Lu Shicheng’s gaze was direct and unreserved, as if it meant to pierce straight through her outer shell and shoot directly into her heart.

This was the first time he’d studied her for so long. Wen Tingli couldn’t help feeling a bit at a loss. She’d long known that a person’s gaze could carry different meanings—when expressing ferocity, it could make someone shrink several inches in an instant; when expressing coldness, it could chill someone to the bone all at once.

Right now Lu Shicheng’s gaze was hard to withstand in its own way—not that it was fierce exactly, he was simply examining her very calmly, but somehow it made her face start to heat up.

Lately she’d been sticking to him like a piece of dog-skin plaster stuck fast. One or two “chance encounters” could be called coincidence, but how was one to explain a whole string of coincidences? Tonight was even more excessive—she’d practically been blatantly sabotaging Zhu Zihe’s chance to be alone with him.

No matter how cultivated Lu Shicheng was, seeing all this couldn’t help but raise suspicions in his mind.

How would he ask about it? Would he probe indirectly, or come straight out with it?

Thinking this, she had to summon all her strength just to withstand that gaze.

Perhaps because her face was growing redder and redder, the pressure across from her suddenly dissipated. Wen Tingli glanced up quietly, only to see Lu Shicheng had turned his face toward the azalea bushes nearby; when he turned back, he’d resumed his usual polite, measured demeanor.

He nodded, then went across the street on his own to find a car.

It looked like he was leaving.

Wen Tingli hastily called out behind him: “Goodbye, Mr. Lu.”

Once he’d gone, Wen Tingli couldn’t help letting out a breath of relief. Thank goodness this man was Lu Shicheng—the breeding in his bones ultimately kept him from making things difficult for her. Had it been anyone else, she might well have already been put in an impossible position.

She exhaled in relief and continued on down the path.

Suddenly, a strange “pat-pat-pat” sound came from behind her.

Turning to look, she saw only a dark, shadowy silhouette. An uneasy feeling suddenly welled up in her heart—with Lu Shicheng there earlier she hadn’t noticed, but only now did she realize how eerily quiet it was all around.

She resolutely quickened her pace, but the sound behind her grew louder too, “pat-pat-pat” following right behind her, indescribably eerie.

Wen Tingli thought of all the Bailong Gang’s various methods, and panic surged in her—she put her head down and broke into a run. But the sound followed her like a shadow, seeming ready to bear down on her at any moment. Just as Wen Tingli’s fear reached its peak, a familiar car suddenly appeared ahead, the black car slowly pulling up beside her.

Lu Shicheng had actually driven back to look for her.

“Mr. Lu!” Wen Tingli, as thrilled as if seeing a family member, dashed straight to the car window.

Perhaps her expression looked as if she’d seen a ghost, because Lu Shicheng couldn’t help leaning over to look behind her.

Wen Tingli mustered her courage and looked back too.

One glance, and she froze.

Not far off crouched a large black cat, a broken half of a shoe clamped in its mouth—that strange sound from before had been the big cat dragging the shoe along.

The cat seemed displeased that Wen Tingli had suddenly stopped, its round green eyes glaring at her silently.

This only made Wen Tingli even less able to move her feet—she’d always been afraid of cats, and this one in particular was unusually large, clearly not a stray but likely some household’s pet.

Lu Shicheng pushed open the door, got out, walked up to the big cat, and bent down to pick it up off the ground. The cat immediately took a swipe at Lu Shicheng, but he’d already pulled it a bit away from himself in advance, so no matter how the cat flailed and kicked at him, it couldn’t land a single hit. The cat, thoroughly furious, opened its mouth and began yowling “meow, meow.”

Suddenly there was a “pat” sound—the broken shoe fell from the cat’s mouth to the ground. Wen Tingli, still shaken, unexpectedly caught sight of the amusement in Lu Shicheng’s eyes, and couldn’t help but laugh too: “This big cat is really terrible, not afraid of people at all.”

While the two of them were distracted, the cat leapt down from Lu Shicheng’s hands and vanished swiftly into the night.

Lu Shicheng brushed the cat hair off himself and turned to look at her.

It was too dark here. He pointed at his car. 【Get in, I’ll drive you home.】

Wen Tingli climbed gratefully into his car: “Thank you, Mr. Lu, for the trouble.”

