Chapter 12 – See You Tomorrow

On Monday morning, when Li Tang descended downstairs, it was no surprise to see a gift box placed on the dining table.

Auntie came out from the kitchen, wiping her hands, “This was sent back by Master. He said it’s your birthday present.”

Taking a bite of the fried dough stick, chewing slowly, he opened the box to find a watch inside.

He usually didn’t have much appetite in the morning. Li Tang drank half a cup of soy milk, then returned upstairs, opening the drawer of his bedroom cabinet, tossing both the watch and its box inside.

This was already the unknown number of watches he had received over the years.

Reaching the room door, he paused, turned around, and pulled open the top drawer, where another watch lay.

But it wasn’t a gift from Li Yuanshan. Since the age of five, his mother had stopped celebrating his birthdays. This watch was bought by Zhang Zhaoyue at Li Yuanshan’s instruction when he first started high school.

“Take some time to go out and pick a watch for Li Tang,” Li Yuanshan had said at the time.

Thus, that day after school, Li Tang found the watch on his desk.

So technically, it couldn’t be considered a gift from Zhang Zhaoyue.

Staring at it for a while, Li Tang ultimately didn’t pick up the watch. He bit onto one end of the gauze and wrapped it tightly around his wrist.

Before leaving the house, Li Tang had planned to remind Auntie to keep an eye on Zhang Zhaoyue’s movements and contact him promptly. But glancing at the tightly closed door, he swallowed his words.

He still stuffed his phone into his backpack, taking it to school.

Today, his classmate and deskmate, Li Zichu, was unusually absent due to tardiness. It was a Chinese morning reading session, and Li Tang was delighted to be left alone, idling at his desk.

He entered the group chat for the class, where there were no teachers present. Li Tang had long joined the group, lurking quietly all along.

Opening the list of group members, including him, there were exactly fifty-two people, not one more, not one less.

This indicated that Jiang Lou was also among them.

Which one was he? Li Tang didn’t want to ask loudly in the group, deciding instead to figure it out himself.

There was an inexplicable joy akin to playing a puzzle game.

Except for a few whose real names Li Tang had noted, almost all the classmates in the group hadn’t changed their names, so one could only guess who they were.

He employed the method of elimination – those with cartoon avatars weren’t him, neither were those using selfies as avatars, nor those with Ultraman avatars, nor those with funny memes, nor those with cute pets.

Left were several with elderly landscape painting styles and some incomprehensible abstract art. Li Tang clicked into each one, further eliminating a few whose friend circles displayed to strangers and whose signature lines were relatively lively.

Only three remained.

Clicking into each avatar for another round of observation, Li Tang was indecisive.

Should he just ask Jiang Lou directly? But what reason should he give? Would he think I’m weird?

Although, it was even stranger to mysteriously run to someone else’s home.

Licking his lips, recalling the taste of that cheap cake from last night, Li Tang’s ears gradually heated up.

What did he mean by saying it would distract him?

Was it because I was noisy, affecting his studies, or…

In his thoughts, Li Zichu entered the classroom through the back door and sat down in his seat.

Li Tang turned around, catching sight of the bloodied scar on Li Zichu’s lip, surprised, “What happened to your mouth?”

Li Zichu stuffed his backpack under the desk, “I was bitten by a dog.”

“A dog? What kind of dog can jump that high.”

“A Chinese countryside stupid dog.” Li Zichu grimaced in pain as he grinned, “The type that grows in size but not in intelligence.”

Li Tang hadn’t seen such a dog before, asking, “When did it happen?”

“Just last night after you left.” Li Zichu said, “Actually, I provoked it before going to your house.”

Li Tang grew increasingly confused, thinking that there didn’t seem to be any stray dogs near the neighborhood.

During the large break after the second class, while lining up for the physical exercise, Li Tang pretended to tie his shoelaces, twisting to look towards the end of the line. Jiang Lou was chatting with a few tall boys in the back row, while the Huo Xichen beside him seemed somewhat off.

Upon closer inspection, his mouth was also injured, with a wound right in the middle of his upper lip, forming a rather comical scab after healing.

As if sensing something, Huo Xichen turned to glare at Li Tang, causing Li Tang’s shoulders to shudder as he quickly averted his gaze.

Before the interval exercises, the school broadcast announced matters related to the sports meet, involving all classes except for the third year seniors.

Back in the classroom, the PE committee member, Zhou Dongze, posted the sports meet participant list on the classroom bulletin board.

Under the efforts of several class cadres, Class 1, Grade 2 of Senior High School had almost every event registered, with the number of athletes accounting for nearly one-third of the total class population.

