Sang Zhi's voice wasn't loud, and her tone was calm. But perhaps because the content was too shocking, it felt amplified like through a loudspeaker at that moment, reaching the ears of the other two people.
The silence was broken, and the atmosphere relaxed for a moment. Then, it descended into an even more awkward situation.
Duan Jiaxu pursed his lips slightly, still saying nothing.
The woman couldn't tell what he was thinking. Was he struck by the truth, or did he think it was just an insignificant joke? The smile on her face faded, and the hand holding her phone gradually lowered.
Sang Zhi secretly glanced in Duan Jiaxu's direction.
By sheer coincidence, her eyes met his. She immediately lowered her gaze, guiltily slinging her backpack to her chest and rummaging inside for her phone, pretending to be nothing more than part of the background.
A few more seconds passed.
Duan Jiaxu withdrew his gaze and followed Sang Zhi's words: "Yeah, I'm a bit of a scumbag."
"..."
"And lately, I'm a bit overwhelmed." He chuckled lightly, shaking the phone in his hand, and said casually, "If you want to call me, you might have to take a number."
His tone was matter-of-fact, as if he saw nothing wrong with these words, without a trace of shame on his face. It was as if he believed that having good looks made him superior.
Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow flippantly: "Do you want to reconsider?"
The woman took a deep breath, barely maintaining her politeness: "No need."
"What a pity." Duan Jiaxu sighed regretfully, "How about we still exchange contact info? Maybe you'll change your mind someday..."
Before he could finish, the woman turned and walked away without another word.
Leaving only Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu standing in place.
After the woman's figure disappeared from view, Duan Jiaxu turned his head to look at Sang Zhi and asked leisurely, "Kid, your brother can't make it to thirty now. What should we do?"
"..."
His tone was gentle and calm, as if he was genuinely asking.
Yet it felt like a hidden threat behind the smile.
Sang Zhi even thought she'd rather he lose his temper with her. The damage probably wouldn't be this severe.
"One short." Duan Jiaxu smiled, "How am I going to get through this month?"
"..." Sang Zhi didn't dare to speak, uncomfortably coughing twice, her spine tingling with fear. Timidity suddenly overwhelmed her.
Duan Jiaxu, standing beside her, said nothing more, unusually quiet.
As if brewing some big move.
Sang Zhi was truly scared; this time, she didn't even dare to steal a glance, just obediently stood in place. The unpredictable future made her anxious. She swallowed hard and subtly took a step back.
Mustering all her courage, she quickly called out, "Goodbye, brother!" Then suddenly broke into a run, as if fleeing a disaster.
Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow and easily caught her arm, pulling her back.
"Running where?"
She hadn't even taken two steps before being caught.
Sang Zhi suddenly realized that escape was practically impossible.
She deflated.
"It's too late... it's almost dark." Sang Zhi guiltily lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, "My mom will be home soon, and she'll worry if she sees I'm not back yet."
Duan Jiaxu symbolically glanced at the sky: "It's so late, how could I let you go back alone?"
Sang Zhi immediately said, "It's fine, the bus stop is nearby, and once I get off, I'm almost home. You need to get back to school too, brother, or you'll be back very late.""Hmm?" Duan Jiaxu said, "I never noticed you cared so much about me before."
"..." Since there was no escaping this, Sang Zhi decided to throw caution to the wind. "Brother, why are you holding onto such a small matter for so long? It's not like you suffered any loss."
Duan Jiaxu lazily replied, "How is it not a loss?"
Sang Zhi argued confidently, "You hesitated for so long because you didn't want to give that older sister your number but didn't know how to refuse. Wasn't I helping you just now? If you think about it, you should be thanking me."
The little girl was quite skilled at spinning tales without batting an eye. Duan Jiaxu stared at her for several seconds, seemingly amused and exasperated. He gave a slight smirk and said, "Fine."
"But brother, you helped me earlier too." Even with his agreement, Sang Zhi still felt uneasy and could only brace herself to say, "Let's just call it even."
"That won't do," Duan Jiaxu said. "Come on, I'll personally go to your home to express my gratitude."
