Xi Shaoyuan walked down the stairs and pulled out his phone to call his driver.
As soon as he opened WeChat, a message from Xu Qing popped up: “Happy Lunar New Year, Shaoyuan.”
Without needing to scroll, he could see the previous message on the same screen: “You were there, so why didn’t you join us?”
That was from a while back, on the day they went to see the movie.
Besides Xu Qing’s New Year greeting, Xie Cheng, Hua Xu, Du Feiyang, Tan Ming, Zhang Qi, Xu Haobo, Lu Lingshan, and many others had sent their best wishes to Xi Shaoyuan. But there was no message from Zhou Xiu.
Xi Shaoyuan locked his screen without replying.
…
While Zhou Xiu was working on math problems, her phone in the living room started to chime with notifications.
Liu Mei accidentally tapped on her WeChat and saw that she had received a red envelope. On reflex, she clicked to open it.
Liu Mei was surprised by the amount. “Why is it so big?”
200 yuan.
Liu Mei had expected the usual small amounts of a few yuan or even just a few cents.
It turned out that the students in Class 24 had started a red envelope spree in celebration of their good exam results. This year, they were especially generous.
The main contributor was Yuan Ruoyi. She had promised to use her New Year’s money to give out red envelopes and was flooding the chat with them, each worth 200 yuan. The students were so focused on grabbing the red envelopes that they couldn’t even think about doing anything else.
“Xiu’er, I just opened a red envelope for you. Is that okay?”
Liu Mei, who had just realized she had snagged over a thousand yuan in red envelopes, started to feel uneasy.
Zhou Xiu finished her homework and picked up her phone. The group chat was now filled with Du Feiyang’s travel photos.
A few days ago, Du Feiyang had been in the country, but now he was in a small town near Mount Alfa Mayo, live-streaming the morning for everyone.
Flashing his bright white smile, Du Feiyang wished everyone a happy New Year. True to his word, he shared a plethora of high-definition, stunning landscape photos. These grand and majestic mountains, even through a screen, showed Zhou Xiu a world she had never seen before.
She stared at them for a long time, saving one of the landscape photos.
Liu Mei asked again, “Did Mom do something wrong?”
Clearly, Liu Mei understood these social customs better than Zhou Xiu. Given their family’s financial situation, they couldn’t afford to take advantage of others and risk being looked down upon.
Zhou Xiu shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Normally, Zhou Xiu wouldn’t participate in these red envelope activities. Given her financial constraints, she couldn’t afford to give out red envelopes, so she chose not to accept any either.
Only taking and not giving would be seen as inappropriate.
She sighed and reluctantly sent out a red envelope. Besides the amount Liu Mei had already collected, she added another thousand yuan.
She felt it was important to give back as much as she received, even if it was difficult.
As soon as her red envelope was sent out, it was quickly lost among the flood of others.
Classmates who managed to grab Zhou Xiu’s red envelope exclaimed, “Gotta soak up some of that top-student energy and hope I can pass next semester.”
“Wow, I actually got a red envelope from Zhou Xiu!”
“Blessings!”
The system chimed in: [Young one, in this new year, you’ll earn even more. With a strong foundation, next year will be your year to truly thrive.]
Zhou Xiu smiled warmly. [I’ll take your word for it.]
As the New Year countdown reached zero, a symphony of fireworks lit up the sky, as bright as day.
Zhou Cheng and Liu Mei, thrilled by the sight, ran up to the rooftop to watch. One moment they were pointing at a particularly beautiful firework, the next they declared another one to be the best.
Like children experiencing the world for the first time, their eyes were filled with wonder.
Zhou Xiu returned to her room and dutifully resumed her studies.
This semester had been relatively easy, only involving the regular high school exams. But next semester, there would be two competitions, promising a high-pressure environment where every second would count.
Rather than lament the lack of time later, it was better to start preparing now.
…
On the first day of the New Year, Liu Mei took out a new outfit she had bought for her daughter.
Liu Mei remembered how, in previous years, Zhou Xiu always wore hand-me-downs from her older cousins. Though they were unhappy about it, they never said anything, allowing Zhou Xiu to endure years of unfairness.
Feeling a bit nervous, she said, “Xiu’er, stop wearing that blue padded jacket all the time. It’s the New Year—wear something bright and cheerful. Try this on.”
Zhou Xiu was given a red-and-white down jacket, a bright, eye-catching colour that would look great on her.
