At 12:30, as soon as Hou Junqi finished his ranked game, he rubbed his stomach and tried to negotiate with a certain top student immersed in practice problems: “Shu, are we going? Books may contain jade-like beauties and houses of gold, but they don’t have rice!”

Zhang Shu glanced at the clock on the podium, took off his glasses, and said, “Let’s go, you won’t starve to death.”

Hou Junqi sprang up, “Hurry up then, my chest is about to stick to my back!”

Zhang Shu laughed freely: “With that chest of yours, it wouldn’t touch your back even if you starved for half a month.”

Hou Junqi: “Stop yapping, think you’re special just because you’re skinny!”

The cafeteria was sparsely populated at this hour, with few dishes remaining.

The metal trays on the display counter were almost empty, with the few that still had food containing only vegetables, and some with nothing but side dishes.

The two of them practically cleaned out what was left. Zhang Shu ate expressionlessly while Hou Junqi was nearly in tears. Without meat, his whole day would be ruined. He missed Sister Su Jin’s braised pork ribs, crispy fried meat, yellow-braised fish, cola chicken wings, braised beef… ah no, even her stir-fried eggplant would be better than this monk’s fare before him.

“Shu, how long are we going to eat at the cafeteria? Give me a number,” Hou Junqi asked while poking at his rice.

Zhang Shu lifted his eyelids, his gaze somewhat exasperated, “Didn’t I say until my sister gets married? Back then you were so supportive, acting like you were her brother instead of me. Having second thoughts now?”

“How could I? I’ll fight till the end for Sister Su Jin’s happiness,” Hou Junqi wolfed down several mouthfuls of rice before deflating again, “But can’t we come earlier? What kind of stuff are we eating…”

Zhang Shu: “Would they sell it to you for two yuan if we came earlier?”

Hou Junqi said: “It’s not like we’re short on money, didn’t you just sell your wrong-problem notebook?”

This money-making method impressed Hou Junqi—Zhang Shu sold his notes to the North Gate stationery store owner, who then made copies to sell to underclassmen. A win-win situation.

Zhang Shu: “You think that money would last long?”

Hou Junqi: “I can lend you money!”

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. This wasn’t about money at all—Zhang Shu was determined to prove his independence to Zhang Su Jin, to show her he could manage on his own so she could live her own life.

Moreover, he knew Zhang Shu had saved several thousand yuan over two years, constantly exploring ways to make money for earlier independence. He earned quite a bit just from dealing with electronic products and game accounts online. Zhang Shu was truly clever, just extremely frugal.

“Would it kill you to be nicer to yourself? If you weren’t so stingy, Chen Mengyao would’ve thrown herself at you long ago…” Hou Junqi muttered under his breath, frustrated but cautious.

Zhang Shu looked up, leaned back in his chair, and stared at Hou Junqi, “What’s it got to do with her? Others might be brainless, but you’re with me every day—are you brainless too? You don’t have to stick with me.”

Seeing he wasn’t joking, Hou Junqi’s hand froze as he was about to pick up his chopsticks. “Zhang Shu, what do you mean? Is that what you think I meant?”

Zhang Shu said: “I don’t mean anything. This is my business, you don’t need to get involved.”

A surge of anger rushed to Hou Junqi’s head, making it tilt sideways in fury, “What’s the point of saying things like that? What kind of brotherhood is this?”

Zhang Shu maintained his lazy expression.

Hou Junqi stood up with a “whoosh,” threw down his chopsticks, and stormed off.

He walked to the cafeteria entrance without hearing any call from behind. He scratched his head and looked back.

But Zhang Shu just kept eating, not even offering a parting glance, as if his friend’s dramatic exit hadn’t stirred the slightest ripple in his heart.

Hou Junqi turned away angrily and strode off.

Walking along, he grew increasingly angry. After leaving the North Gate, he hailed a taxi to go eat at a restaurant alone.

His friendship with Zhang Shu had started with a fight—though they had been fighting others together.

At the beginning of tenth grade, Zhang Shu wasn’t yet a top student, but he wasn’t as poor a student as Hou Junqi. Neither of them liked studying, but Zhang Shu consistently ranked between fifteenth and twentieth in class, while Hou Junqi was always near the bottom.