Li Tang was assigned a job – the logistics for the broadcasting station, mainly responsible for organizing the submitted articles and doing odd jobs like buying water and moving tables, not needing to step onto the field to sweat, making it the most relaxed position.

Li Zichu exclaimed unfairly upon seeing the list, “Old Zhou, how could you do this? Letting me run three thousand meters and letting Li Tang sit at the broadcasting station?”

“Li Tang doesn’t like sports,” Zhou Dongze said with a smile, “With your excellent physical fitness, you must run ten laps for me.”

Li Zichu sighed deeply, “If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have played with you. You’re tricking friends.”

“It’s helping friends, I registered for more events myself.”

“You’re the PE committee member, you deserve it.”

“Tsk, you make it sound…”

While they were talking, Li Tang took the list to look at it. Jiang Lou was assigned two events, one short-distance running and one long jump.

Secretly noting down the competition times and venues for these two events, Li Tang fished out his phone again, pondering over the three avatars that had been filtered out.

Which one was Jiang Lou after all?

By Friday morning, the fourth period ended, and the entire Xucheng No.1 High School was like a boiling oil pot. In less than half an hour, the temporary broadcast station on the playground was fully set up.

As a member of the logistics team, Li Tang followed along, moving equipment and setting up speakers, panting heavily from exhaustion.

Fortunately, the busy work ended here. Just as he sat down, someone pushed a food cart from the canteen to provide meals for the staff, with each portion consisting of two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, packed in plastic lunch boxes.

The third-year seniors were not participating in the sports meet, and the freshmen could only register for competition events, so the broadcasting station was composed of one student from each class of the second-year students, mostly girls.

the class sent Su Qinhan, who was assigned to the broadcasting group. At this moment, she was sitting on the high broadcast platform, holding a small mirror to apply lipstick.

Her classmates called her down to eat, to which she replied, “No eating, I’m dieting.”

A girl asked, “You’re already so skinny, why are you dieting?”

Su Qinhan lazily responded, changing the angle of the mirror in her hand, reflecting her beautiful side profile, “You guys eat, don’t mind me.”

Li Tang didn’t know anyone here, finding an empty spot to sit down, picking at the dishes in his meal box casually.

His thoughts wandered again – he had added the three people on WeChat one by one. Two of them had already accepted, but they weren’t Jiang Lou. It seemed that it could only be the remaining one.

Why didn’t he accept it? Li Tang wondered, it had been several days, even if he didn’t bring his phone to school, he should have seen it when he got home.

His avatar was a half-dark, half-lit moon, did it have any special meaning?

When alone, Li Tang’s thoughts were boundless, so when interrupted by the outside world, he inevitably jumped in fright.

Su Qinhan finished her makeup at an unknown time, walking over brazenly and sitting down next to Li Tang.

“Former deskmate,” she addressed Li Tang, “Are you reviewing the broadcasting articles this afternoon?”

“Huh?” Li Tang was caught off guard, “…yes, I’ll just do a simple review.”

Su Qinhan shoved a bottle of sports drink into Li Tang’s arms, “Help me out, select a few more articles about Jiang Lou.”

Looking at the bright smile of the girl, Li Tang thought about how he knew where Jiang Lou lived but didn’t tell her, feeling inexplicably guilty, “But, the review isn’t just done by me.”

“Can you help me out?” Su Qinhan pleaded, “I really can’t read articles that aren’t about Jiang Lou.”

Once she left, the surrounding girls began discussing.

“Who does she think she is? A princess? Does the whole school have to listen to her?”

“Her father is the principal.”

“Tsk, what’s so great about that.”

“In the afternoon, when reading the broadcast articles, she won’t just read those about Jiang Lou, right?”

“So what, I think it’s fine.”

“What’s the matter? Do you want to compete with the princess for the prince?”

“What, you know how poor the overall quality of the boys in our school is, it’s rare to have a Jiang Lou, who wouldn’t want to take a few more looks.”

“That’s true, which competition is he participating in this afternoon, let’s go watch together.”

The afternoon schedule was for track and field events, with the men’s short-distance running receiving the most attention.

As the competition was about to start, most of the people at the broadcast station had already left. Su Qinhan’s broadcasting position was temporarily taken over by a male classmate she found. Li Tang flipped through the few articles that had just arrived, all of which had Jiang Lou as the protagonist.

All were approved, none left behind.

Standing on the high broadcast platform, overlooking the entire playground, Li Tang saw the direction of the densest crowd. Su Qinhan, with her high ponytail, stood at the forefront, shoulder to shoulder with Jiang Lou. Jiang Lou was turned sideways, his expression unclear, but likely smiling.

