CM - 3

Xu Su bought dumplings for dinner. When he got home, the lights were off, and he assumed Zhou Shuirong hadn’t returned. He turned on the light to find her sitting on the rug in the living room. She had showered, her hair still wet, fanned out on her back, dampening her loose white shirt. Her two slender white legs were crossed, feet exposed, and a glimpse of black shorts could be seen near her thighs. On the table in front of her was a laptop, a stack of A4 papers by her beautiful hand, and a charcoal pen gripped between her lips, her lips slightly upturned, reflected in the panoramic French window beside her. It left one’s mind with no other thought than ‘beauty.’

He carried the dumplings to the dining table, then got her a bottle of soda water and placed it on her table: “First day of school, how was it?”

Zhou Shuirong was starting to search for the last name. While operating the computer, she said, “The atmosphere is quite good. I haven’t had a chance to interact with classmates yet, but the teachers are quite responsible.”

Xu Su sat down, leaned forward, and saw what she was doing, showing no surprise: “Are you investigating them?”

“No, I’m selecting useful information from what they themselves revealed, to facilitate my harmonious interaction with them later.”

Xu Su recalled that Zhou Siyuan also had this habit of knowing oneself and one’s enemy, and suddenly wondered if caution was a family trait? “Do you know what social media apps they use?”

Zhou Shuirong listed several, which were indeed the most commonly used apps among contemporary middle school students in big data. Xu Su said sincerely: “You’re not quite like a typical middle school student.”

Zhou Shuirong found the last name and said, “I’ve never attended a typical middle school either.”

Her words were perfectly normal, and Xu Su should have responded normally, but for some reason, he just stumbled, unable to say anything.

Not attending a typical high school actually wasn’t something to be happy about, was it? Her peers were growing up unrestrained, certainly not knowing as much as her, but definitely happier than her.

Zhou Shuirong looked at the clean search interface and asked Xu Su: “Brother, would someone have absolutely no online presence?”

Xu Su, speaking as a police officer, told her: “No.”

Zhou Shuirong’s eyes moved to the three characters ‘Shen Tingwen’ in the search box. Why couldn’t she find this person? “Those high-anonymity IPs, using unregistered foreign servers that require you to use technology to investigate, what kind of people are they usually?”

Xu Su blurted out: “Criminals.”

________________________________________

When Wen Huo heard that Shen Tingwen was no longer going abroad, she only asked, “Didn’t you complete all the paperwork?”

Shen Tingwen said, “Domestic education is better.”

Wen Huo didn’t listen to his nonsense: “Honey, don’t use your cleverness on me. You’re my son, you can’t fool me.”

Shen Tingwen put down his phone, not looking at her, his eyes still fixed straight ahead: “I’m certainly not as good as you at fooling people. My dad still doesn’t know you came back early from Germany last month but didn’t come home, and played mahjong all night with Aunt Shu Guo.”

Wen Huo frowned: “Are you threatening me?”

Shen Tingwen looked at her: “How could I threaten you? I’m your son, Mom.”

Wen Huo looked at her son’s handsome face, sighing for the umpteenth time why he wasn’t a daughter. She wanted a little cotton jacket! This son wasn’t as cute as he used to be! Damn it!

That evening, Shen Cheng returned. Wen Huo confessed her “misdeeds” first, telling him about the mahjong game with a sincere attitude.

Shen Cheng showed no reaction: “Hmm.”

Only then did Wen Huo understand: “You knew already?”

Shen Cheng’s thumb gently stroked her eyebrow: “Is there anything you can hide from me?”

Wen Huo deflated, leaning into his arms: “I was tricked by your son. He forced me to tell you about this. Why did I only have a son? Can we have another daughter, Professor Shen? I think you’re still capable.”

Shen Cheng still remembered how much Wen Huo suffered giving birth to Shen Tingwen. “If you don’t like him, then we won’t have another.”

Wen Huo couldn’t bear to: “Never mind, I went through so much trouble to give birth to him.”

