DXXZL - 19

Lin Jiayu suddenly realized she might be getting a bit too familiar with Zhu Xingyao. She explained, “She once went shopping with me and even helped me use face recognition to get a discount.”

Zhu Xingyao immediately coughed and nearly choked on her soy milk.

Lu Ji suddenly remembered the face scan Zhu Xingyao did during the audition last semester and couldn’t help but smile as he glanced at the soy milk in her hand. “You really like drinking this?”

Zhu Xingyao hesitated a moment and quietly said, “It’s okay, pretty tasty.”

Since Zhu Xingyao and Lu Ji were both well-known, sitting face to face naturally attracted a lot of attention. Some people leaving the cafeteria couldn’t help but say, “I knew it, Lu Ji definitely likes Zhu Xingyao. Otherwise, why would he sit with her?”

“They look pretty good together…”

“Just don’t know if Zhu Xingyao likes Lu Ji.”

Jiang Tu was walking to the cafeteria entrance and happened to overhear this. He stopped, glanced at Zhu Xingyao and Lu Ji’s group walking past, stared at them for a moment, then turned to get his food.

Lin Jiayu saw him and called out, “I’m going to find Jiang Tu,” then ran after his retreating figure.

Zhou Yuan was surprised again and pointed, “She knows that kid Jiang Tu too?”

Zhu Xingyao glanced over and said, “They grew up together since they were kids, lived in the same neighborhood.”

Lin Jiayu had gone to ask Jiang Tu about the physics competition. She stood behind him and said, “Are you worried about your family?”

Jiang Tu looked back at her, “Yeah.”

Lin Jiayu sighed, “Well, that’s a shame…”

Jiang Tu didn’t feel it was a shame. He glanced toward the door and casually asked, “It’s only been two days since school started, and you’re already close with Lu Ji?”

“The homeroom teacher arranged me as his deskmate…” Lin Jiayu watched him get his food and followed him a few steps. “He sat over there earlier probably because of Zhu Xingyao. I think he likes her…”

Not just “think.”

Lu Ji really did like Zhu Xingyao.

Jiang Tu expressionlessly withdrew his gaze, carrying his tray and turning away.

In the afternoon, Lin Jiayu returned to her seat and saw Lu Ji working on competition problems. Lu Ji looked up at her lazily and said, “Didn’t expect you and Jiang Tu grew up together. Do you also live in Hexi Lane?”

Lin Jiayu was quite familiar with Lu Ji—after all, he was a school celebrity, a male idol in the eyes of the girls. She honestly said, “Yeah, same place, but my family isn’t that poor…”

Lu Ji was momentarily stunned and smiled, asking, “Then how do you know Zhu Xingyao?”

Lin Jiayu told him about how Zhu Xingyao picked out Jiang Tu’s glasses. Lu Ji finally understood that the glasses Jiang Tu wore were chosen by Zhu Xingyao.

On Thursday morning, the physics competition students left school.

On Friday during morning study, Zhu Xingyao flipped through her English textbook and paused at an envelope with a consistent style. She nudged Li Xixi, who looked over and whispered, “Wow, J’s Friday love letter is here again.”

Zhu Xingyao noticed J’s handwriting was a bit neater than last semester and wondered, “He’s not even at school anymore—who’s putting these letters here for him?”

Li Xixi shrugged, “What’s so strange about that? Have you ever seen anyone put stuff in your desk? No, right? But there are still letters and snacks every day. Lu Ji’s popular; someone could slip the letters in when no one’s around, either early morning or after school. It’s easy.”

That made sense.

Zhu Xingyao tucked the envelope into her backpack.

Jiang Tu rested his hand on the window sill, watching her zip up her bag. With his left hand, he twirled a pen and lowered his head to recite vocabulary. He was actually curious what she did with those letters and cards—did she take them home to throw away? Or did she keep them because of the drawings?

Collecting those cards and envelopes hadn’t been easy for him. No matter what, he didn’t want those letters to be discarded.

During the afternoon class meeting, Cao Shujun finalized other class officers and representatives for each subject. Jiang Tu was appointed physics representative, but he frowned, stood up, and said, “Sorry, I don’t have time. Let Zhu Xingyao do it instead.”

Zhu Xingyao: “…”

She couldn’t help but glance back at him.

Jiang Tu lowered his head, looked at her with drooping eyes, and quietly asked, “Is that okay?”

He was obviously asking a favor, yet his voice was so flat. Zhu Xingyao blinked and resignedly said, “Alright.”

