Secretly, Secretly; But Unable to Hide it (偷偷藏不住) by Zhu Yi (竹已)~ Chapter 17

Sang Zhi is shock that she stays still there unmoving. Both of them are standing there. The silence between them makes the atmosphere turns awkward.

Fu Zheng Chu looks at her eyes and rubs his head. He tries to be composed, he asks: “Why aren’t you talking?”

Sang Zhi just says “Ah”, she is a bit at a loss.

She never gets any confession but she usually stuffs romance books on her drawer.

“Ay.” Sang Zhi immediately makes a hypothesis and suddenly feels curious. “Do you remember the time you knock out my teeth?”

“….” Fu Zheng Chu has regretted it but he indeed did it. This time he tries to explain himself.

“It’s been years ago, didn’t I have a fracture too?”

Sang Zhi doesn’t bear any grudge. “Right.”

Sang Zhi doesn’t know what is it mean to be tactful, she just be frank: “It’s better for you to not like me, I don’t like someone that is younger than me.”

Fu Zheng Chu pauses and suddenly turns furious: “You shouldn’t discriminate someone because of the age!”

“……”

“You should tell me a bit so I can change?”

Sang Zhi thinks about it. “I like someone that is handsome.”

“…..” Fu Zheng Chu takes a deep breath and points at her: “Except you, no one thinks that I’m ugly? Are you attacking me?”

“It’s just…..” Sang Zhi says: “everyone has different taste of aesthetic.”

Fu Zheng Chu feels wronged: “Perhaps I should do plastic surgery?!”

“I don’t mean that way.” Sang Zhi feels wronged because of his roar, she says: “So I said to you to not like me?”

“Alright.” Fu Zheng Chu is giving up in chatting with her. “Just think that I don’t talk with you.”

Looking at his bad mood, Sang Zhi starts to regret whether her words are too much. She asks boldly: “What do you like from me?”

Fu Zheng Chu looks at her and says: “You are pretty.”

Sang Zhi: “Oh.”

Fu Zheng Chu: “You just respond this way?”

Sang Zhi: “I have no way to refute.”

“…….”

They both are still standing in front of the escalator toward the third floor.

Fu Zheng Chu suddenly be so serious, he looks at her for a while and asks: “Are you not willing to date in early age?”

San Zhi nods: “It’s part of my reason.”

“You also dislike me to be young, dislike me because I’m ugly.” Fu Zheng Chu pursues his lips and his eyes start to turn red. “Sang Zhi, today is my birthday? Could you reject me in some other day?”

“……” Sang Zhi is stupefied. “Are you crying?”

“Crying!” Fu Zheng Chu feels embarrassed, he rubs his eyes and wants to say something else but he notices there’s someone standing behind them.

Fu Zheng Chu looks over.

He looks at that man for a while.

Fu Zheng Chu feels that man looks familiar.

But he couldn’t make it out where did he meet this person.

Sang Zhi notices something is wrong with Fu Zheng Chu, she looks over confusedly and then recognizes that figure as Duan Jia Xu.

No one knows how long has it been for him to stand there and watch them.

Looking at both of them, Duan Jia Xu raises his eyebrow and asks: “Am I disturbing you guys?”

“…….”

Fu Zheng Chu immediately remembers this person.

Sang Zhi’s Ge Ge.

Last time when Sang Zhi’s parents are called over, he met him too.

Fu Zheng Chu suddenly bows down and greets: “Sang Zhi Ge Ge, hi!”

Duan Jia Xu: “Em.”

Fu Zheng Chu then just runs away: “Sang Zhi Ge Ge, goodbye!”

“…….”

It’s too strange. It’s clear that they did nothing wrong, but Sang Zhi feels guilty. After a short consideration, she decides to gain the initiative by striking the first blow. “Ge Ge, are you eavesdropping?”

Duan Jia Xu looks at her: “Yes.”

“……”

His admittance makes Sang Zhi shut sup, she is caught unprepared, she doesn’t know what else she should say. She just shuts up and keeps on walking.

Duan Jia Xu follows her: “Our Xiao Sang Zhi’s charm is quite great?”

“……”

He seems to find it amusing, he laughs and says: “You make that little boy cry?”

Sang Zhi doesn’t know how to reply. She just blushes. “What are you doing?”

Duan Jia Xu: “Ge Ge just cares about you.”

Sang Zhi feels awkward: “Don’t mention it.”

“Okay.” Duan Jia Xu changes the subject and says: “Last time the time Ge Ge helped you to meet your teacher. Repeat for me once what did I say to you.”

She suddenly understands him.

“I don’t remember what did I say. But I don’t date him.” She emphasises it one more time: “I absolutely will not.”

Duan Jia Xu: “You are quite obedient.”

Sang Zhi snorts unhappily.

Duan Jia Xu considers for a while and advises her: “It’s normal to have that kind of thought during the puberty. But you shouldn’t hurt someone’s feeling. You should thank him first for his liking then reject him.”

Sang Zhi: “Am I hurting him?’

Duan Jia Xu: “you made him cry right?”

“He also had made me cry several times.” Sang Zhi says boldly and assuringly. “I used to fight with him. No matter who is winning, he would cry too.”

Duan Jia Xu glances at her and laughs. “You could fight?”

Sang Zhi says honestly: “When I was young.”

He says lazily: “Now you are still young.”