Li Tang had watched campus idol dramas – the campus heartthrob, or so-called “school grass,” was always portrayed as a cold and taciturn iceberg character, giving off an aura that discouraged people from approaching, making those who harbored affection timid and reluctant to easily pluck that snow lotus from the sky.

But Jiang Lou liked to laugh, he was amiable, which made people feel that he wasn’t distant, giving a false impression that with a little effort, one could conquer him.

Realizing again that Jiang Lou’s gentleness wasn’t exclusive to him, Li Tang experienced a sense of illusion, as if undergoing some sort of torment.

Moreover, despite doing the same thing, Su Qinhan was much more open than him.

She offered water to Jiang Lou, and when he didn’t accept, she unscrewed the cap and held it to his mouth.

Jiang Lou had no choice but to take it and take a few big gulps.

From dozens of meters away, Li Tang also swallowed, seemingly seeing the protruding Adam’s apple slide up and down, the chest rising and falling with breathing.

When the starting pistol rang, his gaze chased after the figure that shot out like lightning, crossing the finish line first with outstanding superiority.

Half an hour later, during the men’s short-distance running final, the figure showed no signs of fatigue, striding forward swiftly like an arrow released from a bowstring, crossing the finish line gracefully, eliciting enthusiastic cheers from the audience.

The broadcast reported three times – Men’s hundred-meter final, champion, Class 1, Grade 2 of Senior High School, Jiang Lou.

Li Tang was closest to the speaker, so he heard it very clearly, clear enough to feel his heart tremble.

Around five o’clock in the afternoon, as the sun set in the west and the crowds dispersed, leaving only the last few unpopular events, Li Tang finally had a chance to take out his phone.

There were unread messages on WeChat. Opening it, it was the person with the moon as his avatar, who had finally accepted his friend request.

At the same time, a message was sent: Why didn’t you come to watch my competition?

When adding as a friend, Li Tang had already identified himself, so he was certain that this was Jiang Lou himself.

His heartbeat slightly sped up as Li Tang typed a reply: I was at the broadcast station.

After sending it, he didn’t turn off the screen, holding the phone in anticipation.

However, five minutes passed, and there was no response from the other side.

The sweat on his palms evaporated and dried. Li Tang exhaled, laughing at himself for being silly.

Every interaction had been initiated by him, the other party clearly had no intention of deepening their relationship.

Just as he was about to put his phone away, suddenly someone shouted, “Li Tang, someone’s looking for you!”

Descending the steep “steps” formed by the desks, Li Tang hadn’t yet stood steady when he saw who had come, completely stunned.

Jiang Lou wore a simple white T-shirt and sports pants, with the school uniform jacket draped over his shoulders, exuding a refreshing vitality.

Seeing Li Tang, he smiled, “So surprised?”

Li Tang was still a bit dazed, “…why are you here.”

Jiang Lou waved his phone, “It ran out of power, just passing by.”

“Should I find a power bank for you?”

“No need, I’ll charge it at home.”

“…oh.”

In just two minutes, Li Tang had already sensed the converging gazes from all directions. If he were a girl, he would probably have been pierced through by these stares by now.

Slightly socially anxious, Li Tang disliked crowded occasions and was even less adept at handling the current situation.

A sense of helplessness gradually arose, and the hands behind his back couldn’t help but twist tightly together, the fingers skillfully tugging at the already loose bandage.

“You won the championship just now, congratulations,” unwilling to let the conversation die, Li Tang brought up a new topic.

Jiang Lou asked, “Then aren’t you going to offer me a drink?”

Li Tang thought to himself, I’m wearing contact lenses today: “Didn’t you receive many bottles of water?”

Jiang Lou raised his eyebrows, “So you saw everything.”

“…” Li Tang felt a bit annoyed; his previous words were too obviously sour.

Hastily trying to mend the situation, “I was on the broadcast platform, standing high and seeing far.”

Jiang Lou said “oh.” Li Tang wondered if it was an illusion, feeling that his “oh” sounded like he was imitating him.

Fortunately, the topic didn’t continue. Jiang Lou said “bye-bye,” turning to leave.

Pausing in his steps, he turned back.

“Nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Li Tang didn’t catch on, “Huh?”

“The long jump, in the southeast corner of the playground.”

“Oh, right.”

Li Tang had deliberately remembered this time.

“If you have time… forget it, you probably don’t have time.” Jiang Lou still waved his hand, “See you tomorrow.”

Returning to the broadcast station, tidying up the messy articles on the table, the girl who had reviewed the articles together asked, “Is there something good happening?”

Li Tang was puzzled, “What?”

The girl scrutinized him carefully, commenting, “You look better when you smile.”