Shen Cheng got up and brought over printed copies of over a dozen documents Wen Huo needed to read.

Wen Huo saw that all the key points were annotated, making it clear at a glance and greatly saving her time. She smiled, gripped Shen Cheng’s arm, used it to leap up, and kissed his cheek: “Thank you, Professor Shen.”

Shen Cheng pointed to his left cheek.

Wen Huo kissed his left cheek again.

After she kissed him, Shen Cheng finally said: “Your son did that for you.”

Wen Huo couldn’t smile anymore: “Aren’t you ashamed, old man?!” Her son was reliable after all! This old man was so devious! He tricked her into giving him kisses!

...

Wen Huo was unwilling to use her brain for household matters, so she always felt a sense of “pregnancy brain” lasting forever. Only Shen Cheng knew that she overly trusted him, trusted Shen Tingwen, and agreed to hand over decision-making power to them.

Outside the home, she was still the woman who, by her own capabilities, could make Shen Cheng bow down.

________________________________________

The entire school knew that Shen Tingwen was no longer going abroad.

During break time, Shen Tingwen read poetry in the broadcasting room. His voice spread through the broadcast to every corner of the campus. His voice was indeed very pleasant, in its sexiest phase after puberty.

When Zhou Shuirong went to the restroom, she heard someone discussing: “Shen Tingwen isn’t going abroad after all? Is he really dating Zhao Guqing now? Zhao Guqing is really bold. With someone as unpredictable as Shen Tingwen, I wonder what she sees in him.”

“Doesn’t Zhao Guqing always think she’s special? Then she definitely needs to find someone special as a boyfriend to prove how special she is.”

...

Zhou Shuirong came out from behind a partition door. The two girls gossiping exchanged glances and quickly left.

Hearing this, it seemed that this Shen Tingwen was a bit like her, both misunderstood.

Zhu Jiayi watched Zhao Guqing so intently making resin crafts and couldn’t understand: “Your grades have dropped to eighty-something, why aren’t you worried? Auntie will definitely scold you again if she knows you’re not studying and still making these things.”

Zhao Guqing poked small star sequins into the mold with a small wooden stick: “Jing He said Shen Tingwen’s phone case broke, and he definitely hasn’t bought a new one yet.”

“Do you think Shen Tingwen can’t afford a phone case?”

“He can afford it, but would the one he buys be the same as the one I made?”

Zhu Jiayi didn’t want to discourage her: “Do you think he’ll want it?”

Zhao Guqing recalled two days ago when she returned his mock test papers. It was the first time she had spoken so much to him, wanting him to stay and not go abroad. Although he hadn’t agreed then, Jing He said this morning that he really wasn’t going abroad. It must have been her words that made a difference.

Zhu Jiayi saw her smiling lips, her dream too beautiful, so she didn’t wake her up. “Liang Jifan asked me if you’re still going to dance class on Sunday?”

Zhao Guqing wanted to watch Shen Tingwen play basketball. “Jing He said they’ll be playing with some guys from Tsinghua High School, and I want to go watch.”

Zhu Jiayi, Zhao Guqing, and Liang Jifan were childhood friends. The three of them had been in the same school and class since elementary school until high school when they were separated by performance-based class assignments.

Zhao Guqing fell for Shen Tingwen in high school, completely losing herself. Pursuing him was like chasing a celebrity. Zhu Jiayi and Liang Jifan couldn’t talk any sense into her.

Zhu Jiayi gave up on her: “Then it’s up to you. When are you planning to give him this case?”

“Once it dries? It should be ready this afternoon.”

________________________________________

During the break of the third period in the afternoon, Zhao Guqing stood at the front door of Class Sixteen and said to a classmate in the front row, “Could you call Shen Tingwen for me?”

The classmate at the front door didn’t even turn their head, just yelled: “Shen Tingwen! Someone’s looking for you!”

Half the class looked towards the doorway, gazing at Zhao Guqing’s beautiful face.

Zhou Shuirong, who was sketching architecture to pass the time, also looked up. Zhao Guqing felt very similar to Vanessa, both appearing gentle but always with a stubborn streak.