Once in the car, Wen Tingli kept glancing sideways at Lu Shicheng out of the corner of her eye.

Such a long stretch of road—she couldn’t just stay silent the whole time, could she?

“Do you really like cats, Mr. Lu?” She spoke up first.

Lu Shicheng glanced at her in the mirror.

“Someone afraid of cats wouldn’t dare get that close to a big cat like that,” Wen Tingli said with confidence. “The way you picked up that cat, Mr. Lu, it’s clear you’ve kept cats before.”

After she said this, Lu Shicheng didn’t respond right away. Wen Tingli knew this line of questioning sounded a bit like she was probing his personal preferences—her behavior at Principal Zou’s house tonight had already been strange enough; continuing to chat him up like this would only look more suspicious. But if she stayed completely silent in the car, that would seem far too guilty as well.

Just as she was mulling this over, she saw Lu Shicheng nod, as if answering her question, then point at the steering wheel, indicating he had no way to write a response.

Wen Tingli, encouraged: “How many cats have you kept before, Mr. Lu? I’ll bet each one was beautiful.”

Lu Shicheng shook his head. Wen Tingli, puzzled: “Not beautiful?”

Would the Lu mansion keep an unattractive cat?

Recalling how Lu Shicheng had picked up the cat on the street late at night, she smiled abashedly: “I see, Mr. Lu keeps strays. You’ve taken in a few cats—one? Two? Or a whole bunch? I remember the Lu mansion has quite a few pigeons too—Mr. Lu must really love animals.”

Just then, Lu Shicheng pulled the car over to the side of the road. Wen Tingli, not understanding why, turned her head to see Lu Shicheng leaning toward her.

Her heart clenched suddenly. In the cramped space, her body seemed to shrink by half; her hands and feet had nowhere to go, her mind blank as to how to react—but it turned out Lu Shicheng was only pulling a stack of newspapers from the compartment in the front seat to hand to her.

【If you’re bored, you can read the papers.】

Wen Tingli’s mind was still somewhat in disarray, and she found herself mechanically answering: “But I’m not bored.”

Lu Shicheng was about to sit back, but hearing this, he turned back to look deeply at her.

The air in the car seemed to grow even hotter.

Wen Tingli regretted the words the moment she said them, but couldn’t think of anything else to say to smooth it over, and could only hold his gaze steadily.

At such close distance, she could count every one of his eyelashes. His skin, unlike most men’s, was fine as flawless jade even in the dim light; his eyes, like the rest of him, were quiet too, faint flecks of light rippling in his gaze.

Correspondingly, Lu Shicheng could surely see every small detail of her face just as clearly. At this thought, Wen Tingli grew a bit restless, biting her lip, eager to find something to say to break the tension.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Shicheng suddenly withdrew his gaze from her face and sat back down in his original seat.

Because of this incident, Wen Tingli seemed to lose her power of speech for the rest of the ride, dutifully flipping through the newspapers in her hands.

At first she felt somewhat at loose ends, but eventually her attention was drawn in by a few news items in the paper.

By the time she’d finished reading through the papers with great interest, the car had already reached Mailin Road—just one more turn around the corner and Cixin Hospital would be right across the street.

Just then, the car engine suddenly made a few strange rumbling noises, and the speed abruptly slowed.

Lu Shicheng shifted gears a few times, but the speed only kept dropping, until finally the car came to a complete stop.

He inspected it for a while without success, and had no choice but to get out and walk around to open her door.

【Get out, the car’s broken down.】

Wen Tingli was dumbfounded at first, then burst out laughing: “So even a Rolls-Royce breaks down.”

In truth, she wasn’t laughing at the luxury car stalling out—she was laughing because this was the first time she’d seen Lu Shicheng frown.

She held back her laughter and opened the car door to get out, thanking him again and again: “Thank you for driving me this whole way, Mr. Lu. Cixin Hospital is right ahead—I can walk back myself.”

She hadn’t gone far when she heard footsteps behind her.

Surprised, she looked back and saw Lu Shicheng, hands in his trouser pockets, following behind her.

Looking back at her, he was watching her figure.

“Mr. Lu?”

Lu Shicheng made a phone-calling gesture at her—he needed to call someone to fix the car.

Wen Tingli smacked her forehead in dismay and hurried back in front of him: “Look at me, I completely forgot about that! Cixin Hospital has a phone—I’m on very good terms with the nurses in the ward. Mr. Lu, come with me, I’ll help you make the call.”

