Chapter 41

The weather was still turbulent outside. Qin Weihang sitting by the window suddenly said: “Thank you.”

An Ning snapped out from his thoughts: “What are you thanking me for?”

“Giving me supplementary lessons.” Qin Weihang said.

“Ah, this.” An Ning laughed, “You are too polite, you’re even teaching me rock climbing in return!”

“Rock climbing is just a hobby,” Qin Weihang put his right elbow on the desk, “If I don’t teach you, you can still join the club. However, if you don’t give me supplementary lessons, I might fail my courses.”

He leaned back in a relaxed manner while talking. Such an ordinary desk and chair, yet he can give off the languid effect of sitting on a sofa.

An Ning wondered why Qin Weihang suddenly said this, but he seemed to understand it a bit. It was not without reason that Qin Weihang was kind to him. This was all justified, but there was still a faint sense of loss in his heart. If Qin Weihang’s behavior was not justifiable, then there would still be a little hope for his affection.

He finished mopping the floor and began putting the chairs down one by one. Qin Weihang also got up and helped lifted the rows of chairs down. When the two of them held the same one, An Ning sharply raised his head, and then accurately met Qin Weihang’s eyes. When Qin Weihang looked at people seriously, it was really hard to resist… He couldn’t help but think about those dark, cold, and indifferent eyes that held a slight cockiness. Yet, how could they be so much like whirlpools?

An Ning’s heart was racing again. The chair in his hand sank abruptly—he had almost let go when he was distracted. Qin Weihang probably let go when he saw him also lifting the chair. When the chair almost crashed onto the ground, Qin Weihang quickly raised it back up. Something similar to a rumbling sounded in An Ning’s ears. He wondered whether it came from the thunder outside the window or from the thundering in his heart. He only felt that the hand holding the chair weren’t working properly. He just mechanically made a chair-lifting motion, as if performing a pantomime. Under Qin Weihang’s complete control, the chair was placed firmly on the ground with a clattering sound.

Will Qin Weihang notice his unnaturalness? Because the weight of the chair was supported by him alone, so he must have felt it…

An Ning felt awkward. Now that the classroom was cleaned, he had no choice but to say: “Who knows how long it will take for this rain to stop.”

Qin Weihang lowered his head and sneezed. An Ning turned to the place where the backpacks were and brought the army jacket over.

Qin Weihang took the jacket and put it on. After putting it on, he raised the collar, then leaned back against the desk, and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. His whole body was relaxed as he leaned, and he raised his chin towards him. “You won’t be able to go to the library now.”

An Ning looked at the bleak condition outside the window and nodded: “But there are still classrooms that are for self-studying, so I don’t have to worry.”

Qin Weihang looked at him from the side for a while and then asked: “What about me, then?”

An Ning was stumped.

“If you go self-studying, then what am I going to do?”

Qin Weihang looked at him with a feline-like unhappiness in his eyes. He was like an oversized black cat; saying nothing, just enveloped in a low-pressure* and not letting An Ning leave.

[*TN: A depressed or unhappy state.]

An Ning had an idea: “I also brought my English book. I can lend it to you.”

“…” Qin Weihang stared at him speechlessly, and finally said stiffly, “I won’t read it.”

Qin Weihang’s resistance was visible to the naked eye. Looking at his expression, it wasn’t unreasonable to say that he was being rebellious. An Ning finally realized that, so he immediately felt apologetic: “Then I won’t study and just accompany you!”

Qin Weihang smiled calmly, thinking that An Ning was a bit slow. He nodded and said: “Then chat with me.”

An Ning also leaned against the desk, pondering: “What can we talk about…”

“Let’s talk about you,” Qin Weihang looked at him sideways. “You know I like rock climbing and motorcycles, but I don’t know what you like.”

An Ning thought for a long time but couldn’t think of anything. He really didn’t seem to have any hobbies that could be on par with what Qin Weihang’s likes: “Reading?”

Qin Weihang smiled. He had lowered his head when he smiled. His long right leg retracted, stepping on the support under the desk, and he said: “I guess so.”

An Ning was always curious about Qin Weihang, but he never had a chance to have a deep conversation with him. It was a good opportunity now that they were trapped in the classroom at this moment. He boldly asked, “Why do you like rock climbing?” Qin Weihang raised his head and looked out the window. The hail had stopped. The rain was being blown towards the window in front of them like a soft silk gauze. He said: “Because I feel free.”

An Ning was a little surprised: “I thought people who like rock climbing liked the feeling of conquering nature and challenging themselves.”

Qin Weihang said: “You can’t conquer nature. I just want to talk to nature…how should I put it,” he frowned as if thinking over it a little, “like communicating with it. Being friends.”

This answer fascinated An Ning. He even thought with some surprise, yes, this should be Qin Weihang’s answer. It was within reason, but also unexpected. An Ning asked Qin Weihang this, just so he can hear what he thought. He wanted to find out what others do not know about him; what he held deep in his heart, and the part of him that fascinated people.

“Rock climbing is still quite dangerous, especially in the wild. Have you never been afraid?” He asked.

