Chapter 296

Chapter 296 It Seems Every Time It’s Yuan Yuan Who Runs Off (4000 words)

The time flew by in the second semester of high school, and before they knew it, April came with melting ice and snow.

The winter of 2013 was mild, and spring was warm. Everyone quickly shed their thick coats, welcoming the arrival of spring.

For the same-year students at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, although Mei Fang and Xia Yuan’s lives were extraordinarily exciting, they were still stories of others. More people focused on reviewing for exams, and the spring sports meet might be their last fun event this term.

This year, neither Mei You Yuan nor the three big ones signed up for any events. Considering Xia Yuan’s current figure, she wasn’t fit for the sports meet. They didn’t want to attract too much attention during the event and enjoyed the competition with a more relaxed attitude.

After cheering for their classmates, the trio headed to the playground. Amidst the lush trees stood some pink cherry blossoms. Xia Yuan happily ran over and sat under a cherry blossom tree to rest. Lin You Xi and Mei Fang followed suit.

“Last year at this time, I didn’t notice, but the school has cherry blossoms?”

Xia Yuan picked up a cherry blossom petal and handed it to Lin You Xi, “Do you like the smell of cherry blossoms?”

Lin You Xi smiled and shook her head, “I only like the scent of you, Yuan Yuan.”

“Is my scent really that strong!”

Mei Fang looked at the two girls sitting under the cherry blossom tree.

“This place seems to be where we stayed during last autumn’s sports meet, right? Last year or the year before?”

“It was the year before, during our first sports meet when we were freshmen. That day had many events,” Xia Yuan calculated with her fingers. “First, Fang was hit by Bing Bing, then You Xi sprained her ankle. We went to the school clinic several times.”

“Don’t mention that… Every time I was in the infirmary, the teacher would catch me being intimate with you two and treated me like a playboy.”

Seeing the look the two girls gave him, Mei Fang quickly explained, “Back then, I wasn’t a playboy! I respected our relationship and never did anything inappropriate.”

Mei Fang mumbled, “Unlike someone who always uses the pretext of childhood friends to get closer to me, even during the sports meet.”

Lin You Xi looked at Xia Yuan, who immediately blushed and stammered, “Fang talks so sarcastically, mentioning my name doesn’t matter.”

“You two were secretly getting intimate behind my back?”

Lin You Xi thought for a moment, “At most, it was just hugging and holding hands, right?”

“No, it—”

“I’ll say it!”

Xia Yuan covered Mei Fang’s mouth and said with her hands behind her back, “I… I did a little peropero with Fang.”

“Peropero?”

“Meaning… let Fang show you.”

“Hey, this is school.”

“Oh, okay, let me show you.”

Xia Yuan leaned towards Lin You Xi and gently kissed her cheek.

…

Lin You Xi gently rubbed her cheek and then frowned slightly, assuming a serious expression:

“How close we were back then, and you’ve been hiding this from me for so long. To be honest, it hurts a bit.”

“Aaah… Back then, our relationship was quite ambiguous! I felt guilty about it… Later, Fang carried you like a princess, didn’t she?”

“That wasn’t just carrying.”

Lin You Xi corrected Xia Yuan, “Fang did it voluntarily.”

“Indeed, indeed!”

Xia Yuan nodded vigorously while agreeing with Lin You Xi, “At that time, Fang didn’t hesitate at all and clearly enjoyed doing it.”

“But no matter what, the responsibility for running off is still on you, Yuan Yuan.”

Lin You Xi deliberately put on a cold face, “After our argument, we agreed to let Fang choose, but every time, you’re the one who gets closer to Fang first. The hugs, peropero, kisses, and dates, you always take the lead.”

“I, I really like Fang… Sometimes I can’t help wanting to be intimate, I’m sorry…”

Seeing Xia Yuan unable to lift her head, Mei Fang added, “Also, you were the first to publicly date, Yuan Yuan truly takes all the good things.”

“Shut up, stinky Fang!”

