Part 2
He picked up a sour plum and held it out. Gu Chuanzhou turned his face and opened his mouth to take it.
Perhaps because the plum was too small and Gu Chuanzhou had to pay attention to the road, he accidentally touched Yu Xi’s finger.
His slightly cool thin lips briefly brushed against the pink fingertip. Gu Chuanzhou straightened his head, and as if nothing had happened, he naturally thanked Yu Xi.
Yu Xi looked at his finger blankly. “…You’re welcome.”
It was just a small thing.
The road conditions were very good afterward. With the delicious snacks to keep him occupied and the car driving steadily, Yu Xi didn’t experience much motion sickness. Listening to the soothing music, he occasionally fed Gu Chuanzhou a bite.
The drive didn’t last long—about ten minutes or so before they had to get out of the car.
Yu Xi looked around. There was a subway entrance nearby, surrounded by residential areas. He asked the person beside him curiously, “Where are we going?”
Gu Chuanzhou placed a pale yellow bucket hat on Yu Xi’s head and said, “Taking the subway.”
Yu Xi: “??”
Gu Chuanzhou helped him straighten the hat. “The mall we’re going to is a bit far. There will be traffic ahead, taking at least forty minutes to drive. If we take the subway, you’ll be more comfortable.”
“Oh…”
So that was why.
Yu Xi only realized now that all of Gu Chuanzhou’s careful preparations were to prevent him from feeling uncomfortable due to motion sickness.
“Let’s go. There aren’t many people on Line 3 at this station. No need to worry about not having a seat.” Gu Chuanzhou grabbed the wrist of the still-dazed Yu Xi and led him to the escalator.
Moving between various remote rural towns with his parents, Yu Xi had rarely had the chance to take the subway. The number of times he’d done so in his life could be counted on one hand, let alone the subway in a central city.
Without Gu Chuanzhou’s guidance, he would have certainly spent a lot of time researching how to enter the station.
“Sit here.”
Gu Chuanzhou chose the last car, where it was spacious enough and there was no one to disturb them.
The subway ran at a steady speed with very little vibration, and unlike other vehicles, it didn’t have a leather smell, which prevented Yu Xi from feeling any discomfort.
“Do you feel dizzy?” Gu Chuanzhou asked him.
Yu Xi shook his head. “Not at all.”
He stretched out his long legs, his toes lightly tapping together, showing he was in a good mood. “You still remember that I get motion sickness.”
The corner of Gu Chuanzhou’s mouth curled into a smile. “When we all went on a picnic in the mountains as kids, you were uncomfortable from motion sickness but kept enduring it. Your face was so white it was scary, yet you didn’t say a word. Everyone was so worried they cried and begged the adults to call an ambulance and send you to the hospital.”
Yu Xi was reminded of an embarrassing memory.
Everyone had been so happy about that trip, but because of him, it was cancelled halfway through, causing quite a stir.
“How do you still remember so clearly…”
Gu Chuanzhou said softly, “Did Xixi forget? When your mother took you away that year, you held my hand and cried, telling me not to forget you. So, I remember every single thing about you very clearly.”
Yu Xi was a bit surprised and a bit bashful.
Back then, he had been very insecure about his friendship with Gu Chuanzhou.
When they were little, Gu Chuanzhou’s maturity far exceeded that of other children. He was smarter and was always at the front when learning anything.
While other kids were playing, Gu Chuanzhou was kept in the study by his family to learn all sorts of things that Yu Xi completely didn’t understand. On the rare occasions they could be together, Gu Chuanzhou never joined their games; he would always be off to the side alone, doing Sudoku, learning programming, or reading thick, difficult-to-understand books…
At that time, Gu Chuanzhou was twelve years old, and the calmness in his eyes seemed like it would never be affected by anyone or anything.
At first, Yu Xi was very curious about this unique older brother and wanted to pull him along to play, but he was stopped by other friends.
“He’s different from us. He wouldn’t like playing hide-and-seek or building blocks with us. He says those games are childish.”
Even though he didn’t fit in, no child dared to ignore him.
No matter if they encountered big or small matters, they liked to let Gu Chuanzhou make the decisions. Every time Gu Chuanzhou spoke, all the children would stop what they were doing in unison and listen seriously. Whenever children argued or fought, the problem would be easily resolved as long as he intervened.
