Chapter Forty-One: Hold Down

Yu Sheng never expected to run into Chen You at the school gates. She stole a glance at Gu Yan, only to find, as she had guessed, that his face was stormy. She forced an awkward smile at Chen You.

"Chen You, what are you doing at our school?"

Chen You glanced at Gu Yan, surprise flickering in his eyes, but then he offered a warm smile. "Our school has a holiday tomorrow, so I came by just to look around. What a coincidence, running into you here."

Gu Yan let out a dismissive laugh, his brows knitting together as he folded his arms across his chest. "I don't think it's much of a coincidence, is it?"

Chen You was puzzled, the atmosphere growing even more awkward.

Yu Sheng hurriedly pulled Gu Yan behind her, cutting off their line of sight. "Um, don't mind him. He's just in a bad mood today. If there's nothing else, we'll get going."

She turned to push Gu Yan away, but Chen You stopped her. "Yu Sheng, wait, I have something to say to you."

Tch! Gu Yan couldn't stand it any longer. This Chen You was clearly playing dumb—couldn't he see the relationship between him and Yu Sheng?

But Yu Sheng, of all people, couldn't see how popular she was. Gu Yan looked at her with a face full of grievance, hoping she wouldn't leave with Chen You.

"What is it?" Yu Sheng stopped.

Chen You scratched his head, embarrassed. "Are you free this weekend? Maybe we could—"

Before he could finish, Gu Yan pulled Yu Sheng away. "She's not free. Go have fun by yourself!"

Chen You was left standing there in shock.

"Gu Yan, what are you doing? I didn't even hear what he wanted to say!" Yu Sheng pulled her hand from Gu Yan's grasp, her cheeks tinged with red.

Gu Yan stopped, facing away from her. Yu Sheng couldn't see his expression, so she poked his back. "Hey, say something!"

He still didn't move. Just as Yu Sheng was about to poke him again, Gu Yan suddenly turned, dragging her into a small, dark alleyway and trapping her between his arms and the wall, leaving her no room to move.

"Gu Yan, what are you doing? Let me go!" Yu Sheng was startled by his sudden move and tried to push him away.

He ignored her struggles, inching closer. His warm breath fell on her face, his features coming nearer and nearer. Yu Sheng finally squeezed her eyes shut. In the darkness, their heartbeats were unusually loud. She could smell the clean scent of laundry detergent on Gu Yan's clothes and the unique fragrance of a young man.

Gu Yan's eyes glinted in the shadows. The closer he got, the more he could sense Yu Sheng's rapid breathing and the elusive, gentle fragrance of a girl from her body. When just a centimeter separated their lips, he glanced at her. The girl, nervous and afraid, had her eyes closed tight and her brows knotted.

Something stabbed at Gu Yan's heart. The last shred of reason made him turn his head aside, resting his forehead lightly by her ear. "Do you really not want this?"

Yu Sheng's eyes flew open in surprise, finding Gu Yan's face beside her, and realizing what she had imagined hadn't happened.

"W-what do you mean, I don't want it?" she whispered.

Gu Yan chuckled softly with his eyes closed, then released her, straightening up and ruffling her hair. "It's nothing. Let's go."

With that, he strode out of the alley. The light from the streetlamps cast his shadow long on the ground, and the slow-falling snowflakes landed on his shoulders, melting instantly.

"What was that all about? Suddenly acting like that, then suddenly it's nothing..." Yu Sheng stamped on the snow, grumbling, but still hurried after him.

Because of Gu Yan's earlier actions, the two barely spoke on the way back. When they reached the second floor, Gu Yan said goodbye as usual. "By the way, my mom hired a housekeeper, so I won’t be coming over for dinner anymore. Could you thank your aunt for me, for taking care of me these past few months?"

Yu Sheng felt a pang of disappointment. "Okay."

When she relayed the message at home, Wei Yabai looked regretful. "Why hire a housekeeper? It's a waste of money. He could keep eating with us, no problem."

Yu Chen joked, "Mom, I think you treat Gu Yan better than me—you dote on him like he's your own son."

Wei Yabai rapped him on the head. "Honestly, I'd love to have him as my son—he's well-behaved and does well in school. He never gives me trouble, unlike you, always causing mischief."

Yu Chen just grunted and went back to eating in silence.

Yu Sheng sat at the table, lost in thought about what had just happened, eating her rice one grain at a time.

Wei Yabai turned to look at her, exasperated. "Yu Sheng, what are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and eat. When you're done, go downstairs and buy a bottle of vinegar for me."

Yu Sheng snapped out of it and took a big bite. "But dinner's already made—what do you need vinegar for?"

"I forgot to add vinegar while cooking earlier. It's fine for you guys, but your dad loves sour dishes. I’ll redo it for him."

Yu Sheng glanced at her mother, who looked completely justified. She could only sigh.

"Yu Chen! After you finish eating, help Mom buy the vinegar," she said to her brother, who was nearly done.

Without looking up, Yu Chen shoveled the last bite into his mouth. "I've got things to do. You go. Besides, Mom asked you, not me. It’s got nothing to do with me." With that, he took his bowl to his room.

"You—!" Yu Sheng fumed but had nothing more to say. Wei Yabai stared at her, signaling she shouldn’t slack off.

