The Third Rose

Chapter 5

When he was just in the third year of junior high school, Chen Xingze said to his parents, "I want to be admitted to the experimental high school as a music student."

The parents were a bit surprised, but welcomed his decision.

Experiment is the best high school in the city, or even the best in the province, and it has high requirements for grades.Chen Xingze devoted almost all his energy to You Xiaolin in his junior high school life, relying on his cleverness in his studies. Although his grades would not fall to the lower reaches, they could not meet the requirements of Experimental High School.

Originally, Wu Xingzhi and Chen He wanted him to go to another private high school that was within his ability, but Chen Xingze himself proposed to go to an experimental high school as a music specialty student.

"My grades in the compulsory test are very reluctant, but if I am a special student, the score line will drop a lot. I have a great chance." Chen Xingze rarely talks to his parents so formally, and Wu Xingzhi and Chen He's attitudes have also corrected.

"Experimental High School... Your mother and I didn't know much about it before. Are you recruiting music talents this year?"

"Recruitment, three." He has already checked everything, not only the admissions, but also the content of the annual exam.

"It would definitely be the best to be admitted to Experimental High School." Wu Xingzhi said, she might think that Chen Xingze was a bit too serious, so she patted him on the shoulder, "Don't put too much pressure on you, just do your best. But why did you suddenly You have been so motivated, and you were so forced to learn before that you didn’t even learn.”

Chen Xingze bowed his head in silence, and got up after a while. "I'm going back to the house to practice the piano." When I walked to the door, I suddenly remembered something. "By the way, I won't go to the badminton class. You can call the coach and talk about it."

Chen Xingze, who was sitting on the piano chair, didn't practice right away. He looked at the black and white piano keys, lost in thought.

He called Zhang Yao this morning.

Since that incident happened, Chen Xingze reduced the number of times he called You Xiaolin, and gradually stopped calling once a week.He warned himself not to think about You Xiaolin in that way in the future, he can only be his friend.

That incident dealt a great blow to the young Chen Xingze, and he did not get out of his depression for a long time after he recovered from his illness.His character has become more or less more restrained, and he hides his emotions better.His parents signed him up for badminton classes after seeing his listless appearance every day, but unfortunately the curative effect was not good.

Chen Xingze originally thought that as long as he saw less and listened less to his voice, this feeling would slowly fade.But when the exam was over and the teacher inadvertently mentioned that Yutian Middle School had a student named You Xiaolin with full marks in three subjects, Chen Xingze's inner shock was beyond his imagination.

Just heard his name and that's it.

Chen Xingze's thoughts wandered out of control.

He couldn't stop thinking, what is he like now?Have you grown taller?Is it still that white?Are you getting fatter?

Affection grows secretly, and there are many things that a young boy like him cannot seal.

Chen Xingze contacted Zhang Yao after a long time, and heard from Zhang Yao that You Xiaolin had studied harder than before recently.

"Work harder? How can he work harder? He used to stay with his books every day, so don't he even sleep now?"

"I don't know if I will sleep or not. Anyway, he doesn't go to the cafeteria for lunch now, so he just brings a piece of bread."

"What?" Chen Xingze stared anxiously, "Your teacher doesn't care?"

"What do you do? The teacher wants him to bring the limelight to the class. The main reason is that he doesn't have many friends, and no one brings him food."

Chen Xingze clenched his phone tightly, if he was by his side.

"And the school leaders have high expectations of him." Zhang Yao told him secretly, "Isn't it very difficult for his family, the school waived his food and tuition fees for a year, just to let him concentrate on sprinting for the number one in the senior high school entrance examination this year. Yutian has not had a champion for many years."

Chen Xingze thought of You Xiaolin's dull head studying, his heart was sour, and his longing could hardly be suppressed.After a while, he lowered his voice and asked, "Which high school is he going to take?"

"Do you still need to ask, of course it is an experiment."

For the next whole day, Chen Xingze looked up the test information of Experimental High School, researched inside and out, and finally told his parents about his decision at dinner at night.

He wants to stay by his side, even if it can only be friends.

Ever since Chen Xingze decided to take the experimental high school, he put aside all distracting thoughts.His junior high school life seems to have started from the third grade.He didn't contact You Xiaolin during the whole third year of junior high school, no matter how much he missed him, he said to himself silently, the next time they meet must be on the campus of Experimental Middle School.

This sounds like an agreement, but it's a pity that it's all done by only one person.

Spring went to autumn, and a year passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Xingze got the admission notice of the experimental middle school as he wished, but You Xiaolin missed the number one prize because of a difference of two points.When Chen Xingze heard the news, he felt as uncomfortable as if he had failed the ranking.

The number one scholar, Qin Bo, is from Yuying Middle School. Chen Xingze has a vague impression of him. He is the head of the study department of Yuying, and his grades have always been ranked first.

"It's really in the way..." Chen Xingze thought from the bottom of his heart.

