28. Drawing Near

This summer vacation had been an exceptionally joyful one for Pei Huan. Pei Yan and his close friends had planned a trip, and Pei Huan had the good fortune to be brought along, spending several days having fun with them. When they returned, she still lingered in nostalgia, asking Pei Yan when the next trip was being planned.

On the day she came home for the holidays, Pei Huan hadn’t forgotten her agreement with Lu Yinghuai: to meet up whenever she had time during the summer. Lu Yinghuai always seemed to be available, agreeing to her invitations without hesitation.

Pei Yan watched his sister running out to play every now and then, quietly observing her outfit. Though she dressed casually, he could tell she’d put thought into her appearance before going out. At first, he was surprised at her new-found enthusiasm for going out, but then, one day, she accidentally let slip that she’d been out with Lu Yinghuai. Pei Yan took note but said nothing, not exposing her secret.

Over the course of the summer, something seemed to be quietly changing. Both of them sensed it, yet neither said a word, choosing instead to let this change spread silently between them.

The start of senior year came earlier than the other grades. Even though Pei Huan hadn’t had her fill of summer fun, she had no choice but to accept reality. Their classroom had changed for the final year, and Pei Huan had a hard time finding it. The atmosphere was listless, with complaints about the early start echoing faintly. Pei Huan yawned, pulled out her chair, and sat down, hardly registering that she was actually back in class.

Lu Yinghuai hadn’t arrived yet. Li Xuan borrowed his seat to chat with Pei Huan. “I saw you updated your social media a lot this summer. Did Pei Yan and his friends really take you traveling?”

“Of course,” she replied matter-of-factly, “I had a great time.”

“Really?” Li Xuan raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t breathe a word about it in our group chat.”

Pei Huan grinned sheepishly. “I guess I was just having too much fun and forgot to mention it.”

“So impressive,” Li Xuan laughed.

With the topic opened, Pei Huan began recounting her travel stories to Li Xuan. She was a gifted storyteller, making everything sound lively and interesting. Just listening, Li Xuan could imagine how much fun the place must have been.

Thinking of this, Li Xuan suggested, “Why don’t we take a trip ourselves when we graduate?”

Pei Huan’s eyes lit up. “That sounds great!”

“So who’s going to plan the itinerary?” Li Xuan arched a brow.

At this, Pei Huan instantly fell silent, pretending to look around as if the question wasn’t meant for her.

Li Xuan laughed at her reaction and continued chatting with her until Lu Yinghuai arrived, at which point he returned to his own seat.

Pei Huan looked up at Lu Yinghuai, her smile radiant. “You’re here.”

“Yeah,” Lu Yinghuai pulled out his chair and sat down. “What were you and Li Xuan talking about?”

“My trip,” Pei Huan replied.

She had already told him these stories during their outings; he’d known before Li Xuan did. Although he wasn’t pleased that she’d chatted with Li Xuan for so long, the thought that he knew her stories first cheered him up.

“Why were you so late today?” Pei Huan asked casually.

“I overslept,” Lu Yinghuai answered.

Their conversation flowed naturally, and Lu Yinghuai was far from silent; sometimes he even initiated their chats. Ji Qinshu, sitting in front with her own deskmate, exchanged a glance—both surprised at how quickly Pei Huan and Lu Yinghuai had become so close.

Senior year was rigorous, filled with endless reviews and exams—weekly tests, pop quizzes, and night classes.

On Wednesday evening, the geography teacher entered the classroom with a set of papers, handed them out, and told them to complete the test during the lesson. By the time the bell rang for the end of the period, Pei Huan had only just finished, scratching her forehead in relief.

Test papers were exchanged with desk mates for grading. Pei Huan passed hers over and received Lu Yinghuai’s in return.

Compared to her own, Lu Yinghuai’s paper was more neatly organized, his handwriting powerful and practiced, each stroke bold and clear—it was almost worthy of collecting. His accuracy was astonishing. In contrast, Pei Huan’s paper was a mess, covered in red correction marks. Yet as she looked, she realized Lu Yinghuai had written out the answers and the methods for solving each question right on the page—clear and easy to understand.

Pei Huan was stunned and turned to him. “Why did you write so much for me?”

Lu Yinghuai glanced at her, unconcerned. “I just felt like it.”

She stared at his profile for a moment, as if she’d realized something, and silently smiled.

On Friday, it was their class’s turn for cleaning duty. In the early morning, a group of them carried cleaning tools downstairs. Pei Huan and Lu Yinghuai were assigned to the same team. Everyone was secretly pleased to be missing a morning reading session—Pei Huan included.

She swept the floor lazily, chatting with others, waiting to slip back to class as soon as time was up.

