Chapter 6: Mangosteen

Classes Three and Two had PE scheduled together this semester.

A proper arrangement by the academic affairs office—same period, shared field, joint activities, even the warm-ups done as one group.

The news came out after Monday's flag-raising ceremony. Some boys started hooting from the ranks right then and there, until the PE teacher shut them up with a single glare.

Shi Qi didn't have any particular feelings about it. PE was PE, whoever she had it with—run around, jump around, hit the convenience store for a drink afterward, then wait for the bell.

Her cousin Chen Yu, however, clearly thought otherwise. Ever since he'd heard the two classes would share PE, he'd sent Shi Qi no fewer than twenty messages, all saying more or less the same few things.

"Did you see her today"

"What color is she wearing today"

"Look at her a couple extra times for me"

Today was worse. Probably because word about the confiscated milk tea had reached him, Chen Yu started bombarding her first thing in the morning.

Shi Qi glanced at a few, then expressionlessly flipped her phone face-down on the desk. She didn't want to answer a single one.

"Who is it? Yu Cheng?" Liu Qingqiao was packing up nearby and shot a look at the phone buzzing away on Shi Qi's desk.

"No, I don't even have Yu Cheng's WeChat. It's my cousin. He's insufferable."

Shi Qi stood, zipped her uniform jacket halfway, then unzipped it. After a moment's thought she took it off and tied it around her waist. "Come on, let's go to the field."

Students from both classes trickled toward the sports field. Class Three came down the east stairwell of the teaching building, Class Two from the west, and the two groups converged at the field entrance.

The PE teacher's surname was Wang, a middle-aged man in his forties with a whistle permanently around his neck. His commands carried enough force to be heard clear across the field.

"Class Three, Class Two! Fall in!"

The first ten minutes were radio calisthenics. They'd been doing these since middle school, the movements carved into muscle memory—you could do them with your eyes closed.

The students formed four rows, two of boys and two of girls, the two classes mixed together. Shi Qi stood in the middle of the third row, neither too far forward nor too far back. She'd picked the spot on purpose.

Middle of the pack meant she could slack off without the teacher watching her form, and she wasn't so far back that she'd get hauled off to the equipment room to carry things.

Then she realized her choice of position today was wrong.

Yu Cheng was ahead and to her right, about two people away.

Beside Yu Cheng stood the round-faced deskmate from yesterday, Li Wenyin.

Yu Cheng had her hair up today—not high, loose and casual, a few strands escaping to hang by her ears.

Her calisthenics weren't textbook-perfect, but she wasn't slacking either.

Shi Qi realized she was staring blankly at the back of Yu Cheng's head. She yanked her gaze back and fixed it on the tips of her shoes.

She was half a beat behind catching up with the movements, scrambled to switch direction, and nearly smacked into Liu Qingqiao beside her. Liu Qingqiao gave her a baffled look.

Shi Qi smiled at her, looking thoroughly guilty.

"Torso rotation."

Shi Qi turned, and her peripheral vision drifted over again. This time she noticed a tiny mole on Yu Cheng's earlobe, tucked at the edge where you'd never spot it unless you looked close.

"Shi Qi, you turned the wrong way," Liu Qingqiao whispered.

Shi Qi snapped back to herself and realized everyone around her was facing left while she alone faced right.

She found herself eye to eye with a girl from Class Two directly in front of her, who was fighting hard to keep from laughing.

The PE teacher blew his whistle from the front row: "You in the third row! Wrong direction!"

Shi Qi whipped around, ears burning. She kept her head down through the rest of the exercises and didn't glance front-right again.

When calisthenics ended, Teacher Wang blew his whistle and announced the next item: an 800-meter warm-up run. Not a fitness test, no scores—just routine conditioning for PE.

One lap around the field was 400 meters, so two laps made exactly 800. Free time after that. A chorus of groans went up from the ranks and was immediately crushed by another glare from Teacher Wang.

"What are you howling about? Nobody's asking you to run three thousand meters. Boys lead, girls follow. No need for speed—just don't walk."

Shi Qi wasn't particularly afraid of running. Her stamina wasn't bad; she'd always been above average at the 800 since she was a kid.

She untied the jacket from her waist and tossed it aside, rolled her ankles, and joined the group at an easy pace.

The pack spread out as they ran. Shi Qi settled slightly ahead of the middle.

Rounding the curve, her peripheral vision caught the next lane over. Yu Cheng was three or four meters behind and to her left. Short stride, steady breathing—running faster than Shi Qi would've guessed.

*Looks skinny, but she's got stamina.*

By the second lap Shi Qi's breathing had gone heavy, sweat trickling from her temples. She wiped her face and kept her feet moving.

Two laps down, she was in decent shape. A thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, she stood at the edge of the track, hands braced on her knees, gulping air for a few seconds before straightening up and looking toward the convenience store.

Thirsty. Her throat was scraped dry.

