Chapter 9: Stupid

Qiao Lan approached the classroom with the candy in her pocket and felt that the atmosphere in the classroom was a little off today.

But again, I didn't think much of it, maybe it was because we had PE in the afternoon and everyone was more excited, after all, the two previous PE sessions had been changed to self-study because of the rain.

It was a gloriously sunny day.

PE is the last session of the afternoon.

After the second period, the class rushes downstairs one by one. Qiao Lan tidies up his things and looks back habitually.

Qiao Lan gathered her books and slowly made her way down the stairs. The playground was just across the road to the right of the school building and the students were chattering together as the sports commissioner was shouting at everyone to form up.

The PE teacher also knew that the students wanted to play ball and organised the students to do a few sets of exercises before dismissing them and the students rushed to the court with a cheer.

Song Yao waited for the group to disband and then turned to Qiao Lan.

She has been a little unsure of what to do these past few days.

She was the one who took Qiao Lan with her at first, although none of her friends liked Qiao Lan, and even Chen Yaoyang said that Qiao Lan was not what she appeared to be, but had a deep heart and told her to stay away from Qiao Lan.

Song Yao was in a difficult position, especially when Qiao Lan had a fight with her best friend.

But when I turned my head and saw Qiao Lan standing alone, I felt a little bit uncomfortable and was torn between asking Qiao Lan to play with me and being dragged away by the girls I was playing with.

"What are you gawking at, Yaoyang? They're going to play ball!"

Song Yao's thoughts were instantly taken away by Chen Yaoyang's name, and when he turned his head again, Qiao Lan had already disappeared.

Probably watched Chen Yaoyang and the others play too.

Song Yao actually knew that Qiao Lan liked Chen Yaoyang, but there were so many people who liked Chen Yaoyang since she was a child, too many to count, that she had gotten used to it long ago, and she even knew that some of her friends she played with very well also liked Chen Yaoyang.

It was a lively day on the pitch.

The boys played and the girls watched. Even students from other classes came to watch the game today, mainly because of two people.

One Chen Yaoyang and one Hao Ying.

Chen Yaoyang became the star of the school because of his good looks and because he came first in his year in the first monthly exams, while Hao Ying became the star of the school because he had a star face.

Qiao Lan bypassed the crowded court and made his way silently into the primary school building and back to class.

She wasn't in the mood to watch a bunch of high school kids play ball, much less stand around being sneered at and used as a live target, so she might as well go back to class and read a book.

The classroom was quiet and Tan Mo was the only one reading.

All the students had gone to the playground for PE and he was the only one in the classroom.

Tan Mo likes to be alone, and the absence of other people and noise is a rare relaxation for Tan Mo. When he is alone, he reads a little faster than usual and is not mentally strained.

Prolonged periods of intense concentration in a vigilant posture can be physically and mentally exhausting.

But the next moment, clear footsteps entered the classroom, causing Tan Mo's body to stiffen for a moment.

Someone is coming.

He looked up expansively, recognising the person who had come to the classroom in an instant through his overgrown forehead hair.

It was the girl who kept saying hello to him.

But after his last warning to stay away from him, she never said good morning or good afternoon to him again.

He guessed it would be so, and deserved to be so.

If it was good intentions, it was time to give up after his repeated refusals, and if it was malicious, it was time to back off after he noticed.

But if you've given up, why are you here again?

Why was he here and why was he still able to smile at his smile as he had done several times before.

How could it be good intentions when even his own father, after being rejected by him several times, chose to shrug it off, let alone such a stranger?

So is it malice, is it.

Because she had said something like that to humiliate him the other day, because she hadn't achieved her goal so far, that's why she was so insistent time and time again, what did she really want? What did she really want?

He bowed his head, guessing exactly what she would do, but then thought impotently what he could do even if she wanted to.

He had no ability to resist, not even to stand up.

All the sounds around him were clearer than usual, he could hear the footsteps of girls getting closer and the sound of chairs being pulled away... and finally the sound of books being gently opened.

Calm returned to the surroundings.

Tan Mo looks up suddenly.

The girl who had just approached the classroom sat in her seat, head down, a pen in her hand, writing something.

She did not approach him and she returned to her seat.

She did nothing, she showed no sign of malice, and Tan Mo unconsciously clenched the pen in her hand, her gaze falling straight on the girl sitting in front of her, as if she was trying to find something in her.