After several seconds of silence, Sang Zhi couldn’t help and says: “I’m not young anymore.”

“Em.” Duan Jia Xu smiles and looks at her height. “Okay, you seem to grow taller a bit, you also know how to treat Ge Ge well.”

Sang Zhi just watches him.

Duan Jia Xu: “Give me your hand.”

Sang Zhi hesitates for a while and extends her hand.

The next second, Duan Jia Xu puts all the money that Sang Zhi left for him before. He smiles: “Thank you Xiao Sang Zhi.”

Sang Zhi looks at his eyes.

“Do you know if someone knows about this, what they will think of me?” Duan Jia Xu says: “They will think that I am blackmailing a high school student and will catch me.”

Sang Zhi says seriously: “You aren’t blackmailing me, this money is for the dessert.”

Duan Jia Xu: “what you eat costs around two hundred? Everyone will say that Ge Ge is stating an absurd price.”

Sang Zhi cannot win him so she just stuffs the money back to him. “Anyway I just give it for you.”

“Why are you giving it to me?” Duan Jia Xu smiles: “you feel that Ge Ge is so miserable?”

“No.” The time he mentions this, Sang Zhi remembers again that she seems to make him unhappy. She hesitates and apologizes. “Ge Ge, I’m sorry.”

“Em.”

“I shouldn’t ask you about that. I just see that you are too busy and I keep troubling you. I feel embarrassed. Then this money is earned by you hardly, I couldn’t spend it. I also brought friend over.”

“……..”

Duan Jia Xu smiles:” Why are you suddenly turning so polite and formal?”

Sang Zhi says honestly: “My Papa said that if you do something wrong, you should admit it.”

“Who said that you do something wrong?”

“I feel that my question makes you unhappy.” Sang Zhi says. “This is my mistake.”

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” Duan Jia Xu strokes her head. “Take this and buy candies.”

Sang Zhi places her hands on her back. “I don’t like candies.”

“Then just buy anything you like.” Duan Jia Xu stares at her bright eyes. “The time Ge Ge really turns pour and cannot work anymore, I will come over and borrow you money. Okay?”

—

She gets on the bus and chooses to sit near the window. She looks at Duan Jia Xu outside the bus. She then looks at the money inside her bag.

She zips her bag with low spirit.

The bus starts moving. The sky is in scarlet red color.

Sang Zhi touches the window and draws word “Duan” on the window and quickly wipes it clean.

She feels dispirited.

Is it because of the older someone is, they would worry more?

But she doesn’t feel that she is old.

Duan Jia Xu isn’t that old too.

—-

There unexpected encounter is that summer. It’s the last time she met Duan Jia Xu. For the next following month, Sang Zhi joins a summer class for painting, she also starts to do her summer vacation homework.

She starts to be busy.

Sang Zhi never asks Sang Yan about Duan Jia Xu, she also never takes initiative to contact him. She doesn’t know whether he goes home or not during the summer holiday. She also doesn’t know whether he is working hard to earn money.

Yet she buys a money box in secret.

She secretly saves her allowance there.

She doesn’t know whether it will be useful or not but she just does it.

When the first semester of 2nd year of junior middle school starts.

The examination to choosing the class starts, Sang Zhi does it normally. She enters the best class so most of her classmates are unfamiliar with her. Her friends are divided into different classes.

She is in the same class as Fu Zheng Chu.

After the class changes, Yan Zhen Ru doesn’t look for Sang Zhi to play again.

Sang Zhi isn’t someone that takes initiative so they don’t really communicate and interact anymore. She is more independent person so she doesn’t mind it.

Time flies so fast, in just a blink it has passed the end of October.

The Xu Ri middle school starts to prepare for sport activities. They lend the sport facilities of Nan Wu University. Sang Zhi has no interest in sport but because in the class there are only few female students, her homeroom teacher asks her to register.

Sang Zhi is unwilling but she registers to join a broad jump competition.

Their class also spends money to have their own uniform. The uniform is designed by Chen Ming Xu. He doesn’t accept anyone opinion and just designs the uniform to have a sunflower in the middle of the uniform. It looks gaudy.

It’s the most unrefined uniform Sang Zhi has ever seen.

During the sport activities day.

Sang Zhi feels so embarrassed so she just changes her clothes the time she arrives at school. Then she follows the team to go to Nan Wu university.

Except helping Sang Yan moving in to the university dorm, this is the second time for her to come here so she doesn’t feel unfamiliar.

Those boys who aren’t joining the competition, just standing there and plays the games. Sang Zhi watches them and finally she hears that the broad jumping competition will start soon.

Except lending their sport facilities, Nan Wu University also prepares volunteers to help the event to run smoothly.

Sang Zhi meets her Ge when she is at the registration desk.

Sang Yan is sitting there. When he notices her, he smiles and acts a bit odious. “Tong Xue (Student), you seem to not conform to the qualification to join. Just go home.”

Sang Zhi tries to remain calm. “How could you say that I’m not conforming to the qualification?”

“Your height is insufficient.”

“I never hear that if you want to do a long jump you should be at certain height.”

Sang Yan says: “But you couldn’t do it when you even are not one hundred twenty centimeter.” He says it and then pokes the other person, who is sleeping on his side. “Right? Brother.”

Intermezzo:

Sang Zhi: “Sang yan is a dog, a black and ugly one.”