Chapter 35: Approaching

Wen Xuelan stood alone at the edge of the court, holding a volleyball.
She had long been accustomed to the feeling of being isolated, and just lowered her head, silently counting the dust on the tips of her shoes.
But today, her heart was not as calm as usual.
Her mind kept involuntarily recalling the scene of yesterday’s school.
The girl named Xia Houya.
Will she… come to see me again?
How is that possible?
It was probably just a coincidence.
Just as she was lost in thought, a nervous voice suddenly came from above her head.
“Um… classmate Wen Xuelan?”
Wen Xuelan raised her head suddenly like a frightened kitten.
The sunlight was a little dazzling, and she squinted her eyes before she could see clearly that the person standing in front of her was the beautiful girl who had occupied her thoughts all night.
It’s her.
She really came.
Wen Xuelan looked around and found that there was no one else around.
“Are you… are you calling me?”
She thought she had heard wrongly.
Xiahou Ming felt uncomfortable when she saw her humble appearance.
“Hmm… are you in need of companions? Do you want to… come together?”
“Huh?”
She… was really inviting me.
Invite me, someone who… can’t do anything right… and is hated by everyone.
Wen Xuelan looked at her, looked at her eyes that didn’t dare to look at her and were glancing around, and looked at her cheeks that seemed a little tense because she took the initiative to speak.
An indescribable heat suddenly surged up from her chest, instantly reddening her cheeks and ears.
She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but found that her throat seemed to be blocked by something and she couldn’t utter a single syllable.
She could only nod heavily under Xiahou Ming’s equally nervous gaze, like a chick pecking at rice.
“…Um!”
Their practice was a disaster.
Although Xiahou Ming still had a good physical foundation, she was completely helpless against a soft sport like volleyball.
Wen Xuelan, on the other hand, was a complete sports idiot.
“Here I am.”
Xiahou Ming took a deep breath and passed the ball with what she thought was a standard posture.
The volleyball drew a shaky parabola and hit Wen Xuelan’s shoulder accurately… then bounced out.
“Ah! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Xiahou Ming rushed over to apologize.
“No, no, no! It’s my fault! I didn’t stand properly!” Wen Xuelan also waved her hands in panic, her face flushed red.
After picking up the ball, Wen Xuelan served.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then passed forward.
The volleyball flew vertically upwards, then fell vertically down, hitting her own head, and then rolled to the side.
The air froze instantly.
“Pfft.” Xiahou Ming couldn’t help but chuckle.
Wen Xuelan’s face instantly turned red as if blood was about to drip out, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
“I’m sorry! I wasn’t making fun of you!”
Seeing her like this, Xiahou Ming quickly explained:
“I just… just thought it was… kind of cute.”
Cute?
When Wen Xuelan heard this word, her brain completely shut down.
This was the first time in her life that someone had used this word to describe her.
After retrieving the ball from the bushes for the nth time, Xiahou Ming looked at Wen Xuelan, who couldn’t even hold the ball steadily, and an extremely rude thought involuntarily popped up in her mind:
‘…I know why no one teams up with her anymore.’
But as soon as this thought came to mind, a strong feeling of guilt came over her.
She knew that a big part of the reason why Wen Xuelan was like this was because of the shadow left in her heart by the bullying in the past.
No.
Xiahou Ming took a deep breath and forced herself to suppress her inner irritation.
She told herself that this was both a “task” assigned by Yu Yuhui and a little “compensation” for her own heart.
As long as I am nicer to her, as long as I make her happier, the heavy sense of guilt in my heart may be alleviated a little bit.
This is more like a form of self-comfort.
“Well… don’t be nervous. Try… bend your knees a little more, yes, and then straighten your arms… look at the ball.” She gently passed the ball with a slow and standard posture.
“I… I’ll try!”
Wen Xuelan puffed up her cheeks, tried hard to recall the key points of the action just now, and then—perfectly, caught the ball with her face.
There was a muffled “bang” sound.
“Are you okay?” Xiahou Ming was startled and rushed over.
