Chapter 35 Holding Your Hand

i brother, play with me."A bit older, he would be annoyed by this tag-along girl. Sometimes when playing boyish games, he couldn't let loose because of her, often making her cry.Then they grew up toge...Chapter Thirty-Five: Holding Your Hand

Beneath a grape arbor, time still drizzles down. As summer arrives, days gradually lengthen. The city of Rong is not yet plagued by the severe pollution of later times; thus, clear blue skies are often visible even on this afternoon after school.

Passersby occasionally turn their heads to whisper and glance back as they walk under the grape arbor corridor.

Su Cen entered the arbor and saw Tang Wu standing in the middle.

"Today's homework is quite a lot. I should hurry home to do it." Tang Wu frowned, "There are two chemistry test papers. I really dislike them."

Su Cen almost rubbed his eyes and cleared his ears to make sure he was hearing Tang Wu complaining. Wasn't this a mishearing

This little girl usually keeps her worries to herself—whether happy, joyful, sad, or melancholic, she never lets others know; instead, she always maintains an aloof exterior. Yet now, facing him, she even complains about the amount of homework, something she probably would not say even to her parents.

She is ultimately someone who has not surpassed this era, so she naturally has current worries and uncertainties about the future, occasionally feeling troubled.

This feels wonderful. At least the Tang Wu in front of him is not the extraordinary woman he once envisioned during his middle school days—a commoner seen only in newspapers or magazines years later, someone being watched by media for her unordinary nature.

"If you don't want to use your brain, when I finish my homework, you can copy it." Su Cen smiled.

Tang Wu was momentarily stunned before she rolled her eyes at Su Cen. They walked side by side.

The wind blew past the green trees and grass nearby, making everything smell fresh. From a distance came sounds of jumping and running on the sports field along with the noise of kicking footballs. Groups of people emerged from various small paths to head towards the school gate. Before Su Cen arrived, she would only go to school and back home every day without noticing anything else around her—occasionally reporting briefly to her parents in the grand living room or accompanying them at gatherings where she often became a focal point.

She knew that her current task was solely about studying hard and entering a university that could make her family proud.

The days passed swiftly, but she did not know what exactly they contained—only to notice more people wanting to approach her and the growing respect others had for her.

Life is like this: it has simple and monotonous goals, requiring one to walk alone. Whether in grey or white times, she must experience them all.

However, since Su Cen's arrival, everything has changed. In this unfamiliar school and city, his presence made her start to listen to the discussions around her, pay attention to many details she had never noticed before, and even look forward to after-school time from the very first class of the day.

It’s like a sketch that suddenly gained color.

As soon as she stepped out of the school gate, however, her heart tightened. There was a drink shop next to the school gate where groups of male students usually gathered after playing sports at school. Today, however, it wasn’t just any group of boys; it was Zhao Chengyan and his gang.

Zhao Chengyan, Qian Long, Liang Xiao, Li Qingyang, and a few others from their clique were leaning against the wall of the drink shop, each holding an open can of Coke. They seemed to be waiting to intercept someone.

When Tang Wu saw Su Cen come out with him, they all froze in place.

The students around the stalls knew what was going on as soon as they saw Zhao Chengyan’s group and were watching intently; those who didn’t know were also whispering to each other due to the tense atmosphere.

Across the street, at places like the milk tea shop, sausage stall, ice cream store, and stationery shops where students often lingered after school, groups of boys and girls from different classes had gathered. Even the shopkeepers felt that their business was up by more than thirty percent today.

Clearly, these people were well-informed and knew Zhao Chengyan’s group would take action today.

Don’t think that those watching the spectacle are mediocre students at No. 27 High School; on the contrary, there were many among them who ranked in the top ten of their classes or the top hundred of their grade, with various honor certificates to boot.

The moment Su Cen stepped out of the school gate and saw the situation before him, he knew that the problem was serious. Students under the shade of trees, beneath awnings, and inside shops, in groups of three or five, seven or eight, were all focused on them. The next moment, their attention would shift to Zhao Chengyan’s group.

Of course, if it had been a typical conflict, there wouldn’t have been such a crowd gathering around.

The main reason was that Zhao Chengyan, Qian Long, and Liang Xiao were too famous. The news of Su Cen involving himself with them spread within their circle, which naturally included those who could be friends with them—people with considerable influence and status. This chain reaction had reached a wide audience.

Most of these onlookers belonged to Zhao Chengyan’s faction and were taking his side; they only wanted to see how far Su Cen would push things at No. 27 High School.

The first was Sun Man, followed by Li Qingyang; this was almost the entire group led by Zhao Chengyan, truly a case of "every step leaving traces.

This is probably the earliest sketch comedy at No. 27 High School, and today marks the end of this transfer student's solo act.

No one expected Tang Wu to leave school with Su Cen together.

