I See The Galaxy Chapter 7

Yu Xing was a little apprehensive at first when she returned to Lintian the next day, but then she figured that she probably looked too different for him to recognize her anyways.

Besides, there were so many people in the school, how could Sheng Yi even find out who she was? Why should she be worried?

After calming herself down, Yu Xing suddenly discovered that her badge was missing. She scoured her pockets and searched all over her apartment, but it was nowhere to be found. Eventually, she had no choice but to request a new one from the school.

Aside from that, everything was fine. Yu Xing lived her life as usual, and within the span of two days, she had completely forgotten about Sheng Yi.

—

The afternoon sun was high in the sky, fighting against the usual early winter chill, and for the first time in Yu Xing’s life, someone was looking for her.

Her classmate who she had rarely spoken to before approached her, knocking on her desk and telling her, “Someone’s asking for you at the door.”

Yu Xing glanced up from her book, surprised, then lowered her head again out of habit. “Oh, thanks.”

When she went outside to look, she found an unfamiliar senior waiting for her.

The senior wore a serious expression as she looked her over. “Yu Xing?”

Yu Xing nodded unsurely.

The senior was probably the head of some department she was unfamiliar with and had come to inform her of something. “After your last afternoon class, go clean a few of the lounges in the Yijiao Building. I came here to let you know, so don’t forget later on.”

Yu Xing was stunned. “Yi– Yijiao Building?”

“Yes, when you get there, someone will tell you what to do and what cleaning materials you’ll need.”

No, why did it have to be her?

By name alone, Yijiao Building sounded like a serious and studious place, but in actuality all the classrooms and rooms inside were set aside for school clubs and the student council. A few vacant rooms on the top floor had been converted into lounges by the senior class, but they didn’t see much usage.

Yu Xing didn’t know what to say. “Senior, I’ve never been to Yijiao Building, nor have I cleaned it, why…”

“Do you have to have been there to know where it is?”

“I know where it is—”

The senior frowned. “The sports committee decided the arrangements, I’m just the one the student council assigned to inform you. This concerns your own duty points, deal with it yourself.”

The ruthless senior did not want to say more, so after finishing her sentence, she immediately left.

Yu Xing’s mouth opened, but she didn’t say a single word. She stared at the senior’s receding back for a few seconds, mind whirling with questions.

She was usually assigned to the duty room at the school gate or to go sweep the pavilion; this was the first time she had been assigned to clean Yijiao Building.

And duties were usually assigned within the class, so why did a student council member have to come here?

When she returned to her seat, Qiu Huini sneered at her. “Why was the senior looking for you?”

Yu Xing didn’t know either, so she just shook her head. She ignored Qiu Huini’s dissatisfied response and simply lowered her head to continue reading her book.

—

Her dinner time was delayed; after class, Yu Xing had to first go to the Yijiao Building. When she arrived, she found that another student was also assigned to clean the lounge alongside her.

They didn’t speak to each other. She was probably uninterested in talking with an unfamiliar person and Yu Xing was rushing to eat her dinner, so they both worked in silence. In this aspect, the two of them were perfectly well-matched.

Yu Xing idly pushed a vacuum cleaner and strolled through the lounge. Amidst the humming of the machine, she suddenly realized: wasn’t the lounge usually unused?

Yet the books piled on the desk, the snacks lying on the coffee table, and the bottles with English labels stacked in the cabinet all pointed to someone having used the lounge before they arrived.

After she was done vacuuming up the dust, she unplugged the cord and wrung out a wet rag to wipe the table.

Her companion suddenly spoke up. “Be careful.”

“Huh?” Yu Xing was taken aback.

As a temporary ‘coworker’, the other person kindly reminded her, “After cleaning the table, return everything to how it once was and make sure it looks exactly the same. Otherwise, points will be deducted.”

“...Oh.” Yu Xing nodded, but couldn’t resist asking, “This place… Isn’t it usually empty? Why is there so much stuff here now?”

Her colleague glanced at her, seemingly surprised at her ignorance. "The seniors in Class 7 were the ones who set up the lounge. Now that they’re here, of course there are people using it.”

Yu Xing paused.

Senior Class 7?

Wasn’t that Sheng Yi’s class?

Now that she thought about it, it was obvious. Who would dare use their lounge? Even if they came and went as they pleased, not often attending school, no one would risk staying in their lounge.

After the thought came to mind, Yu Xing suddenly felt as if the entire room smelled like Sheng Yi and instantly felt goosebumps rise on her skin.

Although she couldn’t tell what exactly he smelled like, she’d noticed a faint scent when he was crouching down in front of her in the yard that day, though she didn’t know if that was his usual…

Gah!

Yu Xing snapped back to her senses. Who cared whether or not he smelled good, she only had to focus on one goal: leaving as quickly as she could.

At that moment, Yu Xing sped up to over ten times her normal speed, as if a high-speed motor going at full force. Her movements were rapid and meticulous, and her coworker was left gaping in awe.

Her current state of mind could not be understood by others.

Using Sheng Yi as an excuse in front of Sheng Yi, and having said excuse immediately broken down, it would be strange if she wasn’t embarrassed about it.

Bringing the newly changed basin of water to the door, Yu Xing was about to squat down and wring out the rag when she suddenly noticed a group of people walking towards the lounge.

This time she recognized them.

Out of the three of them, the slightly taller one was Sheng Yi– that face, she could surely never forget.