Xia Yuan pinched Mei Fang and hugged him tightly, then softly said to Lin You Xi, “Sometimes I act on impulse, relying on Fang’s favor to move forward… This isn’t fair to You Xi, so… um…”

Xia Yuan leaned close to Lin You Xi’s ear and whispered something, making her blush. Lin You Xi smiled, “Would you really do that?”

“What’s there to be reluctant about! The three of us will live together in the future, we should be fair.”

“What are you two plotting, not letting me hear?”

“Not telling you.”

As Xia Yuan spoke with her hands on her hips, Lin You Xi chimed in, “Yuan Yuan just said—”

“You Xi!”

Laughter echoed under the cherry blossom tree as a broken petal fell onto Mei Fang’s head. Xia Yuan confidently sat on Mei Fang and picked it up. Just then, some first-year girls passed by, shyly covering their faces with notebooks and running away after seeing them.

“The freshmen look so innocent.”

Xia Yuan sighed while hugging Mei Fang, “Speaking of which, I used to be so shy and pure. Now, I can be intimate with Fang in public without feeling ashamed.”

“That’s not true, Yuan Yuan has always been an open person.”

Lin You Xi teased, “Even in kindergarten, you always wanted to hold Fang’s hand and hug him. Even when he disliked it, you would cling to him and cry asking why he didn’t want to play with you.”

“Trying to bring up old grudges again! Mutual hurt is bad.”

“That’s fine… Your past is probably worse than mine.”

Lin You Xi enjoyed Xia Yuan’s helpless and annoyed expression when she couldn’t argue back. Mei Fang felt it was going too far and quickly intervened, “Alright, alright, don’t fight over such small things—”

Xia Yuan immediately rebutted, “We weren’t fighting.”

“Yes, just friendly discussion.”

Lin You Xi thought for a moment, “But I don’t agree that you think this is a minor issue.”

“What’s not a minor issue?”

“It’s about Yuan Yuan’s personality.”

Lin You Xi propped her chin, “What do you think about Yuan Yuan’s personality, open or conservative?”

“Is ‘open’ or ‘conservative’ the right way to describe it?”

Mei Fang thought, “I’d say she’s extroverted, but not open.”

“In other words, I’m not some casual person…”

“Though Yuan Yuan isn’t casual, you’ve always been open to Fang.”

Lin You Xi asked Xia Yuan, “Do you remember when you first hugged Fang? Super Fang Energy?”

“Hmm… I don’t remember—”

Xia Yuan stammered and lowered her head. Mei Fang responded eagerly, “I remember, it was probably in junior high. I told Yuan Yuan I thought Peng Xue liked me, and she got excited and wanted to claim me.”

“Don’t make me sound like a girl gangster!”

Xia Yuan tapped Mei Fang’s head, “I have strong possessiveness, love to run off, break promises, and have poor grades. I am a bad girl.”

“Bad girl… I remember, your new album has a song named that, right?”

Xia Yuan nodded, “The lyrics and title were given by Fang, and it’s a duet love song.”

Lin You Xi smiled faintly, “Your new album seems to be mostly sad love songs. Is it planned around a breakup?”

Mei Fang recently completed all the lyrics for Xia Yuan’s new album, which included classics like “Black Profile,” “Red Makeup,” “Sigh of Blessing,” “Honesty,” and “Funeral of Roses” (this one was sung solo by Mei Fang). This marked Xia Yuan’s image transition from a sweet idol to a love song queen.

“There’s some meaning to that…”

Xia Yuan said seriously, “But I’m worried people might suspect Fang and me are having problems and attack him because of these songs. So, I added some duet love songs and Fang’s solo love songs to ease their concerns.”

Lin You Xi nodded, “That does require careful consideration. Netizens can easily stir up trouble if they misinterpret.”

Mei Fang had firsthand experience in understanding how fanatical fans could be in his previous life.

Although online idol Xia Yuan hadn’t reached the level of being adored by thousands, people had already paired her with Xia Yuan online. However, they hadn’t officially announced their relationship on their private platform and mainly appeared as partners.

Just as the trio was chatting enthusiastically, a familiar person happened to pass by them and greeted them:

“You three are here?”