Liu Mei also brought out some skincare products she had bought.
Liu Mei had sought advice from the neighbours on this. “Xiu’er, you’re turning seventeen this year, a young woman now. You should start washing your face every day.”
In the past, they couldn’t afford to groom themselves, but now that they had the means, Liu Mei was happy to spend a little money on her daughter.
Zhou Xiu was happy to receive the skincare products, but she couldn’t help but chuckle when she looked at the bottle of face wash.
She examined the ingredients on the back of the bottle and gently explained, “Mom, don’t spend money on this kind of stuff. Ingredients like polyethylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, and palmitic acid are too harsh. They could damage your skin.”
Liu Mei looked confused.
Zhou Xiu patiently explained each ingredient.
After listening, Liu Mei was horrified. “No wonder the girl downstairs always has acne scars. Xiu’er, let’s not use it.”
She reluctantly threw the new face wash into the trash and added, “But Xiu’er, you should start paying attention to your appearance.”
Zhou Xiu couldn’t argue with Liu Mei’s persistent nagging. After some research, she went on Taobao and bought some basic sunscreen and face wash.
The system: […]
[Alright, Xiu’er really listens to her mom. Not even the temptation of money can sway her.]
During the winter break, Zhou Xiu spent half the day studying and the other half working at the noodle stand to ease her parents’ workload.
With the steady income, Zhou Cheng ordered milk for his daughter every day and constantly made bone broth and chicken soup, trying to make up for the nutritional deficiencies Zhou Xiu had endured for the past seventeen years.
Thanks to Zhou Xiu’s quick math skills, the young white-collar worker who had ordered eight bowls of noodles on the first day was inexplicably charmed by her.
After the New Year, he queued up again and witnessed Zhou Xiu quickly calculating the price for ten bowls of noodles.
He secretly recorded a video and posted it on his Douyin account.
To his surprise, the account gained some traction.
In the shaky video, a delicate-looking girl was engrossed in her homework at a small food stand. Suddenly, a group of workers arrived for lunch. The foreman placed his order, and as the owner punched numbers into a calculator, the girl, without even looking up, said:
“That’s wrong. It should be 135.5 yuan for ten bowls.”
It seemed that the content of the video wasn’t the focus; it was the person featured in it. The girl, dressed in a red padded jacket, with her head down, diligently working on her homework, presented a beautiful and captivating image.
It so happened that one day, a Class 24 student stumbled upon the video online and was shocked.
Lan Xin rubbed her eyes. “Isn’t that Xiu’er?”
Even if it was just a side profile, her posture while doing homework was unmistakable. They had all seen Zhou Xiu study like this countless times.
To be able to concentrate on her studies in such a noisy environment—only Zhou Xiu could do that.
Yuan Ruoyi was also surprised, finding it hard to believe.
Zhou Xiu…how could she be at a food stand like that?
While none of her classmates came from incredibly wealthy families, they were all at least middle class. The environment shown in the video made it hard for Yuan Ruoyi to associate it with Zhou Xiu.
Thankfully, the video also included a few photos secretly taken by the young white-collar worker. In the photos, Tan Ming was standing off to the side, looking disgruntled.
He was usually so clean and put-together, but here, he looked unexpectedly dishevelled.
Yuan Ruoyi’s confusion was quickly dispelled.
Tan Ming could be considered one of the proudest boys in their class, spoiled by his family. When he first started at Yude, he practically arrived at school in a sports car every day.
When he first entered high school, he followed Xi Shaoyuan’s lead and played with Harley-Davidson motorcycles, indulging in the most extravagant ways.
If Lu Lingshan hadn’t publicly stated that she didn’t like such ostentatious behaviour, Tan Ming probably wouldn’t have learned the meaning of the word “low-key.”
Yuan Ruoyi sent the video to Tan Ming and asked, “What’s this?”
After watching the video, Tan Ming felt his world crumble. He was mortified.
He had only gone once, thinking that his embarrassing appearance wouldn’t be seen by anyone he knew. He had guarded against acquaintances, but he hadn’t anticipated being caught by a random passer-by.
Feigning calm, Tan Ming replied to Yuan Ruoyi: “Holiday social practice.”
Behind the scenes, he quickly contacted the original poster and requested the video be taken down.
He comforted himself, thinking that Zhou Xiu probably didn’t want anyone to know about this either.
