“No, why is she touching her head?”
“Why is she touching her head?”
“She touched her head?!”
Lu Xingyan stared at Shen Xingruo for a few seconds, amazed, and instinctively retorted, “I didn’t…”
Wang Youfu and the other classmates’ gazes all swiveled towards him: No, you did.
Lu Xingyan had been late for fights and skipped classes countless times, dissed by teachers for countless reasons, but he had never felt so unjustly accused before.
He wanted to say something but felt utterly speechless. Subconsciously, he turned his head and glanced at Shen Xingruo, only to realize that the white peacock was gracefully swimming in a pond of lotus flowers, blending perfectly with the blooming white lotuses.
—A startling transformation indeed.
Thanks to the blessing of the Go chess duo, Wang Youfu, who was about to conclude his speech, suddenly found a new topic. It was unclear why his expressive desire was so strong. After taking a sip of tea, he began fervently criticizing the group of unruly students led by Lu Xingyan once again.
Sometimes he spoke vehemently, his tone full of heartfelt frustration; other times, he rambled on with gentle words, attempting to educate these ignorant young gentlemen and lead them onto the path of learning.
The audience below merely sported over fifty indifferent faces.
After all, the punishments the school had imposed on this group of unruly students were severe enough that their ancestors up to three generations back could have been expelled directly. These inconsequential criticisms and educations were even more frequent than menstrual periods.
Yet everyone knew that as long as they didn’t commit murder or arson, the school wouldn’t expel them. All the criticisms and punishments amounted to nothing more than entries in the “So What” deluxe package.
So why couldn’t this caring homeroom teacher let these weak, innocent, and kind-hearted boys go home for dinner???
At six o’clock sharp, students from other classes had already dispersed, and the first-year chicks finally experienced liberation.
Perhaps because this liberation was hard-won, the chicks slipped away at lightning speed, as if they were afraid that Wang Youfu might suddenly remember something and utter another nightmare-inducing “Wait, I’ll just take two more minutes.”
When Shen Xingruo finished packing her bag, the classroom was already half-empty.
She glanced back at the sanitation corner.
There was no hope left for Lu Xingyan’s intelligence, but fortunately, having been disciplined twice, his memory had improved slightly.
Wang Youfu announced the end of the school day, and he conscientiously went to the back of the classroom to get a broom, and incidentally, also fetched one for Shen Xingruo.
It’s unclear whether it was Wang Youfu’s reprimand that made him deeply reflect and want to reform himself, or if he wanted to prove that he hadn’t bullied the delicate Shen Daiyu.
After they finished cleaning, it was already half past six.
The sunset glowed warmly on the horizon, with a few birds occasionally flying by, decorating the twilight scene like an oil painting.
The teaching building for sophomores was deserted, and there was no sign of anyone playing basketball or soccer on the usual playground.
Once they left the school gate and didn’t encounter any familiar classmates, the two of them naturally parted ways.
As they walked and talked, Lu Xingyan said, “My mom called me at noon, saying she’s going to get her hair done today and also do some beauty treatments. She won’t be back until late.”
Shen Xingruo: “I know, Aunt Pei called me too.”
Pei Yue was fussing over her appearance just to attend Shen Guangyao’s wedding. Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo both understood this tacitly, so they didn’t dwell much on this gloomy topic.
As usual, Uncle Liu parked the car at the corner of Shuxiang Road. Due to Wang Youfu’s unexpected nagging, he innocently waited for nearly two hours. Lu Xingyan opened the rear door and casually leaned his arm on the door frame, gesturing for Shen Xingruo to go in first. Shen Xingruo glanced at him. Lu Xingyan lounged beside her, giving her a sidelong glance. “What are you looking at?” Shen Xingruo calmly praised, “Not bad, showing a bit of gentlemanly demeanor.” Lu Xingyan chuckled lightly, his lips involuntarily curling upwards.
Zhai Jiajing didn’t go home this weekend. She had already made plans with a classmate from the freshman year who also wasn’t going home, to have dinner together downtown. The two changed into their clothes and left the dormitory to catch a bus on the main road.
They were originally chatting and laughing about the restaurant they planned to eat at that evening when Zhai Jiajing’s gaze inadvertently fell on the nearby Bentley. “Jingjing, Jingjing? What are you looking at?” She was absent-minded. “Oh, nothing, just seemed to have spotted a classmate from my class.” “Where?” The curious girl looked around. Zhai Jiajing didn’t respond, just watched as the two of them got into the car one after the other, observed Lu Xingyan’s smile, then watched him casually close the car door, and finally watched the Bentley speed away and disappear at the end of the road. She didn’t know what she was thinking, just pursed her lips, remaining silent.
It was already an hour later when they returned to Luoxing Lake. Friday evening rush hour traffic to the outskirts was particularly heavy. Uncle Liu kept checking his watch in the car, and both Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan noticed. They asked if he was in a hurry. He waved it off, saying it was nothing. It wasn’t until they were about to enter the villa area that he inadvertently let slip—today was his youngest daughter’s fifth birthday, and he had promised this cute little cotton-padded jacket to buy a cake and celebrate her birthday together. Lu Xingyan suggested, “Uncle Liu, let’s park here. It’s easier to turn around, and we can just walk in.” “This…”
Shen Xingruo also spoke up, “It’s okay, Uncle Liu. It’s pretty congested now, so drive safely.” Since he was indeed in a hurry to get home, he didn’t insist further. He dropped the two of them off at the entrance of the villa area and turned the car around, driving away.