Eventually, she sat with some girls on the bleachers, laughing and talking. Not far away, Lu Yinghuai made his way over as he swept, eventually stopping in front of her. Pei Huan looked at him directly, her gaze unabashed, and he looked back.

After a moment, a sly glint appeared in her eyes. “Lu Yinghuai, could you sweep my spot for me?”

She was only teasing and didn’t expect him to agree, but he simply nodded and quietly began sweeping.

The girl chatting with Pei Huan looked back and forth between the two in disbelief. “What’s going on between you two?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on?” Pei Huan feigned innocence.

“Don’t play dumb,” the girl laughed, glancing at her. “You know what I mean.” She made a suggestive gesture.

Pei Huan pretended to have a sudden realization, then replied with a deadpan expression, “No, nothing.”

The girl eyed her with suspicion for a moment but let it go and started a new topic.

“But, I have to say,” the girl said gossipy, “with all this time you’ve been spending with Lu Yinghuai, Yuan Tao’s face is practically stormy enough to wring water from.”

Pei Huan hadn’t paid much attention to Yuan Tao; her focus was on her studies.

“It’s quite amusing, actually,” the girl continued. “I’ve never seen the usually gentle Yuan Tao make such a face.”

“You have a wicked sense of humor,” Pei Huan drawled.

“What wickedness? I’m just here for the show,” the girl replied.

After cleaning, the group ambled back to the classroom with their tools. Lu Yinghuai walked at the very end, and Pei Huan slowed her steps to join him.

“Are you in a good mood today?” she asked.

“Not especially,” he replied quietly.

“Then why did you help me clean?” she pressed.

He glanced at her. “It was easy.”

Pei Huan gave him a curious look—she hadn’t expected him to be so obliging. Usually, when Yuan Tao asked for help, he refused outright.

“You think I had an ulterior motive?” Lu Yinghuai saw through her at once.

“Maybe,” Pei Huan admitted boldly.

Lu Yinghuai gave her a lazy look. “In that case, buy me a drink.”

Pei Huan shot him a look that said, “I knew it,” making him laugh.

He wanted to reach out and pat her head, but with so many people around, he resisted.

No matter—there would be plenty of chances in the future.

At the end of the month came the first major exam of the semester. With all the usual assessments, Pei Huan felt indifferent. She’d started to study diligently this term, and while the questions weren’t too difficult, she was still unsure about her math results.

After the exams, National Day break began. On the first day, Tang Yue invited Pei Huan out. Sitting together in a milk tea shop, Tang Yue commented, “I’ve noticed something’s different between you and Lu Yinghuai lately.”

“You said that before,” Pei Huan raised a brow.

“It’s even more obvious now. You two suddenly seem so in sync,” Tang Yue replied.

Pei Huan didn’t plan to hide anything from her friend and told her honestly. Tang Yue wasn’t surprised; she just looked at Pei Huan with a knowing expression. “Just as I guessed.”

Pei Huan rolled her eyes. “I feel like I’m an open book in front of you.”

“We’ve been friends for so long—I know you inside out,” Tang Yue said.

Pei Huan neither agreed nor disagreed.

“But what’s Lu Yinghuai really like?” Tang Yue asked curiously.

Pei Huan thought for a moment before replying, “He’s not as hard to approach as he appears. Sometimes, he’s actually quite patient.”

As Pei Huan described him, Tang Yue watched her with a teasing glint in her eye.

“So you’ve figured out our campus heartthrob inside and out?” she joked.

“I just observe carefully,” Pei Huan replied.

They talked for a long time and eventually had dinner together before heading home.

A University wasn’t far from Pei Huan’s house, so when she got back, she saw Pei Yan sitting on the sofa chatting with Pei Dashan. Seeing her, Pei Yan greeted her offhandedly, “You’re back.”

“Yeah,” Pei Huan took off her bag, “How come you’re home today?”

“Nothing urgent, so I came back,” Pei Yan replied.

They chatted briefly before Pei Huan went upstairs. Lying on her bed, she saw several new messages from Tang Yue and plenty in the group chat with Li Xuan and the others. She replied to them all before putting her phone aside.

Thinking about it, her relationship with Lu Yinghuai was quite amusing. They’d become desk-mates by chance, grown close almost unintentionally, everything progressing naturally. Though Yuan Tao and Tao Ranxi were around, Pei Huan found them rather entertaining.

Yuan Tao never seemed to be discouraged—no matter how often she was rebuffed by Lu Yinghuai, she would always return as if nothing had happened, giving Pei Huan plenty to watch.

As for Tao Ranxi, she and Pei Huan were increasingly at odds; they barely spoke, and Pei Huan couldn’t be bothered with her.

After all, who would go out of their way to make life difficult for themselves?