smile before we meet

Chapter 22

When Cheng Qufei came back, he felt that something was wrong with Ju Zeyi.

Everyone was studying the answers or memorizing and reviewing the evening self-study, but Ju Zeyi was in a daze all the time, and occasionally stared at him, which was really abnormal and weird.

After school, Cheng Qufei couldn't bear it anymore and asked him, "What's wrong with you today?"

"Huh?" Ju Zeyi seemed to have just recovered, but also seemed to be distracted again.He shook his head and said, "Nothing."

It's really nothing, it's just that he was disturbed by Song Nuan's words.

He thought about it all night, thinking about a basket of evidence that Cheng Qufei liked him, and overturned them one by one.

How could it be possible, he thought, how could it be him that the person Cheng Qufei said was good-looking, gentle, tough and cute with good grades.

Cheng Qufei didn't know what he was thinking, and thought he was in a bad mood because he didn't do well in the exam.

They didn't talk much along the way, Cui Hao and Lu Yeyi walked in front, talking and laughing lively, the two of them were silent, deserted.

On the second day of the exam, Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi didn't talk much. Although they still went to the exam room together, left the exam room together, and ate together, even Cui Hao and Lu Ye felt that Ju Zeyi was a little abnormal Thinking, something must have happened when he didn't know.

However, the half-term exam is also very important, so Cheng Qufei had to put his worries aside, thinking that he would have a good chat with him after the exam was over.

In the last lecture, Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi handed in the papers a few minutes earlier. On the way back to the classroom, Cheng Qufei asked him, "How was the exam?"

"It's okay." Ju Zeyi said casually, "The last big physics problem is a bit difficult, but everything else is okay."

Just chatting about the exam, after chatting all the way, back to the classroom, Cheng Qufei talked about other things.

He said: "I think you have been a little absent-minded these two days."

Ju Zeyi froze the hand of the paper and asked, "Is there any?"

"Would you like to tell me?" Cheng Qufei had finished collecting his things, quietly watched him tidy up his desk, and waited for his answer.

"Just..." Ju Zeyi hesitated for a moment, then looked up at him, "For example."

"If." He emphasized again, "If someone tells you that the person you have a crush on also likes you..."

"It's impossible." Before Ju Zeyi finished speaking, Cheng Qufei interrupted him.

Ju Zeyi was not surprised by his answer, but instead smiled: "I think so too."

So why did he bother to find troubles, entangled and entangled, even if it was true, would he have the courage to tell him now?

He's not that brave.

He still has a lot of past, and he doesn't want to think about it anymore, so what should he say, how can he say it...

"Wait a minute." Cheng Qufei grasped the point and asked in a complicated tone, "You said, someone told you that the person you have a crush on also likes you?"

"En." Ju Zeyi put away the papers, took two exercise books and put them in his bag, feeling a lot more relaxed, "Let's not talk about this, let's go, Zhou Qiang is still waiting for us."

Now, Cheng Qufei became the distraught person.

He didn't pay attention when he went downstairs, and even stepped on a ladder.Fortunately, Ju Zeyi quickly grabbed him with quick eyes and hands, and said in a slightly anxious tone, "What are you thinking, watch the way."

Cheng Qufei raised his head in a daze and asked him, "What if?"

"What if?" Ju Zeyi realized that he was still thinking about the question just now, and he was a little dumbfounded for a moment, "There is no what if."

"what?"

Seeing that Cheng Qufei was still in a daze, Ju Zeyi tapped his forehead: "Then let me ask you, will you like me?"

Cheng Qufei didn't turn his head around, he just rubbed his forehead and said "ah?"

"So there is no chance." Ju Zeyi saw the astonishment and daze on his face, and just wanted to bully him harder, so he deliberately said, "You like me is itself a false proposition."

"This..." Cheng Qufei always felt that something was wrong, he reorganized his thoughts, and retorted, "But the person you have a crush on is not me."

And I like you... Cheng Qufei thought a little aggrieved, so does the person Ju Zeyi has a crush on also like him?

In late autumn and early winter, the horizon in the distance is loomingly crowded with light rosy clouds, small pieces, as if they have just been squeezed out, and the paint that was randomly painted on the plate has not had time to mix it evenly.

Seeing Zhou Qiang waiting at the school gate from a distance, Ju Zeyi smiled, grabbed Cheng Qufei's shoulders and walked forward: "Stop—kids, don't think about love all day long, can you first Think about the fact that we are going to visit Zhou Qiang's house today."

……

Zhou Qiang's home is in the south of the city, five stops by bus.

He was originally introverted, and now he talked less, Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi could only try their best to think of topics to talk to him.

When they got outside the community, Zhou Qiang suddenly took the initiative to say: "My parents divorced when I was in elementary school."

He added: "My mother...may be more enthusiastic."

Cheng Qufeizheng didn't know what to say, so Ju Zeyi laughed first.He patted Zhou Qiang on the shoulder and said, "When we are guests at your house, Cheng Qufei and I should be nervous. Why are you more nervous than us?"

Zhou Qiang was a little nervous. He didn't have many friends, and almost none of them brought him home for dinner. If it wasn't for his mother's request, he wouldn't have the courage to make an appointment to go to a non-healing house.

He is very grateful to them, but he also clearly knows that they are not friends, they are not the same kind of people... Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi are brave and upright people who face the malice in the world, which he looks up to and envies, but he cannot become people.

