Chapter 14: Phone Number

After the rain cleared, the noisy sounds in the school shook the dew from the trees.

Seventeen-year-old Meng Weiyu was surrounded by a group of people as usual, saying all kinds of pointless things that made the people around him burst into laughter. Among these people, some would still have contact with Meng Weiyu in the future, but most of them were merely fleeting connections that stopped within his vague, drifting life. He sat in his seat, propping up his head. His eyes curved without the slightest pressure, making him look like someone with a good temper.

Suddenly, someone among them noticed that the classroom had become chaotic. Amid the noisy discussions, a certain name was repeated again and again.

Shen Zhoudu.

The first student to understand what was going on turned his head. When he saw the person everyone was discussing, someone who should not have appeared here, he immediately stretched out his hand in curiosity, patted Meng Weiyu’s shoulder, and said, “Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu, hurry and look.”

“Look at what? If it’s you, I’ve already seen enough.” Meng Weiyu ignored him.

Xie Wenxuan was so angry he laughed and said directly, “For some reason, Shen Zhoudu is standing outside the classroom and hasn’t left.”

“What? There’s actually such a big thing?” Meng Weiyu did not take it seriously. His chair tilted back slightly, and his body finally escaped from the layers of people surrounding him. Following Xie Wenxuan’s finger, he looked out the window.

In that instant, when he saw Shen Zhoudu, he also met Shen Zhoudu’s gaze.

Shen Zhoudu raised his hand and gestured for him to come out.

In an instant, the entire classroom exploded.

Shen Zhoudu had been standing outside the classroom for so long, and it was actually to look for Meng Weiyu?

Did the two of them have any connection?

Meng Weiyu was probably more unable to believe than anyone present that Shen Zhoudu had appeared here for him. Dazedly, he raised his index finger and pointed at himself toward Shen Zhoudu, revealing a questioning expression.

Shen Zhoudu nodded decisively.

“What is he here for? To pick a fight? Do you want me to go out with you?” Xie Wenxuan worriedly jumped down from the desk.

Meng Weiyu lowered his finger and thought of the past few days, when he and Shen Zhoudu had stayed in the villa for one night. The next day, Shen Zhoudu had even made breakfast for him, played games with him, and watched horror movies with him. Thinking of that, Shen Zhoudu coming to find him did not seem that strange.

After all, if Shen Zhoudu’s father had not called him home, and if they did not have class the next day, Meng Weiyu felt he could have played with Shen Zhoudu for another day.

“No need, Brother Xie. Sit down. I’ll be right back.” Meng Weiyu patted Xie Wenxuan’s shoulder and pressed him back down. Then he stepped forward and happily walked out of the classroom.

When Shen Zhoudu saw Meng Weiyu come out, he did not want to attract other people’s attention anymore, so he turned and walked toward an empty area between the floors.

“I came out, and now you’re leaving. Are you trying to mess with me?” To Meng Weiyu, who liked attracting attention, Shen Zhoudu’s behavior was simply inexplicable.

Shen Zhoudu smiled helplessly.

Meng Weiyu hurriedly took a few quick steps and walked in front of Shen Zhoudu.

“Returning these to you.” Shen Zhoudu handed the bag in his hand to Meng Weiyu.

“What is this? A love letter doesn’t need to be this thick.” Meng Weiyu accepted the bag, glanced at it briefly, and revealed a disgusted expression. Inside the bag were the pajamas he had lent Shen Zhoudu that day, as well as the clothes Shen Zhoudu had worn away the next day.

“Why are you giving these to me?” Meng Weiyu was full of confusion.

“Are these not your clothes? If I don’t return them to you, what should I do with them?” Shen Zhoudu thought he was very strange. “The clothes have been washed and disinfected. I also had someone spray fragrance on them. There’s also a brand-new box of the same underwear you gave me, in the same size. It’s all inside.”

“Hehe.” Meng Weiyu rarely made such an awkward laugh.

“And the game disc you said you were looking for but couldn’t find…”

“Eh, you found it?” Meng Weiyu impatiently interrupted him.

Shen Zhoudu frowned from being blasted by his voice. He did not understand why Meng Weiyu could not listen to someone finish speaking before talking. Still, he nodded and said, “I had people search for it for a day. It only arrived at my place yesterday, so I came to find you today. The disc is inside.”

“I’m very happy you put in the effort.” Meng Weiyu opened the bag and wanted to rummage through it. But the bag felt like it had a lot of things in it, far more than just clothes and the disc, so he found it a little troublesome.

Shen Zhoudu took the bag from him and held it open toward him.

Meng Weiyu started rummaging through it, his head almost buried inside.

“There’s also a box of chocolates and some small desserts. My mother brought them back last week when she went to France for work.” Shen Zhoudu watched Meng Weiyu’s movements from close range and could not help reminding him, “I arranged everything properly. Can’t you look through it after going home?”

“Did you put these inside yourself?” Meng Weiyu raised his head and smiled at him.