Lu Shicheng obediently accepted Wen Tingli’s suggestion.

The two of them crossed the street together.

“What time is it now, Mr. Lu?” Wen Tingli turned to ask.

Lu Shicheng lifted his wrist to show her his watch.

Wen Tingli leaned in to look: “Good, it’s only just past nine. Their ward usually has lights-out at ten, so if the lights are already out, we’ll need to switch on a flashlight ahead of time.”

The moment they entered the ward, they saw Zhou Sao playing with Xiao Taozi in the corridor.

“Why are you two still up so late?”

Zhou Sao, however, only stared wide-eyed at Lu Shicheng beside Wen Tingli. In her daze, Xiao Taozi ran over and hugged her sister’s leg, poking her head out to look curiously at Lu Shicheng, then, catching her sister’s encouraging gaze, mustered the courage to say hello: “Mr. Lu.”

Being only three, the moment she opened her mouth, “Lu” came out sounding like “Roo.”

Lu Shicheng’s manner remained just as respectful as ever, voluntarily crouching down to shake hands with Xiao Taozi.

Xiao Taozi laughed heartily, her round belly bouncing up and down.

Zhou Sao came over and picked Xiao Taozi up into her arms: “Head Nurse Liu said Miss is famous now. Tonight several groups of people from theater troupes came by, saying they wanted to ask about your performance history. Besides that, a few newspaper reporters heard you got into university and came specially to interview you. I really can’t figure out how word travels so fast. I told them you’d gone to a classmate’s house, but they insisted on waiting until nine o’clock before leaving. Xiao Taozi doesn’t get to see so many visitors often, and refused to sleep no matter what.”

Having said this, Zhou Sao fixed her gaze on Lu Shicheng and asked amiably: “And this gentleman is?”

“This is Young Mr. Lu.” Wen Tingli hurried to divert Zhou Sao’s attention. “He’s come in to use the phone for a moment.”

Then to Lu Shicheng: “This is Zhou Sao. The phone’s this way, please come with me.”

Zhou Sao’s eyes turned into veritable flashlights, beaming brightly at Lu Shicheng from every angle. Fortunately, Lu Shicheng didn’t seem to find it offensive in the least, nodding calmly back at Zhou Sao instead.

Perhaps because Lu Shicheng was so composed and amiable, Zhou Sao suddenly felt a bit embarrassed: “Those visitors just now brought quite a lot of fruit—let me get some watermelon for Mr. Lu here.”

Wen Tingli grew anxious: “How could you just accept things from strangers like that? I don’t even know half these people.”

“I really didn’t want to accept it either, but by the time I chased after them, not a single person was in sight anymore. And there were two watermelons this big, already cut when they arrived—if we don’t finish them tonight, they’ll surely spoil.”

She hastily explained to Lu Shicheng as well: “Mr. Lu, please don’t misunderstand—it’s not that I’m giving you watermelon just so it won’t spoil, I’m—”

Wen Tingli simply didn’t know what to say anymore—she had no idea what had gotten into everyone tonight, even Zhou Sao was acting a bit silly! She stamped her foot: “Mr. Lu won’t misunderstand. Just take Xiao Taozi back inside.”

Turning around, she saw Lu Shicheng lowering his eyes to hide the amusement in them, though she couldn’t tell if he was laughing at her or at Zhou Sao.

Wen Tingli herself couldn’t help laughing either. After laughing for a bit, she asked him: “Would you like some watermelon, Mr. Lu? I’ll bring you some to quench your thirst once you’re done with the call.”

Before Lu Shicheng could answer, a good number of people had already come out of the ward, all staring at Lu Shicheng. Someone even asked Wen Tingli: “Little Wen, is this your friend?”

Wen Tingli, embarrassed, led Lu Shicheng through the crowd. The nurses were all fond of Wen Tingli, and though they too were quite curious about Lu Shicheng, they readily agreed to let him use the phone. Before dialing, Wen Tingli asked Lu Shicheng: “Are you calling Mr. Kuang?”

After all, Kuang Zhilin’s residence was in nearby Ganjia Lane, but Lu Shicheng took out a business card from his coat pocket and handed it to Wen Tingli instead.

It was a completely unfamiliar number, the name on the card reading Fang Da.

