Suddenly, This Summer 4 // Seeing You Everywhere

The marked and returned physics quiz was a shocking red.

He Luo covered the paper with both hands. She had no courage to look at the depressing score. Just resign to your fate. Perhaps you’re a natural-born physics inept, a depressed He Luo thought. The blisters at your feet is a product of your own travels [your difficulties is your own doing].

“Seatmate, what is the answer to the second question?” Zhao Cheng Jie asked, looking up.

He Luo swiftly leaned over the desk and hid the paper. “Don’t ask. My results are horrible.”

“How could it be worse than mine?” He showed her his results. 47 marks.

“Ah, right back at you.” He Luo sighed. “I’m not that much better than surpass you.”

“For this quiz, there were only four students who passed. The average result is 43 marks.” After the physics teacher said this, most of the class began to vent their feelings.

“The questions regarding motion are quite difficult but I believe if you all do more practice questions, you’ll be able to master it.” He looked a little proud. “In our entire year, the only two students who receive 90 marks are in our class.”

“The only two…” He Luo couldn’t resist a chuckle.

“Did you also score 90 marks? Not bad.” After class, Zhang Yuan came over and talked to her.

He Luo pointed at her seatmate. “If we both add our marks, we do have 90 marks.”

“Then why are you still laughing so cheerfully.”

“If Teacher Qiu hears this, he’ll choke himself to death from anger. It’s the only two.” When Chinese-language Teacher Qiu Ping was anxious, he would keep on putting his glasses and taking them off, resulting in a clear red mark on both sides of the nose. Complete with the long hair of a melancholic, young literature student, the idea made He Luo laugh.

“Oh.” She suddenly remembered. “Did you say ‘also’ scored 90 marks?”

“Ah! I knew it’d be you!” Zhao Cheng Jie jumped up. “Don’t banter, treat us to ice cream!”

“Why?” Zhang Yuan asked.

“Your marks are higher than mine! When my marks are better than yours, I’ll also treat you!”

He loudly hit his chest. Either way, it was an empty cheque.

“I want green tea.”

“Ice cream sandwich.”

…

“Please bring me an ice cream cone. Many thanks!”

Such polite words, isn’t this just plain blackmail? Zhang Yuan had already understood early on that all those around him were a group of hungry wolves. “Say it one by one. If I can’t remember it, there won’t be any for you.” He asked He Luo, “What did you say earlier? Red bean ice cream?”

“Ah? I didn’t say anything. My tooth hurts, so no thanks.”

“Get me two then!” Someone immediately added.

A few boys escorted Zhang Yuan to the convenience store, for fear that he and his wallet would fly.

*

He Luo wanted to see a dentist yet she was worried that the dentist would drill in her teeth as he pleased. When the tiny electric drill hit her tooth, a light sound could be heard and her entire mouth was filled with smoke, as if she could spit fire. The drill reached the top of her teeth and the total of 206 bones in her body had begun to quiver. Upset over the swelling pain caused by her last tooth, she used Mom’s old-fashioned method to ease it by pinching the crevice between her thumb and second finger on her left hand.

When she opened her pencil case back at home, she saw that there was a paper twisted into a knot. At the knot was a hand-drawn feather.

She opened it and a vibrant handwriting read: “Urgent letter,” followed by the contact information of a dentist’s office.

Didn’t he say he would call her? He Luo flattened the note wide open and carefully read it a few more times. But this was good too, this was the first time she received something handwritten from him. Even though it was only a few words, it was still a historical moment! She took out her diary – the brown cover featured a guitar, looking like a yellowed old photo.

She clipped the note inside. There were more and more things inside: the clipping of the school newspaper’s report on the maths competition’s winners, their train tickets when they returned from the site of the competition, the Dove chocolate he distributed to everyone… Every day she filled the diary, until the inner pages nearly separated from the cover, until eventually it was thick enough not to be able to fit inside the diary’s box cover.

*

Class 6’s team for the female basketball competition has already entered the finals. Li Yun Wei was so excited that she made a big fuss about it, insisting that they practice after school. He Luo kept on hesitating. “I want to go home and study,” she said. “If I still get these kind of results for my finals, my parents would murder me.”

“Idol, you’ve already did very well!” Tian Xin gestured exaggeratedly. “You’ve scored ten marks higher than the average!”

“It’s nine marks,” she corrected.

“Ay, it’s almost the same. Those of us who are burdens to the class average have not even panicked.” Li Yun Wei pulled onto He Luo’s backpack, stopping her. “Not everyone is Bai Lian or Zhang Yuan.”

Zhang Yuan had borrowed four to five basketballs from the PE teacher. He was also carrying a huge net with him. “Why are you guys lagging behind here? Do you have to doll up just for a basketball practice? You’re really girls!”

