The Next Day.
For the first time, Zhou Xiu didn’t leave for school early. Today, there was no need to rush around making breakfast. She indulged in a rare full night’s sleep, only getting up at 6:30.
Xi Shaoyuan, his hair a dishevelled mess, had just finished washing up when he saw Zhou Xiu, dressed neatly in her school uniform with her backpack slung over her shoulders, sitting straight-backed at the table.
It seemed like she was waiting for someone.
It wasn’t even 7:00 yet, and the sky was still dark in the deep winter morning.
Normally, Zhou Xiu would have already left by this time to catch the early bus.
His gaze swept around the room before slowly returning to rest on Zhou Xiu.
She was wearing her winter school uniform, and her hair, which had been as dry and yellow as straw when she first arrived, now appeared to have a honeyed sheen under the light.
When she noticed him coming down the stairs, she stood up, looked at him, and a happy smile spread across her face.
Xi Shaoyuan had too many memories of moments like this.
Zhou Xiu said, “Thank you, I…”
Xi Shaoyuan’s expression turned knowing, his tone tinged with mockery.
He interrupted, “Is there anything else?”
Zhou Xiu noticed the strange look in Xi Shaoyuan’s eyes, a look she was all too familiar with—so familiar that it made her swallow back her words.
“No.”
Zhou Xiu had intended to tell Xi Shaoyuan that he didn’t need to go through the trouble of picking out gifts and that it would be simpler to just give her cash.
But when she saw the mocking expression in his eyes, all her thoughts vanished.
Forget it; she would stick to her usual self-reliant approach and sell the items second-hand. After all, she was already used to it by now.
She packed her vocabulary book into her backpack and hurried out to catch the bus.
At Yude Middle School.
For the first time, Zhou Xiu entered the cafeteria in the early morning and used the meal card she had received to eat breakfast. She ate until she was full.
Sweet soy milk, crispy fried dough sticks, fragrant noodles, and steaming meat buns. Zhou Xiu bit into a dough stick, finished her noodles, and took two buns with her for a snack later between classes.
When Hua Xue arrived at school early in the morning, she found that there was no delicious breakfast from Zhou Xiu to share. She quickly realized that Zhou Xiu must have started using her unlimited meal card.
Not having a good breakfast could ruin the entire morning.
Hua Xue sighed and tried to convince Zhou Xiu, “Xiu Xiu, food you make yourself is cleaner and more delicious. You’re still growing, you know. Eating in the cafeteria all the time isn’t good for you.”
While food made at home was indeed delicious, there was nothing quite like enjoying food that someone else had prepared.
Zhou Xiu kept quiet, sipping her sweet soy milk.
The warm soy milk slid down her throat, and the long-missed flavour of soybeans made her eyes squint in contentment.
The sound of grinding soybeans in the early morning was loud, and Xi Shaoyuan was extremely particular about his environment. Living under someone else’s roof, Zhou Xiu hadn’t tasted soy milk in a long time.
The sweetness of fresh soy milk was happiness itself.
She licked her lips and said softly, “It’s okay to eat out once in a while.”
Zhou Xiu usually cooked her own meals, but she didn’t want to waste the meal card Du Feiyang had given her, so she’d eat in the cafeteria a bit more often. Even with unlimited funds on the card, the 30,000 yuan it held would likely last her until graduation.
Zhou Xiu had very low standards when it came to food—anything edible was something to be cherished.
Hua Xue patted Zhou Xiu’s head. “Good girl, promise me you’ll eat in the cafeteria less often.”
“Cafeteria food isn’t as balanced as what you can make yourself.”
Zhou Xiu finished her soy milk and nodded.
If her parents came to the city, Zhou Xiu probably wouldn’t eat breakfast at the school cafeteria at all. She couldn’t help but miss the smooth and chewy noodles, the hot lamb soup, and the fragrant Dongpo pork that her father Zhou Cheng used to make in the winter.
Whenever he went to cook for weddings, he’d always take her along so she could eat her fill.