Wen Tingli dialed the number and said into the receiver: “Is this Mr. Fang? Young Mr. Lu’s car has broken down—the car’s on Mailin Road now, Young Mr. Lu is at—”

She glanced at Lu Shicheng for guidance. Lu Shicheng pointed toward the hospital’s front gate.

“He’ll be waiting at the front gate of Cixin Hospital. How long will it take you all to get there? At most ten minutes? Good, I’ll pass that along to Young Mr. Lu.”

Hanging up the phone, the crowd at the office door suddenly parted to either side, and Zhou Sao came through carrying a large tray, neatly arranged with a dozen or so bright red watermelon wedges.

Zhou Sao said warmly to Lu Shicheng: “There are lots of mosquitoes in the corridor—why don’t you wait inside the room instead, Mr. Lu, and have some watermelon while you wait. The room has a lamp and a fan, and we’ve got mosquito coils burning too.”

Wen Tingli wanted to object, but held back—Zhou Sao must have misunderstood her relationship with Lu Shicheng. With her father bedridden, proper etiquette among the Lu family would surely require some gift upon meeting him—but she wasn’t even close enough to Lu Shicheng to call him a friend, so what right did she have to let him go to such expense.

But if she rushed to hurry Lu Shicheng away now, it would look as though she didn’t want to host him properly either.

For the first time in her life, she felt this awkward, but unexpectedly, Lu Shicheng had already nodded at Zhou Sao.

In the ward, Wen Desheng was staring wide-eyed toward the door. He’d just heard from the aide and Zhou Sao that his daughter had brought home a young man, and he was now trying his best to muster his composure to receive him.

Then he saw Zhou Sao lead in an unusually handsome young man.

“This is Mr. Lu,” Wen Tingli said, steeling herself to make the introduction. “Mr. Lu, this is my father.”

She watched Lu Shicheng’s expression without blinking—a sick person’s psychology was the most fragile and sensitive; any hint of an odd look from Lu Shicheng would wound her father’s heart.

Besides worrying for her father, she was also afraid of reading disdain or distaste on Lu Shicheng’s face herself.

This feeling was both foreign and strange—after all, she’d never been someone who cared what others thought.

Lu Shicheng was indeed startled for a moment, but his face showed only surprise and sympathy, not a trace of aversion. He even stepped forward on his own to shake Wen Desheng’s hand, his manner just as natural as it had been with Xiao Taozi.

Wen Desheng’s face brightened, and he hastily adopted his most refined manner to greet Lu Shicheng: “Hello, please sit. Zhou Sao, tea for young Mr. Lu, quickly.”

Once Zhou Sao had served the tea, Wen Desheng half-reclined against his pillow and asked gently: “Is Mr. Lu still in school?”

“Mr. Lu already graduated from university long ago,” Wen Tingli answered quickly on his behalf.

Wen Desheng’s face showed even more astonishment and admiration: “So young, yet so accomplished. Where does Mr. Lu work now?”

Wen Tingli leaned in close and scolded her father quietly: “Mr. Lu and I aren’t even that close. He just happened to stop in to see you, and here you are asking him all sorts of questions.”

Lu Shicheng glanced sideways at her profile.

“Not close?” Wen Desheng said half-doubtfully, matching her low volume, “If you two weren’t close, why would he bother coming in to see a half-dead man like me? Your father’s just asking a few questions—why are you so anxious about it?”

Wen Tingli had no idea how to explain Lu Shicheng’s character to her father, but just then, a Mrs. Luo from the next ward over walked in.

Earlier, she’d been among the crowd gossiping about how con artists had lately been posing as rich young men to swindle pretty girls, hinting all the while that Lu Shicheng might be cut from the same cloth. Wen Tingli hadn’t bothered to pay her any mind.

Now, apparently not satisfied with just watching the excitement from outside, Mrs. Luo brazenly came in and said: “This young man really is fine-looking. Mr. Wen, you’re truly blessed—with such a lovely daughter, you needn’t worry about anything. Not like me, with my two daughters, who knows how they’ll turn out. Oh, and speaking of which, why hasn’t this Mr. Lu said a word this whole time? Little Wen, since your father’s asking, you should let Mr. Lu speak for himself.”

Lu Shicheng had been quietly studying the medicine bottles by the bedside; hearing this, he suddenly shot two sharp glances at Mrs. Luo. Mrs. Luo’s smile froze—only in that instant did she vaguely sense that this handsome young man was far less easygoing than he appeared on the surface.

