This speech nearly stunned Zhang Shu—it was the longest string of words he’d heard from her since they met.

Zhang Shu chuckled lightly, saying rather helplessly: “Alright, you’re cultured, I can’t argue with you. Get on.”

She… how should she get on?

Sideways, or straddling…

After waiting a while with still no movement from the girl, Zhang Shu turned back to see her conflicted expression.

“Sitting sideways violates traffic regulations, it’s illegal,” he reminded her, thinking of the law book and laughing, “aren’t you a law-abiding good citizen?”

Sheng Xia didn’t notice anything odd in his words. After hesitating for a few seconds, she still lifted her leg over the back seat, then slowly inched backward, not touching the person in front with any part of her body.

Zhang Shu twisted the handlebar and set off.

Little White had a speed limit of 40, normally she rode at most at 30, keeping under 20 when entering the residential area and campus. Zhang Shu immediately twisted the throttle to the maximum—due to inertia, Sheng Xia nearly fell off backward, fortunately, she tightly grabbed the rear safety bar…

Her heart was pounding.

Zhang Shu loosened the throttle to reduce speed, apologizing: “Sorry, I’m trying to get used to it.”

Sheng Xia reminded him: “Go slower…”

The wind scattered her faint voice backward, Zhang Shu hadn’t heard clearly, “What did you say?”

Sheng Xia, still shaken, leaned forward a bit, tilting her head near his ear to patiently repeat: “Go slower…”

Go slower…

The soft, delicate voice, carrying resignation, admonishment, and pleading, like a feather in the wind, carelessly brushed past Zhang Shu’s earlobe.

That line?

“Screech—” The bike made a harsh sound as it suddenly braked against the ground. Due to inertia, Sheng Xia completely fell forward onto his back. The young man’s spine stiffened, tensed rock-hard, painfully colliding with her, and she quickly pulled back when she realized.

Does he even know how to ride a bike?

“Shut up!” Zhang Shu suddenly turned back and shouted at the girl.

Sheng Xia: … She hadn’t voiced her doubt out loud, why was he telling her to shut up?

He looked quite angry, his ears and cheeks flushed red.

But shouldn’t she be the angry one?

Too fierce, too frightening, too inexplicable.

The latter half of the journey went much smoother, he drove at a steady speed, turning corners stably too.

First and second-year students were still on holiday, so there weren’t many people on campus in the early morning, though there were a few early arrivals scattered about.

Sheng Xia wore her helmet with her head lowered, wishing she could vanish from the world.

A boy and girl sharing a bike…

She didn’t know what the rumor environment was like at Affiliated High, but at No. 2 High, within a day, rumors of puppy love would be flying everywhere. If the people involved usually had good reputations, the rumors would stop there, but if their reputations were worse, there would be even more unpleasant talk.

She should have refused him.

Fortunately, there was no one at the bike shed at this time. As soon as the bike stopped, Sheng Xia quickly got off, removed her helmet, took the bike from his hands, moved it into place, hung the helmet on the handlebar, removed the key, and locked it.

Then she shouldered her backpack and walked toward the teaching building.

The series of actions flowed smoothly, and she didn’t look at him once throughout.

Zhang Shu stood straight-backed in place, just watching the girl’s departing figure, not calling out to her either.

The entire morning, the two had no communication, whether verbal, visual, or physical.

Sheng Xia even reduced her frequency of going out for water, and when she had to go out, she silently waited for him to move of his own accord.

Even Hou Junqi felt something was strange between these two, but couldn’t pinpoint what was strange, so he kept frequently looking back.

“What are you being so sneaky about?” Zhang Shu said mercilessly.

Hou Junqi’s happiest thing today was that he could eat at Sister Sujin’s place! He giggled: “Thinking about the good food at lunch, I’m a bit excited, almost moved to tears.”

Zhang Shu: “How pathetic.”

Hou Junqi looked toward Sheng Xia beside them: “Little Sheng Xia, you’re at the lunch boarding on the second floor of the north gate, right?”

Sheng Xia nodded: “Mm.”

“Let’s go eat lunch together?” Hou Junqi was beside himself with joy, looking at everyone like family.

Sheng Xia was completely exasperated, suddenly learning to refuse directly: “No.”

Even more decisively than when refusing to run for Chinese class representative.

Hou Junqi was stunned—how did the soft Little Sheng Xia suddenly grow spikes? He turned his head to look at Zhang Shu, only to see a face of complete indifference.

But in the end, Sheng Xia still encountered Zhang Shu and Hou Junqi at the lunch boarding.

Although she knew they were relatives, seeing Zhang Shu standing in front of the owner, the two looking like male and female versions from the same mold, Sheng Xia was still slightly surprised. He called the owner “Sis,” so she was probably his real sister.

Though the owner was beautiful, she looked almost thirty, more than ten years older than Zhang Shu.

No wonder he was named “Shu,” his parents must have had him quite late.

So was that why they spoiled him until he became so fierce all the time?

Sheng Xia ate a bit faster, and by the time Hou Junqi saw her, she was already preparing to pack up and leave.

“Hey? Little Sheng Xia? Why are you leaving already?”

Her response was a polite nod and resolute departure.

Hou Junqi: “Why is she running like she’s fleeing from disaster?”

“She finds your way of addressing her disgusting,” Zhang Shu said flatly as he set down his tray and sat.

Hou Junqi innocently: “Little Sheng Xia? What’s disgusting about that? It’s endearing.”

“She’s not little,” Zhang Shu said, then seeing Hou Junqi’s eyes widen, knowing this guy’s mind was full of certain trashy thoughts, he rolled his eyes and added, “She’s 166 centimeters.”

Hou Junqi: “Can’t tell at all, she looks so tiny I thought she was 150?”

Zhang Shu: “Is that necessary?”

Originally Zhang Shu had also thought she was frail and thin, but that day when he held her arm to write on it, the feeling wasn’t bony, and this morning when she fell against his back…

She was quite plump, probably just had a small frame.

Her figure was slender, and she was very fair, soft, and gentle, appearing delicate. To someone as tall and robust as Hou Junqi she indeed looked tiny, but surely not 150cm.

“Just exaggerating,” Hou Junqi caught on, “but how do you know?”

Zhang Shu raised an eyebrow, not answering, just eating by himself. An expression of ‘I just know.’

Hou Junqi ate a few mouthfuls of rice, finished marveling at how precious this meal was, then suddenly seemed to remember something and changed the subject: “Why do I feel like Little Sheng Xia is avoiding you?”

Zhang Shu lifted his eyelids, giving him a bland look—not completely thick-headed after all.

Hou Junqi: “Why?”

Zhang Shu paused slightly, saying: “Because she has a guilty conscience.”

Hou Junqi said: “Guilty about what?”

Zhang Shu hadn’t planned to discuss the morning’s events, only telling Hou Junqi about the birthday gift.

Hou Junqi nearly spat his soup on the table, forcing it down and choking, coughing while laughing until tears flew, “Hahahaha what a legend, the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China! Too interesting hahahaha!”

Zhang Shu said: “You better stop stuffing your precious things in my backpack!”

Hou Junqi coughed: “Yes sir hahahaha must obey the law hahahaha!”

“Shut up, you’re spitting food.”

“So you’re not going to explain?”

“What’s there to explain about something that didn’t happen?”

The debtor is always more arrogant than the creditor, and the informant is always more anxious than the accused.

How interesting?