"..."
At this age, the two most dreaded phrases for children were probably "telling the teacher" and "calling the parents."
The person in front of her kept using these two points to intimidate her, instantly deflating her spirit. Sang Zhi didn't dare provoke him further and said resentfully, "Why do you always threaten to tell my parents? It's so childish."
Duan Jiaxu raised the corner of his eye slightly and said calmly, "Well, I'm still missing a girlfriend, so I'm in a bad mood."
Sang Zhi retorted, "But you came to help me see the teacher, not to go on a blind date."
"Alright, tell me. Who taught you all this?" Duan Jiaxu said with amusement. "And changing girlfriends every day? You make it sound like I'm some kind of gigolo."
Sang Zhi blinked, not understanding. "Why does that make you like a duck?"
"..."
It suddenly dawned on him that the person standing before him was just a kid who had just started middle school.
Duan Jiaxu's expression froze for a moment. He scratched his cheek, then picked up the backpack she was carrying and said without changing his expression, "It means keeping a pet, like raising a duck and changing its owner every day."
Sang Zhi took the opportunity to slip her arms out of the straps. She thought about it and, though it felt a bit strange, pretended to understand.
"Oh."
The pink-blue backpack ended up in his hands.
Duan Jiaxu weighed the backpack in his hand and changed the subject. "It's so light?"
The two walked toward the bus stop.
Sang Zhi: "I don't have much to bring."
Duan Jiaxu: "What about your homework?"
Sang Zhi's expression finally shifted, and she dawdled as she replied, "...I don't want to do it."
"Don't want to do it?" Duan Jiaxu said. "Then what do you spend your time on?"
"..."
"Kid, you need to behave. Pay attention in class, don't disrupt the lesson or deliberately oppose the teacher, and finish your homework properly." Remembering the boy from the office earlier, Duan Jiaxu added, "Also, no early dating. Wait until you're an adult. At your age, you should focus on building pure friendships."
Sang Zhi glanced at him and gave a perfunctory "Oh."
Seeing that she hadn't taken any of it in, Duan Jiaxu added casually, "If you get called to the principal's office again, the fact that I pretended to be your brother today might come to light. If that happens, I'd really be in trouble. You wouldn't repay kindness with ingratitude, would you?"
Sang Zhi: "You can just come again next time..."
Duan Jiaxu didn't agree, and his smile faded slightly.For some reason, Sang Zhi was a little afraid of him getting angry, so she immediately lost her stance: "I understand."
Only then did he smile: "Good girl."
His tone sounded like a reward.
Duan Jiaxu leaned down and affectionately ruffled her hair.
"Let's go, I'll walk you home."
After bringing her downstairs,
Duan Jiaxu showed no intention of going up, placing her backpack in front of her: "Go on back."
Sang Zhi nodded and obediently said: "Thank you, brother."
When she reached the door, Sang Zhi pulled the keys from her pocket and slowly opened the door. Not knowing if they would meet again, and unable to hear his departing footsteps behind her, she paused and cautiously glanced back.
Duan Jiaxu was still standing there, his gaze meeting hers exactly.
As if caught red-handed, Sang Zhi's face flushed bright red, and she immediately called out: "Goodbye, brother!"
Then she scrambled into the building in a fluster.
No one was home yet, the house was empty and quiet.
Sang Zhi pressed her hands against her burning cheeks, quickly kicked off her shoes, and ran to the balcony. Gripping the security bars, she looked down. Duan Jiaxu was almost out of the residential complex, holding his phone to his ear with one hand, as if making a call.
A few seconds later, as if noticing something, he suddenly looked up toward Sang Zhi's direction.
Caught off guard and feeling guilty,
Sang Zhi immediately turned her back and crouched down.
Her heart pounded wildly, as if it might leap out of her chest at any moment. She swallowed hard, overwhelmed by inexplicable guilt and confusion, and didn't dare move. Only after a long while did she look out again.
But Duan Jiaxu was already gone from sight.
Sang Zhi let out a sigh.
For some reason, she felt an inexplicable emptiness inside.