So thoughtful. He had thought Shen Zhoudu would just let the servants at home handle something like this.

“Mm.” And they were all things he had thought about for a long time before choosing. They should be things Meng Weiyu would like.

“Fine. Then I’ll treat it as a surprise and look when I get home.” Meng Weiyu took the bag.

“Okay.” Shen Zhoudu pushed up his glasses. Then he noticed that quite a few people near Meng Weiyu’s classroom were secretly peeking over at them. “Then I’ll go back from this side.”

He did not want to pass by Meng Weiyu’s classroom again, so he decided to go downstairs from here, return to the area beneath his own classroom, and go back up.

“Why?” Meng Weiyu thought he had studied himself stupid. “Going straight is faster.”

“Haha.” Shen Zhoudu opened his mouth and fake-laughed twice. If he went that way now, he would be watched like a show. He would not do something that stupid.

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Meng Weiyu led him back along the original path. “I’ll walk with you. I’ll go to the restroom while I’m at it.”

After speaking, Meng Weiyu placed his hand on Shen Zhoudu’s shoulder, blocking the line of sight from the classroom side. Shen Zhoudu tried to dodge several times, but each time Meng Weiyu pulled him back. Shen Zhoudu felt that if he kept struggling, the two of them would end up pressed together, so he had no choice but to give up the desire to escape and let the person beside him lean on him.

“That little bear pajama set, I saw that you liked it a lot. Actually, I can give it to you,” Meng Weiyu slowly said.

“I don’t care for it!” Where exactly did he show that he liked that outfit?

“Hehe.” Meng Weiyu laughed.

Just as they walked past the classroom, Xie Wenxuan, who had been with Meng Weiyu’s group, looked at Ning Wu, the person who was obviously closest to Meng Weiyu, and asked, “When did Shen Zhoudu and Meng Weiyu become so close?”

Ning Wu rubbed his chin and revealed a thoughtful expression. He was clearly very interested in this, but his mentality was purely that of someone looking for fun, different from Xie Wenxuan’s worried attitude.

“I don’t know.”

Xie Wenxuan immediately became very dissatisfied with Ning Wu.

Meng Weiyu took Shen Zhoudu and paraded through the hall.

After finally enduring the gazes of an entire corridor of people, Shen Zhoudu softly said goodbye to Meng Weiyu and immediately walked quickly back to his classroom. But unfortunately, he was currently seated by the window. The moment he sat down, Meng Weiyu stood outside the window and smiled at him.

“Weren’t you going to the restroom?” Shen Zhoudu turned his head with a smile that was not a smile and looked at Meng Weiyu, who still had not left. “Also, you’re carrying that bag. How are you going to the restroom?”

“Are you stupid? I’m not actually going to the restroom.” Meng Weiyu did not understand how Shen Zhoudu could take the lie he had casually said seriously.

“Then what are you standing here for?” Shen Zhoudu did not care whether he had been lying or not.

Meng Weiyu stretched out his hand toward him and said as if it were only natural, “Give it to me.”

Shen Zhoudu looked at him blankly and asked, “What do you want? I already gave you the bag.”

“Your contact information. Give it to me.” Meng Weiyu waved his hand at him again. A few days ago, Shen Zhoudu had left too hurriedly, and Meng Weiyu had forgotten to ask for his phone number.

“Bang.”

Inside the classroom, someone was frightened by Meng Weiyu’s careless behavior.

Shen Zhoudu immediately turned his head. As his gaze shifted, a group of people instantly pretended they had something to do. But how could a classroom during break be so strangely quiet? Clearly, they were all secretly pricking up their ears to listen to them talk.

“Hehe.” Meng Weiyu had not expected that an entire classroom of top students would be this gossipy.

In order to make him leave quickly, Shen Zhoudu satisfied all his requests. He opened the notebook on his desk, quickly wrote down a string of numbers, tore off that page, and handed it to Meng Weiyu outside the window.

His movements were so smooth that they fully conveyed one message: hurry up and leave.

“How could he really give it?” Inside the classroom, someone quietly complained. Normally, their voice probably would not have been heard by anyone. Unfortunately, the entire classroom was too quiet right now.

Meng Weiyu was amused. He bent down, leaned against the window, and looked at Shen Zhoudu.

“Hurry up and leave.” Shen Zhoudu stuck the note to his face.

“Hurry and say it. Say you voluntarily gave Meng Weiyu your contact information!” Meng Weiyu could not stand this classroom of classmates. They all looked as if he had used some despicable method to force Shen Zhoudu into writing down his phone number.

“I didn’t do it voluntarily. Hurry up and leave.” Shen Zhoudu could not stand him anymore. What kind of game was he playing?

“You’re being stubborn in front of me. There’s no…”

Before Meng Weiyu could finish speaking, the class bell rang.

Normally, at this moment, there would be many people rushing back to their seats and making noise during the last bit of time. But today, almost everyone in this classroom was already sitting in their seats, and nobody was speaking.

