The Secret
Chapter Courtesy: Wang Mei
Shen Wanying got up half an hour early, afraid that if she slept for too long she would not be able to fall asleep again at night. Thus, she took a book and left her dorm.
Inside the dormitory, there were still others napping. Since she didn’t have anything to do, she walked to the sports field by herself, stopping at the spectator’s stand.
The place was breezy and had shade to shield from the sun. The main point, though, was that it was empty enough; only a few students stood in the whole stands.
Shen Wanying faced the field, leaned gently against the railing, and opened the book in her hand.
On the field were boys playing football, several others in the stands were watching the game.
Shen Wanying stood alone on the other side, quietly reading.
A fellow student who discovered her whispered to another, “Hey, you see Lady Shen there? She looks so graceful even just reading a book!”
The companion echoed his feelings. “Yes! Do you think everyone is like you, eating melon seeds?”
“What happened to my melon seeds? I didn’t throw them away. Check that rubbish bin!”
Shen Wanying was soon noticed by those playing football, too.
Hong Hong immediately called out to Fang Yichang: “Brother Chang, Lady Shen has come to see us play!”
Fang Yichang looked in the direction of the stands and spotted the young lady standing there. “You’re right.” With that, he glanced at Hong Hong beside him. “What do you mean by looking at us? She is looking at me.”
“Yes, yes, yes, to see you, Brother.”
Fang Yichang raised his chin: “Brother, we have to win today’s game!”
Hong Hong: “Got it!”
The boys started playing harder. It’s just a shame that Shen Wanying didn’t pay any attention to them.
On the other side of the stands, the girl who ate melon seeds wasn’t interested in watching the game, either. Instead, she approached Shen Wanying. “Hi, what book is that? You look very serious while reading it.”
The girl’s companion pushed his glasses and said, “It seems that it’s the cover of Tagore’s collection of birds book1In reference to Stray Birds by Rabindranath Tagore, the English version.”
“Wow. As expected of our lady, you also have a good eye for books.”
“Thank you. Those glasses really suit you.”
“——”
A light wind blew, ruffling her long hair and skirt as Shen Wanying smiled and turned a page in her book. Another student secretly took a photo with her mobile phone, praising herself. “The picture I just took is indeed beautiful. If I sell it, it surely won’t sell lower than Huo Cheng’s and Ji Yao’s photos.”
“Is that the picture you took? The Young Lady looks good.”
“’No… no… no… I’m just the same as usual”
Huo Cheng also took a nap in the dormitory until around noon. On the way to the classroom, he saw Shen Wanying in the stands. He stopped where he was, then naturally changed his direction and walked towards the stands.
At that moment, there were more students on the field than before; most of them were from the afternoon’s P.E. class. Shen Wanying stood alone at one end. The students whispered and gossipped, and though she could faintly hear them, she didn’t care. But when Huo Cheng’s name was brought up again and again, she curiously raised her head to look.
Huo Cheng came over to where Shen Wanying was. “You’re reading out here?”
“Yes.” Shen Wanying closed the book with a smile and said, “After sleeping for a bit, my head feels somewhat heavy. So, I wanted to come out for some fresh air. The breeze helps wake me up a little bit.”
Huo Cheng: “《Stray Birds》?”
Shen Wanying subconsciously gripped the book to her arms: “En, I like Tagore’s poetry. Why did you come here?”
“Looking for you.” Huo Cheng said while glancing at her, “We have a class soon. Don’t be late.”
Shen Wanying: “I know, I’m just about to go to the classroom.”
Huo Cheng: “Let’s go together.”
“Sure.” Shen Wanying came down from the stands with her book in hand.
On the football field, Fang Yichang had been staring at Huo Cheng and Shen Wanying. He seemed absent-minded, so Hong Hong also looked over.
He was already unhappy with Huo Cheng. Now that he saw him and Shen Wanying together, it made him even more unhappy: “Sh*t! Does Huo Cheng have a good relationship with our lady?”
Fang Yichang pursed his lips and didn’t answer.
Hong Hong knew that Yichang liked Shen Wanying, so he was even more aggrieved: “Brother Chang, is Huo Cheng deliberately against you? Other than us, no one can pursue Lady Shen. Nevertheless, we can’t lose!”
A male student called out to him. At that time, Fang Yichang, who was distracted, didn’t notice the ball flying towards him. Fortunately, Hong Hong reacted quickly and kicked the ball away.
“Are you blind?! You need to relearn how to play football! ”
“You aren’t any better!” Fang Yichang saw the football flying out towards the stands and shouted loudly, “Shen Wanying, be careful!”
Shen Wanying had just walked to the edge of the stands and was startled by the sudden sound. Huo Cheng hugged her and tugged her aside before she could figure out the situation.
The football banged against the railing and bounced back.
Huo Cheng could care less about the football game, he merely frowned at Shen Wanying. “Are you all right?”
Although Shen Wanying was shocked, Huo Cheng had pulled her away in time and was not injured.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Realizing that the two of them had a somewhat ambiguous posture at this time, Shen Wanying stood up straight and took a step back.
As soon as Shen Wanying pulled away from Huo Cheng, she heard a click and the book in her arms fell to the ground.
After landing, the book cover slid off, exposing the real book cover within.
It wasn’t Tagore’s Stray Birds at all. Instead, it was an English novel called《Secrets》.
What the book title was actually didn’t really matter. More importantly, the cover of this book was two handsome boys, one of them suggestively opening the other’s shirt, biting down on his collarbone.
♥♥♥
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