Whether it was his volume being too loud or the words he spoke being too hard to accept, Sang Zhi clearly looked stunned, frozen in place without moving.
Both of their footsteps came to a halt simultaneously.
The silence made the atmosphere awkward.
Fu Zhengchu’s gaze, which had been fixed on her, gradually wavered, and the tips of his ears flushed red. He rubbed his head, feigning composure, and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Sang Zhi let out another “ah,” feeling somewhat at a loss.
It wasn’t that she had never been confessed to before, but it was usually through love letters slipped into her desk or text messages. A face-to-face confession was a first for her, especially one so bold.
“Hey,” Sang Zhi directly accepted this assumption as true and suddenly grew curious, “Do you remember the time you knocked out one of my teeth?”
“...” Fu Zhengchu deeply regretted that incident, but he had indeed done it. At this moment, he could only weakly defend himself, “That was so many years ago. Didn’t my finger get fractured back then too?”
Sang Zhi wasn’t one to hold grudges: “That’s true.”
Fu Zhengchu breathed a sigh of relief, perking up his ears in anticipation of what she would say next.
Sang Zhi had no idea how to be “tactful” and said bluntly, “Then you’d better not like me. I don’t like people younger than me.”
Fu Zhengchu paused for a moment, then grew angry: “Isn’t that age discrimination?!”
“...”
“At least say something I can change!”
Sang Zhi thought for a moment: “I like good-looking people.”
“...” Fu Zhengchu took a deep breath and pointed a finger at her, “No one but you has ever said I’m ugly. Are you targeting me? Are you putting an ‘ugly filter’ on me?”
“It’s just—” Sang Zhi said slowly, “Everyone has different tastes.”
Fu Zhengchu felt extremely wronged: “What, am I supposed to get plastic surgery?!”
“That’s not what I meant,” Sang Zhi, scolded by him, also felt a bit wronged and muttered, “That’s why I told you not to like me.”
“Forget it,” Fu Zhengchu gave up on talking to her, “Pretend I never said anything.”
Seeing his low spirits, Sang Zhi began to regret whether she had been too harsh and mustered up the courage to ask, “What do you like about me?”
Fu Zhengchu glanced at her and said, rather shallowly, “You’re good-looking.”
Sang Zhi: “Oh.”
Fu Zhengchu: “That’s all you have to say?”
Sang Zhi: “Well, I can’t argue with that.”
“...”
The two of them were still standing in front of the escalator on the third floor.
Fu Zhengchu suddenly felt heavy-hearted. Staring at her for a long while, he asked again, “Is it because you don’t want to date so early?”
Sang Zhi nodded: “That’s part of the reason.”
“The other part is that you think I’m too young and ugly.” The more he spoke, the more resentful he felt. Fu Zhengchu pressed his lips tightly together, and his eyes began to redden, “Sang Zhi, today is my birthday. Couldn’t you have rejected me another day?”
“...” Sang Zhi was dumbfounded, “Are you crying?”
“Cry my ass!” Fu Zhengchu felt embarrassed and turned away to rub his eyes. Just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly noticed someone standing behind him.
Fu Zhengchu met his gaze.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
Fu Zhengchu’s urge to cry faded, inexplicably feeling that the person in front of him looked familiar.
But he couldn’t remember where he had seen him before.
Noticing that Fu Zhengchu had been silent for a long time, Sang Zhi glanced over suspiciously, following his line of sight to the back, and was startled to see Duan Jiaxu’s figure.
She had no idea how long he had been standing behind them.Seeing them all look over, Duan Jiaxu raised his brow playfully. "Am I interrupting?"
"..."
Fu Zhengchu immediately remembered who this person was.
Sang Zhi's brother.
He had seen him in the office last time when Sang Zhi's parents were called to school.
Thinking of what he had just said, Fu Zhengchu straightened his back, suddenly bowed deeply, looking guilty like he'd been caught red-handed. "Hello, Sang Zhi's brother!"