With her parents on her mind, Zhou Xiu became even more determined to study hard and earn money. After breakfast, she diligently began reciting her English lessons.
[Ding—Successfully reciting an English passage rewards 10 RMB.]
As students passed by in the hallway, they couldn’t help but be reminded of last night when they saw Zhou Xiu.
Within just one morning, the news that Zhou Xiu had received an overwhelming number of gifts from the boys in both Class 24 and Winner Class had spread like wildfire.
Since Zhou Xiu hadn’t given Xi Shaoyuan her address last night, he had all the latest Apple products delivered to the school to protect her privacy.
After class, Zhou Xiu and Hua Xue went to the security office and came back with their arms full of electronics, stacking them up by Zhou Xiu’s desk until there was hardly any room left for her feet, drawing envious looks from everyone around.
Zhou Xiu, the recipient of these prizes, remained calm and indifferent. After collecting her packages, she simply resumed her studies, flipping through her math book with no time to spare for unboxing her gifts. It was as if the pile at her feet wasn’t a heap of expensive electronics but rather something completely inconsequential.
Yu Qingyan, unable to stand it, shook Zhou Xiu, “Xiu Xiu, aren’t you even curious to see what’s inside?”
How could she be so nonchalant? These were gifts from Xi Shaoyuan!
If it were Yu Qingyan herself, she would have spent the entire morning opening and admiring them. Hua Xue couldn’t help but laugh, “Xi Shaoyuan really should have given Xiu Xiu a set of practice questions instead. Then she would have opened it immediately.”
Obviously, electronics had far less appeal to Zhou Xiu than a stack of exam papers.
Zhou Xiu reluctantly set down her pen and shook her head, “It’s not as dramatic as you all make it out to be.”
She hadn’t planned on unboxing the gifts because once opened, they would be harder to sell second-hand.
When still sealed, these products could be sold as “brand new, unopened.” But once opened, they’d only be “99% new, reluctantly reselling.”
Seeing Yu Qingyan’s eager expression, Zhou Xiu asked softly, “Do you want one?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she was met with burning gazes from all directions.
Surprised by their intensity, Zhou Xiu paused for a moment before realizing she had found a way to offload the items. She said:
“I don’t need any of this stuff, so if you want it, I’m willing to sell it.”
A few girls pushed and nudged each other before finally stepping forward to ask about the prices.
Even if they hadn’t received a Christmas gift from Xi Shaoyuan, buying one of these items would be the next best thing—close enough to count.
That thought made them feel content.
Since Zhou Xiu’s electronics were all brand new and unopened, buying them wasn’t a bad deal. The girls in Class 24 picked out the items they liked and paid Zhou Xiu.
Only when Zhou Xiu took out her phone did she realize that no matter how she tapped on WeChat, she couldn’t receive the payments, so she had them transfer the money to Hua Xue instead.
She hadn’t linked a bank card.
The last item, an iMac Pro desktop computer worth 105,500 yuan, was too expensive and didn’t immediately attract any buyers. Zhou Xiu casually looked it up online and was surprised by what she found.
Last night, all the other gifts combined didn’t even match the value of this one.
Zhou Xiu thought: If she hadn’t participated last night, the person who would have received all of this would have been Xi Shaoyuan himself.
He probably hadn’t expected her to be the one to end up with it, right?
Xu Qing, watching Zhou Xiu as she stared at the only item left unsold, smiled warmly and said:
“The specs on this machine are really high. It’s currently the most powerful desktop Apple offers. Are you really going to sell it, Xiu Xiu?”
Zhou Xiu nodded.
Xu Qing then bought the machine and transferred 105,500 yuan to Hua Xue.
Hua Xue, feeling a bit deflated as she confirmed the payment, sighed, “It turns out that Xi Shaoyuan really is the most generous. If he were just a bit more extravagant, he would have exceeded my WeChat’s daily transfer limit.”
By comparison, Hua Xue’s “show of wealth” now seemed rather low-key.
Zhou Xiu, having received the money, happily said, “I still think your gift made me the happiest.”