Initially, he didn’t like Zhang Shu, who seemed arrogant and cool.

The most annoying part was that Zhang Shu never did or said anything particularly arrogant, yet every movement exuded coolness.

This should have made girls flock to him while boys avoided him, but strangely, even the boys gathered around his desk and praised him behind his back.

Hou Junqi, coming from the basketball team and having been a leader among kids since childhood, had never seen anyone like this.

Their first interaction was during an inter-class basketball tournament. Zhang Shu played well, just too cleanly, making it impossible for them to coordinate. Nice guys finish last—the opposing team used street basketball tactics, frequently showing off and fouling, with the referee making biased calls. Hou Junqi lost his temper and pushed the referee, getting ejected, and Class Six lost their ace player and the championship.

That evening, Hou Junqi went to confront the referee at his class but was told he’d gone to an internet café. He rushed there, only to witness a one-versus-three fight in an alley.

Zhang Shu alone, facing three eleventh graders, was holding his own. What won him the fight wasn’t technique, but brains.

While the three only knew how to rush in with punches and kicks, Zhang Shu went straight for the leader, dodging behind a tree, then grabbed the referee’s arm, twisted it back, and pinned him against the tree. The referee howled in pain, unable to see how Zhang Shu had done it.

Zhang Shu said: “You dare to referee? You’re not worthy of playing basketball. Might as well end it here.”

The referee was practically begging for mercy, apologizing repeatedly.

At this moment, one person in Zhang Shu’s blind spot quietly picked up a glass bottle from a garbage bin and was about to smash it on Zhang Shu’s head. Hou Junqi burst out from behind the internet café and kicked the guy in the backside, sending him face-first into the ground.

After the fight, they sat drinking beer at the back door of the internet café. Hou Junqi said: “I could’ve handled my revenge, you didn’t need to get involved.”

Zhang Shu glanced at him, “Full of yourself.”

Despite his words, he clinked his beer can against Hou Junqi’s. Then Zhang Shu threw his head back and downed the entire can, shaking the empty can at him with a smile.

Hou Junqi felt bewitched, with only one thought in his mind: This guy was genuinely cool.

He downed his beer in one go too.

Like the oath-taking wine in the Peach Garden, that drink sealed their brotherhood.

He never would have guessed Zhang Shu could fight so well, skinny as he was.

After they became friends, he learned where Zhang Shu’s fighting skills came from.

Zhang Shu was a pitiful case—he had no parents.

His father died of heatstroke at a construction site, making the newspapers. While site managers and developers negotiated with his family daily, his mother was depressed throughout her pregnancy with him and died the day she gave birth. His sister, eighteen years his senior, raised him.

His sister, Zhang Su Jin, had been a singer. Though she’d released several songs without much success, being young and exceptionally beautiful, she had promising prospects if she’d persevered.

But to raise Zhang Shu, Zhang Su Jin abandoned her music dreams, returning from Dongzhou to Nanli to sell breakfast in their hometown. She was skilled and beautiful, making her business quite successful, but her beauty also attracted troublemakers, which was why Zhang Shu learned to fight from an early age, though no one knew how many beatings it took to learn.

After saving some money, in Zhang Shu’s final year of middle school, she opened a fast-food restaurant at the North Gate of South University Affiliated High School.

Zhang Shu, who had been living like a delinquent, only got into Affiliated High for her sake, managing to improve from average at his town middle school to ranking around eight hundredth in the city during his final semester.

If Mencius’s mother moving three times for her son’s education was touching, his sister’s dedication was no less moving.

The fast-food restaurant became known for its delicious food, and through word of mouth, Zhang Su Jin started providing lunch care services for regular customers who brought new ones.

At thirty-five, she remained single, never having dated, always saying she hadn’t found the right person.

Zhang Shu knew it was because of him.

He wanted Zhang Su Jin to find happiness, to live her own life.

A week before school started, Zhang Shu encountered a man pursuing Zhang Su Jin. He saw them kissing, saw the man propose, and saw Zhang Su Jin push him away.

