Pandora’s Box

I quickly got up and Zhuo Wenyang also sat up. I did not dare to look directly at him and could only turn my eyes towards the window. There was an awkward silence in the room.

It took a while before I worked up the courage to peak at him. He was sitting upright, staring at his hands lying flat on his lap. He shouldn’t be angry, but he was obviously not in a good mood either.

I screamed internally that something was wrong. He didn’t intend to argue with me, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t feel strange about it.

Although my behavior was not too extreme, it was hard to excuse it with “drinking too much.”

Did he notice it?

So was he not happy?

I only felt my scalp went numb and after hesitating for a long while, I was able to forcefully laugh, “Zhuo Wenyang.”

He looked up at me, “Mm?”

“I am very sorry about last night.”

He looked at me.

I quickly explained, “I’m like that when I drink too much. I touch people, cuddle, or hug regardless of gender or partner!”

“Really?” He frowned almost subtly, and then said flatly, “That’s a very bad habit.”

I laughed, “Hahaha yes, yes.”

He added, “Since you know that you have that problem, then don’t drink in front of people indiscriminately.”

Feeling that he was scolding me for something, I felt my heart tighten uncontrollably, and hurriedly said, “Okay, okay, okay.”

This was his way of gently beating me, right?

I did not dare continue on this topic, so I offhandedly touched the book on the table to enter into a studious mindset. “I was wrong, I got up too late today. This is going to affect my study progress, I was too depraved!”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Zhuo Wenyang said, “It’s acceptable to let go occasionally, but tomorrow, we will strictly abide by the study time.”

I saluted him earnestly, “Okay!”

In the days that followed, Zhuo Wenyang continued to accompany me sincerely and strictly. As usual, I calmed down and concentrated on studying, not risking any mistakes.

I could sense that he was somewhat deliberately avoiding me. Whenever the two of us were alone without a book in front of us, the atmosphere would become awkward.

This made me feel a little sour.

But what else could I do? If I wanted to blame someone, I had to blame me for sending myself to execution.

A person like Zhuo Wenyang, who you’d only watch from a distance but not play with, had never been offended like this in his life. I was the only one who had no shame and face, using the excuse of alcohol to go crazy.

Yet, he didn’t turn his back on me and still maintained his kindness and concern for me. It was already thankful enough that he didn’t look down on me.

During exam week, Zhuo Wenyang came everyday. Even if he was busy late at night, he would still come here to help me review questions.

He was truly a responsible and undeniably a good man. The thing was that I was now separated by the fence he woven out of politeness and courtesy.

Even though the exam was imminent, I still couldn’t prevent myself from being distracted by Zhuo Wenyang’s behavior.

My mind would inevitably be distracted whenever I was alone and whenever I came to it, I often found myself scribbling the character “Zhuo” on draft papers.

In order to cover up the embarrassment, I added a few characters at the end to turn the word into “excellent.”

Thus, my practice papers was full of excellence, and so much so, that Cheng Yichen saw it. He praised me for being self-motivated and encouraged me, “Come on, Xiao Jing. You’ll definitely be excellent.”

“…..”

Like all love crushes, I couldn’t resist asking my friends for advice.

“The person I have a crush on seems to be aware of my thoughts. What do I do?”

“Ah it depends on how the person reacts to it.”

“Yes, the point is what’s the other person’s behavior now?”

“Embarrassed and polite, but the person seems to be avoiding me on purpose.”

“They started to avoid you? Then the game is over.”

“How one visually gages should tell you.”

“…..”

“If you’re not going to give up, why don’t you just look?”

“But I’m afraid that if my confession fails, we won’t even be friends.”

“If the confession fails, why do you need this friend?!”

“Hahaha makes sense.”

“…..”

Given that these idiotic nerds were only good at playing games, I decided to switch to a group with a higher education level for consultation.

Because of Yuan Keke, I gradually was familiarized with other students this year.

Although the school handled it in a swiftly quiet manner, there was no avoiding gossip about Gao Qi’s incident from before within the school forums. As a righteous character who saw injustice and helped to resolve it, I received a lot of praise and finally had a presence among my classmates.

It wasn’t possible that we were close friends, but with Yuan Keke as the bridge of our communication, I wasn’t considered a young man with low EQ. I often joked with everyone, gave input about this and that from the perspective of scumbag, and we all got along well.

Therefore, I had my own circle of friends in this institution of higher learning that was once not compatible with me.

However, in the face of my questioning, these high-IQ intellectuals were unable to provide valuable advice.

If there was any difference between them and my gaming friends, it was that they were all relatively conservative and advised me not to act impulsively.