Duan Jiaxu gave an acknowledging hum.
Fu Zhengchu scurried away awkwardly, his arms and legs moving stiffly. "Goodbye, Sang Zhi's brother!"
"..."
Strangely, even though she hadn't done anything wrong, Sang Zhi also felt like she had been caught doing something improper. After a brief moment of thought, she decided to take the initiative. "Brother, were you eavesdropping?"
Duan Jiaxu lowered his gaze to look at her. "Yes."
"..."
He admitted it just like that, making Sang Zhi swallow the words she was about to say next. She was caught off guard, unsure what to say, so she simply remained silent and continued walking.
Duan Jiaxu followed leisurely behind her. "Our little Sang Zhi is quite charming, huh?"
"..."
He seemed to find it extremely amusing, letting out a soft laugh with a light breath. "Made that little boy cry?"
Sang Zhi didn't know how to respond, her face turning red. "What are you doing."
Duan Jiaxu: "Your brother is just concerned about you."
Sang Zhi felt awkward. "Stop talking about this."
"Alright." Duan Jiaxu changed the subject, his smile fading slightly. "After I helped you meet with the teacher last time, repeat to me what I told you."
She instantly understood the implied meaning behind his words.
"I don't remember what you said, but I'm not dating anyone." After a pause, Sang Zhi emphasized again, "Absolutely not."
Duan Jiaxu: "Quite obedient."
Sang Zhi snorted unhappily.
Duan Jiaxu thought for a moment, then suggested quietly, "It's normal to start having these feelings during adolescence. But don't hurt others. You can thank them for their affection first, then reject them."
Sang Zhi: "How did I hurt him?"
Duan Jiaxu: "Didn't you make him cry?"
"I've made him cry plenty of times before." Sang Zhi said righteously, "When we used to fight, no matter who won, he was always the one who ended up crying."
Duan Jiaxu looked her up and down, amused. "You know how to fight?"
The two exited the mall entrance and went to wait for the bus at a nearby station.
Sang Zhi answered honestly, "I did when I was little."
He said lazily, "You're still little now."
After a few seconds of silence, Sang Zhi couldn't help saying, "I'm not little anymore."
"Hmm?" Duan Jiaxu turned his head and smiled, gesturing to her height. "Alright, you do seem to have grown a bit taller. And you even know how to be nice to your brother now."
Sang Zhi looked at him silently.
Duan Jiaxu: "Hold out your hand."
Sang Zhi hesitantly extended her hand.
The next moment, Duan Jiaxu returned the "all her savings" that Sang Zhi had given him earlier, curling his lips into a smile. "Thank you, little Sang Zhi."
Sang Zhi looked up blankly.
"Do you know what people would say if this got out?" Duan Jiaxu drawled. "They'd say I extorted a middle school student and have me arrested."
Sang Zhi said seriously, "It wasn't extortion. This is the money I spent on dessert."
Duan Jiaxu: "You ate two hundred worth? Then people would say your brother charges outrageous prices."
Unable to win the argument, Sang Zhi stuffed the money back into his hand. "Anyway, I'm giving it to you.""Why are you giving me money?" Duan Jiaxu laughed. "Do you think I'm pitiful?"
"No." His mention of this reminded Sang Zhi that she might have upset him earlier. Hesitating for a moment, she still apologized, "I'm sorry, brother."
"Hmm?"
Sang Zhi stumbled through the words she had been rehearsing all afternoon: "I shouldn't have asked earlier. I just saw that you seemed very busy, and I've been troubling you a lot before, so I felt embarrassed. Also, this is money you worked hard to earn—I can't just spend it like that. And I even brought a friend along."
"..."
Duan Jiaxu's expression softened, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Why are you suddenly speaking so formally?"
Sang Zhi answered honestly, "My dad said if you do something wrong, you should admit it."
"Who said you did anything wrong?"
"I thought my question made you unhappy," Sang Zhi said. "That means I did something wrong."
