The Scorching Sun - 8

Fang Zhuo hadn't eaten dinner yet. Without much appetite, she grabbed a random bread roll from the school store and headed straight back to the classroom.

The students, who had been chatting noisily, all quieted down the moment they saw her return.

Shen Musi turned around and asked, "Are you okay?"

Fang Zhuo shook her head.

After hesitating for a long while, Shen Musi carefully set a can of eight-treasure porridge on the corner of her desk. Seeing Fang Zhuo bury her head in her homework, he nudged it toward her with a finger, inch by inch, until it entered her line of sight.

But the moment Fang Zhuo looked up at him, he immediately lost his nerve and muttered, "F-For you... It's about to expire."

Even the excuse was eerily familiar.

Expressionlessly, Fang Zhuo turned toward her deskmate.

Yan Lie wore the innocent face of a bystander and shrugged. "No need to ask for my opinion. The kid's grown up. I've authorized him to manage his own property as he sees fit."

"Shameless!" Shen Musi erupted. "You just love lording it over me!"

Fang Zhuo pushed the porridge back toward him. "Thank you, but I didn't faint because I can't afford food."

Shen Musi didn't dare argue. "O-Oh."

Fang Zhuo glanced at the problem in front of her, then looked up again and added, "My eating habits might not be the most regular, but I think the bigger reason is lack of sleep. My brain was exhausted." There had simply been too many things weighing on her mind.

Fang Zhuo continued, "I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern."

Shen Musi's expression perfectly conveyed, Whatever you say. After listening to Fang Zhuo's string of unconvincing explanations, he instinctively looked toward Yan Lie. The latter merely smiled faintly. Shen Musi understood at once and obediently took the porridge back.

Not long after, Yan Lie received a private message from his friend on social media.

Mousse Cake: Why wouldn't she take it? She's literally collapsing from hunger.

Lie Lie: Good kids don't like accepting things from people casually. If you give her something, she'll feel obligated to repay you. Don't do it again.

Mousse Cake: Why not? It's not like I'm giving her charity.

Lie Lie: Depends on who's giving it.

Mousse Cake: ??

Mousse Cake: Hey, now you've offended me. Is there anyone in this class more charming than I am?

Mousse Cake: Say something! Why aren't you replying?!

Yan Lie chuckled, put his phone away, and lightly kicked Shen Musi's chair with his foot, telling him to stop slacking off and get back to studying.

Later that evening, their homeroom teacher called Fang Zhuo into the office to ask about her condition.

Since the infirmary's equipment was limited and couldn't find anything wrong, and based on what her classmates had mentioned, the teacher assumed it was simply stress combined with poor nutrition. She offering a few reminders and some words of comfort. Fang Zhuo was calm and agreeable throughout, and was soon sent back to class.

· · ·

Registration for the sports meet had begun over the last couple of days. The sports rep and a few other class officers were going around trying to rally people to participate.

Fang Zhuo collapsing during cleaning duty had left too deep an impression on them. Coupled with her thin frame that practically screamed malnourished, no one dared bother her. They figured they'd just assign her to the cheer squad when the time came, so she could use the opportunity to rest.

Fang Zhuo herself wasn't particularly interested. She'd never been one for these kinds of collective activities.

Around noon, after returning from the cafeteria and just as she was about to find a quiet place to memorize vocabulary, their homeroom teacher stopped her.

Standing in the doorway, she waved and called, "Fang Zhuo, I've been looking everywhere for you. The security office said a family member came looking for you. Hurry over and see who it is."

Fang Zhuo's first thought was that her homeroom teacher had called in a parent, and that Fang Yiming had come. But she dismissed the idea almost as quickly as it formed.

Fang Yiming would never waste his time on something like that. More likely than not, he wouldn't come at all. Even if he did, he'd head straight into the school, and if he couldn't find her immediately, he'd simply leave.

But she didn't have any other family.

Fang Zhuo went to the back of the classroom, poured herself a cup of water, and drank it slowly before finally making her way over.

The skies had been clear these past few days. The dropping temperature had bounced right back up, as though early autumn had suddenly reverted to the height of summer.