Liu Qingqiao was in much the same state beside her, fanning her flushed face with one hand. "I'm gonna go get water. Want me to grab you a bottle?"

Shi Qi was about to nod when a hand came into view from her side.

Completely out of nowhere.

The hand reached in from her right, right at the edge of her peripheral vision.

A slender wrist, skin so pale the fine blue veins showed through. Long fingers, knuckles defined but not knobby, nails clipped short and clean.

In the hand was a bottle of mineral water. Beads of condensation clung to it—straight out of the fridge, by the look of it.

Shi Qi followed the hand upward. Wrist, forearm, the cuff of a short-sleeved uniform shirt, shoulder, neck, chin—and then those eyes.

Two teardrop moles at the outer corners, wide double lids, thick lashes. Backlit by the late-morning sun, those deep brown eyes were looking at her.

Yu Cheng. Yu Cheng was handing her water.

Shi Qi's brain flatlined on the spot. She opened her mouth, tried to say something, and her lips moved for a good while without producing a single word.

She could feel her face going red at a rate visible to the naked eye.

People on the field had obviously noticed.

The first to register it was Liu Qingqiao, standing right beside Shi Qi. She froze mid-motion, caught in a pose that said she was about to head for the convenience store.

She looked at Yu Cheng. Looked at Shi Qi. Looked at the water bottle. Her mouth opened and closed.

Then Class Two caught on.

Li Wenyin was the first from Class Two to react. She stood a few steps from Yu Cheng.

"Am I seeing things?" Zhao Yan's voice came from the back of Class Three's group.

He'd just walked over from the track, hair still damp, towel in hand, frozen in place. "Is that Yu Cheng? Yu Cheng is giving someone water?"

Zhao Yan looked down at the lone bottle in his own hand. He'd bought it himself, paid for it himself, twisted the cap himself.

Then he looked at the bottle in front of Shi Qi. Handed over personally by Yu Cheng, still beaded with ice water, no cap to twist, no money to pay, not even a word needed to ask.

Sometimes the gap between people is wider than the gap between people and dogs.

"Why, I oughta—!!" Zhao Yan's wail died in his throat as the boy next to him clamped a hand over his mouth.

Over on the track, a few girls from Class Two who'd just finished running clustered together, whispering.

They kept their voices low, but with that many mouths, fragments drifted over anyway.

"Yu Cheng gave someone water? Did I see that right?"

"Yesterday I heard she took Shi Qi's milk tea and figured someone made it up..."

"Doesn't she never take things from people? Why's she giving stuff out now?"

"Isn't it backwards? Shouldn't people be giving Yu Cheng water?"

"That's not the point, okay? The point is *Yu Cheng* gave water!"

Shi Qi was still rooted to the spot, face red enough to bleed. She reached out and took the bottle.

"Th-thank you."

Yu Cheng looked at her—really looked, head to toe. From her burning cheeks to her fingers clenched around the bottle, from her mussed bangs to the scuffed edges of her shoes from the run.

Then she withdrew her gaze.

"You're welcome," she said, voice very soft. And she left. Walked back into Class Two's formation, didn't even break stride passing a stunned Li Wenyin.

Li Wenyin chased after her, mouth opening several times like she wanted to say something, and in the end managed just one sentence.

"Yu Cheng, you..."

A single calm glance from Yu Cheng shut her down.

Shi Qi stood there, staring down at the mineral water in her hand. The cap had already been loosened.

Liu Qingqiao finally found her voice. She walked over—no convenience store run after all—and stood beside Shi Qi, the two of them looking down at the bottle, then up at Yu Cheng's retreating back.

"Shi Qi."

"Hm?"

"You sure you're helping your cousin chase her? Not that *you* like Yu Cheng? Your face is so red."

Shi Qi didn't answer.

Not far off, Zhao Yan watched the whole thing and let out a sigh from the depths of his soul.

After class, Zhao Yan was the first to bolt for the convenience store. Not for any other reason than to buy another bottle of water and calm his nerves. He stood in front of the cooler picking for ages, finally grabbing the same brand Yu Cheng had given Shi Qi. He twisted the cap off and chugged half of it.

Then he slammed the remaining half on the counter and told the cashier auntie, "Auntie, may this water bless me with Shi Qi's face in my next life. I want a girl to hand me water after a run too!"

The auntie looked at him and ignored him.

Liu Qingqiao walked beside Shi Qi and spoke up suddenly. "If your cousin finds out about today, he's probably going to send you a hundred messages."

Shi Qi remembered she still hadn't answered Chen Yu. She pulled out her phone and checked. Sure enough, several more had come in—what was she doing, had she seen Yu Cheng, what color was Yu Cheng wearing today.

Shi Qi stared at the screen, hesitated, then locked it and shoved it back in her pocket.

"Suddenly I don't feel like telling him anything about Yu Cheng," she said.

Liu Qingqiao glanced at her and didn't push.