By the time Zhou Xiu got on the subway, it was already past nine at night.
At the Zhou family home.
Zhou Cheng and Liu Mei had rarely closed their stall a little early. Liu Mei was at home watching TV, while Zhou Cheng was asleep.
When Liu Mei went downstairs, she saw Auntie Lin from next door smiling as she held her daughter’s hand. In her other hand, she was carrying a pile of nutritional supplements and clothes.
Auntie Lin’s daughter was holding onto her arm and acting spoiled. “If I improve in the monthly exam, can you let me go to S City during the May Day holiday?”
Seeing Auntie Lin’s daughter being so naturally affectionate with her, Liu Mei was surprised.
Zhou Cheng’s family had moved into this old-style residential building a while ago, and they had become somewhat familiar with the neighbours around them.
Auntie Lin came over to the Zhou family’s place to chat with Liu Mei. Liu Mei envied the good relationship Auntie Lin had with her daughter. Her girl was already so grown up, yet she was still willing to hold her mother’s hand.
“Our Xiuxiu is quite independent. She doesn’t like being so clingy with her parents.”
When Auntie Lin heard this, her expression faded slightly. She looked around for a long time but did not see Zhou Xiu anywhere, so she asked, “Where is your Xiuxiu?”
Liu Mei said, “Their school went on a spring outing today, so she’ll be back late.”
Auntie Lin could not help scolding Liu Mei. “You two are far too careless with your child. It’s already so late and she still isn’t home. Aren’t you worried?”
Liu Mei narrowed her eyes, confused. “Worried about what? She’s already in high school.”
She glanced at the time. It was not even nine yet.
Usually, Zhou Xiu stayed at school for evening self-study and came back even later than this. If this were back in the countryside, during school breaks at the county middle school, she would often only get home in the middle of the night.
Auntie Lin could not help complaining, “Even if she’s in high school, she’s still a child. It’s almost the middle of the night and she hasn’t come home yet. This area is so dangerous. Such a pretty young girl—forget her, even my daughter is in her third year of high school and I still pick her up every night.”
She looked at Liu Mei with a strange gaze.
“Girls should be spoiled. These days, most families only have one child anyway. Who still separates boys and girls? I saw that you only had one child, so I thought you wouldn’t favour boys over girls… But I see Zhou Xiu wearing her school uniform every day, with barely any other clothes to wear. Even on weekends when she isn’t studying, she still goes out to help with your work.”
“She’s such a sensible child, but you two are really mistreating her.”
And they still expected their daughter to be close to them?
Liu Mei mumbled in protest, “We treat our child very well. We provide her with good food and drink, and send her to a good school. Her cousins back in the countryside don’t even get to study.”
Auntie Lin’s worldview almost shattered when she heard that.
Wasn’t raising a child and sending them to school only natural? How did that count as treating her well?
Unconvinced, she started listing things one by one to Liu Mei.
“If I hadn’t mentioned it before, you wouldn’t have bought Zhou Xiu new clothes or skincare products, right? She’s already this age. She’s at the age where she wants to look pretty. Have you ever bought her sanitary pads every month? Taken her shopping at the mall? Cared about what she likes?”
Liu Mei’s understanding was violently shaken. She said, “Children in our countryside are all raised roughly.”
Auntie Lin rolled her eyes and thought of a joke she had seen online. “What, do all the eggs get given to the sons? Are women not allowed to eat at the table? When girls grow up, are they used to exchange for bride price for the sons? Does that count as being raised roughly?”
With a single sentence, she hit the truth. Liu Mei and Zhou Cheng fell silent as old memories surfaced.
Liu Mei’s feelings became extremely complicated. After a long while, she finally said, “We didn’t understand. Back then, we didn’t have the energy to think about these things. We raised children however the people in the village raised them.”
Zhou Cheng had also been scolded into speechlessness. He took out his phone and called Zhou Xiu.
“Xiu’er, are you almost home? Do you want Dad to come and pick you up?”