“No… it’s okay…” Wen Xuelan covered her red nose, tears welling up in her eyes, but she was still trying to be strong, “It’s just… my nose is a little sore…”
Xiahou Ming looked at her pitiful yet funny appearance, feeling mixed emotions.
Without thinking, she raised her arm and used the relatively clean cuff of her school uniform to wipe the tears from the corners of Wen Xuelan’s eyes.
Wen Xuelan was stunned.
She felt the rough fabric gently rubbing against the sensitive skin at the corners of her eyes.
She could smell the scent of Xiahou Ming coming from the cuffs.
Her heart, in an instant, began beating uncontrollably.
Xiahou Ming wiped it twice and realized how strange and inappropriate her action was.
She withdrew her hand abruptly, a trace of embarrassment on her face, and she didn’t dare to look Wen Xuelan in the eye again.
“…Sorry.” She turned her head away somewhat stiffly.
“No… it’s okay…” Wen Xuelan also came back to her senses, her cheeks felt hot as if they were burning, so she could only lower her head and answer in a low voice that was almost inaudible.
After this, practice could no longer proceed normally.
Wen Xuelan was completely at a loss, and she didn’t even dare to look up at Xiahou Ming’s face.
Xiahou Ming was also upset because of her impulsive behavior, and the ball she passed was even less accurate.
In the end, both of them gave up struggling.
They stood awkwardly at both ends of the court, holding their volleyballs, and no one dared to speak first.
Until the physical education teacher’s roar that pierced the entire stadium broke the frozen air.
Xiahou Ming and Wen Xuelan both subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound and saw the chaotic scene.
Wen Xuelan was frightened by the “war” over there.
She subconsciously took a small step closer to Xiahou Ming.
She didn’t even notice this little action of seeking shelter.
Xiahou Ming looked at the storm that she had caused, and felt the silent approach of the girl beside her, and her heart became even more complicated.
The physical education class ended in a chaotic atmosphere.
After the class, the two walked back to the teaching building side by side.
The ambiguous silence still continued between them.
“Classmate Xia Houya…”
In the end, it was Wen Xuelan who mustered up the courage first and broke the silence in a low voice with a look full of anticipation and some uneasiness.
“Did you find Yu Yuhui yesterday?”
When Xiahou Ming heard her kind and concerned questions, her heart tightened and her sense of guilt deepened.
She didn’t dare to look Wen Xuelan in the eye and could only answer vaguely:
“Hmm… Thank you. Your information was very useful.”
“Oh… that’s good.”
When Wen Xuelan heard the word “useful,” a small smile appeared on her face.
She hesitated for a long time, but finally clutched the corner of her school uniform and said the words she had prepared for a long time.
“You… you’d better stay away from Lin Xiaomei and the others.”
Wen Xuelan looked into her eyes, as if afraid that she would not believe it, so she mustered up all her courage and added in a trembling voice:
“She… used to be my best friend. But then… she betrayed me…”
Her voice trailed off, the last few words barely audible.
“She… did a lot of… very excessive things to me…”
After she finished speaking, she seemed to have exhausted all her strength, and immediately lowered her head, not daring to look into Xiahou Ming’s eyes again.
These few light words, to Xiahou Ming, were like mountains, weighing heavily on her heart.
She knew.
Of course she knew.
Because almost every one of those “excessive things” happened with her acquiescence or even instigation.
She felt like vomiting.
Guilt, nausea, and self-loathing instantly choked her throat.
She had to do something.
“Um… classmate Wen Xuelan!”
At the stairs of the teaching building, she suddenly stopped and called out to Wen Xuelan who was about to say goodbye to her.
“Anything else?”
Xiahou Ming didn’t dare to look into her eyes.
Her gaze drifted away and she said in a stiff tone that made her feel like biting her tongue:
“Today… today after school, I… I’ll treat you to something to eat, okay?”
Wen Xuelan’s cheeks turned red in an instant.
Xiahou Ming looked at her helpless look and felt extremely nervous.
Just when she thought the other party was going to refuse, Wen Xuelan finally squeezed out a word.
“…Okay.”