The nib of the pen touches the paper leaving a slight rustling sound, serene and calm.

Tan Mo was still staring at her, and if Qiao Lan had looked back, she would have seen that almost suffocating gaze.

When she first entered the classroom, she wanted to approach Tan Mo to say hello, but she found Tan Mo nervous.

Thinking about what had been written in the earlier material, Qiao Lan gave up approaching Tan Mo and finally just smiled at him and went back to his seat.

Qiao Lan is working very hard on the problem, and Tan Mo is staring at Qiao Lan even harder, Qiao Lan's back to him, unable to see his unrestrained and inquisitive eyes.

As the minutes ticked by, the sun began to drift to the west and the sun shone sideways into the classroom, illuminating the shadows belonging to Tan Mo that had been blocked by the wall, little by little.

The sunlight gradually spreads over Tan Mo's desk, shining on the open books and faintly stinging Tan Mo's eyes.

He is not very well adjusted to strong lighting and if it were brighter his eyes would even have some difficulty seeing.

He returned his gaze to Qiao Lan, but when he looked again, he could not see Qiao Lan's body very well, and it looked like a dark shadow had fallen over his eyes.

The eyes hurt even more.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them he reached out to tug at the curtain not far away, but it was a bit far and he moved his wheelchair forward, but he couldn't make it work.

Qiao Lan heard a little movement as she worked on her question and looked back to find Tan Mo's pale hands clutching the curtains, which were only slightly rattling because they were a little far away.

It was then that Qiao Lan noticed that half of Tan Mo's body was already exposed to the sun.

He is afraid of the light.

Qiao Lan has discovered another secret.

After a moment's hesitation, Qiao Lan gently pushes the chair back and stands up. Tan Mo's sensitive hearing instantly picks up the noise, and her grip on the curtain shudders and freezes.

He heard her pull back her chair and the sound of her footsteps coming closer to him.

Stiffly, she raised her head and watched her walk up to her eyes, go to the window, close it and reach up to draw the curtains again.

In an instant, all the harsh light was hidden behind the curtains, and Tan Mo's space regained its former brightness, while his vision, which had been somewhat disturbed by the sunlight, gradually returned to normal.

He saw the softly upturned corners of her lips, and the dark eyes that gazed earnestly at him.

Her pupils were really dark.

But if Tan Mo could read people's eyes as well as a normal person, he would have seen the light smile hidden in those dark eyes.

Tan Mo is still tense, but the feeling of tenseness seems to be different from what it was just now.

Tan Mo lowered his head and raised it again after the other man said "sorry".

The girl with the dark eyes sat down on the chair in front of her, her eyes level with his, "I'm sorry", the girl said, "I just wanted to talk to you the other day and I'm really sorry for offending you, but I really didn't mean to."

Tan Mo looked at her steadily and did not speak.

Qiao Lan paused, reached into his pocket and finally took out a lollipop and placed it on his desk, "I really didn't mean to do that, can you forgive me."

Tan Mo still looked at her, still not speaking.

Although she knew it would be difficult to get close to Tan Mo, Qiao Lan was disappointed that Tan Mo was still very resistant to her and sighed silently.

"I have to go down to the assembly," Qiao Lan stood up and turned towards the door, taking two steps before turning around again, " Tan Mo , goodbye."

Tan Mo is hidden in the shadows behind a wall, motionless.

It was only when Qiao Lan's figure disappeared and his footsteps were far away that he dropped his eyes to the sugar on the table.

He never eats sugar.

After a long silence he picked up the candy, turned the wheelchair and moved slowly to Qiao Lan's seat, placing it slowly on Qiao Lan's table.

On the table is the physics paper that Qiao Lan has just not finished, having written most of it, with a few questions left to finish, and an empty space in the finished section.

It is she who will not do the deliberate emptying.

Tan Mo stared at the question for less than twenty seconds, then turned away with a grimace.

He could work out the answer to this question in his head in just twenty seconds.

He knew all of this knowledge by the time he was twelve, but she couldn't actually do it.

How stupid.

Stupid beyond belief.

Would someone so stupid really find a way to lie to him over and over again just to humiliate him.

Tan Mo's grip on the wheelchair stalled.

After a long silence, Tan Mo turned the wheelchair to go back to Qiao Lan's seat, opened Qiao Lan's book, memorised the names on it, and finally took the candy he had just returned back into his hand again.