On the day of the report, Chen Xingze was walking around the campus. The school had already assigned classes for the freshmen, and it was written on the big list posted on campus.The list is red, which looks very festive.Although the head teacher had already notified the family, there were still a lot of students who joined the fun in front of the list. Everyone looked for their names, and then took out their mobile phones to take a group photo.

Chen Xingze was assigned to Class [-], but his eyes stayed on Class [-].Class [-] and Class [-] are experimental classes divided by the school according to their entrance scores. You Xiaolin's name is on the list of Class [-]. Looking at those three delicate characters, Chen Xingze feels extremely warm and proud in his heart.

"Hello..." When Chen Xingze was concentrating on reading You Xiaolin's name, someone slapped him on the shoulder.Chen Xingze turned his head and saw a hearty smiling face.

"Ah! It's really you! I thought I made a mistake!"

This person was a little taller than other first-year students, and his smile matched the blue sky in early autumn.

Seeing that Chen Xingze was in a daze, the boy gradually showed a disappointed expression on his face, as if "the true feelings have been trampled on".

"You don't know me? No way!" The boy has a smooth forehead and a pair of bright eyes. He is wearing a sports hoodie, and the healthy neck muscles can be easily seen from the neckline.

Seeing the situation getting more and more embarrassing, Chen Xingze searched desperately in his mind, and finally found some clues in the corner. "...You used to be in the badminton class?"

The boy's expression finally became less terrifying, but it wasn't over yet, he crossed his arms and looked at Chen Xingze from top to bottom.He straightened his back, and the sports ball bag on his back slid from behind to his side, revealing a blue water bottle.

This person should like sports very much, Chen Xingze thought calmly, he is really much taller than other students, and he was obviously about the same height as him when he was in badminton class.

"What's your name?" the boy asked again.

"what?"

The boy narrowed his eyes, looking unfriendly.

"I ask you what's my name?"

"..."

This is a bit difficult. When Chen Xingze was learning badminton, he was still immersed in the incident stimulated by You Xiaolin. He couldn't even remember to eat. How could he have time to remember the names of people he met by chance.

Chen Xingze's long silence made the boy even more dissatisfied, and he reminded him impatiently: "My name is two characters! A surname starting with 'L', you should think about it!"

Chen Xingze frowned slightly, feeling a little impatient.It happened that the school rang the bell once. He looked at the time and said to the boy, "It's time to go to the classroom. I'll go first." Leaving the dumbfounded boy behind, Chen Xingze walked towards the teaching building.When he reached the third floor, Chen Xingze had a flash of inspiration, stopped in his footsteps, murmured, and then walked upstairs as if nothing had happened.

The poor boy stood outside blankly, and after a long time passed, he shook his arms violently, blushing with anger and having a thick neck. "What are you doing! What are you doing, that bastard!"

As a result, 10 minutes later, the angry boy and Chen Xingze met again in Class Six.Because there are only classes but no seats, students choose their own seats.The boy was tall, so he consciously walked back when he entered the door. He didn't notice Chen Xingze at first, and walked all the way to the last row with his brows frowned. When he raised his eyes, he met Chen Xingze's gaze.

The boy took a deep breath, and when he wanted to say something, Chen Xingze smiled.

"Lu Hao."

"..."

"I just remembered when I went upstairs, my name is Lu Hao, the young master of a rich family."

“…………………………”

Lu Hao's black face suddenly turned red. It's not known whether it was because of Chen Xingze's smile or because of his teasing.

"My memory is really bad." Lu Hao muttered in a low voice, took the ball bag aside, and sat next to Chen Xingze.The seats of the students in front are too loose, resulting in too little space in the last row.Originally, Lu Hao's physique was a bit taller than other students, so he could only lean sideways with one leg out.

Lu Hao still seemed concerned that Chen Xingze didn't remember his name. He thought that Chen Xingze might take the initiative to say something to him, but after the teasing just now, Chen Xingze didn't talk to him anymore.

After a while, the homeroom teacher came. He was a bald man in his 30s. After saying hello to his classmates, he asked everyone to take turns to introduce themselves.Chen Xingze's self-introduction was very short, he only mentioned the school he graduated from, and he came in as a music student.After Lu Hao listened, Jie Huai was instantly overwhelmed by curiosity, and when Chen Xingze returned to his seat, he immediately leaned over to ask.

"Are you a music student?"

"Ah."

"You can sing?"

"Play the piano."

"Wow, that's amazing." Chen Xingze noticed that Lu Hao's eyes instantly shifted to his hands, and he couldn't help curling his fingers slowly. "...It's nothing."

"I won't. I have been tone deaf since I was a child."

"..."

"And I'll tell you a secret, I didn't come here solely by my grades." Lu Hao leaned into Chen Xingze's ear, and said mysteriously, "Isn't there a place for donations in the school? My mother forced the money for it." I sent it in, so don't tell others, it's too embarrassing!"

"..."

So why on earth did you tell me, Chen Xingze looked at the serious Lu Hao, thinking speechlessly.