Hello, Old Times Chapter 31

Chapter 31: First Snow

Yu Zhou Zhou really didn’t like November.

There weren’t any holidays during November so there were no days off.

It was the most boring middle part of the semester where the temperature once again turned cold, making people want to just laze around and eat.

The sky was always grey, as if preparing for the first snow but the snow was hesitant and reluctant to fall.

Hence, it was just stuck up in the air.

Grandma discovered that the three girls at home were all exceptionally quiet during the past few days.

Yu Ling Ling who was in second year of high school would always wear earphones and listen to English listening practice while completing an endless batch of homework. However, a few days later, it turned out that what she was listening to wasn’t English listening practice but rock and roll. A man, using a lifeless voice mumbled over some noisy background music, “My love…naked….” In addition, she wasn’t doing her homework – below her textbook was a pocketbook romance.

When Yu Ling Ling entered into a cold war with her parents because her novel was ripped apart and her cassette tapes confiscated, the two fifth grade girls, Yu Zhou Zhou and Yu Ting Ting also became exceptionally quiet.

Of course, Yu Zhou Zhou was always very quiet and would continue to stay quiet – as long as Yu Qiao didn’t come to grandma’s place for dinner.

In the autumn of 1998, Yu Qiao went through the college entrance examination and was admitted to a local second tier university, surprising everyone. In the age where the country had not started the expansion of university enrolment, it meant that Yu Qiao had put one step forward in becoming a privileged person.

Even her uncle who usually pulled a long face couldn’t stop laughing. Yu Qiao never put in effort and always loved to play games and skip school. However, his sprint of effort during the last three months made him a freshman in one swoop.

Yu Zhou Zhou was very happy but still pretended he was the old Yu Qiao. She pointed at him sadly, “Brother Qiao, look at how you’ve fallen…”

Yu Qiao grinned and pulled Yu Zhou Zhou’s ponytail, saying in a weird tone, “This is called infiltrating the enemy’s base. If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how do you capture the tiger? Your vision is too short-sighted. You’re not fated to understand my efforts.”

Yu Zhou Zhou was stunned, “What kind of tiger do you want?”

Yu Qiao’s expression could be regarded as villainous.

“If you want a tiger, you have to first find a tigress. Just you wait, Brother Yu will infiltrate the enemy base to find you a sister-in-law!”

His voice wasn’t small but her uncle didn’t whack Yu Qiao’s head this time. It seemed that everyone unanimously agreed that the college entrance exam was a line. Before the day of the college entrance exam, dating was considered something that couldn’t be revealed in the light. It was considered being muddleheaded and unmotivated. It was considered being shameless… But after passing the boring exams that didn’t have anything to do with love, they grew up. They were allowed to hold hands and hug and sing openly about their love.

When Yu Zhou Zhou was very young, she had befuddledly thought that getting an college admission letter was like gaining an all-encompassing permit. The half grown up children who were trapped in a cage were let free – but it didn’t necessarily mean that they would reach the place they wanted to once the cage opened.

Yu Qiao who was obsessed with computer games and hunting for a tigress, lived in the dormitory and rarely went back to eat at their grandma’s hence Yu Zhou Zhou became quiet again.

Yu Zhou Zhou’s grandma had long been accustomed to Yu Zhou Zhou’s quietness so she only calmly asked Yu Ting Ting repeatedly if they had met any unhappy situations at school. Yu Ting Ting shook her head and didn’t say anything,.

Yu Zhou Zhou had her head lowered to eat and pretended to be ignorant and indifferent to the scene in front of her.

She just didn’t want to tell. Sometimes, the cruellest thing in the world was to tell the other person, hey, I know everything. When Yu Zhou Zhou realized this, she recalled back when she was little and used to use this method to threaten Yu Ling Ling.

However, she still knew about Yu Ting Ting’s matters.

Yu Ting Ting liked someone.

Last Wednesday night, after Yu Zhou Zhou finished cello practice, she was bent over rubbing white rosin on the cello with a dry cloth when she suddenly heard a soft voice from behind, “Zhou Zhou, do you have someone you like?”

Yu Zhou Zhou was taken aback, the Yu Ting Ting who was always bubbly and energetic had learnt to be so quiet. She turned back and asked in astonishment, “What did you say?’

“It’s not possible that you don’t have someone you like.” Yu Ting Ting’s expression was serious.

This line was exactly the same as the female classmates in Yu Zhou Zhou’s class who forced out confessions. They collectively vowed that they’ll definitely pry Yu Zhou Zhou’s mouth open. In the entire class, only her and Zhan Yan Fei had not said who they liked which was simply unreasonable. The group collectively expressed that these two people were too arrogant and too fake. They thought that they were amazing just because they were part of the class committee even though no one could really tell what mutually exclusive relationship dating and being a part of the class committee had.

Yu Zhou Zhou still shook her head, her face full of resistance and…shyness.

The slight blush on her face was caught in Yu Ting Ting’s eyes and she refused to let it go, “Today you have to say!”

When Yu Ting Ting became stubborn, she was all fired up.

After a few rounds of battle, Yu Zhou Zhou felt that her palms had become sticky with sweat. She rubbed her hands awkwardly, her face bright red. Finally, she opened her mouth with a strong sense of righteousness and said in a soft voice, “I like Kazuya Uesugi.”

Yu Ting Ting looked confused, “Who?”

