Across the Road, GB

"Ge lu" is a Northeastern Chinese expression describing someone who's rather unconventional and always goes against the crowd.

Chu Ji had heard the word "ge lu" all her life. After all, the most common thing her relatives said about her was, "She's a lovely kid, but why is she so ge lu?"

Chu Ji simply grinned and accepted all these comments without ever denying them, so her relatives couldn't help remarking that she'd always been carefree. Her parents divorced when she was eight, and she went to live with her mother. In middle school, her homeroom teacher made things very difficult for her because her family couldn't afford to give the teacher gifts. Even so, she got into the best key high school in the province, ranked near the top of her class, and had a bright future ahead of her.

Recently, her relatives had heard some new gossip. Apparently, Chu Ji had been called in by her high school homeroom teacher for dating a transfer student. But the transfer student who'd been called in with her really was unbelievably pretty.

Chu Ji, called in by a teacher to ask if she'd host the school's New Year's Eve gala: Dating? Who? Me?

Recently, the students in class had noticed that the transfer student, Shu Fan, and Chu Ji were spending a lot of time together, and were closer than ordinary deskmates.

When the student sitting in front of them asked what their relationship was, Chu Ji remembered how Shu Fan always held onto the tip of her index finger whenever their class projected the weekly news. She hesitated for a moment, then answered decisively, "We're just friends."

Shu Fan lowered his eyes, remembering how many times during lunch break he'd traced Chu Ji's features with his gaze, how he could always pick out her silhouette in a crowd before anyone else, and how only he knew about the tiny mole on her wrist...

His fingers curled slightly beneath his uniform sleeves. A faintly bitter smile tugged at his lips as he said slowly, "Right. Just friends."

At the class reunion dinner on graduation day, the students chattered noisily around the table.

In a corner no one noticed, Chu Ji dipped a fingertip in baijiu and teased Shu Fan. To her surprise, the person beside her only glanced at her coolly before parting his lips and taking her fingertip into his mouth. Like a kitten, he licked the baijiu from her fingertip, bit by bit.

Chu Ji couldn't bring herself to look at Shu Fan. She made an excuse to go to the restroom and left the private room.

On her way back, Shu Fan pulled her into the stairwell. The handsome young man before her seemed drunk. He stared fixedly at her lower lip and asked with stubborn determination, "What are we now?"

"Just..." Chu Ji began to answer automatically, but before she could finish, something soft pressed against her lips, cutting off the rest of her words.

When the kiss ended, the handsome young man said each word distinctly: "You kissed me. You have to take responsibility for me."

Chu Ji: ?

Chu Ji: Your Honor, I'm innocent!

Theme: Study hard and keep improving.