In a blink of an eye, Yu Xing instinctively crouched down, lowered her head, and pretended to concentrate on wringing the rag in her hands.

The three of them including Sheng Yi passed by her without giving her more than a glance, joking with each other as they entered the room.

She secretly sighed in relief and stood up with the wrung out rag.

Before even taking a few steps inside, Sheng Yi stopped.

Yu Xing looked up and saw him stop, but before she could react, he turned back and walked towards her.

His innocently smiling face looked harmless, and if she didn't know better, she might think he was such a nice and easygoing young man. However, Yu Xing only felt that his smile made people’s hair stand on end.

The two boys who had stepped into the lounge noticed his movements and were surprised: "A-Yi?"

Yu Xing stiffened, too frightened to move. She had heard that he had several close friends, but she could not tell who was who, or which voice belonged to Jiang Something-Yan or Shen Whatever.

At the moment, she had to think only about her own survival, so she didn’t spare them much thought.

Well, he might have just approached her to ask her to clean the doorframe…

Her last hope turned into smoke when Sheng Yi opened his mouth.

“Did you drop this?”

Yu Xing hung her head and tightly gripped the rag in her hands. She insistently shook her head no, not daring to make a sound.

Sheng Yi’s smiling eyes brightened. “No?”

He took out a shiny, reflective object from his pocket and handed it to her.

The words "Yu Xing" were written on the badge, clear as day.

Yu Xing’s head gave a ‘thump’, as if a few wires in her brain had gotten disconnected.

The badge, the badge she’d lost!

When did it fall? Where did it fall? Why is it with Sheng Yi?

He offered the badge to her, moving his hand closer. Yu Xing swallowed her anxiety and took it with shaking hands.

Sheng Yi seemed to be laughing, but she did not dare to look at his expression.

She only heard his lowered voice, and he spoke as if greatly intrigued.

“...The next time you decide to jump over a wall, be more careful.”

…

How did Sheng Yi recognize her?

It was impossible.

Even after thinking about it, Yu Xing still couldn’t understand how he had recognized her.

She didn’t remember how she exited the Yijiao Building, dazedly going through the motions. She only remembered the frequent glances cast in her direction within the lounge, which had made her extremely uncomfortable.

If Sheng Yi’s friends were surprised to see him talking to her, then the rest of Lintian would die of shock if they saw him even pay attention to her.

After a few days had passed, she was somehow still alive. One time, while she was inside the bathroom, Yu Xing happened to hear Qiu Huini and Xia Yuanqing talking about "matters of the heart".

Xia Yuanqing seemed to be comforting her. "It's okay, they’ll still be there next time, there's always another chance, and anyhow, they come to school more frequently now..."

She didn’t know what was bothering Qiu Huini, but her voice was anxious and panicked. “So what if they come to school? That doesn’t mean I’ll be brave enough to go talk to them…”

"Don’t think about it too much, try being more bold... or do we think of a way to find the right opportunity for you?"

“What do you mean by ‘right opportunity’?

“Hey…”

Yu Xing did not want to leave the cubicle yet. Firstly, Qiu Huini and Xia Yuanqing's faces were annoying, so she did not want to look at them. Furthermore, if she appeared at an inopportune time, they might take out their frustrations on her.

As she silently waited for them to finish chatting, she suddenly heard Xia Yuanqing say, "Don't worry so much, there will always be another chance for you to talk to Sheng Yi..."

Yu Xing was instantly shocked.

Sheng Yi?

That name again? He was like a curse that followed her wherever she went, there was no escape from his presence.

She connected the dots between their words and their actions, and Yu Xing’s eyes widened.

Qiu Huini and Sheng Yi…?

That was... great.

Finally, when the sound of their voices faded away, Yu Xing opened the door to leave.

Her head hurt more and more, and became even more cluttered with thoughts.

Qiu Huini already treated her so badly; if Qiu Huini knew that Sheng Yi was talking to her, she was afraid that her days would be numbered.

—

Destiny was inevitable, and when she was once again assigned to clean Yijiao Building, Yu Xing realized that it marked the start of many future incidents, not the end of her torment.

Once was a coincidence, but twice?

She finally understood that this inexplicable assignment probably could not be done without encountering Sheng Yi.

The first time she went to the building, he was alone in the lounge. Yu Xing carefully entered as Sheng Yi sat on the sofa reading a book. He did not even raise his eyes to look at her, as if her entrance had gone completely unnoticed.

Unlike last time, there was no "colleague" to help her clean. Yu Xing looked at the large lounge and felt distressed. How long would it take for her to do it alone? She was already tired and half-exhausted just looking at it.

Seeing as Sheng Yi did not speak, Yu Xing naturally did not initiate a conversation. She picked up the tools and, without saying a word, silently got to work.

She plugged in the vacuum cleaner. The "buzzing" sound of the vacuum hurt her ears, but Yu Xing thought the sound wasn't too bad; at least this way she had something to accompany her as she cleaned.

After around ten minutes, she finished vacuuming the entire lounge. Yu Xing pulled the plug on the machine, and the room returned to dead silence.

Yu Xing was about to go fetch a basin of water when Sheng Yi suddenly put down his book.

She was stunned and immediately felt as if she needed to escape.

However, before she could take a single step, Sheng Yi said casually, "...Junior, do you really have nothing to say to me?”