Yuan Ruoyi & Lan Xin: “…”
Understood.
They soon put this little episode out of their minds.
…
Half a month later, after returning from their vacation abroad, Hua Xu and Yu Qingyan resumed tutoring Zhou Xiu in English. After not seeing her for nearly a month, both of them were taken aback.
The first thing Yu Qingyan said upon seeing Zhou Xiu was, “Xiu’er seems taller.”
Hua Xu added, “And paler.”
Yu Qingyan took a few steps back and squinted her eyes as she scrutinized Zhou Xiu. “Xu-jie is right.”
She felt like she was finally starting to appreciate Zhou Xiu’s looks.
“If she gets a bit paler, she’d look even better,” Yu Qingyan said, rubbing her chin.
Hua Xu proudly snapped her fingers. “I thought about pursuing art, so I have an eye for these things.”
“Alright, enough of that. Come on, Xiu’er, let’s see how well you’ve been doing with your English studies over the holiday.”
Hua Xu called Xu Qing. “Class Rep, are you around? Come over and help grade some papers.”
Hua Xu shamelessly handed over the holiday homework assigned by her English tutor to Zhou Xiu, and Yu Qingyan added a few more test papers.
“Xiu’er, do your best. We went to great lengths to get these papers for you. Work hard on them.”
Zhou Xiu took the “heartfelt” stack of papers from her friends, feeling slightly skeptical, but she quickly got to work.
Hua Xu settled down with a book, setting an alarm on her phone.
But Zhou Xiu didn’t even need the alarm. She wasn’t bothered by the monotony of the task, and with Xu Qing not around, she would just keep on writing.
Xu Qing, who received Hua Xu’s call, was out of town and couldn’t make it.
So he asked Xie Cheng, who was at the library. Xie Cheng didn’t even blink before forwarding the message to Xi Shaoyuan.
“Your Xiu’er, are you going or not?”
Xi Shaoyuan’s expression darkened. “Xie Cheng, what do you mean by that?”
Xie Cheng closed the book he had been reading, resting his chin on his hand. “You went to Zhou Xiu’s house on Lunar New Year’s Eve.”
“Shaoyuan has never paid this much attention to any girl before.”
Xie Cheng had originally invited Xi Shaoyuan to a party on New Year’s Eve, but after waiting for half a day without a response, he called Xi Shaoyuan’s driver to find out where he was.
Aside from New Year’s Eve, all the previous signs had been subtle clues for Xie Cheng.
“I knew it. There’s no way Shaoyuan would lose at a game,” Xie Cheng said lightly.
He was referring to the game they had played with Class 24 and the winners on Christmas. The outcome was that Xi Shaoyuan lost, allowing Zhou Xiu to win prize after prize.
It was understandable if others lost, but this was Xi Shaoyuan.
Xi Shaoyuan didn’t bother responding to Xie Cheng, his face growing darker.
He tersely replied, “No.”
Xie Cheng immediately texted back: “If you don’t go, I will.”
Xi Shaoyuan, his expression indifferent, closed his phone and headed to the city library.
Hua Xu, now dozing off at the table, lazily woke up. Yu Qingyan, meanwhile, was reading a mindless campus comic, her smile growing more and more sinister. Zhou Xiu, back straight and brow furrowed, was deep in thought, puzzled by something.
Xi Shaoyuan walked into the library and spotted Zhou Xiu.
He approached her, quietly pulling out a chair to sit down. Yu Qingyan heard the faint sound, turned her head—and froze.
Her mouth dropped open, and the comic she was holding slipped from her fingers, landing on Hua Xu’s leg with a thud.
Hua Xu, still groggy, yawned and looked up. Upon seeing who it was, she quickly stifled her yawn and smiled politely.
Yu Qingyan asked, “Shao Yuan, what brings you here?”
Xi Shaoyuan replied, “Xu Qing couldn’t make it, and I happened to be at the library.”
Hua Xu & Yu Qingyan felt a wave of complicated emotions: “…”
Maybe next time, they shouldn’t bring Class Rep along. Why did they summon this big shot without warning, leaving them no time to prepare?
Although, considering that his English was the best in the grade, it was perfect for tutoring Xiu’er. But Yu Qingyan couldn’t help thinking that she hadn’t even bothered to put on proper makeup today, and her hair hadn’t been washed for two days. At this moment, she wished she could disappear on the spot.
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