DXXZL - 13

“Don’t, don’t, don’t!” Ding Xiang hurriedly stopped him, wearing an expression of wanting to help the goddess with her troubles. “Throwing them away would be such a waste! Give me some—I’ll eat them, I’ll eat them all! No matter how much there is, I’ll eat it!”

The two boys sitting in front of them also turned around and asked, “We can help too.”

Zhu Xingyao: “...”

She glanced at Jiang Tu’s cold face and thought he might have misunderstood. She hadn’t offered him food because she thought he was poor.

Li Xixi casually handed two apples to the boys in front and stood up to shout, “Whoever wants apples or chocolates, come and take them yourselves!”

Zhou Qian came over, took two apples and a box of chocolate, then turned and called out, “Everyone, come and take some—they’re not poisoned!”

In no time, both boys and girls gathered around, quickly dividing up the pile of treats.

“Thanks, Goddess!”

“No need to buy snacks during break now!”

“If only this happened every day... Will saying that get me killed by the goddess?”

Zhu Xingyao: “...”

She said solemnly, “Yes.”

Everyone burst into laughter. Zhu Xingyao looked at the now-clear desk and let out a soft sigh, quietly complaining to Li Xixi, “Please don’t let anyone send any more—this is annoying.”

Li Xixi added, “Are these boys’ heads full of crap? Sending so much food—are they trying to fatten our goddess into a pig?”

Zhu Xingyao: “...”

She shoved a box of chocolate into Li Xixi’s arms. “You shut up.”

Li Xixi immediately opened the chocolate, tossed a few pieces onto Ding Xiang’s desk, and said, “Ding Xianghua, here’s some for you.” She glanced at Jiang Tu’s indifferent expression, hesitated with her hand raised to throw chocolate on his desk, coughed lightly, and turned back.

Ding Xiang peeled one piece and popped it into his mouth, glancing at Jiang Tu. “Brother Tu, want some?”

Jiang Tu coolly replied, “No.”

After school that afternoon, Li Xixi said she was going to buy Jay Chou’s new album. Zhu Xingyao turned her head and saw Jiang Tu, as usual, quickly packing up his things and preparing to leave. The two of them had barely spoken all day. In fact, it was usually like this—Jiang Tu didn’t talk much. He only responded when others asked him something.

If unnecessary, he rarely initiated conversation.

...A very uninitiative person.

Jiang Tu zipped up his bag and lowered his gaze to look at her.

Zhu Xingyao thought, Finally, he notices me. She blinked. “You rush off right after school every day. I’ve never seen you play basketball. What do you do after school?”

Normally, boys who ran off after school either went to internet cafes to play games or rushed to the basketball court to grab a spot.

She had never seen him on the court.

Jiang Tu slung his bag over his shoulder and said indifferently, “Work. I’m leaving first.”

With his tall stature and long legs, he quickly reached the door.

Li Xixi turned to look at Ding Xiang. “What kind of job does Brother Tu do?”

Zhu Xingyao also looked at Ding Xiang.

Ding Xiang shrugged. “Don’t look at me—I don’t know either. Brother Tu often leaves right after school, and sometimes it seems like he pulls all-nighters. If you ask him, he won’t tell you. But from what I’ve observed... if he sleeps through half the class one day, he definitely pulled an all-nighter the night before.”

Zhu Xingyao carefully reflected on it. They’d been sitting in front and behind each other for over a month now, and it seemed like he was sleep-deprived two or three days a week.

________________________________________

The welcome gala was scheduled for Friday evening, held in the main auditorium of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School. The auditorium connected to the playground, spacious enough to accommodate all the students in the school. Zhu Xingyao had been busy this week, rehearsing to ensure the program flowed smoothly without errors. The school had arranged for her performance to be the grand finale.

On Thursday afternoon, Zhu Xingyao brought her cello to school for the final rehearsal.

The cello was her treasure, and this was the first time she had brought it to school. As soon as she entered the school gate, she attracted a lot of attention.

Lu Ji, Zhou Yuan, and Xu Xiangyang were riding their bikes to school. Just as they stepped through the school gate, they saw the girl ahead of them carrying a red cello case.

The reason it’s called a “cello” is because it’s genuinely quite large. Today, Zhu Xingyao wasn’t wearing her uniform but instead had on a khaki short jacket paired with fitted jeans, making her appear very slender. The cello case looked almost bigger than she was.

Zhou Yuan quickly nudged Lu Ji. “That bag looks heavy. You...”

Go and offer your help already!

Before he could finish, Lu Ji sped off on his bike.

“Zhu Xingyao.”

Lu Ji called her name and stopped beside her.

Zhu Xingyao turned her head. Lu Ji pointed at the cello case on her back. “It must be heavy. Let me carry it for you.”

“No need, thank you,” Zhu Xingyao smiled and declined. “I’m used to carrying it—it doesn’t feel that heavy. You go to class first; it’s almost time.”

She turned and walked directly toward the auditorium.

Lu Ji stood with his foot on the ground, watching for a few seconds. Zhou Yuan and Xu Xiangyang stopped beside him. Zhou Yuan pointed to the retreating figure of Zhu Xingyao. “I heard that Zhu Xingyao’s cello is worth hundreds of thousands of yuan—the one from the video on the school forum.”

There were quite a few wealthy students at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School. Art, after all, had always been priceless.

In other words: expensive.

Lu Ji withdrew his gaze. “It’s not surprising. Custom-made cellos start at tens of thousands of yuan.”

