Dazzling

During those days, Shi Min would walk home with Qing Ye after school, and Pang Hu also came daily to listen in. However, Qing Ye noticed that Pang Hu and Shi Min were quite different. Shi Min had a weak foundation, while Pang Hu actually had some basics. Although he seemed a bit slow, Qing Ye found that with a little explanation, he could quickly grasp the concepts. As a result, their progress varied.

In her spare time, Qing Ye would occasionally hear Pang Hu humming a tune. Ever since Xing Wu told her about the Top Ten Singers competition, she would prick up her ears whenever Pang Hu sang, realizing that he actually had a pleasant voice.

Pang Hu blushed and whispered to her, "I, I have an account on Changba, with a few hundred followers!"

"..."

Meanwhile, the hair salon business at Dazzle Island had recently stabilized, with average revenue more than tripling compared to previous months. Li Lanfang kept complaining about having no time for mahjong, though in reality she hadn't missed a single evening game.

As for Liu Nian - he wasn't particularly clever, but he was hardworking and dedicated. True to the saying "the slow need to start early," within just a month he had mastered several hairstyles quite proficiently. Recently, even Qing Ye had started addressing him as "Tony Liu."

Some customers even came specially from the county town seeking "Teacher Liu's" styling services. To expand their reach, Qing Ye surprisingly carved out two hours from her weekend to teach Du Qiyan how to create a public account, push notifications, and edit promotional copy. They gathered all their members into a group chat, regularly sharing before-and-after photos. Consequently, Liu Nian found himself becoming unexpectedly popular, with various young girls constantly @-ing him in the group, affectionately calling him "Teacher Liu."

Qing Ye would sometimes browse the group messages on her way home from school and chuckle. The honest Liu Nian didn't know how to interact with people, so Qing Ye had to personally teach him how to banter with customers - essentially coaching him in PR, customer relationship building, and marketing strategies, making her feel like she needed multiple pairs of hands.

Du Qiyan's mother had undergone surgery, which went smoothly. Although Yang Gang hadn't managed to gather all the money within a week, he had gradually repaid twelve thousand yuan.

Du Qiyan received substantial commissions this month, with her salary doubling. Probably to express gratitude to Xing Wu and Qing Ye, she brought several boxes of sweet potato jerky from home for them.

Xing Wu and Qing Ye stared blankly at these boxes of sweet potato jerky - the quantity was enough to make anyone sick of it, and it took up considerable space. When they tried to offer some to Pang Hu and Shi Min, they flatly refused.

Sweet potato jerky wasn't anything special in Anzi County - every household made their own during festivals, so people had grown up eating it and the mere mention of it was enough to make them nauseous.

To deal with this troublesome sweet potato jerky, one day after Shi Min and Pang Hu had left, Qing Ye tore open a bag of jerky. She found the most intact plate in Xing Wu's house, arranged the jerky in an elegant display, secretly plucked a few artificial flowers from Li Lanfang's vase, turned on beauty mode to take some sophisticated photos, then posted them on her social media with mouthwatering captions. She even had Liu Nian and others share the posts.Xing Wu was lying in his upstairs room when he came across Qing Ye's social media post. He thought she must have reached a desperate level of money-grubbing madness—even trying to sell shoddy sweet potato jerky. Would she start selling the wig her father forgot to take with her next?

So when Qing Ye came upstairs, Xing Wu stared at her with a grin, shaking his head as he laughed.

Qing Ye glared at him discontentedly. "You've been snooping on my social media, haven't you?"

Xing Wu waved his phone. "I'm viewing it openly and honestly."

Qing Ye sat down at the desk, picked up a book, and said to him, "In that case, you should share my post."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing."

"Embarrassing how?"

"What kind of image would it be for a dashing, handsome, and intimidating young man like me to sell sweet potato jerky?"

Qing Ye suddenly burst out laughing, imagining the younger kids who usually scurried away at the sight of Xing Wu suddenly coming across him promoting sweet potato jerky online. The thought alone was hilarious.

She didn't push him further—after all, he still had to maintain his reputation in Zhazha Pavilion. He couldn't ruin his tough-guy image; in the eyes of others, he was still a fearsome figure.

But in her eyes... She turned to him and said, "My feet are cold."

Xing Wu gestured with his hand. "Stick them up here."

The desk was right next to Xing Wu's bed. Qing Ye swiveled around and slipped her feet under his blanket. With one hand, Xing Wu held his phone watching a live match, while his other hand enveloped her small feet. His palms were scorching hot, instantly driving away her chill.

Yet who could have predicted that the next day, one of Qing Ye's former foreign classmates from Beijing would stumble upon her social media post early in the morning and actually want to buy some? He asked Qing Ye to ship it to him. Qing Ye even specifically sent Xing Wu the international school's address, asking him to take a few packages to Shunyi in the afternoon and mail them to Beijing. She emphasized using SF Express—frankly, the packaging was too flimsy, and the shelf life was short. She was afraid that if they used other couriers in this backwater place, the goods would spoil during transit.

