rose ashes

Ye Gu looked at the courtyard with flickering lights and his friends around him, with infinite emotions surging in his heart.

Luo Yang was holding a cake, and her smiling eyes were right in front of me. This feeling of being so close seemed like a lifetime ago.

Tian Tian laughed and muttered to the side: "Master, now you believe that we didn't kidnap your Ah He, right? Although you and I don't get along well, I will reluctantly wish you a happy birthday on this special day!"

The blessings came one after another right beside his ears, and Ye Gu smiled.

Luo Yang looked at him and pursed his lips, "So, birthday boy, do you want to make a wish?"
The flickering candle flame was charming and independent in the night, shining on Luo Yang's face, and her falling hair was unexpectedly graceful and flowing.

He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. Countless images rushed out of his mind and spread out before his eyes.
It’s hard to tell when he started to dislike celebrating his birthday.

He was surrounded by blessings and cheers from his friends, and it seemed as if his soul had returned to his student days. At that time, he was still the center of attention, and there was never a shortage of friends to organize such lively gatherings. However, in every gathering there was one person who had never changed.

The moment he opened his eyes and blew out the candle, the lights in the yard dimmed subtly. He looked at Luo Yang boldly and unconcealedly in the darkness.
"Thank you, Ah He."

It seems like I haven't used this name for a long time. Now I'm glad that I can use the title of birthday girl to call her Ah He, which is luxurious but appropriate.
Ye Gu suddenly felt that celebrating birthdays was not such a bad thing, although most of his friends around him did not like celebrating their birthdays so much, perhaps because they were getting older or perhaps they felt it was childish, for various reasons.

The darkness did not last long, and the yard was shrouded in light again. Luo Yang looked at Ye Gu without saying a word. He seemed to be thinking about something, with a slight frown on his brows.

Ye Gu was slightly startled, "What's wrong?"

The next second, Luo Yang stretched out a finger, and cream appeared on Ye Gu's cheek.
He was stunned, but Luo Yang burst into laughter, attracting everyone's attention in the yard.

Luo Yang's eyes were sparkling as she smiled. Ye Gu looked at her while she trotted and smiled, "Don't take revenge on others! This is something every birthday person must have!"

Seeing his solemn face, Li Huai was afraid that he would suddenly get angry and wanted to step forward to ease the atmosphere. However, before he could say anything, Ye Gu suddenly turned around and slapped Li Huai in the face.

His face was covered with cream, which was extremely funny.

Ye Gu had a mischievous expression and laughed cunningly: "Hahaha! This is a benefit given to you by this birthday boy!"

The scene was stunned for half a second, then everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere was warm and joyful.

A group of people were chasing and playing in the yard, like a group of teenagers. Luo Yang wiped his fingers and watched the funny scene of several grown men smearing butter on each other beside the barbecue grill, and he couldn't help laughing.

Sang Huaiyu put the oil brush in his hand aside and let the charcoal fire burn freely.

"In fact, you two are suitable for this kind of relationship."

Luo Yang came back to his senses and responded to Sang Huaiyu: "What kind of relationship?"

Tian Tian came over holding a roasted corn and interrupted: "When you were deskmates, wasn't it like this? A typical pair of bickering lovers, but now it seems that the young master just likes to tease you unilaterally."
Luo Yang has a relatively gentle personality and it is almost impossible to have an argument with her, but Ye Gu just doesn't believe in evil and likes challenges. He firmly believes that no one is without temper.

And he indeed succeeded in doing it. Only Ye Gu could make the usually mature and calm Luo Yang jump up and down. Ye Gu also always enjoyed doing this and liked to make trouble in various ways to make Luo Yang angry.

Luo Yang couldn't help laughing when he recalled this.
"I'm just too boring. Who would want to be friends with a boring person?" Except for him, this young man who is always full of heroism.

"It's not boring at all, it's just that those people have no vision." Tian Tian bit the skewer and spoke incoherently while still complaining.
Luo Yang smiled and gently rubbed the top of her head.