“Kazuya Useugi – it’s Kazuya not Tatsuya! They all like Tatsuya. I also quite like Tatsuya but…”Yu Zhou Zhou was still acting bashful on the spot. When she raised her head, she saw Yu Ting Ting with a face full of anger.

“What?”

“You’re so boring. Not one word you say is true. Never mind, who cares.” Yu Ting Ting turned and left.

Yu Zhou Zhou paused for a while before a small flame spread inside to the top of her head.

“You’re the one that’s boring!”  She said to the air with her hands on hips. She had been so sincere and was bashful for so long before mustering up the courage to confess.

At that time, Yu Zhou Zhou still didn’t understand Yu Ting Ting’s emotions.  This type of emotion wasn’t something that would quickly disappear after being scolded by the teacher. It also wasn’t the type that could be dispersed after running around the courts for a week. This type of emotion was deeper and more concealed than the ripples of emotion Shan Jie Jie originally felt after being cheered on.

As long as that person was still in Yu Ting Ting’s line of sight, she’ll continue to be upset. Even if the person wasn’t in front of her eyes but in her memory.

Liking a person was the most helpless thing.

The three girls in the Yu family all had different expressions. Under the gloomy November sky, they all quietly waited together for the first snow.

At the end of November, the North finally had it’s first snow.

The snow had accumulated for too long causing the snow to fall for a long time. It went on from the morning until past two in the afternoon before stopping. The teachers allowed everyone to go out and have a snow fight as according to the rules, the whole school had to clear the snow the next day hence they might as well play enough. Yu Zhou Zhou was happily writing in the snow with her foot when she was unexpectedly hit on the shoulder with a snowball by an excited Shan Jie Jie. A few drops splashed onto Yu Zhou Zhou’s face, giving off a strange feeling.

The snow on the ground was still very loose and soft. As Shan Jie Jie was too impatient, her snowball was loose and had little impact when hit.

Yu Zhou Zhou put on a light grey woollen hat and stood with her back to Shan Jie Jie, ignoring the futile attacks behind her. Instead, she bent down and used both hands to gather the snow, squeezing it forcefully in her hands.

The corners of her mouth rose up in a sly arc.

Jie Jie, you’re dead. Yu Zhou Zhou thought with a smile.

Then, she quickly turned around and with the greatest strength, threw the sturdy, massive snowball towards Shan Jie Jie’s position.

Yu Zhou Zhou had the perfect plan with the greatest patience and equipment.

And, the worst aim.

Yu Zhou Zhou and Shan Jie Jie stood on the spot dumbfounded as they watched the person in front of them wipe the snow off their face without a word.

“You. Are. Dead.” He calmly said.

It was Lin Yang, who had been hit right in the forehead.

As for the scene that followed, if it was to be described through the idioms that they had been recently learning, it would be called tragic beyond compare.

A single slip can cause lasting sorrow.

Yu Zhou Zhou and Sha Jie Jie threw back counterattacks sporadically while fleeing. Actually, Shan Jie Jie didn’t need to escape because Lin Yang’s big snowballs were stable and accurate, hitting only Yu Zhou Zhou.

Hence, the desperate Yu Zhou Zhou who had no other path did something that a first grade elementary kid would do.

She escaped into the female bathroom.

“Come out if you have the guts!”

“Come in if you have the guts!”

Shan Jie Jie sighed helplessly. “How old are you to still do this…” She glanced in disdain at the two people who were confronting each other on opposite sides of the bathroom door. She patted off the leftover snow on her gloves and turned to leave. On the other hand, the two people still shouted at each other for a long time. Yu Zhou Zhou refused to back down and Lin Yang didn’t tire.

What ended the confrontation between the two sides was a clear call.

“Lin Yang, Lin Yang! What are you doing standing outside the female bathroom, are you a pervert!” The term pervert had just become popular, just like the terms cool and popular which primary kids all commonly used.

Yu Zhou Zhou had endured the smell of the bathroom to her limits. Taking the opportunity of the conversation between Lin Yang and the girl, she sneakily moved to the door.

“I found this on your desk, who gave it to you?”

“What is it?”

“It looks like a gift. Quickly let it out, who gave it to you?”

Yu Zhou Zhou heard the giggles and whispers of many girls. It seemed like that girl had brought along a crowd of onlookers.

“How would I know,” Lin Yang’s voice carried some impatience but he was still polite and restrained, “Ling Xiang Qian, you better not casually look through my desk. Put it back quickly.”

Yu Zhou Zhou suddenly discovered that it seemed as if Lin Yang would only bare his teeth with no manners nor patience in front of her.

Sure enough, this guy picks on me, how annoying. With the thought in mind, she quietly poked her head out the corner, wanting to observe her enemy’s situation. However, a certain colour passed into her eyes making her stay in position, astonished.

A light blue colour with white stars.

That familiar wrapping paper was held high up like a torch in Ling Xiang Qian’s hand with a group of girls surrounding, all smiling with hidden meanings.

However, those smiles all carried an inquisitive smile and contained a sliver of something that made Yu Zhou Zhou uneasy. It seemed like they were taking pleasure in other people’s misfortune or, a conspiracy, or… In summary, her intuition made her feel like something bad was approaching.

That wrapping paper.

As if she was in a dream, Yu Zhou Zhou subconsciously opened her mouth.

“This person, how can you randomly move other people’s things?”

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