SWTHTC - 18

Chapter 18: “Someone’s Looking for You”

[“You’re looking for me?”]

Zhou Leqi did know Luo Siyu, though they had never attended the same schools from elementary to middle school.

To say she “knew” Luo Siyu wasn’t entirely accurate either—she had only seen her a handful of times. However, each encounter left a deep impression on Zhou Leqi.

The first time was at Luo Siyu’s house.

It was 2012, shortly before Zhou Leqi’s first college entrance exam. By then, Yu Qing had already suspected that Zhou Lei was having an affair, but he vehemently denied it, swearing and self-justifying his innocence. One weekend, he claimed he was going to work overtime at the office. On the surface, Yu Qing pretended to believe him, but later, she drove with Zhou Leqi to track him down. They followed him into a residential complex.

After he went upstairs, they trailed behind, knocking on doors until they finally found him.

He was with a strange mother and daughter. The mother was Gao Xiang, the woman Zhou Lei would soon marry, and the daughter was Luo Siyu.

That day ended in chaos.

Yu Qing was a gentle woman, almost timid in her softness. But that day, she exploded—her long-held suspicions confirmed, she was both heartbroken and enraged, wishing Gao Xiang and Zhou Lei would just die together.

She lunged at them like a madwoman, clawing and hitting them, while Zhou Lei firmly restrained her, showcasing the despairing disparity in physical strength between men and women. He held her back as if she were some fierce aggressor, while Gao Xiang stood behind him, appearing frail and innocent, like a perfect victim.

It was all laughably absurd.

People can never imagine how deeply someone else’s truth can be hidden. Take Zhou Leqi, for instance. She had always thought her father was a kind and elegant man who loved his wife and children and treated everyone with courtesy. She never imagined he would betray his family—or worse, help his mistress humiliate her mother right in front of her. It was despicable and nauseating.

Her world was collapsing before her eyes.

That day, the two families met face-to-face.

Zhou Leqi initially assumed Luo Siyu was Zhou Lei’s secret illegitimate child, kept hidden outside the family. To her surprise, Luo Siyu had her own father—a man named Luo Long.

Gao Xiang was far more decisive than Zhou Lei. Unlike him, who wavered between his wife and mistress, Gao Xiang had already made up her mind to divorce her husband. She even separated from him early on, using this as proof of her devotion to Zhou Lei. At the same time, she subtly pressured Zhou Lei to leave his family.

Zhou Leqi didn’t understand Luo Siyu’s role in all of this.

She had her own father—why could she so calmly accept Zhou Lei as an outsider? When Zhou Leqi and Yu Qing confronted them that day, Luo Siyu and her mother were cooking dinner for Zhou Lei.

Didn’t she feel this was a betrayal of her biological father? Or was it simply because Zhou Lei was wealthier, and she, like her mother, could unhesitatingly betray her original family?

Zhou Leqi found it utterly absurd.

The second meeting took place at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Zhou Lei and Yu Qing finalized their divorce.

Zhou Leqi hadn’t wanted to go that day. Though she outwardly pretended not to care, pretending to be strong and cold, inside, she felt pain. She dreaded facing a completely unfamiliar life without her father.

But she still insisted on going because she couldn’t bear to let her mother face everything alone.

As they left the bureau, Zhou Leqi saw Luo Siyu again. She was standing by Gao Xiang’s side, seemingly there to pick up Zhou Lei, eager to snatch him away.

At the time, Zhou Leqi found it laughable.

Snatch? No, there was no need.

Neither she nor Yu Qing wanted this man anymore. She vowed to take care of her mother on her own—if these people enjoyed picking up trash, they could have him.

After that day, everyone returned to their respective lives. Zhou Leqi thought she’d never have to deal with these people again.

She never expected to see Luo Siyu at school.

Why was she here? Zhou Leqi clearly remembered she wasn’t a student at No. 1 High School.

On the other side, Hou Zihao and Yan Lin gradually recalled that there had indeed been a Luo Siyu in their middle school class. However, they remembered her grades weren’t good—she ranked in the lower-middle range. They didn’t pay attention to where she ended up after the high school entrance exam, but they were certain she hadn’t been admitted to No. 1 High School.

Before they could ask, Luo Siyu explained herself. “I… I’m an art student. I transferred to study liberal arts here at No. 1 High School, but my official enrollment is still at No. 3 High School.”

No. 3 High School—an ordinary high school with lackluster academic performance in City A.

Hou Zihao and Yan Lin weren’t particularly interested in her situation. Since she brought it up, they simply nodded and said, “Oh, congratulations.”

It was indeed something worth congratulating—getting into a prestigious school like No. 1 High School as a transfer student was no easy feat. Countless students tried every year, hoping to benefit from better teachers and learning environments. Money alone wasn’t enough; connections were also required—it was extremely difficult.