Xing Wu didn't think much of it and casually helped her mail the packages that afternoon. Who would have thought that when the guy received them on Friday, he'd get addicted to the chewy sweet potato jerky and recommend it to his classmates? In just one day, the several boxes piled up at home were converted into cash by Qing Ye.

As soon as class ended, she urgently turned to Xing Wu and said, "Skip the rest of your classes. Let's go now."

"???" Xing Wu lifted his head slowly, his eyes dazed as he looked at her.

Qing Ye explained that someone wanted to buy all the remaining sweet potato jerky and urged him to hurry back and ship it. So, by evening, the stock that had troubled them for days was grandly dispatched to the capital.

When Qing Ye generously split half of the earnings from the sweet potato jerky sales with Xing Wu, he stared dumbfounded at the surprisingly thick stack of cash in his hand and asked, "How much did you sell each pack for?"

"Three packs for a hundred yuan."

"..." She really had no conscience.

Qing Ye even felt she had sold them too cheaply, while Xing Wu couldn't believe anyone would spend hundreds on something he wouldn't even take for free.

Xing Wu recalled how during summer vacation, Qing Ye had drunkenly boasted with unshakable confidence that she would make a lot of money someday. Back then, they had all laughed at her. But now, looking at her, she truly had a remarkable talent for business. At least in this place, which couldn't possibly be any poorer, she always managed to inexplicably sniff out business opportunities.Xing Wu suddenly looked at her with adoring eyes as if she were a treasure, reaching out to stroke her fluffy, curly hair. Qing Ye was still at the cashier station doing accounts, while Liu Nian and the others were busy nearby. She abruptly turned her head and glared at him: "Why are you touching my hair?"

"I want to get some wool."

"Want to die?"

As she spoke, Qing Ye reached out to pinch him. Under the cashier counter, Xing Wu grabbed her hand. Just then, Du Qiyan returned from the restroom and passed by them, casting a glance. Qing Ye quickly withdrew her hand and looked at the spreadsheet as if nothing had happened.

Du Qiyan walked back to the customer with a somewhat startled expression, blow-drying their hair while occasionally glancing at Qing Ye with suspicion. However, Qing Ye remained expressionless, showing no signs of anything unusual. Du Qiyan then looked at Xing Wu, who was lounging as usual playing games, also appearing completely normal. This made Du Qiyan convinced that she must have imagined things earlier.

But after a while, she noticed Qing Ye staring at her intently, with a sharp gaze that seemed to suggest silencing a witness. Du Qiyan's heart raced anxiously, and then she saw Qing Ye approach her and say, "Let's talk after we finish up here."

Du Qiyan spent the next while feeling uneasy. After finishing with the customer, she followed Qing Ye to the backyard. Her first words were: "I didn't see anything."

"???" Qing Ye was momentarily stunned before suddenly realizing what Du Qiyan meant. She burst out laughing.

"What? What did you think I wanted to talk to you about?"

Du Qiyan lowered her head in embarrassment. Qing Ye stopped teasing her and asked, "Where did you get so much sweet potato jerky?"

Du Qiyan explained that her mother's factory wasn't doing well financially. When her mother fell ill, the boss couldn't provide much money but instead gave their family a lot of the factory's products as consolation.

"..." Giving sweet potato jerky as consolation for an employee's illness? What a novel factory.

So Qing Ye asked Du Qiyan where this factory was located and if she could help contact the person in charge, as she had a potential collaboration to discuss. However, Du Qiyan told her that her mother's factory was about to close down.

"..." Huh? Qing Ye was once again confused.

After thinking for a moment, Qing Ye said to Du Qiyan, "Please try to help me contact them anyway. If possible, I'd still like to meet with the person in charge."

So Du Qiyan went to make the call. That evening, she told Qing Ye they could go tomorrow, but the next day was Saturday and Qing Ye still had to participate in that damn marathon. So they scheduled the meeting with the factory representative for 2:00 PM.

On Saturday morning, Qing Ye reluctantly put on the hideous school uniform and slipped on her clean white sneakers. While styling her hair in front of the mirror, she saw a reflection of someone in green clothes passing by. She turned to see that Xing Wu had actually dug out his school uniform - probably from his first year of high school. It was somewhat tight on him now, so he left the zipper open, revealing a white casual hoodie underneath.

Somehow, the green track pants with red stripes that Qing Ye found utterly unattractive actually looked incredibly sporty and handsome on Xing Wu's long legs. Coincidentally, he was also wearing white Yeezys.

