Chapter Sixteen: Chuchu, I'm coming in.

Before I knew it, the end of the semester was upon us. Most of the courses had wrapped up, and as luck would have it, the English teacher had an emergency on Saturday morning, so the English class was simply turned into a self-study session. With no teacher present, there was no need to rush anxiously to school, so I slept soundly until nearly eight o’clock before lazily getting out of bed and leisurely riding my bike to the intersection.

Normally, I would pick up Lele at that spot every day on our way to school, but today was different. Lele didn’t want to be late, so she didn’t wait for me—she went straight to school. Riding alone felt a bit lonely, but fortunately, I found Haozi, who, like me, had overslept and was running late.

Haozi arrived soon enough, and together we chatted as we rode, barely noticing the passage of time before we reached the school.

As soon as I entered the classroom and sat down, Chuchu impatiently turned her head and, pointing excitedly at a small hole in her right ear, exclaimed, “Piggy Bei, look! I got my ear pierced yesterday!”

“Oh,” I replied instinctively, but didn’t look at Chuchu. Instead, I glanced over at Lele, who was sitting not far away in the back row. She was listening to her MP3 player, leisurely working through exercises, her head swaying rhythmically to the music. Lele didn’t seem to notice me come in, but judging by her mood, she seemed quite happy.

“Hey! Hey! Pighead! I’m talking to you!” Chuchu shoved me unhappily. “You like Lele so much—should I swap seats with her for you?” She pouted, glaring at me fiercely.

“Ah… ah… it looks nice! Oh… no need, really,” I hurriedly turned back, rambling awkwardly.

“No need, you big-headed fool! Here, help me put on this earring.” Chuchu rummaged in her bag and pulled out a small transparent pouch containing a shiny silver stud.

“But you just got your ear pierced yesterday. Are you sure it’s okay?” I took the earring, uncertain, and reminded her.

“Why do you care so much? Just put it on for me!” Chuchu impatiently pointed at her slightly swollen right ear, her face unintentionally taking on a murderous expression.

If I kept arguing, my life might not be safe! Shivering unexpectedly, I dared not say another word. Carefully, I took the tiny silver stud, barely bigger than a soybean, from the pouch. I inhaled deeply, trying to steady my trembling hands, and then, gripping the earring, slowly moved it toward Chuchu’s ear.

“Pighead, can you hurry up? I’m getting nervous!” Chuchu clenched her fists tightly, her head frozen in place, lips pressed together as she muttered anxiously. Her words made me nervous as well, and my face flushed bright red. The more nervous I became, the harder it was to line up the earring with her piercing. Afraid to use too much force, I tried several times without success, making Chuchu grimace in pain, as if she wanted to swallow me whole.

What a thankless task! I couldn’t help but sigh.

“You idiot, can you do it or not?” Chuchu was at her limit, her eyes red with grievance as she looked at me.

“Let me try again…” No man wants to be told he can’t. Sigh! Better a short pain than a long one—Chuchu, just bear with it. Steeling myself, I grabbed Chuchu’s right ear with one hand and held the earring firmly in the other.

“Chuchu, I’m going in now.” With that, I held my breath, positioned the earring at her piercing, and pushed it straight in, ignoring everything else.

“Ouch!” Chuchu’s piercing scream echoed through the classroom.

All eyes instantly turned toward us. I was gripping Chuchu’s ear tightly, my entire body almost pressed against hers—a thoroughly awkward scene! Chuchu didn’t care; the pain brought tears to her eyes. As she wiped her tears, she clamped my arm in a death grip: “You bastard, why so rough? Are you trying to kill me with pain?”

“You…” As expected, Chuchu was about to repay my kindness with vengeance. Best to retreat quickly—thirty-six strategies, running away is the best. Taking advantage of her distraction as she searched her bag for a mirror, I quickly escaped from my seat. Chuchu was too busy to notice me; with a pained expression, she gently rubbed her ear, checking her reflection from all angles.

I fled to Haozi’s seat at the back row. Just as I was about to sit down, Haozi gave me a strange look and pointed toward Lele, hinting, “Why aren’t you going to find your girl? What are you doing here?”

Following Haozi’s gesture, I saw Lele with her head buried in her arms on the desk. Having known Lele for nearly a year, I could easily tell she was angry with me.

I crouched low, preparing to sneak over and comfort Lele, but before I could take a few steps, the class leader’s voice rang out: “No wandering around during self-study!” He flipped through the thick Class Diary with a flourish. Helpless, I had to return to my seat.

As soon as class ended, Lele quickly walked out of the classroom.

I hurried after her and finally found her in a secluded corner by the stairwell on the first floor. “Lele…” Standing before her, I softly called her name. She didn’t react, just kept her headphones on, listening to music, her eyes fixed blankly on the concrete floor.

I sat down beside her, about to reach out and hug her, but she pushed me away.

“Lele… don’t be angry… I’m sorry.” Honestly, I didn’t even know what I’d done wrong. “Just now in class, I was only helping Chuchu put on an earring…” I tried my best to explain.

“Bei, don’t explain, I understand.” After a while, Lele took off her headphones, looked up, and whispered each word, “I know your heart has always belonged to Chuchu. I realized that the very first day I met you. All I ever wanted was for you to leave a small place in your heart just for me, even… even if it’s only the tiniest space. That would make me happy…”

I wanted to argue, but the words stuck in my throat. Was Lele wrong? Over these past months, had I truly let go of Chuchu? No! I hadn’t! I still couldn’t stop thinking about her. Lele was right.

Lele, you’ve left me speechless.

Silently, I hugged Lele from behind and gently held her hand. This time, she didn’t resist. Seeing her tear-streaked face, I swore to her, “Lele, Chuchu is nothing but a distant dream, so far away it can never be real. You’re the only reality…”

“Is that so?” Lele’s reply was ambiguous. At that moment, the bell rang for class. “Time for class!” She seized the chance and broke free, rising and heading back to the classroom.

In the empty stairwell, I was left alone, sitting there, lost in thought…