62 | Line or Circle
Me, like her? You’ve got to be kidding.

Pang Qian opened her eyes and raised her head to look at the boy in front of her. “I’m done.”

Gu Mingxi nodded. “I heard you.”

“Can I say it like that?”

“It’s a bit long-winded,” Gu Mingxi responded. “Actually, all you have to say is that you like him, and that would be enough.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

Pang Qian scratched her head. “But I’ve liked him for a long time. I want him to know that I haven’t just suddenly caught a fever.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t lie to you,” Gu Mingxi said sincerely. “There are some things you don’t have to say, and the other person will still feel it.”

Pang Qian thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. “That makes sense.” After another while, she asked, “Gu Mingxi, do you still like that girl?”

“…” Here it was again. Every time she asked excitedly about “that girl,” Gu Mingxi always got a headache. He asked, “Why?”

“You always have art lessons on the weekend. Is that girl still there? Is she studying arts or liberal arts and science? Does she still not know that you like her?”

Gu Mingxi furrowed his brows. “What is it that you want?”

“I want to ask, mm… Look, I’ve already decided to confess to Xie Yi. Regardless of what the outcome, I’m just going to make this (crazy) move this time.” Pang Qian grabbed Gu Mingxi’s shoulders with her hands and walked forward with him. She was on her tiptoes, bouncing along after him. “Gu Mingxi, shouldn’t you also gather up your courage for a moment and confess to that girl? Regardless of her response, at least you’ll have done your best and tried.”

Gu Mingxi smiled, but didn’t respond. He asked, “Pang Pang, if Xie Yi rejects you, will you really not be hurt?”

“…” Pang Qian seriously thought for a moment, then said, “Of course I’ll be hurt. But if I don’t try it, I’m afraid that I’ll always regret it.”

She kicked a pebble on the road. “I don’t expect Xie Yi to like me, but I just want to let him know that I like him. And that’s enough.”

Hearing this, Gu Mingxi was momentarily startled. He said, “Maybe you’re right. No matter the outcome, you should at least fight for it.”

The two of them got onto the bus and finished this topic. The bus stopped at a street nearby Xie Yi’s house. They got off the bus, and Gu Mingxi had Pang Qian go through the money in his pocket, saying he wanted to buy something.

Pang Qian didn’t really understand. Gu Mingxi taught her that when you visit someone’s house, showing up empty-handed wasn’t very polite.

Ever since they were small, he was always teaching her the way to act when interacting with others.

They bought a bag of lychees and a bag of mangoes, and then walked for ten or so minutes along the deserted street before finally reaching Xie Yi’s house.

It was a really luxurious looking villa. Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi carried the bags of fruit up to Xie Yi’s house. He opened the door for them, and the guests were very festive inside. A lot of cla.s.smates had already showed up.

What surprised Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi was that Xiao Yujing was also there.

Xie Yi’s house had a small courtyard, and there really was a barbecue set up there with lots of food to eat. Originally, everyone would be busy studying for the final exams now. It was rare that they would have such a chance to relax. So, taking advantage of this chance to watch the ball game, several boys and girls were enjoying themselves, eating and drinking, playing around.

Most of the people there to watch the game were Year 2 students. There were also a few people from Xie Yi’s ping pong team. Xiao Yujing didn’t know any of them.

Pang Qian walked inside the house and ran over to greet a few girls. Gu Mingxi didn’t really know anyone else, so he naturally sat down next to Xiao Yujing.

“Hi, you came too.” Xiao Yujing smiled at Gu Mingxi. She wasn’t curious about why Gu Mingxi had shown up, nor did she explain how she came to be there. In most people’s eyes though, aside from her violin performance with Xie Yi, the two of them weren’t related in any way.

Xie Yi warmly greeted everyone. When he saw Gu Mingxi and Xiao Yujing sitting together and chatting in the living room, he walked over and called out, “You two top students, don’t just sit here and zone out. Go to the yard and eat some food.”

Xiao Yujing looked out to the courtyard and stood up. “Gu Mingxi, let’s go sit outside.”

Gu Mingxi didn’t oppose, so the two of them walked out to the yard. Pang Qian was there chatting with Zheng Qiaoqiao. When she saw Gu Mingxi appear, she immediately ran over and quietly asked, “Do you want to drink something? I’ll help you get it.”

Before Gu Mingxi could respond, Xie Yi had already brought over a crate of drinks. Inside the cooler box were an a.s.sortment of imported juices and coffee. He pulled out a bottle of orange juice and handed it to Pang Qian. “Crab, whatever you want to drink or eat, feel free to serve yourself. Gu Mingxi, don’t be too polite (basically, help yourself).”

Gu Mingxi smiled slightly, “Okay.”

Xie Yi glanced over to Xiao Yujing, “What about you? What do you want to drink?”

“Cola.” Xiao Yujing’s voice was very calm. Pang Qian drank her orange juice and looked over at her. Xiao Yujing was wearing a white t-s.h.i.+rt, denim shorts, and her hair was short. She had on a pair of large gla.s.ses. She was small and thin, with delicate and smart features.

For some reason, Pang Qian always felt that the way Xie Yi treated Xiao Yujing wasn’t that good. His voice was a bit cutting as he said, “Sorry, there’s no cola.”

Xiao Yujing shrugged, “Then just boiled water.”