Hua Xue beamed, “Really? It took me, Qingyan, and my aunt quite a while to fold those flowers, you know.”
Yes, Zhou Xiu nodded. When something is made with care, it’s truly cherished.
After school, Du Feiyang respectfully offered his phone to Zhou Xiu and asked, “Xiu Xiu, come on, show me how you tower-dived and killed me last night?”
Although Guanyin was notorious for silently taking lives, she didn’t compare to Zhuge Liang when he went on a rampage, taking on multiple opponents without losing a single drop of blood.
Zhou Xiu closed her exam papers, took Du Feiyang’s phone, and began explaining, “Watch closely. Hit 2, then 33133 to fly up, 21333 for close combat, and 233a133 to maximize damage—”
“When you’re outnumbered, you need to calculate HP and damage output. For example, with this combo, you can deal over 20,000 points of damage late game—”
Du Feiyang: “…”
It reminded him of a meme he’d seen online—
Eyes: I get it!
Brain: I… I think I get it too!
Hands: To hell with you, I’m not doing any of that.
Du Feiyang nearly cried.
Yuanyuan, who had been listening, was feeling dizzy for the first time as she finally tried opening the study materials Hua Xue had handed out.
She was convinced… Zhou Xiu must be some kind of genius.
Zhou Xiu handed the phone back to Du Feiyang, smiling slightly. “There’s no point playing anymore. Xi Shaoyuan probably won’t be as generous with rewards in the future. You might as well focus on your studies.”
“The principles remain the same—once you understand them, why wouldn’t you be able to play a game?”
Du Feiyang felt so heartbroken that tears nearly fell.
The chance to get rich always seemed to slip through his fingers, and studying always seemed to beat him down.
The fact that Zhou Xiu was reselling the electronics stirred up a bit of a commotion. Later that afternoon, Tan Ming pulled out his phone and noticed that Zhou Xiu still hadn’t accepted the money transfer.
He knocked on Zhou Xiu’s desk. “Don’t you want your money?”
Zhou Xiu replied honestly, “I don’t have a bank card linked to WeChat, so I can’t accept the transfer.”
“If you have time, you can withdraw the money and give it to me.”
Tan Ming was utterly bewildered: “???”
These days, who doesn’t use electronic payments for large transactions? Who still deals in cash?
Carrying around a wad of bills—does she want to look like some kind of nouveau riche?
If it weren’t for the fact that Zhou Xiu seemed only interested in studying and doing practice problems, Tan Ming might have suspected that she was just using this as a flimsy excuse to get his WeChat.
Tan Ming scowled but agreed, actually pulling out his bank card and getting ready to withdraw the cash to hand over to Zhou Xiu.
But Zhou Xiu was already packing up, ready to head to her competition class.
This week’s competition class had a familiar face return—Xie Cheng was back, attending class as usual.
However, Xie Cheng’s return didn’t generate as much buzz as Zhou Xiu did. The students in the rocket class had all heard about how Zhou Xiu had received a mountain of gifts from the boys in both Class 24 and Winner Class and couldn’t help but look at her more closely.
Class 24 and Winner Class really knew how to have fun. They always managed to throw such lively events. Even the top students couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.
Even Qi Yaguang talked about it with Lu Lingshan, “Xi Shaoyuan is really generous. When he says he’ll throw in a bonus, it really means tens of thousands.”
Lu Lingshan wasn’t surprised.
A classmate nearby bit their lip and quietly said to Qi Yaguang, “You didn’t know? Xi Shaoyuan’s family is incredibly wealthy.”
And not just your average wealthy.
Someone who could be so generous—it’s no wonder he was so popular with the girls.
Xie Cheng, sitting in the back of the classroom, twirled a pen in his fingers, lazily commenting:
“So that’s the girl who borrowed your uniform, huh?”
His lips curved into a faint smile. “It’s really rare for you to have an opportunity to give a girl a gift, only for her to turn around and sell it.”
Xi Shaoyuan’s expression darkened as he listened, “Xie Cheng…” Xie Cheng replied softly, “Yeah.”
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