At that moment, Zhou Xiu was sitting on the bus, memorising biology knowledge points. When she received Zhou Cheng’s call, she was stunned for a moment.
After a long pause, she said, “No need. I’ll be getting off soon.”
Ten minutes later, the bus arrived at the stop and Zhou Xiu got off.
On the slightly cold night, Zhou Cheng and Liu Mei were riding their small electric scooter, waiting for her at the entrance of the urban village.
Zhou Cheng rubbed his hands together and handed his daughter a roasted pig trotter.
“Eat it. Put something in your stomach.”
The food still held some warmth. Chopped spring onion, Sichuan pepper, and salt were sprinkled over the pig trotter, giving off an enticing fragrance. This had been Zhou Xiu’s favourite food when she was little.
Zhou Xiu sat on the back seat of Zhou Cheng’s scooter and, hungry, took several bites in a row.
…
Wednesday.
When Zhou Xiu arrived at school, there were several boxes of Telunsu milk placed on her chair.
She thought Hua Xu had been too lazy to bring milk every day and had brought several boxes to school all at once. Just as she moved all the milk boxes onto the floor and opened her desk drawer, the snacks and nutritional supplements inside came tumbling out with a clatter.
She was startled.
When Hua Xu saw Zhou Xiu’s dazed expression, her eyes widened roundly, like a ragdoll cat’s.
Then she suddenly could not help laughing.
She pointed at the pile of things around them and said to Zhou Xiu, “Looks like they were sent by a boy from another class.”
Du Feiyang could not help bursting out laughing. “Who’s so childish?”
Like some nouveau riche. Who still pursued a girl these days by blocking up her entire desk and chair with gifts? This whole pile probably only cost a few hundred yuan. Spending that little and still wanting to chase a girl?
He patted Tan Ming on the shoulder. “Why not learn from Mingming? Even Mingming knows how to flirt better than him. It’s either Chanel or Gucci.”
Tan Ming, who had been named, suddenly looked strangely awful. He covered Du Feiyang’s mouth.
Zhou Xiu moved all the snacks and nutritional supplements out of the drawer. At the very back, she found a pink envelope. The signature belonged to a boy she did not know from the Winner Class.
Zhou Xiu carried the things and called Du Feiyang over to help.
“Help me carry these.”
Du Feiyang was extremely familiar with this kind of procedure. Class 24 produced plenty of handsome boys and pretty girls, so having snacks stuffed into desks was nothing unusual. For a period of time, Tan Ming had even been able to rely on snacks girls gave him as meals.
He raised an eyebrow. “Xiuxiu doesn’t want them?”
In the past, when Hua Xu and Tan Ming received snacks or gifts, they would share them with the classmates sitting around them. Things like chocolate, macarons, and nuts. But… Du Feiyang lowered his head and glanced at the food filling the aisle.
These things were indeed rather ridiculous. Not only ridiculous, but also large in quantity and very sustainable.
At the speed Zhou Xiu drank one box of milk a day, wouldn’t she end up thinking of him every single day?
Zhou Xiu shook her head. “Return them to him.”
When Tan Ming heard this, he could not help quickly standing up. He consciously carried one box of Telunsu milk in each hand and walked to the entrance of the Winner Class.
It was still early, and not many people had arrived at school. There were only a few people in the Winner Class.
When the boy who had secretly stuffed the pink “bomb” into her desk saw Zhou Xiu at the door, he quickly came out.
He looked rather delicate and clean, but compared with boys like Xi Shaoyuan and Tan Ming, who were blessed by heaven in terms of appearance, he fell far short.
For some reason, Tan Ming secretly let out a breath of relief.
Zhou Xiu returned everything to him, including the letter. Before Zhou Xiu could even speak, the boy said,
“I know. You don’t need to return these things to me. Xiuxiu, you’re so thin. You need more nutrition.”