Zhou Yuan grinned and patted his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “But your family has that kind of money—you could give her a cello as a gift. Be brave and go for it.”

Lu Ji snorted. “Let’s go.”

Zhou Yuan quickly pedaled his bike to catch up. “Are you really not planning to do anything during the gala? This is such a good opportunity...”

“Stop shouting.” Lu Ji turned back and glared at him, lowering his voice. “I’ve already prepared a New Year’s gift.”

________________________________________

Some boys from Class 7 also ran into Zhu Xingyao on the way. When they returned to the classroom, they excitedly announced, “I just saw the goddess heading to rehearsal with her cello. We’ll get to see the live performance tomorrow night!”

Ding Xiang playfully poked Li Xixi in the back with a pen. “Hey, Li Xixi...”

Li Xixi turned around and glared at him. “Just say what you want to say! If you poke me again, I’ll beat you up.”

Ding Xiang: “...”

He scratched his head, speechless. “Why are you so angry? I just wanted to chat with you.”

“Go chat with Jiang Tu.”

“He doesn’t talk to me... and he doesn’t know either!”

“...”

Jiang Tu was busy solving physics competition problems and didn’t even look up when he heard this.

Li Xixi thought Ding Xiang was pitiful. If she had to sit next to someone like Jiang Tu, she might get depressed. She turned back to Ding Xiang. “What do you want to talk about? Stars or the moon?”

Ding Xiang forced a laugh. “I heard in the boys’ bathroom earlier that the goddess’s cello costs hundreds of thousands of yuan. Is that true?”

Li Xixi replied, “Yes, it’s true. A new cello made by an independent Italian luthier starts at hundreds of thousands of yuan. Zhu Xingyao has several custom-made cellos, and the most expensive one is said to cost nearly a million.”

Ding Xiang clicked his tongue. “That’s shockingly expensive.”

Then he smiled. “But it suits the goddess.”

Jiang Tu paused his pen, staring at the test paper, slightly lost in thought.

________________________________________

After school that day, many people went to the auditorium to watch the rehearsal. At the bike shed, Jiang Tu ran into Lin Jiayu. She had just pushed her bike out and smiled at him. “Jiang Tu, where are you going now?”

He squatted down and unlocked his bike. “Hmm, Brother Liang’s friend’s bar is short-handed, so I’m going to help out.”

Temporary jobs like this paid relatively well, but Lin Jiayu rarely took them—she wasn’t as desperate for money as he was. She responded, “Alright, be careful. Bars can be messy places. Don’t provoke anyone.”

Jiang Tu mounted his bike and glanced at her. “I’m leaving first.”

Lin Jiayu called out, “Hey, wait—”

He had already left but stopped and turned back. “What?”

Lin Jiayu pushed her bike forward. “I’m going to buy some New Year’s greeting cards later. Some classmates gave me cards, so I need to return the favor. What about you?” She blinked. “Did anyone give you a card? If so, I can help you pick some out. It’s impolite not to return the favor. Also, stop being so solitary—try making some friends...”

Jiang Tu had no patience for her lecturing and coldly said, “No need. I’m leaving.”

The bar was located downtown, on the street behind Brother Liang’s barbecue shop. Jiang Tu parked his bike at the barbecue shop and changed out of his school uniform before heading to the bar. As he passed the boutique shop at the corner, his steps suddenly halted.

In the shop window hung various exquisite small gifts. His eyes landed on a greeting card featuring a girl holding a cello, sitting on a windowsill and gazing up at the starry night sky.

Jiang Tu stared at it for a moment, then walked in and purchased the card.

As the New Year approached, places like bars became particularly crowded. After putting on his waiter’s uniform, someone handed him a tray. “Take the vodka ordered by Table 97.”

Jiang Tu nodded. “Mm.”

He carried the tray through the flashing red and green lights and approached Table 97.

When he looked up, he immediately recognized Chen Yi and his group of brothers. He was far too familiar with these faces—he saw them once or twice every month. His steps faltered, not wanting to cause trouble, and he was just about to turn around and ask a colleague to deliver the drink instead—

“Seriously, I saw her right at the entrance of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School. She got out of a big Mercedes-Benz with her cello. That car must be worth millions—it’s clear she’s from a wealthy family.”

“I saw her too. She looks even more beautiful and elegant than she did a couple of months ago.”

“A cello?” Chen Yi lazily asked. “Is she an art student?”

“No.” The thug took a sip of his drink, clearly excited. “I grabbed a student and asked. Her name is Zhu Xingyao, and she’s their school’s belle. No wonder she’s so beautiful. Tomorrow night, Jiangcheng No. 1 High School is holding a welcome gala, and she’s performing on stage, playing the cello. Brother Yi, should we sneak in tomorrow night to check it out?”

Chen Yi swirled his glass and sneered. “I originally planned to visit Hexi Alley tomorrow night. I heard that Jiang Jinhui won some money last night. That bastard never pays back voluntarily—we always have to force him. He’s really asking for a beating.” Thinking of Zhu Xingyao’s beautiful face, he smirked mischievously. “Forget it, let’s go check it out tomorrow night. Honestly, I’ve been missing that little beauty—I even dreamed about her. Tsk...”

Before he could finish, there was a loud slap .

A glass of vodka landed in front of him, half spilling—all over his crotch.

“Your drink.”

The youth’s voice was icy and calm. He turned and walked away.

Chen Yi snapped back to his senses, abruptly standing up. He grabbed the back of Jiang Tu’s collar and yanked him back, growling, “Jiang Tu, what the hell do you mean by this?”