After school, Jiang Tu didn’t rush off. He had to go to Liang Ge’s barbecue restaurant at seven, and since he still had some time, he stayed in the classroom to finish his physics and math homework before leaving. He didn’t even bring his backpack and rode his bike out the school gate. Unexpectedly, he saw Zhu Xingyao still standing at their usual spot waiting for a ride, glancing at her phone.

Her parents and driver hadn’t arrived yet?

He stopped behind her. Zhu Xingyao turned her head and saw him smiling, “You’re still here?”

Jiang Tu responded with a hum and hesitated a moment before asking, “Where are your family?”

Just as he finished speaking, her phone rang.

Zhu Xingyao answered and occasionally glanced at Jiang Tu as she spoke, “Mom… you go ahead and get busy. I can get home myself… I’m not a kid anymore, it’s fine, you focus on your work…” She hung up and looked at Jiang Tu, finally answering his question, “Old Liu’s family has something going on, so they probably won’t be able to pick me up these next month or two. My parents often work overtime, just like you saw—my mom stood me up.”

Zhu Yunping said they wanted to find a temporary driver to replace Old Liu for now. Old Liu had just taken a day off, and they hadn’t found a suitable driver yet.

Ding Yu was always busy with irregular hours, so she was used to it.

Jiang Tu stared straight at her: “Then how are you getting home?”

Most students had already left, and the school gate was somewhat empty. Her home felt empty too, and Zhu Xingyao suddenly didn’t feel like going back. She shook her head, “I’ll go to the plaza, to the practice room to practice piano.”

Jiang Tu was silent for a moment, then pulled his foot back from the ground, “I’m going that way too, you…”

He paused, looking at her as if wondering something.

Zhu Xingyao blinked and spoke first, “Will you give me a ride?”

Jiang Tu: “…”

He glanced sideways at the bike’s back seat. He had only ever given Jiang Lu a ride before, and this bike was a bit old. He pinched the handlebar and looked at her with his dark eyes, “Are you sure? The bike is a bit stiff; it might not be very comfortable.”

Zhu Xingyao knew what he was hesitating about. She walked over and sat sideways on the back seat, looking up at him: “Let’s go. I’ve sat on Xixi’s bike before, and your driving is way steadier.”

Jiang Tu slowly turned his head, lowered his eyes, and said quietly, “Then hold on tight.”

Zhu Xingyao smiled: “Okay.”

Jiang Tu rode off. Zhu Xingyao’s balance wavered, and she instinctively grabbed his clothes. Her fingertips touched his waist. He suddenly braked hard, causing Zhu Xingyao’s forehead to bump unexpectedly against his back, making her dizzy. “Ouch… your back is so hard, why did you stop suddenly?”

Jiang Tu pressed his lips tightly and looked down at his waist. The girl’s pale fingers were tightly gripping his clothes. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he said, “Nothing.”

He rode off again.

The sun had just set not long ago, with a large swath of red clouds illuminating the horizon. When Jiang Tu rode the bike onto the big bridge, Zhu Xingyao turned to look at the river and the sky, suddenly dazzled by the brilliant clouds before she slowly realized—

This was the first time she had ever sat on a boy’s bike back seat.

Both of them were in school uniforms, and they looked good-looking, naturally drawing some attention.

Fortunately, Jiang Tu rode fast, and soon they arrived at the plaza. Jiang Tu stopped the bike in front of Liang’s Barbecue Shop, put his foot down, and looked back at her, “Do you want to eat barbecue?”

Curious, Zhu Xingyao followed behind him. She watched him lock the bike next to the barbecue shop and glanced up at the bright red sign “Liang Ge Barbecue Shop.” She had eaten here before with Li Xixi.

Jiang Tu straightened up and looked down at her, “Let’s go.”

She followed behind him and quietly asked, “Do you work inside?”

He gave a low hum.

It was mealtime on a Friday, so the shop was quite busy. As soon as they walked in, a wave of warmth hit them. Liang Cheng was serving customers and when he saw Zhu Xingyao following Jiang Tu, his eyes widened, “Whoa!”

Not only Liang Cheng, but even the other employees were surprised to see Jiang Tu.

Jiang Tu scanned the shop and then looked at Zhu Xingyao, “We can sit over there, okay?”

They went to a two-person table near the window, half-blocked by the counter and fairly quiet. Zhu Xingyao was still a bit dazed. She looked up at him and smiled gently, “Sure, anywhere’s fine.”

Jiang Tu led her over. Liang Cheng stood by the counter, raised his eyebrows at Jiang Tu with an expression like, “You’re finally waking up, huh?”

