Jiang Yumo pondered for a moment and replied, “Actually, it sounds interesting. Just think about it, there are so many of us, and this embankment is so big, it would be challenging to find each other. Regardless of the game, as long as it’s challenging, it’s fun.”
Duan Ye looked at her, “Do you want to play?”
Jiang Yumo nodded, “I just think it could be quite interesting.”
Several girls also nodded one after another, “Well, we can’t come up with a better idea anyway, so let’s give it a try.”
Zhou Ji : “…”
He was speechless.
He had realized that whatever Jiang Yumo said, it would become reality. Not to mention playing hide-and-seek, if Jiang Yumo said she wanted to memorize Tang and Song poems in the correct order, Duan Ye would probably agree, and eventually everyone else would too.
What kind of person was she!
Well, among the people who reluctantly agreed in the end, he was also one of them.
Because Ning Zhiyu didn’t have any objections, and because Ning Zhiyu also followed Jiang Yumo.
Since they agreed, they started to establish the rules of the game. The embankment in Ningcheng was indeed large, but as Jiang Yumo said, it made it more exciting, as if they were playing a real-life online game.
There were a total of eleven people, with three people as seekers and eight people as hiders.
Of course, there was a time limit. From the moment it started until the end, each round lasted twenty minutes.
The person who remained hidden until the end would win.
The first three people to be caught would take over the ‘seeking’ task in the next round.
After a very childish game of rock-paper-scissors, three unlucky individuals were selected. Zhou Ji was initially unwilling to play such a game, after all, playing hide-and-seek… that was something he played when he was a few years old. Now he was almost eighteen, did he really need to reminisce about his childhood? However, the fact was that someone like him might not have had an interesting childhood after all. As he played, he surprisingly became more serious and engaged than anyone else!
Ning Zhiyu was the same.
She lost her parents at a very young age, during the period when she should have had a carefree childhood. All she could remember was piles of clothes to wash and that dimly lit kitchen. Sometimes, when she was extremely hungry, she had to figure out how to cook for herself.
There was hardly any childhood to speak of.
So, she also became deeply engrossed, forgetting all the unhappy things, as if she had become that carefree and happy little girl she should have been.
Duan Ye took Jiang Yumo to hide.
He reached out and encircled her slender wrist, as if they were truly embarking on a fugitive journey. She ran, but her eyes were fixed on his hand. Her heartbeat quickened. The blue sky, white clouds, and the autumn breeze would all become vivid memories.
Duan Ye’s heart was also pounding wildly, almost bursting out of his chest.
He thought back to before, after the high school entrance examination, when he mustered up the courage and emotions he thought he could control to ask her out. What was he thinking at that time? He liked her and wanted to tell her.
He still remembered vividly that she was wearing a pea green dress that day.
She tilted her head and looked at him while sipping her milk tea.
He couldn’t express himself well, and at that moment, he couldn’t help but wonder. It would be better to say it out loud. If she hadn’t agreed to him, maybe he would have let it go.
Now thinking back, it was truly arrogant.
On that night, they walked along the embankment. He listened to her talking and heard her laughter. After saying “I like you,” he looked at her and unexpectedly had a thought. Even if she said she didn’t like him, he probably wouldn’t let go.
Because there would never be another Jiang Yumo.
Even if he met someone else in the future, it wouldn’t be Jiang Yumo.
So, after he returned, he told his mother that he wanted to attend Fifth High.
Now, occasionally recalling those naïve and shallow thoughts from that time, he couldn’t help but feel grateful, even wanting to thank his past self for not giving up.
Duan Ye took Jiang Yumo and hid behind an abandoned fishing boat by the embankment.
Both of them were panting heavily.
Jiang Yumo leaned against the fishing boat, her hair in disarray. When she turned her head to look at Duan Ye, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Her eyes were bright, her smile was simple, and a few strands of hair stuck to her fair face, making her incredibly beautiful. “Are we taking this game too seriously?” she asked.
Duan Ye rested his hands on his knees, breathing slightly.
He looked at her and replied in a faint voice, “As long as you’re happy.”
Jiang Yumo pursed her lips and looked at him. “I am happy. But I’m starting to worry. I’m worried they won’t be able to find us.”
Duan Ye said, “It doesn’t matter if they can’t find us.”
He hoped that no one would find them.
“Wow, the clouds today are so beautiful,” Jiang Yumo looked up at the sky, “It feels like it’s been a long time since I really looked at the sky.”
Duan Ye also looked up.
Indeed, the autumn weather was refreshing, and today’s weather was particularly good. The clouds were fluffy, giving a comfortable and pleasant feeling.
“Just now, I remembered our middle school days,” After Jiang Yumo calmed down, she winked at him.
To be precise, she remembered the time after the high school entrance examination.
Back then, Jiang Yumo probably couldn’t have imagined that one day she would be sitting together with Duan Ye, chatting like this.
She probably also didn’t expect that her heart would be filled with thoughts of him at this moment.
Duan Ye is really amazing.
“What did you remember?” Duan Ye asked her.
The two of them sat in front of the fishing boat like this, with no one else around, only the clouds in the sky and the river.
Jiang Yumo also imitated his posture, placing her hand on her knee, and spoke with a nostalgic tone, “I remember in middle school you were particularly cold. We were all afraid of you. You were not polite to anyone, or rather, you ignored everyone. Do you remember that one time when I was fooling around with someone and accidentally bumped into your desk while you were sleeping—”
She looked at him and complained, “You have no idea how terrifying your expression was when you looked up at me. I was scared to death by you.”
Duan Ye clearly had forgotten about this incident and furrowed his brow, “Did that really happen?”
“Yes, you’re doing it right now, furrowing your brow,” Jiang Yumo continued accusingly. “I was so scared that I apologized to you, but you ignored me and went back to sleep.”
Duan Ye really didn’t have the slightest impression of it, but he couldn’t help but sigh and apologize for his past self, “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Yumo looked at him triumphantly and said, “Why should you apologize?”
Duan Ye simply extended his arm in front of her and said, “You can pinch me if you want. Consider it my apology. Letting you take revenge, at that time I really didn’t know.”
—I didn’t know I would come to like you this much one day.
Jiang Yumo snorted lightly, but a smile escaped from her eyes.
She reached out to pinch his arm, but…
“Why is your arm as hard as wood!”
She couldn’t pinch it at all.
Her own arm, as well as Yan Qing and Mengting’s arms, were actually quite soft. They would feel pain with just a slight pinch.
But not Duan Ye’s. She finally realized the difference between Duan Ye and herself.
After all, Duan Ye had just turned eighteen. He was naturally tall, and combined with his frequent basketball playing, he always gave off a feeling of hidden strength. Strictly speaking, he didn’t belong to the category of muscular men who would visually shock people. On the contrary, dressed in black clothes and pants, his figure could even be considered slender. It was only when Jiang Yumo grabbed his arm this time that she truly felt his immense strength.
“Is that so?” Duan Ye smiled.
Of course, Jiang Yumo had other ways to retaliate.
It’s not necessarily going to hurt him when you pinch him.
But sometimes, itchiness can be even more uncomfortable than pain.
She pulled her hand back, took advantage of his inattentiveness, her eyes filled with cunning, and started tickling him. As expected, Duan Ye couldn’t resist, and instinctively, he reached out and firmly grabbed her wrist, trying to restrain her. With a little force, she didn’t react in time, her body leaned forward and collided with him.
His refreshing breath filled her nose.
She could hear his heartbeat, it was pounding, almost as if it could burst out of his chest.