As Qing Ye tied up her hair, she once again marveled that her boyfriend was the trendiest country boy on the whole street - able to make even such an ugly school uniform look like high-end sportswear with color-blocking effects.She walked toward him, unable to hide the smile in her eyes, tugging at his school uniform as she nestled into his arms. "Were you going for a marathon or picking up girls?"

Xing Wu wrapped his arms around her waist. "Do I still need to? The girls are already throwing themselves at me."

As soon as he finished speaking, they heard the sound of Li Lanfang getting out of bed. The two of them scattered as if struck by lightning. When Li Lanfang opened the door and saw Qing Ye already in her school uniform, she exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, Qing Ye, that school uniform looks really good on you!"

"..." Where exactly did it look good?

Xing Wu and Qing Ye left the house together and headed toward the school. Although all the students from Anzhong were wearing their uniforms along the way, Qing Ye couldn't help but feel that she and Xing Wu were dressed like a couple.

Bathed in the morning sun, they took turns stepping on each other's shadows, neither willing to admit defeat, walking all the way to the school in the most childish manner.

The area under the teaching building was crowded with people, their faces brimming with excitement. Pang Hu waved at them from afar and squeezed his way over, handing them their race bibs. "I picked them up for you."

Qing Ye took her bib, glared at it, and threw it at Xing Wu. "Let's swap."

Xing Wu glanced at it—425? Was that "two-five"? Who was the "two-five"? Well, if his girlfriend, a science prodigy, had to be so sensitive about numbers, what could he do? He’d just have to be the "two-five."

Qing Ye then snatched his bib, 518, and immediately beamed. "This one’s perfect, it suits me at first glance."

Xing Wu reminded her, "It has my name on the back."

Qing Ye tilted her head and whispered, "Then I’ll take your surname early."

Surrounded by people, Xing Wu looked down at her. Her eyes were bright and clear, her delicate face exuding an alluring mix of pride and charm. If it weren’t for the crowd, he would have pulled her in for a proper kiss.

His thick eyelashes lowered, concealing the laughter in his eyes as he took her 518 bib and pinned it to her back. Qing Ye then raised her arms to pin the 425 bib onto him.

Huang Mao squeezed over from Class 4 and exclaimed, "Damn, Qing Ye, I almost didn’t recognize you in your school uniform. I was wondering why Wu was hanging out with some girl."

He took two steps back and looked again. "With this school uniform on, you could be the face of Anzhong. Pretty people really do look good in anything. You and Wu really are relatives—your family’s looks are on point."

He then pulled out his phone. "Let me take a photo of you two."

Qing Ye looked up and exchanged a glance with Xing Wu. Both of them sighed helplessly at Huang Mao. Just as Huang Mao counted down "3, 2, 1," Xing Wu placed his hand on Qing Ye’s shoulder.

After Huang Mao put his phone away, Xing Wu casually withdrew his hand. Huang Mao admired the photo for a moment, then created a group chat, adding everyone, including Liu Nian and the others. By accident, he also added Li Lanfang. So, when Huang Mao posted their group photo in the chat, Li Lanfang was the first to enthusiastically like it and emphasize, "Good looks run in the family."

As a result, the newly formed group chat immediately went silent. No one replied, and it became as quiet as a graveyard.

A few PE teachers came over to organize everyone for pre-race warm-ups, then announced the route and competition rules.Qing Ye flexed her wrist and said to Xing Wu, Huang Mao, and the others beside her, "Let's discuss how we're going to run later?"

A group of guys immediately laughed, and Huang Mao replied, "Just run the same way we usually go home after school."

At first, Qing Ye didn't quite grasp what they meant, but once the marathon started, she immediately understood.

No matter what, she at least assumed a pre-run stance, but the guys behind her really just stuffed their hands in their pockets and kept bragging, exactly like they were heading home after school.

The students from An High School and An Vocational School were preparing on two parallel tracks. Even from a distance, she could see the An Vocational students dressed in all sorts of outfits—some girls even showed up in miniskirts and high heels in the middle of winter? Were they here as cheerleaders?

In comparison, their school looked more like a proper high school. The road between the two schools had been cordoned off. At the sound of the starting signal, Qing Ye immediately rushed forward with the crowd. After sprinting about a hundred meters, she turned back, panting, and saw Xing Wu and his crew really strolling along like leisurely old men. No wonder Xing Wu had looked so relaxed when he heard about the marathon—how could he not be? It was just like walking an extra couple of rounds from home to school and back.

Qing Ye's earnest, hardworking demeanor seemed to amuse Xing Wu, who was now watching her with a faint, teasing smile. The morning light cast over him gave off an inexplicably lazy vibe, and his unbuttoned school uniform made him look a bit roguish. The whole group lagged far behind in a grand, unhurried procession.

Qing Ye averted her gaze and continued running. Though she knew she couldn't win first place, she had never liked being last.