"It's fine, I wasn't unhappy." Duan Jiaxu ruffled her hair. "Take your candy money back."
Sang Zhi hid her hands behind her back. "I don't like eating candy."
"Then buy what you like." Duan Jiaxu lowered his gaze, staring into her bright eyes. "When I'm really so poor I can't make ends meet, I'll come borrow money from you, okay?"
After boarding the bus, Sang Zhi took a window seat in the back row. She glanced at Duan Jiaxu outside the window, then quickly looked away, focusing on the money he had stuffed into her bag.
Sang Zhi sullenly zipped up her bag.
Night hadn't yet fallen; the sky was tinged with dark red, coloring large swathes of clouds. The distant mountains stood picturesque, their outlines clear and distinct against this colorful backdrop.
Sang Zhi extended a finger and traced the character "Duan" on the window, then quickly wiped it away.
Her mood suddenly turned gloomy.
She felt somewhat perplexed.
Do worries multiply as you grow older?
But she didn't think she was that old yet.
Duan Jiaxu didn't seem to be either—
This unexpected encounter turned out to be the last time Sang Zhi saw Duan Jiaxu that summer. Over the following month, she attended a summer painting class and began working on her summer homework.
She started busying herself with things appropriate for her age.
Sang Zhi never asked Sang Yan about Duan Jiaxu, nor did she ever contact him on her own. She didn't know if he eventually returned home or if he was still working so hard at his part-time job.
But she quietly bought a piggy bank.
Quietly, she saved a lot of unused pocket money inside.
Maybe it would never be used.
But occasionally, she felt that it might be useful someday.
The new semester of eighth grade began.
For the class placement exam at the start of school, Sang Zhi performed as usual and was placed in the advanced class. Most of her classmates were now unfamiliar faces, and even her closest friend, Yin Zhenru, was assigned to a different class.
She was in the same class as Fu Zhengchu.
After the class change, Yin Zhenru rarely came to play with Sang Zhi anymore.
Sang Zhi wasn't particularly proactive by nature, so their contact gradually dwindled. Being somewhat of a loner herself, she didn't dwell on it much.
In the blink of an eye, October passed.
Xuri Middle School began preparing for the sports festival and borrowed the venue from neighboring Nanwu University. Sang Zhi had no interest in sports whatsoever, but with few girls in her class, the teacher insisted she sign up for at least one event.
Reluctantly, Sang Zhi signed up for the long jump.The class had even specially spent money to get a set of class uniforms. These uniforms were designed by Chen Mingxu, following his taste, and he accepted no objections. The central pattern was a grand sunflower, which looked flashy and gaudy.
It was the tackiest class uniform Sang Zhi had ever seen.
On the day of the school sports meet.
Feeling embarrassed, Sang Zhi only changed into that set of class uniforms after arriving at school, then followed the large group to the nearby Nanwu University.
Aside from the time Sang Yan moved into his dorm, this was Sang Zhi's second visit, and she didn't find it particularly novel.
The boys who weren't competing gathered in the bleachers, forming a circle to play Three Kingdoms Kill. Sang Zhi watched for a while until she heard the announcement calling for the junior high second-year girls' long jump registration, then headed to the registration area with a classmate.
In addition to the venue, Nanwu University had arranged a group of volunteers for them.
Like right now.
At the registration area, Sang Zhi ran into her own brother.
Sang Yan was sitting under the registration tent. When he saw her, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he tapped the tip of his pen lightly on the table, looking somewhat mischievous: "Classmate, you don't meet the qualifications to participate. Go back."
Sang Zhi swallowed her anger and said, "What don't I meet?"
"Height requirement."
"I never heard that long jump has a height requirement."
Sang Yan glanced at her, leaning back in his chair: "Well, you can't possibly be under 1.2 meters tall." After saying this, he turned to the person sleeping beside him and laughed: "Right, bro?"
Author's note: Sang Zhi: Sang Yan is a dog, dark and ugly.
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