Su Cen quickly formulates a plan. Now that things have escalated, if he can't avoid a direct confrontation with Zhao Chengyan, it would be difficult for him to face so many people alone; otherwise, he could drag Tang Wu into the car and escape swiftly, causing all those watching nearby to be utterly dumbfounded, as high school conflicts haven’t seen such a "run away when you can't fight" strategy.

The second option is to provoke Zhao Chengyan verbally and face him one-on-one. However, it seems that the success rate of this tactic isn't very high.

Does he have no choice but to solve things through violence Su Cen feels a headache coming on but knows all too well that in the current situation, this is indeed the case. Violence remains an eternal theme hidden beneath the veneer of civilization.

Zhao Chengyan and company are already making their move. Clearly, Tang Wu's appearance only briefly stalled them, but they will eventually come after Su Cen.

Just as Su Cen is steeling himself to face them, his hand is seized by Tang Wu.

The entire street falls into an eerie silence.

A girl eating ice cream with a layer of white foam resembling a mustache on her lips doesn't mind anymore. All the No. 27 High School students in the neighborhood fall silent, quietly focusing on Tang Wu and her act of holding hands.

Zhao Chengyan and his group who were walking towards them suddenly stand still at the stall. Qian Long is incredulous, Li Qingyang's eyes are wide with shock, and Zhao Chengyan glances at his side where Liang Xiao stands. It’s well-known that Liang Xiao likes Tang Wu, but he is proud and hasn't planned to make a move proactively; this moment of astonishment must be quite a blow to him.

Su Cen looks at the girl beside him. Tang Wu is tightly gripping his hand; their shadows connect under the tree shade.

For Tang Wu to hold Su Cen's hand in front of so many people, she has made up her mind and doesn't expect it to be as smooth sailing as Su Cen.

Her heart racing, Tang Wu dares not look at him; she flags down a taxi, pulls him inside, the car starts, and they swiftly leave the street.

Leaving behind a crowd of people under the wutong trees and pavilions, who had expected to watch some excitement but are left in disbelief by what just transpired.

Zhao Chengyan snaps out of his stupor after a long while, swallows hard, and whispers to those around him, "To be protected by a woman! Next time he won't be so lucky!"

This makes it seem even more like Tang Wu took this drastic measure to avoid the conflict and dragged Su Cen into the taxi.

As for why Su Can's hand was held instead of his wrist, sleeve, or the corner of his clothes in such an ambiguous and intimate gesture, the heartrending question ultimately found a convincing answer with the reason that Tang Wu hadn't thought much about it at the time. Of course, everyone else didn’t overthink it either.

"I’ve heard about what happened between you and Zhao Chengyan. Fortunately, I have an elder brother in Senior Three who can help me speak to him. They have a classmate who is Zhao Chengyan’s cousin, so rest assured that Zhao Chengyan won’t bother you. Even if he does come, there's still me. Don't worry; following me means I won't let you suffer any losses." Jiang Mingjun, only realizing now about Su Can being cornered the previous afternoon, began to show off his social connections and status with a hint of satisfaction.

Wu Shimiao, Xiao Yunchun, and others looked over from their corners of the classroom in disbelief that Su Can was still unscathed. Clearly, even within No. 27 High School, news like Tang Wu holding his hand to extricate him from trouble doesn't spread rapidly.

After class, leaning on the concrete railing on the balcony, Su Can gazed at the exterior building where Tang Wu was located. It was lush with trees obstructing the view, basking in sunlight. He lowered his head and looked at his hand, curling his fingers then spreading them out again, unable to forget how it felt when Tang Wu held his hand yesterday afternoon.

Jiang Mingjun played around with a few people for some time before coming over to Su Can's side. As the boys gradually became more familiar, they didn’t forget to tell him interesting stories—mostly self-aggrandizing tales. Jiang Mingjun was vividly recounting one such story when his expression suddenly changed.

A man appeared at the far end of the corridor, about 178 cm tall. Most importantly, his facial demeanor exuded a dismissive attitude towards everyone, sauntering over with hands in pockets and eyes fixed intently on Su Can.

"No way, Zhao Chengyan actually sent this guy He’s really ruthless." Jiang Mingjun muttered quietly, completely dropping his earlier high-and-mighty act.

Just by watching how he walked over, the boys standing next to them involuntarily dispersed.

Su Can felt that the people on the balcony behind him left silently. They stood outside

.

The man with hair reaching his forehead approached Jiang Mingjun, lazily peering out from between strands of hair and said, "Can you give me some space, kid."

Jiang Mingjun moved with a complex expression; this person who just now boasted that he wouldn’t let Su Can suffer any losses quickly stepped aside.

"You're Su Can"

The crowd looked on in shock as the man extended a hand toward Su Can.

Su Can reached out and shook his hand, feeling some tremor from this guy's grip. "Yeah."

“I’m Zhang Xian, nice to meet you. I’ve heard about you long ago.”inwardly, wondering if Su Cen didn't know his teacher was holding his graduation remarks.But then again, considering Su Cen’s capabilities, he probably doesn’t take the teacher's comments seriously an...