The man appeared refined, his eyes full of love, his manner respectful toward Zhang Su Jin. He understood her concerns and was willing to help care for her brother, even willing to wait for her.

Zhang Shu also saw the Maybach parked beside them.

A man whose economic status, personal qualities, and character were beyond reproach.

Zhang Su Jin had been reluctant to end their kiss.

Yet she rejected this marriage prospect.

That night, Zhang Shu argued with Zhang Su Jin, swearing never to eat her food again, wanting to separate from her, and urging her to abandon her “brother-supporting demon” mentality.

Hou Junqi also ate at Zhang Su Jin’s lunch care, where she only charged him half price, and he often got extra portions because of Zhang Shu.

He wasn’t just saying it—in his heart, Zhang Su Jin was his sister too.

Zhang Shu was hard to define, not someone who fit into any box.

Call him a top student, but outside school, he was wilder than anyone—just try messing with him; call him a delinquent, but his brain worked brilliantly—when he wanted to rank first, he did it.

Hou Junqi both pitied and admired Zhang Shu. It seemed there was nothing Zhang Shu couldn’t do; it was just a matter of basics and time. He felt honored that someone like Zhang Shu would be friends with him. But sometimes he’d sentimentally think that while they could hang out together, their spiritual worlds were on different paths.

So Zhang Shu’s words today made him feel like his inner thoughts had been exposed. It felt pointless now, following him around like a puppy dog, even having his father pull strings to get them in the same class when the person didn’t seem to care whether he followed or not.

But then he thought, Zhang Shu had always been sharp-tongued and harsh—maybe he was just talking.

He started to regret suddenly falling out with him.

It was a bit childish.

Did he consider him a friend or not, damn it!

…

The afternoon cicadas were crying their hearts out, though to drowsy people it was like a lullaby.

Hou Junqi was sleeping soundly at his desk, completely unaware of the drool covering his arm, nearly snoring.

The most awkward person was Sheng Xia.

She had just bought a book box at noon and placed it beside her desk to store books, keeping only today’s required books on the desktop for a clear view and neat arrangement.

The consequence of such a clear view was that now, with just a slight lowering of her head, she could see—

Hou Junqi, broad and tall, was sprawled across his desk, his shirt riding up to reveal… underwear with English letters.

Throughout the class, Sheng Xia’s face and ears burned red as she alternated between looking up and down. After barely enduring break time, she immediately ran out to get water, but when she returned from the bathroom, Hou Junqi was still sleeping.

It was the long break, with the classroom in chaos—people doing all sorts of things, even shuttlecock-kicking in the corridor—yet nothing disturbed his deep slumber.

Xin Xiaohe and Yang Linyu were discussing when Hou Junqi’s drool would wake him up, both giggling secretly, clearly having also noticed his exposed underwear.

Xin Xiaohe showed no reaction at all.

Sheng Xia felt too embarrassed to mention it. She sat at her desk, bending down to bring the books she had just put away back to her desktop, stacking them one by one into a tall wall.

To block out this sight that shouldn’t be seen.

Just as she finished stacking, she noticed Zhang Shu sitting sideways, one leg propped on the chair’s crossbar, elbow resting on his thigh, chin in hand, watching her busy herself—who knew how long he’d been watching. His expression was like looking at an idiot.

She didn’t want to be the idiot moving books back and forth either!

He was wearing his glasses now. While black frames made others look nerdy, on him they added a scholarly air, somewhat suppressing his unruly demeanor, giving him a mix of half-refined, half-fashionable intelligence.

When their eyes met, he didn’t look away. Unless it was her imagination, one corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if mocking her.

Sheng Xia thought: Is this what they mean by a barely perceptible smile?

The glare from his lenses flashed in her eyes.

In her field of vision, he stood up and walked to Hou Junqi’s desk, knocking on it: “Want to go to the school store?”

His voice wasn’t loud, much softer than the other noise in the classroom, but Hou Junqi jerked up as if hearing a military order, his voice still groggy, “Where, Shu? School store? Ah, yeah, let’s go!”

The two tall figures disappeared through the back door.

Sheng Xia’s view was finally clear.