If The Moon Won’t Hold You - Chapter 7

Song Ci had only talked like he usually did, but he did not expect the eyes of the person in front of him to suddenly turn red.

He was taken aback for a moment, suddenly at a loss: “Hey, I didn’t say anything, what are you crying for?”

Cen Ning sniffled and glanced sideways at him: “I, I’m not crying.”

“Your eyes are as red as a rabbit, how could you say you’re not crying.” Song Ci scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “It’s actually not a big deal, it’s just fifty-eight points. Although it is indeed low, and I really don’t know how you managed to get such a score, but it’s not a big deal, you’ll understand it once you listen more in class.”

This was the typical “standing there and criticising without feeling bad” attitude. Song Ci’s words undoubtedly stabbed her heart a few more times.

Seeing Cen Ning’s expression change, Song Ci surprisingly was able to realise that he seemed to have said something wrong again: “Well…were my words wrong?”

Cen Ning: “……”

The bell rang, and Cen Ning flipped through the test paper and covered the miserable score by putting it on the table.

Fsdt Uk zssjle yv vbl pkzldv tkaz okvb poszzld lulp cu bkp pkel, qllzkdt y zkvvzl twkzvu. Jlnywpl sq bkp twkzv, bl jlrv sd tzydnkdt yv bla ewakdt nzypp, qlyakdt vbyv pbl oswze nau obld bl oyp dsv ryukdt yvvldvksd. Rq vbkp oyp vbl nypl, vbld bkp pkdp oswze cl plakswp.

Mbl plnsde nzypp oyp rbupknyz lewnyvksd. Rd vbl qkapv byzq sq nzypp, vbl vlynbla zle lhlausdl vs awd yde oyax wr. Rd vbl plnsde byzq, bl tyhl lhlausdl cypjlvcyzzp yde hszzlucyzzp vs rzyu qallzu okvb.

Uld Lkdt oyp kd y cye xsse clnywpl sq bla pnsal, ps yqvla rzyukdt hszzlucyzz okvb Hbydt Hkuk qsa y obkzl, pbl pyv kd y eygl wdela vbl pbyel sq vbl talld vallp yv vbl letl sq vbl rzyutaswde.

“Tlu Uld Lkdt.”

Uld Lkdt vwadle bla blye vs zssj, sdzu vs pll bla elpjxyvl Fsdt Uk oyzjkdt vsoyaep bla obkzl poyukdt. Fbl tzydnle yv bkx, vwadle bla blye, yde nsdvkdwle vs cl kd y eygl.

Fsdt Uk: “…Nssj yv usw, usw’al pvkzz ydtau okvb xl.”

Uld Lkdt oyp ynvwyzzu dsv ydtau okvb bkx yv yzz, kq pbl alyzzu oyp, kv nswze sdzu cl vbyv pbl oyp ydtau yv blaplzq. Fbl pbssj bla blye yde pyke ds.

“Tlal, vs xyjl yxldep, rzlypl eakdj vbkp.” Fsdt Uk bydele shla y rlynb-qzyhsale eakdj kd qasdv sq bla y zkvvzl wddyvwayzzu.

Cen Ning was taken aback for a moment: “No need, I’m, not angry.”

Song Ci: “I’ve already bought it, take it, take it.”

He thrust it into her arms fully regardless of her reaction, and sat down beside her carelessly, “Hey, I say, it’s only one test, you don’t have to be so dejected.”

Cen Ning lowered her head: “It’s too, too difficult.”

“Do you normally understand what we learn in class?”

“Some of it…”

“Then why didn’t you ask me if you didn’t understand.” Song Ci patted his chest, “I will teach you.”

Cen Ning looked at Song Ci in surprise: “Teach me?”

“Yes, your deskmate is not just here for display. Plus, it’s very easy for me anyway. If you don’t understand then ask, what are you afraid of.”

“Really.”

“What really—” Song Ci smiled and turned his head to look at her, but the moment he saw her, he didn’t know why, the words suddenly got stuck in his throat.

The halo of light under the shade of the tree faintly spread out upon her body, the smell of sunlight and the unique, light fragrance from the girl’s body floated together, and he seemed to be able to smell it.

Her clean and pure eyes were like a golden thread that had suddenly entangled around his heart, it didn’t hurt, just throbbed, it was a bit strange.

Song Ci turned his head stiffly, and continued to finish what he hadn’t been able to say before: “What do you mean by really or not really, you are very strange…”

Cen Ning showed a sincere smile that was rare to see: “Song Ci, thank you.”

