This came unexpectedly.
Sang Chi took back the words that were about to come out of her mouth. She looked up at the clock on the wall. It was just past 4:30. There was still an hour until 5:30.
There was an uncontrollable little expectation fermenting in her heart, mixed with a few inexplicable tensions. But soon, thinking about what she had just promised Yin Zhenru, her heart seemed to be missing a hole, and all her emotions leaked out one by one.
Sang Chi was a little unable to say it, but felt it would be bad to go back on her word, so she glanced in the direction of Yin Zhenru, looking extremely hesitant.
After waiting for her response for a long time, Sang Yan asked again, "Did you hear me?"
Sang Chi uttered a "ah" slowly, as if he didn't hear clearly.
Sang Yan reluctantly repeated, "I said, Duan Jiaxu will pick you up in a while, around 5:30. He should call you then, you should do your homework in class first."
Sang Zhi "Five-thirty"
Sang Yan: "Yes. Also, be honest today and don't cause trouble for others."
"Sang Chi was about to refute."
Sang Yan said again, "Okay, I'm busy," and then hung up the phone without any reluctance.
Listening to the mechanical beeping sound coming from the receiver, Sang Chi put down the phone and stared at the screen in silence. She put the phone down, swallowed her anger and began to pack her schoolbag, put it on her back and limped to the door.
Yin Zhenru came over and took her arm.
Walked for a while.
Thinking of what happened before, Sang Zhi asked suspiciously, "Are you taking me to see Fu Zhengchu again?"
"Ah" Yin Zhenru was stunned and quickly waved his hands, "No, I haven't played with him for a long time. He seems to have changed into a different person recently, studying all day long."
"It's OK if it's not." Yin Zhenru had never lied to her, and Sang Chi didn't doubt it either. She just added, "Then I'll go eat something with you. But at half past five, I have to come back to see my brother."
The neighborhood Yin Zhenru was talking about was the back street of the school, in an alley leading out of Nanwu University. There were many small stalls and shops inside, and the two of them had been there several times before.
This back and forth takes about an hour.
Yin Zhenru was silent for a few seconds, then nodded, "Okay."
The two went downstairs.
Sang Zhi walked slowly because of her legs. She put one foot on the step and then the other one on before moving on to the next step. She didn't let Yin Zhenru help her, but moved slowly holding the handrail.
Yin Zhenru, who used to be a talkative person, spoke very little today for some reason.
Sang Zhi took the initiative to bring up a topic: "Why did you suddenly come to see me today?"
"Hmm." Yin Zhenru seemed to be thinking about something, and her reaction was a little slow. "I haven't looked for you for a long time. Because of the class division, and then I met a few new friends, I didn't have much time to look for you. I'll introduce you to each other some other day."
She has always been popular, so Sang Chi didn't pay much attention to it. "It's okay, I'm just asking."
Yin Zhenru: "I just missed you a little bit, so I came to play with you."
Sang Chi nodded, her lips curved up, and a dimple formed on the side of her lips. Although she couldn't say anything cheesy, she was happy to hear her friend say that.
When they got out of the school, they turned left, walked straight, and then turned left again.
They chatted idly along the way, mostly talking about recent events in class. Seeing that Yin Zhenru was always absent-minded, Sang Chi felt that what she was talking about was a bit boring, and couldn't help asking, "I think you seem a little strange today."