfully punched his shoulder, laughing, "I've already paid! Come on, let's go!"

Ren Jiaxuan let out a joyful cry and ran out into the street, sparkling with city lights. Dong Yanyan lay on his back, lifting her gaze to the stars above, her eyes and brows brimming with smiles. Yes, she thought, it was time for a new love to begin, starting now.

She admitted she had given it some thought. Since the time she was ill and he came downstairs to take care of her, she realized he wanted to pursue her—otherwise, why would he be so anxious to explain he was single? Why would he always appear by her side, shadow-like? No girl could fail to notice such obvious affection. She knew he was a proud boy—so outstanding that he wouldn’t cherish something too easily obtained. He needed the satisfaction of a hard-won pursuit. So she would let him have it. She’d let him savor the chase, and she herself would enjoy the sweetness of being chased. Hugging his neck, the fresh scent of her hair mingled with a slight warmth—so unfamiliar and so thrilling.

After crossing two streets, she saw the school gates and demanded to be let down.

"I didn’t expect you to be so strong!" She squinted at him with a smile. He was breathing a little heavily, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead, warm clouds of breath swirling from his lips—like a freshly steamed dumpling!

"Of course! Want me to carry you inside, too?" Ren Jiaxuan affectionately put his arm around her shoulder, grinning.

Dong Yanyan glanced sideways at his arm, reached out to remove it, then pointed at the open school gate, smiling, "You walk on the left, I’ll go right. Keep your distance!"

"Why?" Ren Jiaxuan asked, a little displeased.

"You don’t get it? Boys left, girls right!" Dong Yanyan rolled her eyes, turned with her hands behind her back, and strode off.

Ren Jiaxuan smiled and followed a little behind her into the school. This was better anyway; he still needed to maintain his model-student image in front of the teachers.

Dong Yanyan understood this perfectly. Outside school, they could be wild, but inside, it was best to play by the rules. Thinking of the painful lesson she and Xu Cheng had learned years ago, she knew she couldn’t afford to ignore it.

*

"I want to send you a never-setting sun of longing, mail you a postcard of love. You are the sunny day, you are the sunny day, my love never sleeps~~~" Dong Yanyan hummed cheerfully as she ran back to the classroom, bumping the door open with her body, spinning the handle once. Suddenly, she noticed Li Hui and Jiang Fan and others gathered excitedly around the back blackboard.

"Huh? What’s going on?" She moved closer and saw someone had written the first half of a couplet: "Xi’an Incident, Zhang Wuji, Yang Bu Hui."

She’d seen this couplet on countless forums. Picking up a piece of chalk, she boldly wrote the second half: "An Shi Rebellion, Guo Po Lu, Li Mo Chou." Satisfied, she tossed the chalk away and dusted off her hands.

Jiang Fan pondered for half a minute, then laughed in surprise, "Brilliant! Brilliant! We spent all afternoon and couldn’t come up with such a neat answer, and you did it in a minute!"

"I’m a fan of Jin Yong—I’ve seen this couplet before," Dong Yanyan explained, her face radiant.

Li Hui and the others still hadn’t figured it out after a while, so Jiang Fan, the talented scholar, launched into a literary explanation.

Much of Dong Yanyan’s knowledge came from the advantage of time, but Jiang Fan was a true prodigy, having read widely from a young age. He was interested in every subject and possessed a phenomenal memory and ability to synthesize. It was a pity he ended up in an engineering major—a bit of a waste of talent.

Returning to her seat, Dong Yanyan found two letters on her desk.

"A letter from home!" She eagerly tore open the envelope and pulled out the familiar handwriting of her mother. That old lady used to write beautifully! Sadly, she became farsighted before sixty; now, writing is hard, even reading the newspaper is a struggle. Dong Yanyan sighed inwardly; protecting one’s eyes was so important!

"Dear daughter~~ Oh, how mushy!" Dong Yanyan shivered, then read on: The sweater you sent has arrived. Your father wears it well. Don’t waste money on us, take care of yourself...

"Sweater?" She thought for a while before realizing—no wonder the sweater looked familiar. It was actually meant for Song Mingcheng, but her father was wearing it. Did Song Mingcheng send it back for her?

She looked at the letter in her hand, then at Song Mingcheng, who was explaining a problem to Liu Ying nearby. Warmth spread in her heart—she had misunderstood him. She gently tapped his arm. Song Mingcheng turned, smiling, "What is it?"

"Did you send the sweater I bought for you to my dad?" Dong Yanyan asked uncertainly.