The matter was resolved unusually smoothly.
The teacher hadn't noticed anything amiss, and her parents remained completely unaware. Because of this, Sang Zhi didn't receive much reprimand. Yet it seemed to leave endless aftereffects.
She began constantly, repeatedly, thinking of the same person.
Something bittersweet, with a hint of sweetness, was beginning to sprout.
Sang Zhi found this feeling strange and unsettling. She didn't dare tell anyone about it, feeling somewhat ashamed, yet also as if she had grown up overnight, now possessing her own secret that couldn't be shared with anyone.
Sang Zhi began frequently spacing out.
Her scratch paper and diary gradually filled with a man's name. Even though she didn't even know which characters corresponded to the sounds of that name.
This feeling only lasted for a while.
Perhaps because they never met again, time gradually washed it away. Or perhaps because she forcibly suppressed it deep in her heart, trying to pretend it didn't exist.
In the blink of an eye, midterm exams ended, and the Dragon Boat Festival holiday arrived.
Sang Zhi returned home early, took a bowl of strawberries from the refrigerator, and lay on the sofa slowly munching on them. Her parents hadn't returned yet, she was alone in the house, with cheerful background music from cartoons playing on TV.
Suddenly, the door at the entrance opened.
Sang Zhi instinctively looked over and immediately saw Sang Yan's face.
Not expecting him to return during this holiday, Sang Zhi was momentarily stunned, then acted as if she hadn't seen him, turning her attention back to the TV.
Sang Yan laughed in exasperation: "Don't you know how to greet people?""You came back without giving a heads-up," Sang Zhi said while munching on a palm-sized strawberry. "Mom just called and told you to cook two portions of rice. Go do it now."
Sang Yan replied coolly, "I didn’t even tell her I was home. How could she ask me to cook?"
Without taking her eyes off the TV, Sang Zhi fumbled for her phone nearby and called Li Ping, putting it on speaker. "If you don’t believe me, I’ll call her right now."
Sang Yan ignored her and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of cold water to drink.
The call was answered quickly, and Li Ping’s voice came through: "Zhizhi, what’s up?"
"Mom," Sang Zhi said without changing her expression, "Gege is back. Didn’t you just tell me to ask him to cook?"
Sang Yan closed the fridge and glanced in Sang Zhi’s direction.
Then, he heard Li Ping on the phone fall silent for a few seconds before saying, "Yeah, that’s right. Has he started cooking yet?"
Sang Yan: "..."
Sang Zhi swallowed the strawberry and raised her voice, calling out to Sang Yan, "Gege, Mom wants to know if you’ve started cooking yet!"
Sang Yan stared at Sang Zhi for a long moment without saying a word, then turned and walked straight into the kitchen. Seeing this, Sang Zhi scrambled up, went to the kitchen, and leaned against the doorframe, peeking inside. "He’s cooking now," she reported.
After exchanging a few more words with Li Ping, Sang Zhi hung up. Watching Sang Yan’s back, she suddenly remembered mistaking Duan Jiaxu for him earlier. After a moment of silence, she blurted out inexplicably, "Gege, have you been in a relationship since starting university?"
Sang Yan ignored her.
"No? Not even once?" Seemingly very interested in the topic, Sang Zhi even stopped paying attention to the cartoon. "I’m serious, Gege."
Sang Yan turned around, his tone unfriendly. "What do you want?"
Sang Zhi said earnestly, "Have you considered getting plastic surgery?"
"..."
Sang Yan nearly choked on his breath. Not wanting to look at her anymore, he turned his back and sneered, "Remember that guy who came back with me last time?"
Sang Zhi paused mid-bite, lowered her eyes, and said slowly, "I remember."
"He said you look like me."
"..." After a few seconds of silence, Sang Zhi suddenly blurted out, "Did I offend him or something?"
"What?"
Sang Zhi pursed her lips, displeased. "If not, why would he call me ugly?"
"..."
Author’s note: Sang Zhi’s inner thoughts: No matter what, even if someone says I look like you, you’re still the ugly one.
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