In the eyes of the children, Gu Chuanzhou’s words were more effective than those of adults.
The more he learned, the more the little Yu Xi admired Gu Chuanzhou.
In his eyes, Gu Chuanzhou was like the sun—a distant and dazzling existence.
Later… after experiencing many things, his relationship with Gu Chuanzhou grew better and better, and they had many little secrets between them.
But this closeness still made him feel insecure. He was always afraid that the rapidly progressing Gu Chuanzhou would leave him behind, going far away and not recognizing him as a friend.
Just thinking about it made him so sad he would shed tears, ignoring the comfort of other children. Before leaving, he had clung tightly to Gu Chuanzhou’s hand, his soft face rubbing against Gu Chuanzhou, getting tears and snot everywhere.
He had begged Gu Chuanzhou: “Brother, don’t forget Xixi, okay?”
“Xixi has no choice. Xixi has to go home with Mom, to a school very, very far away…”
“When summer comes, Xixi will take a car and come to find Brother again. We’ll still be good friends then, right?”
…
Scenes that had once happened reappeared in Yu Xi’s mind.
He remembered them too.
He had cried so hard and held on to the other person while talking a bunch of nonsense. Thinking about it now made him quite embarrassed.
A shallow crimson blush gradually spread across the tips of Yu Xi’s ears.
But he couldn’t be blamed, because the childhood Gu Chuanzhou was too cold and unique, always giving him a sense of detachment, which was why he had been afraid.
It was the same now.
Gu Chuanzhou was still outstanding and preeminent, incredibly excellent. The gap between them wasn’t just in ability; the even more insurmountable gap was in status.
If Gu Chuanzhou hadn’t taken the initiative, perhaps they would never have crossed paths again.
“I’m not really anything…” Yu Xi murmured to himself.
His voice was too low for Gu Chuanzhou to hear clearly. He leaned in and asked, “What?”
Yu Xi looked up and said, “I was too young then, so I didn’t know how to speak properly. Don’t feel too burdened because of it.”
“How could it be a burden?”
Gu Chuanzhou gently held Yu Xi’s wrist, his thumb rubbing back and forth over the delicate wrist bone. “Xixi has never been one. Don’t belittle yourself.”
Hearing this, Yu Xi’s heart felt much lighter. He tapped his toes together again and asked instead, “Then what about the others? How are they doing now?”
The smile on the corner of Gu Chuanzhou’s mouth froze slightly. He asked, “The others?”
“Like,” Yu Xi bit his lower lip, “Xingkuo and the rest.”
Gu Chuanzhou’s tone was indifferent as he gave a concise answer: “Not bad.”
“Is that so… that’s good.” Yu Xi scratched his cheek. After debating for a while, he couldn’t help but ask, “Yesterday I heard a bit about them from someone else. They said Brother Shuhuai is abroad and Xingkuo is participating in competitions. What are they doing? Can you tell me?”
He was truly curious, his eyes fixed on Gu Chuanzhou, hoping for an answer.
Gu Chuanzhou told him as he wished: “Concert performances and racing competitions.”
Yu Xi let out a tiny “Wow.” “That’s so amazing.”
He wanted to ask more, but then he heard Gu Chuanzhou say, “I’m not clear on the rest.”
His voice was slightly cold, with no discernible emotion.
“They rarely contact me and we aren’t particularly close.”
“Sorry, I can’t give you a specific answer… Let’s not talk about them, okay?”
“…”
Yu Xi was speechless for a moment, then he squeezed Gu Chuanzhou’s hand as the other lowered his eyes.
“It’s okay, Brother Chuanzhou. It’s not your fault.”
He couldn’t bear to ask any further.
Looking at Gu Chuanzhou’s expression, there must be something difficult to talk about.
It was possible that something had happened between Gu Chuanzhou and them, or perhaps it was just the passage of time slowly creating distance, leading people to grow further apart.
It was cruel, but it was perfectly normal.
Translator’s Note: Science Top Scholar (理科狀元 – Likě Zhuàngyuán) is a huge deal—it means he had the highest score in his entire province on the science track of the Gaokao (College Entrance Exam). No wonder Pei Wang was shocked! Also, Gu Chuanzhou asking to be fed… sneaky, sneaky! But he’s clearly being “selective” about what he tells Yu Xi regarding the other childhood friends. Talk about being possessive!
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