"Fine, fine, I’ll go." She had eaten slowly, after all.

She decided to treat it as a walk to help digestion. Thinking of a walk reminded her of that night she and Gu Yan strolled together—when he’d confessed his feelings.

Yu Sheng tightened her jacket and hurried to the convenience store at the entrance of their neighborhood. No sooner had she stepped inside than she looked up and saw Gu Yan. He, seeing her, froze for a moment too.

The awkwardness from the afternoon lingered between them. Yu Sheng smiled at him as a greeting; Gu Yan nodded in return.

"I'm here to buy vinegar," Yu Sheng said, pointing at the shelf. Since the store was close to her building, she wore only a thin jacket and slippers.

Gu Yan was at the register. He nodded at her. "I'm done shopping."

Yu Sheng grabbed a bottle of vinegar and, seeing him head out, felt a bit disappointed. After paying, she found Gu Yan waiting for her outside, leaning against the wall near the door.

He looked her over, noticing her thin clothes. With a sigh, he draped his padded jacket over her shoulders.

"No need, it's not far. I’ll just run home," Yu Sheng protested.

Gu Yan frowned, ignoring her and zipping the coat up for her, even pulling the hood over her head. When he finished, he looked at her and nodded in satisfaction.

His jacket was so big it reached past her knees.

Yu Sheng poked her face out from the hood. "Aren’t you cold? What about you?"

Gu Yan tucked her face back into the hood. "Home’s just a few steps away."

Yu Sheng thought to herself, Isn't your house right next to mine?

Walking beside Gu Yan, her initial urgency to get home faded. All she wanted was to spend a little more time with him.

"Have you eaten?" she asked.

"Just finished. The housekeeper just left," he replied, holding onto her sleeve to keep her from tripping.

"So why did you come out in this cold?" Yu Sheng asked, looking up at his back as he led the way.

Their footsteps crunched over the snow, a sound Yu Sheng loved, so she kept stepping into deeper piles. Seeing her in slippers, Gu Yan kept pulling her toward clearer paths.

He felt like he was walking a mischievous puppy. "Just out for a walk, to digest," he said.

At last, when Yu Sheng jumped into another snow pile, Gu Yan stopped, grabbed her, and pulled her in front of him. "If you jump into the snow again, I’ll carry you home. Coming out in slippers without a coat—aren’t you cold? Understand?"

Yu Sheng blinked. "Okay!"

Sensing he was a little angry, she restrained herself. She definitely didn’t want him to carry her—the first reason being, what if her mother saw? The second, she was afraid she was too heavy and he wouldn’t be able to lift her. That would be embarrassing.

This time, Gu Yan walked more slowly, holding her sleeve as he walked beside her.

Yu Sheng stole a glance at him, noticing his expressionless face. It felt odd.

Sensing her gaze, Gu Yan turned. "What is it?"

Yu Sheng hesitated. "What's wrong with you? You’ve barely spoken since this afternoon."

The mention of the afternoon reminded Gu Yan of Yu Sheng’s reluctant look. She always gave him hope, only to douse it with cold water. He was starting to feel exhausted.

"Nothing," he replied, turning away.

Nothing? You obviously don’t want to talk. Yu Sheng pouted.

"Is it because of Chen You? He’s just a classmate from middle school. I can't just ignore him if he talks to me, can I?" Why am I explaining myself?

"But wasn’t he your first love?" Gu Yan said, not looking at her.

So that was it. "That was just when I was young and immature. It doesn't count. I haven't had feelings for him in a long time."

"Then who do you have feelings for now?"

"I... I don’t have feelings for anyone right now." Yu Sheng lied. But to admit to Gu Yan’s face that she liked him—she couldn’t.

Gu Yan’s eyes dimmed. "Is that so."

"But who knows, maybe I will in the future," Yu Sheng added.

Gu Yan said nothing, just nodded.

When they were nearly at the building entrance, Gu Yan finally spoke. "I was a bit impulsive this afternoon. If I scared you, I apologize. I won’t be so abrupt in the future."

Yu Sheng hadn’t expected him to say that and was stunned.

What did he mean by that?

She didn’t feel offended at all—just a little nervous, that’s all.

After that, Gu Yan said a few more words of apology, but Yu Sheng didn’t really hear them. She barely remembered how she got upstairs. Still wearing Gu Yan’s coat, she only realized it when Wei Yabai asked her.

Maybe the coat was too warm; she was lost in its comfort, forgetting she only had a thin jacket on.

"I ran into Gu Yan downstairs. He saw I wasn’t wearing a coat and lent me his. I’ll go return it now," she said, putting the vinegar on the table and hurrying out.

Did Gu Yan misunderstand something? Hadn't she explained it already?

Gu Yan had just changed his shoes and was about to shower when he heard a knock. This time, learning from last time, he checked the peephole. Seeing it was Yu Sheng, he hurried to open the door.

"Yu Sheng, is something wrong?"

She handed him the coat. "You forgot your jacket." With that, she passed it to him.

"You could have just brought it tomorrow morning—I’m not in a rush," Gu Yan replied, looking at her.

Yu Sheng lingered at the door, not wanting to leave. After a long hesitation, she finally said, "Um, Gu Yan..."