Wen Tingli picked up Mrs. Luo’s remark with a cheerful smile: “So Mrs. Luo knew it was my father asking too. The way you jumped in to answer, one might mistake you for a junior in this family, just like me.”

Mrs. Luo’s expression stiffened slightly. “You cheeky thing, I only meant well—”

Just then several people came down the corridor, impeccably dressed and courteous in manner, bowing slightly at the door: “Young Mr. Lu, the car’s waiting outside.”

Everyone in the room exchanged glances. Lu Shicheng stepped out for a moment, and when he returned, he had an envelope in hand, which he handed to Wen Tingli, asking her to convey his regards to her father once more on his behalf.

He then stood by the bedside, bowed slightly to Wen Desheng, and prepared to leave with his men.

Wen Tingli felt the envelope and knew at once it held a thick stack of bills. Alarmed, she hurried after him: “Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu, we absolutely cannot accept this money.”

Lu Shicheng glanced at the middle-aged man beside him. This man, though unsure of the exact relationship between Wen Tingli and Lu Shicheng, immediately smiled obligingly: “Since Miss Wen is a friend of Young Mr. Lu’s, you should know Young Mr. Lu has always been sincere with people. This is merely a small token of Young Mr. Lu’s regard—please don’t feel you need to hesitate over it, Miss Wen.”

This person must be the Fang Da from the business card, seemingly no less shrewd than Kuang Zhilin himself.

Having said this, Fang Da leaned in closer and lowered his voice: “If Miss Wen really won’t accept it, we’ll have to convert this sum into a pile of gifts to send over instead, and arranging that at this late hour would be quite a hassle. Please, just accept it—it would be doing us a great favor.”

Wen Tingli looked up at Lu Shicheng, who only lowered his eyes, looking at her. Clearly Fang Da’s meaning was his meaning too. She had no choice but to reluctantly accept it—partly out of fear it really would turn into the trouble Mr. Fang described, but also because of that word “friend” in his speech.

Even though Lu Shicheng might not necessarily acknowledge her as his friend, she was more than willing to be Lu Shicheng’s friend!

Just as she was speaking, the corridor suddenly went dark.

“I have a flashlight,” Wen Tingli said quickly, switching it on. “I’ll see you all out.”

In the darkness, Lu Shicheng didn’t walk as quickly as usual. Wen Tingli kept wondering to herself about this, and only once they’d reached the front steps did she realize he was matching his pace to hers—though she had a flashlight in hand, its beam was only a narrow shaft of light, and one careless step could easily lead to a fall.

To confirm this, she deliberately slowed her steps, and sure enough, when she slowed, he slowed to match.

A sudden warmth flickered through Wen Tingli’s heart. She walked to the entrance beside him in silence, then suddenly called out: “Mr. Lu.”

Lu Shicheng turned back in the half-darkness, his eyes so striking that even in the dim light they seemed to carry a certain radiant brightness. He gazed at her intently.

Her heart beat a bit faster, and she asked him quietly: “Are you free Friday evening? I’ve been troubling you so much lately, I don’t know how else to repay you—I have two tickets to Xinxin’s finals night. I’d like to invite you to come watch.”

This was already the third time she’d invited Lu Shicheng to watch her competition.

She smiled as she said this, her smile full of confidence: “Actually, it’s another comic sketch—but this time the act includes two segments imitating a cat. Since you like cats so much, you’re sure to find it fresh and interesting.”

Lu Shicheng was silent for a long while, then pointed at her book bag. Wen Tingli, understanding at once, took out the notebook and handed it to him.

Lu Shicheng opened the notebook but didn’t write right away. His expression looked outwardly just as composed as usual, but there was something different about it too, as if he were somewhat restless, somewhat hesitant.

After a good while, he handed the notebook back to her.

【I’m sorry, I really can’t spare the time these next few days.】

Wen Tingli looked down at that line, and once again, he had directly turned her down once more.

“It’s alright…” She quickly put on a smile. “Then I won’t trouble you further, Mr. Lu. Good night.”

Lu Shicheng got into the car. Fang Da, in the front seat, asked cautiously: “Mr. Kuang just found out the third young master’s whereabouts—shall we head straight back to the Lu mansion?”