She walked unhurriedly to the security office and peered through the window. Aside from the security guard, there was no one inside.

She explained why she'd come. The guard bent down beneath the desk and lifted out a red plastic bag, exclaimed loudly, "Oh, student, you're finally here! If you'd come any later, the food would've gone cold!"

Fang Zhuo froze. She untied the knot in the plastic bag and found two lunch boxes inside.

Completely bewildered, she assumed someone had ordered takeout for her. But just as she lifted the containers out, the guard said regretfully, "The person waited here for quite a while, but he left just now. Here, he asked me to give you this phone number."

He handed her a roughly torn piece of white paper. Written boldly across the center in black pen were the words:

“Happy Birthday, Zhuozhuo.”

Beneath it was a phone number.

Fang Zhuo had seen this handwriting only recently, so she recognized it at once. And precisely because she recognized it, she was utterly stunned.

Her head buzzed. Images of Ye Yuncheng laboriously making his way forward on his crutches flashed vividly through her mind. Distracted, she asked, "Who brought this? He... is his leg... does he have trouble walking?"

The guard rambled on, "Yeah! I told him he could go inside to find you, but he was afraid your classmates might see him, didn't want to make you look bad. So he just sat by the roadside and waited. And this heat, my goodness. He waited half an hour and you still didn't come, so he left."

Suddenly the lunchboxes in Fang Zhuo's hands felt impossibly heavy. The weight pressed down on her chest until she could barely breathe. She clenched the slip of paper tightly in her fist and asked, "May I go outside and have a look?"

"He's really gone already..." Seeing the look on her face, the guard softened. "Well... you can check around the school gate, but don't go too far."

Fang Zhuo stepped outside and scanned down the empty street, but there wasn't a trace of him.

The sun blazed overhead, casting a shadow behind the high wall. There wasn't a single place outside the gates that offered shelter from the heat.

She could almost picture Ye Yuncheng sitting alone by the roadside beneath the scorching sun, drenched in sweat, only to leave disappointed in the end.

A tangle of emotions surged through her. Fang Zhuo walked back in, thanked the guard in a daze, and carried the lunchboxes back to the classroom.

Lunch break was nearly over.

Yan Lie had already finished the worksheet handed out that morning and was resting with his head on the desk. Hearing Fang Zhuo return, he cracked one eye open to look at her. Seeing the troubled expression on her face, he sat up.

After quietly observing her for a while, he pointed at the pink-and-white lunch boxes on her desk. "Where'd you order takeout from? Didn't you already eat lunch?"

As if jolted back to the present, Fang Zhuo lifted the slip of paper—already damp from the sweat in her palm—and turned toward him. "Can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure." Yan Lie readily handed it over. "Password's our mother's birthday."

A muscle twitched between Fang Zhuo's brows. Somehow, she instantly understood his train of thought and tentatively entered 1001.

The phone unlocked immediately.

Good grief.

What a patriotic young man.

Carrying the phone, she slipped into the utility room beside the restroom. After making sure there were no teachers nearby, she dialed the number written on the note.

The dial tone buzzed several times without an answer.

She guessed Ye Yuncheng was probably still on his way home.

Traveling by bus must've not been easy for him. He had to transfer midway, walk another twenty minutes, and after reaching the village entrance, there was still a fair distance back to his house.

She couldn't help worrying whether he'd run into any difficulties.

One anxious thought after another unraveled in her mind. As soon as the call disconnected automatically, she mechanically dialed again.

This time, the call was answered almost immediately.

"Hello."

The clear, gentle voice rang out. Fang Zhuo felt as if a current had passed through her whole body. The tangled, knotted mess of thoughts that had been plaguing her was instantly wiped blank. And along with them, everything she'd meant to say.

The person on the other end waited patiently through the silence without speaking. In the background, Fang Zhuo could hear the clamor of bus-stop advertisements, confirming he was on a bus.

After the prolonged silence, Ye Yuncheng guessed who it was. He cupped his hand over the phone. "Fang Zhuo?"

"It's me." Her voice came out stiff. "I only just got back to the classroom. When I went to the school gate... you'd already left."