He had noticed Zhou Xiu for a very long time. She was slender and thin, so frail it seemed like a gust of wind could blow her away. She looked as though she did not eat properly.
These things had clearly been bought with care.
Zhou Xiu thought for a long time, then bowed and said, “I’m sorry.”
Seeing Zhou Xiu bow, the boy almost cried. The girl he liked was such a good girl.
He kept saying, “I know, I know. You don’t need to say any more. You need to study properly. Don’t be in such a hurry to reject me.”
“Zhou Xiu, can I wait for you until after high school graduation?”
He actually cried. The sincerity in his eyes made even a grown man like Du Feiyang feel sorry for him.
Zhou Xiu personally returned the letter to him.
“There’s no need to wait for me.”
Du Feiyang and Tan Ming watched as he carried the boxes of milk, snacks, and supplements back into the classroom one by one. That figure in the cold wind was truly unforgettable.
Du Feiyang only came back to himself after returning to his seat.
He could not help sighing. “Good thing the one I like is Sister Xu. Even if she rejects me, we can still be friends. Liking Xiuxiu is really pitiful. She doesn’t even leave you a shred of hope.”
Thinking about Zhou Xiu’s personality, Du Feiyang felt this made more and more sense.
Tan Ming did not make any comment.
He aimlessly scrolled through his phone and realised that his only interaction with Zhou Xiu was a transfer he had sent her a few months ago.
Based on Tan Ming’s many years of experience, Zhou Xiu’s type of personality was not suitable for confession. The moment you confessed, you were destined to be finished. She was different from girls like Lu Lingshan, who had been used to being pursued and praised since childhood.
Tan Ming frowned slightly.
Yu Qingyan could not be bothered with Du Feiyang’s underachiever summary and simply rolled her eyes.
“Your grades aren’t even as good as Xiuxiu’s, and you still dream of Xiuxiu liking you?”
Du Feiyang could not help letting out a sound of despair. “Underachievers are cute too, okay? Underachievers have thoughts too, okay?”
Yu Qingyan nodded. “Cute, yes. But pitifully unloved.”
“Other people work hard, study late into the night, participate in competitions, and can casually get into 985 universities or Ivy League schools. You’re someone who loses half your life just taking the college entrance exam. What thoughts are you trying to discuss with her? Your thoughts aren’t even on the same level.”
Even she had the self-awareness of an underachiever. Unless Xi Shaoyuan was blind, he would never like her.
After Yu Qingyan finished expressing her thoughts, she prepared to study.
Du Feiyang turned his head and found that Tan Ming, who was usually sleepy early in the morning, had taken out an English exam paper and started working on it seriously.
Du Feiyang: “…”
“Mingming, even you think underachievers don’t deserve love?”
Tan Ming said calmly, “Don’t think too much. The monthly exam is coming soon.”
When Du Feiyang heard this, all the hairs on his body stood up. He no longer dared to keep fooling around.
…
On Wednesday afternoon, Zhou Xiu went to attend the competition class training.
Old Wang was all smiles as he held a stack of exam papers and handed them to Xie Cheng and the others.
“Perfect timing. Since you few are all here, finish these papers before leaving.”
He saw Zhou Xiu carrying her schoolbag, preparing to go next door for biology class, and slowly called out to her.
“Zhou Xiu, stop right there. You’re staying here for this lesson before you leave.”
“I already asked around. The class next door is revising experiments, and they’re all ones you’ve already done.”
Although there were only a few days left until the biology competition, there was only a month and a half left until the maths competition too. In Old Wang’s eyes, Zhou Xiu’s favouring one subject over the other was practically like having sand rubbed into his eyes.
Logically speaking, Zhou Xiu felt she should indeed stay in the maths class. After all, she had already solved the experimental section, and her completion level was quite high.
But her head felt swollen, and she was so sick of doing maths that she wanted to vomit. Going next door to look at plants would be a good way to relax.
Although Zhou Xiu was hardworking, she would not force herself too hard.