Qin Weihang looked out the window and said: “We are on the 5th floor now. I can climb this height with my bare hands without equipment. However, apart from the window sill, it actually has nothing for you to grab and step on. The cliffs in the wild may look higher and more dangerous compared to here, but it has more places for you to support on. Thus, it’s actually not that dangerous; just higher. However, just because its high doesn’t mean that you will fall. The places where it is easy to fall are the ones that are most dangerous. The places that are not easy to fall, no matter how high they are, won’t be dangerous. You won’t think it’s dangerous when you’re on a plane, right?”

An Ning said ruefully: “I have never been on a plane…”

Qin Weihang looked sideways at him and did not speak for a while. Then he finally lowered his head and laughed. He took his hands out of his pockets and wrapped them around his chest: “Since you’re like this, it seems like I’m taking advantage of you.”

An Ning was a little embarrassed. He lowered his head and nudged his glasses. However, he didn’t feel awkward or humiliated, not even a little.

Qin Weihang said: “It’s hard to find people who haven’t been on a plane these days.” He suddenly moved closer to him, as if marveling him, and then said: “You are a rare animal.”

Qin Weihang’s voice was soft. An Ning couldn’t help but blush red; unsure if it was because of what he said or if it was the way he was leaning over to observe him. He was even able to make contact with Qin Weihang’s nose. He swallowed and said in a pretend relaxed tone: “Don’t make fun of me.”

Qin Weihang stopped his teasing. He turned his head away, looked out the window, and said: “One day you will fly on a plane, then you will say goodbye to your naivety.”

An Ning smiled: “Why would flying on a plane mean saying goodbye to my naivety?”

Qin Weihang said: “My mom told me that I first flew on a plane when I was 2 years old, but I have no memory of it. So when I was little, I yearned to fly in the sky. I thought the feeling of flying on a plane would be like that of a bird. The first time I remembered being on a plane was when I was 6 years old. Since then, I haven’t had much yearning for flying in the sky.” At this point, he stopped, as if confirming whether it was true or not. Then he continued, “I really envy people of ancient times. They think a ‘flock of little egrets ascending the clear sky’ is beautiful, Chang’e flying to the moon is beautiful, and walking on the clouds is beautiful. Moreover, they would even imagine that there are immortals living in the sky, and we would be flying in the sky every day. I no longer feel the beauty of touching the sky anymore, but you still can.”

[*TN: The first like about egrets come from a poem by Du Fu. The one about Chang’e is a story about this lady who drank an elixir that made her immortal, and she sought refuge by flying to the moon.]

This was Qin Weihang’s inner world. An Ning listened empathetically and seriously. He couldn’t help but earnestly regret: “I don’t have that kind of naivety anymore. Although I have never been on a plane, but I have seen others fly on them by watching movies and TV. In fact, I don’t have any yearning for it.”

Qin Weihang said: “The first time you see the sea of clouds, you will still feel fascinated, even if you have already seen it on TV.” He looked over again, his eyes were deep and bright like the time when they first met, “I told you that the hail was just small pieces of ice, but didn’t you still want to see it with your own eyes? When the moment of flying in the sky comes, you have to get a good feel of it.”

The gaze Qin Weihang was giving him was too infectious. His previous disinterest in flying seemed to have come alive due to Qin Weihang’s words. An Ning couldn’t help but nod and say: “Okay.”

It was not the first time that he had told others that he had never been on an airplane, but it was the first time he got such an intriguing answer. At this moment, that heavy heart palpitations seemed to have built up to a climax. Although this heart-pounding could not be put into words, it really shocked him.

Qin Weihang stood up from his leaning position. He walked to the window and put his hands on the windowpane. Because of his height, his back was slightly bent. An Ning looked at the nice posture of his back figure. It was clearly rain that was outside the window, but it seemed like he was standing while facing the light. “I still have a dream,” Qin Weihang said, “I want to go to space to see what the earth looks like. I also want to see what the sun really looks like as it stands in the midst of the universe.”

An Ning heard the true yearning in his tone, and then heard Qin Weihang voice lower softly:

“I did not want to learn law, I originally wanted to be an astronaut.”

An Ning did not know why Qin Weihang could not move in the direction of this dream, but he believed that given the chance, Qin Weihang will still go towards this dream.

“I hope that your dream will come true one day.” He couldn’t help but want to wish him luck.

Qin Weihang turned his head, looked at him, and said indifferently: “I hope that day will come.” He stood by the window. This time they did not stand side by side, but chatted face to face. Qin Weihang said, “Why are we talking about me, didn’t we agree to talk about you?”

An Ning was ashamed; he was too ordinary: “There’s nothing much to say.”

“Didn’t you want to be a public interest lawyer?” Qin Weihang said, “Then I also wish that your dream will come true one day.”

He didn’t know when the rain gradually let up, and the sky had brightened up. On the horizon, there was a faint glow of the sunset. It was a gorgeous red-purple, which was like waves. It was not a rainbow, but it was even better than a rainbow.

He was falling in love. An Ning was indeed sure that this was what he was feeling today. Although it was only one-sided, the experience was still wonderful and beautiful. For this, he even wanted to thank Qin Weihang.