She inadvertently took a few more glances and noticed Zhao Guqing was staring at Shen Tingwen, while Shen Tingwen, as if nothing was happening, completely ignored her.

Later, the warning bell rang, and Zhao Guqing had to return to her class. She hurriedly placed a Japanese-style package on the front desk: “Please give this to Shen Tingwen for me. Thank you.”

________________________________________

After school, Shen Tingwen and Jing He were walking out when Liang Jifan, with two other people, blocked their path. He wasn’t looking for a fight; he just wanted to ask Shen Tingwen if he truly liked Zhao Guqing.

He had heard from Zhu Jiayi that afternoon about Zhao Guqing making a phone case, and he was absolutely furious.

If it were freshman or sophomore year, her being so smitten would be one thing, but this was senior year. Her grades had dropped so much, and she was still caught up in romance?

It was easier for Beijing residents to get into Beijing schools, and she was a good student; she should aim for Tsinghua or Peking University. If she didn’t get in, she would surely regret it forever.

The three of them had played together since childhood. He himself was a lost cause, but he truly didn’t want Zhao Guqing and Zhu Jiayi to be lost causes too. Whether it was a sentiment for their old neighborhood or simply a natural sense of responsibility, he felt a kind of mission, unable to stand by and watch them waste themselves like this.

This time, he just wanted to clearly ask Shen Tingwen if he had any feelings for Zhao Guqing. If not, he should tell her directly so she could focus on her studies instead of being infatuated all day long.

The south gate of the school was crowded, and no one stopped to notice what was happening around them. But the sight of Shen Tingwen and Liang Jifan together was so unusual that it attracted many gazes.

Even more people stopped because of them.

Jing He didn’t know what Liang Jifan wanted and thought he was looking for trouble. He stepped in front of Shen Tingwen: “What’s going on? Is there some misunderstanding?”

Liang Jifan ignored him, handed Shen Tingwen a bottle of water, and said, “Can you just tell me straight, do you like Zhao Guqing?”

Shen Tingwen checked his watch; it was almost five. He looked up and said, “I don’t understand.”

Hadn’t Liang Jifan made himself clear enough? He grew impatient: “Like her or not, what’s ‘I don’t understand’? Brother, I haven’t bothered you for three years, isn’t that enough respect? Can’t you just give me a straight answer?”

Shen Tingwen didn’t speak, slowly backing away until he reached the wall.

Jing He saw Liang Jifan growing more impatient. If a fight broke out, they were outnumbered, and he and Shen Tingwen couldn’t fight off four hands with two fists, so he also retreated to the wall with him. The whole scene looked as if he and Shen Tingwen had offended someone and were being cornered for a beating.

At 4:50 PM, Shen Tingwen’s homeroom teacher and Zhou Shuirong came out of the south gate together and happened to see the scene. She went over, scolded Liang Jifan and his group away, and then asked Shen Tingwen: “Are you okay?”

Shen Tingwen said faintly: “I’m fine.”

The homeroom teacher anxiously glanced at her watch; it was six minutes to five. She told them to hurry home and then walked towards the paid parking lot next to the school. The parking lot charged by the hour, and the usually frugal homeroom teacher always made sure to get there before five.

She had called Zhou Shuirong aside before school ended to discuss something, but no matter how important it was, she would definitely leave the school by five. This meant that she and Zhou Shuirong would definitely see Shen Tingwen being cornered against the wall.

After watching the homeroom teacher leave, Jing He greeted Zhou Shuirong: “Hi.”

Zhou Shuirong looked away, then looked at Shen Tingwen. She didn’t know if it was because of the overcast weather, which cast a greenish tint, that made him look particularly pale. She ignored Jing He and said her first words to Shen Tingwen: “Do they often bully you?”

Jing He laughed out loud, about to tell her that no one dared to bully Shen Tingwen, when Shen Tingwen himself said, “It’s fine.”

What the hell? What was he saying? Jing He didn’t understand anymore.