Chapter 7: Time Never Turns Back 02
The campus was like a huge gossip distribution center. Soon the news that Shen Xiaoyu had a boyfriend spread to our class, and many people started talking about Shen Xiaoyu.
Some boys felt it was a pity. It was bad news for them that a school beauty like Shen Xiaoyu had a boyfriend.
Yao Yizhou seemed to know that Shen Xiaoyu had a boyfriend. He didn't ask me or come to me to confirm, but I saw a passion in Yao Yizhou's eyes that I could not escape.
Things turned out just as I expected. Yao Yizhou no longer let me avoid him. Instead, he chose to take the initiative and approach me on different occasions. He also began to express his feelings openly in public without any reservation.
I wanted to reject Yao Yizhou, but his thoughtfulness made me unable to refuse. When I didn't have time to eat breakfast in the morning, Yao Yizhou appeared in front of me with my favorite cake; when I didn't know where to kill time after work at the milk tea shop, he appeared in front of me with two movie tickets; when I was so hungry that I felt dizzy at noon, he naturally took my hand and took me to the restaurant I wanted to eat for a long time; sometimes, when he saw some beautiful maple leaves, he would bring me one.
It turns out that Yao Yizhou still remembered that I liked maple leaves, although I just said it casually and it happened so long ago that I almost forgot it myself, but I never thought that he still took my casual words to heart.
No boy has ever cared about me so much, no boy has ever treated me like a treasure, even Ji Chuan has never been so considerate and done such a thing for me.
The class organized a charity sale, and they asked everyone to bring out some things, and then a sale would be held in the school. I didn't know what to sell, so I asked Yao Yizhou for his opinion.
Yao Yizhou thought for a while, frowned and said, "You can take out things that were once very meaningful to you but are now worthless, such as the signatures of stars you once loved, or stamps you once treasured. These can all be sold for charity."
I thought about it carefully, and it seemed that I really didn't find anything that was once meaningful to me but now has no value. The things that Ji Chuan gave me before were burned by me and Shen Xiaoyu. I thought about it again and again but still didn't know what to take out, so I had to continue to ask Yao Yizhou for advice.
"Yizhou, what are you going to sell for charity?"
Yao Yizhou looked at me, smiled slightly, and said in a gentle tone: "I plan to use the violin my parents gave me to participate in the charity sale. It is a violin that I have always cherished and was reluctant to use. It has extraordinary meaning to me. In fact, what makes me most reluctant to part with it is that you are the first person to hear the sound of this violin."
Yao Yizhou’s words made my face turn red instantly. I buried my head in the desk, lowered my head and said nothing.
"Wen Ya, I don't know why I'm like this. My memory is not very good, but I remember everything about you. Tell me, am I hopeless? If there is a competition to see who knows you better, I believe I will be the winner."
Maybe I underestimated Yao Yizhou's feelings for me. I didn't expect that he would always remember what kind of cake I like, what flavor of food I like, which star I like, what kind of little things I like, where I want to travel, and everything about me.
Yao Yizhou's strong feelings made me feel guilty, but I didn't want others to misunderstand my relationship with him, so when he asked me to go to the drama, I rejected his kindness and said helplessly: "Yao Yizhou, you really don't have to be like this. What's more, I'm really not as good as you think, and I don't deserve a boy like you to be so nice to me."
But Yao Yizhou just smiled and didn't say a word. After that, he continued to do everything he could. He brought me breakfast, bought me drinks, helped me organize my class notes, and did everything he could to help me, leaving me unable to even say a word of refusal.
In fact, many times, I have thought about the relationship between Yao Yizhou and I. Although our current relationship is not as close as that of lovers, it goes beyond the scope of ordinary friends. The respect and consideration he gives me are simply irresistible to me.
The charity sale organized by the class was held in the multi-purpose hall of the school. Many students came to participate. After hearing the news of the charity sale in our class, many students in the school also spontaneously brought their most treasured things to participate in the sale.
As expected, Yao Yizhou came with his beloved violin, but I brought a set of Mayday's autographed CDs. In fact, this was a slip of the net among the things related to Ji Chuan that were destroyed before. I searched through boxes and cabinets at home and finally found this CD that I once treasured so much that I couldn't bear to open it. I remember that I collected it at that time not because I loved Mayday so much, but because Ji Chuan and I queued for six hours to get this set of Mayday's autographed CDs.
Some other students brought their favorite books and clothes, and some brought brand-name bags to the charity sale. But I didn't care about that. I handed Mayday's autographed CD to the student in charge of the auction and quietly left the scene.
I hid in the library, feeling a strong sense of loss in my heart. In fact, I couldn't figure out why I felt lost. I didn't understand whether I was sad because I lost the only thing that connected me to Ji Chuan, or I was upset because I couldn't forget Ji Chuan.
Just when I was feeling upset, Yao Yizhou appeared in the library. I looked at him walking slowly towards me, and suddenly I felt that he was too elusive, as if he had installed a positioning system on me, and he could find me no matter where I was.
Yao Yizhou sat down next to me, was silent for a while, and whispered, "Wen Ya, our things have all been sold. Do you want to know who bought your Mayday signed CD?"
I wanted to shake my head, but finally I couldn't help but nodded: "Tell me, who bought my things?"
"Li Jiawei bought it."
As soon as Yao Yizhou finished speaking, I felt like I had lost my soul. In fact, I knew that all the items being auctioned had no specific indication of who the original owner was, but the last connection between Ji Chuan and I was bought by Li Jiawei. Could this be God's will?
"Are you okay? It doesn't really matter who bought it. Don't think too much about it."