Song Ci coughed lightly: “It’s a small matter, how about we stay a little longer after school in the afternoon and I will go through the questions you got wrong in the test paper today?”

Cen Ning’s eyes lit up: “Okay, okay.”

The teacher had talked through the test answers in class earlier, but a lot of the questions that most classmates did not get wrong were only talked through quickly, Cen Ning didn’t understand how to do them at all. Now that someone was willing to teach her, she couldn’t be happier.

While Cen Ning’s depressed mood just got better, on the other hand, Tang Zheng was hit in the head for snatching the rebound off Xin Zechuan.

“Oh sh*t! Xin Zechuan, you murderer!”

Xin Zechuan raised his eyebrows: “It’s your fault your skills are inferior to mine.”

“I’m inferior to you? Bah!” Tang Zheng walked angrily towards Yan Xingzhi who was sitting on the sidelines, “You say, how could my skills be inferior to him? What an utter joke!”

Yan Xingzhi said indifferently: “They are inferior.”

Tang Zheng: “…D*mn.”

Yan Xingzhi curled his lips, leaning back and closing his eyes to rest his mind.

Tang Zheng rolled his eyes frantically at the two of them. Just as he was cursing angrily, he suddenly saw a familiar figure under the shade of a tree not too far away.

“Huh? Brother Yan! Brother Yan! Brother Yan!” Tang Zheng turned around and shook the shoulders of Yan Xingzhi while looking over there. Yan Xingzhi got annoyed by him and furrowed his eyebrows while saying, “You’re still dissatisfied with me saying your skills are inferior?”

Tang Zheng: “No, look, look over there!”

Holding in his temper, Yan Xingzhi looked in the direction he was pointing at, and with just one look, he was taken aback.

Not too far away, under the shade of a tree, a young girl and boy were sitting side by side. The boy tilted his head, telling the girl something. The girl raised her lips and smiled, although it was quite restrained, it was sincere.

Yan Xingzhi squinted, confirming that the girl was indeed the little child living at his house.

Tang Zheng: “Oh, the moral degeneration of the world is getting worse day by day, middle school students are dating already? This old high school senior1 here still doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

Yan Xingzhi: “……”

Tang Zheng grinned and hooked the shoulders of Yan Xingzhi: “I say, what’s the situation? How can your little fiancée be so friendly with other little boys? Brother Yan, I can tell you, the tricks of these small brats are very devious. Your little finance is dumb and naive, she might be deceived away from you.”

Yan Xingzhi: “…You shut up.”

“Tut, I’m serious.”

Yan Xingzhi’s eyes sank a little, he got up, turned his head and walked towards the exit of the sports field.

Tang Zheng: “Eh…where are you going, class isn’t over yet.”

**

After school in the afternoon, Cen Ning trotted all the way to the school gate and told the driver uncle who was picking her up that she would go home alone tonight. Then she returned to the classroom and listened to Song Ci lecture her with her math test paper.

So, when Yan Xingzhi sat in the car, he didn’t see Cen Ning.

“She hasn’t come out yet?” Yan Xingzhi asked casually.

“This child is still in the classroom, she told us to leave first as she has something to do.”

Yan Xingzhi frowned upon hearing this: “Still in the classroom?”

“Yes, you see, should we go back?”

Yan Xingzhi did not speak, after a while, he opened the door and got out of the car: “Uncle Zhong, you drive back first, I will return by myself tonight.”

Driver: “This…how about I just wait here.”

“No need, I have something to do.”

“Okay, then, I’ll drive the car back first?”

“Yes.”

After getting out of the car and walking into the school gate, the driver started the car after seeing his silhouette disappear.

In the classroom at this time, Song Ci was going through the third question for Cen Ning.

“Do you understand now?”

Cen Ning nodded: “It turned out to be like this, it seems pretty, pretty simple.”

“It is quite simple, you just didn’t come around to interpret it properly at the start.” Song Ci supported his head with one hand, and used his other hand to reach over and pat her shoulder, “Hey, you are actually quite smart, really.”

Being praised like this, Cen Ning felt a little embarrassed and she smiled. Just when she was about to say something, she suddenly heard someone calling her from the door of the classroom.

“Cen Ning.” The voice was quite deep, without much emotion, it sounded a little cold.

Cen Ning looked back in surprise, and saw that Yan Xingzhi had already walked over towards them from the door. He glanced at Song Ci, and then at the hand that Song Ci had placed on Cen Ning’s shoulder.

“Uncle Zhong had something come up at home, so he left first, I came over to tell you.” Yan Xingzhi said

Cen Ning: “I, I already told Uncle Zhong that I don’t need to be picked up today, I will go home by myself.”