“He Luo wants to leave!” Tian Xi unapologetically revealed the truth. “She said she didn’t score well in physics.”

“I have to pass Tang Yi Chen his notes today but he was absent.” Bai Lian rubbed her temples. “Or else I could tell you the key points of this chapter.”

“The class representative is truly responsible.” Zhang Yuan gave her a thumbs-up with a smile. “Then I’ll tell He Luo on your behalf.”

“Ah?”

“I’ll teach you the chapter, so you stay and practice.” His tone was final, as if there was no room for debate.

High school women’s basketball is basically synonym for a big fat joke. After practicing for half an hour, everyone began laughing and joking around. When Tian Xin intercepted a ball midfield, she ran to the net while hugging the ball to her chest.

“What kind of basketball play is that!” Zhang Yuan was caught between tears and laughter. “If you mistakenly take one or two more steps, the referee could open one eye and closer the other, but if you run ten steps like that, you’re making too much of a contempt of the referee’s authority!”

“I know the rules!” Tian Xin widened her eyes. “But what if my hands and feet don’t listen to me!”

“If they don’t listen to you, then just chop them off.” Zhao Cheng Jie interrupted, and immediately became the target. The two of them ended up chasing after each other for a few rounds on the field.

“Don’t just stare at those who are laughing.” Zhang Yuan turned to He Luo. “How’s your practice going?”

“Here.” She opened her hands. This time her palm was clean, only her fingers were dark.

“That’s right!” A large hand slapped her on the palm. “Keep it up!”

“The opponent tomorrow is class 1. Overall they’re not that good, but they have a genius member who has been playing basketball since junior high school.” A few boys made their analysis.

“Let He Luo play as the point guard,” Zhang Yuan said. “Tian Xin plays forward.”

“Tian Xin is too short, isn’t it?” Zhao Cheng Jie asked.

“Are you very tall?! Aren’t you just the square root of three!” Someone responded in vengeance.

“What’s square root of three?” He Luo asked. She didn’t have a good grasp on her classmates’ nicknames yet.

“1.732.” Tian Xin grinned. “A certain someone kept on claiming that he was 176cm, but at the end of the school’s physical examination, he was found out to be just the square root of three!”

“You’re the square root of two!”

“Don’t gun at each other anymore.” Zhang Yuan waved, separating the both of them. “No matter how tall you are, you can’t touch the net even if you jump. And all of you barely have any scoring rate to speak of.”

“Don’t give us anymore psychological blows.” He Luo sighed. “Before the one accepting the ball can stand straight, the other five opponents have already swarmed the player.”

“Why must you stop? You can take another three steps,” Zhang Yuan said.

“Might as well just buy a lottery ticket, the possibility of winning is bigger.”

*

During the game, He Luo was responsible for dribbling the ball across the court. According the boys’ analysis and strategy, she kept her hand steady and did not allow the opponents the opportunity to steal it from her. Once the opposing team’s genius got the ball, the five of them would swarm her.

“Don’t worry about the rest,” Zhang Yuan said. “Let them steal. The boys will stand behind the net and play interference. Even though it’s not very fair, it’s better than you girls losing and then crying.”

“Homme fatale.” With a flirtatious look and smile, someone lifted Zhang Yuan’s chin.

“Kao! Is your head filled with water?” He pushed him aside. “Isn’t it just shouting one or twice?”

In the first half, the game ended 5:4 with class 6 leading by one point.

“This is probably thanks to my hard work.” Tian Xin’s nose was stuffed with paper towels. She giggled. When they reached a tie in the game earlier, the opponent somehow tossed the ball into her face during a pass. Her nose immediately bleed.

“Yaaaaa!” Tian Xin once sung opera so her voice was loud and clear. “They purposely injured me!” She did it a sing-song manner, almost like she was singing a folk song.

“In the old days, when the whip reached my body, my mother will only shed her tears…” Zhao Cheng Jie exhausted his throat singing remorsefully on the sidelines. Sing This Folk Song For The Party was the representative song Tian Xin would sing at every class meeting.

The referee was a third year student and was so annoyed by all the noise that he made an impatient wave. “Fine, fine. Class 1 made a foul, class 6 gets a free throw.”

Tian Xin avenged herself and scored the free throw. The students applauded. “Good, punish the enemy!”

Both sides were still in a deadlock after ten minutes of the second half passed. The end of May saw Chinese white poplar tree leaves fluttered all over, even the girls’ footsteps have become light and powerless. He Luo wiped the sweat on her forehead. Her four sisters have already surrounded the opponents. The opposing team’s genius was still the most experienced in the bunch and calmly dribbled the ball, forcing He Luo to trail behind her, dragging her opponent running from one side to another. She was rather pleased with herself…

“You could try steal her ball from behind.” He Luo remembered Zhang Yuan’s advice. “She’s on a completely different level, so she’ll definitely underestimate you. But you can only use this method once because she’ll definitely be on her guard later.”