Even through the phone, Ye Yuncheng's voice remained gentle—low, soft, like a timely summer breeze. "Oh, I see. I was thinking maybe it wasn't convenient for you. Senior year, so busy."

"It's not inconvenient," Fang Zhuo replied. "Lunch break is free time."

"That's good."

Ye Yuncheng spoke again, this time with a deliberate brightness in his voice. "Happy birthday. You've grown up so quickly. I barely got the chance to see you."

After a brief pause, Fang Zhuo answered quietly, "...Thank you.”

She honestly couldn’t remember who had last said those words to her. Perhaps no one ever had. Which was why when she heard that unfamiliar blessing, she blanked for a moment, failing to notice anything off about it.

Once upon a time, she had longed desperately to become an adult. She had believed that grown-ups were naturally equipped with strength and courage—that adulthood would let her reclaim the boldness and defiance she'd been forced to swallow.

Only as she grew older did she realize that an adult's armor was forged from wounds and hard-earned lessons. If you wanted something, you had to get it yourself. Slowly, she'd forgotten that childish expectation.

Now that she had truly crossed the threshold into adulthood, she had to admit it still stirred something faint inside her.

But the feeling was no more than a single drop falling upon the surface of a still lake.

Nothing in her world had really changed.

It wasn't even as significant as a single sentence from Ye Yuncheng.

"Actually, your birthday isn't until next week," Ye Yuncheng went on. "But isn't next week Mid-Autumn Festival? I figured you'd be going home. I won't have a chance to bring you a cake then, so I just came by a bit early."

"I'm not going back," Fang Zhuo said.

"...Huh?" Ye Yuncheng asked carefully. "Do you still get break for Mid-Autumn?"

Suddenly infected by the breath of anticipation he was holding, Fang Zhuo found herself feeling a little tense too. "Three or four days, I think?"

"Are you staying at school? Everyone else will have gone home. It'll be so lonely." He blurted out the rest in one breath. "Why don't you leave too?"

"Why don't you come stay with uncle?"

Having finally said it, Ye Yuncheng let out a long breath of relief. The happiness in his voice immediately became sincere as he warmly added, "Come stay with your uncle. The house is old, but it's big. There are plenty of empty rooms."

"Won't I be a bother?" Fang Zhuo said.

"Not at all! Not at all, you have to come!" Ye Yuncheng laughed. "Yesterday I cleaned up one of the rooms. And behind the house, there's this huge yard, you know? I've cleared about half of it. It's all empty now, and I don't even know what to do with it. Do you have any ideas?"

"I'll think about it."

"Take your time. Think about it slowly. That's good, that's good." Ye Yuncheng rambled happily before suddenly remembering something. "Oh, right! There's seafood in the lunch boxes. Eat it soon, it won't keep for long. There's fruit too."

"Okay," Fang Zhuo answered calmly.

Having finally opened the floodgates, Ye Yuncheng had countless things he wanted to remind her about. Before he could organize his thoughts, an alarm rang in the background.

He immediately collected himself. "Is that the bell? You have to get to class now, right?"

"Lunch break's over. The class officers will be taking attendance."Fang Zhuo said.

Ye Yuncheng said immediately, "Then hurry back."

"Okay."

Just as she was about to hang up, Ye Yuncheng couldn't help one last reminder: "Remember to come back during the break."

Back in the classroom, Fang Zhuo returned the phone to Yan Lie. Feeling very warm all of a sudden, she pulled out a tissue and wiped the sweat from her face.

Yan Lie studied her face for a moment, then said out of nowhere, "You're blooming.” 

Fang Zhuo looked at him blankly. "Huh?"

"Nothing." Yan Lie smiled. "Just rare to see you this happy."

Fang Zhuo didn't think she'd show that much happiness. She raised a hand and touched the corner of her mouth. She wasn't even smiling.

She had no idea what Yan Lie was seeing.

While tapping on his phone, Yan Lie asked, "Who was it…on the phone?"

"My uncle."

"So it's Uncle!"

Yan Lie casually saved the number into his contacts. From the corner of her eye, Fang Zhuo noticed the contact name he entered.

Uncle.

She stared at it in bewilderment.

...Isn't that my uncle?

---

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