Zhao Yi was momentarily stunned, then flashed a bright grin, his two rows of white teeth gleaming. "You want that? Need a bodyguard?"
Still playing dumb.
Xu Huaishi had mustered all her courage to break through this delicate barrier, and now she was fuming. She grabbed the test papers on the table and stuffed them into her bag, retorting, "Yes, I need a bodyguard, and you’re missing a brain!"
After hurling the insult, she stood up and stormed out, pushing open the milk tea shop’s door with such force that the cold wind hit her, making her shiver. She had barely taken two steps outside when someone suddenly grabbed her hand from behind.
A broad, warm palm enveloped her wrist—she recognized that touch. Contrary to her earlier complaint, it wasn’t rough at all. In fact, against the howling wind, it felt comforting.
Xu Huaishi froze in place, then heard the voice behind her speak slowly: "I do. I want to go to the same university as you."
Like a feather brushing against her ear, the words were light, yet so close to her eardrum that they reverberated loudly in her auditory world.
Not "I like you," nor "I want to be with you," but "I want to go to the same university as you."
Just ten short words, but at their age, it was the most precious vow one could give.
Xu Huaishi didn’t turn around. At that moment, everything in her vision became a close-up shot.
The hurried passersby on the street; the girl in a red dress waiting by the newsstand across the road; the No. 19 bus slowly approaching and stopping at the platform diagonally ahead.
And then, a fleck of white drifting down before her eyes, landing softly on the tip of her shoe.
She lowered her head, watching as it melted into a drop of water, and said irrelevantly, "It’s snowing."
"Yeah," Zhao Yi replied, lifting his gaze to the fluttering white above them. "It’s snowing."
After the New Year holiday, teachers across the grade began hearing rumors about a previously aimless boy from Class 7 who had suddenly turned over a new leaf.
The news first leaked from the dorm supervisor.
One night, during her rounds, Auntie heard voices coming from the second-floor boys’ dorm balcony. Furious, she stormed up, only to find Zhao Yi, dark circles under his eyes, reciting "peaceful reunification, one country, two systems" under the glow of a flashlight.
The next day, moved to tears, Auntie sought out Class 7’s homeroom teacher.
The teacher was initially impressed—until he heard the name. His expression darkened. "Don’t let that kid fool you. He hides novels inside his politics textbook." He then summoned Zhao Yi to the office for a lecture.
Zhao Yi couldn’t be bothered to argue. While mentally reviewing history facts, he absentmindedly mumbled "uh-huh" and "yeah" through the scolding. On his way out, he bumped into the history teacher and suddenly asked, "Sir, what year was the world’s first car invented again?"
The history teacher paused. "1885."
Zhao Yi clenched his right fist and smacked it into his left palm. "Right, it was 'your dad' who invented the car..."
The entire office fell silent as teachers exchanged bewildered glances. The history teacher slowly turned, watching Zhao Yi’s retreating figure with disbelief, adjusting his glasses.
Once might have been a coincidence, but as reports of Zhao Yi’s "glorious deeds" kept pouring into the office, even the homeroom teacher had to admit something had changed.
Then, one day close to finals, the math teacher arrived five minutes early to analyze test papers. Just as she entered, she heard Zhao Yi, who had been napping at his desk, suddenly shout in his sleep:
"Bullshit! Ulaanbaatar is obviously a temperate continental climate!"After that, the homeroom teacher fully realized the severity of the issue, suspecting that the child had gone mad from academic pressure. So, on Friday evening after school, she called Zhao Yi's mother.
Most students had already gone home, with only some senior high school students staying behind for self-study—Zhao Yi among them.
After the homeroom teacher and Zhao's Mother finished their conversation in the office, they walked worriedly toward the classroom. As they reached the window of Class Seven, they suddenly heard a girl's voice: "You drew the auxiliary line wrong, of course you can't solve it. It should be drawn like this..."
The two instinctively slowed their steps and peeked through the window crack. They saw a girl in a school uniform skirt sitting beside Zhao Yi at the back, pulling up a chair as she leaned over to draw an auxiliary line on his test paper. After finishing, she tilted her head to look at him: "Got it now?"
Zhao Yi let out an "Oh" and said, "I think so. Let me try again." He took the pen and began working through the problem. Three minutes later, he slammed the desk excitedly.
The girl jumped in fright, clutching her chest as she glared at him. "What's wrong with you?"
Zhao Yi was overjoyed. "I got it! It really is 45 degrees!"
"Such a simple problem, why get so worked up..." She shot him a sidelong glance, but the corners of her lips curled into a smile. When he looked back at her, she quickly schooled her expression and said sternly, "If there are any other problems you don’t get, ask now. I want to go home."