Old Wang’s gaze swept around the room. “Where’s Xi Shaoyuan?”
“Teacher, Brother Yuan asked for leave. We don’t know the reason,” a student from the Winner Class said.
Old Wang was a little angry. He looked around and did not see Zhang Qi either, so he asked, “Where is Zhang Qi?”
The Winner Class student coughed lightly and could not help secretly laughing. One student accidentally let it slip.
“He caught a cold from playing bridge yesterday, so he took a day off.”
A look of having been deceived slowly appeared on Old Wang’s face. He asked suspiciously, “You can catch a cold from playing cards?”
Skipping class was one thing, but catching a cold? This excuse was far too perfunctory. Did these students’ consciences not hurt?
Only then did the other students explain the rules of the game to Old Wang.
After Old Wang understood the whole story, he finally caught hold of a reason. He raised his eyebrows and called Zhou Xiu back.
“Perfect. Since Xi Shaoyuan and Zhang Qi didn’t come, Zhou Xiu, you can write their share too.”
“They both caught colds from playing cards with you.”
He took out two more booklets of exam papers and handed them to Zhou Xiu.
The other students: “…”
This blame was shifted in an incredibly strange way. What kind of bizarre logic was this?
Zhou Xiu, who had received ten exam papers: “…”
She sat back down, helplessly took out her gel pen, and began writing. The other students received five exam papers. Zhou Xiu received fifteen.
Clearly, Teacher Wang was dissatisfied with Zhou Xiu’s habit of missing one lesson every time she attended maths training.
Before the competition, he was going to use a sea of questions to feed up her foundation.
After school, everyone had left, but Zhou Xiu was still writing exam papers.
She rubbed her eyes.
Old Wang had kept several top students behind to write papers. Xie Cheng and Xu Haobo received the same special treatment. Xu Haobo quickly finished one paper, handed it in, and left.
Old Wang stretched lazily. “Xie Cheng, you can go back. Zhou Xiu, continue writing. I’m going to patrol the senior year self-study classes for two periods. When evening self-study ends, I hope to see that you’ve finished two papers.”
Zhou Xiu’s gel pen, which she had just put down, paused. She looked at the teacher in disbelief.
Old Wang left the classroom holding his goji berry and red date tea.
Xie Cheng sat down and said lightly, “Let’s divide the work. You do the long-answer questions, I’ll do the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.”
Xie Cheng turned on the classroom lights, sat down in the seat beside Zhou Xiu, and also took out the same Olympiad paper booklet, writing with concentration.
Zhou Xiu had originally planned to find some time to finish them all in one go, but fifteen papers were too many. She simply could not get through them.
The biology competition was next weekend. From the teacher’s tone, these papers had to be completed this week.
That would inevitably disrupt the rhythm of Zhou Xiu’s revision plan. After hearing Xie Cheng’s words, she thought for a moment and silently accepted his suggestion.
Zhou Xiu concentrated on writing the long-answer questions. She spread out all fifteen papers and worked through them one by one. Writing only the long-answer question methods was actually quite smooth. In one hour, Zhou Xiu finished two papers.
Zhou Xiu felt that her speed was already fast enough. But when she raised her head, Xie Cheng had already easily completed four papers.
Zhou Xiu was so surprised that she could not speak. Her gaze landed on Xie Cheng.
The boy’s features were clear and upright. He focused on writing the papers, the pen in his fingers occasionally drawing a casual stroke, as if he were doodling.
But Zhou Xiu knew very well that the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions were not much easier than the long-answer questions.
She finally experienced the same subtle feeling that the top students in the Rocket Class felt.
Two hours passed. Zhou Xiu pushed herself and finished another five papers.
By ten o’clock, evening self-study ended. Old Wang came over on patrol with his now-empty goji berry and red date tea. When he saw that Zhou Xiu had already finished two papers, he nodded in satisfaction.
“You can go back tonight. Hand the rest to me next weekend.”
Zhou Xiu nodded. Old Wang left the classroom.
After the teacher left, she still buried her head and continued writing. She wrote until her eyes grew sore, then took out eye drops and put in a few drops.
After resting for a while, she continued.
Xie Cheng had already finished all fifteen papers’ multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. He stood beside Zhou Xiu, bent down, took the papers, and checked them one by one.
Although they were papers rushed through in a hurry, her handwriting was unexpectedly neat and delicate, her reasoning smooth, and her answers… correct.
When Zhou Xiu reached the last few papers, she rarely got stuck. Originally, she had expected to finish by half past ten, but she ended up writing until half past eleven.
When the tip of her pen wrote down the final number, Zhou Xiu released her stiff thumb. The fifteen papers were finally finished. She leaned back against the chair and stretched.
Xie Cheng tidied up the papers and left both booklets for Zhou Xiu. In a casual tone, he said, “I’ll take you home.”
Zhou Xiu packed her schoolbag and shook her head. “Thank you, but no need. There should still be a subway.”
Xie Cheng did not force her.
After all, he had already been refused once last time.
Zhou Xiu picked up her schoolbag and hurried away, wanting to catch the last subway. But just as she reached the subway station, she realised the subway had already stopped running.
She took out her phone, intending to call Zhou Cheng. But after hesitating for a while, she stuffed it back into her pocket.
Her parents had to get up early. They should both be asleep by now.
At this moment, the system said:
[Young one, let me call a car for you.]
Zhou Xiu shook her head. [Taking a car alone late at night isn’t safe. I’ll see if there are any shared bikes.]
It thought for a moment. [I’ll match you with a driver of good character, someone who has received commendations… a female driver.]
It emphasised the word “female,” making Zhou Xiu laugh.
[Okay, I’ll call a car. You match it for me.]
Late at night, the bustling city had already fallen into silence. The downtown crowds gradually dispersed. Only the roadside food stalls were still doing lively business.
Xie Cheng’s driver looked at the girl’s figure ahead and could not help asking, “Do we really have to follow her?”
Why not simply ask her to get in? The Xie family’s driver really could not connect the word “stalker” with his young master.
The cool glow from the phone screen fell across Xie Cheng’s face. He said lightly, “She doesn’t want to get in the car.”
“Follow her.”
Zhou Xiu walked towards the agreed pick-up spot for the ride-hailing car. When she passed a roadside food stall, a girl with a flushed face could not help calling out to her.
“Hey, little sister. Is there a car following you from behind?”
A black Phaeton was trailing not too far behind the girl, moving at a snail’s pace. When she turned, it turned too. It was obviously following her.
The girl was wearing a high school uniform. Yude’s black-and-white striped spring uniform made her look bright-eyed and graceful, pure and striking. From a distance, her figure alone made people feel she was a pretty girl.
When she got closer, they discovered that her features were even more lively and delicate.
The table of men and women watched as the million-yuan luxury car slowly followed behind the girl, as if escorting her the whole way. They could not help cursing inwardly. Damn, he really knew how to play.
These days, young and pretty girls were exactly the kind of girls men deceived with sugar-coated bullets.
When Zhou Xiu heard this, she turned around in surprise and discovered Xie Cheng.
Only then did the car simply drive forward a little. Xie Cheng got out of the car and said helplessly, “Sorry. It isn’t safe for a girl to walk alone at night.”
“Get in. It’s late. Go home early and sleep.”
Zhou Xiu froze for a long while. The night wind messed up her hair. Looking at Xie Cheng standing beside the car, she felt something strange yet warm.
Her gaze fell on Xie Cheng’s face. After thinking for a moment, she cancelled her order and got into Xie Cheng’s car.
In less than twenty minutes, Zhou Xiu arrived home.
After getting out of the car, Zhou Xiu said to Xie Cheng inside, “Thank you.” Her figure was quickly swallowed by the old, run-down residential building.
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