Chapter 259: Not Mature Enough ④
The bell for class rang, and Ye Haifei greeted Nie Qiu before returning to his own classroom.
Nie Qiu returned to her seat and looked at the pencil case on her desk. She took a deep breath, took out her mobile phone, and after thinking for a while, dialed Peng Yu Yang’s phone number. She then typed a line of text and sent it.
Peng Yu Yang was doing his homework when he received the message. Even though the classmates in Class 10 were studying very seriously now, there was too much homework. Some students would stay up until midnight doing homework at home, but more students would do their homework during morning class and morning self-study. Some would even copy others’ homework. In fact, Nie Qiu wouldn’t stop any of this because the third grade had a lot of homework and exam papers. Even she herself took two to three hours to finish her homework at home.
Peng Yu Yang wrote with his right hand while reaching into his jeans with his left to get his mobile phone. Seeing Nie Qiu’s message, he paused for a moment, then tapped the screen a few times and clicked send.
Nie Qiu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Peng Yu Yang’s reply.
At noon, before Li Kai had finished tidying his desk, Nie Qiu left the classroom and headed to the canteen. Peng Yu Yang arrived even earlier than Nie Qiu. He got his meal and Nie Qiu’s meal and placed them on a table in the canteen. Seeing Nie Qiu arrive, he quickly waved.
Nie Qiu walked over and sat opposite Peng Yu Yang. Neither of them spoke. They hadn’t sat together to eat for a long time, nor had they walked home from school together for a long time.
“Peng… Yu Yang.” After a moment of silence, Nie Qiu spoke. “Peng Yu Yang… that pencil case you gave me before… I hadn’t used it because of the exam, and I didn’t know… I didn’t know there was an MP4 inside.”
So she hadn’t known?
“Peng Yu Yang… we’re good friends, right?” Nie Qiu looked up at Peng Yu Yang’s eyes. Ever since she saw that MP4, she had been thinking whether she should pretend not to have seen it. Anyway, she hadn’t used that pencil case again before, so she could pretend she didn’t know, pretend she hadn’t seen it. If she did that, Peng Yu Yang wouldn’t have seen her use the pencil case and would surely think she had lost it and hadn’t seen it at all… his confession.
But… graduation was approaching. She, Huang Yan, and Peng Yu Yang had been such good friends. She didn’t like the awkwardness that had come between them.
“Heh heh…” Nie Qiu’s cautious demeanor made Peng Yu Yang laugh. He reached out and ruffled Nie Qiu’s hair, smiling, “Of course we’re good friends! There are no better friends than us.” Friends, and only friends.
Nie Qiu took out the brand-new MP4 from her purse and handed it to Peng Yu Yang with both hands. “I can’t accept something so valuable from you.”
Peng Yu Yang glanced at the MP4 in Nie Qiu’s hand. The floral film on it was one he had applied himself, similar in style to the pencil case. Thinking of the effort he had put in at the time, he smiled. “Then you’ll have to give me an even more expensive graduation gift. Just use this MP4 to listen to music. It has a large memory, enough to store many songs.” Perhaps he couldn’t let go of it yet, but he understood Nie Qiu’s not-so-subtle rejection.
Hearing Peng Yu Yang’s words, Nie Qiu bit her lower lip. After thinking for a while, she took the MP4 back and put it in her pocket. “Then it’s settled. Remember to remind me to give you a gift when we graduate. My memory isn’t very good.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely make sure to get a good deal out of you then.” Peng Yu Yang pushed the meal he had gotten for Nie Qiu towards her and said, “Stir-fried water bamboo with meat and stir-fried chili peppers with meat, which you like.”
Nie Qiu was taken aback, then smiled. She took the meal tray and picked up her chopsticks to start eating.
Seeing this, Peng Yu Yang also relaxed. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. “Hey, Nie Qiu, how about you recognize me as your brother?” Although he had decided to give up, the thought that if Nie Qiu called him brother, Li Kai would also have to call him brother, gave him some satisfaction. At least he could gain something, especially since Li Kai had stolen the person he liked. He glanced at the canteen entrance, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Recognize you as my brother?” Nie Qiu, who was eating, looked up. She had heard a lot about this kind of trick, recognizing someone as an older brother, sister, younger brother, or younger sister. It was very popular in school now. Younger students would recognize older students as their siblings, as if they had found a protector. It was said that they spoke with more confidence and others wouldn’t dare to provoke them. She heard that Huang Yan had also recognized Ma Xin as her brother, which made Zhang Haiyang furious. Peng Yu Yang probably had the same idea, didn’t he?
“That’s right! Recognize me as your brother, and if anyone bullies you, your brother will protect you.” Peng Yu Yang thumped his chest, looking as resolute as one of the Heroes of Liangshan.
“Pfft!” Peng Yu Yang’s antics made Nie Qiu laugh. She almost spat out her food, covering her mouth and nodding with a smile, “Okay, I’ll recognize you as my brother.”
Peng Yu Yang smiled, a mix of sadness and happiness swirling within him. He couldn’t quite distinguish it and just said, “Come on, call me brother.”
“Speaking of calling someone brother, Peng Yu Yang, it’s not certain who is the brother and who is the sister!” Nie Qiu took a bite of food and a mouthful of rice, chewed, swallowed, and then said, “Who is older between us?”
“You were born on the seventeenth of the seventh lunar month, and I was born on the ninth of the third lunar month. I’m older than you.” Peng Yu Yang said with a smile, “Hurry up, call me brother.”
Nie Qiu quietly noted down Peng Yu Yang’s birthday, then smiled and said, “Brother…”
“Yes.” Peng Yu Yang responded.
It’s fine, it’s fine, being a brother is also fine.
Li Kai had been watching for a while, standing at the canteen exit, just watching Nie Qiu and Peng Yu Yang eating together. He saw Nie Qiu take something out. After Peng Yu Yang smiled and refused it, she put it back in her purse. Afterwards, the two seemed to be having a pleasant conversation.
Nie Qiu giving Peng Yu Yang something?!
He felt uncomfortable, very uncomfortable, so uncomfortable he could die! More uncomfortable than seeing Ye Haifei! He knew Nie Qiu wouldn’t like boys like Ye Haifei because Ye Haifei dressed like a thug and often arrived late or skipped class. Although Nie Qiu had voted for Ye Haifei as the campus heartthrob, she definitely wouldn’t like him, which was evident from her attitude towards Ye Haifei.
But seeing Nie Qiu sitting with Peng Yu Yang made him unhappy and uncomfortable! Clearly, after they started dating, Nie Qiu had barely spoken to Peng Yu Yang unless absolutely necessary, but now they were sitting together eating, and Nie Qiu was even giving Peng Yu Yang a gift!!!