Jiang Tu’s expression shifted slightly as he walked over and explained, “She’s my classmate, I just gave her a ride.”

Liang Cheng glanced at Zhu Xingyao, who was too pretty to be real, and felt she looked somewhat familiar but couldn’t place where he’d seen her. He chuckled and said to her, “Besides Xiao Lin, this guy never brings a classmate here.”

“Xiao Lin” probably referred to Lin Jiayu.

Zhu Xingyao felt like Jiang Tu and Liang Cheng knew each other well. She smiled, “Is that so? Then I’m honored.”

Jiang Tu lowered his eyes to look at her, wondering what she was honored about.

Liang Cheng patted Jiang Tu’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “You bring her to sit first, no rush to go to the kitchen. Eat until you’re full.” Then he nudged them forward.

After Jiang Tu and Zhu Xingyao sat down, he asked her, “What do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you.” He paused, “Consider it me making up for pushing the physics class rep role onto you. I’ll treat you.”

Zhu Xingyao was stunned for a moment and quickly said, “That’s a small matter…”

“To me, it’s a hassle. You really helped me a lot.”

“…”

Zhu Xingyao didn’t know how to refuse. She always felt it was hard to say no to Jiang Tu. He was so poor, yet he wanted to treat her barbecue…

Jiang Tu spread the menu open in front of her, “The beef here is pretty fresh. If you don’t know what to choose, I’ll just get some. The prices aren’t high, you won’t spend much.”

“…”

Zhu Xingyao was speechless, propping her cheek on her hand, flipping through the menu. Suddenly she closed it and put it in front of him, “Just pick some for me. I don’t eat pork belly… no offal, and no cilantro.”

Jiang Tu noted it down: “Got it.”

He quickly got up and went into the kitchen, took a tray, and started picking out ingredients for her. Liang Cheng took the chance to follow in, standing beside him with a smile as he watched, “Really just classmates? She’s so pretty, and you don’t feel anything at all?”

Jiang Tu held a plate of fresh beef and glanced at him, “Just classmates. Don’t make wild guesses.”

Liang Cheng clicked his tongue, “You kid are something else… At this age, liking a girl is normal. Don’t be so boring. Girls don’t like guys who are so dull.”

Jiang Tu paused, suddenly thinking of Lu Ji, but said nothing and took a lot of food.

As he turned to leave, Liang Cheng muttered to himself, “I keep feeling like I’ve seen her before, just can’t place where…”

Jiang Tu knew why he felt familiar but didn’t remind him, instead carrying the food out.

Zhu Xingyao was looking down, texting Li Xixi. She looked up and smiled at him, “I told Li Xixi I’m eating barbecue here. If she hadn’t already gone home, she’d definitely come running out… Can I tell her you work here?”

“Up to you.” Jiang Tu sat opposite her, poking the charcoal fire and placing the marinated meat slice by slice, “It’s no secret. Quite a few students from No. 1 High School come here for barbecue.”

Zhu Xingyao said, “Li Xixi and I have been here before, but I didn’t see you.”

Jiang Tu hadn’t expected she’d been here too. He looked up at her, “I’m usually in the kitchen.”

The meat sizzled, releasing juices and aroma. Zhu Xingyao smelled it and felt hungry. Watching Jiang Tu skillfully grill the meat, she glanced at him again. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the business hours printed on the glass window:

17:00 — 05:00.

She suddenly realized and turned to him, “So you work here until early morning?”

Jiang Tu placed the beef, grilled to medium-well, onto a white plate and put it in front of her. “Yeah, you can eat now.”

No wonder…

No wonder sometimes he’d nap through the whole morning.

Zhu Xingyao stared silently at the boy’s clean, handsome profile, then picked up a piece of meat with chopsticks. Her eyes brightened slightly, “Delicious. It’s way better than the last time Xixi and I grilled it ourselves. How do you cook it like this?”

“The sauce is already mixed in; you don’t need to add extra seasoning.” Jiang Tu guessed she preferred mild flavors, so he didn’t put on much seasoning while grilling. Seeing the hint of surprise in her eyes, the corner of his mouth twitched into a slight smile, “Maybe you two just overcooked it.”

“No wonder.”

Zhu Xingyao recalled last time when Li Xixi slathered the meat with sauce, and all she tasted was sauce.

She watched Jiang Tu’s movements, then picked up a few slices to put on the grill. As a reciprocal gesture, she placed some in his plate. Jiang Tu lowered his eyes to look, hesitated for a moment, but said nothing.

Zhu Xingyao nudged him, “Try it.”