Song Mingcheng paused, then nodded, "Yes."

"Why?" Dong Yanyan was puzzled.

Song Mingcheng smiled, "You said once you got your first month’s salary, you’d buy a sweater for your dad. If he saw the sweater you bought for him on me, how would he feel? So I sent it to him for you—wasn’t he happy?"

"Ah? Did I? Without you, I would have forgotten." Dong Yanyan scratched her head sheepishly, laughing, "Why didn’t you tell me sooner?"

"You never asked," Song Mingcheng replied with a smile.

Dong Yanyan thought about it and agreed, then thanked him.

Song Mingcheng stretched lazily, smiling, "No need to thank me. Raising a daughter isn’t much of a bargain—who knows which rascal she’ll benefit when she grows up. Hey, did you go out with Ren Jiaxuan again?"

"So what if I did?" Dong Yanyan lifted her chin defiantly. Suddenly, she realized something was off, "Song Mingcheng, are you trying to take advantage of me?" Without hesitation, she kicked him.

Song Mingcheng covered his head and lay on the desk, pretending to be an ostrich.

Liu Ying impatiently tapped Song Mingcheng’s desk, "Song Mingcheng, are you going to help me with this problem or not?"

Song Mingcheng sat up, smiling apologetically. Just then, Yang Ruining and Du Xinmeng arrived with their homework books and crowded around him, chirping with questions. Seeing Mr. Song’s lecture about to begin, Dong Yanyan sensibly vacated her seat and went to the front row to watch TV.

*

Ren Jiaxuan, beaming, kicked open the dormitory door, spun half a circle, hooked the door shut with his heel, grabbed the bedpost of the upper bunk, jumped up, and tossed his socks in a perfect arc into the trash can by the door. Then he carefully took off his coat, slipped on a garment cover, and hung it on a wall hook.

"Third, next time take your socks off outside—they’re polluting the environment!" Zhang Dawei, his lower bunkmate, kicked the bedboard hard, shaking the whole bed.

Ren Jiaxuan, in a great mood, sat on the bed tuning his guitar, ignoring him.

*

"How could I fall for you? My Cinderella, you’re not beautiful, but you’re adorable beyond measure, oh, Cinderella, my Cinderella~~~~"

Li Zhe entered the dorm to find Ren Jiaxuan roaming the room, howling wildly with his guitar. He glanced at Zhang Dawei in confusion, "What’s up with him?"

"Huh?! What did you say?" Zhang Dawei pulled off his headphones and shouted, seeing Li Zhe pointing at Ren Jiaxuan, he chuckled idly, "I don’t know—he went crazy as soon as he got back. He’s not worried about ruining his voice."

Li Zhe yanked Ren Jiaxuan’s hair, dragged him over, and pinched his neck, "Did you finally get the girl?!"

"Yes~~" Ren Jiaxuan’s face was full of sunshine. "Any girl I set my sights on—how can she escape my grasp?"

"Who is it this time?" Zhang Dawei asked casually.

"Who else? Dong Yanyan," Li Zhe released Ren Jiaxuan, straightened his clothes, and combed his hair in the window glass.

Hearing it was Dong Yanyan, Zhang Dawei’s eyes lit up; he excitedly hugged Ren Jiaxuan, grinning lasciviously, "So both little darlings from the Broadcasting class belong to our dorm now? Jiaxuan, bring her up sometime—let the brothers inspect the goods."

Li Zhe turned, smiling with refined elegance, "Boss, last time you got teased by Tiantian and still haven’t had enough? Want them to tie you to the bed and sing ‘Pearl of the Orient’?"

...

*

After evening study, Dong Yanyan stayed in the classroom with Liu Siying to practice singing. Lin Feng disappeared right after class, so Liu Siying pulled her to rehearse their duet.

"In the candlelight, your smile moves me, walking with you through rain and wind, slowly drawing our hearts closer~~~" Dong Yanyan sang with her eyes half closed, swaying as she became immersed in the song, when someone gently tapped her shoulder, standing behind her.

"You sing beautifully," Ren Jiaxuan praised with a smile. Dong Yanyan looked up and almost bumped his chin, her cheeks warming, so she shifted aside and pressed pause, smiling, "What brings you here?"

"Of course, I came to see you." Ren Jiaxuan sat next to her, idly fiddling with a cassette tape, smiling, "Scarborough Fair—you like this song too? It’s my favorite."

"Really? It’s Yanyan’s favorite as well," Liu Siying replied with a smile.