The two adults by the window exchanged glances before quietly walking away.
By the time Xu Huaishi finished explaining the math test, the sun had already set.
As she slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed out, Zhao Yi called after her, "How are you getting home? Taking a cab?"
"Taxis aren’t safe. My mom won’t allow it. I’m taking Bus 19 again."
"Then I’ll walk you to the bus stop. Wait for me."
"Why the fuss? You think I don’t know the way?" Xu Huaishi scoffed at him and left the classroom first. When she reached the school gate, she suddenly heard the sound of rushing wind behind her. Then, Zhao Yi screeched to a halt in front of her—bicycle and all.
Panting, he said, "I told you to wait for me."
Xu Huaishi blinked. "Since when does your bike have a backseat?"
"Almost a month now. What, your eyes only have room for your precious Shican Gege?"
"..."
What kind of comparison was that?
Xu Huaishi lifted her chin, deliberately provoking him. "Yeah, because while you’re riding a two-wheeled bicycle, he drives a four-wheeled Carrera."
Zhao Yi snorted. "Carrera? My family owns a Reventón."
"Stop bragging. If a globally limited-edition luxury car like that showed up even once, you’d be famous schoolwide the next day. It’s been almost three years—how come I’ve never heard of it?"
"That’s because my family is low-key. If it really came, wouldn’t I be swarmed by admirers all day? How would I focus on studying?"
Clearly used to his nonsense, Xu Huaishi didn’t buy it at all. "You think this is some TV drama?"
Zhao Yi couldn’t be bothered to argue further. "Tch," he said. "Are you getting on or not?"
She turned away. "No, it’s freezing. I’d rather walk to stay warm."
Zhao Yi stopped her, unwrapping the scarf from his neck and bundling her up tightly, covering her face and neck. "Hurry up. The last bus leaves in five minutes."
Xu Huaishi glanced at her watch and gasped.
So that’s why he insisted on sending her.
She immediately hopped onto the backseat. "You should’ve said so earlier instead of wasting time with that cheesy CEO drama nonsense. Go, go!"
"Too slow? Then just hold on tight."He stomped on the pedals and the bike shot forward. Xu Huaishi wobbled and suddenly clung tightly to his waist, exclaiming, "Are you trying to kill me?!"
Zhao Yi could barely breathe from her grip and yelled back, "You’re the one trying to kill me!"
Three minutes later, they arrived at the bus stop in a frenzy—completely devoid of the leisurely romance seen in the movie Comrades: Almost a Love Story . Both of them were panting heavily.
Xu Huaishi took off the scarf and was about to hand it back to him when she suddenly spotted a silver-gray sports car approaching in the distance, pulling to a stop right in front of them.
Talk of the devil—was this a Reventon?
She froze as the car window rolled down, revealing a woman’s face that looked somewhat familiar.
Zhao Yi paused mid-scarf retrieval, surprised. "Mom? What are you doing here?"
Xu Huaishi: "..."
Her face stung a little.
And—was she about to be accused of puppy love and have her parents called in again ?
Zhao Yi clearly had the same thought and hurried to explain, "Mom, I didn’t—"
"I know," Zhao's Mother said with a smile, looking at Xu Huaishi. "Huaishi, right? Get in the car, Auntie will take you home."
"..."
The same auntie who had once glared at her outside the police station with a "Here’s five million, leave my son alone" expression now had a look that screamed— "This girl is so clever, I want to take her home as my daughter-in-law."
She glanced at Zhao Yi, who looked just as bewildered, and hastily waved her hands. "No need, Auntie! My bus should be here soon."
Zhao's Mother smiled. "Which bus are you taking?"
"Bus 19."
"I just saw the last one drive by."
Xu Huaishi let out a quiet "Ah," then looked at Zhao Yi again.
Zhao Yi jerked his chin. "Just get in."
She muttered an "Oh," thanked Zhao's Mother, and climbed into the car—only to realize something was off. Pointing at Zhao Yi, she asked, "Auntie, if I’m taking your car, then what about him...?"
The car didn’t have a back seat.
"We don’t usually chauffeur him around. Riding a bike is good exercise—he can get back on his own," Zhao's Mother replied before cheerfully stepping on the gas.
Xu Huaishi quickly tossed the scarf she had been using for warmth out the window at him.
The scarf flew on the wind of a 15-million-yuan luxury car and smacked straight into Zhao Yi’s face.
He nearly suffocated, yanking it off—only to look up and see a Bus 19 arriving fashionably late, stopping right in front of him.
Author’s Note:
Zhao Yi: I’m not the biological child.
There’ll be another update later.
OpenNovel