Mi Lan knew about this because getting into No. 1 High School had been tough for her too. Her family had considered transferring her if she failed the entrance exam, planning to use connections to secure a spot. Her father had even remarked how challenging it would be.

She glanced at Luo Siyu and initiated a conversation. “Your family must be quite capable. Our school is notoriously hard to get into.”

Luo Siyu lowered her head and smiled shyly. “Not really, my parents care about me.”

“Parents.”

Zhou Leqi heard this.

She knew Luo Siyu wasn’t referring to Luo Long when she said “parents.” As far as Zhou Leqi knew, Luo Long ran a restaurant that struggled financially, which likely made his wife and daughter look down on him. His circumstances probably wouldn’t allow him to send Luo Siyu to No. 1 High School—and if he had the means, he would’ve done so in her freshman year, not waited until her senior year.

This could only mean one thing—Zhou Lei’s doing. Of course, he was about to marry Gao Xiang, so naturally, he’d want to curry favor with her daughter.

Zhou Leqi gave a faint smile.

Just then, Teacher Pu arrived, blowing his whistle to gather everyone into formation. The students began lining up, and Luo Siyu prepared to return to Class 43’s line. Before leaving, she stole another glance at Hou Zihao, only to find his gaze lingering vaguely in another direction.

Curious, she discreetly followed his line of sight.

…And saw Zhou Leqi.

Wednesday’s weekly test was in Chinese.

Zhou Leqi took today’s exam seriously. Although weekly tests weren’t particularly significant, she hoped to perform well to improve Teacher Pan’s impression of her. For once, she felt nervous before the exam.

Chinese was Zhou Leqi’s weak subject. She had once achieved the dubious honor of getting every question wrong on a science and technology reading comprehension section, and on that same exam, her essay veered off-topic, earning her a grade of 91—just two points shy of failing.

This time, she was cautious, meticulously analyzing every word and sentence during the reading sections. However, she ran out of time, rushing through the classical Chinese reading and barely having enough time to think through her essay. After handing in her paper, she felt a sense of loss.

Once the papers were collected, she became preoccupied, wondering how she might have scored and worrying about what would happen if she performed poorly. Would Teacher Pan be even more disappointed in her? The more she thought about it, the more distressed she became.

Distressed to the point of zoning out in her seat.

The person who snapped her back to reality was Luo Siyu.

For reasons unknown, Luo Siyu had come to Class One’s classroom. She stood at the door, looking around nervously. Some curious boys approached her and asked who she was looking for. Blushing, she replied, “I… I’m looking for Hou Zihao.”

High school life was painfully boring, revolving almost entirely around studying. This made any scrap of gossip highly intriguing, especially when it involved Hou Zihao. The boy immediately turned his head and called out teasingly into the classroom, “Hou God, someone’s looking for you!”

His shout ignited the entire class. Fresh from the post-exam relaxation, the boys were hyped up. Hou Zihao’s seat was against the wall, so he couldn’t see who was at the door. Hearing the commotion, he felt utterly confused. When he finally walked halfway to the door, he realized it was Luo Siyu.

…Which only added to his confusion.

Hou Zihao stepped out of the classroom and stood in front of Luo Siyu, asking, “You’re looking for me?”

Tall, handsome boys were always eye-catching, and Hou Zihao was no exception—especially when he wasn’t around Zhou Leqi. Around her, he unconsciously tensed up, restraining himself, but with others, he was more relaxed, making him even more appealing.

Luo Siyu blushed, growing increasingly flustered. She nodded and asked, “Do you have time today? I… I’d like to treat you to dinner.”

Hou Zihao raised an eyebrow. “Treat me to dinner?”

Luo Siyu’s face reddened further. “I just transferred to No. 1 High School and don’t know much about it. I don’t know anyone here either, so I wanted to ask you about school stuff…”

Her speech sped up, clearly embarrassed. “If you’re not available, it’s fine. I was being presumptuous…”

Her words were measured, yet her expression carried a hint of pleading and vulnerability, making it hard for anyone to refuse.

Hou Zihao furrowed his brows.

By the time they exchanged these few sentences, Class One students were already packing up to leave. As they passed Hou Zihao and Luo Siyu, they winked and snickered, making Luo Siyu blush even more and leaving Hou Zihao increasingly exasperated.

Zhou Leqi also walked out of the classroom with the crowd.

For a brief moment, her eyes met Hou Zihao’s. She also noticed Luo Siyu, her cheeks flushed, her gaze darting nervously, as if trying to hide behind Hou Zihao from everyone’s stares.

It reminded Zhou Leqi of how Gao Xiang used to hide behind Zhou Lei years ago.

Uninterested, she quickly averted her gaze.

And walked away.