Having asked this, Lu Shicheng didn’t respond.

Fang Da turned back in surprise, only to see Lu Shicheng gazing out the window, looking vexed.

“Young Master Cheng?” Fang Da cleared his throat. “Mr. Kuang’s side has already been waiting over an hour. We asked around at Principal Zou’s house and only then learned you’d left long ago—everyone’s been searching everywhere for you, who would have guessed you’d come to Cixin Hospital. Let’s go, we can’t delay any longer.”

Lu Shicheng seemed to snap back to himself, forcing his unsettled thoughts into order, and after a moment, his face composed and calm, gestured for the driver to go.

Back in the ward, Zhou Sao was still chattering on.

“That Mrs. Luo really is something— oh, Miss is back. Mr. Lu’s not upset, is he?”

“Upset?” Wen Tingli asked, puzzled.

“Over those sour remarks Mrs. Luo made. She was practically convinced Mr. Lu was some con man, but then when she heard everyone say he was none other than the young master of the famous Nanyang Lu family, the look on her face, tsk tsk tsk, I almost felt embarrassed for her.”

Wen Tingli waved a hand: “Who has time to get worked up over her?”

Mrs. Luo was a widow whose eldest daughter had pneumonia and was hospitalized; her younger daughter was only a bit older than Xiao Taozi. Ever since her husband’s death, she’d been the sole support of the family, and after so long living this way, Mrs. Luo could hardly help being difficult to deal with sometimes, though she wasn’t a bad person at heart.

Wen Tingli wouldn’t hold it against her. As for Lu Shicheng, since she’d known him, she’d never once seen him take offense at such trivial things.

Wen Desheng eyed his daughter from the bed: “So what exactly is going on between you and this Mr. Lu?”

“Nothing’s going on.” Wen Tingli flopped down lazily onto the small bed.

“Don’t try to brush your father off with that. Old Chen and the others saw it themselves—Mr. Lu came all the way from outside the hospital just to walk you home. If you two aren’t close, why would he go out of his way to see you back like that?”

“It was so late—so what if he was kind enough to walk me back?”

Wen Tingli said this rather crossly, and the words felt as if they were meant more for herself than for her father.

To think she’d tried every trick just now to probe Lu Shicheng, only to be turned down for her trouble. Then again, that made sense—a man like him, if he didn’t want to invite misunderstanding, would surely make things clear to her face.

Perhaps everything tonight had all been her own imagination—perhaps Lu Shicheng had only walked her back out of concern for her safety, and she’d simply been reading too much into it—

She pulled the blanket up over her head in a huff.

She was angry at herself.

Her father spoke up again: “Silly child, if he didn’t have feelings for you, why would he bother walking you home himself, pretending it was just a convenient stop to visit your father along the way? You’ve always been likeable—if there’s a chance, you must seize it properly. In your father’s eyes, this young Mr. Lu is far more dependable than that Qiao Xingchu. At the very least, he’s steady and even-tempered in his conduct, and clear-headed too.”

Just mentioning the Qiao family was enough to make Wen Tingli feel as if a nerve had been scalded; she immediately leapt up from the bed like a startled frog: “There’s nothing between us! Father, don’t talk nonsense! Isn’t the lesson from the Qiao family enough already? Never mind that he has no such intentions toward me—even if he did, there’s a saying, ‘unequal families don’t make a match’—we’d never end up together in the long run anyway. Besides, why do I need to find a man at all?”

She jumped down from the bed, gesturing proudly at the room full of gifts and fruit.

“All these people tonight came for our daughter’s name alone. Your daughter’s only entered a few competitions, and every single time she’s stood out. Father, don’t you see by now? Your daughter is her own best support in life.”

Wen Desheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Did you eat gunpowder today or something? Your father made one offhand remark and you’re already complaining up a storm like this. Of course your father knows you’re capable, but that’s just how the world works—you can’t stay unmarried your whole life, surely.”

“And what if I never marry? I’ve already gotten into university. Once I finish filming Director Huang’s picture, I’ll have saved up enough for several years of tuition in one go. By the time I graduate, I want to accomplish something great too, just like Dean Deng and Principal Zou!”

Having rattled on at length, she caught the stunned looks from the rest of the family and found it a little amusing herself. She picked up the washbasin: “Alright, alright, I’m tired. I’m going to go wash up first.”