The timing was now! The girl took a step to the right, the basketball passing from her left hand, about to make her shot. In a flash, He Luo slapped the ball with strength.

She touched the ball! In the next moment, the basketball was already in her hands. Don’t run with the ball in hand, control the rhythm, dribble the ball in front of the right foot… Zhang Yuan’s advice, one by one, entered her mind. He Luo had never been this quick at dribbling before, ditching all her opponents behind her. She broke into the third quarter, the sound of wind passing by her ear mixed in with Tian Xin’s clear voice.

What was it, she could no longer tell. She only saw Zhang Yuan’s figure moving behind the net. A dark-blue striped shirt, black pair of jeans, black Nike basketball shoes.

Her courage amplified. Holding the ball with both hands, she took one step, and then another, and gently jumped, sending the ball into the net with ease.

The ball was in! Yes! He Luo’s entire face was lit from her smile. She shook the victory sign at Zhang Yuan.

Why was there no applause?

“Really, how embarrassing,” he said, turning around. He shook his head as he sighed.

Eh. Wasn’t he standing behind the opponent’s net, acting as the homme fatale? A stunned He Luo immediately realised.

In the half-time, both teams have already switched courts.

“Did we win or lose?” When they entered the classroom, lazy classmates who didn’t watch the game asked.

“Look yourself.” He Luo didn’t have the patience to answer.

Zhang Yuan said, “Don’t ask.”

It was too embarrassing. He Luo slumped over her desk, hiding her head in her arms. The audience were laughing non-stop earlier. “The girl from class 6 is too funny, she actually scored in her own net!”

“What was funnier was there were class 1 players trying to stop her.”

Their referee-senior patted Zhang Yuan’s back and said, “After a month, let shimei [female junior] put on a performance game. We can laugh all the way to the college entrance examination.”

“He Luo, don’t be like this.” Bai Lian sat next to her, gently comforting her. “It’s just losing. We’re not as good as our opponents, it’s not your fault.”

“Wasn’t I very embarrassing?” She hid her head even more.

“No. You’re very humorous.” It was Zhang Yuan’s voice.

She felt a sudden coolness on her neck, causing her to gasp and immediately sit straight. She met his seemingly-laughing eyes. He was holding up a red bean ice cream. The plastic wrap was still coated with ice.

“You manage to score a three pointer in this competition is already very good. You and her are the only ones.” Zhang Yuan raised his eyebrows and put on an exaggerated Northeast accent. “Really, girl, it was so funny!”

He Luo burst into laughter. Her heart felt very warm.

*

As promised, Zhang Yuan helped her revise physics. “Your practice book is so new, no wonder you failed.”

“Yours is also very new.” He Luo glanced at him.

“I already know how to do it, why should I waste my time? It’s like me sleeping during class, but I already know how to write the infinity symbol.” Zhang Yuan remembered how she was embarrassed that winter.

“You’re making fun of me again!” He Luo snatched his practice book from him. “I’ll randomly choose a question and see if you can get it right.”

“Hey, it’s me tutoring you. Why did it turn into you testing me?”

“Aiya, it’s bleeding.” He Luo’s index finger stung from a paper cut.

“Idiot! Luckily you’re not snatching a knife, if not you’ll become the female version of Yang Guo [from Jin Yong’s Return of the Condor Heroes].” Zhang Yuan took out a bandage from his pencil case.

“Why do you seem to have everything, is this Doreamon’s pocket?”

“Isn’t it because of all of you!” Zhang Yuan helped He Luo put on the bandage, rolling his own sleeves out of the way. “Whose claws are so long, it’s fortunate that they didn’t tear my flesh away with it.”

“Ah, I never heard you talk about it. Did it bleed?” She showed him her short finger nails. Not a murder weapon.

“Don’t leave the nails long if you’re playing basketball. It’ll split and hurt a lot.”

“Oh. I’ll apologise on their behalf. I’ll treat you to some tonics.”

“That’s only right. What do I get?”

“You eat what you lack in.” He Luo smirked. “Pork skin then! Layers and layers of them.”

“Then your fingers, won’t you have to eat pig’s feet?”

The small OK gesture she made seemed to cause blood flow around her compressed wound, straight to her heart. He Luo’s thumb supported her chin, her lips coincidentally touching the bandage. She could smell the faint medicine scent. It was the kind of kindness that was close to her.

In a flash, she felt refreshed a thousand times over. He Luo also rolled up her sleeves and opened up the practice book. “Since you dare to give me a paper cut, I’ll fight you to the death!”

Thoughts

That red bean ice cream. Now I want some. I like how Zhang Yuan so subtly and gently takes care of He Luo, like he’s already a boyfriend.