Xie Yi, “…”

The boys were politely grilling things for the girls. Xie Yi’s handiwork was pretty good. He grilled a plate of chicken wings, sausages, shrimp for Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi. Maybe it was her imagination, but Pang Qian kept feeling that Xie Yi took particularly good care of her that entire day. She was flattered, her heart pounding.

You can’t blame Pang Qian for thinking so much. It would be one thing if he treated all the girls as well. But the point was that Pang Qian was with Gu Mingxi the whole time, who was with Xiao Yujing the whole time. After awhile, Xie Yi wasn’t so lukewarm towards Xiao Yujing anymore. Sometimes when he spoke to her, his tone was a bit th.o.r.n.y.

Xiao Yujing wasn’t at all angry. She just enjoyed herself. She stood at the grill, making food to eat. She got some toast from the buffet table, made an egg, added some dressing, and made herself a big sandwich.

She ate her sandwich as she played with Xie Yi’s two golden retrievers.

“Hey, Bruno! Catch!” Xiao Yujing tossed out a ball, and Bruno and Lucky (originally dafuor “great luck”) both chased after it. In the end, Dafu brought it back in its mouth, his tail wagging happily, as he returned to Xiao Yujing’s side.

“Lucky, good boy.” Xiao Yujing sat cross-legged on the ground, taking big bites of her sandwich. Bruno and Lucky walked in circles around her. She rubbed their furry heads and said, “Be good. This is for me to eat, not for you guys.”

Seeing the two dogs looking so greedy, Pang Qian picked up a sausage skewer and ran over to Xiao Yujing, excited to feed the two golden dogs. Xiao Yujing immediately stopped her, “Crab! Don’t feed them! Dogs eat dog food, don’t feed them other things!”

Pang Qian was a bit embarra.s.sed and couldn’t help but say, “My uncle has dogs and they eat dog food, and they still feed them bones with meat. Little dogs like to eat meat.”

Xiao Yujing said, “This sausage is really salty. Bruno and Lucky’s dog food already has enough salt in it. If you feed them the sausage, it might become a burden on their kidneys. And when it comes to these golden retrievers, it’s better for them not to become used to eating snacks like this, especially if it’s human food. A lot of it isn’t suitable for them to eat.”

Pang Qian was stupefied. Just then, Xie Yi piped up, “Our family’s dogs aren’t so dainty. Eating a bit of sausage won’t cause any problems.”

Hearing Xie Yi helping, Pang Qian was so touched. Xiao Yujing just got up and pat the dirt from her bottom. She looked at Xie Yi, and then said lightly, “Whatever. They’re not my dogs anyway. Just say that I was being a busy body.”

When she finished, she turned around and went back to the living room to watch TV.

Xie Yi stood in the yard, watching her back. He furrowed his dark eyebrows deeply. Then he lowered his head and called for Lucky and Bruno to return to his side.

Gu Mingxi had witnessed all that had just happened. Pang Qian sat down next to him, stuffy and unhappy. She said quietly, “Don’t all dogs like to eat meat? When I feed sausages to Grandpa Zeng’s dog w.a.n.g w.a.n.g, it’s really happy.”

Gu Mingxi responded in a low voice, “Those are mutts. Xie Yi’s dogs are pure bred, so they really shouldn’t eat randomly.”

“Then what do I with this sausage? Throw it away?” Pang Qian held a sausage skewer in her hand, the oil dripping down her hands. Gu Mingxi said, “Just eat it yourself.”

“I’m too full.”

“Then… Then feed it to me.”

After he said that, he really opened his mouth. Pang Qian’s depressed mood immediately lightened. She stuffed the sausage into his mouth and laughed, “Does it taste good?”

With face stuffed full, Gu Mingxi chewed and threw a chagrined glance at her.

That evening was the China vs. Brazil game. The Chinese team was obviously going to be demolished by the Brazilian team. Some ten plus young adults sat in Xie Yi’s living room, eating popcorn, drinking cold drinks, having a fun time.

During the half-time break, Xiao Yujing said to Xie Yi, “I’m heading home now. There won’t be any buses later.”

Xie Yi immediately jumped up, “I’ll send you.”

“No need. It’s still early now. I can go to the bus stop by myself.” Xiao Yujing’s gaze and tone couldn’t be countered, so Xie Yi just watched her pack up her things and say goodbye before leaving.

After she left, the students of Cla.s.s 7 immediately exploded. A few boys started to interrogate Xie Yi about why Xiao Yujing would come over to his house to watch the game.

“My G.o.d, I nearly suffocated to death. I didn’t dare shout out anything. Like, if I cried out a single ‘d.a.m.n it,’ I’d be bringing shame to myself.” The fat kid pat his chest. “G.o.ddess Xiao, ranked first in the year. I’ve never been in such close proximity to her before.”

Someone said, “Sports King Xie, when did you and G.o.ddess Xiao become friends?”

Someone else asked, “Xie Yi, have you started liking the Xiao girl?”

When she heard this, Pang Qian’s ears stood up. Xie Yi just laughed awkwardly and said, “Me, like her? You’ve got to be kidding.”

When he said that, he gave Gu Mingxi a meaningful glance. A bit of hostility flashed across his eyes, but his smiling face quickly returned.

Other than Gu Mingxi, no one else saw that look. After Xie Yi’s gaze left Gu Mingxi, he looked over to Pang Qian.

Silly Pang Qian, joyous Pang Qian, shy Pang Qian, naive Pang Qian.

Gu Mingxi, Pang Qian, Xie Yi, Xiao Yujing.

Was this a line or a circle?