She let out a long sigh, "This birthday should be similar to his previous ones. With you guys accompanying him, he won't be lonely."

Tian Tian stopped moving, frowned slightly, and said seriously: "It's been a long time since he celebrated his birthday, okay?"

Luo Yang's movements suddenly stopped, he looked at Tian Tian.
Half-believing, half-doubting, "No... birthday? Doesn't he love parties the most?"

Tian Tian shook her head. She didn't understand what this young master was thinking. People always say that a woman's heart is as unfathomable as the sea, but this also applies to Ye Gu.
“A young master’s heart is as deep as the sea”, it’s not said in vain.

After playing for a long time, everyone was a little tired and sat down around the long table.

Bian Yao is such a narcissist that he rarely laughs at himself: "I give up. If I were 18 years old, I wouldn't even be out of breath if I ran 10 laps."
Xi Jinzhou sneered and laughed at him: "Who is it that couldn't even beat Luo Yang in the 800-meter race?"
Bian Yao: "...crowdfunding to seal his mouth for me."

Sang Huaiyu was not from Pingcheng, so he didn't know these things and was inevitably curious.

Tian Tian and Luo Yang are most familiar with each other, so she said: "Our Ah He used to be a member of the school's long-distance running team. If it weren't for——"
Tian Tian's expression suddenly became strange, and she smiled and spoke vaguely.
“I quit because of my studies, hahahaha.”

The expressions of the other people at the table didn't look good and they kept silent about the matter. On the contrary, Luo Yang, the person involved, looked the same as always.

Sang Huaiyu vaguely felt that something was wrong.

Luo Yang didn't know when Ye Gu dragged her to the deserted backyard.
The two walked side by side. There were many stars tonight. Maybe it was because they were far away from the city, or maybe it was because of other reasons. No one could guess what the stars were thinking. "Do you regret quitting the long-distance running team because of that incident?" Ye Gu finally asked.
He slightly tilted his eyes, as if looking at her expression, but Luo Yang looked calm.

She looked at the night sky and said, "There's nothing to regret. I did write that letter. I should admit what I did, right?"
Ye Gu paused for a moment, then replied with a hint of loneliness: "Yes."

That year, Luo Ke had just entered the new school, and Luo Yang was given the task of helping Luo Ke familiarize himself with the campus.

Luo Ke was only one year younger than her and lived on the second floor, so she often went to the third floor to find Luo Yang in her class.
After a while, everyone in the class knew about the relationship between Luo Ke and Luo Yang, but everyone tacitly agreed to never mention the two of them together in front of Luo Yang, as if it was a taboo topic.

At that time, Luo Yang was still in the long-distance running team. After school, he could only go home after training. Luo Ke went home alone at first, but later, for some reason, he would always wait for Luo Yang to finish training and go home together.

Luo Yang had refused, but she couldn't resist Luo Ke's repeated requests. She was soft-hearted and didn't have that many thoughts, so she just let her do what she wanted. However, Luo Yang still didn't talk much to her.
When Luo Yang was training, Luo Ke was waiting for her while doing homework at Luo Yang's seat in the classroom.

After a normal training session, when I went to school the next day, the world was different.
Luo Yang was called to the teacher's office and an envelope was thrown at her. Luo Yang didn't understand what was going on. The teacher's voice was cold and sharp: "Look at what you have been doing in school!"

The moment Luo Yang saw the envelope, her heart skipped a beat. How could she not recognize this envelope? This was the letter she had written but had not yet had time to send out.

She could recite the content by heart without even reading it. She was so afraid of making mistakes that she even wrote a draft before copying the final content onto the letter paper.

The teacher looked at her with seriousness and disappointment in her eyes, and a feeling of heartache.

"Luo Yang, you have always been excellent. How could you write a love letter by yourself? Tell the teacher the truth. Did someone ask you to help write it? Or maybe it's not yours at all. As long as you tell me, the teacher will help you solve it."