After the long winter days, daylight began to stretch out. At half past seven, it wasn’t completely dark yet. However, the lake lights of Luoxing Lake and the surrounding streetlights all lit up precisely at seven o’clock, casting a warm orange glow against the sky, creating a peculiar yet cozy atmosphere.
Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo walked in through the intricately carved iron gate, one after the other. Suddenly, Shen Xingruo remarked, “Uncle Liu is good to his daughter.” Lu Xingyan instinctively replied, “With just one precious daughter, of course, he would be.” He didn’t notice the subtle change in Shen Xingruo’s mood and continued, “When Uncle Liu was in his thirties, his eldest daughter passed away in a car accident. At that time, half of his hair turned white in distress. It wasn’t until he was forty that he had another daughter, who he treasures like the apple of his eye.” Shen Xingruo responded, “Oh, I see.”
Lu Xingyan glanced at her, belatedly realizing that he might have said something he shouldn’t have. He felt uneasy, “Hey, I didn’t mean it like that.” Shen Xingruo turned her head, “Mean what?” Lu Xingyan hesitated, “…”
The two of them remained silent for the rest of the way. Upon entering the house, it was eerily quiet. Lu Xingyan was starving, and he pretended to be calm as he called out, “Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi?” Shen Xingruo put down her backpack, went into the kitchen for a quick look around, and came out saying, “Zhou Yi isn’t here, and there’s no dinner prepared.” Lu Xingyan asked, “What’s going on?”
Lu Xingyan unlocked his phone and saw a voice message from Pei Yue half an hour ago, saying that Zhou Yi’s daughter-in-law was pregnant, so Zhou Yi took a day off this week and asked them to have dinner before going home. Lu Xingyan was speechless. He shook his phone and said, “Ah Miss, Zhou Yi took the day off. Let’s order takeout. What do you feel like eating?”
Shen Xingruo, who had been somewhat hungry before, now didn’t feel hungry at all, whether it was because she had lost her appetite after Lu Xingyan’s words or because she had been too hungry earlier.
“It’s up to you. I’m fine with anything,” she replied.
Lu Xingyan casually chose a popular restaurant, “Stir-fried mixed vegetables, braised eggplant, corn spare rib soup, steamed bass?”
Shen Xingruo nodded.
After Lu Xingyan finished ordering, he slouched onto the sofa, playing with his phone. Without much thought, he asked, “I didn’t realize you ate so lightly.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, his fingers on the screen froze abruptly.
Shen Xingruo didn’t find anything wrong and said as she poured water, “Actually, I can eat spicy food too.”
This was their first time alone at home. They both went back to their rooms to change out of their school uniforms and returned to the living room, each occupying a sofa. While talking was okay, the silence seemed unusually heavy.
Shen Xingruo peeled an orange and ate it while watching something on her tablet. Halfway through, she seemed to remember something and turned to ask, “Do you want some?”
Lu Xingyan lifted his eyelids and made a noncommittal sound of agreement, accepting.
Shen Xingruo warned, “It’s a bit sour.”
Lu Xingyan didn’t take it seriously and stuffed half of it into his mouth anyway— “…” Damn, that’s sour.
How did she manage to eat it without even changing her expression?
A hundred thousand questions about life flashed through Lu Xingyan’s mind for a moment. But Shen Xingruo just stared straight at him, leaving him unsure of what expression to make. Anyway, his intuition told him that even if it was a piece of orange-flavored shit, he should swallow it without changing his expression.
A minute later, he did.
Shen Xingruo calmly remarked, “You can handle sour pretty well.”
Lu Xingyan couldn’t discern whether she was being sarcastic, praising him, or just casually commenting. Anyway, his facial muscles seemed to have lost their ability to move, feeling like tomorrow’s headline in the Star City Evening News would read “Mingli High School Second-Year Student Dies from Sour Oranges by Luoxing Lake Villa.”
Elite school, luxury mansion, bizarre cause of death. Perfect, front-page material.
He couldn’t speak, and could only slump back onto the sofa with a blank expression.
After waiting for ten minutes, he finally managed to regain some composure. During these ten minutes, Shen Xingruo finished eating the other half of the orange. Maybe the orange stimulated her appetite because she started feeling a bit hungry. She raised her head and asked, “How much longer until the takeout arrives?”
Lu Xingyan picked up his phone again, his voice flat, “It’s rush hour now, and there are many people ordering takeout, so it might be a bit late.” This excuse sounded reasonable.
Shen Xingruo didn’t say anything, seemingly accepting it.
Half an hour later, she asked again, “Hasn’t it arrived yet?”
Lu Xingyan was already starving, but he couldn’t afford to disgrace himself in front of the white peacock. He glanced over and replied indifferently, “What’s the rush? Let me check where the delivery guy is.”
Suddenly, a long and profound silence filled the air. Lu Xingyan stared fixedly at the screen of his phone, sitting up a bit straighter. This was just absurd. The takeaway order was still stuck on the payment screen, showing as overdue and automatically canceled?! Shen Xingruo looked at him for a while, her eyes filled with questions.
Lu Xingyan put down his phone, finished digesting the situation, and then prepared his excuse, “You might not believe this, but I forgot to make the payment.”
“…,” Shen Xingruo was silent for three seconds. “No, I believe in your intelligence.”
Lu Xingyan had no argument. After a moment of silence, he said, “Alright, my bad. Let’s go out for dinner.”