Yao Yizhou noticed my strangeness and couldn't help but patted my shoulder and comforted me softly. I smiled at Yao Yizhou and said, "I'm fine. It doesn't really matter who bought it. What about yours? Who bought your violin?"
When Yao Yizhou saw me asking about the violin, he couldn't help but sighed: "In fact, when my violin was first taken out, almost everyone knew that it was mine. At that time, many girls wanted to grab it, but in the end, the person who bought it was Shen Xiaoyu."
"Shen Xiaoyu bought your violin?" I stared at Yao Yizhou with my eyes wide open, incredulous. "But isn't Shen Xiaoyu already with another boy? How could she do such a thing?"
Yao Yizhou shook his head helplessly, lowered his head and said nothing. I thought for a while, frowned and asked in a low voice: "Yao Yizhou, I want to ask you a question, can you answer me seriously?"
Yao Yizhou nodded: "Ask me, I will answer your questions seriously and will never tell you a lie."
Seeing Yao Yizhou agreed so readily, I was silent for a while, and after a long while I asked, "Yizhou, I've always wanted to ask you, why don't you like Shen Xiaoyu? Have you ever been attracted to her? Even for a moment?"
Yao Yizhou seemed very surprised that I asked such a question. He smiled, looked into my eyes, and said clearly, "I know that you have always wanted to bring me and Shen Xiaoyu together, but what I want to tell you is that my eyes and heart can only hold you, so how can I see anyone else?"
Yao Yizhou spoke emotionally, but I had goosebumps all over my body. I couldn't help but bury my head in the book and said in a barely audible voice, "Yao Yizhou, can you please stop being so sentimental? I just recently noticed that you have changed from a quiet handsome man to an artistic young man. Do you know that I am not used to your transformation?"
Yao Yizhou smiled, as if he didn't think what he said was so corny. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and whispered, "I think it's normal. I just said what I wanted to say. What? It's the 21st century now. Can't we express our opinions? This is not a feudal society, let alone a slave society. Freedom of speech is allowed!"
I had no way to refute it, so I could only bury my head in the book that I had just taken down from the bookshelf. But as I was reading, I found that the content in the book was not right. I looked at the cover and found that it was written "Treatments of Common Gynecological Diseases".
Yao Yizhou glanced at the cover of the book I was holding and couldn't help but burst out laughing on the spot: "Wen Ya, you want to study medicine, but there is probably no hope in this life."
"Yao Yizhou, do you still want to continue living in this world? Do you still want to see the sun tomorrow?"
I growled angrily, not wanting to argue with Yao Yizhou about taking the wrong book, so I got up and put the book back on the shelf.
Yao Yizhou saw my embarrassed look, and laughed even more happily while holding his stomach. Seeing his happy look, I couldn't help but walk up to him and kick him, staring at him with extremely angry eyes: "Yao Yizhou, your sense of humor is too low, you can laugh like this at such a thing, where is your moral integrity? Do you still have a sense of public morality? Aren't you afraid that the people here will attack you for laughing so loudly?"
Yao Yizhou saw me looking irritable and laughed even harder. I couldn't control him, so I rolled my eyes and walked out of the library, muttering as I walked, "Can't I hide if I can't control myself? Don't bully me like this."
Seeing that I seemed really angry, Yao Yizhou hurried over, not daring to say a word, and just followed me quietly.
While working in the milk tea shop in the afternoon, I kept flipping through my phone. I really wanted to call Shen Xiaoyu, but I hesitated for a long time and couldn't make up my mind. I didn't have the courage to press the call button.
I remember when I was with Ji Chuan, Shen Xiaoyu always stayed around me, asking me about Ji Chuan, asking me if Ji Chuan was good to me, and even said that if Ji Chuan was not good to me, she would help me deal with Ji Chuan. Now she is with another boy, and I want to be like Shen Xiaoyu at that time, staying around her and asking her about all the things about that boy. However, Shen Xiaoyu didn't even give me a chance to ask, and was so cold to me, as cold as treating a stranger.
I felt extremely heartbroken, but there was nothing I could do. I could only silently send her a text message, wishing her all the best. Other than that, I didn't know what else to say.
Shen Xiaoyu didn't reply, just as I expected, but I was still anxiously waiting for her reply. But the next morning, I didn't receive any text messages from Shen Xiaoyu.
Not long after, the news that a boy confessed to Shen Xiaoyu spread around the school. According to reliable sources, the boy used candles to make a huge red heart under the teaching building, and placed countless rose petals in the red heart. Someone took a picture of this scene and uploaded it to the Internet. I saw this picture online, and saw Shen Xiaoyu holding the boy's arm with a smile on her face.
Not long after that, the news that Shen Xiaoyu and that boy were dating began to spread in the school. I really wanted to find Shen Xiaoyu and ask her what was going on and whether she really liked that boy. But I never mustered up the courage. Shen Xiaoyu had not come to see me since the last time I went to her classroom to look for her, nor had she sent me a text message or even called me.
I thought of all the possibilities, but I didn't guess such an ending. I didn't expect that Shen Xiaoyu would part ways with me at this time and become the most familiar stranger.
I often walk alone on the campus, silently thinking about the days when Ji Chuan and I broke up, and how Shen Xiaoyu worried about me and rushed to the classroom to find me after class every day. I also thought about how I would secretly run to her house and live in the same room and lie on the same bed with her whenever I had a quarrel with my father.
Shen Xiaoyu and I had so many irreplaceable pasts, but now they have all vanished. I suddenly feel a little lost , and suddenly realize that everything around me has changed. It turns out that the promises we made when we graduated from high school that we would never separate were all false. We once thought that as long as we persisted, nothing would change. However, it was not until now that I really realized that nothing is forever unchanged, and nothing can truly last forever.