The office was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Under the teacher's urgent gaze, Luo Yang raised his eyes, serious and persistent.
She said: "Teacher, I wrote this letter. It's not to help, and there is no other reason."

The teacher laughed angrily and drew a long arc on the paper with the red pen in her hand. She stood up and paced around the office.
"Luo Yang, I really don't understand you. Why would you write a letter to your class sports committee member? What are you thinking? Why don't you talk to the teacher?"

Luo Yang was stunned. She clearly wrote...
When she took it out and looked at it, she found that the signature on it had been changed, but the handwriting was not hers. Although the handwriting was 80% similar, there was a habitual dot after the name. This action was not common for Luo Yang. The one who had this habit was not someone else, but Luo Ke.

At that time, she actually felt relieved, glad that she did not let the teacher know who the name on the list was, and glad that she did not let him know her feelings in such an embarrassing and awkward situation.

Luo Yang was a student that the director valued very much. Out of respect for her talent, he strictly ordered Luo Yang to withdraw from the long-distance running team in order to reduce the time she spent with the sports committee member.
But somehow the news of that incident leaked out and Ye Gu knew everything.
He didn't even know that Luo Yang liked the sports commissioner of their class.

Ye Gu had been mocking her for a long time, for no reason, he just wanted to say something when he saw her.

At that time, what he often said was, "If you ask me, you really don't have the right eye for men."

Because of this incident, Ye Gu had a very bad attitude towards the physical education committee member, and even had a fight. Luo Yang stepped forward to stop them, and Ye Gu was punched by the physical education committee member.
During that time, Luo Yang spoke loudly to Ye Gu for the first time: "Ye Gu! Can you stop being so childish! There is no reason for doing anything. Not everyone can spoil you forever!"

The action stopped, Ye Gu just looked at her like that, his eyes instantly dropped to the freezing point, and he sneered at Luo Yang, "Yes, I am childish, and you are mature! You two are a perfect match! I am the one who meddles in other people's business!"

Afterwards, neither of them spoke for a long time. It was one of the rare cold wars between the two.

Ye Gu looked at her, as if recalling this incident, "Did you meet the sports committee member again later?"

Luo Yang pursed her lips and said, "I've seen him in the circle of friends. He's married and has a baby. He's very cute."
Ye Gu looked reluctant and didn't know what to say to ease the situation.

Luo Yang knew what he was thinking very well. He smiled frankly with a curve on his cheek.
"I remember I promised you a condition before. You can ask me for a request on your birthday. No matter what it is, I will agree to it. Do you want to use it now?"
She looked at him quietly, her heart beating like a drum, as if there was an unknown courage that strongly pushed Luo Yang to make a crazy decision today.

Ye Gu looked at her, as if to make sure whether she was really willing to tell him something.

After a while, his eyelashes moved slightly, and his hands in his trouser pockets were tightly holding something.
"Does it still make you sad to see him now?"

Luo Yang was stunned for a moment, feeling both amused and indescribably moved. She thought Ye Gu would ask some other questions, such as the content of the letter, or something else.
But he asked her if she would still be sad.

In the darkness, the redness in the eye sockets could not be seen clearly. Luo Yang found a place to sit down, which was rare.
She did not answer Ye Gu's question, but tilted her head slightly and asked: "I think you can choose to change the question, such as who is the letter for."

Ye Gu was a little confused, thinking that he had hit a sore spot for Luo Yang, and nodded stupidly, "Ah, sure, then who is this letter for—"
After saying that, he touched the back of his neck in regret and said softly, "Are you stupid, Ye Gu? Didn't I say I wrote it to the sports committee member..."

"No."
Ye Gu was surprised: "Ah?"
"It was never addressed to him."

"Who was that written to?"
Ye Gu followed her words and asked, his eyes gently focusing on Luo Yang's outline.

"That letter was written to--" Luo Yang turned to look at him, speaking word by word.

(End of this chapter)