Chapter 40: Xia Xiqing
Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Xia Xiqing
July 7th. Sunny.
[Task - Return to Health: Progress increased by 1%]
[Task - Return to Health: Progress increased by 5%]
[Current Task Progress: 65%]
Today was the seventh day since Zhang Yan awakened his system, and the sixth day he had persisted in his workouts.
Truth be told, he felt pretty good. Even though he was already healthy to begin with, he could still feel his body improving significantly. As for the effects of his Kegel exercises, they were hard to quantify. He would just have to find some time to test them out in bed with Yiyi and compare the difference.
Zhang Yan was quite lucky today. After running a few laps, he finally spotted a beautiful silhouette from afar, dressed in sportswear and leggings, wearing a baseball cap. Actually, it wasn’t really luck—it was all hard work and sweat! He had simply been running laps around Daju’s activity area, making it his focal point. He firmly believed he would run into her eventually, and the facts proved his judgment right.
"Hi, Senior Sister Xia. I wanted to ask this last time, but why are you still wearing so much in this sweltering heat?"
Xia Xiqing glanced at him. Although she lacked the icy aura from their previous encounter, she still didn’t reply.
"She sure is aloof!" Zhang Yan thought. Since he didn’t get a response, he didn’t bother offering his warm goodwill to a cold shoulder. It wasn’t like he was gaining anything from it anyway, so he gradually sped up, deciding to finish his task first.
[Task - Return to Health: Progress increased by 3%]
Because he had already covered most of the distance, finishing this last lap perfectly completed his task. Now he could go tease Daju early.
"Daju, Daju, I brought you a beef-flavored treat today. Let’s see if you like it."
Before long, a fragrant breeze approached. Xia Xiqing had arrived. This time, she didn’t stop far away. Instead, she walked right up to Zhang Yan and crouched down nearby. Perhaps it was also partly because Daju was too engrossed in the cat treat to go over and greet her.
"I’m not used to talking when I run," she said.
Zhang Yan froze for a moment before realizing that she was explaining her earlier silence. "And what about now?" he asked.
Xia Xiqing understood that he was following up on his previous question. "I’m actually not very good at dealing with strangers, especially guys."
Zhang Yan didn’t quite get it at first. He rapidly fired up his clever little brain and finally grasped the faint causal connection. "Are you saying that if you wore shorts, a T-shirt, and no hat, a lot of guys would come over and hit on you?"
Xia Xiqing nodded.
"So, when we added each other on WeChat and you didn’t say a single word, was that also because you’re bad at dealing with guys and didn’t know what to say?"
She nodded again.
Zhang Yan smiled. This legendary, exceptionally aloof senior sister seemed to be a bit different from the rumors. "So, do you want to be friends with me?" he asked.
"Right now, I need friends."
Zhang Yan realized that she was indeed terrible at conversing with people. Not only was she a woman of few words, but her thoughts often jumped around, requiring him to mentally fill in a lot of blanks just to keep up with her train of thought.
"Friendship is a two-way street," he said. "If there’s only one person constantly chasing after the other, that’s just being a simp. So, if you really want to make friends, try taking the initiative to say hi to me on WeChat. I’m heading home. Take your time playing with him."
Without waiting for a response, Zhang Yan stood up and left.
Xia Xiqing watched the direction he had gone. She thought quietly for a moment, then pulled out her phone.
Gentle Evening Breeze: [Hello, my name is Xia Xiqing.]
Hearing a DING, Zhang Yan took out his phone. He couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the message.
[We already know each other. You don’t need to introduce yourself anymore.]
Gentle Evening Breeze: [Then what should I say?]
This genuinely stumped Zhang Yan. Language was the output of information and emotion. When you had the urge to communicate with someone, there was inevitably a need for it. Perhaps you wanted to convey a thought, or maybe express a feeling. But regardless, before you actually said it out loud, only you knew what it was. How the hell was Zhang Yan supposed to know what Xia Xiqing wanted with him?
But if he treated her as a complete social klutz, like an infant who had just learned to speak...
[If you don’t know what you want to express or how to express it, you can try starting by exchanging everyday information. For example, ’Have you eaten?’]
Gentle Evening Breeze: [Have you eaten?]
"..." Zhang Yan shook his head, pocketed his phone, and walked all the way back to crouch beside Xia Xiqing once more.
"I had breakfast this morning. What about you?" he asked.
"I ate too."
"The purpose of a conversation is to exchange information or emotions," Zhang Yan explained patiently. "I answered your question and asked you one in return, which allows our conversation to continue. But you only answered my question and left it at that. This way, if I don’t keep asking you things, the conversation dies. At this point, you could try throwing a question back at me—like asking for some information about me that you might find interesting."
Xia Xiqing seemed to think about it seriously. "I don’t have any."
This conversation was dead in the water!
Zhang Yan stood up, fully prepared to leave for real this time. With this amount of free time, he would be much better off chatting with the cute underclassmen girls! He hadn’t even walked a hundred meters before DING! Zhang Yan helplessly took out his phone.
Gentle Evening Breeze: [Where are you going?]
[Home.]
Gentle Evening Breeze: [You didn’t throw a question back.]
"..." Zhang Yan took two deep breaths, walked all the way back again, and crouched down beside her.
"How do you normally communicate with your classmates?" he asked. Zhang Yan noticed that not only was she bad at socializing, but she also had a subconscious tendency to distance herself from anyone—or perhaps just the opposite sex—who got too close. Every time he reached out to pet the cat, she would withdraw her hand.
"I try not to communicate."
"Then why do you want to communicate with me now?"
"You just said that friendship is a two-way street."
"..." Well, alright. He had indeed just said that. "So you don’t want to learn anything about me as a friend at all? You can ask whatever you want to know."
Xia Xiqing appeared to ponder for another moment. "What are you eating for lunch?"
Zhang Yan stood up for the third time. This time, he was leaving for real! Once again, he hadn’t made it a hundred meters before DING! Zhang Yan restrained his right hand from reaching into his pocket and kept walking forward.
DING, DING!
He pulled out his phone anyway.
Gentle Evening Breeze: [You haven’t answered my question.]
Gentle Evening Breeze: [Do you not want to be friends with me anymore?]
Gentle Evening Breeze: [I’m sorry.]
Those last three words touched Zhang Yan. Many people in life had an "intolerance for stupidity." It wasn’t necessarily actual stupidity; they simply grew annoyed when something didn’t match their level of understanding. Like parents taking forever to learn how to use a smartphone, or a child struggling endlessly to comprehend a simple math problem, or...
She just genuinely wasn’t good at this.
Zhang Yan walked back to stand in front of Xia Xiqing once more. "Let’s grab lunch together. That way, you’ll know exactly what I’m having."
"Okay."
After a moment, as if suddenly remembering something, Xia Xiqing added, "Then what are you having for dinner?"