He went ‘oh’ and said without changing his expression, “Then he didn’t tell me, I thought you didn’t know that you had to go home by yourself today.”

Cen Ning: “I see…”

“Well, pack up your things and go home with me.”

Cen Ning’s hand that was holding onto a pen halted for a second: “I, I haven’t…”

“We haven’t finished going through her test paper.” Song Ci said at this moment, “Um, are you her brother?”

Yan Xingzhi had already said ‘let’s go home’, Song Ci naturally remembered the gossip that the girls in class had said, Cen Ning was probably Yan Xingzhi’s relative.

At that moment, Yan Xingzhi didn’t shake or nod his head, he only said: “Then let’s go through it at home.”

Cen Ning was taken aback: “Ah?”

“If Grandpa knew that I let you go home by yourself, what do you think will happen?” He frowned slightly, “If you don’t understand, you can go home and ask me, didn’t he tell you this long ago?”

Cen Ning’s heart beat fast, Yan Grandpa had said this, but how dare she really disturb him? However, this ‘thing’ that she did not dare to do was spoken out loud by Yan Xingzhi himself, she was suddenly full of joy.

“Hurry up, it will be dark if we don’t go home now.”

“Oh, okay!”

Cen Ning hurriedly began to pack her schoolbag. When Song Ci was watching on the sidelines, he suddenly felt an unfriendly gaze continuously staring at him. He raised his eyes and saw Yan Xingzhi’s somewhat serious expression, Song Ci coughed awkwardly, “Then, Cen Ning, I’ll go home first.”

“Okay….”

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

After walking out of the classroom, Yan Xingzhi walked at the front, a few steps behind, Cen Ning was following him.

Neither of them spoke, one’s temperament was indifferent, and the other was not good at conversing.

Cen Ning lowered her head, and as she was walking, she suddenly bumped into a wall of flesh. She clutched her forehead and looked up, seeing Yan Xingzhi reaching out his hand to knock her forehead, “Not looking while you’re walking?”

“You…you stopped.”

“Oh, you blame me then.”

“……No.”

Yan Xingzhi curled his lips, and his gaze went towards the side: “Cen Ning, at your age, learning is the most important thing, do you know that?”

Cen Ning didn’t know why he was saying this, but because what he said wasn’t wrong, she nodded obediently.

Yan Xingzhi continued: “Don’t have other thoughts, and don’t get too close to those who are not familiar with you, such as boys, or those who ask you to send me letters.”

Cen Ning thought that she might have made him unhappy that day when she had acted upon her own initiative to give him the letters, that’s why he did not wish for her to be in contact with them and do that again.

Of course she could understand this, but in regards to boys, had she gotten close to anyone? He… didn’t want her to approach other boys, is that what he meant?

Cen Ning’s heart jumped because of her own wild imaginations, but within the next second, she heard him say in exactly the same tone as an elder would, “I don’t want to control you, it’s just I won’t know how to explain to grandpa and your mother if something were to happen, do you understand?”

The uprise in this young girl’s little heart instantly cooled down, and thousands of thoughts flashed past like a shooting star that had suddenly appeared in the sky. After a long time, she whispered: “Ok…”

Yan Xingzhi was satisfied with her expression of non-resistance, so he turned his head and walked on.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly looked back. Cen Ning noticed that he had stopped this time round, so she halted in her steps abruptly to prevent herself from hitting him again.

“What, what’s wrong?”

Yan Xingzhi looked down at her and suddenly reached out and picked up the schoolbag that seemed to be very heavy on her back. And with such a motion, Cen Ning’s hands were also raised up alongside the schoolbag.

“……”

“…………”

Cen Ning was stunned whilst in a position that looked like a bird spreading its wings.

Looking at her funny and cute, but dumb appearance, the corners of Yan Xingzhi’s mouth curled up slightly.

Then, he said faintly: “Let go, I’ll carry it.”

–

The author has something to say:

This novel is not in a narrative form of flashbacks, it will be written from young to old. Spoiler: Chapter 11 will see them grow older. Guess how old they will be!

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[Translator’s Note: Yan Xingzhi: if I act like an elder then she won’t know I’m lying. Driver Uncle Zhong: …..why am I used as an excuse, I’m just trying to do my job!! Hahaha, and Cen Ning, it’s okay, don’t feel sad, if Yan Xingzhi were to like you now you would regret it in the future because he would be a p*do okay!!!! Anyways, MERRY CHRISTMAS, hope you guys enjoyed this chappie!]