Hearing what Ju Zeyi said, he relaxed a little, but he was still nervous, so that he took the wrong key when he opened the door.

Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi tacitly looked away, pretending not to see it.

Zhou Qiang's mother, Wang Lan, was coming out of the kitchen with soup. She was taken aback when she saw Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi, and then laughed: "This is Cheng and Ju, right? If there is fruit, the vegetables will be ready immediately."

"Hello, Auntie." Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi obediently called out.

Wang Lan had already prepared the shoes to change when entering the door. Zhou Qiang introduced Cheng Qufei and the others to Wang Lan while changing the shoes, and said, "Well, the taller one is Ju Zeyi, and the one with dimples when he smiles is Cheng Qufei. .”

Cheng Qufei smiled cooperatively, showing his signature dimples, and asked Wang Lan, "Do you need help, auntie?"

"No, no, sit down." Wang Lan said to Zhou Qiang again, "The cup is on the coffee table, pour a glass of water for the classmate."

"We can do it ourselves." Ju Zeyi picked up the paper cup on the coffee table and went to the water dispenser to fetch water, "Auntie, you are busy, don't worry about us."

"Then you sit and chat for a while, the food will be ready soon." Wang Lan urged worriedly, "Mian Qiang, hello my classmates."

Hearing Zhou Qiang's nickname, Ju Zeyi couldn't help laughing.Cheng Qufei also laughed, and Zhou Qiang stroked his hair in embarrassment, and then couldn't help but said, "Yes...what's so funny."

"It's cute." Cheng Qufei called out "樯樯", and rolled his eyes with a smile, "My mother wouldn't call me Feifei."

"What did auntie call you?" Zhou Qiang asked.

"Call me—" Cheng Qufei threw the question to Ju Zeyi, "What did your mother call you?"

"I..." Ju Zeyi paused and said, "My dad calls me Xiaoyi, or my name."

Zhou Qiang looked at Cheng Qufei again, and Ju Zeyi also looked at Cheng Qufei.

Cheng Qufei's nickname was actually a bit embarrassing, so he made an excuse to go to the bathroom and slipped away.

Coming out of the toilet, Cheng Qufei found Ju Zeyi and Zhou Qiang chatting on the balcony.

There are many flowers planted on the balcony of Zhou Qiang's house, there are two rocking chairs, and a small table with a tea set on it, which is simple but very warm.

There are still a few clouds floating in the sky, which will disperse when the wind blows.

In such a warm scene, Cheng Qufei heard Ju Zeyi say: "I have known since I was a child that this world is cruel and unreasonable. Being maliciously slandered, isolated, and bullied is not because you are not kind or have a bad character. Maybe it's because you're good and unique."

"So, you have to become stronger and better."

Cheng Qufei stood not far from them and did not approach them any further.

Zhou Qiang's mother came out with the fried dishes, and was about to ask Zhou Qiang to take the bowls and chopsticks, when she looked up, she saw Ju Zeyi talking to Zhou Qiang, Zhou Qiang's face was smiling, stained by the afterglow of the sunset There was a faint light, which made her nose sore.

Cheng Qufei looked at her, she quickly put the food on, wiped her face with the back of her hand quickly, then turned and went back to the kitchen.

Cheng Qufei thought about it and followed.

"Auntie." He called out with a smile, as if he hadn't noticed Wang Lan's gaffe at all, "Do you need help?"

Infected by his smile, Wang Lan laughed too: "Help Auntie get the bowls and chopsticks."

Cheng Qufei went to get the bowls and chopsticks, and heard Wang Lan say softly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said. "That's what we should do."

During the meal, Wang Lan kept laughing, warmly served them food, and asked them about their studies. Cheng Qufei answered every question, and he was a typical child of other people's family, which made Wang Lan very happy.

Zhou Qiang was not as embarrassed as before, he listened to them with a smile, and occasionally answered a question or two when asked.

Ju Zeyi listened to Cheng Qufei to praise Wang Lan's delicious fried dishes and delicious soup. From the food to the flowers on the balcony, his mouth was as sweet as honey, and he felt a little funny.It was the first time for him to see Cheng Qufei being so obedient, with a serious face and dimples when he laughed, it was really overwhelming.

He thought again, Cheng Qufei is so likable, if he goes home with him...his family will also like him very much.

After dinner, Zhou Qiang sent him to Feiheju, and Yi went downstairs, and said "thank you."

The word "thank you" is probably the word Cheng Qufei heard the most today. He touched his stuffed stomach and said, "We should say thank you."

"Thank you and Auntie for your hospitality."

The sky was already dark, and the night wind was a bit chilly. Ju Zeyi glanced at Cheng Qufei who shrank his neck while speaking, and said, "It's getting late, Cheng Qufei and I are going home first, you should go back too."

Standing together with Cheng Qufei and Ju Zeyi is really eye-catching, and occasionally when someone looks at them on the road, Zhou Qiang will subconsciously lower his head to avoid looking at them.Even when passers-by were not looking at him, he felt very uncomfortable.

The lights of this city have just come on, and all the dark places are illuminated, but people's hearts are still dark.Even if the light in the distance makes people yearn for it, it is not so easy to really walk out of the darkness.

Cheng Qufei looked at the light in the distance and sighed inaudibly.

He said, "Zhou Qiang, there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

"So, don't be afraid of cracks. It's not ugly, it's beautiful."

The author has something to say:

"There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen"