HomeFalling In LoveZhui Luo - Chapter 11

Zhui Luo – Chapter 11

The physics competition was scheduled for the day after the National Day holiday ended. It was a provincial-level competition that required traveling to another city.

The school had arranged a large bus and the competition class students boarded it together after school the previous day. Only those who earned a first-place prize at the provincial level would qualify for the national competition. Among the 26 students in the competition class, only Zhou Wan and Jiang Yan had a chance at first place.

The two sat together on the bus. Zhou Wan hadn’t slept well the previous night and began napping as soon as she boarded, while Jiang Yan reviewed his collected problem sets beside her.

By the time they reached their destination, night had fallen. The teacher in charge stood at the front of the group and instructed, “Everyone will room in pairs. Dinner will be delivered to your rooms later. Don’t order any takeout tonight—if you get sick, all these months of preparation will have been wasted.”

Zhou Wan was paired with a cute girl named Huang Jia, who had an outgoing personality and immediately greeted her with a cheerful “Hi.” The school took this competition seriously and had arranged nice accommodations to ensure they could rest well.

“Zhou Wan, do you want to shower first or study?” Huang Jia asked.

“Either is fine.”

“Then you go shower first. I need to step out for a bit and I’ll shower when I get back.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Wan called her grandmother first. When she finished her shower and came out, Huang Jia had just returned and was at the door waving goodbye to someone: “Good night, sleep early, and good luck on tomorrow’s exam!”

A male voice outside responded gently, “You too, good night.”

Huang Jia closed the door and turned to see Zhou Wan: “All done with your shower?”

“Yes, it’s still warm inside. You should go quickly.”

Huang Jia rubbed her hands together: “Good, it’s freezing outside. Why does it feel like winter already when it’s only October?”

Zhou Wan sat at the desk and took out several practice tests she had completed. Huang Jia soon emerged and sat down beside her to review as well.

Her phone kept buzzing, and she occasionally broke into smiles. After a while, she turned to ask, “Zhou Wan, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Huh?” Zhou Wan shook her head. “No.”

“Why don’t you date when you’re so pretty? There must be lots of guys who like you,” Huang Jia shrugged and said, “Actually, when the competition class first formed, I thought you and Jiang Yan were a couple.”

Zhou Wan replied with surprise, “How could that be? Jiang Yan and I are just friends.”

“Because you’re first and second in the class, and desk mates too. But I figured out later that wasn’t the case,” Huang Jia said. “Besides, I think dating Jiang Yan would be pretty boring. He’s stubborn and such a bookworm, even if he is handsome.”

Zhou Wan thought for a moment and said, “Dating me would probably be boring too.”

“No way!” Huang Jia exclaimed dramatically. “You’re super beautiful! And you seem so sweet and gentle—lots of guys like that type.”

Indeed, quite a few boys had confessed to Zhou Wan. But she had rejected them all, saying she was too young and needed to focus on her studies.

Zhou Wan asked, “So are you dating someone?”

“I was just out with my boyfriend earlier!” She pulled out her phone to show photos. “Look, this is him.”

It was a selfie of them together, faces pressed close, with sweet smiles. The boy was a tall, bespectacled student from their competition class.

Looking at the photo, Zhou Wan inexplicably recalled how Lu Xixiao had looked when he was dating before.

“Huang Jia,” Zhou Wan asked, “What does it feel like to be in love?”

“It’s wonderful! I’m happy to see him, happy to talk to him, and even though we fight sometimes, he always comes to make up right away.” Huang Jia’s face glowed with happiness as she spoke about it.

Zhou Wan paused.

Huang Jia leaned in curiously: “Zhou Wan, asking this—do you like someone?”

“…No.”

“What do you mean no! Your reaction means you do! Who is it? Who?”

Zhou Wan didn’t know how to explain.

Fortunately, Huang Jia didn’t press further. She cupped her face in her hands, clicked her tongue twice, and then suddenly said, “Well, I just think as long as it’s not Lu Xixiao from our class, it’s fine.”

Zhou Wan froze and turned to look at her.

Huang Jia continued: “Even though so many girls like him, I feel like dating a guy like that would only be happy at the start. Later on, you’d always be anxious and overthinking things.”

Just then, Zhou Wan’s phone vibrated.

[6] had sent a message.

Zhou Wan quickly picked up her phone with a guilty conscience and opened it.

[6: Not at the arcade?]

[Zhou Wan: I’m not there today, I’m out of town for a competition. The store should be open though, you can go.]

[6: When are you coming back?]

[Zhou Wan: Tomorrow evening.]

After a pause, she added: [Is something wrong?]

Lu Xixiao didn’t reply further.

Zhou Wan studied a bit more before going to bed early.

The competition lasted two days.

Last year’s papers had been easy, so following the pattern, this year would be difficult—and indeed it was.

Zhou Wan tied her hair back neatly and focused on solving the problems.

Zhou Wan was good at difficult problems—the harder they were, the more she could distinguish herself.

The final exam was three hours long. When the bell rang, many students still had half their papers empty.

Some who had placed great importance on this competition began crying as soon as they handed in their papers.

Zhou Wan packed up her things and left the exam room, running into Jiang Yan on her way downstairs.

“Zhou Wan, how did you do?”

“Not bad, though I couldn’t solve the last two parts of the second-to-last question,” Zhou Wan said.

“That one? I solved the second part but only got halfway through the third part before getting stuck.”

It seemed Jiang Yan had performed quite well.

Zhou Wan smiled, noticing something different about his mood: “You seem especially happy today?”

“Mm.” Jiang Yan’s face showed an unusually joyful smile. “My dad’s coming to pick me up today.”

The school had held many parent-teacher conferences, but Zhou Wan had never seen Jiang Yan’s parents.

She knew he was raised by his grandparents, so his father must work away from home most of the time.

The bus took them back to Pingchuan City, dropping them off at school.

It was already dark when they arrived.

As soon as they got off the bus, Jiang Yan rushed to a shiny black car at the school gate, with a small golden ornament on the hood. Even though Zhou Wan didn’t know much about cars, she knew what kind this was.

The car window rolled down.

Jiang Yan smiled and said, “Dad, have you been waiting long?”

The man in the suit smiled back: “Not long, I just got here. Get in, I’ll take you to dinner.”

“Okay.” Jiang Yan turned to wave goodbye to Zhou Wan.

The man asked, “Is this your classmate? Come along, I’ll give you a ride home.”

“No need, uncle. Thank you, but it’s very convenient for me to take the bus from up ahead,” Zhou Wan said.

Zhou Wan had met Jiang Yan’s grandmother, a very simple old lady, and knew their family wasn’t well-off, which was why he was always so focused on succeeding.

And his father… seemed somewhat familiar.

But Zhou Wan didn’t think she could be familiar with such a man.

She thought it must be her imagination and walked alone toward the bus stop. Halfway there, she suddenly stopped as she remembered—

That was… Lu Xixiao’s father.

She had seen him once at the hospital before.

The man in the luxury car just now seemed to be Lu Xixiao’s father.

Then she recalled Jiang Yan’s previous comments about Lu Xixiao.

He had said Lu Xixiao was just wasting his days spending his family’s money, and without his family, he would be nothing.

What was going on…

Before Zhou Wan could think it through, an urgent voice called out.

“Hey, student! Hey!” Jiang Fan ran up breathlessly. “I finally found you!”

“You… you could just call my name,” Zhou Wan stepped back slightly, asking softly, “Did you need something?”

“Have you been in contact with Xiao?”

Zhou Wan paused: “Last night we talked.”

“Damn it, that lunatic Luo He’s been holding a grudge since Xiao got the better of him last time, and last night he ambushed him when he was alone!”

Zhou Wan’s heart skipped a beat: “Is he okay?”

“That’s why I’m worried—we don’t know how he is,” Jiang Fan was covered in sweat. “He won’t answer when we knock, and he hangs up calls, though thank god he can at least hang up, which means he’s still alive.”

“Was he hurt badly?”

“Not sure, but I saw a pool of blood there. They probably used a knife, and of all days, it had to be yesterday.”

Zhou Wan: “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?”

Jiang Fan originally didn’t want to say, but looking at Zhou Wan’s clear eyes, and given the current situation where he was out of options, he decided to tell her everything.

“Yesterday was the anniversary of Xiao’s mom’s death. Her passing hit him hard, and every year on this day, even though he doesn’t say anything, the atmosphere around him gets heavy.”

Jiang Fan sighed, “I’m mainly worried he won’t take care of his injuries. Small wounds are one thing, but they used a knife—if it gets infected, it could be life-threatening.”

Zhou Wan frowned: “Do you have any way to see him?”

“If I had a way, I wouldn’t be looking for you!”

“…”

Jiang Fan said: “Could you go to his house? He might let you in.”

“Huh?”

“Please.”

“…”

*

Zhou Wan took the address Jiang Fan gave her and found the small villa two streets behind her house, at 18 Mountain Road.

It was an old villa, three stories high with a small garden, though it was poorly maintained with waist-high weeds. On one side, ivy-covered an entire wall.

It was abandoned-looking, with an untamed wildness.

Zhou Wan worried Lu Xixiao might be in trouble.

The outer iron gate wasn’t locked and opened with a push, making a harsh sound.

Zhou Wan looked around as she slowly walked in.

The inner door was closed. She rang the doorbell and waited a while, but no one came to open it.

After a pause, she took out her phone and dialed Lu Xixiao’s number.

There was no ringtone, just a series of dull “beeps.”

Finally, a cold female voice announced—The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable.

Zhou Wan frowned and called again.

It was the same, and just when she thought Lu Xixiao wouldn’t answer, the beeping suddenly stopped. The other end was deathly quiet except for very faint breathing.

“Lu Xixiao,” Zhou Wan said softly.

He still didn’t speak.

Zhou Wan’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she said gently: “I’m at your door.”

Two seconds later, he hung up.

Zhou Wan’s fingers tightened slightly on her phone. She lowered her hand, put the phone in her pocket, gripped her backpack strap, and sighed very quietly.

If Jiang Fan, his good friend, couldn’t help, what could she do?

Zhou Wan stood at the door for a while, deciding to go buy some gauze and alcohol from the pharmacy, along with some food to leave at his door.

Just as she turned to leave, the door suddenly clicked and opened.

The house was very dark, without a single light on.

Lu Xixiao wore a white shirt and gray pants, his hair disheveled, his eyelashes casting shadows in the light. He looked down at the girl before him expressionlessly.

Zhou Wan had come straight here after getting off the bus, still carrying her heavy backpack. Her black hair fell to her chest, framing her small, pale face, her dark eyes gazing at him quietly and gently.

She seemed completely out of place with her surroundings.

Lu Xixiao released the doorknob without a word, took off his slippers, kicked them toward Zhou Wan, and turned to go inside.

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