LVLYA

Chapter 4: White Peach Oolong

The girl was stunned, seeing the gift box in front of her.

"Thank you," Yue Zhishi spoke solemnly, "but ever since I was a child, my family has taught me I can't casually accept other people's gifts and especially if the gift is from a girl. I would be taking other people's feelings for granted if I did. So this gift, I have to return back to you. I'm sorry."

Yue Zhishi's eyes were obviously Caucasian. The profiles of his face were slightly gentler, and his hair was also a warm brown, shimmering golden underneath the sun; his entire person was soft and transparent. His looks made people feel as though he was easy to approach, easy to attack and capture — that they could be accepted by him. But reality was different.

There were many times when the childish Yue Zhishi would be overly serious.

The girl looked a bit upset, but she had expected this. She was only hesitating about whether she should take back her gift. "But I..."

She started speaking and then stopped again.

"This should be really expensive. You must've thought about it for a very long time before you bought it." Very insistently, Yue Zhishi stretched out his hands again until the gift was close to her hands. He had her take it. "Your handwriting's really nice, you'll suit this pen better than I will."

Hearing that, the girl raised her head. He used a compliment in place of a rejection, making it so she couldn't even bring herself to feel upset.

Except she was still not quite reconciled. "Then do you have someone you like?"

Yue Zhishi froze.

Like.

There were many people he liked, such as Aunt Rong and Uncle Song or the owner of the rice noodle shop who would give Yue Zhishi two extra pieces of beef every time he ordered plain rice noodles. There was also Teacher Zhang in his drawing class, who'd given him painting tools and comic books... There were too many people; Yue Zhishi had an endless list in his heart.

But if he were to add a qualifier of the people he liked 'the most', then the scope of his list would shrink.

Except that didn't seem to the 'like' the girl in front of him had for him.

"You don't?" she prodded.

Yue Zhishi put on his schoolbag again, adjusting it. "No. I don't want to date right now, we're about to take our high school entrance examinations. Our parents will be called if our grades drop."

Seeing the girl start to look dejected, Yue Zhishi then said, "We can still be friends."

"Really?"

"I don't lie." Yue Zhishi tugged at the schoolbag on his back. "It's so hot. Isn't there an automatic vending machine downstairs? I'll treat you guys to a drink."

"I want coke!" Jiang Yufan would definitely take advantage. He glanced downwards and saw that Song Yu was actually still there with his arms crossed over his chest. He was leaning against the tree with his earphones in, his face tilted up and gaze focused on them.

Jiang Yufan couldn't help but shiver, and he nudged Yue Zhishi with an elbow.

"Le, look downstairs."

Yue Zhishi twisted his head over, hearing Jiang Yufan. He immediately saw Song Yu's figure over the railing.

It was as if he'd been given a shot in the arm. Yue Zhishi turned around at once, both of his hands holding on the railing as he stuck out almost half of his body — yet when he called out 'ge', it was in a very soft, airy voice.