A Holiday Escape

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He was the kind of guy who stood out in class: tall, long-legged, and fond of basketball. When he wiped away sweat, the sleek lines of his abs showed.

There were other things about him, too. His grades were average, he had a slightly flippant smile and a carefree manner, and he always rode his bike with earphones in.

On a smaller scale, he was grumpy when he woke up, lazy, and always leaning on people like he had no bones. He smelled like sunshine.

That was Yan Lu.

Wen Yue was an excellent student, both academically and morally, mature and steady, and firmly at the top of the class. She kept to herself, cool and distant like a flower on a high peak.

The two of them had nothing in common. They were worlds apart on everything from the seating chart to the rankings. Their only shared trait was that they were both repeating their final year.

No one knew they had been childhood friends since they were little. No one knew that the happiest part of Wen Yue's day was walking to and from school with Yan Lu.

Wen Yue loved the morning mist and the moon late at night. She loved the hot breeze and the damp sweat, too.

So no one could have imagined that one day in April, Wen Yue would climb over the balcony to find Yan Lu. Smiling, she showed her little canine teeth.

"Xiao Lu, let's run away together."

After all, how could a model student do something like that? And she certainly couldn't have been secretly in love with Yan Lu for ages, right?

Bonus scene:

During the summer after the college entrance exam, the two of them went to the seaside as promised.

Wen Yue tiptoed onto the sofa and secretly pecked her boyfriend on the lips.

Yan Lu half opened his eyes and twisted the hand of the mischief-maker behind her back. "Sneaking up on me again?"

"Pretending to be asleep again?" Wen Yue shot back, licking her lips.

*Short story, happy ending. Mutual pining, my take on a road-trip romance.

*Study hard and keep improving before the college entrance exam.

Coming soon: "Had Enough Fun Yet?"

Qu Che was an excellent student who won a full scholarship every year. His grades were so impressive that even the strictest professor in his department praised him.

He had a devastatingly handsome face that made him popular with girls, but he was cold and aloof, the particularly hard-to-get type.

Jian Ning thought he was fun. Before long, she really did become Qu Che's exception.

They were playing out the rich girl and poor boy script, so everyone at school said Qu Che had been bewitched. A rich young lady like Jian Ning could never be serious.

Qu Che knew better than anyone what Jian Ning was like. She really did like him, and she really wasn't serious.

So when he found out later that Jian Ning wanted to break up, he said bluntly, "I don't want to play this game anymore. Let's end it here."

When Qu Che said it ended here, he meant it.

Jian Ning even wondered whether the two of them had ever really dated. He was so merciless, leaving no room at all. How could she see any trace of the way he'd loved her before?

-

At a bar.

The well-behaved honor student sat at the counter. In the dim light, a scarlet glow flared at his fingertips.

Jian Ning felt like she had never understood him.

"Senior." She walked over and smelled the smoke.

Qu Che looked up at her, glanced her way, and took a practiced drag. He made no move to speak to her.

"Give me one, too."

Qu Che regarded her with interest, then held out the cigarette he'd just been smoking, bringing it to her lips. "This one."

The filter was stained with moisture and bore the faint marks of teeth.

As if he were waiting for her to back down.

Jian Ning grabbed Qu Che's wrist and pulled it toward herself, neither gently nor roughly. She lowered her head, took the cigarette from his hand between her lips, and inhaled deeply.

Through the glowing embers, she looked up, her eyes full of unmistakable defiance.

Qu Che watched her cough and thought, Oh, she's taken the bait.

Coming soon: "Spring of the Depressed"

A young girl named Qin Yu came to live with Song Qizhi. Her parents had just died in an accident, leaving her all alone.

She was thin and pale. Song Qizhi saw her at the funeral, not shedding a single tear.

The girl hardly spoke, as gloomy as dark moss that had not seen the sun in ages. She barely had any expressions, either.

Song Qizhi's parents asked him to take good care of Qin Yu and take her out to have fun and get her mind off things.

He had to go spend time with his own girlfriend. He didn't have time to counsel some unrelated little girl, so he handed Qin Yu over to his best friend, Chun Chi.

Chun Chi was looking for a model for his photography, and Qin Yu's world-weary face was exactly his type.

Besides, Chun Chi was as gentle as a clear spring and had a good temper. Song Qizhi was perfectly happy to leave Qin Yu with him.

Later, he took Qin Yu on a trip with some friends.

Song Qizhi left the group partway through the trip and accidentally saw his friend, who had never dated anyone, pin Qin Yu against a wall. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "He touched your hand."

Before Song Qizhi could even figure out what was going on between them, Chun Chi's voice turned even colder. "What should I do? I want to tie you up."

Chun Chi raised his eyes. They were deep as a hidden pool. "I'm going crazy with the thought."

Song Qizhi thought Chun Chi was about to get slapped, but then he saw Qin Yu tug at the hem of her clothes.

Then she actually smiled and held out her hand. "Then tie me up."

Only then did Song Qizhi realize he'd entrusted her to the wrong person.

Theme: Have the courage to mend broken relationships.