Liu Xiaoyu, dressed in a simple blue formal gown with a sash, led several first-year etiquette students. Seeing Mei Fang and Xia Yuan, they whispered excitedly among themselves. Xia Yuan immediately stood up from Mei Fang and happily greeted Liu Xiaoyu,

“Xiao Yu, where are you going to present awards?”

“To the gymnasium, today is also the final of the basketball match, we need to prepare for the awards. By the way, Bing Bing isn’t playing today? She should have told you.”

Mei Fang slapped his forehead, “Oh no, we were so preoccupied with being intimate, we forgot about this! We need to hurry and cheer for Bing Bing.”

Mei Fang, Xia Yuan, and Lin You Xi followed Liu Xiaoyu to the gymnasium. As a former ghost member of the Etiquette Department, Xia Yuan chatted with some of the younger etiquette students and kindly left her signature.

Coinciding with the Jiangcheng Spring Sports Meet, a “Chujiang Cup” basketball tournament organized by several key high schools in Jiangcheng was taking place.

Currently, the finals of the women’s basketball match were underway between Jiangcheng No. 1 High School and Jiangcheng Foreign Language School.

The gymnasium was packed with people, cheers and encouragement filled the air. On the court, the female basketball players from both schools were giving their all, sweating profusely.

Xiang Bingbing was the most noticeable player on the court. Although she had complained to Mei Fang earlier about possibly not being able to play, she was now an indispensable center for her team. As soon as Mei Fang and company arrived, Xiang Bingbing blocked a shot beautifully and initiated a quick counterattack, resulting in a simple dunk that caused the crowd to erupt in cheers.

Xiang Bingbing wiped the sweat from her face and was about to catch her breath when she noticed Mei Fang and company in the stands. She immediately waved happily.

“Fang! Fang! Look here! Look at me!”

As the focus of everyone’s attention, Xiang Bingbing’s every move drew curiosity from the audience.

Since this was an open match, many outsiders and students were watching. Initially, they thought Mei Fang and company were just Xiang Bingbing’s friends, but when someone shouted “Isn’t that Yuan Bao?” Mei Fang and Xia Yuan were instantly submerged by the enthusiastic crowd, causing the match’s atmosphere to cool down significantly.

Xiang Bingbing was still regretting not being able to talk to Mei Fang when her teammate, wearing the captain’s armband, nudged her lightly, “Still in the game, don’t get distracted.”

“Sorry, sorry, I know!”

The girl who nudged Xiang Bingbing was Shang Qin, a 1.78-meter tall girl in Lin You Xi’s class. Her short hair and angular features made her appear spirited and androgynous, making her very popular among girls.

After reminding Xiang Bingbing, Shang Qin glanced at the stands. Her eyes briefly swept over Lin You Xi, who was chatting sweetly with Mei Fang, while Xia Yuan was busy signing autographs for others.

Shang Qin was slightly surprised but didn’t dwell on it and continued to focus on the basketball game.

After a tough and intense match, Jiangcheng No. 1 High School’s women’s basketball team finally secured victory with Xiang Bingbing’s crucial rebound in the final moments.

The deafening applause echoed through the gymnasium. The team members of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School hugged each other tightly, savoring the hard-earned victory.

Once the host, the principal of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School, finished his congratulatory speech, it was time for the award ceremony.

Xiang Bingbing stood out prominently on the podium. When Liu Xiaoyu led the group to present the medals, she whispered a greeting to Liu Xiaoyu and bowed, but Liu Xiaoyu had to stand on tiptoe to hang the medal, which made everyone laugh.

Xia Yuan leaned against Mei Fang’s shoulder, enjoying the warmth of her lover while clapping enthusiastically for her friend Xiang Bingbing’s outstanding performance on the court, feeling proud.

Some people can freely enjoy the passion and beauty of youth, but in reality, most people’s youth is often filled with tears and bitterness.

Then, amidst the bitterness and tears, they gain growth with scars—

White Plum County Bus Station.

A young girl stuffed her luggage into the compartment, found a seat, and quietly held her bass, looking through the window at the hometown that had given her countless memories, and set off alone toward the distance.

I’ll play a bit of the game first, then continue writing.

End of Chapter