After a lengthy and intense discussion, the senior quietly summed it up, “Confession is always a triumphant song of victory, not the horn to charge forward.”

“…..”

After keeping quiet all this time, Yuan Keke finally spoke up, “I mean, is it useful for you to ask our group of people? Do you think there are a few of them who isn’t single?”

“…..”

Although these words were too lethal, causing the group to descend into a sad depression, it also awakened these dreamers.

For this type of thing, of course I had to consult a professional with rich experiences in love!

For a professional, didn’t I already know one?

I hurried off to find Lee.

Since he left for S City, his life appeared to be more prosperous and fulfilling. His circle of friends was full of positive energy. Recently, he seemed to have found a young, handsome, and successful new love. He was a winner in life and enough to be my emotional mentor.

When I called Lee, he sounded like he was at a party. The background noise was very rambunctious, full of laughter and intertwining movements of cups. It sounded like he was indeed living the best life, which should be the case.

Lee was straightforward, “Ah Zhuo Wenyang? Do you think he likes you?”

“…I don’t know,” I said, “He’s actually very nice to me, cares about me, and is willing to help. But that doesn’t mean anything and he said he has someone he likes.”

I heard Lee laughing over there.

“What’s wrong?”

He said amusingly, “It’s nothing. It’s just that this plot sounds familiar.”

“???”

“Let’s put it this way, there is a simple truth in judging feelings. That is, if you think a person likes you, then he doesn’t necessarily like you. If you think the person doesn’t like you, then he definitely doesn’t like you.”

“…..” That was too sad.

I asked, “Then, even if he doesn’t like me, can I chase after him? Do you think there’s still hope?”

“Are you chasing someone not interested in you?” Lee asked, “I have experience in this field.”

“How was it?”

“In just two words, run away.”

“…..”

After pausing, I said, “Well, actually, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t like me. I’m mentally prepared for this. Haha. It’s just that the two of us have been awkward recently. After that day, he has been avoiding me either intentionally or unintentionally, and refused to look at me again. It’s very uncomfortable and we don’t even have a normal, good friendship now. I just want to know if it’s possible to go back to how it was like before.”

“That’s okay,” Lee said, “At this time, don’t try to explain and don’t try to overcompensate. The more you hang around him, the more he will reject you in his heart. You have to separate and distance yourself in order to get closer to him.”

“Ah is that so…”

“You have to let him see that you have another life and other pursuits, and he will gradually relax his vigilance against you and drop his defenses. Of course, it will be more difficult for you during this process.”

Someone called him from his end and Lee said, “Let’s talk later,” and we ended the call.

I thought about it for a while and felt that what Lee said was correct. In fact, I already understood these truths myself, but I couldn’t figure it out clearly when I was in it.

Tomorrow was the last test and I originally planned to ask Zhuo Wenyang out for a meal as an excuse for “thanks for the pre-examination guidance” after the exams.

Thinking about it now, this was undoubtedly asking for death.

I sighed, clicked on WeChat, and saw a few students in the “T University Non-Elite Squad” group who’d been studying to death. They planned to spend a lot of time after the exams tomorrow to go out to barbecue, sit, and play in the Internet cafe all night or sing Karaoke.

I thought about it for a while before typing “+1” and brought in Yuan Keke, “Let’s go together. I’m inviting you to repay your kindness for lending me notes!”

Yuan Keke immediately sent me a private message, asking me, “You’re going to have dinner with them after the test? Don’t you want to ask Zhuo Wenyang?”

“No way, he’s too busy. Besides, he doesn’t like this sort of excitement.”

Yuan Keke sent a patronizing text, “Where’s your conscience? He has been tutoring you for so long, shouldn’t he be the first person you think of?”

I was too embarrassed to admit to her that Zhuo Wenyang was the one avoiding me.

I sent her a wide grin emoji and said, “If I invite him another day, it’ll be the same thing.”

On the day of the exam, I notified Cheng Yichen that I wouldn’t come home for dinner. He was a little surprised, but still reminded me, “Have fun and be careful.”

“Okay! By the way, I will be home later so you don’t have to wait for the door for me.”

As soon as the exams were over, I forcibly threw my thoughts to the back of my mind and went out with everyone to eat and drink.

At the dinner table, as an audacious classmate, I was able to talk freely and there wasn’t any restraint at all when meeting everyone for the first time.

After a few cans of beer, I started to talk about my personal experience and hearsay anecdotes, shocking everyone at the table. Even the waiter helping out with the barbecue was so dumbfounded that he forgot to turn over the short ribs.