“Hmph, just you wait.” Meng Weiyu reached out, snatched away the note, then turned and ran.

The reason he was so decisive was because the teacher had already appeared at the stairwell.

The teacher walked into the classroom and did not forget to glance out the window, asking curiously, “Why was Meng Weiyu here?”

When everyone heard this question, their gazes all turned toward Shen Zhoudu.

Shen Zhoudu quietly raised his hand and placed it beside his face, blocking the view from the other side.

In this classroom, among the people who cared about their interactions more than others, there was also someone they would both be familiar with in the future.

After school, Meng Weiyu received a message from Xiao Jialu: Why did you ask for Shen Zhoudu’s contact information? Are you changing tutors? Am I going to lose my little part-time job?

Meng Weiyu: “…”

The people around him were really funny.

“Young Master.” When the driver saw Meng Weiyu approach, he hurriedly opened the car door.

Meng Weiyu got into the car, whistling as he opened the bag and directly dumped everything out inside the car.

“Mm, mm, mm.” Two sets of clothes, one game disc, one box of chocolates, one box of desserts whose contents could not be seen, one white plush puppy, and…

Meng Weiyu discovered there was also a piece of paper inside. He opened it and found a string of numbers written on it.

Why did it look so familiar?

Meng Weiyu took out his phone and glanced at the phone number he had entered for Shen Zhoudu.

“Ah, it’s the same.”

This really was contact information Shen Zhoudu had voluntarily given him.

Meng Weiyu unconsciously revealed a smile. Holding the paper open with both hands, he proudly looked at that string of numbers. Just as he planned to pack everything back into the bag, he raised his head and saw a familiar figure.

“Cough, cough.” Meng Weiyu pretended to take out his phone and dialed a certain phone number he had only saved today. At the same time, while waiting for the call to connect, he instructed the driver, “Slow down. Drive closer to the side.”

Meng Weiyu placed the phone by his ear and waited patiently, his eyes watching the back of someone ahead.

His target finally noticed that his phone was vibrating. That person loosened one side of his schoolbag, took out his phone, then glanced at the screen.

He looked at the phone screen for a little long, probably hesitating over where this unfamiliar number came from.

Then he still answered the call.

“Shen Zhoudu~” The boy’s teasing, energetic voice entered Shen Zhoudu’s ears.

“Mm.” Shen Zhoudu shouldered his schoolbag again and dryly responded to the person on the other end of the phone. “Meng Weiyu.”

“Turn around.”

Shen Zhoudu turned around in confusion. But when he looked straight ahead, scanning all the heads, he did not see the face he expected.

“Boring.” He thought he had been tricked.

A car slowly drove up in the lane beside him.

“Over here.” The voice from the phone and the voice from beside him sounded at the same time.

Shen Zhoudu froze, then quickly looked toward the car.

The car window rolled down from inside, and a beautiful head popped out.

“That’s dangerous,” Shen Zhoudu scolded him.

“Today, near the place where I’m staying, a barbecue restaurant opened in a mall. The set meal for two is twenty percent off.” Meng Weiyu hung up the call, opened the notice sent in the group chat, and hurriedly stuck his phone out the window, wishing he could shove the screen right into Shen Zhoudu’s face.

The car continued moving slowly. Shen Zhoudu quickened his steps to keep up.

He could not see it at all!

“Are you going?” Meng Weiyu invited him happily, his eyes sparkling.

Shen Zhoudu was silent for a moment, then said, “I can, but my family’s driver is already here to pick me up. I need to call him… What are you doing?”

The car suddenly stopped, and the rear seat door was opened.

“Hurry and get in, or there’ll be traffic.” After hearing him say he could go, Meng Weiyu had stopped listening to the rest.

Shen Zhoudu helplessly pulled open the car door and got in.

Seeing that he had entered, Meng Weiyu hurriedly gathered all the things placed beside him into his arms.

Shen Zhoudu closed the door. At the same time, he noticed Meng Weiyu very roughly grabbing the items and trying to throw them all back into the bag. Shen Zhoudu could not help clenching his fist. He had chosen those things with great care. Could Meng Weiyu care about them a little?

“Phone number.” Meng Weiyu smugly took out that piece of paper and showed it to Shen Zhoudu.

Seeing this, Shen Zhoudu lowered his head to hide his embarrassment, unzipped his schoolbag, and placed it on the seat beside him.

“If you’re going to add a note for me, please note me as ‘Super Handsome Guy,’” Meng Weiyu discussed with him.

“What about you? What did you note me as?” Shen Zhoudu asked him.

Meng Weiyu glanced at his phone and said, “Annoying Shen Glasses.”

As soon as his words fell, a pair of hands reached in front of him and pinched his face, rubbing it hard. Shen Zhoudu said with a smile that was not a smile, “Even if it’s true, don’t say it in front of me.”

“I lied! Stop pinching my face!”